Good things in Vancouver

畑を借りて3年目になりますが、今年は気合入ってます。今年は、トマトに賭けています。買ってきた苗5本、自分達で種から育てた苗13本、計18本で勝負です。害虫、キスジノミハムシ（Flea Beetle）の被害にあいましたが、殺虫剤で撃墜。先週末はトマトフードをあげて、栄養を補給。これで暑い夏になってくれれば、トマトが鈴なり～♪と夢見ています。他にはえんどう豆、春菊、レタス等のローメンテナンス系野菜を植えました。

It’s our third year since we started to rent the vegetable allotment and we are eager in doing it this year. We bet on tomatoes this year. We have this game with 18 seedlings - 5 bought seedlings and 13 seedlings that we grew from seeds. We had an attack of flea beetles but we shot them down with pesticide. We gave tomato food last weekend and boosted their nutrition. We are hoping it’s going to be a hot summer and dreaming about crammed tomatoes♪ We also planted low maintenance veggies such as green beans, chrysanthemum leaves and lettuces.

本日の収穫は去年の秋に植えたにんにくと母の畑から採れたケイル。

Today’s harvests are garlic which we planted last autumn and kale from my mum’s allotment.

自分たちで種から育てたトマトとレタスの苗
Seedlings which we grew from seeds

スペインの巨匠、Pedro Almodavarが2002年に監督したHable con ella (Talk to her)はとても好きな映画の一つである。今回、彼が2006年に監督したVolver （邦題：帰郷）を観た。主演は Penelope Cruz。彼女が出演したハリウッド映画は冴えないものばっかりだったけど、この映画で彼女はとても魅力的に見えた。映画ではスペイン、ラ・マンチャ地方の暮らしが映し出され、その美しさに憧れた。女性がたくさん出てくる映画で、女友達、姉妹、母娘、色々な形の女性の絆が見れた映画だった。日本語字幕付トレイラーはこちら。

Hable con ella (“Talk to her” in English) is one of my favorite films which was directed by a great Spanish director, Pedro Almodavar in 2002. We watched his work called Volver (“To return” in English) which was directed in 2006. The main actor is Penelope Cruz. Many of Hollywood films she acted for were not great but she looked very attractive in this flim. This film showed the life of La Mancha in Spain and I adored its beauty. There are lots of women appear in this film and I saw various forms of female relationships such as amongst friends, sisters, mother and daughters. The trailer is here.

My rating: ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆（８！）
IMDB: 7.8

Main StreetのHabit Loungeに行った。ここは２００５年の１１月にオープンした。ミッドセンチュリーなインテリアがかわいい。タパススタイルのメニューで、変わったメニューが楽しめる。私達はにんじんとブリーチーズが入ったぺロギー、モロッコ風鳥手羽から揚げを食べた。二つとも食べたことのない味で、とってもおいしかった。ベジタリアンフレンドリーな料理も結構ある。メニューはこちら。

We went to the Habit Lounge on Main street. This restaurant opened in November, 2005. Their mid century interior is very cute. Their menu is tapas style and there are many interesting items. We had sweet carrot and brie cheese perogies and Moroccan spiced free-run chicken wings. Both dishes had tastes which I never experienced before and they were very good. There are quite a few dishes which are vegetarian friendly. Their menu is here.

Habit Lounge
2610 Main St x 10th (map)
Tel: 604-877-8582 (no reservations)
Mon-Sat 5pm-1:30am
Sun 5pm - 11pm

友達を呼んで、夫がディナーを作ってくれた。今回もNigel Slater氏の料理本からレシピを選んだ。チキンのマッシュルームとレモングラス炒め。めちゃ簡単なはずだったのに、めちゃ時間かかってた。。。けど、めちゃおいしかった。

We invited friends and my husband cooked dinner. He picked a recipe from Nigel Slater’s cook book again which was chicken with mushrooms and lemon grass. It was supposed to be super easy to cook but it took super long time …. but it was super delicious.

Mrs. Kがおみやげに牡丹をくれたので、写真に撮って壁紙にした。牡丹は彼女の結婚式のブーケを作った時に使った花の一つで、今週は３年目の結婚記念日なんだよね。おめでとう！

Mrs. K gave me the peony as a present. So I took the picture and made it as a wallpaper. Peony was one of the flowers that I used for the wedding bouquet that I made for her. This week is their 3rd wedding anniversary. Congratulations!

夫はパンに関してはうるさい。私はこのパン達に出会う前まで、パンを買う事を禁止されそうになってた。このパン達を買った時、夫は私のことを天才と呼んだ。ここにその救世主達を紹介します。

My husband is very difficult to please with when it comes to breads. I was almost banned from buying breads until I bought these breads. When I bought these breads, my husband called me a genius. I will introduce here these saviours.

Fraser Street にあるEuropean Breads BakeryはこのGeorgian Buguetteを作る。パン屋さんのウェブサイトには、このバゲットは古代ギリシャ時代から受け継がれた最古のパン製造方法で作られていますと書かれている。ほんまか？とにかく、このパンはおいしくて、買うといつも一日で食べてしまいます。Capersで$2.68で買えます。Fraser Streetの本店にも行ってみたいな。

European Breads Bakery on Fraser street makes this Georgian Baguette. When I buy this bread it’s gone in one day. The bakery’s web site says that the Georgian Baguette is one of the oldest types of breads in the world. It dates back to the time of Argonauts and Greek mythology. Really? Anyway, this bread is delicious and normally it’s gone in one day when I buy it. I buy this bread at Capers for $2.68. I would love to go to the bakery on Fraser Street.

夫の母国、イギリスのパンは重い。なのである日、スーパーで一番重いパンを買ってみた。このアルバータ州Bowness Bakeryで作られているパンが一番重たかった。イーストや乳製品が入っていないというこのパンはトーストにするとめちゃウマい。 Extra Foodsで二斤買うと、一斤$3.89。一斤だけ買うと$4.19。

Breads in my husband’s country, Britain, are heavy. So one day, I chose the heaviest bread in the supermarket. This bread baked by Bowness Bakery in Alberta was the heaviest. This bread doesn’t have yeast or dirary products and is great for toasts. At the Extra Foods, this bread is $4.19 and $3.89 when you buy two.