excess verbiage

Hmm... judging by this trailer, I'm going to say that this looks quite promising. I'm a sucker for anything involving vampires, so I hope this turns out to be good!

This isn't my cat. Nor is it the cat of anyone I know. This is a cat that comes to my sister's back door every now and then, and just sits there peeking inside. It's a neighbour's cat from across the street, and from time to time it likes to lay on my sister and brother-in-law's patio. We were over for a bbq recently and while we were inside, we noticed the infamous cat outside. It doesn't really do much.

I'm pretty sure it's a boy cat though, judging by its muscular build. Apparently one time my sister left the door open for a second and then next thing she knew, he was making himself at home on the floor in the living room, ready to nap on the carpet. Sometimes he'll stand on his two hind feet scratching at the door to come in. But mostly he just sits and stares inside, like a peeping tom or stalker. It's the funniest thing.

A couple of months ago I went for high tea at this place called The Secret Garden. A few of us were treating my little niece for her birthday. It was super frilly and prissy - kind of a Laura Ashley vibe, if you know what I mean. I really liked it. The food itself isn't as good as The Empress in Victoria, but really, nothing is. So with that in mind, this was a great little place and what they do, they do quite well. Here are a few pics...

knick knacks for sale at the back of the store

teas and tea-related items for sale

little sandwiches - beef, pastrami, egg salad

scones, jersey cream, jam, and banana bread

lemon tarts, chocolate ganache, and something with pistacchios

your individual teapots

Yeah, I'm still on this burger kick. Here's a couple more that I've had over the past couple of months.

Okay, so in an effort to try to eat better quality foods, I'm taking baby steps by starting with eggs. I went to Safeway and instead of zeroing in on my usual purchase, I actually looked at the other options on the shelf, and I honestly never noticed them before. Who knew they even sold free range eggs? I certainly didn't! So I picked up a carton and though I kind of cringed a little at the cost, as opposed to the regular ones, I was happy with my purchase. I can spend an extra $2. It's not the end of the world.

When I got home and cracked open one of them, I was amazed to see the difference in the colour of the yolks. They're actually bright orange! I guess this is what eggs are supposed to look like?? I'm so used to the pale yellow. The taste wasn't terribly different, not enough for me to swear off regular eggs. But I think it's just knowing in my head that it's a better quality, I felt pretty good about that purchase. And like I said, it's a baby step. Not sure I can switch to free range meats just yet - the price difference is too big for me to do that permanently. But I think I could deal with the swtich in eggs. By the way, I snagged the picture above from here.

... does it rain for 10 months out of the year, yet people still freak out about watering their lawns during the summer. I think it's pretty hysterical to watch some of these people obsess over how green their lawns are. I'll water my plants in the garden, but I couldn't really give a rat's ass about the lawn. Once in a long while, if it really hasn't rained in weeks and it's really hot, then I might just throw the hose on the lawn and let it flow. But I've got no time for sprinklers, let alone adjusting them every half hour.

The funny thing to me is, no matter how dry the grass gets over the summer - and it can get pretty dry and dead looking - it ALWAYS goes back to lush green. The incessant rain in this city for 80% of the year means that I don't need to water my lawn. It means we don't have to waste water on stuff like that.

The fact that we have rain most of the time yet still have water restrictions seems like insult to injury, but it does seem like a waste. So for the people who sprinkle their lawns the maximum of twice a week, fine. But the people who actually get built-in automatic sprinklers? Come on - everyone in Vancouver's got automatic sprinklers - it's called the sky. I promise, for 10 months of the year, your lawn will be beautiful. So just lay back and enjoy the sunshine. Nevermind your lawn!

I've been slacking on the blogging lately, but it's just pure laziness. I've got a bunch of things to post about, I just need to sit down and actually write it up. The sunshine and some other things have kept me preoccupied lately, but I'll get crackin' soon. Twitter's a bit easier lately for my short attention span and randomness. New posts soon, I promise!

This isn't a food blog or anything, but I know that I've been posting a lot lately about food. Just been watching some shows and reading some articles and books about nutrition and so, it's been on my mind. One of the things I keep hearing chefs praise is sourcing your food locally. There's even a show on Food Network Canada called the 100 Mile Challenge, where people in this town have to eat nothing but food from a 100 mile radius for 3 months or so.

I can understand eating things that are grown locally. I think it's good to make use of what's natural to the region you're in. But I've heard some people essentially say that it's better to eat locally rather than to get items that have been imported

Here's what I don't really get - what's wrong with goods brought in from outside your local area? And is there something wrong with farmers trying to export their goods outside of their local region? Last time I check that was called TRADE. Without imports and exports, how would farmers and producers ever be able to make money to support themselves? Supplying only the local area couldn't possibly be enough to sustain a farmer's business. (And let's not forget - farming IS a business.)

If I can support local farmers, then why not support farmers and producers globally? We all depend on food, and we all depend on importing and exporting, and supply and demand. That's how it works.

Without importing and exporting on a global scale, Japan wouldn't have the best tuna from Prince Edward Island to serve at one of its 2 Michelin star restaurants. Check out this video from the show, Chef Abroad, part 1 and part 2, to see what I mean. Do you think PEI fishermen could make a living by only selling their tuna locally? Not a chance. As this episode demonstrates, the Japanese marketplace is contributing to the sustainability of the PEI fishing industry.

On another level, I like cooking a lot of ethnic food, and I like knowing that some of my items are authentic, and have come directly from China, Italy, Greece, Thailand, wherever, etc. Where the hell would we get olive oil in Canada if we only supported local products? And you know what? Some people never get a chance to travel that much, so for them, finding an exotic ingredient in their local supermarket may be the closest thing they'll get to experiencing different food cultures. Rich people take it for granted and quite often preach about eating organic and local, but they're the only ones who are able to actually travel to these other places to experience the local food to that region.

Encouraging people to eat locally grown food is great. We should all make use of and appreciate locally grown food products. But discouraging people from using non-local ingredients? That's just silly.

Interesting.... apparently this season's winner of Hell's Kitchen will get to work at Araxi, in Whistler Village. I remember hearing Gordon Ramsay say in an interview with... George Stroumboulopoulos, I think, that one of his fave restaurants in Canada is Araxi. So I guess he put his money where his mouth is.

Looks like a nice restaurant with posh food. In other words, I probably will never be able to afford eating there!

He also talked about how realistically, a working-class family may not be able to afford organic food, but that farmers and food sustainability consultants are trying to improve quality and conditions so that there are midrange products that are both feasible for the farmers to produce, and for the average family to afford.

If you've ever bought chicken breasts from places like Costco, then you're familiar with how ridiculously gigantic the pieces of meat are. You have to stop and think, how in the holy hell are these chicken breasts so large? It's not normal, and how many hormones or whatever else are they pumping into these chickens? It's to the point where even I, a pretty apathetic person when it comes to ethical food and sustainability and all of that, thinks that there's something wrong with it.

Jamie also showed the difference in colour and quality of organic eggs vs regular eggs. It's pretty amazing when you see the comparison. Makes me think, why am I eating inferior food? Cost has always been my main decision-making factor at the grocery store, but I think that Jamie Oliver has convinced me that paying more for a quality product should be the norm. Unless of course, more farmers change the way they produce food and lean towards organic farming. But that's never likely to happen 100%. Maybe 50% is feasible though?

Anyway, damn you, Jamie Oliver, for making me more conscientious about my food choices! I can't look at food the same way anymore. Well, I guess that was your point, huh?! ;)