Me and the World of Food Writing

Hi friends,

I have not updated this blog in a long time and a few things have happened... Shared Vision, home of Fresh Greens, my food column,changed it's name and then stopped publishing.

In the meantime, I became an advocate for Backyard Chickens at the civic level, and penned some research and recommendations for a bylaw change. I pitched a piece to Edible Vancouver about my family history and chicken farming. It's in the Spring issue, available now.

I am currently pitching an issue for the Fall edition as well, and hope to woo them into allowing me to write more for this gorgeous magazine.

I'm also blogging for the Vancouver Food Policy Council of which I am a member.

Also, still eating and trying to come up with alliterative shirt tails.

Fresh Greens- October 2008

Eat In

Wheelhouse Seafoods doesn’t exactly qualify for spring chicken status (husband and wife team Catherine Jones and Trevor Yamamoto opened their doors at 2605 E. Hastings more than seven years ago). However, its commitment to providing fresh, local, and sustainable meats and seafood has been a passion since day one. In the summertime, the store revolves around fruits de mer, but in the fall, tasty land animals take centre stage. Heaps of research and face-to-face meetings with ranchers have resulted in a butcher’s case of free-range bison, free-run ducks, grass-fed beef, and, at this time of year, non-medicated turkeys. Call to reserve your ethical protein of choice for Thanksgiving dinner. 604-215-5562

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If you don’t feel like cooking those sustainable meats or mussels yourself, Subeez Café (891 Homer St.) will do it for you. Executive chef Leigh Power, who helped open the eatery and stayed on board till 2002, has returned to Subeez with a local and sustainable agenda. It isn’t the first time that Leigh’s had a vision of infusing this casual and super-hip restaurant with organic and local items, but he admits that the recent renos to the menu prove it’s getting easier to do the right thing. Subeez has signed up for the Ocean Wise program and is sourcing its beef from a medication-free Albertan ranch. For more options, check out their menu online. subeez.com

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With sophisticated flavours like lavender, kumquat, rhubarb, and lemongrass, DRY Soda’s offerings wouldn’t seem out of place in a high-end wine shop. These subtle and refined “culinary sodas” are lightly sweetened with pure cane sugar and housed in elegant, minimalist bottles. They might be a tad hard to spot on the shelf, but will look oh-so-classy on your dinner table (or in some Hollywood socialite’s manicured hand.) They’ve been available in the Seattle area for three years, and have finally made it across the border to land at Capers Whole Foods. DRY sodas are great on their own to serve to teetotalling guests, but for those who prefer a tipple, check out the tantalizing cocktail recipes on the company’s website. drysoda.com

Fresh Greens- September 2008

BY Trish Kelly

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Now in its fifth year, Passions 2008 brings culinary wizards from 18 of Vancouver’s top restaurants to the West End to raise funds for the Dr. Peter AIDS Foundation. Taking place Sept. 14, from 6 to 9 pm, Passions will be hosted by CBC news anchor Gloria Macarenko, and will feature delectable dishes from C Restaurant, Chambar, Provence Restaurants, and Tojo’s, among others. The event happens at the Dr. Peter Centre (1110 Comox St.), the only HIV/AIDS day health program and 24-hour care residence in B.C. Take this opportunity to take a peek at the facilities, which include a kitchen and café, as well as a nap room and art therapy studio. Tickets are $200 and of a limited number, so snap yours up before it’s too late: 604-331-3452, drpetercentre.ca

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Geez, it isn’t easy being green sometimes, especially if you’re a pepperoni pizza. You can search the supermarket freezer for an organic version of ’za that includes this most famous topping till your glasses fog up, but no go. According to Dominic Fielden from Rocky Mountain Flatbread, it’s a Canadian labelling issue: you can call it “organic spicy sausage,” but without the tasty zip of added sulfites, it’s technically not pepperoni. The coded description doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, but RMF’s Spiced Sausage & Tomato pizza will melt in your mouth. This new addition joins the company’s three veggie pizza options in a freezer near you. Get yours at Choices, Capers, Whole Foods, or Famous Foods. (Sorry, no delivery.)

rockymountainflatbread.ca

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Foodies and moviegoers are rejoicing over the opening of a second Meinhardt Fine Foods location, at Arbutus and 16th Avenue, next door to the Ridge Theatre. The great programming at the Ridge has tempted many to make the trek across town for a brilliantly paired double bill, and now indie film lovers can hop next door after the show and stock up on the darndest things, from organic eggs to black truffle oil. The store has a lot going for it, even in comparison to the Granville location: 100 parking spots, 15,000 square feet, and a whole whack of Meinhardt’s select private label. With a floor-to-ceiling glass facade, a bounty of fresh flowers, and bold graphics, the store would be like Trader Joe’s if Joe swapped his Hawaiian shirt for a tux. meinhardt.com

Trish Kelly lives and eats in Vancouver. She likes literal labels, passionate chefs, and alliterative retailers. At her request, SharedVISION donates Trish’s contributor fee to a local food-focused non-profit organization. This month’s recipient is Vancouver Fruit Tree Project (vcn.bc.ca/fruit ), where neighbours come together to harvest and distribute fruit for people in need.

Fresh Greens- August 2008

by TRISH KELLY

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Barb Langford’s edible flowers are legendary to those who like to nibble on marigolds and geraniums. But in order to get your hands on her line of biscuits and cookies, you’d have to order online or make a special trip to her petal gardens in Langley. Until now. This month marks Barb’s first foray into retail when Langford Three-Fig Biscuits will appear at Choices Markets and Planet Organic Market. Made with organic canola and whole wheat flour, the Three Figs are a blend of Smyrna figs from Turkey, black figs from Mission, and white Calimyrna figs from California (all organic). While baking cookies may seem like a strange choice for a woman who grows edible flowers, get ready to learn from your bickies: who knew that figs were actually inverted flowers? langfordfoods.com

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Inspired by the success of Slow Food Cycle Sunday Pemberton (and an excellent excuse to reuse the cycling snail logo from their spring Bike the Blossoms event), Slow Food Vancouver and the farmers of Agassiz are hosting a self-guided bike-tour-cum-culinary adventure Aug. 9. Five bucks and pre-registration gets you the map. SFV is encouraging folks to come for the day or the whole weekend; check out their website for great tips on where to stay and how to get there. If you’re looking for less cycling and more food, consider volunteering as a personal assistant to one of the vending farmers. Not only will this make you feel useful, it’ll allow a farmer to say—perhaps for the only time in his or her life—“Have your people talk to my people.”slowfoodvancouver.com

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Unless you walk down Victoria Drive to avoid the crowds on Commercial, you may not know that the wee storefront at the corner of Grant and Victoria is now home to a second location of South China Seas Trading Co. That’s the gorgeous store in Granville Island Market you can count on whenever you need fresh turmeric or Thai ginger. The opening makes Victoria Drive a foodie crawl just waiting to happen: start at the Trout Lake Farmers Market, where the month of August is local veggie heaven, then make your way to South China Seas for whatever seasonings or dressings you need to make those carrots and beans really sparkle. The new store also has a kitchen—perfect for hosting co-owner Don Dickson’s cooking classes, which kick off this month. southchinaseas.ca

Trish Kelly lives and eats in Vancouver. She likes petal pushers, pedal pushers, and farmers with entourages. At her request, SharedVISION donates Trish’s contributor fee to a local food-focused non-profit organization. This month’s recipient is Farm Folk City Folk (ffcf.bc.ca), which hosts the Vancouver foodie tradition Feast of Fields Sept. 7 at UBC Farm.

Fresh Greens- July 2008

by TRISH KELLY

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Though soup isn’t normally a mainstay of summer menus, once you’ve tasted Happy Planet’s new line of natural and organic soups, you’ll be looking for any excuse to pick them up. For instance, you can throw a pot of Berkeley Butternut Squash on the stove and, while it’s heating, call the family back east and rub it in about the line’s exclusive West Coast launch. That means you’ll have two months of delicious lunches behind you before HP’s Moroccan Chick Pea, Armenian Red Lentil, and other choices hit the rest of Canada in September. Other good reasons to pick them up include their low-sodium, low-fat content, and the promise that small batches produced in the HP “souperie” (the cutest franglais word ever to make it out of Quebec, by the way) will keep the flavours fresh and vibrant. happyplanet.com

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If you aren’t lucky enough to call the Hastings-Sunrise neighbourhood home, taking the kids to the PNE is a great excuse to visit one of my neighbourhood haunts: the Schokolade Café at 2263 E. Hastings. Not only will you find a wide variety of artisan chocolates made with B.C. produce including blueberries, raspberries, and hazelnuts, but the Black Hole Milkshake (with 70 per cent cocoa), will thrill you the way the Corkscrew at Playland did before you discovered cocoa nibs. Alternatively, if you feel like putting the kids to work, Schokolade offers chocolate-making workshops throughout July and August for children ages 5 to 12. And let’s be honest: that’s a skill set you’re bound to appreciate way more than finger painting or macaroni art. schokoladecafe.com

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If you aren’t lucky enough to call the Hastings-Sunrise neighbourhood home, taking the kids to the PNE is a great excuse to visit one of my neighbourhood haunts: the Schokolade Café at 2263 E. Hastings. Not only will you find a wide variety of artisan chocolates made with B.C. produce including blueberries, raspberries, and hazelnuts, but the Black Hole Milkshake (with 70 per cent cocoa), will thrill you the way the Corkscrew at Playland did before you discovered cocoa nibs. Alternatively, if you feel like putting the kids to work, Schokolade offers chocolate-making workshops throughout July and August for children ages 5 to 12. And let’s be honest: that’s a skill set you’re bound to appreciate way more than finger painting or macaroni art. schokoladecafe.com

Trish Kelly lives and eats in Vancouver. She believes in dark chocolate, recipe swapping, and the magic of a corkscrew. At her request, SharedVISION donates Trish’s writer’s fee to a local food-focused nonprofit organization. This month, two children in the Kiwassa Neighbourhood House’s Breakfast Club for Kids program (www.kiwassa.bc.ca) will receive scholarships to Schokolade Café’s chocolate-making workshop.

Fresh Greens- June 2008

by TRISH KELLY

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When two foodies meet and fall in love, beautiful things can happen. Take the Corazon (“Heart” in español) Bar from lovebirds Marisa and Kent Goodwin-McKay. A standout from their fair-trade product line, Organic Fair, this dark chocolate treat marries vanilla from Madagascar with cacao nibs, honey, and rose essence to make the most romantic chocolate indulgence imaginable. And they had a pretty inspiring motive: Kent, who lives with Marisa on their organic farm in Cobble Hill, B.C., calls it their “wedding bar”; they dreamed up the formula for guests who attended their nuptials. Lucky folks who visit the farm (yes, it’s open to visitors) may get a chance to try Kent’s latest concoction, the “Canadiana,” a chocolate bar resplendent with the sweet grit of maple crystals and a touch of smoked sea salt. Eleven bars, a line of fine spices, plus fair-trade organic teas are available at organicfair.com.

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Grave predictions about this season’s B.C. sockeye run have some chefs hemming and hawing over whether we’ll see it on sustainable menus this season. You can still plan that special grill fest for Father’s Day, though, because the Iron Maiden Seafoods company has lots of sustainable choices on offer for barbecue season. Troll-caught pink, coho, and spring salmon will be available, as well as sashimi-quality B.C. albacore tuna, known for its low mercury content and relatively healthy stock levels. You can meet Iron Maiden owners Daryl and Gigi Egan at the Trout Lake and Kitsilano farmers’ markets this month. For info on retailers/delivery, visit wildseafoods.com.

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With kitty-corner cafés in Vancouver catering to our collective java addiction, bringing your own mug is just the sustainable thing to do—and now it can even save you a few cents. Last month, Salt Spring Coffee’s three Vancouver cafés began charging patrons a five-cent green tax whenever they bought a drink in a disposable cup. Funds collected will go towards local sustainability initiatives. Coffee drinkers who bring their own mug, on the other hand, receive a 15-cent discount. How much more motivation does a caffeine freak need? Well, Salt Spring has a few other ideas, one of them an online quiz, the Carbon Cool Challenge, that tests your global warming IQ. Developed in partnership with the Sierra Club of B.C., this game might even give Al Gore something to ponder. saltspringcoffee.com

Trish Kelly lives and eats in Vancouver. She likes gritty chocolate, green coffee, and trolling vessels named after metal bands. At her request, SharedVISION donates Trish’s freelance fee to a local food-focused non-profit organization. This month’s recipient is Pacific Salmon Foundation (psf.ca), an organization dedicated to rebuilding healthy, sustainable, and naturally diverse Pacific salmon stocks.

Fresh Greens- May 2008

May Fresh Greens

by TRISH KELLY

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From nature walks with Andrew Weil to tasty feasts like a beachside oyster barbecue, a visit to Hollyhock, the educational retreat centre on Cortes Island, can be a life-changing experience. In the Hollyhock kitchen, a commitment to organic growing and using local ingredients whenever possible stacks the cooking philosophy with integrity. Moreka Jolar, former head chef at Hollyhock and co-author of Hollyhock Cooks: Food to Nourish Body, Mind and Soil, will host a five-day workshop called “The Passionate Cook” at the retreat this summer on meal planning, knife skills, and how to create a balanced vegetarian diet. The course is $455 (meals and accommodation extra), so start saving your pennies. And book early, because space is limited. hollyhock.ca

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Like Santa’s elves getting ready for Christmas in late November, you can bet the folks at East Vancouver Farmers Market Society are clocking late nights in preparation for the Trout Lake market, opening May 17. And, like small children, Eastside foodies are counting the sleeps—even if they got their fix all winter long thanks to the very successful Winter Farmers Market every other Saturday at the WISE Hall. But Westside folks didn’t have it so easy. And unless they’re willing to cross that magic east-west divide and journey to Trout Lake, they’ll have to wait until June 1 for the Kitsilano market to open. By then, the Riley Park market will be mere sleeps away from its opening June 4, while West End market groupies will get their first fix June 7. eatlocal.org

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Tea oil is the oil of choice in China and Japan for everything from stir-fries and tempura to setting the hair of sumo wrestlers. And now Treasure Green invites you to try its Camellia Tea Oil right here in Vancouver. High in antioxidants, tea oil also has a very high smoke point—240 C—which means it can withstand high-heat frying. It’s also believed that oils that go past their smoke point may contain more free radicals, so tea oil pulls double duty in both contributing to a smoke-free kitchen and possibly reducing your risk of cancer. So the next time you feel like cranking the blue flame for a quick stir-fry—or slicking back the hair of your favourite sumo—a bottle of Treasure Green should do the trick. Available at Whole Foods, Capers, Stong’s Market (4560 Dunbar St.), and treasuregreen.com.

Trish Kelly lives and eats in Vancouver. She likes sumo fashion, arriving to market fashionably early, and retreating with a good book. At her request, SharedVISION donates Trish’s freelance fee to a local food-focused non-profit organization. This month’s recipient is RainCity Housing and Support Society (raincityhousing.org).