Celebratory beer.

Well, my degree has actually come to a finish. No more papers, assignments or exams to hinder blogging, even come September. So to celebrate we met up with some friends at Sugarbowl for a beer (or two) this past Monday. We managed to snag a table by the open window and our favourite server took care of us for the evening - excellent.

 Milk Stout - Seriously, it had lactose in it. Though it wasn't my favourite (a little 'sour' and not quite smooth enough) it was an interesting way to start the evening.

For Charles - A hoppy IPA.

Also at the table was Half Pints' Little Scrapper IPA and the amazing Alberta Crude Oatmeal Stout from Wild Rose Brewery. The stout is truly lovely - creamy and smooth yet light enough for a warm (or rainy) summer evening. And since it's only been released on tap, I encourage you to head to Sugarbowl for a pint.

Beer + Coffee

During the past few weeks Charles and I have found ourselves at Sugarbowl, Transcend and Da Capo more often than we'd like to admit. While the latter two both provide great spaces for studying or writing, Sugarbowl is the answer when these aspects of my life need to be left behind for an evening. Either way, here are a few shots from our more recent stopovers.

Transcend

Da Capo

Sugarbowl

These shots come from two evenings at Sugarbowl a couple weeks ago. During one we were lucky enough to find Jason Foster present with samples from Half Pints Brewing Co. Of the IPA, stout and amber ale we tried, the latter was definitely the favourite. It was caramel-y, sort of nutty and for some reason I kept smelling buttermilk. I had a full glass a couple evenings ago and it really is a great one, especially alongside a plate of warm cookies...

The very next evening happened to be cask night. I made it to one cask night back in October and since then have been foiled by assignments due the next morning or by the large line that forms around 5pm just as the keg is about to be tapped. This time though, Brenna finished her last exam (congrats, lady!) and got there just in time to snag us a window seat. Thus a few pints of the Maibock were ours!

Maibock

Me and Rachel

Alley Kat Loaded Goat Maibock Launch + U of A Design Grad Show

Just a quick note that Alley Kat is launching the second beer in its Big Bottle Series tomorrow evening (April 28th from 5-8pm at the brewery): the Loaded Goat Maibock.

A couple friends and I managed to grab a table at Sugarbowl's cask night last Thursday and each got a pint of the cask aged version of this beer. It was incredible and none of us could quite place a finger on the flavours, but it was beautifully smooth and perfect for spring patio enjoyment.

And if you're looking for something to check out afterward, the U of A Bachelor of Design grad show opens tomorrow evening at 7pm at the FAB gallery on campus. Entrance is free but the purchase of a program is appreciated. And Da Capo will be catering...

Alley Kat Brewery
9929 60 Avenue
780.436.8922

FAB Gallery
1-1 Fine Arts Building
780.492.2081

Almost there

It's the final stretch. The fall semester will be done next Friday, hopefully no later than 3:30pm. In anticipation of that study free Friday evening, we've made a reservation at d'Lish Urban Kitchen & Wine Bar. It looks like they've just changed their menu to something a little more wintery, so hopefully it will be a tasty, relaxing evening.

In general we haven't been eating all that well lately. Lots of snacky dinners on the go, or grabbing of sandwiches, chips and salsa, etc. etc. have made our lives that much more hectic. With three weeks off this holiday season, I've got some big plans. One includes sitting down to make some type of meal plan for January through April so that we don't get into this bind again. I found this blog the other day, and I think it will be an excellent resource.

On Monday night we finally managed to sit down to a meal of stuffed peppers around 9pm. Charles cracked open our copy of Mark Bittman's How To Cook Everything to find a recipe of corn stuffed peppers with spicy tomato sauce. Unfortunately it was a bit of a let down. It needed a little more oomph, and clearly, we both decided, something essential was missing. Thankfully stuffed peppers are an easily adaptable recipe, so we are on the hunt for a new stuffing. If you've got any delectable ideas, please leave'm below.

And on a non-food note, I was sad to receive an e-mail from Nokomis Clothing Wednesday to say they will be closing their doors at the end of January. I've been shopping there since I started at U of A, and after re-discovering a love of dresses due to the Shop's excellent selection this past summer, it's become a dependable spot that will be dearly missed.

See you in a week with thoughts on d'Lish!

A paper writing pot-luck

On Sunday afternoon my 'Anthropology of Health and Healing' group got together to work on our term paper, and this was the sight of our table in the Rutherford South common room at the end of the day:

One of our group members had the great idea to combine paper writing with potluck, which made the four hours spent at the library far more pleasant, although there was a little more procrastination than normal. We had quite a few students walking by giving us strange looks as we chowed down on pork dumplings, spring rolls, spinach dip, turkey loaf, vegetables, potato salad, chocolate (Zotter's Scotch Whisky Highland Harvest bar, to be exact) and cheesecake, but secretly, we knew they would have liked to join in on our library potluck.

**Thanks to Claire for her picture via Blackberry... and the potluck-paper combo.

A little Anthropological love for the Olfactory section

I think I mentioned earlier about my 'Places, Things, Stories' Anthropology class. Well, we had our first project last month - creatively explore a space/place in any way you would like, then write about your findings. One of the goals throughout the class is to make the familiar strange and/or noticeable (if you're into this, check out The Mezzanine by Nicholas Baker, it's at the EPL). Incredibly experimental, this was a daunting assignment - no formal paper, no theory required, be creative - this goes against all the methods of my previous classes. Anyhow, I chose to explore Kerstin's using scent.

The senses (particularly those that have traditionally been the "lower senses" - taste, smell and touch) are becoming a huge area of study within anthropology, but right now, as my prof. said yesterday, 'it's cutting edge stuff!' Although I've spent lots of time throughout my degree reading of our mutton chopped forefathers, the nice thing about my senior classes is the opportunity to explore emerging areas in sociocultural anthropology, whether I'm going on to do my masters or not.

My first assignment - an olfactory map - went well, although it was difficult to move beyond the dominant smell in the Shop - chocolate - and I got caught up in the 'hegemony of smell'. Despite this, I still discovered some important things about scent that I never really noticed or paid attention to previously:

• Smell is often trapped in specific areas. 

• Smell is fleeting and is best when new - for instance, if you have been away from home for a lengthy period, you'll be able to smell those things you were formally habituated to. 

• Something completely obvious but that is worthwhile mentioning, is that smell works best or is enhanced when utilizing other senses. 

• We have very few words to describe the things we smell, so communicating smells becomes difficult, and is often dominated by those familiar perfume and food smells (however, this gives me the opportunity to make up words, which my prof. seems fine with and I'm particularly excited about). 

• Related to the last point, it's frustrating when you recognize a smell but can't place it.

• Smell, like taste, is connected to our memories in ways we rarely recognize. The list goes on.

For my final essay, I'm continuing with the olfactory area. I found this amazing book - The Smell Culture Reader - tucked away on Rutherford fourth, all on its own dealing with smell compared to the books around it dealing with multiple senses at once. It's a compilation of thoughts on smell from anthropologists, sociologists, etc. on things like Odorphobia, 'Smellscape' or scent and place, perfume, scent, memory and nostalgia, and smell in ritual.

I thought I'd post this since our sense of smell is so closely related to taste, and also because I fail to go anywhere now without paying extra attention to the smell of things. Looking back on The Marc post and our visit just after I handed in my first project, I was certainly giving a bit more attention to the smells of things, particularly with Charles' beef cheek and lamb dishes.

Next semester I'm taking a class devoted entirely to Anthropology of the Senses, which I'm really excited for. So hopefully much more regarding the senses to come this winter.

Ice Cream and other things

We bought the ice cream attachment for our mixer back in July, but with our fridge breaking down twice within the week we bought it, my attempts to make ice cream were thwarted. But last week I finally gave up my superstition that the fridge broke because I wanted to make ice cream (plus we got a new timer put in), and I eventually settled on David Lebovitz' Mexican Chocolate ice cream from Ready For Dessert for the first batch.

This attempt turned out to be fantastic, and this was certainly the smoothest, richest and most decadent ice cream either of us had ever tried. The cinnamon provided the perfect warmth as did the little bit of cayenne I decided to add at the end. And both spices complemented the chocolates that I ended up using - a Venezuelan and a Madagascar, both from Valrhona. We've almost cleaned out the container, so hopefully I can find some time to whip up a new batch for the upcoming week.

Speaking of time, I'm pretty overwhelmed right now - school is crazy. It's my last year I'm pushing as hard as I can to finish for June. Unlike last semester where I had the Anthro of Food class to throw myself into with some more general classes on the side, this Fall is proving to be more specific and more difficult - Lower Palaeolithic Prehistory, Medical Anthro, Reading Class and Ideology, Linguistic Anthro, and finally, the most abstract, fun and challenging one - Imagining Society: Places, Things and Stories... what is the social imaginary? Can it be defined? How do we get at it? How do we interact with place? How do we sense it? What is sense? What is feeling? Is it tangible?...

All these things are swimming around in my head, and I've had by nose stuck in books and articles non-stop for the past couple weeks. All this is a round about way of saying posts will be few and far between this year, and I'm thinking of stopping the blog all together for a while. I 'feel' like it needs a new direction... maybe it will come to me in Lower Palaeolithic class as we discuss the most recent Acheulean hand axe find - you never know.

But before the possible break, I still have two posts left from Québec (I know...): Panache and our final lunch at L'Échaudé. Also, we made it to MRKT last Friday for dinner, so a post is in the works for that too. Then I'll see where I'm at.

Anyhow, I wanted to mention that we made it to Symphony Under the Sky again this year. As per usual, it was the perfect way to end the Festival season, and it's always nice to head out and be a patron - no responsibilities but to enjoy the show. Also, last Fat Franks and Mini Donuts of the year.

I still go for the veggie with dijon and regular mustard, sauerkraut and pickles; Charles is Italian or Honey Ham with mustard, pickles and hot peppers

ZINC for Lunch

I finally finished exams yesterday, and to celebrate, Charles and I headed to the AGA for one final look at the Cardiff/Miller installations before they head out May 9th. We also stopped again at the Degas exhibit, however I can't say it was as enjoyable this time, as I had just spent the morning writing about Degas and the little dancer cast in my art history exam. We were also hoping to check out the Terrace Cafe for lunch, but thought we needed something more substantial than a wrap or sandwich. So instead we decided to head to Zinc and give it another try.

The restaurant was empty when we arrived around 2pm, but we were greeted promptly by the hostess. She happened to lead us to the same table as our previous visit.

Our server appeared right away to fill water glasses and to let us know about the specials - a blue cheese mac and cheese with flank steak, and a leek and potato soup. After that however, we were left for quite awhile to peruse the page long menu. We had long decided our orders by the time she returned - an Innis & Gunn with the Fish and Chips for Charles, and the "Un-Burger" with the soup of the day and an Amber's Chocolate Stout for me.

Chocolate Stout

Brioche

Bread plate

I wasn't expecting the fresh brioche during lunch, but about 10 minutes after our order two pieces appeared along with their Thyme butter. Unfortunately we didn't get to indulge in the extra carbs, as our server returned straight away with our mains.

As with our last visit, we were in awe over the plating designs. They are beautiful - clean lines and simple, functional plates and bowls (both of us are also in love with their cutlery!). Charles enjoyed his fish and chips, particularly the Alberta White fish they had chosen, however he thought the batter on the fish could have been more crisp. He also didn't care for the 'Saki Soaked Nori Aioli', and I can't say I did either after trying it with a bite of fish; it seemed oily, and it overpowered the flavour of the fish completely. However we both agreed that the root vegetable chips made up of thinly sliced beets, potatoes and yam, and the red cabbage slaw with black sesame seeds were fantastic.

Fish and Chips - Alberta White Fish, Root Vegetable Chips, Red Cabbage Slaw & Sake soaked Nori Aioli ($19)

My "un-burger"was great. The elk and caribou patty was rich, flavourful and moist, and I loved the sweetness of the honey caramelized onions. The Saskatoon berry aioli also provided a nice brightness that cut through the rich brioche bun and the burger itself well. I have to say the burger was incredibly large with all the toppings, so Charles helped me finish it... he thought he would definitely go for that on our next visit. The leek and potato soup was also good - rich and creamy and perfect for yesterday afternoon, which turned out to be a bit rainy and cold.

Alberta's Finest Un-burger - Homemade Ground Caribou and Elk, Honey Caramelized Onions, Saskatoon Berry Aioli, Sautéed Mushrooms ($17)

w/ Leek and Potato Soup

Our server came back to fill water glasses, clear our plates (she did not come back while we were eating to ask how our food was, etc.) and inquire about dessert. She came back with a dessert menu, also telling us that she didn't know if the kitchen was still open or if they had shut down to prepare for dinner service. It turned out that although they were shutting down, the kitchen 'would do dessert for us', and we ended up sharing the crème brulée, the same dessert Charles had during our last visit for dinner.

Vanilla Espresso Crème Brulée - Praline Hazelnut Gelato, Strawberry Foam ($12)

Crème Brulée detail

Neither of us thought the dessert was as good as last time, but couldn't place our finger on anything specific. Maybe it was the confusion over the kitchen and the way the menu was presented to us...

As with our last visit, we enjoyed the food, but found the service still lacking. Once again our server was friendly, but overall service was nowhere near polished. Hopefully Zinc will find their stride soon!

ZINC
2 Sir Winston Churchill Square
780.392.2501


**I meant to post more on our visit last month for dinner, but instead I've added prices to that post. Since it's been so long, I'm not sure I can accurately reflect on the evening. Hopefully this will serve as a bit of an update to accompany the post from our last visit.

Happy Easter and Almost Chocolate

While I was hoping to get some free time this weekend, as mentioned in the post below, I'm still in essay mode, and I've also been working on a 'creative academic poster' most of the weekend. My Prof. does not want us to have the thing printed, nor does she want us to pay much for the materials... she basically said to break out the glue stick and get crafty, so I stuck chocolate bar wrappers all over it, and used pictures of cacao beans from Amano's website.

I know this isn't quite like getting real chocolate for Easter, but this project is on cacao, so there's got to be a link in there somewhere. Have a Happy Easter weekend, and I hope you did get some actual chocolate to munch on!

A Birthday, Studying and Lemon Meringue

Growing up in the BC interior, I always associated my birthday with spring. But in Edmonton today, it snowed, and I spent most of the day indoors with my nose in textbooks (although I'm researching for a paper on cacao cultivation and for another on the local food movement, so at least the topics are interesting!).

Charles and I are off to Zinc on Friday evening for a birthday celebration, but for now, he brought me this pretty Lemon Meringue cake from Duchess... along with other treats that I've been snacking on all day. You're allowed to eat as many cakes, pastries and cookies as you want on your birthday, right?

**I also meant to note that this is post #100! So this cake is serving multiple purposes.**

What's your madeleine?

Awhile ago, in Anthro 372, we were discussing the role of food in evoking memory and identity... Food is a powerful tool, connecting us with people, time and place, and it seems that everyone has their own food (a baked good, a packaged snack, an entire meal, anything), that is laden with emotional and symbolic significance. What we eat reveals what we are, and what we are not (Belasco: 26).


I thought I would leave a small blurb from Volume I of Proust's Remembrance of Things Past (or In Search of Lost Time), that describes his memory in connection with the madeleine, as well as an 'exercise' from Belasco's "Food: The Key Concepts" on the same topic.

(These ones are from Duchess)

"And suddenly the memory returned. The taste was that of the little crumb of madeleine which on Sunday mornings at Combray,... my aunt Leonie used to give me, dipping it first in her own cup of lime-flower tea. And once I recognized the taste of the... madeleine soaked in her decoction of lime-flowers..., immediately the old grey house... rose up like the scenery of a theatre to attach itself to the little pavilion, opening on to the garden, which had been built out behind it for my parents; and with the house the town... the Square, where I was sent before luncheon, the streets along which I used to run errands, the country roads we took when it was fine (Belasco: 25)."

For class, we were asked to come up with our own madeleine, but of course, I'm not grading you, so I'll just leave the 'assignment' details. Here are some things to help you along if you'd like:

• Is [your madeleine] a positive, negative, or somewhere in between?
• Is it a comfort food or a discomfort food? A medium for conflict or reunion?
• Is it homemade or commercial?

I've decided that my madeleine is Yorkshire Pudding... my Mom's. A little too doughy, but a great reminder of big family meals during my Nanny's visits.

(Belasco, Warren. 2008. "Food: The Key Concepts". Berg: Oxford UK.)