2009 July : Tiny Bites

Feasting on blueberries with the BC Blueberry Council and Nu

Leave a Comment Karen HamiltonJuly 28, 2009

Last night, several food bloggers in the city were invited for a 3-course berrylicious dinner at Nu, compliments of the BC Blueberry Council.

I count myself lucky to have been asked to come as my love affair with blueberries has already been well documented. Having blueberry advocates sell me on the benefits of eating what I consider to be one of my favourite summer treats seemed fairly redundant, but I wasn’t about to pass up a night of blueberry education and a chance to dine again at Nu.

It’s good that I went, because we learned some surprising facts about this fruit and its relationship with British Columbia:

Commercial blueberry production in BC started about 100 years ago on the peaty soils of Richmond and Pitt Meadows. Today, we boast 18,000 acres of blueberry farmland that produces approximately 90 million lbs of the fruit each season.
Our province is one of the largest grower of blueberries in the world, second only to the sales and production of Michigan state.
Commerical restaurants and bakers order specialized varieties of blueberry from processors. Apparently, certain strains are better for baking, and what you see at the grocery store is better for eating fresh. No wonder I could never truly replicate the blueberry pie at Savary Island!
BC farms grow several types of blueberries in the summer in order to have 3 production cycles (early, mid, and late summer crops) between July and late August.
The blueberry industry employs over 10,000 people in the province at the height of the growing season.

All of this was news to me. When I think of the bounty of BC, I think salmon, wine, spot prawns, and corn. Berries were something I always knew to be present in our summer crops, but never did I imagine that they represented such a hefty part of our regional economy.

But let’s get back to the food that I came across throughout the night.

Martini with Tanqueray, Earl Grey infused vodka, lillet, and blueberry puree.

Lemonade with muddled blueberries – the interaction of the fruit with acid results in the brilliant scarlet hue of these drinks.

Blueberry, watercress, and arugula sald with toasted walnuts, cucumber, and green apple.

I wasn’t in the mood for the bison or the marinated flat iron steak, both of which are presented with either a berry sauce or a blueberry jus. I opted for a crimini and oyster fricasée for my main. If I were you, I’d go to Nu this summer to try the blueberry mains.

Blueberry layer cake with macaron and blueberry compote, accompanied by a shot of blueberry froth. No acid in the froth, so it retained its periwinkle colour.

Have I made you crave blueberries now? Here are a few links to help you get a fix this week.

Go to UBC between 9am – 1pm today, Wednesday, and Thursday. The first annual Blueberry Festival is on – indulge in blueberry pancakes or buy baked treats before the Fest ends on the 30th.
Visit your favourite U-Pick farm and stain your hands harvesting ‘em. I recommend Driediger Farms or Krause Berry Farms, both of which I wrote about in my Circle Farm Tour of Langley.
Save some of your blueberry catch by freezing or canning them for later.
Try your hand at making these blueberry streusel muffins that we love to bake at this time of year.
If you prefer banana bread, spice it up with blueberries!
Browse through all the other things you can cook with blueberries on the BC Blueberry Council website.

Have a very berry week, everyone!

Categories: Downtown, Events, False Creek, False Creek, Food, Food Fun Facts, Food Purveyors, Restaurants

Three more prize winners announced for Blogathon 2009

1 Comment Karen HamiltonJuly 27, 2009

Did you help Team Tiny Bites raise $2365.01 for the Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society during Blogathon 2009 this past weekend?

Jason Lau did, and he not only won the Tiny Bites Grand Prize, worth $450, but a batch of Winnipeg Folk Fest cookies to boot.

After I shared the good news with him yesterday, he pointed out a few things:

He is already a happy Lifetime Member of Rouxbe and its Online Cooking School
He is already getting a batch of Winnipeg Folk Fest cookies as part of the Grand Prize
He’d like to bake a bundle of goodies himself to give away to a fellow Blogathon 2009 contributor.

That means that we have 3 more draws to do from our pool of donors!

Jason’s baked goodie bag

Congratulations to Mark B. for winning 3-4 varieties of baked treats from Jason Lau, who I can attest to be a baker extraordinaire. We’ll share pictures and recipes here once Jason passes them along.

Winnipeg Folk Fest cookie bag

Congratulations to Scott W. for winning a batch of Winnipeg Folk Fest cookies, baked by yours truly. I’ve posted the recipe for those of you that wishes to try it in your own kitchen.

One-year premium membership to Rouxbe

Congratulations to George F. for winning this 1-year premium pass to Rouxbe’s Online Cooking School, worth $99. We hope you get as much value out of it as Jason and I already do.

Categories: Blogathon 2009, Blogging for Social Change, Culinary Resources, Dessert, Food, Recipes

Blogathon 2009 closes with a bang: grand tally, Grand Prize, and Top Donor results

5 Comments Karen HamiltonJuly 26, 2009

So here we are, at the close of Blogathon 2009, and Team Tiny Bites is none the worse for wear. I’m liking this 8-hour shift better than the 24-hour craziness I endured last year!

Let’s see how we did in raising awareness and donations for the Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society.

GVFB 468w

Final Tally

As of 6:01am PST on July 26, 2009, 34 individuals and 9 corporate sponsors have raised $2365.01 , exceeding our original goal of $2000 and an admirable effort in reaching for our revised goal of $2500.

Because of you, the Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society will have an additional $7095.03 worth of food to provide to those in need in our community.

Top Donor Honours

Please help us in congratulating Victor T. for donating $180 for the Food Bank – a personal contribution of $540 worth of food.

You truly deserve the Top Donor prize of a 3-restaurant, progressive multi-course dinner for 2 at Blue Water Cafe, West, and CinCin!

Please also give a big round of applause for our other top donors:

Dawn – $175
Mojgan – $150
George – $110
Melissa – $100
Bob – $100

Who gets the Tiny Bites Grand Prize?

I used random.org to pull this person’s name out of a hat, and have Victor and Lorraine here as witness to the results….

We are pleased to announce that Jason L. has won the Tiny Bites Grand Prize!

Thank you, Jason – your contribution to the Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society earned you a $450 prize package and has given people in our community more food to feed their hunger.

Special Thanks

We couldn’t have generated the publicity and funds that we now have without your support, dear readers. Let us spotlight a few of the people and organizations that we’d especially like to send our gratitude to:

Our Gold sponsors: ChristaHoops, Coast Hotels & Resorts, Qoola Yogurt + Fruit, Sebastian & Co
Our Silver sponsors: Blue Water Cafe, CinCin, West, Araxi, Social Bites
Our Bronze sponsors: Artisan Sakemaker, Farmstead Wines, Uva Wine Bar, Rouxbe
Our guest blogger, Dave Hoffmann
Rebecca Bollwitt of Miss604.com for organizing us Vancouverites for Blogathon 2009
The Workspace for the great working venue and harbour views of the North Shore and last night’s spectacular sunset and lightning show
The Development Disabilities Association for the Steamworks pizza that kept us going from dinner onwards
All you Twitterites and blog visitors and supported us through comments, retweets, Facebook shares, and site mentions

Again, a sincere thanks from us at Tiny Bites and on behalf of the Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society.

Good night.

Categories: Blogathon 2009, Blogging for Social Change, Food

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