Christmas Day Sunshine and Waves


Here in this little Bay,
Full of tumultuous life and great repose,
Where, twice a day,
The purposeless, glad ocean comes and goes,
Under high cliffs, and far from the huge town,
I sit me down.
(Magna est Veritas, Coventry Patmore)


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Saskatoon's Persian Store

Image
Mulberries, Pomegranate Sauce, Dried Lemons, Kashk and Doogh From the outside, it looks like an old-fashioned corner convenience store. But step inside, and you quickly realize that you’ve discovered a Middle Eastern treasure trove. The Persian Store at 223 – 25th Street West is operated by Mahyar Behnami, who has been in Saskatoon for two years. The store serves an Iranian/Persian community of approximately 500 people, but it’s an opportunity for all of us to try new things. Mrs. Behnami kindly gave me a tour of the store and explained how the different dishes and ingredients would be served in Iran. Canned Goods There is a large assortment of ready-made, canned dishes. (The stews are always served over rice that is dry, not sticky.) Ghormeh sabzi is often considered the Iranian national dish. It contains herbs, dried lemon, onion and red beans – you can add your own meat. The herbs usually include parsley, leeks/green onions, cilantro, spinach and fenugreek, and the...
Read more

Camino: Fair Trade, Organic Chocolate and Sweets

Image
In 1999, three young Ottawa entrepreneurs decided to set up a new business. They had worked overseas and were concerned about the ways in which conventional businesses exploited farmers in many countries around the world. They wanted to provide Canadian consumers with an organic, fairly traded alternative. Because they had chosen to work with producer co-operatives, they established themselves as a worker co-operative, and La Siembra Co-operative was born with the launch of Canada’s first Fair Trade, organic hot chocolate – Cocoa Camino . Getting Started La Siembra’s first year in business was pretty crazy. They were able to source cocoa and sugar for the hot chocolate from two co-operatives in Costa Rica, so they had the raw ingredients. They also had a market as right from the start they were able to supply natural health stores via distributors. But the hot chocolate was being packed in a church basement by volunteers, and they used bicycles to deliver the product to Canada...
Read more

Wild Fire Bakery, Victoria, British Columbia

Image
Delicious Food that is Good for You and Good for the Earth Wild Fire Bakery’s cheerful exterior is matched by its warm, welcoming interior. There are a few wooden tables and chairs at the front, while a baker is mixing large quantities of bread dough at the back. Two large brick ovens dominate the left hand side of the store. As you would expect from an organic bakery, there is a choice of substantial loaves of bread – everything from rye and multigrain to apricot-anise and garlic-cheddar. But the display cases in front may surprise you. There is a decadent chocolate cake decorated with chocolate flakes and tiny yellow flowers, chocolate mousse shaped like mice with playful chocolate tails, and lemon tarts topped with a mountain of meringue. There is an astonishing assortment of muffins – blueberry ginger, banana hazelnut, carrot millet – and cookies – lavender shortbread, orange hazelnut biscotti, fig and oat. You’ll want to sit down with a cup of tea or coffee before trying to d...
Read more

Sea Buckthorn: Superfruit from Northern Vigor Berries

Image
It’s winter, and I’m longing for fruit, but I’m trying to buy as many local foods as possible so pineapples and mangoes are out of the question. Not to worry! I’ve found a new favourite that combines a tart, slightly tropical flavour with a heaping serving of health-giving vitamins and anti-oxidants. And it’s grown in Saskatchewan. Sea Buckthorn Berries Sea buckthorn is a deciduous shrub that was originally grown in Europe and Asia. It doesn’t mind a cold climate or poor soil, so it’s found at the foot of the Himalaya, in Siberia – and on the Canadian Prairies. Sea buckthorn has a long and storied history. Ghengis Khan is said to have fed sea buckthorn berries to his army and the leaves to his horses to keep both healthy and strong prior to battle. Tibetan medicinal texts from as early as 600 A.D. refer to the herbal remedies made of sea buckthorn for skin and digestive disorders. The tradition continues. The Indian Department of Defence recently sponsored a conference on sea ...
Read more

Alley Kat Brewing, Edmonton

Image
small is beautiful - and profitable I ventured deep into Edmonton’s south industrial area to find the home of Alley Kat beers. Alley Kat was founded in 1995 and is the longest-running microbrewery in Edmonton. Their first beer, Aprikat, remains their most popular and reminded me of a fruit cooler. They add apricot extract to the conditioning tanks, and it is sweet with lots of fruit flavour. They also make Alley Kat Amber brown ale, Charlie Flint’s organic lager and Full Moon pale ale (double the hops – oof!) on an ongoing basis. Alley Kat produces approximately one million bottles of beer annually. They sell primarily to Alberta as well as a little to Saskatchewan, but they also send 300-400 kegs of Full Moon to a bar in Seoul, Korea, each month. An Edmonton teacher working in Seoul recommended the beer. The Korean bar owner came to Edmonton, tried the beer and liked it, and now stocks it in his bar. Small = Flexible This example illustrates how flexible small businesses can be....
Read more