food and drink – Page 2 – The Imperceptible Immigrant

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June 24, 2021 by admin

With regard to the recent strand upon these pages concerning my health issues – here and here – I have in the last few days been in receipt of good news. Having once again been relieved of a goodly measure of my precious blood (analysis for the purposes thereof) my nutrition doctor has declared that my liver enzymes are now firing as they should. I don’t suppose enzymes do ‘fire’, of course, but as the writer and proprietor of this online journal I get to play with language (meaning and metaphor) as I please!

This does not mean that the fattiness with which my liver has been flirting is necessarily all gone – as yet. That apparently takes time and would require another ultrasound to determine for sure, but the good doctor is sufficiently content that he has now parked me in ‘maintenance’ mode and doesn’t even want to look further at my blood for the next half year. “Yay!” – say I to that!

Even the nutritionist herself (not the doc – the other one!) announced proudly that I had excellent levels of Vitamin D (not sure what that has to do with anything) and asked if was taking a supplement. The cheek!…

The point is that my shiny new diet has clearly not only dropped me a couple of trouser sizes and taken me back to the weight of a much younger version of myself, but it must also be doing the job of restoring my internals to the shape in which they should be (sort of squidgy, since you ask)…

Now – I am not normally one to endorse products upon these pages but – in the manner of a good award winner (which is what I feel like) – there are just a few ‘people’ that I would like to thank.

I have admitted previously to my habitual taking of a single drink each night to accompany my repast – the which I have done since I left home back in the 70s. This was always something of a indulgence but the point was to give myself a little reward for getting through another (hopefully) fruitful day. To be able to willingly give this up I needed some alternative that actually felt like a treat. Water is all very well but is, in my book, for exercise – and that ain’t a treat!

So – here is my new nightly beverage of choice – the very wonderful range of Zevia Iced Teas. No sugar – zero calorie and (should you so require) caffeine-free to boot.

What is more – they are delicious!

Not cheap…

…but delicious…

At the other end of the meal I still need something sweet. Many such lovely things are now ruled out – but how about a little… chocolate?…

“Surely not” – I hear you cry – but worry not, for this is no ordinary chocolate. This is Lily’s ‘no sugar added’ chocolate – and it is yummy!

It is sweetened with Stevia (of which I am a huge fan) which has apparently no downsides (unlike sweeteners ending in ‘ose‘ and suchlike). Some folk gripe about the aftertaste. All I can say is that Lily’s seem to have cracked the Stevia thing in this case – this one, for example, having only an aftertaste of salted caramel.

Yummy, indeed!

Not cheap…

…but yummy…

Finally – there are snacks. You know – late night munchies! Nothing that a thick slice of toasted sourdough and marmalade wouldn’t fix – or maybe a nice strawberry jam sandwich. Hmmmm!

So for those occasions – there is Fatso!

I have, as it happens, never been a fan of nut butters. They just don’t quite do it for me; something to do with the texture, mayhap.

But Fatso… A range of low-carb, low-sugar nut butters made with plant-based fats… right here in Victoria!… These things are awesome – and quite addictive. A nice big dollop of Crunchy Salted Caramel (or Maple) Peanut (or Almond) butter on top of a couple of Walker’s Oat Cakes (“They’re delicious!”)…

TDF!

Not cheap…

…but TDF!

There now – dieting’s not so bad…

Lighting fireworks

May 26, 2021 by admin

“The neighbors are drunk and lighting fireworks. It must be Victoria Day!”

Unattributed

This last weekend was a long weekend here in BC (think ‘bank holiday’ should you hail from the UK). This particular one commemorates the birthday of the monarch for whom this city was named – Queen Victoria.

Now – as I mentioned in previous recent posts – having already resigned ourselves to the reality that we would not be traveling anywhere very far in this second year of the COVID, we have also now also had to accept the idea that we won’t be doing major renovations to our home either – given the current outrageous cost of building materials.

This is – to put it mildly – a bit of a bummer and left us feeling somewhat out of sorts and directionless.

Just at the right time, however, we saw advertised at one of Victoria’s loveliest downtown boutique hotels an enticing ‘Spend-the-night – Dine-in-room’ deal. We have not stayed at The Magnolia before but we have treated ourselves to its excellent restaurant – The Courtney Room. The restaurant is – of course – currently closed, but the deal (which ran only until the end of May) enables one to indulge oneself in their culinary offerings at a window table in a splendid bedroom, to spend the ensuing night in comfort therein and to do all of this in complete COVID safety.

What is not to love about that?

We visited on the Friday evening and dined splendidly on in-house breads & crackers with roasted eggplant dip and smoked paprika oil – dry-aged Two Rivers burger with aged cheddar and a splendidly fresh salad (for The Girl) – local catch of the day Bouillabaisse (for me) – followed by a Blood Orange Tart (with pumpkin seed frangipane, blood orange marmalade and Wild Mountain honey) and a Meyer Lemon Mousse (with caramelized white chocolate crumb and toasted bourbon meringue). All of which was washed down with a very passable bottle of Savigny-les-Beunes.

We watched the sun go down over the inner harbour and for a brief period all seemed right with the world.

The following morning the sun was doing its very best early-summer impression and we got to wander around downtown and to lunch outside one of our favourite predominantly vegetarian restaurant and juice bars – Re.Bar.

Because it would clearly have been a great shame for our splendidly indulgent weekend to peter out on the Saturday we also treated ourselves to some pampering at the lovely Brentwood Bay Spa on the Monday; a relaxing massage for me and a reflexology treatment for The Girl’s most lovely and dainty feet.

All in all a wonderful long weekend, during which it was possible – perhaps for the first time – to imagine what it will be like to emerge on the other side of this grim era.

Time to dream a little…

Number one thing (number two)

May 20, 2021May 20, 2021 by admin

Something that surprised me greatly on our arrival in British Columbia back in 2015 was the discovery that the province had a considerable shortage of GPs… doctors! For the first year and some I had to resort to visiting drop-in clinics to get repeat prescriptions for the hypertension medication to which I referred in my last post.

Fortunately a new clinic opened in Sidney and I was finally able to land myself on the books of an excellent physician who has the added benefit of being a relatively young man – who should thus (barring unfortunate incidents) see me out.

The good thing about young doctors is that they tend to be keen and thorough. That is also, of course, the problem with them… discovering things that one wishes they had not.

Several years back now my new doctor determined – in the course of my annual checkup – that I now had stage one chronic kidney disease. There is, apparently, nothing really to be done about this and it makes no practical difference – as long as it doesn’t develop into a higher stage (which I gather from the Doc that it may never do. Fingers crossed!) How did I get it? Apparently is is a common side-effect of hypertension!

Now – this year the doc had a new treat for me. I now have early signs of fatty liver disease. What?! How did I get that? Well – apparently if one is not overweight (which I wasn’t) and doesn’t have a drink problem (don’t even go there) then it is quite likely to be a side effect of – you’ve guessed it – hypertension.

Thanks, mum and dad!

So – what is to be done? Well – diet apparently – for which I have been referred to a nutritionist. According to him I need to be on a low-carb, low-sugar, preferably plant-based diet… and I should abstain from the demon booze!! Well – I can be pretty dogged if it leads to staying healthy for as long as possible and I don’t mind making some sacrifices, but there are limits…

So – out goes bread, white rice, all manner of sugary treats (including cakes and jams etc), too much red meat, processed foods… ice cream! All that sort of thing. In comes more fruit, salads and vegetables, lean and white meats, fish, pulses and no end of less fun things (like seeds… bleuch!!).

On the alcohol front, until this started I was in the habit of taking one drink a day with my evening meal, the which I had done ever since I left home back in the 1970s. Now I only drink on occasion – maybe one or two times a month (boo!).

Is it working – I hear you ask? Too soon to tell, though blood tests next month will give a clearer picture.

It is having one big effect, though: I have lost a fair bit of weight. Having clocked in at around 13 stone (182lb) for as long as I can remember, in the three or so months since this started my weight has dropped to a tad below 12 stone (168lb). As a result I have had to purchase several new pairs of jeans, my waist having dropped from an optimistic 34” back to a guaranteed 32”. I really can’t remember when I was last this size, but it was certainly back in the 80s (or even earlier).

Oh well! I will of course keep the gentle reader up-dated as things progress.

Copper bottoming

August 8, 2020August 4, 2020 by admin

“Are you aluminiuming them my man?” “No, I’m copper-bottoming ’em Mum.”

Tongue-twister

Well – I promised you another anniversary – and here it is…

As of last Friday The Girl and I have been married for ten years – a decade which has passed in a flash… or mayhap in a haze of happy hours and preposterously pleasant pursuits. In common with others who would normally have been celebrating significant anniversaries in this most unprecedented of years we have been unable to do that which would normally come naturally – the throwing a party (or at the very least a full-scale barbie!).

So – I hear you mutter through clenched teeth – just how did you celebrate then?

Easy… we went out – just the two of us – to indulge in a splendid dinner at The Deep Cove Chalet. They may not have been able to accommodate the Ginger Prince earlier in the year but they had no trouble fitting us in for our special occasion on their lovely waterfront garden terrace.

Now, neither of us have previously visited The Chalet – which is no surprise in my case given my status as a BC ‘noob’ but is more so in the case of The Girl, who has intimate knowledge of most of the eateries of Greater Victoria. I think it is safe to say, however, that this will not be our last visit.

The Deep Cove Chalet – in its gorgeous position overlooking Deep Cove at the northern end of the Saanich Inlet – dates back to 1913 but has been owned by Pierre Koffel since 1972. It is a classic French restaurant of the sort that would come as no surprise in northern Europe, but the which is considerably harder to find in the non-French speaking parts of Canada. They do what they do well and with panache. The service was attentive and well-judged and they clearly have a good understanding of special occasions and of how to enhance them.

As to the feast itself – we shared Atlantic scallops followed by a fabulous steak tartare, before each having our own helpings of a wonderful saddle of venison. This excellent repast was washed down (though that is hardly the appropriate term – let’s say ‘perfectly complemented’ instead) by an excellent red Burgundy from Morey-Sainte Denis.

As it happened I had popped over to The Chalet a couple of days previous to our booking, to check the availability of wines on their extensive list and to arrange for our chosen one to be treated with respect and opened appropriately ahead of our arrival. On asking Pierre for his recommendation I was invited to go down to the wine cellar to have a look for myself. Once down in that chamber of delights Pierre disappeared, with a wry – “If you have not come out in an hour we will send someone to look for you“.

I think that it must be clear that we were impressed all round and really most grateful for the excellent hospitality.

Copper-Bottoming? Well – the tenth anniversary is traditionally ‘aluminium’ (not aluminum!) and I’m sure that you know the tongue-twister…

Well – you do now!

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