OPEN CINEMA host Victoria premiere of The Age of Stupid

“We could have saved ourselves, but we didn’t. It’s amazing. What state of mind were we in, to face extinction and simply shrug it off?”

 

The week after next (18 Nov) OPEN CINEMA are hosting the public premiere of The Age of Stupid a movie that blurs the edge between sci-fi and documentary and an open forum discussion. Open Cinema is a non-profit society that aims to use film as a tool of community engagement. Consistent with this mission The Age of Stupid examines the issue of climate change through the eyes of a man (played by Postlethwaite) living in the devastated world of 2055, watching old footage from 2008 and asking: why didn’t we stop climate change when we had the chance? The film in 2055 when the planet has been ravaged by drought and storm, its coastlines have flooded, and millions of people have been dislocated or have been thrown into conflict. The caretaker of the Arctic  archive whiles away hours scrolling through snippets of footage from our decade musing about why we knew the dangers of climate change and had the tools to change the system but instead of changing direction chose to stick with business as usual. If you want to learn more about the film there is tonnes of information on the film website.

If you want to catch the age of stupid and participate in an open forum discussion then head to:

Victoria Event Centre, 1415 Broad St, doors open at 5.30 and movie starts at 7. Organizers suggest that you get there early to avoid disappointment. Entry is $10 suggested donation. There will be a cash bar, food concession, door prizes and more!

Open forum discussion details

Dr. Colin Campbell, Science Advisor (www.sierraclub.bc.ca), Dorothy Cutting (www.WestCoastClimateEquity.org), Michelle Culossi (www.TransitionTowns.org/VictoriaBC) and moderator Dr. James Rowe (School of Environmental Studies, UVic).

Celebrate the apple season with apple based desserts

Apple Sorbet

Last week I participated inLife Cycle’s fruit pick/fruit tree program’s last pick of the year. It was a perfect fall day and the apple trees were glorious. Now I have another 30KG of apples to use up. So over the next few weeks we’ll be making more apple butter, apple chips and some apple based desserts. One of my favorites, which I first tried this summer, is apple sorbet. It is simple to make and delicious either on its own or served with pie. In the summer I made this with spartans with pink flecked flesh and the sorbet turned out a strinking pink (see pictures). I’m keen to try it again with a tarter apple. Another favorite, which I first made last fall, is Cinnamon Baked Apples with Hazelnut-Fennel Brittle. I got the recipe from Eat Magazine which I think is one of the best sources of recipes for seasonal, local produce.

To make this simple apple sorbet all you need is:

• INGREDIENTS
• 1 1/4 pounds eating apples , quartered, cored and roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cup apple juice or cider
• Apple chips (you can buy them at your local supermarket or make them)
• EQUIPMENT
• Ice-cream maker or shallow metal or plastic container
• Medium saucepan
• Sharp knife
• Fork
• Measuring cup

Over a medium heat combine  apples, sugar and 1/2 cup water in a medium saucepan. Cook until apples are tender. Press the mixture through a metal sieve placed over a bowl. Discard apple skins and stir in apple juice (or cider) and another 1/2 cup water. If making without an ice cream machine, pour into a shallow container and freeze 6 hours, scraping with a fork once or twice to break up crystals. (Or if you do as I did and completely forget about it for 12 hours you may need o take a vegetable masher to it to break it up again! – see pics). If using a machine, churn until firm enough to scoop. Garnish with apple chips.

To make Cinnamon Baked Apples with Hazelnut-Fennel Brittle you need:

INGREDIENTS

• Hazelnuts, whole, toasted and skinned, 1 cup
• Granulated sugar, 1 cup
• Water, 1/4 cup
• Babe’s honey, 2 tbsp
• Salt, 1/4 tsp
• Fennel seeds, 1 tbsp
• Baked Apples
• Brown sugar, 3/4 cup
• Ground cinnamon, 2 tsp
• Apples, 8 medium, such as local Gravenstein, Spartan, Jonagold,Rome Beauty or Spy
• Butter, softened, 8 tsp

EQUIPMENT

• Parchment paper
• melon-baller
• 9X13-inch baking dish
• thick-bottomed medium sauce pan
• sharp knife
• measuring cup

INSTRUCTIONS

brittle

For the brittle, coarsely chop hazelnuts. Measure out 1/3 cup and set aside. Finely chop remaining nuts and set those aside for the apples.

The best way to approach brittle is not to rush and to keep the heat moderate. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. In a thick-bottomed medium sauce pan, stir sugar with water, honey and salt over low heat until dissolved. Increase heat to medium and let boil and bubble until light amber. Occasionally (and carefully) swirl pan to prevent any dark spots. This will take about 4 to 5 minutes. Immediately pour onto parchment. Tilt baking sheet to spread out as thin as possible and sprinkle with chopped nuts and fennel. Let cool completely. Break into shards.

apples

For the apples, in a bowl, mix brown sugar with cinnamon and finely chopped nuts. Trim bottoms of apples so they sit flat. Core apples, using a melon-baller. Peel a 1/2-inch ring around the cored opening. Stuff apples with cinnamon sugar mixture. Press 1 tsp butter into top of each.

Place in a 9X13-inch baking dish. Pour in 1/4 cup water. Cover and bake in preheated 375F oven for 40 minutes. Uncover and continue to bake until very tender, 10 to 20 more minutes. Pierce with a sharp knife to check they are soft all the way through. Serve with vanilla ice cream and tuck in shards of brittle.

recipe credit: Eat Magazine

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Urbanite: October 23, 2009 | 8:00pm – 11:00pm

The most recent Urbanite was inspired by the gallery’s current exhibition Vision Into Reality: West Coast Modernism. There was a very good turnout and the crowd seems to be getting younger. (About half of the attendees were in their 20s). There was music by DJ Longshanks (regular at the Lucky Bar), 1950s inspired cocktails and drinks and informative tours of the Vision in Reality exhibition. Unfortunately there was no interactive art making this time. I really loved the collage table at the World Upside Down Urbanite in August. The great little brown bags marked “Home,” “Love” and “Fear” that were filled with little trinkets including fake fur, hearts and stars were imaginative and fun.

Urbanites are held three times a year. If you are interested in art and have not got along to one yet I would thoroughly recommend checking one out. Admission to an Urbanite is $12 non-members or $10 for gallery members. Drinks are usually $7-8.

Details on the gallery website or check them out on Facebook

 

Antimatter Film Festival Oct 9 to 17

Antimatter Film Festival starts tomorrow night!

Antimatter Film festival

The Antimatter Film Festival kicked off with Small World on Friday, Oct 9 at Open Space (510 Fort Street). The excellent opening feature was a multi-media excursion through disney. Artists and local musicians interpreted Disney classics with assistance of shopping carts, painted acoustic guitars, accordions, smoke machines, quirky costumes, tinfoil, and pretty lights. A very fun night to kick off Thanks Giving weekend!

Antimatter continues through Oct 17 with screenings, performances and video installations. Short features are organized into themes including “warming trend: environmentalism alarm bells pealing out for hope; “O’er the land”; “Ju suis une bombe: aesthetic actions promulgate gender confusion/diffusion…”

Full schedule and info at http://www.antimatter.ws or pick up a program guide at any south island Serious Coffee location.

Plant winter salad greens

I love having fresh lettuce on hand in my garden during summer. Now that fall is here it’s time to plant some hardy winter greens that I can use in my salads this winter. This year I’m trying two new greens. The first is Miner’s lettuce which is native to the area. Its heart shaped leaves (see picture) have a fresh taste. Miner’s lettuce should be direct seeded in early fall. Apparently it does not transplant well.

Miner's Lettuce

The second green is Ox-eye daisy, or the common daisy that grows by the side of the road, in BC, as well as all over Europe, Australia and the US. Apparently the ox-eye is considered a noxious weed by BC agriculture because if cows eat it their milk takes on a bitter taste. The leaves of the ox-eye daisy can be eaten in winter when the plant is not flowering. The leaves have a bitter taste so generally you would want to use them to accompany other more subtle tasting salad greens. You can buy seeds for these salad greens from Sooke Harbour House Garden ($5.95 for 200 seeds).

Celebrate the apple season

Spartan apple sorbet

making apple rings from spartans: notice the pink flecks!

local apples

selection of apples picked locally

Apple season is in full swing and we are thoroughly enjoying it.  I used to think that I disliked apples. The slightly dry and powdery texture and watery taste I experienced did nothing for me. But a trip to the Edmonton farmers markets a few years ago transformed my opinions. I realized that what I HATE is the apples sold at large chain grocery stores. Since that revelation I have happily discovered more apple delights. As a volunteer fruit picker with the Lifecycles fruit tree project I have picked giant apples (perfect for apple butter), winter banana apples (also perfect for sauce or apple butter or apple rings), small tart crab apples (perfect for blackberry and apple preserve),  spartans with  pink flecked white flesh (perfect for munching, sauce or sorbet)  and many more wondrous varieties. Apple celebrations continue this Sunday Sep 27 at Sea Cider: http://harbourliving.ca/event/apple-day/

Salt Spring Island Fall Fair

Cake decorating

Fall vegetables

Fall fair chicken wings

Last weekend we checked out the Sooke Fall fair. It took me back to my childhood years living in the country. There was the baking and the knitting, some of it beautiful but much of it in colours and styles that, well let me just say I would never pick. There were pale yellow cardigans, patchwork jackets in all shades of purple and mauve, and pale pink acrylic adult toques. Um. Then there was the pumpkins and zucchinis which were fascinating in their shapes and sizes.  And of course there was music and chickens, and preserves and music. This coming weekend we are checking out the Salt Spring Fall Fair which I’ve been told is a lot of fun. Apparently there is: “a Zucchini race; pies are lined up with little bites taken out of them (jury reports); and pigs are running around with prizes attached to their bums.” Who could miss that?! For all the details see:

http://www.saltspringmarket.com/salt_spring_island/fallfair.htm

Check out a fall fair!

This is the month to attend some old style country, agricultural fairs. This labour day long weekennd Saanich is holding its fall fair (see http://www.saanichfair.ca/ for details). Sooke is holding their fall fair on Sep 12 & 13th fair (see http://www.sookefallfair.ca/). The Sooke fair took me back to my childhood years living in the country. There was the baking and the knitting, some of it beautiful but much of it in colours and styles that, well let me just say I would never pick. There were pale yellow cardigans, patchwork jackets in all shades of purple and mauve, and pale pink acrylic adult toques. Um. Then there was the pumpkins and zucchinis which were fascinating in their shapes and sizes.  And of course there was music and chickens, and preserves and music. This coming weekend we are checking out the Salt Spring Fall Fair which I’ve been told is a lot of fun. Apparently there is: “a Zucchini race; pies are lined up with little bites taken out of them (jury reports); and pigs are running around with prizes attached to their bums.” Who could miss that?! For all the details see:

http://www.saltspringmarket.com/salt_spring_island/fallfair.htm

On the same weekend is the Luxton Fall Fair which is apparently the oldest fair on the island. To find out all the details check out their website (Sep 18, 18 -20 http://www.luxtonfair.ca/).

THE ROAD TO CANTERBURY- ends Aug 1

The guys who did Grimm Tales last year are this year doing The Road to Canterbury which they describe as a”modern-day re-imagining of The Canturbury Tales (by Grimm Tales author Sebastien Archibald).” The play takes place in Mt. Douglas Park and the audience follows the cast around the park as they tell five re-imaginings of The Canturbury Tales.  This play is extremely well done and very, very funny. I would thoroughly recommend going to see it. It ends Aug 1 so hurry! All details are at:

http://www.itsazoo.org/home.htm

Sustainable Home and Garden Series Saturdays 2pm to 4pm

Sustainable Home and Garden Series Saturdays 2pm to 4pm

The Greater Victoria Compost Education centre offers low cost gardening courses. If you are a member of the compost Club Members your first two courses are free and additional workshops are $10. For non members the cost is $15. Pre-registration is required.

The next course on 23 May is on growing tomatoes. The following two weeks the course is on winter veggie gardening. For full details seehttp://www.compost.bc.ca/learn/communityeducation.htm