Sweet & Savoury Savary
We recently returned from a week on
Savary Island, a spit of an island (about 5 miles end to end, and less than 1 mile at its widest point) of the coast of British Columbia. As the crow flies, about 110 miles north of Vancouver to Lund, BC, then a short water taxi ride. Look
here for a better idea of where it is.
Savary has no electricity, no internet (horrors!). and delightfully little infrastructure. No paved roads; the "airport" such as it was got its runway disabled after an accident. It is ruggedly beautiful, has a General Store, a restaurant, and "taxi" service (old pickup trucks that fetch you at the dock and deliver you to wherever you're staying). That's about it. Phone service is available throughout (and there's cellular coverage), but 3 public phone booths remain, and are actually shown on the island map! There's no trash pickup on the island, so in addition to packing in most of our food and other supplies, we had to pack
out our trash. Three bags for 8 people for a week isn't so bad -- burnables got burnt in the wood stove, compost-ables were buried.
We were invited to the island by our friends Blake & Libby Kelly, who have been visiting Savary for some 3 decades now. We spent the week with the two of them, a daughter (Jennifer) and son-in-law (Merlyn); and two grandchildren -- girl 7 (Reina), boy 7
weeks (Charlie). Here's the lot:
There isn't a lot to
do on Savary; we read quite a bit, ate well, drank too much, fawned over the kids, hiked and wandered the shore. Returned to the favorite spot on the beach that the Kelly's had camped back when their kids were young.
Scott ended up preparing most of the food for the 8 of us, unplanned but fun for all. We brought a bit of cookware and ingredients for a couple of meals, and would bring some more equipment if we get the chance to visit again. Merlyn & Jennifer brought a 3 1/2kg coho salmon which fed the 7 of us twice and was gluttonous at that.
More photos available
here (click images to advance)
Labels: travel, Vancouver
Beating the "Big C" -- Cancer free after 10 years. Party!
Ten years ago, August 1999, Kathy started an arduous regime of surgery, chemotherapy and radiation, for a malignant tumor in her right breast. Metastasized to adjacent lymph nodes, the prognosis wasn't the worst but certainly wasn't the best.
Cancer is nefarious; it wants to consume the body, literally, and getting rid if it seems equally barbaric. You suppress the victim's immune system to the point that the quick-growing cancer cells can't survive, preferably without killing the patient (which would be counter-productive). Excise the bad-bits, dump
poisons into the patient's veins, and nuke the affected areas with gamma radiation. Anyone for a little blood-letting? Couldn't hurt, eh?
Ten years later, she's happy, healthy and free of the little buggers. Time to celebrate!
It's behind us, we are confident. Life is uncertain: it offers great joys and significant challenges. Kathy has met one of those challenges and triumphed over it. We're moving on.
OK enough drama, let's talk about FOOD. To celebrate this transitional anniversary, we connected with the Chef & Owners of
Fuel, arguably the finest restaurant in Vancouver. We eat there from time to time, taking advantage of their "inexpensive"
pre-fixe menus. Served at the "bar" (actually a serving area facing the kitchen) , we get to watch not only our own food being prepared, but the rest of the restaurant's -- and we can (and do) ask the Chef about particular dishes. "How was that prepared?", "Was that cooked
sous vide?". It is a rockin' good time, as if the food wasn't enough, we're getting firsthand accounts of how it is prepared. A Foodies' wet-dream. Scott having been through Culinary school is both paying rapt attention, and experiencing vicariously what Chef Ted is going through.
It's a Tuesday -- normally the slowest day of the week for fine-dining restaurants (many are closed on Mondays). We made the reservation early -- 6pm, so to minimize the potential interruptions to our dialog with Chef Ted (who is cool under fire too, but definitely more communicative when there're fewer things to attend to). We met with Ted and Tom, co-Proprietor, over what we'd enjoy for our special evening. They are delighted to be part of it: "We live for this", says Tom. He's sincere.
The menu: well, basically everything. We looked at the evening's regular menu after we'd finished our
degustation, and we'd eaten pretty much everything they had on offer. Full but not to the waddling stage ("Eat not to dullness, drink not to elevation" -- Poor Richard's Almanac). Kathy took copious notes and we've assembled them into a menu. Nine courses, four and a half hours. Individual wine-pairing for each course.
And the menu is...
here!
Labels: Canada, cuisine, Food, Vancouver
Tuscon - Vancouver in 4 days or less
We arrived to Vancouver this year in record time: three and a half days from Tucson, AZ. Not that it was a marathon exactly; we just took an efficient route that brought us Tucson to Las Vegas, LV to Boise, Boise to Bellingham, then a short jaunt from Bellingham to Vancouver. Maybe we'll take a bit more leisurely route back in the Fall (friend in Coeur D'Aline, for example), or maybe we'll just repeat the bee-line hither to yon.
Vancouver is our annual "city experience". 11th story view of the waterfront (well, "a" waterfront; the city of Vancouver is kind of a peninsula), yet just two blocks from city life and culture.
Our plan for returning to Tucson is a bit vague at this point -- Kathy and I may return separately, she first with me driving solo a couple of weeks later.
Labels: travel, Tucson, Vancouver
Vancouver Pride Preview
Greetings Gentle Readers!
Kathy & I are [still] up in Vancouver BC, and the "big happening" -- yesterday -- was the 30th annual Gay Pride Parade & Festivities. That Kathy's sister (hat-less to the right of Kathy) Sue and our niece Sara (below them) are visiting from the US made it that much more special.
Labels: Canada, Gay Pride, Vancouver
We recently returned from a week on Savary Island, a spit of an island (about 5 miles end to end, and less than 1 mile at its widest point) of the coast of British Columbia. As the crow flies, about 110 miles north of Vancouver to Lund, BC, then a short water taxi ride. Look here for a better idea of where it is.
