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.

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