Okanagablog: Sharing Bottles At Baneé & An OK Summer Primer

By Kate Colley – Last weekend was Banée, the South Okanagan’s Secret Wine Festival. I was hired to put together a Lower Mainland food/wine media press trip, and 10 of us spent three days in Osoyoos and Oliver learning about the terroir and taste of the South Okanagan. We stayed at the desert-inspired Spirit Ridge Resort and it was a blast. Read more

P-Town’s Slice of Commercial Dr.

Granted, few travellers will set out to Penticton in blustery, blizzardy weather, and in the case of avoiding a long line up for the city’s (perhaps the world’s) best sandwich at Il Vecchio’s Delicatessen…I’m glad of it. I don’t want to share.

A few (million) snowflakes didn’t stop me from driving 10 kilometers straight across town to the off-the-beaten track deli where a trio of seemingly serious, hard-working Italian mamas put together delicious custom combinations of meat, cheese and condiments for less than five bucks. In fact, for less than five bucks ($4.47) I had the four-meat (prosciutto, salami, capicollo, ham), double cheese (hit me twice Havarti) sweet mustard, marinated artichoke, sun-dried tomato and lettuce combo on a crusty Kaiser roll with pickles on the side. Knowing this kind of quality sandwich is out there for such a fantastic price reminds me of that sad-looking, pre-packaged $9.99 USD Wolfgang Puck turkey bun I just couldn’t bring myself to buy during a hungry wait at the Orange County airport a few weeks back. This tiny slice of top notch Commercial Drive Italia (at retro prices) makes Il Vecchio’s a prized local institution. I figure if I give it up in winter I won’t get beaten up as much for making the worthwhile wait a bit longer.

You can find it at 317 Robinson Street, near the bus station.

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Wine Country Holiday Calendar

Catch the holiday spirit in the Okanagan this month with musicals, trains, hockey games, live music performances, multi-course dinners, New Year’s Eve bashes, winter markets and yes, even a celebrated Neil Diamond impersonator…

In Summerland & Penticton…

If your New Year’s resolution was less Access Hollywood and more culture vulture head down to the circa 1956 PenMar movie theatre for Saturday morning broadcasts of the Metropolitan Opera. The cameras get so close you can see the spit fly! Next up Thaïs (Massenet), La Rondine (Puccini) and Orfeo ed Eruadice (Gluck), to name a few. Click here for complete schedules and story lines.

And in Kelowna

The Kelowna Farmer’s & Crafter’s Market is the biggest farmers market in the interior of BC with over 160 stands at the height of the summer. While smaller in the winter months, steadfast merchants still display their wares indoors at the Parkinson’s Recreation Centre.

Yoga & The Benefits of Confusion

I am confused…. and this is a good thing.

The ability to become aware of one’s mental state is the first step on the road to enlightenment. Alright then, this isn’t so hard.

According to author and yoga scholar, Frank Jude Boccia, yoga is the pursuit of liberation from samsara (loosely defined here as “suffering”). Rethink suffering as stress, a sore back, inflexibility, flab, indifference, ignorance, the dreaded monkey mind and/or anything that causes discomfort. Boccia suggests that we come to yoga in search of freedom.

Much of my second round of yoga teacher training was spent with Boccia who generously shared his personal experiences and knowledge gathered during his 30 years of study, taking us swiftly though 5,000 years of yoga history and philosophy.

The study of yoga reminds me of the study of wine – the more you learn, the more you realize how little you know. And to students of both, this is generally a good thing, with the possibilities of “enlightenment” remaining a largely positive and satisfying pursuit.

More than 20 million people now practice yoga in the West – most are involved in Hatha yoga as a physical exercise and relaxation regimen and leave yoga’s spiritual aspects on the cutting room floor. However, many modern yogis start with the physical and open up to the depth of the practice.

I cannot begin to scrape the surface… but here are a few things that resonate from my recent 10 days of study and practice.

• Let it go already! Non-attachment – experiencing and then flowing through feelings and emotions (bad or good) without holding on – is integral to the practice and to a happier life.
• Yoga as the physical activity we know it as today has only been happening for about 300 years. Historical yoga practice was almost entirely a mental and spiritual practice.
• Yoga is alive – it continues to evolve – and becomes relevant and new to those who study it. It is open to interpretation and change.
• Mediation builds self-awareness and is essential to enlightenment, not to mention a calming and centering activity for our busy lives.
• Learning Sanskrit is tricky. Every traditional yoga pose has an intimidating Sanskrit name. From Tadasana ((standing tree pose) to Savasana (corpse pose) there are dozens of Asanas (postures) in between. A couple faves: Wheel Pose – Urdhva Dhanurasana (wheel pose) and Parivrtta Ardha Chandrasana (revolved half moon pose).
• Ahimsa: Gandhi lived by the belief and it is a key tenant in yoga. Defined as non-violence, kindness, awareness, patience, understanding and self-love. Practicing Ahimsa doesn’t mean being a doormat but rather setting boundaries for peace.
• What’s your Dosha? (www.whatsyourdosha.com). This one is fun. Ayurveda (Life Science) continues to be an influential system of health and wellness throughout history. Ayurveda operates roughly on the principle of balance within an individual and varying body types. Are you Pitta (fire & water), Vata (space & air), Kapha (water & earth) or the ulimate Tri-Doshic specimen?
• n particular I am studying Anusara yoga. It is a branch of Hatha yoga established in 1997 by John Friend and it speaks to the evolution of yoga. Anusara has a focus on both physical alignment principles, “celebration of heart” and ethical guidelines.

Just a tip of the yoga iceberg…

Okanagan Getting Feast Of Fields

The wheels are in motion for the inaugural Feast of Fields Okanagan. There’s unlikely a better fit for this grass-roots celebration of local farms, producers, vintners and chefs. Ned Bell, executive chef and co-owner of Kelowna’s Cabana Bar and Grille has recently returned from meetings with Farm Folk/City Folk Project Manager Bonita Jo Magee and they’re off and running.

Preliminary stages of planning the ultimate “gourmet wandering picnic harvest festival” have begun with the following tasks on the go: review of suitable farms in the area, date selection, recruiting board members and volunteers and the hiring of a dedicated event coordinator. The contract position would begin in April 2009 and run through the conclusion of the event in September. For complete details on the posting visit here.

Rumour has it that some of BC’s best and brightest Okanagan-based talents will lend their experience, vision and hands-on help to increase awareness and appreciation for local food, wine, agriculture and sustainable food systems.

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A Stocking Stuffed With Granola

Home made gifts can be good, they can also be God-awful. Even if the fear of a tanking economy wasn’t threatening the usual Christmas haul, this healthy, tasty DIY treat is worth writing Santa for: Dana Eckert and Cam Smith of Joy Road Catering have generously shared their most awesome Okanagan Harvest Granola secret. With Christmas still/only a month a way you’ve got time to master the recipe. Get inspired and “forage” for your own ingredients by following sourcing suggestions from these local food champions.

Joy Road Catering’s Okanagan Harvest Granola

A quick note about ingredients; we use as much certified organic and local ingredient as possible for our granola. You should too. It will make your granola taste better. Local honey and dried fruits can be sourced from artisans such as Michael Welsh- aka “the fruit guy” who dries all of his own happy, unsprayed fruit from the Okanagan, and sells it at Granville Island’s Edible BC, Mount Pleasant Cheese, Les Amis du Fromage, and Vancouver’s Winter Farmer’s Market.

Ingredients:

2.5 cups rolled oats

½ cup honey (store bought “ghetto” honey is often over-extruded and burnt tasting)

1/8 cup butter (unsalted)

1/8 cup neutral oil like sunflower

½ teaspoon cinnamon

Pinch grated nutmeg and a pinch of salt

1/3 cup sesame seeds

1/3 cup sunflower seeds

1/3 cup pumpkin seeds

1 cup whole almonds (roughly chopped)

½ cup of your favorite dried fruit

½ cup dried Okanagan cherries

½ cup dried Okanagan apple nibblets

Method:

Pre-heat oven to 325F

In a small pot melt together butter, honey and oil

In a large bowl, mix together oats, salt, spices, nuts and seeds.

Pour warm wet mixture over dry ingredients and mix well with a wooden spoon until evenly coated

Pour this onto a baking tray and bake, stirring and rotating often on the tray to ensure even toasting

When the granola is golden brown and smelling lightly toasty it is done.

Allow to cool completely before adding dried fruit.

Store in an airtight container in a cool dark place.

It keeps quite a while- so make lots!

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Sourcing quality, socially-responsible ingredients is integral to making the world and your belly a better place.

Urban Yogi And The Monkey Mind

My first yoga class was at Yaletown Yoga about 5 years ago. It was weird. It was uncomfortably hot and sweaty, and with all of the chanting and breathing techniques and loud sighing going on, it pushed my limited spiritual boundaries into the cringe zone.

Told that I had to go to several of these “hot” classes to get over these initial impressions, I hung in there. I am so glad that I did. I love hot yoga. It feels amazing, is a serious workout, and offers a spiritual component that seems to seep in enough to pry my mind open despite my cynicism.

There are a variety of yoga styles to choose from with many different kinds, teachers, intensities and philosophies. You can take it all the way and pack up for an Ashram in India or you can drop in to Yoga-fit once a week at Fitness World. It’s wherever you’re at.

We learn that there is no place for competition in yoga. Well, that’s a toughie. I love to break out my dancer’s pose and watch with side glances as my leg extends well over my head and I struggle, feeling way inferior, as my tight hips make even sitting cross-legged a challenge.

Yoga – hot yoga in particular – helped quiet my “monkey mind” a little (a term frequently used to describe the way our thoughts jump around from one to the next). I give myself permission to just go and get what I will out of it without trying to be the next B.K.S. Iyengar. If some of the spiritual messages, moaning, chanting, and buckets of sweat cause my inner skeptic to chortle, well…so be it.

I used to have a regular Sunday morning practice at 8am. I’d get up early, find a free parking spot in Yaletown, sweat my butt off while aligning my chakras and then grab a monster cheese scone from Urban Fare and read the paper on the seawall. If I missed it, or any of my usual classes, people could tell by my mood. “Um…..do you think maybe you should go to a yoga class today, sweetie?”

Since moving to the Okanagan, my practice has really suffered (part hectic schedule, part laziness, part “I miss my fancy Vancouver yoga studios” ). Still, this summer I signed up for a 300 hour yoga teacher training program with North Vancouver’s Yogapod studio, led (and owned )by totally cool yoga dude Todd Inouye. Offering a residential training program that takes place over a nine-month period with three intense 10-day sessions and several additional workshops, it’s something I wanted to prioritize. There is a yogi in me somewhere.

My goal is to just enjoy the classes. I don’t take copious notes or try to be the best yoga teacher training student ever. I just take it in as it comes and hope that it “integrates” (big yoga word for “sink in”). The thought of the first 10-day session totally stressed me out as I worried about fitting it in while still managing my workload. But it was juggling and money well spent. I left with some new friends, new knowledge and an incredible sense of well-being that is still acting as a barrier to stress.

It is three months later and I start round two tomorrow. I am reviewing the sacred Hindu scripture the Bhagavad-Gita, trying to wrap my head around all the concepts and getting ready for some long days filled with practice and theory. Except for the 6:30am starts, I’m looking forward to it. I’ll give a few updates, what I’m learning, how it’s going, and what it takes to become an urban yogi.

Penticton Christmas Market

I didn’t know that I wanted some furniture made out of old wine barrels before I stopped by the Penticton Christmas market in the heritage Cannery building this morning. The market is fairly slow and small but this is Penticton in November. It’s worth worth a stop.

I was crossing my fingers and toes that Joy Road Catering would have a table set up with their to-die-for homemade granola. No luck. But there was some fun stuff: sweaters and soap, baked goods and glass beads, jewelry and all the other crafty doodads you’d expect. Most interesting was The Broken Barrel Furniture Co., a business that makes handcrafted furniture from old oak wine barrels sourced from wineries in Naramata, Kelowna and Oliver. Their motto is something like “the tables are built strong enough to dance on.” Nice! I’d like one of the coat hangers made from barrel staves.

Julius Weber, of J&S Weber Fruit Summerland had a killer old-school fruit stand going on, stocking over seven varieties of organic apples and a slim selection of pears and fresh unshelled nuts. I loaded up on the MACs, Spartans and Fujis that were selling for 50 to 60 cents a pound.

He was pushing the Newtown apples as stars for baking and cooking (clearly he doesn’t know me) and was also hawking Golden and Red Delicious, Jonagold, Mutsu and Sinta. You can find Julius and his lovely, tiny, tasty apples at the indoor Kelowna Farmer’s Market most often and around Penticton winter markets (as suits him).

The Cannery building is also home to the cozy CAN Coffee and the Cannery Stage. A neat, multi-purpose coffee shop turned theatre turned art gallery (local artist Joel Reid is currently on exhibit). It’s a great place to soak up that arty, local vibe with a newspaper or a friend over a steaming Americano.

The Penticton Christmas market runs every Saturday from 10am to 2pm until December 20.

Okanagablog: La Chaîne

Did you know there was a fancy French club with an international membership devoted to celebrating fine dining? Up until recently, I didn’t. Welcome to La Chaîne des Rôtisseurs, and leave your jeans at home, thank you very much.

I had the very good fortune to attend a Chaîne induction dinner in the Chagall Room at Mission Hill Family Estate on Saturday night. Hosted by MH executive chef (and Chaîne member) Michael Allemeier and his killer kitchen team, the event welcomed five new Kelowna members including representation from Mission Hill, Cabana Grille, Fresco, Tantalus Vineyards and Quail’s Gate Winery.

“The Chaîne des Rôtisseurs is an international gastronomic society devoted to promoting fine dining and preserving the camaraderie and pleasures of the table. Although the modern day Chaîne began in 1950, the traditions and practices are based on those of the old French guild of roasters, whose written history dates to 1248.” (linkage – Chaine Canada)

It was posh indeed, and Mission Hill is stunning (duh). But really really stunning when you’re alone at night. The group of about 45 had the winery all to itself.

The evening began with the induction ceremonies. The head of Chaîne Canada, David Tetrault, had flown into Kelowna from Calgary to conduct the ceremony which involved swords and sashes, oaths and medals. It felt a bit DaVinci Code but things around these parts, Vancouver included, could use a little formality now and then. It was fun and novel to rub shoulders with people who take their food and drink seriously.

The ceremony concluded with a reception that included MH’s first vintage of rosé and some swish canapés including a delicious pork belly spoon. Then chef Allemeier rallied the group out into the MH courtyard. The bell rang continuously from its commanding tower during the short walk to the Chagall Room where the new inductees were to be honoured. Totally cool and pretty surreal.

I had the best seat in the house, next to the fireplace with a prime view of the famed Chagall tapestry hung above a black baby grand piano. The six-course dinner was exquisite. Michael Allemeier rocks. The crowd favourite seemed to be the ballontine of Guinea Hen, recognized by the experts in attendance for its nod to history and technique. My favourite course was the Maple Lake rainbow trout and sugar pumpkin croquette paired with the ’04 Select Lot Collection Merlot.

It was a blast. Though I’d seen the tapestry before, I was wowed by the giant Chagall all night long and MH assistant winemaker Wade Stark displayed several hidden talents to the crowd, among them stand up comedy, mad piano-playing skills, and a group serenade. It was fantastic, though I’d expected a stuffy evening.

I did, however, poke some fun at the Chaîne. It seems the “1248 to 1950″ emblazoned on their crest represents the 702 years that the group was not active. Umm…ok. Sure. I guess I could list the number of years I have not been a doctor, a gold-medalist, or an astronaut, though some might think it a bit odd.

In all, it turned out to be a very enjoyable evening of unexpected talent, engaging conversation with tablemates Jane Hatch and Warwick Shaw of Tantalus Vineyards, and a truly superb meal.

Okanagablog: Eating P-Town

Saturday, October 25 was the last Penticton Farmer’s Market of the season and I was pretty bummed as it’s definitely my favourite thing about the P-town. So off I went to eat my usual market breakfast feast and quickly learned why the market shuts down in the fall.

The number of stalls had dropped significantly since my last visit two weeks prior and the wind had made its blustery presence known. Tents blew up and over, hat stands came down with a crash, and leaves circled hurricane-like along with my hair.

I was surprised at how quickly the market atmosphere had changed, and instead of lazily loitering around the City Hall stairs eating this and that I headed straight to the good folks at Joy Road Catering for my usual seasonal fruit galette, cinnamon bun, and homemade granola. It’s more than I can (or should) eat but I need a taste of everything and like to lend my support, especially with it being the last market.

Then it’s off to the Dietz sausage truck for a bison smokie loaded with sauerkraut and mustard. A look back down Main Street saw most stalls losing their tents and in danger of having their wares swept away. I guess it’s time to shut down the season.

I know the producers, farmers, chefs, bakers, knitters, chocolatiers, soap and candle makers have been working so hard since the early spring and are probably quite looking forward to the break. Cam Smith and Dana Ewart of Joy Road told me they were hosting 75 people for an end-of-season shindig at their place that night and were off to Maui the next day, and if anyone deserves a whole lot of R&R, it’s those two.

I also tried out a couple other restaurants in Penticton this weekend at opposite ends of spectrum. The seven month old Lee’s Fusion, a stylish addition to the city close to my part of town (Skaha Lake), and the fifty year old (plus) Capitol diner downtown on Main.

The Capitol has been under the same ownership for its entire existence – a couple from Greece. A little standoffish at first perhaps but owner Vicky warmed up 100% following some interest shown in her kitchen and history. Lunch Friday afternoon was a six dollar plate of bacon and eggs, served with four slices of toast and some pretty decent diner coffee. Remember when coffee cups held 6oz? Dig waaaay back.

The food was average and the atmosphere totally dated but there is something pretty cool about hanging out and watching the world go by in a place that has weathered many decades and is still around to serve locals their liver and onions.

We hit Lee’s Friday evening around 8:30pm, later than the norm in P-town, but there were a fair amount of people inside. We were happy to see that the seafood was Oceanwise and that all three types of Masa Shiroki’s Granville Island-produced Osake sake were on the menu. We had a few plates of good, if rice-heavy sushi, some toro and salmon sashimi, and my favourite: chopped scallop nigiri. Downing multiple teensy glasses of the mid-level sake option, we still ended up with half a bottle to take home…

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