Category Archives: Food & Drink

UBC Apple Festival

By monnibo | Published: October 18, 2009

This is one of the weekends I look forward to the most in October (besides Halloween). The UBC Apple Festival is an annual event held at the University of British Columbia (UBC) Botanical Gardens here in Vancouver. This is the 19th year and it is run by the Friends of the Garden. This year it was open from 11:00am to 4:00pm on Saturday October 17 and Sunday October 18, 2009. Admission is $2 and goes to support the Botanical Gardens. There are over fifty local(ish) varieties of apples available to taste and purchase, as well as apple tree saplings for sale. Also, several vendors set up at the festival with apple-related goodies such as pie, cider, sauce, candied apples, dried apple chips, etc. There are also vendors with non-apple-related goodies like fudge, pickled canned goods, crepes, soup, sandwiches, and more. My dad tries to make it out to the Apple Festival every year, and so this year we went together on Saturday morning. Although the weather wasn’t the best, we still went to the apple tasting and then bought 11 bags of apples. They are a fantastic deal; you get 3 lbs of apples for $6 per variety. The only downside is you have to pick one type of apple per 3lb bag. We bought 11 bags of apples and I claimed the Sonata and Aurora for myself. Dad had a couple friends who wanted apples, so he did a “grab bag” of 9 different types. The Sonata apples (formerly [...]

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Tea Tasting at Ooh Cha Teahouse

By monnibo | Published: April 13, 2009

A couple weeks ago I arranged a tea tasting and food pairing at Ooh Cha Teahouse. Karen Duffield, the owner, treated us to a spectacular display. I am sad to say that within the last week, Karen has shut her doors at this lovely little teahouse due to the economic situation. She will be maintaining Ooh Cha as an online tea store, but I do hope that Karen will be able to have a bricks and morter location again soon! So I would like to share the experience of our tea tasting with you, in memory of the lovely little Ooh Cha Teahouse! The tea tasting include the following teas: Lapsang Souchong (smokey tea) Assam (high grade black tea) Balzac Black (black Oolong) Matcha (ground powdered tea) Mate Chai (Chai tea) Ayurvedic Cleansing Tea These were all paired with a sample of the food that best suited the tea and some information on each tea and the qualities it has. Here are some photos from the lovely meetup we had: Karen Duffield, in her shop (formerly located at 63 Kingsway, Vancouver, BC) Our group of seven. Relax. Laugh. Goat cheese paired with Lapsang Souchong Assam tea (standard black tea) – comparing the brewed leaves, to the dry leaves, to the colour of the tea. Serving each other Oolong tea Matcha ceremony Lovely green matcha colouring Herbal cleansing tea paired with fresh fruit! Before we began, Carol from ChaChaCha teablog asked permission to film some of the tea tasting for her [...]

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Everyday Raw (cookbook review)

By monnibo | Published: March 10, 2009

This is a unique cookbook, and although I’m not quite sure if it’s my style, but there are a lot of good ideas for a vegetarian/vegan in here. While I may not use this cookbook, it certainly opens my eyes to new foods. There are a number of sprouted grains, types of sauces, and ways to prepare ingredients I never knew existed! I am curious about the use of a dehydrater (which appears to replace an oven in some cases). Last night I tried the Salsa Fresca and the Miso Soup… because they were the only two recipes where I didn’t have to go to the store to get anything. Definitely need to plan ahead next time. I’d like to try the Rosemary-Garlic Mashed “Potatoes” but with real potatoes. See what I mean by ideas and inspiration? I had a thought that I may not be fully experiencing the raw food because of my lack of ingredients and/or knowledge, so I decided to go visit a Raw restaurant during lunch today. Gorilla Food is a raw, organic, vegan restaurant located on Richards Street in downtown Vancouver. I tried to choose something that would widen my horizons; I ordered Thai Fresh Wraps, “Three collard leaf wraps filled with a sprouted sunflower seed and veggie pate, sesame seasoned coleslaw and served with a ginger raisin chutney”. The collard was a little too bitter for my taste, but I mixed the filling of the wraps with the strong ginger chutney and it was [...]

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Indecisive

By monnibo | Published: March 1, 2009

Dear Weather, please make up your mind… and it better be the right decision (or else!) Earlier this week, it snowed, which always makes the North Shore mountains look gorgeous because the tree tops are dusted with snow. Then near the end of the week it was all gorgeous and sunny, and the adorable crocuses came out. And now it’s raining! Common for Vancouver / the West Coast, and I’m not particularly bothered, but still! My own personal indecision had to do with tea today… so not a very big weight on my shoulders! I tried white tea for the first time and thought it was a lovely, delicate taste. It didn’t need sugar (and doesn’t take milk), and it would be a nice refreshing summer tea – hot or cold! Here is a photo at the inaugural meetup — we actually held two simultaneously because there was so much interest! Too many choices! Blue = herbal infusions, red = Rooibus & fruit infusions, green = Green tea, yellow = White tea, brown = Black teas (including infusions), not shown is grey = Oolong tea. Cherry Blossom (Premium II White Tea): White and green tea blended with cherry, orange, rose, and jasmine blossoms for a smooth finish.

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T.E.A.

By monnibo | Published: February 24, 2009

Remember my rant? Well after talking about it with a number of people, and feeling quite justified by all your support, I am the Assistant Organizer of a new Tea Meetup on Meetup.com! We are called T.E.A., which stands for Tea Enthusiasts & Aficionados, but we welcome even just the humblest tea drinker to a “master”. The point is to have a cup of tea, expand our horizons (local shops, sharing knowledge) and enjoyable conversation. If you are in the Greater Vancouver / Lower Mainland area… please join us! (P.S. I designed our banner!!)

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