The Queen Bee's Knees

Celebrity Chefs Reveal Secret Ingredient: Kale!

2012-02-09T11:15:00.000-08:00

Design a character who is a celebrity chef.

Name: what you wear and your famous dish.

Name of your restaurant and cookbook.

What style of cooking are you famous for? BBQ, decadent desserts, Malaysian, sushi, raw food, etc.

Signature Kale Smoothie

Ingredients: Presentation

Signature Kale Soup: Ingredients and Presentation

Other signature kale dish.

Let's Cheer for Kale!

2012-02-09T11:08:00.000-08:00

Get into teams of four or three and develop a cheer about kale. Try to make it interactive and physical. Use rhythm and rhyme, or approximate rhyme.

Here's an example:

Kale is cool,

kale is sweet,

good to drink and good to eat!

Drink it in a blueberry smoothie

put it in your chicken soup.

Vitamin A (repeat A)

Vitamin C (repeat C)

Vitamin K (repeat K)

Helps you work, helps you play.

Say Kale, times 3. (Kale! Kale! Kale) Whoop!

Health Benefits of Kale

2012-02-09T11:04:00.000-08:00

Types of kale: Lacinato, (Dinosaur Kale)

Curly Kale, Purple Curly Kale, Red Russian, White Russian, Ornamental

Vitamins: A, C, and K.

Minerals: manganese, calcium, copper

Omega 3

Antioxidents prevent disease and strengthens the immune system

High fiber food: good for digestion

For healthy eyes, lungs, bones, muscles and blood

Kale thrives in cool weather and can be grown in the winter in BC, but you can eat it year round here. The frost makes it sweeter.

Zucchini Mama's Awesome Kale Smoothie

2012-02-09T11:02:00.001-08:00

1/2 cup coconut water

1/2 cup plain yogurt

1 banana

1 hand full kale

green cardamom seeds(optional)

Put the ingredients in a blender and whizz to the consistency you like. I like to leave bits of kale to make the smoothie more "chewy."

Women at Work

2011-09-18T19:38:00.000-07:00

[Women in uniform marching in a military parade along Burrard Street] - Oct 1942.

CVA 1184-1397

"When the WRCNS was disbanded in August 1946, almost 7000 women had served in a variety of trades fulfilling various wartime needs of the RCN.⁶¹ Regardless of the tasks they preformed, from cooks and laundresses to recruiters and officers, the Wrens contributed valuable service to the navy and to the nation. "
http://www.journal.dnd.ca/vo9/no2/10-plows-eng.asp http://www.journal.dnd.ca/vo9/no2/10-plows-eng.asp

The Japanese Children

2011-09-14T07:19:00.000-07:00

Japanese Canadian children being escorted by Vancouver policeman
VPL Accession Number: 1345, 1942

[Children looking in the window of a Japanese store, closed after the relocation of Japanese nationals] - Dec 1942.

CVA 1184-1537 City of Vancouver Archives

Where have they gone? One evening Japanese children were escorted home by Vancouver police at curfew and the next they were sent to internment camps in the interior of B.C. Their cars and trucks were impounded at Hastings Park and sold. Among those in the camp were Japanese Canadian veterans who had served in World War I.

The Royal Visit, 1939

2011-09-13T14:14:00.000-07:00

[Chief Joe Capilano's daughter during the royal visit] - 1939.

CVA 371-2319

Chief Joe Capilano's daughter

An article in Regarding Place about Vancouver in 1939 by Chuck Davis.

In May 1939 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (whom we remember as the Queen Mother) visited Vancouver. The city pulled out all the stops, decorating buildings and lining the streets to catch a glimpse of royalty. War was declared four months later on Sept 1. In this image the photographer caught a glimpse of a woman whose mind seems preoccupied with matters beyond patriotism.

King and Queen on train

Lion's Gate Bridge Motorcade

King and Queen in Car (could be cropped)

Knitting and waiting

King and Queen in the car and mountie

Mason Bee House Assignment

2011-04-18T16:17:00.000-07:00

Criteria:

1) Waterproof, weatherproof and sheltered from the elements (ie cold winds, snow)

2) Keeps cocoons safe from large predators: skunks, raccoons, woodpeckers

3) Keeps cocoons safe from tiny predators: mites and parasitic wasps

4) Has a way to be attached to the (south)east side of a building or architectural structure.

5) Has a way for bees to orient themselves to their home hole so they don't end up in a fight.

6) Allows the cocoons to breathe in wet weather and not get mouldy.

7) Opens up so that it can be cleaned and sanitized in November and easily reassembled for the spring.

8) The tunnels are made with a material that the bees have traction to navigate and turn inside the tubes without slipping.

9) The materials are ecologically sound and safe for the bees.

Bonus points for:

1) A safe compartment for cleaned cocoons

2) A predator guard

3) A really cool name

4) A really cool sign

5) A visible home so that you can monitor the bees at work

6) A way you can modify the home for summer mason bees and/or leaf cutter bees

7) Building a condo or a model of your design

The Assignment
Step 1: Do the research and choose your favorite designs for inspiration.
Step 2: Start sketching some ideas.

Step 3: Decide which materials you would use.

Step 4: Vote on one design in your group or organically collaborate and create one design.

Step 5: Break the presentation down into five parts and decide who will present on how your design meets the criteria.

Step 6: Write your part of the presentation and create visual aids.

Step 7: Give the presentation. Use visual aids.

Mason Bee Links

2011-04-06T07:04:00.000-07:00

A local Mason Bee expert who sells houses, books, and DVD's: Dr. M. Dogterom. She also answers questions about mason bees on her website.
https://id408.van.ca.siteprotect.com/beediverse/catalog/home.php

Creative Designs for Mason Bee Houses:

A London design competition for insect hotels: http://pul.se/A-Luxury-Hotel-for-Londons-Bees-Yes-Bees_Startups-Small-Business-hiR9GXzTfwR,9GY6q4g5QZME

Creative mason bee houses by Toronto artists:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/resonatingbodies/with/4778495720/

A mason bee enthusiast who has developed a visible hive using transparent tubes. He has a blog and even tweets when his bees emerge!

http://www.solitarybee.com/

Plans for an observational mason bee house using plastic tubes and PVC foam board http://www.cozybee.com/beehouse.html

A very interesting conversation on mason bee house design:

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/bees/msg0315524720712.html

Using tube liners to prevent mite infestations:

http://www.ehow.com/how_5682490_make-mason-bee-tube-liners.html

A system using water-resistant cardboard tubes that are too thick for parasitic wasps to get through. These are lined with disposable paper tubes which are removed to clean the cocoons.
http://masonbeecentral.com/

This rustic design would work if lined with cardboard tubes: http://www.henandhammock.co.uk/products/product_detail.asp?121,0,6,0,2

Interesting use of a milk carton to house cleaned cocoons and a good description of the mason beekeeping calendar:

http://ournativebees.com/content/season-season-instructions

Again, these would need tubes, but I like the way they have been decorated with paint.: http://s328.photobucket.com/albums/l340/ZaagkiiProjectWingsSeeds/2009%20Zaagkii%20Project/?action=view&current=ZaagkiiProjectMidsummerfestPresq-32.jpg

Commercial mason bee house designs including a teardrop design and some that have been "toasted" to show the wood pattern: http://www.crownbees.com/store/category/mason-bee-houses

A cornucopia of designs for insect "walls": http://www.studiogblog.com/shed-other-garden-buildings/encouraging-native-bees-with-insect-walls/

Mason bee houses with industrial chic, including houses made specifically for leafcutter bees: http://www.pollinatorparadise.com/market/Pricelist.htm

An artist's rustic style mason bee homes made of found objects:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/67686605/mason-bee-house-box-of-found-objects

A patented design of mason bee homes made on Vancouver island:

http://www.masonbeehomes.com/

Mason bee houses made of repurposed fir in a minimal style:

http://andrewsreclaimed.blogspot.com/2010/08/orchard-mason-bee-house-mason-bee-box.html

Cleaning Cocoons:
A revolutionary way to clean the cocoons by using sand. Sand and Tube cleaning by Hutchings Bee Service http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tZu4o7nwj4

Here is the info on the Hutchings Bee Service "Peek-a-Boo" System which looks like the best design I have seen so far: http://sites.google.com/site/hutchingsbeeservice/mason-bee-condos-for-sale

Extra Info:
A friend of mine, Brian Campbell who sells mason bees and mason bee houses:

http://blessedbeeapiary.tumblr.com/

A beautiful artist's rendition of a mason bee:

http://pencilandleaf.blogspot.com/2009/12/bob-gentle-blue-orchard-mason-bee-osmia.html

What You Can Do to Promote Biodiversity

2011-03-07T19:31:00.000-08:00

Don't treat your garden like one homogenous zone---break it down into micro-climates, including different exposures and soil types.

Learn to be realistic about your location. Vancouver used to be a rain forest.

Plant different vegetables from your neighbour—be unique! Plant more than one variety of a veggie, make a rainbow garden, full of a variety of colours. Learn about plant families and be aware of crop rotation.

Get to know your neighbour and gain from their wisdom, swap garden experience and stories because you live in the same micro-climate.

Protect biodiversity and food security by learning how to save heritage seeds to help preserve the world's gene pool.

Succession planting: Think about plants that provide food and shelter for birds and insects all year round and help create pollinator corridors in the city. Avoid hybrids and pollen free varieties, which fail provide insects with their nutritional needs.

Think about your garden in the different seasons—keep a diary of your garden so that you can make notes about “dry periods”, times without blooms, fruit or seed pods. Think about how much garden maintenance is realistic for your schedule and when you will be away or taking holidays. Plant things that will be very low maintenance when you are gone (xeriscaping).

Learn about winter gardening for food plants, but be sure to amend the soil and give it a rest if possible. If you are out all day, think about planting a night garden for moths.

Think about a variety of seeds, textures, blooming times, and foliage, (ie deciduous and evergreen). Think about various heights of plantings and different scales of plant morphology—ie big blooms, medium sized blooms and tiny blooms to attract a variety of pollinators.

Evaluate the eco-function of each plant in your garden. Is it pretty but lacking function? Think about plants that really add eco-value to your garden, ie food, and shelter for wildlife and for you. Use goldenrod as an example.

Include pollen and nectar rich native plants in your garden to support local birds and insects.

Leave some parts of your garden untouched. That's where ground-dwelling bees and wasps might live. Keep a wood pile for insect habitat. Leave your dead stalks up over the winter for insect homes and winter interest. If it drives you crazy, make it pretty by putting it into bundles, but leave it in the garden until well into spring.

Dig up your lawn or perform an intervention on your lawn—find flowers you can naturalize into your lawn, and cut and water it less often.

Think about your arable land as real estate. Increase productivity and blossom density by planting vines and plants that can grow up rather than spreading out. Kiwi fruits, runner beans, etc. Plant flowers that can climb over bushes and bloom. Consider living roofs on sheds, playhouses, and garages. Use less concrete, paving, and decking, and if you do build a deck, use container plants, climbing plants and hanging baskets to provide flower power and shade. Investigate wooly pocket gardens. (http://www.woollypocket.com/)

Create a garden that stimulates your senses: colour and light, scent, texture, sounds and taste, ie lemon balm, lemon verbena, lemon thyme.

Make your garden plan personal and eclectic. Grow the medicine you need. Find your own medicines. Gardens are nurturing habitat for humans. How can you plant a garden that nurtures and cares for you and your family?

Go to Van Dusen Gardens, and local community gardens for inspiration.

Plant in groups of 3's or fives to have some stability and aesthetics within the diversity. Insects do like groupings of plants. Bees and butterflies like groupings of plants at least 3 by 3 feet (1x1 meter). Learn about which plants thrive as communities and which plants are companion plants.

Critters in your garden need food, water, shelter at all stages in their lives. Creating water sources for insects and birds will be a huge step towards encouraging biodiversity in your garden. Just don't leave water standing for mosquito larvae to develop! Water with rainwater when possible and practise water conservation.

Don't use pesticides—stay away from bt (Bacillus thuringiensis)--because it kills butterfly caterpillars. Learn about integrated pest management, or IPM and which plants repel pests.

Be an ivy buster. Learn to identify and banish invasive plants including Gorse, Japanese Knotweed, Leafy Spurge and Purple Loosestrife which are four of the top 100 invasive plants in the world.

Be an Edwardian lady—observe, sketch photograph, blog, write about your garden. The more attentive you are, the more biodiversity you will actually see in your garden.

Use substitutes for peat and sphagnum moss. Mulch with leaves and grass instead of wood chips.

Avoid using garden furniture made from tropical hardwoods unless there is evidence they were from a sustainably managed source.

Buy organic food and cotton. Use eco-friendly cleaners.

Support local seed savers.

http://www.brothernature.ca/

http://www.saltspringseeds.com/

http://www.seedsanctuary.com/

Seeds of Diversity—http://www.seeds.ca/en.php

Resources:

Natural Gardening: A Nature Company Guide, J. Knopf, S. Wasowski et al

Insects and Gardens, Eric Grissell

Landscaping for Wildlife in the Pacific Northwest by Russell Link

The Natural Gardener: The Way We All Want to Garden by Val Bourne

My website: http://beespeakersaijiki.blogspot.com/

Invasive plants Council of BC: http://www.invasiveplantcouncilbc.ca/

Natural England http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/ourwork/conservation/biodiversity/threats/default.aspx

Hinterland Who's Who: http://www.hww.ca/hww2.asp?id=222

Wild About Gardening: http://www.wildaboutgardening.org/

Xerces Plant Lists for Pollinators: http://www.xerces.org/plant-lists/

Berkeley Bee Gardens: http://nature.berkeley.edu/urbanbeegardens/

Biodiversity Plant Research

2011-02-28T14:09:00.000-08:00

I have talked about the form our work will take and now here's the content. We'll be exploring the themes of biodiversity and identity. I will be assigning each of you a plant through a lottery system. Please work on this research assignment during the time I'll be teaching you.

Choose an image of the plant that clearly shows the flowers, berries, and leaves.

1) Is this plant native to British Columbia or the Pacific North West?

2) Is all or part of this plant edible? Explain.

3) Is there interest in this plant in Spring or Fall/Winter? Berries, blooms, etc.

4) Is this plant toxic?

5) Does this plant need a lot of moisture and/or maintenance?

6) Is this plant biannual, annual or perennial?

7) Does this plant provide food for larval butterflies and or nectar for adult butterflies?

8) Does this plant provide seeds, berries and/or shelter for birds, ie songbirds or humming birds?

9) Does this plant provide propolis, pollen and/or nectar for bees? (native and/or honeybees)

10) Is this plant interesting and/or beautiful? Explain.

11) Are there any other ethnobotanical uses for this plant? ie making baskets, weapons, dyes, etc.

12) How much space does this plant take up? Dimensions.

13) Is this plant invasive?

14) Does this plant have any myths or folklore attached to it?

15) Does this plant need lots of sun, sun/shade or shade?

16) What kind of soil does this plant thrive in?

17) What family does this plant belong to? (the Latin name)

18) What kinds of companion plants could be planted with this plant?

-- Please cite sources

The Vulnerability of Silhouettes

2011-02-28T13:59:00.000-08:00

One thing I like about silhouette profile portraits is that it literally shows a side of yourself that you don't see. In this way, it leaves us a bit vulnerable. It takes us years to get used to the way we look, all the while we are aging and changing and then we look at our profile and feel estranged from ourselves. Do I really look that much like Marge Simpson? Oh boy. Making a profile portrait is an exercise in self acceptance and accepting the fact that we need other people to help us see the full human being that we are.

When you look at all the profiles in the class you see how diverse the human race is, especially in a cosmopolitan city like Vancouver. The positive and negative space in each portrait reveals the unique way each person takes up space in the world. At Christmas I made silhouettes of my son and my partner and I. "Whose nose does your son have?" someone asked. "I hope it's not mine!" I answered. The silhouette is the form, your personality, your intelligence, and your soul is the content. All our lives we struggle with the push-pull relationships with the form and content of our selves. Coming to terms with the form our body takes is a lifelong journey. Learning to see the invisible beauty, or people's "content" is one of the most important life-skills.

In order to make an interesting silhouette you can jazz it up with some of your wardrobe or costume pieces. Think about how the hat and the collar on your jacket or shirt with affect your profile from the side. Please bring these wardrobe pieces to the next class I teach. I'll be taking a photo of each of you from the side which I will print and enlarge to 11 by 17 inches. You will draw a line around your profile and cut on the line. This is your stencil. You will trace that positive shape onto black paper with a light-colored pencil crayon. Cut out the silhouette using a sharp scissors and/or exacto knife.

I am also going to give you a plant that is native to BC. You'll pick a plant name from a hat and then do in depth research on that plant. You'll be drawing this plant in different styles, so find some good images for reference.

Push-Pull Animation

2011-02-27T16:42:00.000-08:00

Here's a link to a lovely animation, a music video created by Thomas Hicks for a song by Joshua Radin.
It shows a dynamic relationship, a push-pull effect between the two dimensional and the three dimensional.

Joshua Radin I'd Rather be with you from Thomas Hicks on Vimeo.

Silhouettes and Paper Cutting Art research Links

2011-02-25T16:29:00.000-08:00

Silhouette history book. Silhouette: The Art of the Shadow by Emma Rutherford. Click on the photos to enlarge the images in this online book review.
Key Words: Physiognomy: Physiognomy (from the Gk. "physis" meaning 'nature' and "gnomon" meaning 'judge' or 'interpreter') is the assessment of a person's character or personality from their outer appearance, especially the face. --Wikipedia

Squid Head by Courts Carter: At the end of the post Carter also gives more silhouette links.
Note: We are going to be taking photos of you from the side so you can create your own silhouette. Think about what you are going to wear. You have the option of wearing a hat. Also, think about the collar on the shirt or coat you'll be wearing.

Jenny Lee Fowler leaf silhouettes

Jenny Lee Fowler etsy shop: An artist who does traditional silhouette portraits as well as novel paper cuts. Some silhouette artists do commissions from photographs.

Country Living Magazine Slideshow: This shows a collection of ways silhouettes can be incorporated into our environment.
Surreal Silhouettes by Christian van Minnen
Matisse Cut outs: A Thousand and One Nights:
More Matisse

Matisse, Polynesia, the Sea
Matisse, Amphitrite
Kara Walker is a contemporary artist who uses silhouette in installations to explore racial themes including stereotyping and racist caricatures.
Gale Everett's Botanical Silhouettes
This is what we are going to be working on--taking the concept of silhouettes and applying them to native plants from BC.
Heather Moore's Leaves

Other uses for silhouettes include shadow puppets. There is a strong tradition in Bali of intricate shadow puppetry.

You can have fun by creating your silhouette in a large scale format which is easier to cut and then shrinking it down by scanning it and playing with it in Photoshop or using a photocopier.

Paper Cut Art
Elsa Mora's etsy shop: This whimsical artist does fine paper cutting work, handmade books, dolls and prints from her paper cuts. Some of her work is inspired by fairy tales.

Paper cutting can lie flat in a graphic, two dimensional representation or it can actually become very detailed and sculptural moving beyond the silhouette and becoming 3 Dimensional. Even the most detailed images you see here were made cut by cut by hand with an exacto knife. Designers and artists who want to do multiples can use laser cutting.

Red Paper Cut Dress: "Two visitors take a close look at a "paper-cut dress" at the Chinese Paper-cutting Art Exposition in Wenzhou City, east China's Zhejiang Province, September 14, 2004."

Paper Cut Exhibit at the Museum of Art and Design

Rob Ryan Dress
Rob Ryan Paper cuts 2010
If you like Rob Ryan's work, check out his excellent blog. He writes very eloquently about his work and there are some videos, including a time lapse video of his team creating one of the big works.
Rob Ryan Papercut Animation ad:

Paper cut artist Kako Oeda

Detail Kako Oeda

Kako Oeda's website

Cal Lane wheelbarrows and shovels.

Hastings Moth Project: An incredible project placing larger than life moth stencils on city buildings using a power-washing technique with stencils.

A highly recommended video on an exhibition called Lace in Translation:
Lace In Translation from Canary Promotion + Design on Vimeo.

Research Links on Mind Maps

2011-02-25T11:12:00.001-08:00

How to Create a
Mind Map: This is a diagram that shows the standard convention of creating a mind map. However, that is just a guide. To me, mind maps are a creative, non-linear continuation of brainstorming, remembering, or dreaming using the act of doodling.

Biodiversity Mind Map: This is a novel book review on a book about biodiversity called Sustaining Life: How Human health Depends on Biodiversity. This is an example of using hyperlinks within a digitally created mind map.

Global Warming Mind Map: This is a mind map with come cartooning details.

Time Management for Teens: A mind map for helping people work on their time management skills.

Kids Tate: At the Tate Art gallery, kids use collage elements to create mind maps.

Bee Skills: Use of color and drawing in a mind map about honey bees.

Paul Forman's Mind Map of Beauty of the Planet: An artist with cartooning skills makes accessible mind maps.

Paul Foreman 3D Thinking.

Paul Foreman Time.

Artist Lia Perjovsch creates art installations with Mind Maps: The Knowledge Museum.

Lia Perjovschi installation view.

Baking at School: Part 2

2010-12-09T17:39:00.000-08:00

Special thanks to Choices Market on Cambie for donating fresh, quality ingredients!

The mysterious chef known as Dude made a Sweet Coconut Pumpkin Soup. I cut up a raw sugar pumpkin, peeled it and sliced it into bite sized pieces. This is a challenging bit of prep that I recommend you leave for an adult. We had about two cups of pumpkin and put it in about 3 cups of boiling water. Once the pumpkin is soft, add 1 cup tapioca strings, 2 cups of coconut milk, and a jar or two of coconut jelly squares. Soup for dessert? Yes! I have developed a real taste for the sweet "soups" of India with a strong cup of authentic masala chai.

Now for more muffins! Extremely Inconvenient Banana and Chef Bobula made Browned Butter Pumpkin Muffins, the first of three different pumpkin muffin recipes the students baked. The secret to this recipe is melting and then browning the butter on the stove (careful not to burn it!) which gives the muffins an extra rich, nutty flavor. (Note: We cut out some of the sugar in this recipe by at least half a cup.) Chef Vanilla Icing and Chef Icer made pumpkin muffins that were dense and moist and Make it Mika and Chef Chocolat made Muffin Tops which were light and delicate. I really liked Chef Vanilla Icing and Chef Icer's recipe because of its simplicity--another potential bake sale recipe.

Chef E W made Chocolate Pumpkin Swirl Brownies which are a bit more complicated than the other recipes because it involves dividing the batter in half and mixing one half with melted bittersweet organic fair trade chocolate and the other half with pumpkin puree. It takes a bit more time and effort, but it's certainly worth it. These brownies are absolutely decadent!

One recipe that was a bit too fussy for us to make at school was the Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake chosen by El Gwaco, Chef Majipe, and John Redford. I made this at home (omitting the pecans) and we had a taste of it at school because it takes a long time to prepare, bake and chill. Cheesecake was the most expensive recipe we tackled, because the cost of the cream cheese really can add up. I halved the recipe to make it more affordable. I also used light cream cheese to cut down on the calories which tastes just as good as the full fat cream cheese. Besides, wouldn't you rather be able to top up the decadence factor with some whipped cream on top? Oh how I LOVE whipped cream on cheesecake! Not to mention some caramel sauce. Sigh.

Finally, we made some Old Fashioned Pumpkin Cookies with Chef Lenie and Chef C. Canned pumpkin is perfectly acceptable in recipes like this one. These cookies are soft and cakey in texture and Chef Chef made an icing with icing sugar, vanilla, buttermilk, and melted butter. El Gwaco, Chef Majipe, and John Redford and drizzled the icing over the cookies while they were still warm.

I hope you try some of these recipes at home with your family.

Bonne Chance et Bon Appetit!

Baking at School: Part One

2010-12-09T13:06:00.000-08:00

A Baking Marathon with Zucchini Mama at Simon Fraser

Special thanks to Choices Market on Cambie for donating fresh, quality ingredients!

This week we Division 3 baked with the Curcurbit family. No, the cucurbits are not the quirky next door neighbors, they are a family of squash, including zucchini, which is a summer squash and pumpkin, which is a winter squash. Cooking with squash adds fiber and nutrients to your baked goods and has the added benefit of lending moisture and flavor to the recipe. Our local zucchini season is pretty much over so be sure to have one last go at adding them to salads or cupcakes. Leaving the skin on adds extra fiber to the recipe. Chef Renie Zucchini and Chef Coco made a delicious Apple Zucchini Salad with an apple cider vinaigrette. They worked with E W, patiently cutting up the ingredients into pretty, uniform pieces, making the salad look as good as it tasted. Chocolate Discovery Man made my favorite Chocolate Zucchini Cupcakes from the popular rebar cookbook. S and N made Zucchini Cupcakes with the addition of chocolate chips. As Jamie Oliver would say, zucchini and chocolate are best mates! I liked this recipe because the product is moist, light, and incredibly easy to make. It is the perfect bake sale recipe.

Every Saturday this winter we are lucky to have a winter farmer's market at Nat Bailey Stadium. Every week I look for the last sugar pumpkins of the season. These pumpkins are especially good for baking because the flesh is dense and tasty. I found a sugar pumpkin on sale for just two dollars, so I took out the seeds, cut it in half and rubbed it with sunflower oil. I baked it until it was soft and the skin started to separate from the pulp. This yielded about 3 1/2 cups of pulp, which is a good deal, considering that a 15 oz. can of organic pumpkin (about 2 cups) is about 3 dollars or more. Chef Death rolled out a pie crust which the students cut into circles for tarts. Chef Lemon Head made the filling for my favorite (Zucchini Mama's Awesome) Pumpkin Pie recipe, which is sweetened with maple syrup. Chef Lemon Head's secret is to put some freshly grated lemon rind in the pie filling to give it some extra zing.

Next, we had Luchandor, Mr Chef and J make another pumpkin pie recipe which is sweetened with honey. We used buckwheat honey for a deep, rich flavor. The honey, and the fact that we used some canned pumpkin made a darker tart. Both recipes tasted sweet and rich. I hadn't made enough pie crust so we used some silicon muffin cups to bake the rest pf the filling which worked just fine (and saves on calories). Silicon muffin cups are a worthwhile investment because it saves you from buying boxes of cupcake papers. They'd make an awesome Christmas present for the baker in your family! It is recommended you season the liners with a bit of vegetable oil the first two or three times you use them to prevent the cupcakes from sticking.

M "Biscuit" C made a scent diffuser by pushing whole cloves into the lid of a pumpkin we'd hollowed out and made square-shaped widows in. She rubbed pumpkin pie spices into the flesh of the pumpkin and put a tea light in the bottom. As the spices warmed up, it filled the room with a lovely aroma. This is an idea from our old friend Martha Stewart. (BTW, I ended up removing the top of the pumpkin because it was so small that the lid started to burn, so if you're using a small pumpkin, just leave off the top.) Next, Mercedes covered the pumpkin seeds with oil and sprinkled them with sugar and baked them at 250 F until they were toasted. (We later cut up the pumpkin diffuser and baked it to use in a recipe.)

100 Mile Afternoon Tea

2010-11-17T09:38:00.000-08:00

Pumpkin tarts and apple pies are definitely in season, so we decided to drink chai and make pie on a grey November afternoon.

It's more fun making pie in a group, and we chatted and caught up on the news while we made the pastry dough, rolled and cut out the circles.

I got to take some tarts home, so guess what we had for breakfast during the week?

Pressure Canning Beans

2010-10-18T19:36:00.000-07:00

Bawk! Welcome to J's canning workshop for baked beans and bacon. Bawk!

J had generously purchased top quality ingredients, including applewood smoked bacon cut into chunks she calls "queen beans." She soaked and cooked the beans, then baked them for a half an hour with all the ingredients. The beans finish cooking in the canning process.

I like the way she keeps track of the cost of ingredients and any notes that are relevant for the next time you go to make the recipe.

Beans makes me crazy!

We snacked on salmon that J had canned earlier and her amazing homemade dill pickles!

This is a special canning element J bought which can hold the weight of the pressure cooker.

We filled the jars, leaving two inches of head space and covering the beans with the cooking liquid.

Here's the first rack for one layer of 500ml jars, then you put another rack on top and another layer of jars.

We followed the steps in the canning manual very carefully.

Checking for steam.

While the cooker sputtered away we chatted and drank rooibus chai. IIRC we did 18 jars in total and there were beans left over in the pot so we had weiners and beans for dinner and they were sweet and delicious. Thanks J, you are the queen bean!

Zuke Tube: Lesson for Grade 5/6

2010-10-15T07:19:00.000-07:00

Zuke Tube: How to Grow and Cook Zucchini aka Courgettes

Lesson Length: One Hour

Learning Objectives:

To teach students about the growth cycle of the zucchini, facts about the plant structure, pollination, and harvesting.

To show the students a variety of cooking show styles.

To teach the editing and storyboarding process.

To teach the students media critique and media literacy.

To use the "expert game" to teach improvisational skills, to gain confidence in public speaking and interview skills (giving interviews and being the interviewee.) To prepare students for the exercise of creating their own cooking shows.

Introduce the idea of creating a class cookbook.

Homework: Students can look over magazines and choose one or two recipes they would like to cook in their cooking show. For this exercise one of the ingredients must be from the squash family: ie pumpkin, zucchini, spaghetti squash, etc.

In the next lesson students will list the ingredients and the cooking tools they need to make their recipe. I will need a copy of each recipe. Eventually the students will be broken down into groups of three, so if more than one student like a recipe, that's a good thing. We will then improvise our cooking shows, and then create story boards and scripts.

1 min BBC Dig In: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJSsFixgoAA

2:24, Time lapse: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_lGLBCwkKE

2 min, Pollinating zukes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3x1crwrsxj8

6 min, River Cottage good tips on growing zukes and a grilled courgette salad: http://video.yahoo.com/watch/5449374/14343716

3.5 min, video for people who sell veggies, The Produce Lady: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xhv6pcg-A0c

5 min, Gordon Ramsey, Stuffed Courgette Rolls: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7z8vAwdt_M

Jamie Oliver (start the video at 2 min 25 seconds): Deep fried courgette flowers 11 min.:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1o1mwGb-wNU

4:45, Griddled Yellow Pepper, Courgette and Tandoori Paneer Salad: PATAK's http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsFQ6pG1qUE

4:30, Mixed salad: http://www.youtube.com/gardengirltv#p/search/0/2ahKHAaDDCc

1 min: tuna and courgette fritters: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yv57ENHVh0

Alton Brown: Chili Peppers, Scofield index, DVD

Optional:

3:20, Deep fried courgette flowers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43w6O7tWjjo

3:47, Zucchini Fritters: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nBeY8Y-PrE

Improv Subjects:

how to grow a giant pumpkin

salt

carrot juice

chocolate bunnies

healthy smoothies

junk food

miniature cows

giant gingerbread houses

pancakes

zucchini furniture

banana splits

lime jello made in bathtubs

marshmallow mattresses

chocolate covered grasshoppers

how to make a giant pumpkin pie

Peas School

2010-05-17T14:09:00.000-07:00

The grade 4/5 class worked with the grade ones to plant seeds and here we are transplanting the seedlings. They got a bit leggy, but we'll see how they fare now that they are in direct sunlight. In the future we'll have to use the courtyard to produce sturdier seedlings.

These are shelling peas and they will be on the north side of the garden.

One of the community gardeners asked if we were going to throw away our seedling tray because he uses them to make wire worm traps with a flour and water dough. Ughh. Wireworms are a big pest at UBC farm, so I hope they aren't a problem in our bed. The gardener said it was from the sod that they pulled up and then added to the bottom of the garden beds. Not a good idea. Wire worms attack root and bulb crops.

The wish flags are hanging up in the garden, helping to enclose the place and make it cheerful. I really felt wonderful in that garden today. I think they're helping lift the spirits of that site.

We've got some tasty kale blossoms for the students to nibble on and the bees were loving them too.

Mushrooms and star fruit in the centre, with celery on the border.

This is one of the beautiful new benches. A tourist visiting from Ontario came by and asked us all about the garden. It was a pleasure to act as proud tour guides for a green city!

A Pot Washing Party!

2010-04-24T16:55:00.001-07:00

Hey, let's have a pot washing party! What images does this conjure in your mind? Well for the Two Block Diet club it's a group of gardeners getting down and dirty to re-use our plastic plant pots. It's mid April, the lilacs and cherry trees are blooming and it's time to get serious about seedlings. (Well, actually we're a bit late, but who's counting?)

Garden experts used to tell people not to reuse plastic pots because they might carry plant diseases but now in the era of ecological awareness they admit if you wash them out properly and sterilize them with a bit of bleach (9 parts water to one part bleach), it's better for the planet to reuse your plastic pots. Sterilization is particulary important for those plants that are more likely to carry diseases such as tomatoes and brassicas. The prospect of scrubbing my 70 or so small pots was very daunting so I was very happy when Kate and Dawn picked a time an a place and we did it together. DIT as opposed to DIY. Any pots (with a number 5 recycling rating) that were broken beyond use ended up in the plastics recycling depot that Kate has set up for things that can't go in our regular recycling stream.

Another neighbour lent us a big black basin, I brought some rubber gloves and Kate got out her bleach. A few of the neighbourhood girls set up an impromptu sidewalk sale and mostly bought from and traded with each other. The older kids set up a giant game of manhunt. We washed and scrubbed and caught up each other's news. It was hard work. My back was strained, I must admit I was in pain, but it felt good to bond together over dirty pots and to get the job done.

In fact a couple of days later Dawn helped me do another job--cleaning bags of used clothing, books and toys out of my front porch that needed to go to the thrift shop. I don't have a car, so we used her mini-van. What does this have to do with food? Well, not much, but it's an example of how the two block diet meetings and events improve the quality of our lives.

Blue School

2010-04-02T15:28:00.001-07:00

While teaching yesterday and I noticed some students being hypnotized by the sink--running the water over their hands and squeezing the sponges, watching the riot of colors disappearing down the drain. It was hard to get the kids to take turns because the sink was such a coveted location. I told one girl to move on and she just nodded her head with a dreamy look in her eyes and stayed right where she was. As I saw the students enjoy the sensation of the water running over their hands as they cleaned the brushes and rubber stamps I wondered if students are getting enough "tactile" time at school. They sit in desks and touch paper and pencil all day, but what about all the other thousands of textures life presents to us? During gym they feel the pebbly surface of the basketball, they might jostle the polyester and cotton of their fellow players' clothing, but maybe they need more texture, more color, and more environmental stimulation

This morning I thought about books I've browsed through on Italian educator Reggio Emilia. He made sure that preschool students explored the world through their senses in creative ways. In fact he saw the environment as the "third teacher." What a simple but stunning concept. Imagine classrooms built on these basic Reggio Emilia principals:

--The aesthetic beauty within the schools is seen as an important part of respecting the child and their learning environment
--A classroom atmosphere of playfulness and joy pervades
--Teachers organize environments rich in possibilities and provocations that invite the children to undertake extended exploration and problem solving, often in small groups, where cooperation and disputation mingle pleasurably.
--Documentation of children's work, plants, and collections that children have made from former outings are displayed both at the children's and adult eye level.
--Common space available to all children in the school includes dramatic play areas and work tables for children from different classrooms to come together.

As the Campbell government squeezes funding for education and libraries my mind boggles how the education of children could be made so much more stimulating if the system received the proper funding.

Now imagine what would happen if a bunch of performance artists created and school. The Blue School, an innovative school for young children was created by members of The Blue Man Group in New York. Don't you wish you could have let your creativity run wild in a place like that? Part of what I found exciting about the school is that it welcomes parent involvement and it attracts the kind of parents who want to be involved in the process of their children's education. It certainly looks like a stimulating environment--maybe not the best place for kids who need a more calm and settling space, but finding a balance would have to be a major part of the educational practice in a place like that. Kind of like life outside the classroom.

Olympic Sweeties

2010-03-04T18:14:00.000-08:00

Butter Baked Goods is a pastel-painted bakery on Dunbar that sells old-fashioned sweets. They made some special treats to celebrate the Olympics and a couple of days ago I spotted a table where each goody was priced at one dollar each. I love a bargain, so I snatched up some novelty cookies and s'mores.

I love these sparkly red mitten cookies. Authorized by VANOC? I think not. Maybe that's why they had to sell them so fast. My son was happy to eat the incriminating evidence. So was I.

There are two kind's of s'mores here. Butter Baked Goods makes their own marshmallows, and these were sandwiched between two soft and buttery maple ginger cookies. One version had chocolate on the insides of the cookies and the other had maple fudge. I loved both of these (the chocolate was my favorite) and hope they make s'more!

Tea for the BBC

2010-02-22T19:18:00.001-08:00

Last Friday Aboriginal Tourism of BC hosted a sampling of first nations food and culture at the BC Showcase Centre at Robson Square. While crowds seeking family entertainment at the Olympics packed the underground ice rink to watch skating mascots, jugglers, and native dancers, we snacked on muskox and pemmican and drank labrador tea. The showcase center is a compact series of rooms that has been outfitted with natural and/or recycled materials as well as a series of videos and interactive displays. Polished wooden planks hanging from the ceiling have all been chosen from specific regions around the province. By choosing a region on a computer screen you can find the plank from that region, including one or two pieces of the distinctive blue pine beetle-affected wood.

While chatting with provincial MLA's and other writers in attendance we were served a refreshing drink made of cranberries and elderflower juice toppled with "hoshum" or soapberry foam. Nisga'a Nation dancers from the Nass valley in Northern BC welcomed us into the presentation space by drumming in four part harmony. Chills went though my spine as I passed the drummers in their beautiful button blanket capes and woven cedar hats. We passed through a hallway which illuminated by a series of screens that show symbolic images of BC industries which are affected by the body heat of the people passing next to them.

We were made to feel welcome by more singers and dancers and invited to eat the lovely food that had been prepared from ingredients used in first nations cuisine prepared by chef Daryl Nagata who is currently executive chef of the Pan Pacific Hotel Vancouver. I remember him as one of the first chefs I read about in Vancouver having a garden-to-table relationship when had a rooftop garden at his former job in the Waterfront Hotel. I thought it a bit strange that the event hadn't been catered by an aboriginal chef, but I'm guessing they're all busy at the other Olympic pavilions focusing on first nations culture. (Speaking of which, Cassandra Anderton, who writes for her website Good Life Vancouver tipped me off to the fact that the Kanata Cuisine Aboriginal Feast is now on for half price (originally $245) and with pairings from Nk' Mip winery, it looks to be a good dinner. See the web site for details.)

The food was presented buffet-style on carved wooden paddles and slabs of slate. Everything was delicious, and the plates we used were thinly sliced rounds of alder. Since learning about pemmican in grade five, I've always wanted to taste it, and finally my dream came true with Nagata's woodland buffalo and cherry pemmican on Leslie Stowe crackers. Sweet and rich, it's a good food to put fire in the belly. Equally hearty was the bison and wild boar sausage and the juicy and tender slices of herb-crusted musk ox, another first for me. The musk ox (which was my favorite) is sourced from Basin island in Nunavut, which has a carefully managed population of the wild animals. The hides are sent to Peru to be processed where the underfur, or qiviut is made into a fine wool which is claimed to be "stronger than sheep's wool and eight times warmer than cashmere," according to the Nunavut Development Corporation's web site.

The traditional Salish Cedar Salmon had a deep, smokey flavor, and the meat was moist and tender. The farmed smoked sturgeon served with its jade green roe was beautifully presented and equally tasty as the salmon, although I wonder about the ecological implications of eating sturgeon, whether it is wild or farmed.

The Aboriginal Tourism Association of BC is actually a not for profit organization that seeks to give professional development and support to existing and budding aboriginal entrepreneurs. The current focus of the association is on providing authentic aboriginal cultural experiences to tourists. The organization even goes to far as to try to develop a set of criteria of what authentic means--a contentious task, I would think. The website gives tourists an interesting set of options for those seeking tours of native art galleries, museums, interpretation centers, wineries, salmon feasts, etc. It's a good tool to use when you are planning a holiday in British Columbia and you want to support Aboriginal businesses. (I know I do my bit in Vancouver by drinking our fair share of In' Mip wine and Cherry Point Vineyard's blackberry port.)

Half Moon Woman showed us how to do birch bark biting by folding the bark into a triangle and biting down on it to create patterns. Pat Bruderer is self-taught and has been passing the tradition down to successive generations so the art will not be lost. In fact, this is the theme of Aboriginal Tourism of BC: "Our story. Your experience."

One of the directors of Aboriginal Tourism of BC, Dr. Linnea Battel says that the aboriginal people have a history of generosity and sharing in their culture, and she fully endorses the pride of promoting the excellence of aboriginal history and contemporary cultural practice in BC. She is one of those people with a warm, open face that one is drawn to so it is appropriate that her given name means "She Who Brings the Sun," and so we have her to thank for all this fabulous weather!

After the welcoming speeches, we are invited to have tea prepared by Douglas Green who harvest native medicinal plants from the Chilcotin region of BC. He has brought Labrador Tea leaves, which are more potent because they have been harvested from a high elevation. He breaks the dried leaves up ahead of time so they will steep a bit better, and recommends a fifteen minute steeping time. The tea has a sedative effect and it is good for congestion, among other health benefits. However, there are toxicity warnings--all the more reason to trust an authentic native medicinal expert.

I had been looking for any press besides those from Canada at this event, and noticed only one sullen looking German writer. However, suddenly the room is abuzz because the BBC camera is in the building and the camera is rolling. Much fuss is being made over whether or not the Labrador tea is ready to serve. It seems we're still firmly entrenched in our colonial past, anxious for the loyal subjects to serve tea to the BBC. La plus ça change....

Seedy Saturday this Weekend

2010-02-22T13:59:00.000-08:00

Are you chomping at the bit to get your seedlings started? Don't forget that this Saturday you can get inspired at Seedy Saturday at Van Dusen Gardens. There are lectures, seed swaps, mushroom kits to grow your own fungi, and a manure sale as well. If you live in another part of BC, check this web page to find a Seedy Saturday near you.

Location: The Floral Hall, VanDusen Botanical Garden, 5251 Oak Street (37th and Oak Street)
Time: 10:00am-4:00pm February 27, 2010
Admission: By donation.
This event is sponsored by the Master Gardeners Association of BC.

Attend lectures given by Master Gardeners:

11 a.m Growing Vegetables in Cramped Spaces by Mike Nassichuk

1 p.m. Soils: How to develop and Maintain Fertile Garden Soil by Robin Rance

2 p.m. Backyard Bee Conservation by Brian Campbell

Open Sesame's Fission Cuisine

2010-02-21T19:49:00.000-08:00

Strolling down the hill to the monthly Blim market on a sunny spring day makes me a very happy lady, especially as I know there will be inspiring crafts and really good food. Today the market was held in a new location at Heritage Hall which is an elegant venue that really suited the variety of eclectic vendors. It was also a fantastic venue for the Izakaya menu offered by Michael Tora Speier's Open Sesame catering company which he labels as "fission" cuisine. One of the plates on offer was this trio of Cortez oysters served with a shooter of Siberian Hunter sake. One oyster was cooked on a skewer in a white miso sauce, one was home-smoked, and the final oyster was served as sashimi on the half shell. They all scored high points for me, with the house-smoked oyster was a pleasant surprise--thankfully lacking that oily metallic flavor one gets from the tinned variety.

Speier was raised in California with both Jewish and Japanese Heritage. He's a volunteer for the Powell Street Society and a mixed media artist. I've encountered his food before at the the All Soul's Night at the Mountainview Cemetery where he feeds the crew. (Potential volunteers take note--last year he served us a DIY taco bar which rocked.) Speier also makes tiny jewel-like tidbits for the tea room during All Soul's which are always whimsical and inspiring. Today I had to try his Lunar Stealth Pasta bowl with a choice of either rice or semolina noodles mixed with black mushrooms, haijiki, mountain yam and orange caviar. The dish's bright flavors and juxtaposition of textures made it a hit with me. I was daydreaming about having this kind of creative and affordable lunch every day. The oysters with sake were 3$ and the noodle bowl was $6.

At the Open Sesame booth I was invited to pick a fortune for the Lunar New Year. Mine said "Show someone your love by jumping on a jet plane." Sounds good to me! If you want to know where Open Sesame will be appearing next you can follow them on twitter.

For those of you who haven't been to the Blim Market, it is a hodgepodge of crafts with a bit of home-business baking thrown in. Today there were a few flea-market tables as well, and one even had a few jars of organic honey from his dad's hives in Prince George. In the summer the market is open to anyone who wants to pay for a table. (The current price is $50 and you can include up to two vendors.) The rest of the year it is an indoor curated market. Admission for the public is by donation.

I bought some delicious cupcakes from Lyndsay Sung's Coco Cake cupcake catering and discovered her charming blog. Check out her salmon nigiri cake!

These brown velvet cupcakes were moist with a fine crumb and a light icing with a hint of cream cheese. They disappeared fast in our household!

These festive party hats are by Fort Design. This boutique design firm creates some of the labels for other vendors at the Blim market.

I find more and more people are seeking gluten-free goods, so it's great that The Gluten Free Epicurean has treats without wheat. The pecan tarts (which are also dairy free) got a good review from my partner and my son and I gave the triple chocolate chip cookies top marks. So now you have the local knowledge. While hundreds of people are lining up down the hill at the Saskatchewan Pavilion for bison burgers and perogies, the locals in the know are grooving to the hip vibe of the Blim market and its tasty food vendors every third Sunday of the month, unless stated otherwise on the Blim website.