Steamy Salad and Today’s Eats

I love it when I get photo that actually captures the steam from my meal.  It basically means all of the stars aligned…the lighting, the exposure, the timing…and my meal was still hot when I got the photo!  Every food blogger knows it’s either a great photo, or a hot meal…not both.  :)

I suppose it helps that the meal was actually salad and the only hot component was the grilled chicken breast.  But I’ll take the credit anyway.

1. Coffee with almond milk and water (x4 all day).

2. Overnight oats with banana and raspberries.

3. The rest of my banana.

4. Lunch quesadilla with hummus, tomatoes, avocado, feta and red onion.

5. Protein shake & Breakfast Cookie.

6. Fresh peas from the pod.

7. Dinner salad: red leaf lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, carrots, avocado, grilled chicken breast and Mango-Raspberry Salsa.

8. York Peppermint Patty.

9. Apple with Sunflower Butter.

Goodnight moon!

Feast of Fields–Vancouver Island–Part Three

Now you can see why this was a three post series.  Camera toting fool’s dream!  When I wasn’t filling my face with deliciousness, I was click-click-clicking away.  Sometimes I was doing both.

Say hello to my little friend…

Chef Heidi Fink offers cooking classes, culinary tours, and more.  I just discovered her blog recently!

Pizzeria Prima Strada cooked pizzas fresh in their mobile wood burning oven, Black Beauty.

Easily the most complicated and complex offering at the Feast, the team from Camille’s Restaurant was whipping sweet corn and black sesame ice cream on the fly using elbow grease and dry ice.  Ambitious!

My first taste of barnacle…which I liked (courtesy of Sooke Harbour House).  I would take a pass on sea asparagus in the future.

After this taste of The Pink Bicycle mutton slider I’ll be making a visit to the restaurant sooner rather than later!

And that about sums it up! ;)

{Feast of Fields – Vancouver Island – Part One}

{Feast of Fields – Vancouver Island – Part Two}

Somebody put me on a treadmill stat!

Feast of Fields–Vancouver Island–Part Two

How’s that for a tasting plate?  Rustic chic!  :) 

With over 35 eateries and more than 25 beverage providers we had a lot of ground to cover.  Literally!!  We may have been waddling our way around after many, many bites…but we were determined to try everything!  I thought I would use this post to highlight some of our favourites.

Locals – Island Bison smoked peppered brisket served on Grains Bakery multiseed gluten-free bread with fresh tarragon aioli, Natural Pastures parmadammer cheese and Eatmore Sprouts micro greens.

The Parsonage Cafe – Bacon from Hertels, cherry tomatoes and lettuce from Kildara Farm.  Killer BLT.  (Partner cafe to Fernwood Coffee).

We are having a group debate about the restaurant for this one…anyone know?  Goulash with spetzle and onions.  It was so fabulous apparently we all had our faces in our dishes and didn’t look at the signage.  Bad foodies!

Vic’s Steakhouse & Bar – Herman’s Dark Lager braised short ribs, chanterelle mushroom barley risotto.

Spinnakers Gastro Brewpub – Ginger Shrub (non-alcoholic drinky-poo).

Driftwood Brewery – White Bark White Ale.

Vin Coco Patisserie – vegan, gluten-free chocolate cupcakes.

I know.  You are all totally shocked there is a cupcake on my blog! ;) 

We cleaned our plates…

…and tried to stuff our pockets with Absinthe & Basil Truffles (also from Spinnakers)…

Alas, they’d all been eaten up so we handed in our empty glasses and headed for home.

{Feast of Fields – Vancouver Island – Part One}  Stay tuned for Part Three.

Feast of Fields–Vancouver Island–Part One

“Feast of Fields - a gourmet wandering harvest festival - is FarmFolkCityFolk's annual fundraising event. With a wine glass and linen napkin in hand, you can taste the very best of BC from chefs, vintners, brewers, farmers, fishers, ranchers and food artisans from [all over the island]… Feast of Fields highlights the connections between producer and chef, field and table, and farm folks and city folks. Feast of Fields is a gastronomic journey towards a sustainable, local food system.”

In our case, it was a fun event for food loving friends to enjoy on a sunny September Sunday (thankfully!!! it was pouring just hours before the feast). 

My partners in gastronomic crime:  Tiffaney, Ingmarie and Alex

There are three feasts around the province…the island’s was held at Parry Bay Sheep Farm in Metchosin (my old stomping ground!) this year.

We spent over three hours wandering the field from tent to tent, tasting every little morsel, sip, and bite.  Chefs, cooks, and bakers from all over the island offered probably hundreds of creative and delicious items for us to fill our tummies.

A foodie dream!  And moreover…a food paparazzi dream!  Never have James Dean and I felt more welcome.  :)

Three hundred photos were taken between bites…hence the three part series.  Enjoy the scenery (we did!) and check back soon for drool worthy eye candy that will have you looking to buy your ticket for next year.

Playing Catch Up

Whoooooa.  Wednesday was my last post?  Well shiz. 

Here’s some yummy looking photos I have taken over the last couple of days but apparently didn’t make time to share!

Pretty, yet disappointing final peach of the season.

Dark and delicious Kicking Horse coffee.

Blueberry, banana and spinach smoothie.

Spinach salad kickin’ it old school.

Boiled egg, crispy bacon, fresh tomatoes, mushrooms, cheese, and creamy dressing.

Favourite take-out.  Delicado’s.  Southwest chicken roll-up.  Droooool.

I took a small vacay from the land of food paparazzi yesterday and today.  Oddly enough I had some really interesting opportunities that would have been great for the blog, but I decided that enjoying a few meals camera-free was the way to go.  Just means I’ll have to try to get back to those good photo-ops again soon.

Stress-free time including an organic cafe, farmer's market, Trader Joe’s loot, home style lunch, and good friends. Pretty excellent way to spend a Saturday wouldn’t ya say?  :)