Christmas desserts -Cook local and seasonally with Eat Magazine

Pumpkin Cheesecake with gingershap base

CONTEMPORARY CHRISTMAS DESSERTS Since arriving in Victoria three years ago I’ve been a regular reader of the free food magazine Eat.* The restaurant reviews are a great way to learn about new places that have opened up around town and the easy to follow recipes are wonderful way to learn about what to do with local and seasonal produce. Eat’s Fall issue last year (2008) had a superb special on apples (see previous post for some of my favorites). Their current winter issue has a mouthwatering selection of Christmas recipes with a modern twist. I’m hoping to try them all this Christmas season. Last weekend I started off with the pumpkin cheese cake with a gingersnap base (it can be made with no gluten if you, or your loved ones, are gluten intolerant. ) The recipe is online at the Eat site (go to page 20).

The cheesecake recipe was relatively straight forward and only required a few adjustments. Firstly the recipe specifies 1/4 pound of gingersnaps. As I cannot eat wheat I substituted these for Patsy Pie, Snappy Ginger (available at Market on Yates.). I had to adjust the recommended quantity of gingersnaps. They recommend 1/4 pound but I found this was not sufficient to cover the sides and base of the springform pan and ended up using 1/2 pound of cookies. We found that the final crust was a little too buttery. If I was to make it again I would use 5 Tbsp of butter (rather than 8Tbsp) and 1/2 pound of cookies. The other area which I had to make an adjustment was the caramelized pecans for the topping.  The recipe also  says you need 1/2 cup of pecans but I found this was far too many. The top of the cheesecake was easily covered with a 1/4 cup of pecans. Luckily the left overs made a nice sweet snack so they did not go to waste! If you’re not already a regular reader of Eat I would recommend picking up a hardcopy at cafes, and grocery stores around town or reading it online (see December Issue).

Free, public Christmas events in Victoria – starting today!

Round up of some Christmas events happening in Victoria

TONIGHT 27 November Centennial Square Christmas Tree Light Up
Bring the whole family downtown to Centennial Square and enjoy free festivities and entertainment.  Schedule:
5:00 – 6:00pm The Magic of Christmas on the new Spirit Stage 6:00pm Watch the big Christmas Tree being lit up, then a Fire and Light Show.
Price : FREE

IEOA Lighted Truck Parade

IEOA Lighted Truck Parade – 5 December
Come out and see the wonderfully decorated trucks. You can choose your favorite decorated truck and donate to the Mustard Seed Food bank along the parade route. Over the past 10 years this even has raised a total of 90,000 pounds of food and $35000 for food banks and charities. For details of the route see the event website: http://www.ieoa.ca/

Price : FREE but you are encourage to donate to a foodbank

Victoria Harbour Ferry Santa Ballet
The Victoria Harbour Ferry Co. are presenting the Nutcracker Ballet hovering above water in the Inner Harbour. This musical, illuminated ballet will take place on Friday and Saturday evenings throughout the holiday season.  This event is in support of Santa’s Anonymous and The Victoria Cool Aid Society.
Hot chocolate, coffee and treats will be available at Ship’s Point, in exchange for donations of a Tin (canned food), Toonie or a Toque (or other warm clothes).  All Santa Ballet performances will begin in the Inner Harbour at 7:00pm on the following dates:
Saturday, November 21: Following the Island Farms Lighted Santa Parade
Friday, November 27: Following the Centennial Square Christmas Tree Light Up
Saturday, November 28
Friday, December 4
Saturday December 5: Following the Lighted Ships Parade in the Inner Harbour
Friday, December 11 and Saturday, December 12
Friday, December 18 and Saturday, December 19
The Santa Ballet is a free event for all residents and visitors to Victoria. Hot chocolate and hot dogs will be available at Ships Point, with donations of a Tin (canned food), Toonie or a Toque (or other warm clothes).
The best place to view the Santa Ballet is from Ship’s Point, or any point along the Causeway in front of the Empress Hotel.
After the Dancing Santas visit Ship’s Point to hand out candy canes, they will then take to the water for a Santa Parade around the Inner Harbour from Shoal Point to Dockside Green from 7:45-8:00pm.
For more information please visit www.victoriaharbourferry.com or call 250-708-0201.

Price : FREE but you are encourage to donate to the affiliated charities

More Christmas Fairs – 22 Nov onwards

Image from the book Hester and Lester which will be launched at Hemma Made

On the weekend I went along to both the Knitted Owl and the Out of Hand fairs.I loved the knitted owl fair where I picked up lots of pressies (see previous post) but found the Out of Hand Fair a little disappointing, especially given that entry fee was $7. However I did find one very nice item at Out of hand (it’s a X-Mass secret)  that was a bargain at a price $20 below the tag price in downtown stores. Over the next few weeks there are more small fairs offering free entry and free refreshments including warm cider!

Hemma Made, 28 Nov, 5-10PM this fair offering free admission and free cider in addition to a range of local hand made items, everything from kids items to clothing, jewelry and art.  Location: 1274 May Street, The corner of Moss & May St.

Annual Noel Bazaar- Dec 1-3

30 local artists, designers & crafters arepresenting their wares at this unique and popular Christmas Market.

Details: Admission by donation, licensed event.

Victoria Event Centre

1415 Broad St

Tuesday      Dec 1 5-9

Wednesday  Dec 2 2-9

Thursday     Dec 3 2-9

Dec 5- Dickens Craft Fair – Shop for unique homemade, homegrown or handmade items at this 29th annual fair, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. December 5 at James Bay Community School Centre, 140 Oswego. By donation. 250-381-5323. www.jamesbaymarket.com

Dec 5-6 Tribal Market - Get your holiday gift shopping done in one groovy place with five awesome vendors including a fine selection of crystals and gems, bamboo clothing, leather work, jewellery and original clothing designs, December 5-6 at the Base Lounge, 1303 Broad. 250-590-1816

 

Lure: one of the vendors at Holly Jolly fair

Holly Jolly Christmas Fair 12-3 Dec

Again you can enjoy Free admission, refreshments, (as well as plenty of free parking).

LOCATION: 950 Kings St at Can West University.

DATES: Saturday Dec. 12 and Sunday Dec. 13

TIME: 10-5 Saturday and 12-5 Sunday

For details of the vendors and some pictures of their wares check out their website: http://www.hollyjolly2009.com/whos_coming.html

Moss Street Holiday Market Dec 12-13, 2009

Finally there is the Moss St Market which will have many of your favorite summer summer time vendors returning with Christmas treats. They will be selling arts and crafts (cards, clothing, jewelry, pottery, glass, soap, bath products, etc.) organic baked goods, organic winter vegetables and so much more….

Admission the the market FREE and if you bring a mug you get FREE apple cider.!

TIME: 10am-4pm

DATES: Saturday Dec 12 and Sunday Dec 13, 2009

LOCATION: 1330 Fairfield Rd in the Fairfield Community Place and the Garry Oak Room.

Lots of parking, wheelchair accessible. Call 250 361 1747 for more information.

 

FINALLY remember to bring cash and/or a cheque book along as many vendors do not have credit card facilities.

Make your own dried apple slices

Dried apples

We have busily drying apples at our place for a couple of months now. But as my “boy” munches them up as quickly as I make them I’m going to have to make a few more batches this weekend. This time I’m going to be careful to hide them away before the boy gets a chance to gobble them up.

If you have not dried your own apples I would completely recommend giving it a go. It is very simple to do and the final product is not only delicious, it is very healthy.  Here’s how you make dried apples.

Ingredients

Apples - you can use any quantity of apples and any variety, but you should use fresh, ripe, firm apples. The yield varies depending upon the moisture content of the apples. Soft apples give lower yields.

Sodium bisulfite (optional)

Asorbic acid OR lemon juice (optional)

Equipment

“ziploc” freezer bags or Vacuum food sealer – for storing the bags.

Mechanical apple peeler (optional) – about $20 from your local hardware store. OR Sharp knife & (optional) veggie peeler

Oven OR Food dehydrator

Step 1 – Selecting the apples

This fall I’ve picked my own apples through LifeCycle fruit program but obviously you can also just buy your apples at your local supermarket or fruit and veggie market. However I would recommend trying to pick up some local apples. Many apples (such as Red and Golden delicious) do not store well and their flavor rapidly degrades after picking. Apples for sale in large chain supermarkets typically lack the wonderful flavor of local, recently picked apples.

Local apples picked through Life Cycles Fruit Tree program

Step 2- Wash the apples

Wash your apples in plain water. If they have stickers on the skin remove them.

Step 3 – Cut out any bruised or soft spots

Step 4 -  (Optional) Removing the apple skins

I leave the skins on my dried apples but you can if you wish remove them.If you want to peal your apples I would definitely recommend using a mechanical apple peeler (pictured). Once you’ve set them up correctly they really do work very well.

Mechanical apple peeler

Step 5 -  slicing your apples

When it comes to slicing your apples you have a few options. You can just use a ordinary kitchen knife to slice and core your apple (or you can use a knife and an apple corer). Alternatively you use a mechanical apple cutter. If you are planning on drying apples regularly I would really recommend getting one. They are not expensive.  We picked up our Kitchen Value Apple parer for $26 at our local hardware store and it speed up the process of preparing the apples enormously. With a mechanical apple parer all you need to do is simply push the bottom of the apple core into the spikes, set the cutter in place and turn the handle a few times.  Wohla, your apple is cored and you have a beautiful apple spiral that is about 1/8 inch thick. All that is left for you to do is cut a single slice and wohoo you have half a dozen little apple rings. Aren’t they pretty!?

Pretty apple slices

Step 6 -  soak apples in preservative or anti-browning solution

Recently I’ve been reading a lot of how to dry apples instructions on the web and I’ve found to my surprise that many do not suggest using additives to prevent discoloration or a preservative solution (such as sodium bi-sulfate). Indeed for some people one of the main benefits of making your own dried apples is that you can avoid sulfates and other chemicals. However for my dried apples I do choose to use a sodium bi-sulfate solution which prevents microbial growth and discoloration. If you want to avoid sulfates but want to preserve colour you can just use  an ascorbic acid, or lemon juice, solution. For my apples I dissolve 1/4 teaspoon of sodium bisulfite  in 1L of water.

sodium bisulfite

Step 7 -  dehydrate your apples

Dried apples should be 20% of the weight of fresh apples. So before you start drying your apples you need to weigh them. I have an electronic scales with a tare so I simply put one of the dehydrator trays on the scale, tare the weight to zero.

Put the tray on the scales and tare to zero

I then fill the try with apple slices, note their weight and calculate 20% of the weight. For example if my apples weight 250g then the final weight of my dried apples should be 50g.

 

Weigh the apples

Set this tray to one side, fill the rest of the trays and stack the dehydrator. I put the tray I weighted in last so I can easily remove it and weigh it during the drying process.  Then I simply turn on my dehydrator and leave it on for 12 to 24 hours until my apples are dried. Check in on the apple slices after about seven hours. If they are looking pretty dry start checking the weight of the apples in your top tray. When the apples hit your target weight they are ready.

Step 8 – Cool, then Fill the Zipper-type bags

I let the apples cool to room temperature (about 20 to 30 minutes), and  fill the zip lock bags making sure not to overfill and to remove all air pockets. I zip the top shut but leave enough space to insert the tip of a soda straw. When straw is in place, I remove the remaining air by sucking it out.  To remove straw, I press the straw closed where inserted and finish pressing the bag closed as I remove the straw.

Step 9 – Store the bags in a cool, dark place

Step 10 – Enjoy at eating your leisure!

100 mile christmas presents! – check out local art and craft fairs

Local art and craft fairs

The Christmas season craft fairs have started with the first fairs  kicking off earlier this month. In the next few weeks there will be lots more fairs including:

UVic Hearts & Hands Craft Fair – Tue 17 Nov

• Time: Tuesday, November 17, 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
• Location: University Centre Lobby

From the UVic website:

• “All vendors are currently registered UVic students or current employees, and the work they offer for sale is original and handmade. Over the past seven years, buyers have been enticed by fairy wings and devil horns, felt animals, natural soaps and lotions, fleece scarves, “sushi” candles, hats, beanies and knitted ponchos and sweaters, note cards, painted tiles/trivets, music tapes and CDs, cat and dog toys and treats, quilted items, Finnerty Gardens calendars, unique purses, one-of-a-kind jewelry, ceramics, wood-turned bowls, smoked salmon and spicy salmon pate, Fortune Catchers, lavender products, teddy bears, blown glass witch balls, beaded bookmarks, original paintings, children’s clothing and more.”

Out of Hand Fair- Nov 20-22

2009 is the twenty first anniversary of the Out of Hand Fair and its moving across the street to the newly renovated Crystal Gardens.  I’ve been to this fair a few times. There is some interesting and original craft at this fair but there are also some rather unoriginal works. To see all details of what will be showing see event website.

Details:

Friday, November 20th, 2009 – Sunday, November 22nd, 2009
Friday, Nov. 20th– 12 noon – 9 pm Saturday, Nov. 21st 10 am – 6 pm Sunday, Nov. 22nd 10 am – 5 pm

The Knitted Owl fair – Fernwood – Nov 20-21

This is THE alternative craft fair in Victoria. This year it’s in a new location at the Fernwood NRG Community Centre on Gladstone. They will be showing couture clothing for all ages, upcylced kids clothes, beautiful pendants and jewelry, handbags and pouches for him and her, vintage tin clocks, vintage travel doc cases and passport sleeves made from maps, handwoven textiles, organic fabric baby accessories and sooooo much more all handmade by local designers.  Also live music, door prizes and entrance is an optional donation to the Fernwood NRG.

Details:

Times:

Friday Nov 20 6pm-10pm

Saturday Nov 21 9am-5pm

Location: Fernwood Community Centre
1240 Gladstone Avenue, Victoria

 

7th Annual Noel Bazaar- Dec 1-3

30 local artists, designers & crafters are presenting their wares at this unique and popular Christmas Market.

Details:

Admission by donation, licensed event.

Victoria Event Centre

1415 Broad St

Tuesday      Dec 1 5-9

Wednesday  Dec 2 2-9

Thursday     Dec 3 2-9

 

Spoken word festival – 10 – 14 Nov

Canadian spoken word festival is happening right now. Tickets are $7 for the slams starting at 7PM tonight,  $12 for the final at 7PM tomorrow Sat 14 Nov  and $10 for the late night cabaret starting at 11PM Tonight (Fri 13 Nov). Get tickets in advance at Lyle’s place or Spiral Cafe. Want more details: See their website at: http://www.davemorrisisa.com/cfsw.html

Kid friendly Crumsby’s Cupcake Café: Estevan Village

Crumsby's Cupcake Cafe

image credit: Mama in the City

While recently shopping at Estevan Village (2500 block Estevan Avenue) with a friend and her little girl I got the chance to visit Crumbsy’s Cupcake Cafe. I have wanted to try this new cafe since earlier this past summer I spotted its sign advertising cupcakes and its pretty, seaside holiday inspired decor. My long anticipated visit lived up to my expectations. When we stepped inside we found customers sipping tea served in brightly coloured ForLife teapots while lounging pretty outdoor style furniture finished in matt white paint. The holiday furniture is beautifully complemented by the brightly painted blue and yellow walls and the whimsical decorations, such as the tin picture above, perched on shelves.

Tea is served in cute ForLife Teapots

As the name of this cafe suggests Crumsby’s sell a range of cupcakes – in child and adult flavors – as well as mini-muffins in interesting flavors (raspberry oatmeal and lavender lemon). My friend and I both choose a mini-cakes which were delicious while my friend’s little girl had a healthier muffin.

For parents a highlight of Crumsby’s is the play area located  on one side of the cafe. A lot of thought has obviously gone into this space which is furnished with beautiful wooden toys, a large chalkboard and child sized furniture. While my friend and I chatted, drank tea and munched our lovely cup-cakes her little girl played very cheerfully. Indeed she was having so much fun when she thought her mum was coming over to take her home she bolted to the other side of the cafe. What ensued was a very amusing chase around the cafe until eventually the little run away was captured. Luckily for her it wasn’t time to head home. It was muffin time!And she seemed to enjoy the muffin very much. It seems that this little girl is not the only one to appreciate the play area as the cafe was mainly packed with mums and dads with little ones.

While Crumsby’s has many attractions for parents it is definitely a place that the childless will also enjoy. If you want to see a little more of the charms you can check out some lovely pics of the cafe interior and its changing flower displays taken by one of the women who works at the cafe. (see FlickR) or just check out the cafe itself, with or without a little one in tow!

image credit: Mama in the City

Details:

Crumsby’s Cupcake Café 250-595-2221. 2509 Estevan Ave.

In the Loop premiering at Cinecenta 11&12 Nov only!

If you enjoy political satire in the vein of Yes Minister and House of Cards then you’ll love In the Loop showing at Cinecenta for two more nights (Nov 11& 12; 7& 9.10pm). I cannot remember laughing so hard and so much in a long, long time. The New York times is spot on when it says that In the Loop is “a sharply written, fast-talking, almost dementedly articulate satire”

Check out the trailer on the film website

 

 

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).

Family day at the Victoria gallery Nov 15

Join the gallery for a day of hands-on art making for children and their families inspired by the current exhibition West Coast Modernism exploring abstraction, cubism, modern architecture, and more.