Planting Bulbs

Fall has almost come and gone! Parts of the country are already under a layer of snow! We've had our first frost and I still haven't planted my spring bulbs!  Yet again, my garden is going to be devoid of the beautiful spring colours that should be adorning every bed.  Instead, year after year, I have a sparse sprinkling of tulips and daffodils that happen to make it through to the next year.

I am a learn as you go gardener.  Before I moved to this one acre property with no less than 6, yes 6 flower beds (actually not just beds but 6 areas with various flower beds!) I knew next to nothing about gardening.  My hubby plows right ahead and has built his vegitable garden up beautifully but I've struggled to enhance my flower beds.  Every year I plan to move things and plant bulbs early but it never happens.

However, I was surfing the net, which I do a lot!  And although my husband doesn't think much comes of all this surfing, I can tell you, it has provided me with endless to do lists.  A few of which get done.  One is this....this year I will plant bulbs.  Yes, I know we've just had our first frost but I have been reassured by the Dig, Drop, Done ladies that my bulbs can be planted through snow, as long as they are in the cold ground before spring.  They may bloom a little later but all is good.  Who knew?  I didn't.  So there is hope for me yet and those daliah's I've been dreaming of will see the light of day this year.

If you are like me and a little daunted by the education needed to plant the right flowers in the right places then check out this site.  It's modern, it's helpful and it's got three cool ladies helping you along the path to flower heaven.

Tip of the Week

Happy Halloween!  Here I am in my witch costume.  Actually quite a few people didn't recognize me at the school dance which was very interesting.  It was interesting to see how people reacted when a stranger said hi.  Good for some laughs!

My tip of the week today is an easy peasy treat for the kids at school.  We have a potluck today and this is what I made.  I call them Frightening Fruit Kabobs.  You'll need assorted fruit, kabob sticks, ghost and bat rings.  I got the rings and sticks at my local dollar store and chose fruit that was orange and black as much as possible.

I put a grape on the stick first and then attached the ring.  The rings were already cut so they would expand so they were easy to place around the grape.  Then I put an orange fruit on the stick to go with the black grape, added some more fruit pieces and ended with another black grape

These were a hit with the kids and it forced them to eat some nice healthy fruit. Enjoy a safe and fun Halloween.

Tip of the Week

Lightbulbs Simplified

In the past, I have gone to replace a burnt out light bulb and been utterly lost standing in the light bulb section.  It is so confusing.  Not only which bulb for which purpose but also the type of bulb, the size and the colour of light it gives off.  Inevitably I end up leaving without anything. I'm writing this post for me and for anyone else in the same boat.

Here we go...

Incandescent Light Bulbs - (on the right in the photo) these are the traditional lightbulbs that we all once had in our homes.  The choices now have increased and it's a little confusing which bulb is the best way to go.

CFL - (middle in photo) Energy Star rated compact fluorescent lamps use less than 75% of the energy in a regular bulb and last 8-10 years longer.  They give off a 1/4 of the amount of heat of an incandescent.

Halogen Incandescent Bulbs - use 20-30% less energy than a regular bulb and last only 3 times longer than a regular.

LED - (left in photo) Light Emitting Diodes are the most energy efficient and the most cost efficient bulbs.  These use 75% less energy than the regular incandescent light bulb.  We just replaced some of our kitchen lighting with LED lights.  The bulb is much heavier and the weight makes me believe the claim that it is said to last up to 22 years.  The drawback is the cost at around $35.00.  This may be a lot to swallow for a tight budget but if you think long term you end up saving in Energy and the cost of replacement bulbs of the other kind.  These lights don't have the lumen output that may be needed in some cases but technology is moving quickly and will likely catch up to the other lighting options before long and will likely also bring the price down.

As for the light that bulbs emit, there seem to be three categories. If you are lucky, you'll find a store that have some lights plugged in so you can see which is which. In general though,

Warm White/Soft White is the traditional colour of the incandescent light bulbs with a yellow tint
Cool White/Bright White is the best for kitchens and work spaces and has a white tint
Natural/Daylight is good for reading and has a more blue tint

So there you have it simplified. If you have any questions, feel free to comment and good luck next time you are in the bulb aisle!  I hope this helped.  I feel much more knowledgeable.

Heirloom Vegetarian Restaurant Review

I promised a review of a restaurant I recently 'experienced' in Vancouver and here it is, with pleasure, as I drool over the memory of the dishes.

The weekend started on the right foot with a luxury steam shower while staying in my my good friends' condo just up from Granville Island, in Vancouver.  Once prepped and newly invigorated for the day, we took a walk up Granville Street to go and check out a new restaurant that was just opening.  The shopping is fantastic in the South Granville area but we were hungry and had other appointments to get to so we headed straight to 12th Avenue and Heirloom Vegetarian.  As we approached the restaurant we heard noise coming from inside but noticed the very cool, antique, rod iron elevator door was closed.  We peaked through the bars in disappointment!  Our lunch was not to be.  My girlfriend got the attention of someone inside to ask when they would be opening and that changed everything.

He was a proud new owner who showed us around the gorgeous, comfortable, modern yet fun space.  He pointed out the exposed brick, the original windows, the retro tile on the kitchen floors, the gorgeous bar which was to house organic wines and craft beers and a luxury and I mean top of the line, coffee machine!  Everything has been meticulously thought out in the design of the space.  Kudos to Evoke ID for a beautiful space.

The gorgeous bar area.  Love the window boxes behind the bar!

We were hooked but the owners were holding a family and staff brunch before their big opening and we were out of luck.  I told him I was from the Island and how unfortunate it was that I wasn't able to try out his new restaurant and we were about to walk out the door when he invited us to stay for a parfait.  I wasn't quite sure what a parfait was exactly but I said "yes, we'd love to stay for a parfait, thank you so much!" and we were in.  

I later learned that Heirloom's executive chef, Georgia Morley is a holistic nutrition consultant who in a past life worked as a private chef in the kitchens of lululemon founder Chip Wilson and Vancouver Canucks captain Henrik Sedin.  The parfait was not to disappoint. 

The porsche of all coffee machines!

We sat down at a table amongst the family and staff members and felt a little out of place.  But, the owner was amazing, very welcoming and we were pleasantly surprised when he offered us some tea with our parfait.  The parfait came and it was a warm chia with maple syrup and balsamic roasted plums and greek yogurt, sprinkled with bee pollen and hemp hearts.  The symphony of flavours was fabulous and very hearty.  This was not to be the end of our visit though.  Although I would have been fine with just my tea and parfait, we then proceeded to be served 3 more glorious, flavour filled courses and literally rolled out of there.

Our parfait teaser!

Yogi Johl is the co-owner of Heirloom and he checked in on us every few minutes.  At the end of the meal, just before the cacao blackberry fudge, Yogi sat down with us and told us his story.  He is a very accomplished national wrestler who I later discovered, represented Canada in two Olympic Games (he gave us, a very modest rendition of this wrestling career). He grew up believing pasta and red meat was good for you and the more the better.  His physical stature corroborated his story.

Yogi is no stranger to the nightclub/bar business but his establishments were not known for healthy food and more often than not, he would eat at his establishment.  One evening in March while smoking cigars and enjoying a scotch, he and his business partner, Gus Greer, came up with the idea of opening a restaurant where healthy food was served and so the dream of Heirloom Vegetarian was born.   Just 7 months later, a vegetarian restaurant designed with a high end, yet mainstream, style in mind opened to the welcoming Vancouver public.

The brunch menu that day. Can you say drool!

4 courses later and running late for our next appointment we moved to leave. Yogi wouldn't hear of us paying!  We felt like very important food critics or just very famous people but we were in heaven.  I wish that feeling on everyone at least once in their lives.  We were treated to something no one else had yet experienced and made to feel that we were more important than any one else in the room.  Wow, we had just walked off the street.  Who were we but two women looking for a great vegetarian meal.  One of the staff actually commented on just that as we were leaving.  She asked me if we had "just walked in off the street".  I said, "yes" incredulously, and she laughed and said "boy were you lucky, people have been walking in here all day to take a look!"

We were on cloud 9 as we left for another pampering at Bioethique Spa.  All in the day of a VIP!  Needless to say, I highly recommend this restaurant to all my peeps.  Definitely, check it out for a meal and ambience you'll remember and give my best regards to Yogi!  I will definitely be back...if I can get a table!

Heirloom Vegetarian
1509 West 12th
604.733.2231

Tip of the Week

I've recently become introduced to 'nutritional yeast'.  A friend was mentioning that nutritional yeast is a staple in her pantry.  I had no idea what it was or what I'd even use it for, so I did some research.

I discovered some interesting ways to use this cheesy tasting product. And with a diet like mine it may come in very handy.  This is one of the only non-animal sources high in vitamin B12. Its also a source of iron, magnesium, phosphorus, zinc, chromium and selenium and other minerals plus protein, folic acid, biotin, 18 amino acids and other vitamins.

Wow!  So how does one use this ingredient.

1. Replace regular cheese with a dusting of nutritional yeast and your spices of choice on popcorn, pizza, pasta, mashed potatoes, quiche, french fries or my favourite, kale chips
2. Use nutritional yeast to make cheese sauce or just thicken a sauce instead of flour.
3. Use it to replace bread crumbs in recipes for burgers or anywhere you need a binding agent.
4. Add it to your salad dressing to get a boost of B12.
5. You can even try adding it to dog food or baby formula.

Try some of these recipes...

Here's a delicious Mac & Cheese recipe from Healthy Happy Health Blog.

Here's a cheese sauce that's quick and easy from Yummly.
A cheesy Kale recipe from Chick In the Kitchen.

For more recipes, just do a search in Google under nutritional yeast recipes.  Happy Hunting and Eating!

photo credit: arimoore via photopin cc

Luxury in Vancouver

A few weekends ago, I was lucky enough to be spoiled rotten by a good friend of mine in Vancouver.  We were celebrating my birthday.  She lives in a condo that is absolutely gorgeous and located just up from Granville Island.  They are pros at renos and there condo always looks gorgeous.  In the midst of another reno, they decided to embark on the instillation of a steam shower.  The last time I visited the steam shower was in but not sealed yet.  It sat there teasing me.

But this time, I took full advantage! Stepping into the steaming shower was the first time I ever felt like I was at a spa without actually being at a spa. They also have one of those overhead rain showers so once you are done your steam, you can rinse off with a luxury shower as well. I'm looking forward to the next visit with renewed enthusiasm! Take a look at the photos and for more information on the benefits of steam showers check out this article.

Luxury Steam Shower

River Rock flooring

Next week I'll be writing a review on a fantastic new restaurant that has just opened up in Vancouver.  Stay tuned.