RICHARD WALKER LEADS HANDS-ON FOOD FOREST WORKSHOP

This sounds very interesting, but I am almost 100% certain I can not go.
September 14-16, 2012 in the Cowichan  Valley

 You've heard about food forests. Maybe you've seen the videos or visited the websites. Now is your chance to plant an actual food forest under the guidance of Richard Walker, 30 year food forest veteran, in a weekend workshop on September 14-16. Richard will be explaining the basic principles we will be employing in the structuring and planting of the food forest on Friday night after a site visit. On Saturday, the planting will begin and will continue into Sunday.

Friday: 7-9:30pm; Saturday/Sunday: 9-4pm

The future food forest site is currently a 1/4+ acre field at Mossy Banks Farm in North Cowichan. We will be converting the prepared field into a food forest with nut trees, fruit trees, medicinal trees and herbs, berries and much more. Registration is limited to 25 people, so sign up now. This number cannot be extended. Cost for the weekend is $200; $230 if you are camping on the farm. Meals are included. (Lunch and dinner, Saturday; lunch, Sunday; and breakfast both days for those camping.) Please let us know any dietary restrictions when you register.

To register, e-mail Lynn at lwytenbroek@shaw.ca or call 250 597-3513.

Naan Bread

I ended up making the dough and was concerned I would not need it long enough, but it turns out I made a very good dough.  Sheila cooked them and they turned out better than any we have done before with them end up like the pita bread that has the pockets. 

Sheila has tried making the naan in the past with roasted garlic but it has never managed to have much of a garlic flavour come through.   I was short of time so I could not roast the garlic and used garlic powder instead and we were impressed with how much more of a garlic flavour this imparted.

Chef Heidi Fink and her classes on local harvest cooking

I like what Chef Heidi Fink is doing at Cook Culture with her cooking courses for the public.

On July 9th she has a course on what to do with berries.  Since I already do a lot with berries I am not sure there is much for me at this course, but if you do not make your own jam, you should consider taking it.  Once you make your own jam you will not go back to the store bought stuff.

The course I was interested in was the Local Harvest one on July 17th, but it is sold out.  

I have been trying to focus on cooking with what is local and in season for years now, but there are still things I am not sure what to do with and when it is really ready in this area.   I was sort of hoping to sign up for the one of the 17th to get more inspiration.

Pirate Cake

Stephen wanted to bring a pirate cake to school today as they were doing an all day pirate theme.   He baked and iced with his mother and Sheila last night and this morning to make the cake.

Stephen Making Jam

My 11 year old son discovered how easy it was to make jam. He sold several hundred dollars worth of jam in two days last summer. This summer he is planning on ramping up his production and selling more. Yesterday he used the $35 he got from babysitting Max to buy 5kg of strawberries from Galey Farms. He made this berries into 12 250 ml jars and 7 500 ml jars of jam. He hopes to sell this batch of jam for $142.

Stephen is amazed that not everyone makes their own jam at home.   He thinks it is easy to make and it tastes so much better than the store bought stuff.
 

Sandwich Corner Express

We decided the other weekend to spend some hours on Saturday looking at the commercial art galleries in town.  We reached lunch time and needed to eat.  We were right outside of the Sandwich Corner Express on View.

Sheila had eaten at the Courtney Street location and had liked it.

We were less than impressed and I think the best way to review the restaurant is to let the pictures speak.

A chicken sandwich made with processed chicken luncheon meat it seems
the bread was a grocery store generic sandwich loaf

This is meant to be some sort of Caesar Salad

This was not worth the price of the meal even if it was free.

Cactus Club

I have been meaning to go to the Victoria Cactus Club Cafe for ages but the location at the corner of Douglas and Fort is not one I think of when thinking of where to get some food. I have been to the one at Broadway and Ash in Vancouver a couple of times and always been impressed.  

On Saturday afternoon we were in Beacon Hill Park for the photo part of Daniels Grad Dinner and Dance and when it finished we stopped at Sheila's sisters place who offered to look after Max so we could go eat.  I decided this was the day to go to the Cactus Club.

If I did not know the menu was largely created by Rob Fennie, I would not be going.   The restaurant has a 'party' feel to it, almost a Red Robin for more sophisticated 25-35 year old people without kids.  



I ordered a three course tasting meal, though tasting is not what this was, they were really full portions.  

The starter was fried wonton with chicken and then covered in a spicy sweet chill sauce.  It was more than big enough for the two of us to share.   My only complaint about the dish was that there was too much sauce on it.

My main was a place of squash ravioli with prawns on top.  This was then covered in a butter truffle sauce - it was a very good sauce but I honestly could not taste the truffle.   It was very good, almost to the level of wanting to like the plate to get all of the sauce.  

Sheila had the burger and fries and she was not impressed.  There was nothing wrong with it, it was just entirely forgettable.   Her biggest negative was that the burger was simply too full of stuff.

For the desert there was a small slice of Key Lime Pie that we shared.   Sheila had had their pie before and was looking forward to getting to have some of mine.

The more 'party' food seemed to be less impressive than the 'fancy' food.

Will we go back?   I am not sure, I liked it more than say Milestones or Earls but with Sheila not being impressed it is not likely to be any time soon.