Homemade yogurt, kombucha, and Bellingham WA

The Pendergarden (our co-op household name) is unanimously and unabashedly a foodie house. Most of our conversations revolve around food and instead of novels lying around the house, we have cookbooks opened to stained pages and pieces of paper marking favorite recipes. Our pantry is three shelves lined with glass bottles filled with dried beans, lentils, rice, grains and flours and the fridge is stocked with soy milk, nut butters, fresh veggies, and home made yogurt! Alex has a great cookbook called “the book of tofu” and it has an amazingly simple recipe for soy yogurt. I imagine you can use it with rice milk, cow’s milk, or any other type of milk for that matter. Here’s what you do:

2 c. soy milk
1 Tbs. honey or other sweetener (optional)
1 ½ tsp. soy yogurt

Heat the soy milk to 112°F (make sure it’s not over, or else you’ll kill the bacteria!). Remove from heat and stir in the sweetener, if using, and the soy yogurt. Pour into a glass jar, preferably sterilized, and cover with a cloth. Let sit at room temperature for 18-24 hours or until it becomes yogurt-like in consistency. Enjoy!

It’s so easy and it tastes really good too. We’ve also started making our own Kombucha, a fermented drink that people either love or hate. I personally love the mushroom infused stuff. Alex had a “mother” – the “solid mass of microorganisms” that makes up the “kombucha colony” – and to make the drink all we have to do is boil water, steep a black tea in it for 15 minutes, add 1 cup of sweetener and 1/2 a cup of the pervious batch of kombucha plus the mother and let it sit for 8 days to get nice and bubbly. The mother is similar to the average American in that she lives off of caffeine and sugar. I just made another batch today with cardamom tea and cinnamon. Yum!

Because we are such a foodie house, the four of us decided to take a road trip down to Bellingham, Washington on Sunday to stock up at Trader Joe’s and the huge food co-op they have down there. It’s only about an hour’s drive, but the border crossing can drag it out for a couple more. We crossed into the US ok, but coming back I had to go into the office where they issued me a visa that allowed me to live in canada until July 24th on the condition that I don’t get a job. 

We spent a few hours perusing the aisles at both stores and buying obscene amounts of bulk food that will last us months. The prices were a lot better than Canada even with the exchange rate. We’re thinking about making it a monthly trip! Here are a few pics of my roomies outside the co-op

From left to right : Scott, Alex, Polly

A beautiful day in more ways than one

While rifling through the fridge yesterday, Alex and I came up with a container of pumpkin that was one day to needing to be composted. We leafed through our numerous cookbooks and browsed our favorite vegan websites until we flipped to Veganomicon’s Pumpkin and Cranberry scones and brought up a pumpkin bagel recipe from the net. Alex took charge of the scones, and I proceeded to through all the ingredients for the bagels into the bread machine, set it on dough, and left for yoga class. By the time I got home, it was too late to bake the bagels, so I dumped it into a plastic bag and threw it into the fridge.

My task for this morning, then, was to form the dough into little bagels, boil them, and bake them. I’d never made bagels before, so I wasn’t exactly sure what I was doing, and my ultimate goal being pumpkin bagels didn’t help either. Who’s ever heard of pumpkin bagels? The process was rather anti-climatic, however, except for the fact that I set off the smoke alarm (the bottoms were slightly singed!). I twirled the small rounds of dough around my index finger until they resembled oddly shaped bagels, then dropped them, three at a time, into a pot of boiling water. After a minute (30 seconds on each side), I scooped them out with a slotted spatula and placed them on a cookie sheet. 20 minutes in the oven and they came out looking and smelling like New York style bagels. A success!

Recipe:

3/4 c. pumpkin puree
2/3 c. plain soy milk
1 Tbs. softened margarine
3 c. white whole wheat flour
4 tsp. vital wheat gluten
1/4 c. light brown sugar, packed
1 1/2 tsp. sea salt
1 3/4 tsp. yeast

Place all ingredients in bread machine and set on dough. When the cycle is done, take the dough out and cut it into four pieces and shape each piece into rounds. Let the dough rest for 15-20 minutes. Bring a large pot of water to boil and preheat the oven to 400F. Cut each piece in half and shape into a ball. Flatten with the palm of your hand and insert your thumb into the center. Twirl the dough around until the hole reaches 1 1/2 inches in size. Let the bagels rest for 5 minutes. Drop the bagels, two or three at a time, in the boiling water and cook for 1 minute, turning them over halfway through. Scoop the bagels out with a slotted spoon and place them on a greased cookie sheet. Repeat until all the bagels have been boiled. Bake them for 20 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.

  

It was around 110:30 am when I finished in the kitchen and outside the sky was cloudless and the mountains were visible with their snow-capped peaks. I slathered peanut butter onto a fresh bagel and headed out the door with my bike. My plan was to bike up to the Shaughnessy area which is known for its mansions and beautiful architecture. I wasn’t disappointed. The houses up there are beautiful and the streets tree-lined and quiet. 

After I was finished gawking, I biked down to UBC’s (University of British Columbia) Pacific Spirit Park where I found trail riding through beautiful mossy forests. My neon-colored hybrid did pretty well even though it lacks shocks, but I longed for a better mountain bike and slightly more rugged terrain. That’ll have to wait until I settle down I think. Tired and cold, I finished my ride along the coast where, for the first time, I could see all the way across the water to North Vancouver. It was such a nice day out and everyone was taking advantage – walking, biking, running, throwing balls for dogs. 

I rolled into the city center just in time to catch a yoga class at YYoga in Yaletown. It was a Power Class and there were maybe two inches between my mat and my neighbors’, but the sweat and music and physical exertion completed my beautiful day. As I lay in shivasana I felt like my body was melting into the floor.

Vancouver photos!

I’ve been meaning to take some pictures that document my new life in the city, but haven’t seemed to get around to it until today. The last week or so has been rain-free and today was my first day of blue sky! I could see the mountains to the north and as I walked along the False Creek path, the mist over the water mixed with bright rays of sunshine, giving off a ethereal feeling. 

Me in all my biking glory

Home sweet home

At least no one will want to steal it…

Overlook of the city near my house

Close to downtown

The Science Center in a cloud of fog

The boat marina along the False Creek path

Gastown – very close to the Vancouver School of Bodywork and Massage!

Exploring the city

So I’m sure you’ve all been wondering what I’ve been up to since I don’t have a job, I’m in a city I’ve never been in, and I know next to no one except my recently befriended housemates and apparently a distant relative on my uncle’s side (who I haven’t actually met). Life is good though and it seems that karma has found me, although I’m not sure why. A few days ago I found a free futon on Craigslist and when Scott, Polly, and I went to pick it up, the woman practically shoved boxes of clothes, linens, pillows, towels, dishes, etc… into our arms. She’s moving to Spain at the end of the month and she needed to get rid of a bunch of stuff, lucky for us. And it was all free! When we got home I was going to head out to find some rain gear, since Vancouver is probably the rainiest place on the planet. Polly, however, retrieved an extra blue raincoat from the closet and a pair of rain boots that were too big for her, but fit me perfectly. Alex had an extra pair of rain pants and Scott contributed a white and neon pink and yellow hybrid bike for me to cruise around on. It was all a little mismatched (blue, plaid, and retro colors), but I’m not complaining! To top it off, I went to Value Village (a secondhand store with REALLY cheap stuff) and got another raincoat (it was only $15.00, I couldn’t help myself), a comforter, and some hangars, all for $25. 

Other than shopping for the best deals in town, I’ve been doing a lot of yoga at yyoga in Yaletown. It’s a great space and the teachers are awesome. I don’t know how much time I’ll have to do yoga once school starts (it’s 8:30-5:30 monday-friday!), so I’m trying to get as much in now as I can. It’s about a 2 1/2 mile bike from home and right near the library (they won’t give me a library card since I don’t have a visa! So I’m using Alex’s). I’ve found a new yoga style – power yoga – that I love. I’ve never sweated so hard during a yoga class, but during shivasana your body just melts onto the mat because you’ve worked so hard.   

Scott introduced me to the local Scrabble club on Tuesday nights at the Royal Canadian Legion (Like a Lion’s Club). It was a lot of fun. They use the Scrabble dictionary and words like aa, ae, waw, vug, and a million others that I haven’t heard of. I lost all three rounds, but I thought I did pretty well none-the-less. 

Some other things to do on my radar, since I can never not be doing anything:

Volunteer at Radha yoga and eatery

Volunteer at the winter farmer’s market

Bike around and through Stanley Park

Yoga, yoga, and more yoga

Two up-coming veggie potlucks!

Capilano suspension bridge and park

 

Any ideas and suggestions are welcome!

Vancouver = City of Rain

I’ve been in Vancouver for 2 days and it feels like I’ve been here forever. Kinda. Minus the fact that I’ve never lived in a city before and that this is the first apartment I’ve ever rented among a lot of other things. But honestly, the move was surprisingly anti-climatic. I studied Vancouver maps for so long before I arrived that I know all the major street names and I can figure out where I am and where I need to go pretty easily. 

The flights from La Paz to LA to Vancouver went smoothly. I have to say the LA airport is very disappointing. I don’t remember it being so bad, but the terminal I was in only had Starbucks and Burger King and they don’t have free WiFi! Clearing customs was a breeze. They asked me a few questions and then I was through. After taking out some cash from the ATM, I loaded my very heavy bag into the trunk of a taxi cab and was on my way to my new home. 

I arrived at the front door around 12:30 PM and Scott was waiting up for me. He gave me a quick tour: two bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchen (not in use), and a storeroom downstairs and a living room, three bedrooms, a kitchen, a bathroom and dining room upstairs. The outside of the house isn’t much to look at, but it’s pretty decent inside. Very homey. Scott and Polly had pulled out and made the futon couch for me to sleep on so after a few e-mails I crashed and slept through the night until morning. 

They don’t lie when the say Vancouver is a rainy city. I got up the next morning and headed out to find some coffee. The sky was overcast and a light rain kept up a constant drizzle throughout the next day, and the next, and the next. I don’t mind it because it’s still relatively warm, but I need to get some better clothing – i.e. – rain jacket, rain pants and rain boots. That’s on my to-do list for Monday. 

So far I’ve basically been exploring and doing yoga. I did a class last night at eastside yoga, which is only a 15 minute walk away, but it was only a hour (too short) and it wasn’t as flowy as I like a class to be. Today I tried a different studio – yyoga in Yaletown, which is a much farther walk – about 40 minutes – but it’s near my school and the library. I loved the studio (although I did a hot yoga class, which I’m not so into, but they also have power yoga, which is a flow class) so I signed up for their intro offer: two weeks of unlimited yoga for $30. I’ll probably end up getting their global pass if I can afford it. 

Scott, Polly and Alex (my three roommates) invited some friends over for dinner tonight. Polly made a great Gado Gado with steamed vegetables, rice, and tofu and tempeh with a peanut sauce and Alex whipped up some vegan chocolate mousse. It was great to sit and relax with friends and play board games. Tomorrow I’m going to another yoga studio – Radha Yoga and Eatery – with Alex for their open house and then I’m going to pick up my free futon so I don’t have to sleep in the living room anymore. It’s nice to have things come together so easily!

 

A few parting shots from Baja: