Vancouver autumn
The rains have returned and winter's moving in, bringing with it darker days and plenty of cloud. The cranes on Burrard Inlet were shrouded with mist when I awoke this morning, and as I write this a bank of fog is laying over the city. Autumn still has some life in it yet, however; the trees seem poised to keep their colours for a few days.
This weekend was full of activities that have become part of my experience of Vancouver each fall: the annual apple festival at the University of British Columbia; stocking up on a few books for the months ahead; and red wine.
The apple festival is always a good experience, and I typically spend most of my time mingling with people at the BC Fruit Testers' Association display. It boasts upwards of 200 apples, all of them grown around Southern B.C. This year, peoples' questions focussed largely on where to find some of the more obscure varieties of apples. Although several dozen varieties are available by the bag in the parking lot, varieties like Ontario are less widely distributed. (My first choices were largely sold out this year, so I settled for Rosu de Kluj, Snow, Spencer and a newer variety from France, Tentation.)
A visit to the Vancouver Public Library's book sale yielded some treasures, including Canada: A Year of the Land (1967; reprinted 1969 and featured in Devil's Artisan 63) and Let's Cook the Chinese Way, a guide to Chinese cooking.
Published by a Victoria, British Columbia trading company in 1964, Let's Cook the Chinese Way provides insight into what was locally available in terms of Chinese food at the time, as well as a glimpse of contemporary perceptions of Chinese cooking. An earnest little volume, it highlights the economic and dietary benefits of not just eating Chinese food but "cooking like the Chinese do" (to quote the introduction).
Rounding things out and helping stave off the darkening days was a 2001 Sumac Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon made from grapes grown on the Black Sage Road in the South Okanagan.
This weekend was full of activities that have become part of my experience of Vancouver each fall: the annual apple festival at the University of British Columbia; stocking up on a few books for the months ahead; and red wine.
The apple festival is always a good experience, and I typically spend most of my time mingling with people at the BC Fruit Testers' Association display. It boasts upwards of 200 apples, all of them grown around Southern B.C. This year, peoples' questions focussed largely on where to find some of the more obscure varieties of apples. Although several dozen varieties are available by the bag in the parking lot, varieties like Ontario are less widely distributed. (My first choices were largely sold out this year, so I settled for Rosu de Kluj, Snow, Spencer and a newer variety from France, Tentation.)
A visit to the Vancouver Public Library's book sale yielded some treasures, including Canada: A Year of the Land (1967; reprinted 1969 and featured in Devil's Artisan 63) and Let's Cook the Chinese Way, a guide to Chinese cooking.
Published by a Victoria, British Columbia trading company in 1964, Let's Cook the Chinese Way provides insight into what was locally available in terms of Chinese food at the time, as well as a glimpse of contemporary perceptions of Chinese cooking. An earnest little volume, it highlights the economic and dietary benefits of not just eating Chinese food but "cooking like the Chinese do" (to quote the introduction).
Rounding things out and helping stave off the darkening days was a 2001 Sumac Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon made from grapes grown on the Black Sage Road in the South Okanagan.
posted by Peter Mitham at 9:06 AM
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