Blueberry Frozen Yogurt on a Cold Winter’s Night

I eat a lot of ice cream in the winter.  Don’t get me wrong…I love a soft serve on a hot August day as much as the next girl…but I seem to eat a lot more of it at this time of year for some reason.

I suspect it’s the wood stove — we rely on our cast iron fire box as our primary heat source in January and February — and the fact of the matter is that it’s a little big for our cozy living room.  Nine years of experience means we now light small, low fires that burn slow.  But at some point almost every night, we have to open the front door for a few minutes to let the heat escape.

And, since one of us is up, we may as well have a bowl of something cold to lower our core temperatures, right?

Call it medical necessity.

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Pender Island Lantern Festival 2011 – How Our Small Island Brings in the New Year

Penderites gathered at Magic Lake on New Year’s Eve for my favourite island tradition of the year:  Lantern Fest – a one-of-a-kind show mixing light, music, singing, dancing and theatre.  Here’s a look at the 2011 show:

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Top 5 Friday – My Favourite “Photos That Didn’t Make It” – 2011

It’s that time of year again, kids!

Self-reflection, while recovering from the most emotionally draining holiday of them all, can turn bad on you pretty quickly — especially after a tough economic year like this one.

That’s why I like to keep it simple – don’t go too deep.  Last year, it was bread.  I resolved to never again spend $6.25/loaf on mediocre, inconsistent store-bought bread.  I didn’t do too badly — I bought a few buns from the grocery store bakery to get by here and there (and maybe a loaf or two), but for the most part, I stuck to my resolution — and I learned a lot about dough.

But, after signing myself up for a year of kneading (even if I made most of it in my Kitchen Aid), I decided to go even simpler this year.  And so, I present you with the 2011 Island Vittles’ Year in Pictures, (that for one reason or another, didn’t make it into a post of their own).

Not a resolution to be found…. ;)

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Homemade Pear Infused Brandy

I got back from walking the dog this morning to find a 25lb frozen tuna on our welcome mat….and the funny thing is, I wasn’t really all that surprised.

Almost since the first day I started this blog 23 months ago, food started finding its way to me.  I don’t grow a lot; aside from herbs and some salad greens, it turns out that my thumb is rather black.  And to be fair, the shade in our back garden has grown more than anything else in the 8 years we’ve lived here.  You see, we’re surrounded by trees, mostly cedars and firs — tall, majestic spires that stand to inspire, but also conspire — blocking out the sun’s rays and spreading their far-flung, hungry roots to consume my carefully composted soil.

But (I think) because I spend a good part of my day writing and talking about food, people know how much I appreciate it fresh from the ground or still warm from the oven.  And so, living as we do in a small rural community bursting with extraordinary growers,  we occasionally come home to a tasty treasure here or there: peppers on the porch, jars of sauerkraut and sweet & sour pickles on the stoop, or a dozen of the biggest heads of elephant garlic you’ve ever seen in a box on the kitchen table. (Sometimes I forget to lock the front door.)

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Taste of Tulalip Tweet Up

Island Vittles (aka me) got an email a few weeks back inviting us to the Taste of Tulalip Tweet-Up, at the Tulalip Resort Casino in Washington State.

Never being one to turn down free food and wine, never mind a chance to preview one of the region’s premier taste events,  I made sure Howard cleared his schedule, we stashed the Dooze with our accommodating neighbours, and we headed down to the U.S of A this past Wednesday.

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