Gigi Blin ~ great coffee shop in Marpole

Only a few blocks east from Granville on West 70th, is a leafy neighbourhood of mainly older, low-rise apartment buildings. This is the heart of Marpole and here too is a wonderful coffee shop called Gigi Blin . It's a name oddly familiar to followers of Jeem, and his old friend and mentor: G.G. Blyn from Brooklyn. Obviously, not the same person because G.G. Blyn could never make coffee taste this good. Gigi Blin on the other hand....

Open and airy, the café is a throwback of sorts to the kind of place one might expect to find in Italy, and that certainly serves as the inspiration. 

The coffees are well crafted, strong, bold and flavourful. House-made sandwiches are delectable. A variety of confections line the wall, and while there are cozier seating arrangements, the large wooden table is a focal point for conversation with your neighbours.

Something new for these hot days is espresso and tonic water. This one is made with Fever Tree tonic, lots of ice and two shots of espresso. 

The espresso rests at the top of the glass until a straw is added. Within seconds the glass erupts in a bubbly mixture. The taste is entirely refreshing. This could be the best iced coffee drink of the summer, and it's another reason to visit this great café in Marpole. 

Friendly service, good people and great coffees; Gigi Blin Market Café is open everyday. It's well worth many repeat visits.

Photos by Jeem. Copyright 2016 by Jim Murray.

Salt Spring Wild ~ a craft cidery on Salt Spring Island

It's an amazing setting. But then again Salt Spring Island is amazing in itself.












Salt Spring Wild is a new craft cidery and it's set in a beautiful spot on the northern half of the island, not far from Ganges.






The cidery itself is the coming together of a philosopher and a stone sculptor, and their passion to create cider from the wild apples that grow on Salt Spring.

Some of the apples come from 100-year old trees, some from organic orchards and some from the wild apple trees that live along the island's roadsides. The sculptures are more recent.




The cider is a work in progress. There's less sugar involved than what many might expect, and the direction is clearly English with dry and semi-dry ciders, and some interesting local variations including apricot and plum.













Salt Spring Wild is owned and operated by Mike Lachelt and Gerda Lattey, and it's well worth a visit. Bring a picnic lunch, enjoy a flight of cider. And linger.

Photos by Jeem. Copyright 2016 by Jim Murray.

Spot Prawns!

It happens every May and it only seems to last a month... spot prawns from our own local waters!

What we call spot prawns are the largest of seven commercially harvest shrimp found in Canada's left coast waters. Large females (and they are pretty much all females by the time we get them) can measure 23 cm in total length, though the edible tail is much smaller.




We get our prawns live, from Oakridge Fish Market, which is our favourite shop for fresh seafood. The owners, Annie and Jimmy, offer great service and reasonable prices, and they've had their store since the mid-1990s.

The prawns are put into a plastic bag, which is then wrapped in paper. Of course the prawns try to escape and the bag is often punctured and the paper wet. The whole thing smells of the ocean, and that's a good sign. In theory the prawns should last a day or two in the fridge, but we always cook them up the same day.










Getting the prawns into a pot or pan can be challenging as the creatures flop about irrationally. This can be annoying.





Their ultimate fate is to be thrown onto an already heated barbecue, which can be a wee bit upsetting, especially for the prawns. It's either that, or drowning them in tap water first; we've opted for the straight-to-the-coals approach. And no, those weird sounds coming from the barbecue are not the prawns screaming in horror. At least that's what I tell myself.

After two minutes on the barbie, give-or-take, the prawns are ready to be served, and here to the barbarism continues as the prawn's large head (it's most of the creature's total body size) is torn off with bare hands. I suppose one could use a sharp implement, but after death by fire it seems only fitting to continue the savage nature of this feast.





The barbecued tail, shell removed, is tender, delicate and sweet. Dipped in a bit of melted butter can be nice, but the prawns are fine just by themselves. Scrumptious in fact.

A salad, a wee drop of wine, and slightly less than a kilo of spot prawns between two makes for a wonderful dining experience. The resulting mess of heads and shells is all that's left.











Most of our prawns come from the inside waters of Vancouver Island. They are harvested with traps and not by the more destructive practice of bottom trawls used for most other shrimp harvests. About ninety percent of our commercial harvested spot prawns are frozen and exported to Japan. The balance is sold fresh and live to people in BC. Prices can fluctuate dramatically and that's been the case this year already, with prices going up almost forty percent in two weeks.



Of interest, spot prawns are protandric hermaphroditic meaning that each individual initially matures as a male and then passes through a transition stage to become a female. In BC waters, spot prawns usually live about four years. Apparently they spend the first three years as males, and then transform into females for their final year of life. You can't make this stuff up.

Delicious!

Photos by Jeem. Copyright 2016 by Jim Murray.

Lakeside Gardens in early May

Lakeside Gardens on St Mary Lake on Salt Spring Island is a special place. In early May, during an unseasonably hot spell, we spent another glorious weekend at number 7.

















Located right on the lake, the small cabins are a world away from all the cares of the world. One small step above camping, the cabins are under ten square metres in size but provide a luxury not easily found elsewhere: songbirds in the early morning. shorebirds through the day, eagles soaring overhead in the late afternoon, and the gentle sound of frogs to lull one to sleep at night.

And through it all, the ever-changing view of the lake.

It's rustic to be sure, but on a beautiful day on Salt Spring, nothing could be better.

Lakeside Gardens Resort website.

Photos by Jeem. Copyright 2016 by Jim Murray.

Laburnum ~ the golden chain

Laburnum, sometimes called golden chain, is native to the mountains of southern Europe, and here on the left coast, its flowers herald the beginning of spring.














All parts of the plant are poisonous, especially the fruit, which develops as a pod. Symptoms of poisoning include convulsions, coma, and a slight frothing at the mouth, among other things equally distasteful. Why anyone would want to eat laburnum might be a mystery, though it has been used as a poison in earlier times.



On a more positive note, laburnum has been used for cabinetmaking and musical instruments like flutes. At one time it was a popular wood for the making of the most beautiful sounding of all musical instruments: the bagpipes.

For us, it's become a sign of spring, warm weather and the coming months of summer. Just don't eat it.

Photos by Jeem. Copyright 2016 by Jim Murray.