Adventures from Vancouver & Beyond

Vancouver is a wonderful destination in itself and many of our guests are here purely to explore our area.  Absolutely one of the most beautiful cities in the world! However, it is also a perfect jumping off point to amazing adventures in the Canadian north, Alaska and/or almost any other part of the world. We have been fascinated with the stories from our guests, many of whom are world travelers and who are stopping in Vancouver as just part of a longer itinerary.  I thought it would be fun to share some of their stories on my blog and I hope that some of our readers will find them an inspiration for planning their own trip. Here's one from a couple who live in Georgia, U.S.A., and spent a few days with us in June, 2010:
"Since we heard so much about Vancouver, we decided to spend 3 days there prior to visiting Juneau, Anchorage, Fairbanks & Denali, Alaska, then 3 days travelling through the Arctic.
We spent our first 3 days at the first-rate Bee & Thistle Guest House, which is newly renovated and includes wonderful breakfasts.
Vancouver was lovelier than expected and a great place to visit. We took an all day bus tour (about $170/pp) to Vancouver Island which included the flowers of Butchart Gardens, plus time to enjoy the interesting history and fun of Victoria. We had a great lunch of fish and chips at Fisherman's Wharf and visited the Empress Hotel. It's absolutely gorgeous and serves  high tea at approx. $60/pp, but we didn't partake due to time constraints.
The next day we toured around Vancouver on the Hop On, Hop Off Bus, stopping at the steam clock in Gastown, Granville Island, Stanley Park, and other interesting sights.
On our final day, after another delicious breakfast, we took the sky train to the airport for our trip to Alaska. Our flight from Vancouver to Juneau with Alaska Air was around $400/pp one way.  Many cruise ships stop at Juneau and the downtown area has  a lot of typical tourist shops and tons of jewelery stores.   We took an all day boat ride ($150/pp) to Tracy Arms Fjord, which is breathtaking with it's  blue, blue icebergs and amazing glaciers!  We also did some gold panning and visited a summer dog camp where huskies are trained for the Iditarod.  The camp has 4 mushers and 120 dogs, and we enjoyed a ride with 14 dogs pulling the sled.

Iceberg in Tracy Arms Fjord

After a flight to Anchorage, which is a very big city with all the amenities you'd expect, we took another boat tour to see more glaciers. The water was gorgeous and we had the  amazing experience of seeing a whale and her baby! We also took a bus sightseeing tour around the city.

Denali was quite an experience. We saw Mt. McKinley, and the wildlife was amazing! We saw a wolf, lynx, eagles, moose, bears and many birds.  As part of the bus tour you can travel 55 miles into the park.  By private car you are only allowed to go 17 miles in, which would be disappointing as you would not see nearly as much wildlife. Be warned, though, it's a bumpy ride!
Fairbanks is another fairly big city with a large, interesting museum, as well as numerous shops and restaurants. Be sure to try halibut cheeks at Simon and Seaforts Restaurant - it sounds awful, but is wonderful! Also try their terrific mojitos and onion soup!
Going on to Barrow, the northernmost point in the U.S., was awesome and an experience that is not to be missed! It's the location of an Inupiat whaling village which has been in existence for thousands of years. It was mid-June when we were there and the temperature was only 30 F.  The Arctic Ocean was frozen! There is no greenery, trees or flowers since it's always cold and the ground is in a state of "perma-frost", very common in Alaska. Barrow was a fascinating place place, with tours, folk art and native dancing.  After another short flight on a 10 seater airplane we arrived in Deadhorse, or Prudhoe Bay, where we joined a van load of visitors for a two day ride down the Dalton Highway, a mostly dirt road along the oil pipeline.  The Alaska pipeline began in Prudhoe Bay.  The final stop on our tour was Coldfoot and a town nearby called Wiseman with only 15 permanent inhabitants. They are mostly self supporting through their gardens and hunting and fishing. Fairbanks is the closest town at 240 miles away, so their visits for other necessities are limited to once every 4 or 5 months.
Our return journey took us back to Fairbanks for one night, on to Anchorage for our final night, then home at last to start planning our next adventure!"

Gluten Free Banana Pecan Muffins

We recently had a guest who was restricted to a gluten free diet and he asked me if I would share this recipe.  As I've mentioned in previous posts, since starting our guest house I have had to spend quite a bit of time sourcing out, then testing, gluten free muffin recipes. Some of them have turned out hard inedible products that only vaguely resembled muffins, but with patience, research and a lot of tweaking, this one has become one of my favorite recipes. These are proof that it's possible to bake delicious foods with alternative grains, whether or not you are on a gluten free diet. With weather conditions causing a shortage of wheat in Russia and other places this year, perhaps it's a good time for all of us to start questioning our dependency on wheat products and broaden our experience in baking with other grains. I must warn you, though, that it's expensive to get started baking with gluten free flour combinations. I spent something like $100 to buy a small supply of the basic ingredients used in this recipe. Here it is:

Banana Pecan Muffins (Gluten Free)

½ C. Brown Rice Flour

¼ C. Glutinous (sweet/sticky) Rice Flour

¼ C. Arrowroot Powder/Flour

¼ C. Amaranth Flour

½ C. Ground Walnuts (or I use Ground Almonds because they are readily available)

½ C. Potato Starch

¼ C. Tapioca Flour

2 tsp. Baking powder

1 tsp Xanthan Gum (very important as this is what replaces the gluten)

½ c. chopped pecans

1 tsp. Salt

2 large eggs + 2 egg whites (separated and the whites whipped until stiff but not dry)

½ C. Safflower Oil

½ C. Packed Brown Sugar

1 ½ C. Mashed Ripe Bananas

2 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line 12 c. muffin pan with baking cups (or 6 commercial size muffin cups). Whisk together the flours, xanthan gum and salt. In separate bowl mix together the yolks, oil, sugar, bananas and vanilla.  Fold flour mixture into the liquid mixture.  Fold in whipped egg whites. Fill muffin cups 3/4 full.  You can top these with a mixture of 3 T. oats, 1 T. maple syrup & 1 T. butter rubbed together. Place 1 pecan half on top for garnish.  Bake for 22 to 24 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in top comes out clean.

Grandma's Cookie Jar

I've been a bit remiss in keeping up my blog in recent weeks but, since the original purpose of the blog was to record our experience of opening a guest house, perhaps the most accurate reflection of the process is long periods where we are so absolutely swamped that we have no time to sleep or even have a thought, never mind record one! However, I've had in my heart a promise I made to a lovely young guest who is expecting a baby in the near future and that promise has brought me back to my computer. Our hope is that our guests will feel so cozy that they will think they are home - only better (no worries, no stress, no rushing around). One of the ways we try to do that is by keeping a lovely pottery cookie jar in the dining room filled with home baked cookies chock full of whole oats, plump sweet raisins, crunchy peanut butter, wonderfully scented coconut, melt in your mouth chocolate and other heavenly ingredients. This particular guest was gracious enough to request the recipe for one of the cookie varieties we serve. My prayer is that she will be blessed with many loving moments in her kitchen with her new little one on her knee, sharing laughter and dunking warm cookies fresh out of the oven into tall glasses of icy cold milk. Here's the recipe:

Grandma's Cupboard Cookies

1 c. butter

1/2 c. white sugar

1/2 c. firmly packed brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

2 c. flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

2 c. old fashioned oatmeal (preferably organic)

2 c. chocolate chips

1 c. flaked coconut

1 c. raisins

1 c. chopped walnuts

Cream butter, add sugar then eggs and vanilla. Stir in dry ingredients. Roll in balls and press flat with fork. Bake at 350 F. for 16 - 18 minutes. Makes about 4 dozen cookies (or 2 dozen of our rather more ample cookies).

Note: these are extremely versatile cookies. I've made them sugar free, gluten free (substitute gluten free flours), whole wheat, etc. They have always turned out delicious, no matter what substitutions I've made.

Tropical Fruit Sundaes

We have recently been blessed by having guests stay with us for as much as two weeks at a time which, while wonderful, does present a challenge in coming up with new menus each day. Many B&Bs and guest houses simply create 8 menus and rotate them, but I much prefer (whenever possible) to surprise our guests every day with something new and hopefully appealing. I find that this is especially tricky with respect to fruit dishes as there are only so many combinations out there and often there's a danger of it just becoming one more fruit salad or broiled grapefruit! However, what this (very nice to have) problem does do is push me to be more creative and the results can be great fun. I was out scouring the fruit and vegetable markets on Commercial Drive for ideas and found myself drawn to the amazing aroma of ripe guavas, which I could smell long before I saw them. I've had disappointing results with guavas in the past as they are often not very ripe when we get them here in Canada, and sometimes full of hard seeds. I bought them anyway, along with a selection of other tropical fruits, and then started brainstorming about what I could do with them. Obviously, the answer to hard seeds in a small fruit is to blend it and push it through a sieve, so that's what I did. Then I whipped up some cream cheese and blended it together with the guava pulp. It was quite thick so I thinned it down with whipping cream & added a very small amount of icing sugar - so far, all good! How can you go wrong with guavas, cream cheese, icing sugar and whipping cream?! I taste tested the guava cream on my grandson, who tends to eat like a sparrow, and he gobbled it up, along with healthy portions of fruit! So, then, my new dish, which I call "Tropical Fruit Sundaes" was born. (By the way, in looking on the internet, I discovered I wasn't nearly as original as I thought I was! There are quite a few recipes out there for guava cream, which appears to be often used as a pastry filling.) I blind baked some puff pastry tart shells, spread a bit of chocolate sauce in the bottom, piled them high with a mixture of tropical fruit - Satsumu mandarins, Ya pears, mango, bananas, papaya, kiwi fruit and green grapes for colour. Then I poured a generous amounts of the guava cream over the top, a drizzle of either chocolate or strawberry sauce to create the appearance of a sundae, a dollop of whipped cream and topped it all off with a fresh cherry! Yum, yum! The biggest danger is of me gaining 50 pounds from wolfing down all the left over guava cream!

Tomatillos - Amazing to Grow and Delicious in Huevos Verde!

I adore almost every type of flowering plant in the world but, if it comes down to a choice, I always make room for a food producing plant over a flowering one (well, there are a few exceptions - the gorgeous white tree peony that just finished blooming has a special spot in amongst the blueberries, for example!). In my wee garden, I do have to be selective about what I plant and only those that produce a good harvest get a second chance! I had never grown Tomatillos "Physalis ixocarpa" until last year when a friend gave me a started purple plant as a companion to the little green variety "Toma Verde" that I had purchased from a local garden shop. These definitely fall within the class of plants that will always have a spot in my garden from now on. They do grow fairly tall and spindly and seemed to like the trellis they were sharing with a potted plant nearby. Of the two varieties I tried, the Toma Verde was far superior, both in the number and size of fruit produced. The little fruits amazed me as they appeared in their little papery wrappers, which slowly began splitting open to reveal the firm, shiny green fruit within. When I first touched one I was surprised at the slightly sticky feeling of the skin of the fruit. With the bountiful harvest of the Toma Verde, I had to immediately begin looking for ways to cook my little treasures. Pouring over on-line recipes I, as usual, ended up combining a few and came up with a "Salsa Verde" that I've been making ever since and which I love (what can I say - I adore Mexican food!). Tomatillos are expensive in Vancouver in the winter months so I can't wait to get some more plants into the garden for this year. In our guest house, one of our basic menus includes Huevos Verde - basically poached eggs nestled in some Salsa Verde in a tortilla shell with cheese melted over the top. Throw in some refritos (i.e. refried beans), a little sour cream and some home made guacamole, and you have a feast! Here's the recipe for Salsa Verdes:

Salsa Verde

10 medium tomatillos, husked (cut larger ones in half)

1 small onion

3 cloves of garlic, chopped

1/2 - 2 jalapeno peppers finely chopped (I only use 1/2 for my guests)

1/2 c. chopped cilantro

Juice of 1/2 a Lime

Salt & Pepper to taste

Directions: place tomatillos on baking sheet and roast at 350 degrees for 20 - 30 minutes, or until cooked through and juice is escaping. Drain (but reserve liquid for thinning salsa later, if required). Place tomatillos, garlic, jalapeno, cilantro & salt & pepper in blender and process to desired consistency. Pour into bowl and add finely chopped onion. Adjust salt & pepper to taste. Add more lime if it needs a bit more zip. I also experimented with canning and freezing the salsa. I wasn't very pleased with the canned product but freezing worked well.


This is the Tree Peony that should have equal billing with the tomatillos as it is also spectacular!

My New Favorite Side Dish - Chorizo Potato Wraps

It's been a while since I've done any posting - I'm discovering that innkeeping can be extremely hectic (but it's still fun!). I have a couple of things that I would like to share - the first is my new favourite side dish which is based on a recipe from Anna Olson. I first saw her create these on the Food Network so here's the link: http://www.foodnetwork.ca/recipes/Main/Cheese/recipe.html?dishid=10086. I have to say that Anna is one of my favourite chefs. I really find I can trust her recipes and I own several of her cookbooks - both of her "Sugar" books and "Fresh with Anna Olson". Anna calls this recipe "Chorizo Potato Cheese Wraps" and she made them as a portable snack. However, I think I would like to call them "Potato Petals" because when you arrange them in a martini glass with a dollop of sour cream and some chives, they do resemble the petals of a flower. Here's the recipe: 

Ingredients

Vegetable oil, for brushing

3 large russet potatoes

12 thin slices cured chorizo sausage (or cooked)

1 cup grated Old Cheddar cheese 

Directions 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking tray with parchment paper and brush parchment with oil. Peel potatoes and slice lengthwise into 24 slices, just under ¼-inch thick (using a mandolin is easiest). Place 12 potato slices onto prepared baking tray. Arrange a slice of chorizo on each potato slice and sprinkle with cheese, leaving edges of potato clear. Cover cheese with remaining potato slices. Place a sheet of parchment paper over “wraps” and place a second baking tray on top. Bake for 15 minutes, then remove top baking tray and parchment paper and bake until potatoes are golden brown, about 8 minutes more. Serve “wraps” warm or at room temperature.  

I know these look like a lot of work but if you own a mandolin, you can quickly slice the potatoes, lay them on a cookie sheet, fill and bake them in moments (well, the baking takes at least 15 minutes. I sometimes brown them under the broiler to give them that nice golden brown colour). I have also made them dairy free by using soy cheese and they worked beautifully. The chorizo substantially improves the flavour of the soy cheese and they are delicious.

Eating Local vs Global Bread Basket

I've had an idea for a blog post percolating in my mind and recently came across a cook book that fits in beautifully, so perhaps now is the time! I've been really struck lately by the way our food has evolved over the last decade, as it probably did in the decade before that but I just didn't notice. Our focus in recent years has been on eating organically, buying locally, staying in season, fair trade, growing our own and back to good old home cooking. But how does one meld those very lofty (and important) ideals with the amazing array of foods, flavors, wines and recipes that are coming to us from every corner of the globe - i.e. our Global Community? I must have missed the day the earth got smaller! What once was only available to people in one corner of the globe is now flooding the markets on the other side of the world (at least, on our side)! I'm very blessed to live on Commercial Drive in Vancouver where one can walk down the street and browse through umpteen little multi-nationality grocers, vegetable & fruit stands, bakeries and delicatessens - loaded with passion fruits, halloumi cheese, dragon fruit, persimmons, Rooibus and other tea flavors too numerous to count, and even cactus leaves (cactus pads?). Ten years ago I had probably never heard of a chipotle pepper, now I wouldn't make chili without them. And chevre - truly, I didn't live under a rock, I must have known it was a kind of cheese, but now I love it! In almost anything - the Vermont Brownie Company has created a decadent dark chocolate brownie that people say is amazing - www.vermontbrowniecompany.com/dark-chocolate-chevre). Our food has truly transformed! Perhaps more for me because I grew up on a farm in Northern Alberta where diets didn't change much - meat, potatoes and overcooked veggies! Can you imagine my dad coming in from a long, hot, dusty day on the tractor and grabbing a Hell or High Watermelon Wheat Beer out of the fridge??!! And my prairie farm grandmother (who made amazing watermelon rind pickles so no one can say she had no imagination!) would have been truly shocked to know that some people take sweet, luscious, fresh strawberries and douse them in black pepper & balsamic vinegar! Although I'm pretty sure she might have been tempted to sneak into the root cellar with a big spoon and sample my Grape Marguerita Jelly (made with tequila of course) or my Peach/Frangelico/Almond jam! Ah - back to the cook book - it's Williams-Sonoma "New Flavors for Desserts" by Raquel Pelzel. I borrowed it from the library but might just have to buy this one (my cupboard hasn't fallen off the wall yet, so I'm sure there's room for one more up there!). Some of the flavor combinations look very intriguing - Rosemary with Juniper Berries, Port & Black Pepper on fruit; Olive Oil, Madeira & Blood Oranges; Lavendar Creme Brulee; Roasted Pears with Greek Yogurt, Bay Leaves & Honey; Quince with Mascarpone, Caramel & Ginger; Baked Apples, Blue Cheese, Black Pepper & Honey; Salted Caramel; Raspberry Earl Grey Tart - well, and the list goes on.