I Wish I Was Homeward Bound

The other day I learned that the quinoa-seed is a complete protein source, I find that amazing, I don't know why. No more than 2 months ago I was taught that the only way to obtain a complete protein source from a single ingredient was from meat but oh no, false...quinoa! I just bought some. Cooked it with ginger and then poured onion and acorn-squash drippings with honey all over it. Thanks for the loan Mom, bet you're glad I'm blowing it all on exotic ingredients for my selfish-self, and not Christmas gifts..

I also just bought this cool book called Local Bread. I have a feeling that my involvement in baking may at some point surpass my involvement in traditional cooking. Everyone should bake bread, the human-race would be at a better place if everyone took the time to bake their own bread. I sincerely mean that. It's probably the most therapeutic and remedial thing I've ever done.

Anyways enough nonsense, the eve of my loves return is nigh. There are six more sleeps until Mag gets on her very first ever plane and flies half way across the globe. I don't even know what to say about that. It's pretty surreal...it kind of feels like sleeping for the first time. To be at a final rest after a life of unending labour...except it's not final, we have to repeat the whole process come January. She actually has a bit of an adventure ahead of her after getting off the plane. She's gotta drive, ferry and walk her way to meet me on campus after I get off class on Wednesday.. It's bittersweet but less bittersweet than it was the day we met...meeting and knowing that a rainy day in August when she'd leave would eventually come...and now knowing that finally, a sunny day in April will soon bring us together again. December is gonna be heaven though, I truly can't wait to go home. It's sick but the thing I'm looking forward to 2nd most to cuddling with Mag and watching movies at home here, is cuddling with Mag and watching movies at home in Ottawa after raiding my Mom's chip-pantry.

I miss a lot of things. I really miss Ben's house. What a phenomenal place that was, I took it for granted, I could have learned a lot more there and participated in some pretty amazing things but at least I got some good friends out of it. Compared to my living-situation now...well the comparison doesn't need to be made for anyone who ever visited Ben's home. I miss Mike and Robbie and Gordon and Trevor so much. I don't think I've laughed half as hard once while here than I laughed on a regular old day hanging out with Mike in Ottawa. I really miss scooting around downtown Ottawa with Nick. There was one day when I was working at the Ottawa Marriott where Nick and Matt Morrow came down and met me after work around 11pm and we just shredded all around these abandoned buildings and streets on a dark Monday night...those times were the best. Or the back of Marty's van with Nick, Rob and Ty...oh lord. God, I even miss OC Transpo. Anyone who has tried to use public-transpo to get around on a Sunday in Nanaimo will NEVER bitch about OC Transpo again.

I took some photos of my hands today, Mag tells me she loves my hands...by most standards I guess this is considered pretty disgusting for someone who handles food for a living but they're clean...this is just what they look like. I like them to look this way, I pounce at most opportunities to handle root and bulb vegetables, to have hands like this is a trophy to me and I don't care how "unkempt" it looks. Years of griptape wear, beet juice, celeriac dirt, a dismembered fingernail, the remains of an old rust-wound infection. One day these hands will remind me that I mostly worked for what I received.

Now Accepting Donations

In British Columbia, and maybe some other provinces of advanced pleasure, Remembrance Day is some sort of day of leisure. When I found out that Tuesday is some twisted holiday I was confused, and then I was elated with potential, and then I was excited, but then I was anxious and I've never really enjoyed anxiety. The idea of being excited for something that's yet to come...I don't know, it's unsettling...like quicksand. Anyways, the big-wigs at the Culinary Institute of Vancouver Island decided that rather than cause the students extra stress by breaking up our work-week right in mid-stream, they'd just give us Monday off too. Does a salmon turn around mid-stream when the current gets too strong? Hell no. Did that make sense? Not in the slightest.

The weekend has been very rejuvenating, very rejuvenating. On Friday, after class, I packed my belongings into my luggage-satchel and headed South to beautiful downtown Victoria to meet my old friend Hasi Eldib. Hasi and I have been friends since grade 6, he is actually one of my first school-friends from Ottawa after moving there from Rockland. Hasi is high on life, he is one of those rare folks who just dig it. He's not in it for anything, he's just living it. I don't think he's trying to prove anything, he just wants to do his thing. He used to be a jerk, he's almost killed/paralyzed most of his oldest friends in wrestling stunts gone awry. Somewhere on the road he turned that homicidal energy into pure love extract. I think he just loves life. I met Hasi at the hotel he was staying at, we talked for awhile then went to the Swans Hotel for a pretty nice pub-style meal. The menu wasn't the best but it was well-prepared and piping-hot and to me that's more important than the ingredients used. We had some beer and talked a lot then went back to the hotel. Hasi left early, 4:30am, to catch a flight. I got up at 5am probably out of habit. I took this photo and then headed out and wandered the streets. Waking up before dawn has it's benefits my friends, try it some time.



I ended up buying some shoes. I'm totally broke but dammit, what skater can resist $50 shoes? That's a third of what I would have payed in Ottawa 5 years ago.

I took the Greyhound home around 'noon. I ate a bag of wine gums and chased them with a bag of M&M peanuts. When I got home I had the worst stomach-ache I've ever had in my entire life. I thought something had ruptured, no joke. Maybe the 5Alive reacted with the peanuts creating a strange-brew in my strange-belly.

Today I got groceries, Sunday buses here are pathetic. I walked home carrying close to my body-weight in cans of beans and various 4lb. squashes and tubers. I have a bad history cooking potatoes so I'm gonna get some practice in. I also made the dough for this wild rye-bread. It's got a ton of molasses in it, the kitchen smells like melted leather. It's got all kinds of seeds in it, fennel and anise and a few more. Letting it proof right now, can't wait to get that beauty baked off. I'm so stoked I might go preheat the oven right now! Sometimes I think my life is akin to a rollercoaster ride.



Mag might be coming here early, if she does the countdown is 24ish days. Wow, what a strange 3 months. Never thought I'd do something like that in my life.

Forecast for tomorrow is 100degrees of shredding the shred-stick. Gotta love not having winter and skateboarding in November.

Listen to Steve Miller...now!

Novella from Nanaimo No. 13

I'm sitting here looking at my own signature on an agreement for a new room I'm moving into in January. The S at the beginning of my last name is a J...gotta put that on my list of things to do, "#9 - Fix the J in my signature."

I went to Salt Spring Island this weekend. Took the ferry from Crofton to Vesuvius Bay, it's a 20 minute ride, $7 to walk on, free on the way back.



We went straight to a church function. My inner dialogue was rattling through questions. Do I take off my hat? Do I bow to the priest? When is the appropriate time to scream "HALLELUJAH!"? It took all of my self-control not to use the name "Jesus Christ" to express feelings of anger or frustration. Once inside I realized I was in a key situation to score loads of candy. It wasn't really a religious function, more of a Halloween function...ironically, Halloween is a Pagan holiday. From the church we went to downtown Ganges. Dad, if you're reading this...I saw Chris at the firehouse and I tried to ask him how he was getting home. He told me Val was picking him up but I couldn't get an answer on when. He didn't remember me but he still looked happy to see me, no surprises there. I should have called her but as usual, I was on someone else's schedule so it didn't happen. To readers other than my Dad, Val is the old man's first-wife. Her and her husband run an equal-living shared housing unit for autistic people out of their home, Chris is one of them. He's a large, very happy and expressive young man. He volunteers at the fire-station.

We weren't downtown long before we retired to Asher's Dad's house. It was a hand-built custom home as many on Salt Spring seem to be. The next morning Asher's Dad had us hauling wood for a couple hours, this is what we got done. Not bad if you ask me. What do I know about hauling wood though?



After that everyone showered and ate and we headed off to Salt Spring Island Cheese Company (http://www.saltspringcheese.com/). I spent $24 on cheese, a white truffle goat cheese, lemon goat cheese, and garlic goat cheese. I shared the truffle one with my French roommates since the truffles were imported from France. After the cheese company we went on a hike and saw some cool mushrooms, here is a blurry variety of mushroom.



After the hike I got on the ferry, dirty and spoiled and hungry. I thought I saw a whale but it was probably a large seal. I had to hitchhike home, it actually took less than 2 hours...not bad. When I got into Nanaimo I was dropped off at the bottom of town and on the hike upward I got caught in one of the craziest rainstorms. There was no lightning but it was one of those storms that makes you feel like you're standing fully dressed inside your shower. If I'd been outside for 10 seconds I would have been thoroughly soaked...but I was in the middle of it for a good 15 minutes. It was great. Hallelujah!

I was pretty stressed last week 'cause somehow I let a bunch of important priorities mold like putty in my mind. At the end of the week I dedicated 2 days to getting them done. In doing so I decided to move from my current room, I'll save lots of money next semester and have a better view too. I also did some arranging of my loan...arrangements, and discovered that I have an untapped bursary coming to me in January. Not too shabby. I should be getting a pirate-loot sized tax-return, so, well, I'll be eating a lot more imported white truffles.

I talked to my a la carte chef from last month on Friday. My time in his class ended a week ago but he had some very kind words for me. In addition to getting 102% on a math-test in his class, and a 91% overall, he correctly predicted that he thought I'd be well suited for bistro cooking. I told him about how I got fired from a hotel mostly because I hated working there. He said he thinks I have a good sense of taste. Anyways it was a really nice conversation. On Christmas break I plan on going to meet chefs at Benitz and Sweetgrass and a couple other popular Ottawa bistros to talk about apprenticeships. I have also decided to complete my education here, instead of switching schools for 2nd year like I originally planned. Just makes sense.

I have to go study poultry and seafood now. Did you know that frogs are classified as poultry in the culinaire world? Yup.

Listen to Bill Withers.