Olympic village photo walk

In my photography classes at work, i keep threatening to hold a weekend outing for the group. well, last weekend i finally held one, and well, there were 4 of us! not as big a group as at work, but it was a very passionate group, and we had a great time. anyways, for the first outing we went to the Olympic Village, down at science world and right off of false creek. there happened to be a dragon boat regatta happening the same day, so there was lots of activity going on.

So lets see what was going on. first off are some HDR’s of science world

[flickr id=”7321575128″ thumbnail=”large” overlay=”false” size=”large” group=”” align=”none”]

it was such a beautiful sunny day.

[flickr id=”7321576570″ thumbnail=”large” overlay=”false” size=”large” group=”” align=”none”]
your intrepid photographer for the day

[flickr id=”7321577290″ thumbnail=”large” overlay=”false” size=”large” group=”” align=”none”]
little sea bus with vancouver in the background

[flickr id=”7321578890″ thumbnail=”large” overlay=”false” size=”large” group=”” align=”none”]
bc place in the background

[flickr id=”7321580298″ thumbnail=”large” overlay=”false” size=”large” group=”” align=”none”]
dragon boaters racing for glory. also the historic site of the famous red bull flugtag right where that concord building is.

now for something completely different, the olympic village square

[flickr id=”7321580860″ thumbnail=”large” overlay=”false” size=”large” group=”” align=”none”]
these little guys were taking a break in the shade

[flickr id=”7321581426″ thumbnail=”large” overlay=”false” size=”large” group=”” align=”none”]
someone knitted a cozy for the bird.

[flickr id=”7321582688″ thumbnail=”large” overlay=”false” size=”large” group=”” align=”none”]
the olympic square with vancouver mountains in the background

[flickr id=”7321583462″ thumbnail=”large” overlay=”false” size=”large” group=”” align=”none”]
self explanatory

[flickr id=”7321584264″ thumbnail=”large” overlay=”false” size=”large” group=”” align=”none”]
this guy was great.

[flickr id=”7321585044″ thumbnail=”large” overlay=”false” size=”large” group=”” align=”none”]
so typical vancouver, a bunch of kayakers

[flickr id=”7321586430″ thumbnail=”large” overlay=”false” size=”large” group=”” align=”none”]
yours truly lazing around

[flickr id=”7321585848″ thumbnail=”large” overlay=”false” size=”large” group=”” align=”none”]
another view of science world

[flickr id=”7321587046″ thumbnail=”large” overlay=”false” size=”large” group=”” align=”none”]
i liked this one with the two kayaks

[flickr id=”7321588310″ thumbnail=”large” overlay=”false” size=”large” group=”” align=”none”]
cambie and gulls

[flickr id=”7321587558″ thumbnail=”large” overlay=”false” size=”large” group=”” align=”none”]
little green island

[flickr id=”7321589054″ thumbnail=”large” overlay=”false” size=”large” group=”” align=”none”]
and finally another of bc place

most certainly a fun day out.

we were talking about how sometimes its difficult to capture the essence of the city you live in. you see the same thing every day, and its pretty hard to get inspired and to see the beauty surrounding you. I find it very difficult to photograph cites in general, let alone vancouver. I’m always looking for pictures that capture the spirit of the land, and i think i started to get there a bit on this day, so that makes me happy.

Chocolate Tasting

The other day we were invited by some of noa’s friends to join them for a chocolate tasting at chocolaterie nouvelle france. Its on Main st, and has been there for a few years now. Anyways, so we get there and its just the 4 of us in the tiny little cute store. how fun!

[flickr id=”7306361442″ thumbnail=”large” overlay=”false” size=”large” group=”” align=”none”]

so, first off, theres some very delicious whipped cream on the table.

[flickr id=”7306362788″ thumbnail=”large” overlay=”false” size=”large” group=”” align=”none”]

everyone except for me got a hot chocolate to start with. i got tea.
[flickr id=”7306362212″ thumbnail=”large” overlay=”false” size=”large” group=”” align=”none”]

the table was reserved for us. how nice
[flickr id=”7306363136″ thumbnail=”large” overlay=”false” size=”large” group=”” align=”none”]

so how this worked was we got 3 courses, and 2 choices each time. we ended up getting 2 and 2 of each course, so we could try anything.
in the first course, we got some chocolate with a marshmallow top,

[flickr id=”7306364914″ thumbnail=”large” overlay=”false” size=”large” group=”” align=”none”]

and this chocolate and banana thing under whipped cream
[flickr id=”7306363492″ thumbnail=”large” overlay=”false” size=”large” group=”” align=”none”]

and here we are and our fellow chocolate eating partners in crime displaying our wares

[flickr id=”7306363990″ thumbnail=”large” overlay=”false” size=”large” group=”” align=”none”]
[flickr id=”7306364522″ thumbnail=”large” overlay=”false” size=”large” group=”” align=”none”]

Then we had some time to relax and drink tea, and that was followed by the second course, Mousses!
we had a 66 and an 72% mousse, i think.

[flickr id=”7306365748″ thumbnail=”large” overlay=”false” size=”large” group=”” align=”none”]
[flickr id=”7306365376″ thumbnail=”large” overlay=”false” size=”large” group=”” align=”none”]
So good. these were by far my favourite!!

the last course, after more tea, was a brownie with ice cream 2 ways. one on a plate, and 1 in a bowl with a shot of coffee inside.
[flickr id=”7306366250″ thumbnail=”large” overlay=”false” size=”large” group=”” align=”none”]
[flickr id=”7306366906″ thumbnail=”large” overlay=”false” size=”large” group=”” align=”none”]

Phew, so rich! overall it was a very pleasurable and relaxing experience, which i really enjoyed. chocolate is not my forte, but i did enjoy trying everything. i was bouncing with sugar afterwards though, and couldn’t think of chocolate for a few days afterwards. total overdose, but looking at those offerings, totally worth it.

Cheese Making

Well, for our anniversary this year, noa and i decided to take a cheese making course. It was offered by a cheese maker who lives on Mayne Island, yes, its a real island in the gulf islands, i have never heard of it either. Every once in a while he offers class at UBC, and we had been talking about learning how to make cheese for a while, so we went.

The class was 4.5 hours long, and we learned how to make Yoghurt cheese, paneer, and a camembert/brie type cheese.

I don’t have any pictures from the actual cheese making course, we mostly watched and listened and tried cheeses.

The thing that really struck me was how easy it is to make cheese at home. it is pretty amazing that more people don’t do it. and it all turned out so tasty. and i learned so much about how different dairy products become different cheeses. i finally know what quark is, and why paneer is used in curry, and all kinds of fun cheese related facts.

anywho, so, this inspired us, so that following weekend we went around town looking for Rennet, which is an integral part in making anything but fresh cheeses, and cheese forms. i found the rennet, but had to end up ordering the cheese forms. then we got a boat load of milk from whole foods, and off to the kitchen.

ohh, i should add that that weekend we also finally got pasta rollers for the kitchen aid mixer, and boy, are they nice…. we also ended up making linguini that same evening. action packed. so theres pictures from all these events following.

First, i attempted a yoghurt cheese. super easy. buy yoghurt. put in cheese cloth. hang. eat.

here it is draining. thats whey in the bottom of the pot
[flickr id=”7253483086″ thumbnail=”large” overlay=”false” size=”large” group=”” align=”none”]

and what it looks like after its sat for 24h draining whey.
[flickr id=”7253485898″ thumbnail=”large” overlay=”false” size=”large” group=”” align=”none”]

next lets look at some pasta.
here are the beautiful sheets that we finally got to thin out. every other time we always had issues doing this.
[flickr id=”7253483688″ thumbnail=”large” overlay=”false” size=”large” group=”” align=”none”]

and cut into linguini. those are about 6-8 ft long pasta noodles!!!
[flickr id=”7253484136″ thumbnail=”large” overlay=”false” size=”large” group=”” align=”none”]

we saved some for later. the next day
[flickr id=”7253484676″ thumbnail=”large” overlay=”false” size=”large” group=”” align=”none”]

and the delicious fresh pasta sauce we had the noodles with
[flickr id=”7253485314″ thumbnail=”large” overlay=”false” size=”large” group=”” align=”none”]

alright, now to the main event. i attempted to make a fresh chèvre, which is a goats milk fresh cheese

for this you heat the milk to 80F, and add your rennet, and live milk culture, which is usually some yoghurt.
milk on the left, some live culture in the middle, and rennet dissolved in water. in the back you can see my refir, which ill get to another day.

[flickr id=”7253482458″ thumbnail=”large” overlay=”false” size=”large” group=”” align=”none”]

then it sat out for 24h so that the rennet can form the these into a large curd.
after that time, this is what it looks like. can you see the whey all around the pot, and the curd in the middle? amazing.
[flickr id=”7253486878″ thumbnail=”large” overlay=”false” size=”large” group=”” align=”none”]

then you pull the curd out into a cheese cloth
[flickr id=”7253487348″ thumbnail=”large” overlay=”false” size=”large” group=”” align=”none”]

doesn’t that look amazing already. and it hasn’t even had time to drain.
[flickr id=”7253488328″ thumbnail=”large” overlay=”false” size=”large” group=”” align=”none”]

and the final step again is to hang it to dry for 24h.
[flickr id=”7253486458″ thumbnail=”large” overlay=”false” size=”large” group=”” align=”none”]

after all the whey had drained out, it looked very much like the finished yoghurt cheese up above, just drier. and its amazingly delicious. some fresh herbs and sea salt on there, ohh my yum.
it was so easy to make, did not take a lot of my time, and is so much cheaper than buying cheese. next I’m going to attempt a brie, but before i do i need to make sure i can find the right type of cow’s milk. pretty exciting though.