Thirty8 and the Chocolate Box

One night we went across the street to the Hyatt and ate at Thirty8 - which is, not surprisingly, on the 38th floor with great views of the Petronas Towers.



One of the highlights was the delicious "Chocolate Box for Two" desert which came in a box made of chocolate and contained raspberry & dark chocolate mousse, crispy meringue, mixed berry granita, and chocolate pearls. Here's the deconstruction:

Backcountry Caffeination

One of the problems with no-cook backpacking trips is that it means no coffee :-(

Although I'm not a huge coffee drinker (one or two cups per day) I still feel the effects of going cold turkey. If you're used to drinking more you probably feel it worse.

Our last trip in Glacier National Park is a good example. Around noon on the second day I was trying to figure out why I had a headache. Was I dehydrated? Was it the sun? Eventually (I can be a little slow!) I realized that it had been a bit more than 24 hours since my last coffee.

I could just tough it out for a few days but wanting to maximize the enjoyment of the trip I usually bring a coffee substitute.

The easiest alternative I've found is caffeinated energy gels (e.g. Clif Shots or PowerGels or GU). You can usually find ones with either 25 or 50 mg of caffeine, sometimes labelled as one or two "shots" (as in shots of espresso). I find two days of 50 mg and then two days of 25 mg is sufficient to ween me off the addiction. Obviously, your mileage may vary.

Another option (although I haven't tried it) would be some kind of instant coffee that you can make with cold water, like Starbucks VIA Caramel.

[Update]
Here's another option: VOKE TAB
If Conrad uses them, they must be good :-)

Peppers

I love the profusion of produce at the farmers market this time of year.

iPhone + Lightroom (click for larger view)

Silver City

[by Shelley]

After a couple days hiking and climbing around Phoenix, we got rained out and decided to head further south and east to the Gila Wilderness. The original plan was to do a multi-day hike around here but the weather forecast was lousy. We decided to check out the area anyway for future reference. The last 45 minutes of the drive to Silver City was in the dark and through a snow and wind storm. Visibility was nearly nil, it got icier and icier and the only way we could see where the road went was by the reflective posts at the side of the road.

But we arrived safe and sound and booked into the Palace Hotel. Built in the late 1800's it has a lot of interest and character to it. We asked the receptionist about places to eat and she first pointed out Isaac's across the street, highlighting the great bison burgers. When we said we were vegetarian she immediately said "Oh, you have to go to Shevek's." We did and it was awesome! Immediately upon entering, you pass through the small bar area and past the display full of handmade chocolates and desserts. The menu has three sizes of each dish -- tapa, mezze, and entree. We asked the waiter for vegetarian recommendations and almost half of the large menu was suitable. In order to try more things, we had the mezze size of the salad and tapas sizes of the other dishes:

Spinach, Cabrales Blue Cheese and Walnut Salad
with an aged sherry vinegar and walnut oil dressing.

Eggs with Fromage and Wild Mushrooms
soft scrambled eggs finished with freshly made fromage and topped with wild mushroom "caviar."

Spinach Briouats
traditional Moroccan street food. Spinach and herb-stuffed phyllo dough "cigar." Served with tzatziki on a bed of greens.

Grilled Stuffed Portabello Mushroom
with roasted red pepper pesto on a bed of greens.

Spicy Chickpea and Eggplant Stew
spiced with garlic, red pepper flakes and cooked in a sauce of roasted tomatoes and fresh herbs. Served over cous cous confit.

Accompanied by a nice Luna Rossa Shiraz, made locally at Deming, New Mexico. (We were impressed that the waiter recommended a local and quite inexpensive wine.) And followed by dessert of yummy chocolate cake with peach and raspberry filling. There were only a few people in the restaurant and the chef came out and chatted with us. Even the background music was good.

We might have to go back again tonight to try a few more of the options!

This morning after the included breakfast at the hotel we had coffee, tea and reading time at the Javelina Coffee House which is also in the Palace Hotel building. It's large and funky with an eclectic crowd. The doors are set deep into the building and there are raised window seating areas. The place is filled with assorted mismatched tables, comfy chairs, and couches, mostly of quite old vintage. There were people on laptops (free wifi), some seated at the in-house computer terminals, a group of women that appeared to be a conversational Spanish group, and a couple guys that I can only describe as "rubby dubs". It was an interesting mix!

We wandered the downtown area for a short while and since it was sunny decided that we should try to get out for a hike. We drove just 6 miles up the road to Pinos Altos only to find ourselves once again in the middle of snow, wind and icy roads. Ok, maybe we won't hike after all! We wandered some more, this time going into several of the art galleries, art shops and the museum. It's a very historic area with lots of old buildings and interesting architecture. There is lots of art around - as one of the locals told us, "Silver City is full of starving artists".

This is a really nice town and we definitely look forward to coming back when it's warmer and doing some hiking in the Gila Wilderness.

2011-02 Silver City

Whole Foods Dinner

Shelley figures we shouldn't eat out every night (she gets some strange ideas sometimes!) so we picked up food for supper from Whole Foods. We needed to stay "home" to do laundry anyway.

We managed a tasty menu:

Buddha Jewels - tofu, peanut butter, peppers, water chestnuts, sesame seeds

Black Quinoa salad - quinoa, feta cheese, spinach, sweet potato

Stuffed Portobello mushroom - stuffed with green and red peppers, eggs (cage free), mozzarella, and parmesan


Margherita Tofu Lasagna - spinach lasagna noodles, tomatoes, tofu, cheese

For desert, a dark chocolate turtle for me, and a Grand Marnier chocolate for Shelley

And all accompanied by an organic Frey California Syrah :-)

Agave

For the most part, Las Vegas is a wasteland for the kinds of restaurants we like - small, quiet, slow, local, organic, etc. Last night we ate at a place called Agave (presumably named after the agave plant). It wasn't quite as small or as quiet as I'd like, but the food was excellent and the building and decor was nice. Here's what we had, all very tasty.

Crispy “Street Style” Quesadilla
corn masa turnovers served with avocado-tomatillo purée, red fresno sauce, blackened jalapeño crema and spicy poblano carrot salad

Agave Ensalada de la Casa
mixed field greens with toasted pine nuts, warm goat cheese, pears, vine-ripened tomatoes and balsamic vinaigrette

Black Bean and Smoked Cheddar Soup
black bean soup mixed with smoked cheddar cheese, salsa fresca and fire roasted serrano cornbread

Potato and Portabella Mushroom Tacos
yukon gold potatoes, stewed with chipotle peppers, caramelized onions, spicy tomato sauce and queso fresco

It was well accompanied by a glass of Lo Tengo Torrontes

PS. We only found this place because it is next door to the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf we have been frequenting for our morning pre-climbing coffee. (Which we also discovered by accident, but really like.)

Sustainable Gourmet

Last night Shelley and I went to the Saskatchewan Environmental Society's Sustainable Gourmet dinner fund raiser. It sounded good, and it's a worthwhile cause.

We really enjoyed it. The food was great and and lots was vegetarian. They even let the vegetarians go up to the buffet first!

We enjoyed the conversation with the other people at our table. And there were no long speeches! Only a short entertaining one about the history of the SES since it's their 40th anniversary.

This was their fifth year, although it was the first year for us. We'll definitely consider going next year.

The Joy of Fresh Bread

You won't catch me eating supermarket white bread (yuck!) but I love good fresh bread, especially whole wheat.

Back when we quit our jobs and started working full time (~ 1985) for my company (Axon) we used to work out of my apartment and I would regularly bake bread for all of us. Nothing like working at the computer with the smell of fresh bread baking!

It's been a long time since I baked bread. Shelley and I buy most of our bread from Earth Bound Bakery (usually walnut current and 100% whole wheat red fife). We used to buy from them when they were at the farmers market. It was handy for us when they opened their store next door to Dad's Organic Market where we also shop. I like their bread and I like supporting them.

I was also buying bagels to use for my lunches. When we got back from Peru I decided to start baking some of my own bread instead of buying bagels. I'm not much of a cook, in fact I almost never cook anything more complicated that boiling pasta. But baking bread is kinda fun and I like the results.

There are a ton of bread recipes on the internet. I wasn't looking for anything fancy, the simpler the better. I started with the recipe for One-Load Whole Bread. But you can simplify even this simple recipe.

• The vegetable oil, dry milk, and wheat bran are optional. Throw them in if you have them, otherwise, don't worry about it.
• I use all whole wheat flour (organic from Dad's). I'm sure using some white flour makes a difference, but I'm just as happy without it.
• You can skip turning the dough out onto a floured board and just knead it in the original bowl.
• You can skip transferring the dough into a greased bowl and just let it rise in the original bowl.

Quantities and times aren't critical. I find their quantities too small for the bread pans we have (5" x 9" and 3" deep) so I increase the quantities by about 50% (i.e. 3 cups of flour instead of 2).You can throw in extra ingredients like sunflower seeds or oatmeal for variety.

Simplified like this, it only takes me about 15 minutes to make a loaf of bread. Cleanup is easy because you just have one dirty bowl :-) Of course, you have to be around for 2 or 3 hours but that's not a problem on the days I'm working at home.

Note: I'm no expert, I'm just reporting what works for me i.e. that produces results that I'm happy to eat. Your mileage may differ.

How Not to Run a Restaurant

Our least satisfying restaurant experience on this trip wasn't from some hole in the wall in remote Peru. Surprisingly, it came from our last night in Bonaire when we went to a restaurant that had been recommended to us - Richards. 

We're always a little cautious about recommendations because a restaurant may be great and yet not have much for vegetarians. We checked the menu and there was almost nothing vegetarian so we stopped in and asked, since many restaurants will make something not on the menu. We were told "no problem", they could make rice, pasta, or potato dishes with vegetables. 

So a few days later we went back for supper. The restaurant is in a lovely location, right on the water, facing the sunset and the waves. We started with a glass of wine and a Caesar salad, which was excellent. 

The owner was circulating (at least his name was Richard and he was acting like the owner). We listened to him describe some of their dishes to the table behind us, going on about the spices and sauces and the creativity of the chef. My mouth was watering just listening to him. 

But when our meals arrived it was a big disappointment. It was, literally, what they had told us - rice/pasta with vegetables. But that was it - no sauce, no spices, no flavor, no presentation. Just a pile of plain rice or plain pasta with some boiled vegetables beside it. Neither of us ate much of it. We drank our wine and ate the bread. Eventually the waitress asked if everything was alright and I said no and explained. She was young and taken aback and didn't know what to say. (I didn't get mad at her, just explained.) 

Obviously, she told the owner because a bit later he told her (in front of us) not to charge us. But he pointedly avoided talking to us. If he had come and talked to us, with an explanation if not an apology, that would have gone a long way to appeasing us. They could have offered to make us something different.   A free dessert wouldn't have hurt either. Getting the food we didn't like and didn't eat for free was better than nothing, but not really what we were looking for. 

I'm not sure what the story was. Maybe the chef thinks vegetarians are stupid. I don't have a problem if a restaurant chooses not to cater to vegetarians - just say so up front. Don't tell us you'll serve us and then do a crappy job of it. It doesn't do either of us any good. We could easily have gone somewhere else. Or came here just for dessert. 

It was especially bad in contrast with another restaurant we'd been to a few nights before - Appetite. They also had nothing vegetarian on their menu. They also told us they would come up with something for us. But, in contrast, their chef did an awesome job, serving us a delicious meal with a wonderful variety of ingredients, tastes, and presentation. (We love the local goat cheese.)

And another contrast was Sense, a restaurant we went back to s second time because we liked it so much. They didn't have to do anything special for vegetarians - they simply put enough vegetarian options on the menu to start with. Options that I'm sure lots of non-vegetarians took advantage of. 

So, Richards has a great location, and may have good meat and seafood dishes, but if you're vegetarian I'd pass. And if you have a problem don't expect it to be handled with much finesse.

PS. After leaving Richards we walked into town to go to Bambu (another place we liked) for dessert, but they were closed :-( Restaurants here seem to close quite randomly and regularly. 

So we went to the restaurant next door - La Luna (a place we hadn't tried) but when we asked if we could look at their dessert menu the waitress told us she was too busy to serve us, even though the restaurant was barely half full. And it was past the peak supper time by now.

We decided we were fighting a losing battle and went back to our room to pack. 

Cheap Food

We seem to have an expectation that food should be cheap, that it's somehow "wrong" for good food to be more expensive.

But that seems strange to me. Don't we normally expect "better" to be more expensive? You expect "better" cars to be more expensive, better tv's, better cameras, better holidays. So why is food different?

Over recent history, the percentage of income we spend on food has declined drastically. People in many other countries expect to pay a much bigger percentage of their income on food

Maybe we've gotten so used to this dropping cost that when we encounter more expensive food it somehow seems "wrong". Then again, maybe it's corporations like MacDonalds that have brainwashed us into thinking that cheap is the only choice.

When you consider that we're talking about our bodies and our health, our life itself, you'd think we'd place more importance on food. But no, MacDonalds is cheaper so we'll eat there, even though in most other things we wouldn't be caught dead going for the "cheapest" choice.

I'm not talking about people that are starving or can't afford to buy food. I'm talking about us privileged people who spend all kinds of money on consumer goods, but still resent having to pay for good food.

It seems to me, that when I buy an apple and it's coming all the way from New Zealand, that it ought to be expensive!

Personally, I'm lucky to be able to afford good food, local food when & where I can get it, organic food where possible. And I don't mind one bit paying a premium for it. My only frustration is that it shouldn't only be people that are well off that can afford to eat well.

Big Food

GOODMAN: Is the public turning against 'Big Food'?

I hope so.

Souleio - A New Restaurant/Deli/Shop

Shelley and I went to Souleio for lunch today.

Souleio Foods embodies the true meaning of the word “organic” - authentic, artisanal foods produced with care and attention to the natural environment, encouraging both pride of place and pride in people within our own community and other communities around the globe.

The food was great (we shared a salad and a panini) and the store section had some interesting items. They're also selling some wine which is a brand new experience here, since until very recently you could only buy at government liquor stores.

But ... I was very disappointed to first get our food in a disposable takeout container, and then get our drinks in disposable plastic cups. Just to be clear, we were sitting in the restaurant area, there was no confusion that we wanted takeout.

For a place that makes a big thing about "sustainable" and "care and attention to the natural environment" I expect better. I emailed them to urge them to consider alternatives.

Spring Road Trip

Shelley and I just got back from a week of climbing, starting around Banff and continuing to Penticton, BC where we climbed at Skaha.

As usual, we found some good places to eat... (all new to us)

In Banff we went to the Bison Restaurant and Lounge. On the way there to the restaurant, and on the way back to the lounge for fondue. As well as great food, it's situated in the Bison Courtyard which is a high performance green building containing a blend of retail, residential, and restaurant space. It's similar (although smaller) to the Rivergreen Ecovillage that is being planned for Saskatoon (and that we're seriously considering buying into).

In Penticton we started with the Hooded Merganser. I liked the name, and the pictures on the internet looked nice. We had a little trouble finding it. Knowing it was on the water, we drove up and down the beach but couldn't find it. It turned out to be inside the Resort/Casino. That turned me off a little, but luckily the restaurant was quite separate. We weren't very hungry so we sat in the lounge and had appetizers. It wasn't very busy so we had a quite meal with a great view of the lake. (Coincidentally, a duck I had photographed a few days earlier near Banff turned out to be a Hooded Merganser!)

For coffee we went to Fibonacci Roastery & Cafe. Kind of a funky place, but good coffee and deserts and comfy couches. We went back one evening for some live jazz.

We also really enjoyed Lee's Fusion and Amanti Bistro.

Finally, the evening we visited our friend Ellen in Summerland, we went to the Vanilla Pod Tapas and Wine Bar. They were very accomodating to our vegetarian needs and came up with several options for us that weren't on the menu.

Of course, we also sampled a few of the local wines (and brought a few home). We only made it to two wineries - Soaring Eagle and Zero Balance, both owned by Holman Lang Wineries. Both had some tasty wines. It was the first time we'd been to the Naramata bench - there are a ton of wineries in this small area.

We also did some climbing...

We were climbing at Skaha Bluffs, one of our favorite spots. Skaha has had access issues over the last few years but things seem to be resolved now. The new parking lot is great, although it turned out to be much too small for the busy long weekend. During the week when we were there it was fine.

Shelley's climbing in the gym all winter gave her the advantage this trip. Oh well, it gave me an excuse to get her to lead the hard stuff :-) We did our usual favorites like Plum Line, although we didn't do Double Exposure this trip. The weather was cloudy a fair bit and sprinkled a few drops, but for climbing that's probably better than too hot.

And, of course, some photographs...

2009-05 Banff & Penticton

More Michael Pollan on Food

I recently mentioned a New York Times article by Michael Pollan on food. This video of John Battelle interviewing Michael Pollan is from the Web 2.0 Summit talks about that article and more.



They touch on lower gas prices and wonder, as I have recently, if lower gas prices are a move by the oil industry to sabotage the environmental advances that have been driven by high gas prices.

Michael Pollan on Food

Lately I've been reading Michael Pollan's books about food and the food industry. (The Botany of Desire, The Omnivore's Dilemma, In Defense of Food) (I actually got started on his books with A Place of My Own about building his own cabin, nothing to do with food.)

His recent article in the New York Times gives a good overview of his ideas.

Eating locally is tough in Saskatchewan, especially in the winter. But Shelley and I do try to get what we can from the farmer's market. And while we don't eat "junk" food, we do tend to use pre-packaged convenience foods, albeit usually "organic" or "healthy" ones (for whatever that's worth).