Granola

The best wedding gift we received was delicious, homemade granola. And it went fast!

Epic honeymoon granola!

(I feel badly posting that, because we received so many heartfelt, thoughtful and generous gifts! All of which we loved so much!). But the one that really stood out was Newmie's homemade granola. I think it especially stood out because we got into the stuff on our wedding night (that's technically the honeymoon, right? So we didn't cheat, Sarah!). We sailed away to Bowen Island for a few days, and on the trip over got the munchies.

Maple Nut "Moosewood" Granola

We had left the gifts behind with our parents while we went away, but shrewd Sarah forced her gift into my going-away bag at the last minute and said that we'd need to eat up the granola in the next couple of days.

We ate that granola by the handful at all hours of the day. It was ridiculously good - even one of my brothers tried it on the sail over and said it was the best he'd ever had. Dried cherries, clusters of sweet oat goodness . . . it was truly inspirational!

Now that I'm back at home and the wedding mayhem has finally begun to die down (I have a whole pile of wedding-related posts coming up! Just waiting for photos, etc.!), I can get back to blogging. And granola is going to be the first post, since it has very recently become my favourite thing to make. I love these fads I go through...!

Actually, I'd better mention one of the other fantastic, excellent and super fun gifts we received - cooking classes at The Dirty Apron downtown. I can't wait to see what I get hooked on making/doing after that! Stay tuned, because I'm sure I'll wax poetic on all things culinary once we get going!

(Incidentally, there's this neat company in Vancouver called "Swallow Tail Tours", who very kindly supported our latest Heart & Stroke fundraiser last spring. They have neat West Coast culinary tours and classes too, like wild mushroom foraging trips, and canoe-crabbing! Follow the link here for a fun adventure...! I think these would make great gifts for relatives visiting the city, too.)

I've made two full batches of different granolas since we got home. The summer sun is finally here, and I suddenly have stopped craving hot breakfasts. Enter: Granola!

ReBar's Cranberry Hazelnut was good, but I think Moosewood has it beat!

Here are my top 5 reasons on why you should make a batch of granola this week:

1. It's high-calorie.

Now normally a high-caloric intake is something we fat North Americans should all be actively avoiding, but consider, if you will, the warm weather and the amount of energy we'll be burning roller-blading along the seawall, hiking the Grouse Grind, swimming at the beaches, and biking the sideroads. Wouldn't you love to start the day off with a small, 'light' meal that gives you half a day's worth of energy without giving you that lethargic I-just-ate-the-lumberjack's-breakfast-and-am-still-burping-up-bacon-4-hours-later feeling? You would, wouldn't you?


2. It's full of complex carbohydrates and heart-healthy stuff like oat-bran.

Not only will a little granola fill you up efficiently, it'll also last a long while! The barley malts or molasses (i.e. NOT refined sugars) keep it sweet while preventing that all-too-common sugar crash that leaves me (and many others!) running to the cupboard for a 'snack' while my blood glucose levels ride the insulin roller coaster. Not so good. Satisfy the sweet-craving with some homemade granola and get your sugar a little more slowly and in a controlled fashion. It'll keep you full longer and might even help you to not snack when you shouldn't. And if you pay attention to the Cheerios ads, oat bran helps lower your 'bad' cholesterol - and now you can do that without having to consume Trisodium Phosphate (read that Cheerios label - I won a bet once with my Inorganic Chemistry prof that I could show him that the toxic stuff was actually intentionally ADDED to food. He didn't believe me. Then I showed him the Cheerios box!). Now before you start freaking out, it should be noted that even the EU thinks it's okay to use as an acidity regulator in foods. Personally though, I'd cut back and keep it simple. Use the stuff to get the grease off your garage floors and try not to eat it is my advice.

Good morning! Skim milk is a low-fat additive, but Liberte yogurt is another delicious option!

3. Your kitchen will smell amazing, and it's fast & easy to make.

Brew a pot of coffee and bake the granola and you can get even the sleepiest husband out of bed in a jiffy! Granola requires only 15 to 20 minutes of baking time (with regular stirring at 5 min intervals - be careful not to walk away and let it burn), and it's pretty idiot proof. It's one of those 'mix the dry ingredients - in a separate bowl, mix the wet ones - then mix together' recipes. Great for first thing in the morning! Easy and impressive all at once.


4. You can use up all the half-used pouches of nuts and dried fruit from other recipes.

This is one of my favourite aspects, because I always have a handful of chopped walnuts or dried cranberries lurking in the door of my fridge. And I always feel guilty for not using it up, but I can never find a recipe that needs 1/8 cup of chopped pecans, for example. Well chuck it into the mix and experiment a little, because nuts and fruits belong in granola! Raisins, currants, dried apricots - all of these work really well. Just remember to ADD THE DRIED FRUIT AFTER BAKING THE GRANOLA and not before (it will burn).

Yet another use for glass milk bottles! Cut some fabric (trace out a circle with a coffee mug or small bowl), and pop an elastic over the top (or better yet, scrap ribbon) and it's a well-packaged gift!

5. It makes a great gift (and it looks cool packaged in a recycled glass milk bottle - extra points for being green!).

Trust me, as a recipient of homemade, fresh granola in a lovely glass jar, there are few things I enjoy receiving more. It's better than trail-mix, it makes a perfect warm-weather breakfast, and it's not full of preservatives and junk like the store-bought stuff is. It's also handmade (and local), which is always a good way to go. I wonder if there's a 10-mile-diet granola recipe out there? Or a no-bake (i.e. raw food) granola recipe? Probably, and I'll bet it's tasty, too!

Alright, so there's a downside to granola - point #1 can go both ways, because granola can be very high in fat. The nuts themselves are quite fattening, but the addition of coconut flakes (however delicious!) will drive up the calorie count like mad.

Fortunately, there are a few ways to lower the fat and calorie content of homemade granola (remember store-bought is very likely to be full of calories! Read the labels!). Advice from Moosewood's New Classics cookbook:

Moosewood granola is made from nutritious ingredients that are less refined than the ingredients in most commercial cereals, and we bake it only briefly so it retains nutrients. For the most healthful cereal, avoid using coconut, heavy vegetable oils, sweeteners, and lots of nuts, all of which can add dramatic amounts of fat, sugar, or calories.

They also suggest using only a pair of added flavours to their basic recipe, like one nut plus one fruit, to keep the flavours balanced and complementary. My favourite would definitely be a cherry-almond combination, but the possibilities and combinations are endless.

(Get a used (enviro-friendly AND cheap!) copy of this awesome cookbook here! From $4.50 plus shipping - pretty awesome deal! Get on it! I bought mine 'used' and it still had the original price tag on it...!).

A funnel is required for filling milk bottles with granola

Tips for filling cleaned-out milk bottles:

Make a funnel. Any piece of scrap paper and a bit of tape will suffice! That narrow neck is difficult to fill, but it pours out very nicely. Just roll a piece of paper into a cone, stick a piece of tape on the outside and that's it! Just make sure the point is large enough to let granola down and out into the milk bottle, but small enough to just fit inside the neck of the bottle. Sometimes you have to readjust and move the tape.

A circle of fabric (or printed paper) secured with a ribbon or string will cover the ugly plastic cap and make it look 'wrapped'. Tie a small recipe card on the side with either the list of ingredients, the recipe itself so they recipient can make more if desired, or a short & sweet note. This is always the point at which I realise I still don't own a one-hole punch...

I'm not sharing: for immediate consumption!

 

And that's about it! When Sarah nexts gets in from her exciting geology adventures, I'll see if she won't share her recipe for the awesome honeymoon granola with us!

Here's a few granola recipes that sound good me - a good place to start, if you still haven't bought the Moosewood "New Classics" cookbook I keep telling you about! Or the ReBar cookbook (which was also from Sarah, way back in 2002!). I haven't tried any of these, so please do post your reviews!

Nutty Granola Recipe from West Coast Paddlers (Gulf Islands/Howe Sound sea kayakers)

Best Ever Granola Recipe from Island Vittles (Pender Island)


West Coast Trail granola from "Extra Hot, No Water"

Bon appetit!

Poppies from PowerSmart & a Popping of the Inflated Eco-Ego

The whole purpose of my blog is to share tips and tricks that I've come across to better assist someone on a tight budget in Vancouver on how they can live greener, more economical lives, and wherever possible, make more ethical choices.

I signed up with Team PowerSmart, and was already doing what I could do to keep my electricity bill low. See my previous post on how I was accomplishing it!

But unfortunately, once the occupancy of your apartment doubles, it seems that electricity consumption goes up. I had planned on saving energy by 10% in a year, only apparently I'm up 21 kWh.... You see, honesty is important, so I'm going to have to admit my failures and shortcomings on this blog, too!

I'm going to continue to pledge to reduce electricity use, but once you've gone bare-bones, it's really difficult to scrap anything else! Especially when you live in a rental suite - I can't change my old, inefficient appliances; I can't make major changes in insulation in the floors and walls or the roof; I've put in fluorescent bulbs everywhere I can (some old fixtures won't even take them!); turned down the heat; used a single burner on the stove to reduce 'warming up' wasted energy; unplugged all unused electronics and I've put both computers and their equipment on powerbars, which are switched off during the day.

I've even stopped blow drying my hair! I also avoid using the dryer (and use a clothes rack - my clothes and my hair have benefitted from these practices!), but the dryer electricity is not tied into my suite's readings. There are apparently many challenges associated with reducing your electricity bill, though it is entirely possible to reduce your actual consumption overall, despite the fact that PowerSmart might not pick up on it. Your efforts at work, for example, will also not be reflected on your personal bill.

Oh well. I'll keep trying. I can console myself that remembering that between my partner and I, we've likely decreased our combined energy usage in the grand scheme of things.

Although I'm embarrassed to see my consumption has increased, I'm quite happy to enjoy the perks of Team PowerSmart membership! Which included free WestCoastSeeds in the mail! Shirley Poppies - they'll look great in the street garden!

If anyone has any additional tips or insight on how best to further reduce energy consumption (I want that $75 reward!), I'd love to hear them, particularly if they're rental apartment specific! I promised a "raw food" entry on my blog (it's coming - but probably after the wedding! So busy!), and in the summertime it's particularly welcoming to enjoy an unheated meal. That's another great way to reduce energy consumption - cut back on stove and microwave use!

And now, it's another.....

Today's Green, Broke & Living in Kits Recycling Tip is on Aluminum Foil!

Q: Can aluminum foil be recycled, even once it's all crumpled and used and slightly gross from food residue?

A: Yes! Though I'm sure they'd prefer it to be clean, but yes, even grimy, used aluminum foil can get put in the recycling bins in Greater Vancouver. So can empty aluminum take-away containers (like the round foil ones that Chinese food comes in, or pasta from a Greek/Italian restaurant). Like pop cans, it's all melted down and reused. (Don't forget foil yogurt caps, too!).

Some examples of aluminum food containers that can be recycled

The best thing you can do, as always, is to reuse the container or foil a few times more before recycling it, thus extending its use and hopefully preventing use of more foil in the process. I reused a big empty container left over from my partner's volunteer position at a soup kitchen for holding seedlings on my kitchen table or living room floor for a few seasons. Once it had finally become a pain, I simply put it into the recycling bin. Who knows - I may have even purchased the same foil when I bought recycled aluminum foil from the store (which is a fantastic thing to do!).

The label is a bit 'guilt-trip' heavy, but it's a good choice regardless!

Chuck the foil scraps in the recycling bin!

You can also use empty containers as paint palettes, as seedling pots themselves (the deeper ones anyway), or as trays for storing yucky, drippy bottles in (i.e. if you have half-used motor oil containers and you don't want a greasy ring on the cement floor of your garage, put an empty Chinese food tin under it and voila!). There's about a million kid's craft ideas with empty aluminum containers as well, so if you have small children you'd like to entertain on the cheap, stack these up in a cupboard somewhere! (These butterflies are great - I would have loved to make them as a kid!).

Recycle me! And the yogurt-tops, too!

Go and Vote!

Happy Elections Day, Canada!

Time to put your ballot where your heart is. This election campaign season has been FULL of surprises (Jack Layton's NDP squashing the Ignatieff-lead Liberals in the polls 2 to 1? The NDP taking over Quebec? Harper up to his usual slimy tricks and making disparaging, fear-mongering remarks about the competition, but NEVER committing to any real promises that we can hold him accountable to? Oh wait, they ALL do that!).

(I see the irony of putting the badge on imported fruit, yes. It was esthetically pleasing, though).

I think this is the election where voting with your heart & mind for the party and/or candidate you feel best represents your needs is the best possible move.

For once, we can't for sure say that it will be a Conservative majority, and maybe we'll force a minority. Or that a vote for anyone BUT the Liberals is effectively a vote for the Conservatives.

Not this year!

Vote how you will, but please vote with your heart. Vote for the candidate and/or party that you actually WANT to win, in an ideal world. Don't vote for someone to keep someone else out (I think someone else has done a good enough job of that himself!).

Myself, I'm voting GREEN. I don't dislike Hedy Fry, but I really want to give Adrienne Carr a voice in Ottawa. I want the following:

• No supertankers travelling along our coast. (Read more from my friends at The Dogwood Initiative here)
• Actual committment and movement on the sensible/sustainable/sanity front in terms of environmental impact goals (i.e. the Kyoto accord, which Canada has thus far welched on!). Did you hear Harper's rousing speech on making Canada a "leader" amongst nations? I agree! So vote green (or heck, even NDP is probably a greener option)!
• Someone elected by Canada's citizens to remind the fat white guys in Ottawa (who are constantly wined and dined by Big Pharma, and 'Big Business' in general) that what we're chiefly concerned about are environmental issues (among other important things as well, of course).

Adapted from dogwoodinitiative.org/notankers - Please see their website for the full story!

Don't let the white-bred Right tell you that a vote for the Green Party (or the NDP's or the Liberals for that matter) is a vote for anarchy! C'mon, the country won't collapse if Layton's in charge, and having Green party members does not mean holding Woodstock in the House of Commons. How gullible do the Conservatives think Canadians are?

Grow some change! Let's have a Green Member of Parliament! Even just one!

I guess after so many years of letting our public health care system and education systems suffer (and giving lots and lots of tax breaks to their rich industry buddies instead!), they can probably safely assume that our brains collectively aren't running at 100%.  Maybe they've succeeded in adopting American-Republican style politics North of the 48th parallel. I hope not. (By the way, props to Obama for releasing a video of his 'birth' to silence Fox News! Ha! Love it!).

So fight back, buy into NOTHING, and vote for the candidates that you most want forming our government. I feel quite confident that if we all vote for who we truly want to vote for, Green or otherwise, we'll have a much better House of Commons, getting things done that we the citizens want done and need done. Not what Monsanto wants done, not what 'Pharma' wants done, and not what the Oil Companies want, but what the tax-paying, hard-working Canadians actually want done.

If you're in Saanich-Gulf Islands (and I know many of you who are!), let's get in Elizabeth May! Make history! Just one Green MP will make a difference, giving a fresh voice and a real perspective to our elected representatives! Do it!

Go and vote! :)

Carrots from Milk - Happy Belated Earth Day!

Happy Belated Earth Day, Readers!

I spent most of Earth Day recovering from a dress try-on session at my Mom's place (which involved snacks and much too much wine). Once I felt well enough, I ventured outside - what beautiful weather we're having!

So beautiful, in fact, that I've planted my tomatoes rather early (supposed to be out once nighttime temperatures stabilize to 7 C or higher, or end-of-May for the later varieties). They seem to be doing alright so far. (I feel like a proud grandmother, unable to resist posting brag photos.... this post was never intended to be about my tomatoes, but here we are....!). Also included is a shot of the privacy-screen-to-be, my Romano Pole beans. They shouldn't be outside yet either, but were quickly outgrowing even the 2L milk carton pots I had transplanted them into!

Latah Tomato (Stellar Seeds)

Siletz Tomato (West Coast Seeds)

Gold Nugget Cherry Tomato (West Coast Seeds)

Sweet Million Cherry Tomato (West Coast Seeds)

Privacy Screen-Beans! Romano Pole beans (West Coast Seeds)

While container gardening on balconies has many, many challenges and downsides, there are a few perks that we can take full advantage of:

1. Overhead protection (unless you're on the roof!). Eaves or the balcony above you at least partially shield your plants from nasties like frost, hail and hard rain or sleet. Wind is obviously always going to be a bit of a concern, but staking and strategic plant pot arrangement can help quite a lot.
2. Radiant heat. (We sailed against a boat by that name - great name!). If you're fortunate enough to have a south-facing, west-facing or southwest-facing balcony (I count my blessings....!), then chances are your building's walls are soaking up the heat all day long. Tarmacadam below will do the same, as will concrete, and even wood-siding. At night when the air cools, your plants will be a few degrees warmer than their country-cousins.
3. Urban sprawl. Yes, I may have found an upside to an otherwise sad reality, but living in the concrete jungle means LOTS of radiant heat. Ever wondered why it rarely snows downtown but nearly always does out in the 'burbs? Partly geography, but it has quite a lot to do with the large buildings storing up heat from the sun during the day (or grossly inefficient buildings giving off heat indiscriminately in a concentrated area). So although this is kind of a repeat of point #2, I felt it worth mentioning since there's your balcony's micro-environment, and then the next-size-up micro-environment of your city, as compared to the macro-environment of the larger region. 
4. No blights or soil issues. The beauty of container gardening is that the soil tends to come from a bag, and not what's in the yard. So we avoid issues like blights and rusts and black-spot, because if the soil gets bad, we'll simply replace it. We can rotate crops, if we want to, and we can plant cover crops for the winter, but then again, we don't really need to. Soil pH is also rarely a problem, as purchased soil is so often optimally balanced in nutrients and acid/base. Easy peasy!
5. No carrot rust fly. Perhaps most relevant to this post, the carrot rust fly - the scourge of the vegetable gardener. I learned the most about it on West Coast Seeds' website; apparently these little buggers (that will render your carrots bitter and inedible) can't fly very high at all. So if you're NOT on the ground floor, good news! No worries about this irritating little pest. I'd like to say that you'll have less pests in general if you're elevated (i.e. slugs, snails, sow bugs, etc.), but a friend down the hall has woodbugs on her balcony, and I have ants. Well, at least there's a modest reduction in creepy crawlies. Certainly haven't had slugs or other slimies, but something's eaten holes in my spinach, and probably something that can fly, so I blame the cabbage moth.

Right, back to CARROTS, which is what I really wanted to post on!

You may recall from a Green, Broke and Living in Kits recycling tip that milk cartons aren't recyclable in Metro Vancouver. Boo and hiss, says I. So I suggested reusing the milk cartons as seedling pots, something I've had great success doing in the past (as well as this season).

I needed a deep container for growing carrots, and I have already allotted all the remaining planter space to other seedlings. And my partner loves fresh carrots from the garden! What to do?

Well, I came with a tacky, albeit ingenious (if I don't say so myself) solution to both problems: I plant carrot seeds in soil I dumped into empty 2L milk cartons!

I can't wait 'til these are overflowing with bushy carrot tops!

All I do is rinse the cartons once empty, punch a couple of drainage holes in the bottom with a pen or pencil (satisfying to do!), fill with potting soil and sow 4 pelleted seeds (Bolero pelleted). Otherwise, I suppose I could just scatter seeds and thin as you would do with traditional carrot seed. Figure I can squeeze in 3 or 4 (I do four - one for each quadrant). There's an 88% germination rate advertised, so if I lose one every few cartons, that's no big deal.

There are a few upsides (other than the recycling aspect) to reusing the milk cartons as carrot planters:

1. It's practically FREE.
2. It's amusing.
3. The milk's expiry date essentially tags each carton for you, so you know in which order to harvest!
4. If you plant carrots everytime you finish a 2L carton of milk, you'll have a continuous supply of carrots all season (and into the winter, since carrots are tough that way!).
5. The rectangular shape and square bases means you can pack 'em together tightly, so they don't take up valuable real estate on the balcony, either.
6. If they fall off your balcony ('cause you're really pushing the envelope by standing them near the edge or on the rail), they probably won't smash a windshield below or injure anyone too grievously since they're so light-weight!
7. They make bizarre hostess gifts. You could bring one to a party you wish to never be invited back to. Unfortunately, if the hosts agree with point #2 of this list, you might be expected to bring something inventive each time you're invited over. Either way, you won't be short of conversation at that dinner party.

Can't remember when you planted them? Probably around the time as the printed expiry date! Easy.

I'm going to answer this question right away, because I'm bound to get it:

"I live in a building with a strata council! I can hardly see them giving the 'green-light' to garbage-based planters on my deck!"

Well, there's really two ways about this. First, you can bribe them with fresh produce and give them a cut of the action. I always take extra tomatoes downstairs to the lobby and they don't last very long! So there's definitely a (black) market to take advantage of.

But maybe there's an easier way around it, where you can keep your hard-earned veggies: wait until you have 4 or more cartons (an even number of 6 or higher for a long rectangle, or 9 for a 3 x 3 milk carton square) and group them closely together.

Now it's time to disguise your ill-gotten garbage planter to make it look practically indistinguishable from those heinous plastic things from WalMart (shudder) that everyone seems to have on their decks! (How are they any better to look at, even just aesthetically?!).

You can wrap around the outside of your milk carton grouping with brown kraft paper or landscape fabric or even old jeans you've cut up and sewn into a long enough strip. Tell them you bought the 'recycled denim' planter at the Pottery Barn or Restoration Hardware and they'll accept it. You could also paint the outside that faces the street/nosy neighbours (acrylic paint would probably last the season - spray paint definitely, but not so enviro.). Or you can tuck two or more cartons each inside empty basmati rice or coffee burlap bags and cluster those together instead.

Now if that's still too 'hippy' or 'green' for your strata, go to Home Depot or other lumber supply yard, buy forest stewardship council or similarly eco-certified lumber (cedar siding would work) in strips 30cm or 1 foot wide (and then as long as your planter will be), and then cut the same for the length of the side(s) of your rectangular or square grouping. You can simply tack them together (buy some small 'finishing nails' or 'tacks' from the hardware store) by nailing a few nails in the corners (from the broad side of the front, for example, into the 'end' of the side board). It doesn't have to be structurally sound, really - it just has to a frame a partial 'box' that hides your illicit collection of milk carton planters. Voila!

I thought about crocheting a little plarn cozy for each of them, but I'm far too lazy for that. Recycled plastic is hip, so maybe a strata would go for that, so long as the garbage is disguised sufficiently. It is sad, though - out of sight, out of mind applies to our garbage, but it's going somewhere and is piling higher and deeper each day. I wish everyone would keep in mind the MOUNTAIN of garbage we've each generated over the course of our lifetimes so far, and then try to multiply that for everyone in our family, building, workplace, the city, the province, the country, the continent, etc., etc. Scary stuff.

(I watched the Constant Gardener again last night. It has less to do with gardening and more to do with big-Pharma and the greed that runs our world, but it was a good one - definitely rent it if you haven't seen it yet. I went straight to gardening first thing this morning to help me cope with the sad realities of life in the world today).

A Day in the Life - A Leisurely, Relatively Cheap Field Trip

Vancouver is the world's most liveable city (again and again) for a reason: our weather is mild (albeit occasionally damp), the scenery is breathtaking - tall Douglas Firs, lush gardens, blue ocean, towering snow-capped mountains, quaint neighbourhoods with very West Coast styled homes . . . I love it here, I really do. There's a few faults of course (and literally - we're on the Ring of Fire after all! Seismically, we're sitting on a geological time-bomb), but I wouldn't change it for the world.

One thing that makes Vancouver so great is the Seawall. Stretching from Coal Harbour downtown, around the whole of the jewel we call Stanley Park (bring the Cup to the park named for the man! 2011 is the year! Erm, sorry - hockey induced hysteria. Where was I?), all along the West End (English Bay, Sunset Beach) and along both sides of False Creek to Granville Island and beyond to Kits Beach.

Thank you GoogleMaps! Uh, okay if I use this? Thanks. Kits Beach = Start!

Only a few segments are good for rollerblading (there's some irritating cobblestones on my side of False Creek, but Stanley Park and the northern sections are perfect), but ALL of it is good for running and walking.

On a warm summer morning (if you're up), it's really the ideal location for a long walk.

For this trip, I will focus on the southern reaches of the Seawall, starting from Kits Beach or Vanier Park (or anywhere inbetween) and out to the Main Street-Science World area.

Distance: about 12.5 km return trip (or 6.25 km one way)

Wear good shoes for walking on pavement and gravel - it's a long trip! It will take a few hours, depending on how quickly you walk and what stops you make along the way. Bring a camera, too - it's a gorgeous walk. For good shoes, I cannot recommend more highly Forerunners on 4th at Collingwood (by Alma). They saved me from runners that were screwing with my knees (the head sales guy at Ladysport was convinced that I pronate, which I don't, and fitted me to a corrective shoe. I couldn't run for two months and was in intense pain when I tried! Bozo! So I limped over to Forerunners later on, bought another pair and have run happily ever after. I went back again just last week and bought the same shoe in the latest model - Asics Gel Cumulus. Awesome. Nice people, too!).

New shoes! They even asked if I needed a plastic bag - extra points for Forerunners!

Follow the seawall along by Kits beach, taking in the sights of the dog park next to the Maritime Museum. From above, you can watch the goofy chaos that is the off-leash area (note that there is a public washroom (parks board) in this area in the building near the trees, if you need it. The other closest one is back at the main part of Kits beach by the concession and playground). Continue on past the Maritime Museum and the totem pole on your right, cross over the parking lot (note the cute arched bridge on the Vancouver Archives property on your right - take a quick detour to cross over it if you want!).

From GoogleMaps - Kits Beach and Vanier Park

Following the gravel path along Vanier Park, you have a perfect, unobstructed view of the West End, Second Beach (Stanley Park), English Bay, Sunset Beach (which is just a hop, step and a jump across False Creek at the other base of the Burrard St Bridge, but I wouldn't try it). On your right is a giant staple (a momument to Captain George Vancouver, apparently), and if it's still up, a polished metal art sculpture entitled 'freezing water' (here for the Olympics and afterward). Sometimes people use the field there to play with kites (the sort you use for kite surfing), and the breezes here make it an excellent spot to fly a traditional kite. When was the last time you did that?

The water traffic is usually entertaining as well: rowers, dragon boaters, out-rigger canoeist, paddleboarders, the Aquabus, sail boats and those revolting monstrosities of fibreglass, the powerboats (which don't run gracefully on the wind but on fossil fuels, and very inefficiently at that. Boo!).

As you come to the Coast Guard building, look up and to the right - there is an eagle aerie and usually a big bald eagle perched above you in the tree. There's also very often a group of tourists clustered together on the seawall below, which helps you to not miss it.

From GoogleMaps: Burrard Bridge, Go Fish inbetween, and Granville Isl & Bridge

Passing under the Burrard Street bridge, remember to KEEP RIGHT (you now share the path with bikes and there's lots of corners for them to whizz around and crash into you!) and do watch for falling debris from the crumbling old bridge. Read about earthquake preparedness here, though I think it should go without saying that the Burrard St bridge (on it or near it) won't be a good place to hang about in a quake!

There's a short cut to the fish dock (up the stairs once you round the bend by 'Cultural Harmony Grove' which is right next to the East side of the bridge), but I like to walk along the sidewalk on the otherside of the building there (continue to follow the path). Either way, you're about to intersect with:

First port of call: Brunch (early lunch) at Go Fish

First weekend of Spring and there was an hour wait for our food by 1pm!

Do not, I repeat, DO NOT come here if you're in a hurry. And don't come here at 1pm, either, or you will wait a good hour for your food. They'll say 45 minutes, but there will be a back-log of an hour. It's that busy! People do call ahead and order by phone, but that's a level of organization that I will likely never achieve!

It's not cheap, so SHARE AN ORDER of 2 piece fish and chips. The portions are generous, and the oily chips and fatty battered fish will fill you up. Besides, you've got some walking ahead of you still!

There's all sorts of nice things about Go Fish (only I'm not amused by their plastic cups for tartar sauce and lemon wedges - waxed paper cups would be a better option for the environment, I think) - local fisheries, and OceanWise choices! Please read up on my blog post on sustainable seafood before you go and choose wisely.

Alright, are you mostly satisfied? You will be once those calories hit home. Mmm, mmm, mmm!

Bathroom break? Best bet is in the Net Loft or Public Market buildings on Granville Island (go up the main entrance road and keep centre-left - the Net Loft will be the building in front of the Public Market. There is a washroom by the cafe in the middle. Otherwise, brave the crowds at the Public Market. You can pick up groceries if you're only doing this as a one-way walk, but otherwise wait until the way home).

From GoogleMaps. Twisty, turvy seawall east of Granville Island.

Back to the seawall! From Granville Island, follow the seawall along past the marinas and enjoy the views of Yaletown and David Lam park as you approach the Cambie Street bridge. All sorts of lovely little parks I've never visited are along this stretch (below VGH area).

At the base of the Cambie Street bridge are some cute little store fronts (there's even a pottery place for some DIY overlooking False Creek and the seawall! So idyllic, and kind of neat to watch - without staring in an annoying manner, of course!).

Need a beer or bevy? Next to Monk McQueen's (lovely seafood restaurant, but $$$) there is a pub (The Wicklow) which I've never stopped in at, but one which is ideally situated for such an excursion. If it's a sunny day and a cold beer would make you happy, why not? You've burned a few calories on the way here.

From GoogleMaps - the seawall under the Cambie Street Bridge

Alright, beer or no beer, it's time to soldier on. Past the Cambie St Bridge is the Millenium and Olympic Village development. Now despite all the fiasco (MAKE IT AFFORDABLE HOUSING LIKE YOU PROMISED, YOU DOUCHES!), the waterfront here is simply lovely. There's even been an effort to plant native shrubbery, and last time I went by a great blue heron was busy snacking on the shore (got to be a good sign - fish and predators. Excellent). The tents of Cavalia are in this area too, and if they're gone by the time you do this walk, it may explain the empty lot that you see.

There are lots of neat little benches and lounge chairs along the seawall here. My favourite is the new pedestrian bridge (no bikes allowed, which is nice - they get another equally nice route). The giant sparrow statues in the centre of Athlete's Village always freak me out a little - you know we'd be bony little worms to them. But good for funny photo-ops, so I'll stop whining.


Second port of call: Absolutely fabulous, virtually line-up free gelato at Mario's Gelati's "Amato Gelato Cafe"

The Best Flavour IN THE WORLD: Italian Plum Cake Gelato @ Mario's

Yes, you've burned enough calories to enjoy some gelato guilt-free (says I)!

1st and Quebec. Probably the best-kept secret in Vancouver. Come in reverence!

Three words you need: Italian Plum Cake. This elusive and comparatively unpopular flavour is positively orgasmic and must not be missed! You can sample a scoop of ANY flavour you want, and I'm telling you that as a reader of my blog, you are OBLIGATED to give Italian Plum Cake a whirl if it's on offer! It's like rum raisin, but better. It's like a trifle, but less custardy. It's smooth, it's pale yellow, it has bits of candied plum in it - it is the gelato that I will forever refer to as my number 1 favourite!

Gin & Tonic on top of Cinnamon. He likes it, but I think it's an odd combination!

There are probably 100's of flavours (I would guess between 150 and 200? Hard to say!), and they're all delicious. Other recommendations include Gin & Tonic (seriously refreshing after a long walk!), Cinnamon (not my thing, but my partner's favourite), the Mango sorbetto and Pink Grapefruit sorbetto (no dairy, and a winning two-scoop combination), and I personally rather like the Red Bean, though I will admit that it caters to Asian taste buds more than Western Caucasian's. Mario's has all the typical gelato flavours too (Spumoni (which is great here!), Dulce de Leche, Hedgehog, Tiramisu, etc.). There's always a few really odd ones too (the Granville Island Brewery Lager one was, umm, a swing and miss! But it was entertaining), but Mario's is, in my opinion, the best gelato in town (possibly the world over, though I've yet to visit Italy...!).

Those display cases wrap around to the left, too.... And there's other goodies on the right!

Unfortunately, for all the loveliness of Mario's, the Amato Cafe is NOT CHEAP. It's actually terribly expensive. HOWEVER, as with the Fish & Chips at Go Fish, sharing a 2 scoop cup will go a deceptively long way. I could barely finish one on my own, and next time I'll be less of a glutton and share.


Sometimes though, the best food is worth paying extra for. I think you'll agree it was worth the price. You've saved at least that on gas or transit fares by walking here anyway!

Second (optional) port of call: Science World

Admittedly, I didn't stop in. It costs money. But I hear that the current OMNIMAX film ("Hubble") is outstanding! (Yes, I have friends that work at Science World!). They also have a surfing one on ("Ultimate Wave - Tahiti"). Now that would be neat! It's $14.25 a ticket, though....

And you're done!

You have a few choices on how to get home (back to the start at Kits Beach, anyway) from here. In order of preference:

1. WALK BACK. Sure, you'll be sore (in that 'good way'), but you'd be surprised how the vistas change as you start heading back west. There's lots to see, and as you pass by Granville Island again, you can stop in and buy ingredients for dinner. I was, at one time, of the mind that the vegetables at the Public Market were more costly there than anywhere else, but I'm actually not sure the difference is all that great anymore! The selection is unbeatable. Other great places to stop within the market (apart from the produce stands) are the seafood shops, the fresh pasta makers (that fresh squash ravioli with the pink stripes is fantastic!), the Granville Island Tea Company, and The Grainry, where I can find all sorts of useful spices and grains that are next to impossible to pick up elsewhere in the area.
2. TAKE TRANSIT. The Main Street-Science World SkyTrain is right there. There are trolleys that run up Main, or you can walk to Main and Broadway and catch a B-Line - some great off-the-beaten-path stores are along the way! There's also the 84 express from VCC-Clark station that runs along 4th Avenue in Kits (and along 2nd in this part of the city), but I hear it's incredibly unreliable schedule-wise, so be patient if you're waiting. 
3. GO FOR DINNER AT CAMPAGNOLO ON MAIN NEAR PACIFIC CENTRAL STATION. Okay, not overly cheap, but very, very delicious. I'd take a date I'd want to impress here. It's Italian food, but real Italian food - not cheap heaps of pasta like at Anton's in Burnaby (not recommended, by the way. Never been, don't want to go. Definitely the most overrated food in the city from what I hear. Loved by people who eat unhealthy-sized portions and equate quanity with quality, and by male SFU undergrad students still in the gangly-phase of growth). Alternatively, if you prefer seafood and a patio, GO FOR DINNER AT MONK MCQUEEN'S. Same cost (more or less), and again, not cheap so perfect for taking a date to (but maybe not for everyday meals!).
4. TAKE THE AQUABUS BACK. The Aquabus is the maritime equivalent of The Little Engine That Could. It's quaint, it's cute, it's not overly eco-friendly, but it does give one a real appreciation of our waterways, up close and personal. I have a soft-spot for it in my heart, and I have definitely found it the fastest way to get from Granville Island to the West End if you're short on time. It's not free, of course, and isn't included in Translink fares (bummer), but if you live in the area, it's certainly worth buying a pre-paid pack of Aquabucks (I don't believe that they expire, either). It's cheaper this way, and you can carry some in your wallet. The Aquabus stop closest to Kits is at Granville Island. I thought there was one at Vanier Park as well, but weirdly it's not listed. Worth inquiring about, though. Don't forget that there are also Translink trolleys running on 4th that are within easy walking distance of Granville Island. There's also a taxi company right there if you're in real need of express service!

Hope you enjoyed your day!  I know I did.

The W's of Savings in Vancouver

Two general stores the thrifty of Vancouver need to be aware of: Welk's and Wonderbucks.

Now technically Wonderbucks on Broadway is now called "Urban Alley", though the signage incorporates both names (On a side note, the internet never seems to be up-to-date enough for my needs: I went looking for a store on Main Street last month that appeared to be still in existence according to the Internet (Lazy Susan's), but the lovely lady at the Bohemia Gallery gave me the sad news that it had closed its doors for good nearly a year prior...).

Speaking of the internet directory letting me down - Arezzo Consignment in Yaletown is also gone, despite what Google may suggest. Bugger.

Wonderbucks wins the "Best of the City" awards from newspapers like the WestEnder for a reason - it is certainly cheap, often chic, and perhaps most importantly of all isn't Walmart. I hate Walmart, for all the usual green and ethical reasons, but mostly because it's a terrible, terrible place to be. The shopping experience has no positives at Walmart. (This is not a W which I am currently praising!).

Sorry about the image quality - taken with my phone. Great place to get glass storage containers if making the trip out to Ikea fills your heart with dread.

Read my post on Coffee at Home - $10 for a Bodum-style press!

Wonderbucks is great for cooking utensils, plates and glasses, laundry hardware, indoor plants and balcony planters, patio furniture, cheap wall decor, inexpensive rugs, etc. Definitely don't pass by without taking a quick trip through it's aisles! I've also discovered that it's a convenient place to purchase glass storage jars as well.

Not only did I get this all-time favourite tablecloth at Wonderbucks, I also bought the wire basket (which fits my Avalon milk bottles perfectly!), a grapefruit knife (finally - struggling along without one for years), 3 wooden spoons for $1, and a tea strainer/icing sugar duster. Blissful shopping.

Welk's (on Main Street at 19th Ave) is a very useful store, and like Wonderbucks, prides itself on being an old-fashioned 'general store'. It has everything, even Dr Bronner's famous Castille soaps (though I was tipped off by a fellow shopper that Trader Joe's in the US is the cheapest place to buy the large-sized peppermint one. The lady and her partner began to wax poetic on washing with peppermint castille soap in the shower after a workout and the tingly sensation it gives . . . it did not provide a nice mental image, so I haven't tried it myself yet. I used it to clean my patio furniture instead, and that worked very well!).

CHEAPEST place in town to buy Jiffy pellet refills!!! Even cheaper than mail order.

Welk's has a few things Wonderbuck's doesn't bring in (Hallowe'en costumes, pinatas and St Patrick's Day/Easter/Canada Day wearable crap, too), and perhaps most appealing of all (to me), they have racks outside the shop of seedlings - edibles and ornamentals. I loaded up on the usual there last year (alyssums, petunias, gazania daisies, etc.) as well as a few veggies and herbs (cilantro, strawberries, etc.). It's cheap, the selection is surprisingly good, and I didn't have to trek out to a nursery to get them. Reliable but predictable, the plant section is my favourite aspect of Welk's. Good and cheap!

Best way to avoid putting Drano down your pipes? Buy a hair catcher!

...and now for another installment of Green, Broke and Living in Kits Recycling Tips!

Q: Can I recycle my empty paper coffee cups in the 'mixed paper' recycling boxes?

I'm no saint. I make coffee at home, I *sometimes* remember to bring a travel mug, but every so often it's paper-cup time pour moi. I tuck them into my bag and bring 'em home, though, for repurposing!

A: No - you absolutely cannot, I'm very sorry to say.

This is one that stirs up quite a bit of controversy at my two principal work sites. I've seen signs admonishing people for attempting to recycle their paper cups in one area, only to find a stack of empties waist-high, and leaning like the Leaning Tower of Pisa in the corner of the lunchroom. On campus, I've even seen an invitation to recycle coffee cups in a paper bin, but I've never been completely certain if they are possible to recycle (I don't see why not, but that never seems to get me very far if the recycling depots of Vancouver feel otherwise).

This topic is not without controversy elsewhere in the city, either. On the Vancouver Coffee Blog, this article cropped up, mentioning that a Vision Vancouver counsillor had proposed a tax on paper cups.

And last month, David MacPherson posted "The Coffee Cup Conundrum" on SPEC's website (The Society Promoting Environmental Conservation). In it, he gives an estimate of coffee cups in Vancouver comprising 3.5% of landfill waste! That's a staggering statistic! Actually, this whole article is very well-written, and I think I'll defer to David on this subject. Please read on here.

And for those too lazy, I'll quote some of the good bits here (thanks in advance, Mr MacPherson!):

Please follow above link to this excellent article. It's a short one!

So what about those recycling bins for paper cups that the Tim Horton's have? (I never would have known this, were it not for this article - I hate their 'coffee'.). Pure, feel-good, white-washed crap, as explained in the article:

On Tim Horton's recycling bins for cups in-store in Vancouver

At this point (although I'm quite embarrassed to admit to it), I have to share that I have reached into countless trash cans around campus and at work to separate the plastic coffee lids from the cups, believing them to be recyclable. I have another post coming on this subject, and so considering the research I've done I ought to have known better. No matter, I'll leave this 'til the next installment. But in the meantime:

Depressing, yes? I thought so. I always enjoy the hefty ceramic cafe mugs and have been quietly lamenting their demise for purely esthetic reasons previously. Alas.

An final thought from Mr MacPherson:

I'm encouraging you (I hope)! :) Let's all try to avoid these EVEN MORE strongly.

And my advice then, to you: TAKE HOME YOUR COFFEE CUPS AND REUSE THEM!

They make excellent seedling containers (just poke a drainage hole in the bottom and fill with soil!), you can use them as gift packages (no, really! Clean it out (or paint it if it's stained and ugly), keep the lid, stuff the inside with strips of used newspaper or crumbled (reused! Go forth to the craft drawer!) tissue paper, put your small gift inside, and voila! With a bow on the top (loops of newspaper strips taped or glued in the centre would be so cute!), it will be the most talked-about gift at your next party. Also a great gag-gift box for the coworker who WILL NOT recycle - take that! The whole package is reused and recycled. Put in recycled metal bracelets or something from Ten Thousand Villages to really tick 'em off good!

And let's all then resolve to carry our reusable mugs. I know I will after reading the SPEC article above.