No Ants Allowed: Summer Picnic Fun in Greater Victoria
"No Ants Allowed: Summer Picnic Fun in Greater Victoria"
by Jade Desjardine
For some people, picnics are an art form. But the way I see it, anytime you enjoy a meal in the open air, you're picnicking. A picnic can be as simple as picking up a sandwich from your favourite local deli and sitting down to savour it on a vacant piece of lawn, or as involved as packing a portable barbecue, planning a four-course meal for dozens of people, setting up a volleyball net and radio in a proper outdoor establishment. Picnics can be an organized group affair, a spontaneous romantic outing for two, or even a solo endeavour. However you slice it, dining al fresco is one of the most enjoyable ways to take advantage of summer.
Sexy Seafood
"Sexy Seafood'"
by JENARRR
The All-Meat Meal Plan
"The All-Meat Meal Plan'"
by JENARRR
So this week I have to apologize because I'm offending all the vegetarians and going all-meat all-day. Never fear my vegetable loving friends! I'm working on a future article with all animal-friendly restaurants so please, stay tuned. Whatever your food ethics, thank you for joining today in this tour of meaty goodness. Please remember to stock up on some blueberries to counter-act the gout.
Prime Patio Pickin'
"Prime Patio Pickin'"
by Jade Desjardine
Are Farm Eggs All They're Cracked Up To Be?
"Are Farm Fresh Eggs All They're Cracked Up To Be?"
by Jade Desjardine
Spice It Up!
"Spice It Up!"
by JENARRR
As always comments, suggestions, insights and photos of your experiences with this subject matter are highly encouraged in the section below!
The Reef Restaurant
533 Yates St.
@thereef
1619 Store St.The Spicejammer
852 Fort St.
- Posted from Victoria, Canada
Family-Run Family Fun
"Family-Run Family Fun"
by JENARRR
Today's dream menu involves three tasty family-run places that have particularly tickled my tastebuds during my restaurant adventures. Victoria is home to many locally-owned restaurants are plentiful but the small, family owned and operated places make me extra-happy for some reason - probably because of the opportunity to connect directly with the people involved in creating the beautiful food in front of me. I can't think of a better way to kick off this series than a theme that pays these families and their restaurants the tribute they deserve!
- Posted from Oak Bay and Victoria, Canada
I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream For (Homemade) Ice Cream!
"I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream For (Homemade) Ice Cream!"
by Jade Desjardine
Given the delay in the arrival of summer this year, I’m finding myself attempting to squeeze all my culinary summer rituals that make summer so special for me into what little time we might have. Since, for the most part, June and July were such duds, August is going to have to be packed full of summer-food-awesomeness, or else I fear I’ll shrivel up and die like an unripe tomato! For me the first thing I think of in summer is not really an ingredient, but rather a degree or measure, of sorts. What do we not each much of in the colder months? Cold things! What’s the best cold thing? Why ice cream, of course!
Types of Frozen Treats (ice cream and otherwise): There are many frozen desserts to choose from. So what is the difference between them? What exactly is ice cream and what’s the difference between it and ice milk, gelato, sorbet, etc.? To avoid confusion, I’ve created a brief glossary of some of the more common types of frozen treats.A “Saucey” UK Summer (in Victoria)
"A Saucey UK Summer (in Victoria)"
by Jade Desjardine
Now that we finally seem to be having a turn-around in our summer weather pattern, it’s time to turn off the oven and move outside. It struck me that although barbecue and picnic season is all about fresh, local, seasonal foods, for me, it’s also about the condiments. I mean, what’s a burger without some sort of sauce to accompany it? Relishes, mustards, chutneys, oh my!
My friends often refer to me as the Condiment Queen. I suppose there is some truth to that. Despite my best attempts to maintain the integrity of quality ingredients, I do sometimes find it impossible to resist slathering some sort of sauce all over perfectly good food. In my defence, I do often make my own condiments, albeit with varying degrees of success. However, there comes a time when your favourites are just a must.The Gladish Radish
"The Gladish Radish"
by Jade Desjardine
Ahh, sweet summer in Victoria. Okay, so it hasn't been so sweet, weather-wise, but it's still summer, so I'm determined to enjoy it. For me, summer means gardening and of course... eating! These two hobbies, obviously, go hand-in-hand, but sometimes it's not as simple as one might suppose. This season has been full of such examples.
I've tried to have a vegetable garden every year of my adult life, and have, with a few exceptions, managed to grow at least a few food goods every year. Of course every year has had its successes and its failures. This year, however, a new theme has made its way into my amateur gardening life: not knowing what the heck it is I'm growing. This year we were away in France for much of the early planting season, so we made a mad effort to plant things before we left. As such, some of our seeds got mixed up and I was unable to label some of my rows. So it shouldn't come as a surprise that I have since been watching anxiously to see what comes up and whether or not I can distinguish young vegetable sproutlings from weeds. However, this is not exactly the only plant-recognition problem we've been faced with this year...
