Ritter Sport Special Chocolate

I tried two special edition Ritter Sport chocolate bars, Konnichiwa cherry & almond and Hi There salted caramel. I found the first not that great but it is hard to do good cherry with chocolate. The second was superb and I would have again in an instant. The chocolate is also sustainly produced.

Jesse Cook Concert

 Last night my wife and I saw Jesse Cook for his Tempest 25 tour. This tour is to celebrate the 27 years since his first album, Tempest. COVID-19 delayed the start of the tour but we, and the audience, were very happy with the performance of Jesse and his band. You can listen to many of his songs on his Youtube channel but he is a step above that in person.

Lee’s Famous Chicken

 A Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken opened up near my work so I decided to try it out for lunch. Lee's was started by the nephew of Coronel Sanders and another business partner in 1966. 

The breading is a blend of herbs and spices but before it is breaded it is dipped in honey. I got the two piece meal with macaroni salad rather than fries and skipped the sugary drinks. The biscuit was nice, gravy was very delicious, macaroni salad had a bit of mustard I think so it had a twang, and the chicken with skin was very tasty. I was glad it was only two pieces though as I have not eaten a lot of breaded products since my 20's. Nice comfort food and would have it again sometime. 

Tofino on Labour Day Weekend

I and my wife with three friends were in Tofino last weekend. This is a view from the back doors of the three bedroom accommodations we stayed in. The beach is just over the treeline.

On the way to Tofino we stopped at Coombs, did a little grocery and book shopping, and ate at Cuckoos. I had my soup of the day and vegetable Italian sandwich.

On our first night my wife and I had already made pasta, pesto, and tomato sauce from scratch and combined it with a kale and tomato Italian style fry with vegetables from our garden. To finish we had a selection of great chocolates from Chocolate Tofino. Sadly there are no pictures of the spread as we were all quite hungry.

The next day I went out chanterelle hunting with a friend. Lots of interesting scenery with very few people. A huge slug.

Nice moss and ferns on rocks.

Mossy trees.

I got a significant haul of chanterelles too!

After I came back my wife and I took a stroll along the beach.

As a group we went to Wolf in the Fog for another fantastic meal. Potato encrusted oysters was first. 

Then the seaweed salad, with tuna.

Finally grilled mackerel.

The next day was a short walk in the foggy morning with my wife before driving home.

Discovering Podcasts

Very late last year I tried out podcasts on my cell phone. Using times where I was doing something tedious but that not a lot of brainpower was required (cleaning, washing dishes, painting models, simple reorganizing) I have have come to look forward to listening to subjects that interest me. Here are the three I have found that have kept that interest.

Pre-History Podcast: My first podcast and a subject I am very interested in. Focuses on the Near Middle East and the presenter is very clear, well spoken, and has a slightly sarcastic sense of humour. Starts from the furthest back in time archeologists have evidence for and moves down the timeline each episode. Great for people new to the subject. Excellent and up to episode 25 so far. Here for the Apple link.

Debaters: Rip-roaring funny more than half the time. Two comedians debate absurd subjects for an audience vote at the end. Sixteen seasons and more than 100 episodes made. Here for Apple link.

The Ancients: Tristan Hughes hosts this History Hit podcast. Each episode takes an authority(s) on a subject that occurred before the middle ages and going into depth for 30-60 minutes. Sometime it may be part of a short series or is an "explainer" episode by the host. Although Tristan Hughes is extremely passionate about Alexander the Great's time period he is able to bring out and synopsize information from the guest(s) very well. I have listened to 213 episodes so far and have a little left to go before I am caught up. Once caught up I will continue listening to this podcast but branch out into other History Hit podcasts, like their Middle Ages, Not Just the Tudors, and regular History Hit series.  Here for Apple link.

Ideas: Almost an hour long, with some multiple part series, is the long running Ideas. Variable topics so I pick and choose the ones I am interested in but I sometimes pick one at random. I have listened to this one on the radio but now can listen to it anytime I want and the ones I want. Here for Apple link.

Give these a try and fill in the gaps of monotony with knowledge and laughter.

Whittaker's Dark Ghana Chocolate

Whittaker's Dark Ghana chocolate is a creamy delight with prominent bitter tones. It also comes in handy 200 gram bars for sharing or an extended snack over two weeks. They also ethically source their chocolate too so less guilt. Best prices are generally London Drugs and are on sale a few times a year.

Ingredient list below.

A Week in the Okanogan

 My wife and I spent a week in the Okanogan and had a relaxing time with her parents and friends.

In total we visited six wineries: Savard vines (pictured below), Back Door Winery, Blind Tiger Winery, Arrowleaf Cellars, Grey Monk estate, O'Rourke's Peak Cellars, and Ancient Hill Estate Winery. There were items of interest at all of them but in particular Savard, O'Rourke, and Ancient Hill had the most that were interesting.

Arrowleaf.

At Blind Tiger we had pizza for lunch while a casual cat reclined nearby.

Here is the pizza in mid consumption. 

The garden in front of Ancient Hill.

Here is the bowl full of goose eggs from my in-law's neighbor, after one breakfast!

When I went to Kelowna to visit thrift stores, nine of them. I didn't find much as it was to look for some hard to find game items and look at books. I found that Mission Thrift Store Kelowna and S.H.A.R.E. Society Thrift store were the best, most organized, and cleanest. 

I took a lunch break at Ume during my shopping day, a new place I had not eaten before. 

I had the special, tempura mackerel bento box and avocado & shitake roll. Delicious!

I also stopped at three shops specializing in food from the Mediterranean, two of which specialized in Italian food: Valoroso, Trulli Italian, and the Mediterranean Market. All were wonderful places for nice items.

I also stopped off at Percival & Young Cheese mongers, a superb place for fine cheese.

When going through Hope on the way home I discovered that it is the 40th anniversary of the Rambo film so the community is having a little party to celebrate. It was filmed here by the way and they even have a log carving of Rambo near the town park. 

The mountains were also a nice thing to drive around. A great trip.