Facilitating Change » Food & Wine

Note from Seattle

Christine — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 05:50:22 +0000

For the next two weeks I’m in Seattle. Working with my TASCHA peeps, mostly to get our new website launched. Today it was sunny, not enough to see the mountains but nonetheless magnificent. Today I saw a home for sale with the sign: 100% Financing. I thought: Good god, people. Isn’t that how you got into this mess in the first place? Then I got a delicious latte, got on the bus, and was lost to the hills and the views and Lake Union. It was cool, but not cold. No edge like Montreal. I noticed the moss on the sidewalk, the low and cosy houses. After work I went to get my Seattle bike out of my friend’s garage. Let me tell you this is the best ~$400 I ever spent. Biking along and near the Burke-Gilman is most wonderful. Along the way I stopped at PCC, marveled at their wonderful local wine collection, picked out a bottle (gaVin Cabernet Sauvigon 2008 — nice tobacco-y thing going on at the beginning, but not too heavy), and bought lots of beautiful, overpriced, organic produce. Then home. (Not my home really but it’s super good so it feels that way.) Up the hill. Forcing. Pushing. Shedding layers along the way as I got warmer and warmer. Tired. Then cooking while listening to a podcast of Cory Doctorow and Sandra Birdsell on CBC. Why can’t I be as articulate as Cory? Good thing he’s there to speak for me. Now soon sleep. Luckier than lucky I am.

Kim Crawford Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc

Christine — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 04:46:03 +0000

Evan and Maj served this wine on New Year’s Eve: Kim Crawford Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. Evan knows wine way better than me — he and Nico started Vinismo. I typically don’t like white wine. Just have not gotten there yet. Okay, maybe I can tolerate some Vinho Verde, but that’s almost in the girlywine category, right beside White Zinfandel (which Wikipedia so nicely describes as a quaffing wine). Sorry, Portugal.

This stuff tastes like flowers, but it’s not sweet. Magnificent for a hot summer day. Their website describes it this way: “Lifted aromatics of tropical fruits combined with the traditional nettle and herbaceous aromas of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc.” Yeah whatever. Blah, blah, blah. Flowers, I tell you!

It costs almost $20 a bottle here in Quebec. Comes with a classy screw top. But don’t let that put you off. I saw it a Trader Joe’s in Seattle for $15. Not fair.

Les Vins de Vienne: Crozes-Hermitage, 2000

Christine — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 04:13:03 +0000

Yeah, I know. Supposed to be writing about communications, technology, social change. How you can save the world. Not today. It’s Sunday, goddamit. It’s summer. Time to relax, eat, drink.

News of the day is this fantastic wine made from syrah grapes. Crozes-Hermitage, 2000. From Les Vins de Vienne, Cuilleron-Gaillard-Villard. Loved it. Get your hands on a bottle if you can.

I’m just learning about wines. And have largely avoided French wines, favoring Portugese, Spanish, and Argentinian producers. But this was lovely.

According to The New York Times‘s Eric Asimov:

Crozes-Hermitage is the largest appellation in the Northern Rhone… A good Crozes-Hermitage offers the particular smoky, spicy Rhone expression of the syrah grape, with flavors that are more olive, bacon and thyme than sweet fruit. Acidity gives freshness, and fine tannins add structure.

I still don’t have words yet to describe wines. But here’s my best shot: soft tannins, tobacco, smooth. Really lovely and gentle. And the smell? Beautiful. Like leaves on the forest floor on a warm fall day. I love smelling wine before I drink it.

Throw a dinner party. Invite social revolutionaries. Drink a few bottles of this stuff. Change will happen. I promise you.

Identica: Open microblogging & recipes in 140 characters or less

Christine — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 04:00:08 +0000

No secret that I love Identica. Most of the folks I want to follow are on Twitter. But Identica‘s commitment to open standards is hot. So I use it religiously. I’m funny like that. So it’s nice to see that there’s lots of Identica/Laconica uptake in “my” community — the ICTD tribe. (Formerly known as the ICT4D tribe. Subject for another post.) Check out these local microblogging networks in Kenya and Nigeria. See? Identica facilitates appropriation. And all good technology shares this characteristic: People can figure out how to make it work for them. It’s hackable.

Groups is another awesome Identica feature. By placing an exclamation mark in front of a word you can make it part of a group. Example: Tonight I discovered !shortrecipes. Recipes in 140 characters or less. Do you need any other reason to love this app?

Oh… and I nearly forgot. Karl made this t-shirt. Made me laugh.

And think of that naughty Wii vs. PlayStation 3 video. Which, yes, I know is evil ;)

Spaghetti alla Puttanesca

Christine — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 01:00:12 +0000

I love love love to cook. Odd that I never put recipes here. Tonight this turned out so good that it inspired me to share with you — it’s the best and easiest thing I’ve made in a long while. And all you have to do is chop and boil water. “Pasta alla Puttanesca” is Italian for “whore’s pasta” — there are lots of theories why. My favorite is because it’s strong and delicious :)

Pasta Puttanesca

80-100g jar of anchovies, drained (I used Allessia 80g)
1/4 to 1/3 cup capers, drained (measure after drained)
370-400ml can of black spanish pitted olives (I used Fragata)
400ml can chopped tomatoes, mostly drained (I used Pastene Chopped Tomatoes)
parsley, chopped (most of a bunch, say 3/4)
2 large cloves garlic, chopped fine
1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped
1 tomato, skinned, seeded, chopped
olive oil (good amount, say 1/8 cup? just wing it)
spaghetti, cooked al dente

Tip: While pasta is boiling throw in the fresh tomato for a bit so it becomes easy to peel. Cut horizontally (along its equator) and squeeze to push out seeds.

Chop all ingredients and mix in a bowl. (I did not chop the capers. Added them after.)
Cook pasta. Drain and toss with generous amount of olive oil.
Toss pasta and sauce. Serve.

Serves three people. Four with appetizer, salad, and dessert.

Ridiculously good with red wine. We had it with Vila Regia Douro 2006, my favorite cheap ($9) and delicious Portuguese wine.

Enjoy!