YAM magazine Nov/Dec 2022

ISSUE 81 NOV/DEC 2022

yammagazine.com

HOLIDAY ISSUE Celebrating the very best of the season

Up your hosting game with perfect wine pairings and a festive showstopper trifle.

Recipe on page 68

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European models may be shown. Features, specifications and equipment may vary in Canada. *Available from priced based on the 2022 Volvo XC40 Momentum with an MSRP of $52,370 and includes Freight and PDI ($2,950). Documentation fee ($495),environmental levy ($100), and tire levy ($25), taxes and other fees charged by the retailer are extra. Offer subject to change or cancel without notice. Visit Volvo Cars Victoria for more details. ©2022 Volvo Car Canada Ltd. Always remember to wear your seat belt. DL4891 #41497

UNIQUE OPPORTUNITIES » UNIQUE OPPORTUNITIES » UNIQUE OPPORTUNITIES »

$16,500,000 $16,500,000 $16,500,000 1110 Lands End Road, 1110 Lands End Road, North Saanich 1110 Lands End Road, North Saanich North Saanich BEDS: 4 BATHS: 8 7,434 SQ.FT. BEDS: 4 BATHS: 8 7,434 SQ.FT. 1.6 ACRES BEDS: 4 BATHS: 8 7,434 SQ.FT. 1.6 ACRES 1.6 ACRES Logan Wilson PREC 250.857.0609 Logan Wilson PREC 250.857.0609 Logan Wilson PREC 250.857.0609

$12,599,000 $12,599,000 $12,599,000 2908 Fishboat Bay Road, Sooke 2908 Fishboat Bay Road, Sooke 2908 Fishboat Bay Road, Sooke BEDS: 5 BATHS: 8 12,214 SQ.FT. 2.50 ACRES BEDS: 5 BATHS: 8 12,214 SQ.FT. 2.50 ACRES BEDS: 5 BATHS: 8 12,214 SQ.FT. 2.50 ACRES Andrew Maxwell Andrew Maxwell Andrew Maxwell

$2,790,000 $2,790,000 $2,790,000 4701 Wilson Road, 4701 Wilson Road, Duncan 4701 Wilson Road, Duncan Duncan BEDS: 5 BATHS: 4 3,608 SQ.FT. BEDS: 5 BATHS: 4 3,608 SQ.FT. 7.86 ACRES BEDS: 5 BATHS: 4 3,608 SQ.FT. 7.86 ACRES 7.86 ACRES Terry Calveley 250.589.6247 Terry Calveley 250.589.6247 Terry Calveley 250.589.6247

$2,500,000 $2,500,000 $2,500,000 1177 Garden Gate Drive, 1177 Garden Gate Drive, Central Saanich 1177 Garden Gate Drive, Central Saanich Central BEDS: 6 Saanich BATHS: 5 4,870 SQ.FT. BEDS: 6 BATHS: 5 4,870 SQ.FT. 1.82 ACRES BEDS: 6 BATHS: 5 4,870 SQ.FT. 1.82 ACRES 1.82 ACRES Glynis MacLeod PREC 250.661.7232 Glynis MacLeod PREC 250.661.7232 Glynis MacLeod PREC 250.661.7232

$2,300,000 $2,300,000 $2,300,000 2311 Boulding Road, 2311Bay Boulding Road, Mill 2311Bay Boulding Road, Mill Mill Bay BEDS: 7 BATHS: 4 5,572 SQ.FT. BEDS: 7 BATHS: 4 5,572 SQ.FT. 1.98 ACRES BEDS: 7 BATHS: 4 5,572 SQ.FT. 1.98 ACRES 1.98 ACRES Beth Hayhurst 250.896.0766 Beth Hayhurst 250.896.0766 Beth Hayhurst 250.896.0766

SO L D SO L D SO L D

SO L D SO L D SO L D

UNIQUE OPPORTUNITIES » UNIQUE OPPORTUNITIES » UNIQUE OPPORTUNITIES »

C O N D O S & TO W N H O M E S » C O N D O S & TO W N H O M E S » C O N D O S & TO W N H O M E S »

$995,000 $995,000 $995,000 408-21 Dallas Road, 408-21 Dallas Road, Victoria 408-21 Dallas Road, Victoria Victoria BEDS: 2 BATHS: 2 BEDS: 2 BATHS: 2 1,124 BEDS:SQ.FT. 2 BATHS: 2 1,124 SQ.FT. 1,124 SQ.FT. Spencer Cao 250.732.2267 Spencer Cao 250.732.2267 Spencer Cao 250.732.2267

S I N G L E FA M I LY H O M E S » S I N G L E FA M I LY H O M E S » S I N G L E FA M I LY H O M E S »

250.213.2104 250.213.2104 250.213.2104

« S I N G L E FA M I LY H O M E S » « S I N G L E FA M I LY H O M E S » « S I N G L E FA M I LY H O M E S »

$550,000 $550,000 $550,000 201-1597 Mortimer Street, 201-1597 Mortimer Street, Saanich 201-1597 Mortimer Street, Saanich Saanich BEDS: 2 BATHS: 2 BEDS: 2 BATHS: 2 1,178 BEDS:SQ.FT. 2 BATHS: 2 1,178 SQ.FT. 1,178 SQ.FT. Alenzo Winters 250.858.9395 Alenzo Winters 250.858.9395 Alenzo Winters 250.858.9395

$2,999,000 $2,999,000 $2,999,000 6435 Sooke Road, 6435 Sooke Road, Sooke 6435 Sooke Road, Sooke Sooke BEDS: 8 BATHS: 6 5,023 SQ.FT. BEDS: 8 BATHS: 6 5,023 SQ.FT. 0.61 ACRES BEDS: 8 BATHS: 6 5,023 SQ.FT. 0.61 ACRES PREC 0.61 NicoACRES Grauer 250.228.3858 Nico Grauer PREC 250.228.3858 Nico Grauer PREC 250.228.3858

$11,975,000 $11,975,000 $11,975,000 377 Seymour Heights, 377 Seymour Heights, Salt Spring Island 377 Heights, SaltSeymour Spring Island Salt Spring Island BEDS: 7 BATHS: 8 7,324 SQ.FT. BEDS: 7 BATHS: 8 7,324 SQ.FT. 71.17 BEDS:ACRES 7 BATHS: 8 7,324 SQ.FT. 71.17 ACRES 71.17 ACRES Brayden Klein 250.588.2466 Brayden Klein 250.588.2466 Brayden Klein 250.588.2466

$5,950,000 $5,950,000 $5,950,000 546 Taylor Road, 546 Taylor Road, Metchosin 546 Taylor Road, Metchosin Metchosin BEDS: 5 BATHS: 4 5,484 SQ.FT. BEDS: 5 BATHS: 4 5,484 SQ.FT. 18.35 BEDS:ACRES 5 BATHS: 4 5,484 SQ.FT. 18.35 ACRES PREC 18.35Williams ACRES Lisa 250.514.1966 Lisa Williams PREC 250.514.1966 Lisa Williams PREC 250.514.1966

$1,995,000 $1,995,000 $1,995,000 8519 West Coast Road, Sooke 8519 West Coast Road, Sooke 8519 West Coast Road, Sooke BEDS: 1 BATHS: 1 537 SQ.FT. 1.18 ACRES BEDS: 1 BATHS: 1 537 SQ.FT. 1.18 ACRES BEDS: 1 BATHS: 1 537 SQ.FT. 1.18 ACRES Samantha Jensson Samantha Jensson Samantha Jensson

$2,398,888 $2,398,888 $2,398,888 2310 Dolphin Road, North Saanich 2310 Dolphin Road, North Saanich 2310 Dolphin Road, North Saanich BEDS: 4 BATHS: 2 2,145 SQ.FT. 0.83 ACRES BEDS: 4 BATHS: 2 2,145 SQ.FT. 0.83 ACRES BEDS: 4 BATHS: 2 2,145 SQ.FT. 0.83 ACRES Kirsten MacLeod Kirsten MacLeod 250.686.3385 Kirsten MacLeod 250.686.3385 250.686.3385

SOLD SOLD SO LD

$1,375,000 $1,375,000 $1,375,000 4047 Haro Road, 4047 Haro Road, Saanich 4047 Haro Road, Saanich Saanich BEDS: 3 BATHS: 1 1,408 SQ.FT. BEDS: 3 BATHS: 1 1,408 SQ.FT. 0.32 ACRES BEDS: 3 BATHS: 1 1,408 SQ.FT. 0.32 ACRES 0.32 ACRES Sandy Berry 250.818.8736 Sandy Berry 250.818.8736 Sandy Berry 250.818.8736

Andrew Andrew Maxwell Andrew Maxwell Maxwell

Victoria Victoria Victoria 250.380.3933 250.380.3933 250.380.3933

Andy Andy Stephenson Andy Stephenson Stephenson

$1,265,000 $1,265,000 $1,265,000 7352 Ridgedown Court, Central Saanich 7352 Ridgedown Court, Central Saanich 7352 Ridgedown Court, Central Saanich BEDS: 4 BATHS: 3 2,148 SQ.FT. 0.18 ACRES BEDS: 4 BATHS: 3 2,148 SQ.FT. 0.18 ACRES BEDS: 4 BATHS: 3 2,148 SQ.FT. 0.18 ACRES Cheryl Barnes Cheryl Barnes Cheryl Barnes

250.413.7943 250.413.7943 250.413.7943

$1,249,000 $1,249,000 $1,249,000 4460 Majestic Drive, 4460 Majestic Drive, Saanich 4460 Majestic Drive, Saanich Saanich BEDS: 6 BATHS: 3 2,282 SQ.FT. BEDS: 6 BATHS: 3 2,282 SQ.FT. 0.14 ACRES BEDS: 6 BATHS: 3 2,282 SQ.FT. 0.14 ACRES 0.14 ACRES Sean Farrell 250.588.2377 Sean Farrell 250.588.2377 Sean Farrell 250.588.2377

« S I N G L E FA M I LY H O M E S « S I N G L E FA M I LY H O M E S « S I N G L E FA M I LY H O M E S VACAT I O N P RO P E RT Y VACAT I O N P RO P E RT Y VACAT I O N P RO P E RT Y

SO L D SO L D SO L D

$1,149,000 $1,149,000 $1,149,000 7071 Rice Road, Duncan 7071 Rice Road, Duncan 7071 Rice Road, Duncan BEDS: 2 BATHS: 3 1,820 SQ.FT. 5.28 ACRES BEDS: 2 BATHS: 3 1,820 SQ.FT. 5.28 ACRES BEDS: 2 BATHS: 3 1,820 SQ.FT. 5.28 ACRES Michael Tourigny Michael Tourigny Michael Tourigny

Alenzo Alenzo Winters Alenzo Winters Winters

Shaelyn Mattix Shaelyn Mattix 250.908.0184 Shaelyn Mattix 250.908.0184 250.908.0184 R EC E N T LY SO L D R EC E N T LY SO L D R EC E N T LY SO L D

$1,699,000 $1,699,000 $1,699,000 980 Aspen Road, 980 Aspen Road, Malahat 980 Aspen Road, Malahat Malahat BEDS: 3 BATHS: 4 2,936 SQ.FT. BEDS: 3 BATHS: 4 2,936 SQ.FT. 2.30 ACRES BEDS: 3 BATHS: 4 2,936 SQ.FT. 2.30 ACRES 2.30 ACRES Thomas Goodman 250.415.6675 Thomas Goodman 250.415.6675 Thomas Goodman 250.415.6675

S I N G L E FA M I LY H O M E S » S I N G L E FA M I LY H O M E S » S I N G L E FA M I LY H O M E S »

250.818.2006 250.818.2006 250.818.2006

Beth Beth Hayhurst Beth Hayhurst Hayhurst

Brad Brad Maclaren Brad Maclaren Maclaren

Salt Spring Island Salt Salt Spring Spring Island Island 250.537.1778 250.537.1778 250.537.1778

250.514.6457 250.514.6457 250.514.6457

Brayden Brayden Klein Brayden Klein Klein

Brett Brett Cooper Brett Cooper Cooper

Vancouver Vancouver Vancouver 604.632.3300 604.632.3300 604.632.3300

$1,050,000 $1,050,000 $1,050,000 3151 Carman Street, 3151 Carman Street, Saanich 3151 Carman Street, Saanich Saanich BEDS: 3 BATHS: 1 1,835 SQ.FT. BEDS: 3 BATHS: 1 1,835 SQ.FT. 0.15 ACRES BEDS: 3 BATHS: 1 1,835 SQ.FT. 0.15 ACRES 0.15 ACRES Andy Stephenson PREC 250.532.0888 Andy Stephenson PREC 250.532.0888 Andy Stephenson PREC 250.532.0888

Cheryl Cheryl Barnes Cheryl Barnes Barnes

D’Arcy D’Arcy Harris D’Arcy Harris Harris

West Vancouver West West Vancouver Vancouver 604.922.6995 604.922.6995 604.922.6995

Dave Dave Hatt Dave Hatt Hatt

Dean Dean Innes Dean Innes Innes

$995,000 $995,000 $995,000 3246 Doncaster Drive, 3246 Doncaster Drive, Saanich 3246 Doncaster Drive, Saanich Saanich BEDS: 4 BATHS: 3 1,934 SQ.FT. BEDS: 4 BATHS: 3 1,934 SQ.FT. 0.13 ACRES BEDS: 4 BATHS: 3 1,934 SQ.FT. 0.13 ACRES 0.13 ACRES Peter Crichton 250.889.4000 Peter Crichton 250.889.4000 Peter Crichton 250.889.4000

Don Don St Germain Don St Germain St Germain

White Rock White Rock White Rock 604.385.1840 604.385.1840 604.385.1840

Georgia Georgia Wiggins Georgia Wiggins Wiggins

Glynis Glynis MacLeod Glynis MacLeod MacLeod

Whistler Whistler Whistler 604.932.3388 604.932.3388 604.932.3388

$153,000 $153,000 $153,000 18C-2315 Mackinnon Road, 18C-2315 Mackinnon Road, Pender Island 18C-2315 Mackinnon Road, Pender Island Pender2 Island BEDS: BATHS: 2 782 SQ.FT. BEDS: 2 BATHS: 2 782 SQ.FT. ¼ SHARE BEDS: 2 BATHS: 2 782 SQ.FT. ¼ SHARE ¼ SHARE Robyn Wildman 250.818.8522 Robyn Wildman 250.818.8522 Robyn Wildman 250.818.8522

Grace Grace Shin Grace Shin Shin

Harley Harley Shim Harley Shim Shim

Kelowna Kelowna Kelowna 250.469.9547 250.469.9547 250.469.9547

Jacob Jacob Garrett Jacob Garrett Garrett

Kirsten Kirsten MacLeod Kirsten MacLeod MacLeod

Sun Peaks Sun Sun Peaks Peaks 250.578.7773 250.578.7773 250.578.7773

Move Move Beyond Move Beyond Beyond Your Expectations Your Your Expectations Expectations 377 SEYMOUR HEIGHTS, SALT SPRING ISLAND 377 SEYMOUR HEIGHTS, SALT SPRING ISLAND 377 SALT SPRING ISLAND 2311SEYMOUR BOULDINGHEIGHTS, ROAD, MILL BAY 2311 BOULDING ROAD, MILL BAY 2311 ROAD, S O TBOULDING H E BYS R E A LMILL T Y.BAY CA

S SO OT TH HE EB BY YS SR RE EA AL LT T Y. Y. C CA A N EW L IST IN G N EW L IST IN G N EW L IST IN G

$5,800,000 $5,800,000 $5,800,000 2230 Chelsea Place, Nanoose Bay 2230 Chelsea Place, Nanoose Bay 2230 Chelsea Place, Nanoose Bay BEDS: 3 BATHS: 4 5,515 SQ.FT. 0.80 ACRES BEDS: 3 BATHS: 4 5,515 SQ.FT. 0.80 ACRES BEDS: 3 BATHS: 4 5,515 SQ.FT. 0.80 ACRES D’Arcy Harris D’Arcy Harris D’Arcy Harris

250.686.2375 250.686.2375 250.686.2375

$3,800,000 $3,800,000 $3,800,000 236 Dallas Road, 236 Dallas Road, Victoria 236 Dallas Road, Victoria Victoria BEDS: 8 BATHS: 8 4,924 SQ.FT. BEDS: 8 BATHS: 8 4,924 SQ.FT. 0.17 ACRES BEDS: 8 BATHS: 8 4,924 SQ.FT. 0.17 ACRES PREC 0.17 ACRES Brett Cooper 250.858.6524 Brett Cooper PREC 250.858.6524 Brett Cooper PREC 250.858.6524

$2,900,000 $2,900,000 $2,900,000 9171 West Coast Road, 9171 West Coast Road, Sooke 9171 West Coast Road, Sooke Sooke 9 BATHS: 10 5,991 SQ.FT. BEDS: BEDS: 9 BATHS: 10 5,991 SQ.FT. 4.59 ACRES BEDS: 9 BATHS: 10 5,991 SQ.FT. 4.59 ACRES 4.59 ACRES Dean Innes 250.686.0279 Dean Innes 250.686.0279 Dean Innes 250.686.0279

« U N I Q U E O P P O R T U N I T I E S C O N D O S & TO W N H O M E S » « U N I Q U E O P P O R T U N I T I E S C O N D O S & TO W N H O M E S » « U N I Q U E O P P O R T U N I T I E S C O N D O S & TO W N H O M E S »

« UNIQUE OPPORTUNITIES « UNIQUE OPPORTUNITIES « UNIQUE OPPORTUNITIES

$2,850,000 $2,850,000 $2,850,000 1952 Runnymede Avenue, 1952 Runnymede Avenue, Victoria 1952 Runnymede Avenue, Victoria Victoria BEDS: 6 BATHS: 5 5,239 SQ.FT. BEDS: 6 BATHS: 5 5,239 SQ.FT. 0.16 ACRES BEDS: 6 BATHS: 5 5,239 SQ.FT. 0.16 ACRES 0.16 ACRES Brad Maclaren PREC 250.727.5448 Brad Maclaren PREC 250.727.5448 Brad Maclaren PREC 250.727.5448

« « «

N EW L IST IN G N EW L IST IN G N EW L IST IN G

$1,989,888 $1,989,888 $1,989,888 5165 Duncan Bay Road, 5165 Duncan Bay Road, Campbell River 5165 Duncan Bay Road, Campbell River Campbell River 3 2,593 SQ.FT. BEDS: 4 BATHS: BEDS: 4 BATHS: 3 2,593 SQ.FT. 5 ACRES BEDS: 4 BATHS: 3 2,593 SQ.FT. 5 ACRES 5 ACRES Harley Shim 250.881.3601 Harley Shim 250.881.3601 Harley Shim 250.881.3601

$1,850,000 $1,850,000 $1,850,000 Dobson Road, 553-561-573 553-561-573 Dobson Road, Duncan 553-561-573 Dobson Road, Duncan Duncan 0.75 ACRE LOT 0.75 ACRE LOT 0.75 ACRE LOT Philippe Jolicoeur 778.821.0131 Philippe Jolicoeur 778.821.0131 Philippe Jolicoeur 778.821.0131

$1,650,000 $1,650,000 $1,650,000 825 Cedar Bough Spur, 825 Cedar Bough Spur, Sidney Island 825 Cedar Bough Spur, Sidney Island Sidney3Island BEDS: BATHS: 1 1,498 SQ.FT. BEDS: 3 BATHS: 1 1,498 SQ.FT. 1.72 ACRES BEDS: 3 BATHS: 1 1,498 SQ.FT. 1.72 ACRES 1.72 ACRES Kris Ricci 778.966.7441 Kris Ricci 778.966.7441 Kris Ricci 778.966.7441

$1,700,000 $1,700,000 $1,700,000 703-1234 Wharf Street, Victoria 703-1234 Wharf Street, Victoria 703-1234 Wharf Street, Victoria BEDS: 1 BATHS: 2 1,161 SQ.FT. BEDS: 1 BATHS: 2 1,161 SQ.FT. BEDS: 1 BATHS: 2 1,161 SQ.FT. Jacob Garrett Jacob Garrett Jacob Garrett

236.562.7047 236.562.7047 236.562.7047

« S I N G L E FA M I LY H O M E S « S I N G L E FA M I LY H O M E S « S I N G L E FA M I LY H O M E S

SO LD SO LD SOLD

SO L D SO L D SO L D

$2,300,000 $2,300,000 $2,300,000 1584 Rockland Avenue, 1584 Rockland Avenue, Victoria 1584 Rockland Avenue, Victoria Victoria BEDS: 4 BATHS: 4 3,649 SQ.FT. BEDS: 4 BATHS: 4 3,649 SQ.FT. 0.19 ACRES BEDS: 4 BATHS: 4 3,649 SQ.FT. 0.19 ACRES 0.19 DaveACRES Hatt 250.888.0204 Dave Hatt 250.888.0204 Dave Hatt 250.888.0204

$2,285,000 $2,285,000 $2,285,000 8410 Alec Road, Central Saanich 8410 Alec Road, Central Saanich 8410 Alec Road, Central Saanich BEDS: 5 BATHS: 4 3,338 SQ.FT. 5 ACRES BEDS: 5 BATHS: 4 3,338 SQ.FT. 5 ACRES BEDS: 5 BATHS: 4 3,338 SQ.FT. 5 ACRES Georgia Wiggins PREC Georgia Wiggins PREC 250.415.2500 Georgia Wiggins PREC 250.415.2500 250.415.2500

$1,238,000 $1,238,000 $1,238,000 3448 Horizon Terrace, Langford 3448 Horizon Terrace, Langford 3448 Horizon Terrace, Langford BEDS: 3 BATHS: 3 1,906 SQ.FT. 0.16 ACRES BEDS: 3 BATHS: 3 1,906 SQ.FT. 0.16 ACRES BEDS: 3 BATHS: 3 1,906 SQ.FT. 0.16 ACRES Luke Cameron Luke Cameron Luke Cameron

250.380.3933 250.380.3933 250.380.3933

Tim Wiggins Tim Wiggins 250.415.2811 Tim Wiggins 250.415.2811 250.415.2811

$2,100,000 $2,100,000 $2,100,000 9927 Panorama Ridge Road, 9927 Panorama Ridge Road, Chemainus 9927 Panorama Ridge Road, Chemainus Chemainus BEDS: 5 BATHS: 4 3,848 SQ.FT. BEDS: 5 BATHS: 4 3,848 SQ.FT. 2.03 ACRES BEDS: 5 BATHS: 4 3,848 SQ.FT. 2.03 ACRES 2.03 GraceACRES Shin 250.893.9976 Grace Shin 250.893.9976 Grace Shin 250.893.9976

$1,225,000 $1,225,000 $1,225,000 905 Yarrow Place, Esquimalt 905 Yarrow Place, Esquimalt 905 Yarrow Place, Esquimalt BEDS: 3 BATHS: 2 1,650 SQ.FT. 0.15 ACRES BEDS: 3 BATHS: 2 1,650 SQ.FT. 0.15 ACRES BEDS: 3 BATHS: 2 1,650 SQ.FT. 0.15 ACRES Simona Stramaccioni Simona Stramaccioni Simona Stramaccioni

778.966.7466 778.966.7466 778.966.7466

$1,875,000 $1,875,000 $1,875,000 3-1190 Rhoda Lane, 3-1190 Rhoda Lane, Esquimalt 3-1190 Rhoda Lane, Esquimalt Esquimalt BEDS: 5 BATHS: 3 2,845 SQ.FT. BEDS: 5 BATHS: 3 2,845 SQ.FT. 0.16 ACRES BEDS: 5 BATHS: 3 2,845 SQ.FT. 0.16 ACRES 0.16 ACRES Marnie Ross 250.514.4363 Marnie Ross 250.514.4363 Marnie Ross 250.514.4363

« S I N G L E FA M I LY H O M E S « S I N G L E FA M I LY H O M E S « S I N G L E FA M I LY H O M E S

$1,199,900 $1,199,900 $1,199,900 1198 Reynolds Road, 1198 Reynolds Road, Saanich 1198 Reynolds Road, Saanich Saanich BEDS: 4 BATHS: 2 2,173 SQ.FT. BEDS: 4 BATHS: 2 2,173 SQ.FT. 0.19 ACRES BEDS: 4 BATHS: 2 2,173 SQ.FT. 0.19 ACRES 0.19 ACRES Don St Germain PREC 250.744.7136 Don St Germain PREC 250.744.7136 Don St Germain PREC 250.744.7136

Luxury Is An Experience, Not A Price Point Luxury Luxury Is Is An An Experience, Experience, Not Not A A Price Price Point Point

$204B $204B $204B GLOBAL SALES GLOBAL SALES GLOBAL SALES

Kris Kris Ricci Kris Ricci Ricci

Toronto Toronto Toronto

Lisa Lisa Williams Lisa Williams Williams

1,000+ 1,000+ 1,000+ OFFICES

79 79 79 COUNTRIES

OFFICES OFFICES

COUNTRIES COUNTRIES

Logan Logan Wilson Logan Wilson Wilson

Paris Paris Paris

Luke Luke Cameron Luke Cameron Cameron

Marnie Marnie Ross Marnie Ross Ross

Michael Michael Tourigny Michael Tourigny Tourigny

New York New New York York

Nico Nico Grauer Nico Grauer Grauer

Tokyo Tokyo Tokyo

Peter Peter Crichton Peter Crichton Crichton

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Philippe Philippe Jolicoeur Philippe Jolicoeur Jolicoeur

Robyn Robyn Wildman Robyn Wildman Wildman

Hong Kong Hong Hong Kong Kong

Samantha Samantha Jensson Samantha Jensson Jensson

Sandy Sandy Berry Sandy Berry Berry

Montréal Montréal Montréal

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Simona Simona Stramaccioni Simona Stramaccioni Stramaccioni

Spencer Spencer Cao Spencer Cao Cao

Terry Terry Calveley Terry Calveley Calveley

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S OT H EB YS R EA LT Y.C A S S OT OT H HE EB B YS YS R RE EA A LT LT Y.C Y.C A A

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HOLIDAY ISSUE

28

CONTENTS

GIFT WRAP GOES GLAM Put a bow on the holidays (or any gift-giving occasion) with these creative ideas for pretty packaging.

By Wendy McLellan

54

SIMPLE & SPECTACULAR Wow your guests with a stunning seafood tower — and impress yourself with how easy it is.

By Cinda Chavich

62

PERFECT PAIRINGS YAM’s guide to selecting wines for every seasonal dish, from canapés to a showstopper dessert trifle.

By Joanne Sasvari

74

CHECKING IN FOR THE HOLIDAYS Pretty decorations. Festive dinners.

Caring staff. How local hotels help make your holidays merry and bright.

By Joanne Sasvari

82

SERENITY IN THE SNOW Strap on the skinny skis!

Why cross-country skiing is B.C.’s fastest-growing winter sport.

By Diane Selkirk

8

YAM MAGAZINE NOV/DEC 2022

FROM THE COVER: Gingerbread, Pear and Dulce de Leche Trifle paired with Cognac.

See story on page 62.

This is SKY Helicopters Craft Beer Flight Tour

This is Vancouver.

Where cool glacier water meets fertile farmlands, where innovative growers, creators and craftspeople are dreaming up a truly unique culinary experience that will set your taste buds soaring.

Scan the QR code to learn more about Vancouver’s restaurants, attractions and experiences, or visit us at ThisIsVancouver.com.

CONTENTS IN EVERY ISSUE 12

EDITOR’S NOTE

15 HERE + NOW Holiday markets, festive sweets and other seasonal treats.

26 IN PERSON Exchanging words with multi-talented writer Mark Leiren-Young.

By David Lennam

36

HOME + LIFESTYLE A contemporary reno transforms a family home into a place of hope and connection.

By Danielle Pope

46

STYLE WATCH Party dressing is all about vintage luxury in rich colours and tempting textures.

Styled by Janine Metcalfe

88

SCENE Lynda Steele and Jody Vance light up the airwaves with their new CHEK TV talk show.

By David Lennam

90

DO TELL Cookbook author Carmen Spagnola shares magical ideas for every holiday.

By Joanne Sasvari

10

YAM MAGAZINE NOV/DEC 2022

BUSINESS PROFILE

HAMILTON Cosmetic Dermatology

S

kin is our biggest organ. Not surprisingly, more people are focusing on the skin, and there is an ever increasing need to look youthful. This has established a need for a superior level cosmetic dermatology clinic.

Hamilton Dermatology is one of the leading providers of non-surgical rejuvenating skin treatments in Victoria.

We pride ourselves at being skin experts. Nobody understands skin better than dermatologists.

We specialize in injectable treatments, such as Botox and advanced dermal fillers, laser procedures, acne treatments and modern body contouring. We consistently deliver results that could otherwise be only thought possible with Photoshop.

We have the three essential “E”s that will allow you to trust us: Expertise, Experience, and most sophisticated, bestin-class Equipment.

We assembled a hand-selected team of highly experienced aesthetic providers, and collectively bring over six decades of experience to our aesthetic practice.

Our philosophy is that cosmetic

treatments are not only about improving and many more. one’s appearance, but also about AviClear is the latest addition to our restoring one’s inner confidence. already comprehensive range of lasers.

We provide free consultations, along We are the first clinic in Canada to offer with digital skin analysis as we believe this treatment. that good advice is essential to making AviClear is a new revolutionary way the right decision. We don’t want anyone for treating mild, moderate and severe to feel obligated to go ahead with acne, as well as acne scars. It is an treatment just because they’ve paid for a effective alternative to Accutane, but consultation. Yet, we without the harsh side don’t compromise on effects or the need for “Our philosophy is that quality. frequent blood work for cosmetic treatments are We believe in a visits to a dermatologist. holistic approach Our skin deserves to not only about improving to rejuvenation. We one’s appearance, but also be treated well. follow scientific and Having healthy skin is about restoring one’s artistic rules of beauty. undeniably attractive. In inner confidence.”

By focusing on the order to maintain skin’s whole face, rather than health and beauty we individual features, we use a combination use premium quality skincare products of treatments that individually make and devise an individualized skincare small incremental changes, but together plan for each person. produce a big overall difference.

We are a medically driven, results We always stay ahead of the latest led clinic and you can be sure that innovations in aesthetic procedures. treatments you’re being offered, will We have the full range of lasers that produce beautiful, natural looking results. treat a wide variety of cosmetic and Please, see us at Hamilton Cosmetic medical concerns, such as fine lines, Dermatology and we will be happy to wrinkles, dark spots, redness, acne, scars help you achieve your skin goals.

Suite 303 – 1120 Yates Street, Victoria | www.hamiltonderma.com | 250-940-8000

EDITOR’S LETTER

FINDING GRACE THIS HOLIDAY SEASON

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Joanne Sasvari, Editor editor@yammagazine.com

t may not be terribly cool to admit this, but I love the holidays. I love the twinkly lights and the cheesy movies, the crafty markets, the pretty gift wrap and the many, many cookies. Most of all, I love that quiet time between Boxing Day and the New Year, when the cooking and cleaning and shopping are done, and there is time to reflect on the year gone by and plan for the one to come.

For me, 2022 was a big year, transitioning from Vancouver back to Vancouver Island, where I grew up. I’d forgotten how hard moving is, especially when you own far too many books and kitchen gadgets, and how disorienting it is to be caught between two places, unsure what address to use when you order something online.

Stressful as it’s been, though, I am well aware that it’s nothing compared to what so many other people have survived this year, whether it’s the war in Ukraine, civil unrest in Iran, October’s hurricanes or a global pandemic that feels like it will never end. Their strength has been both humbling and inspiring.

With so much bad news around us, it can help to pause, take a breath and find grace in the small things. A perfectly tied bow. A platter of just-shucked oysters, and a glass of bubble to pair with it. The serene hush of a cross-country ski trail winding through pristine forest. The indulgence of room service at a fancy hotel. A good book, and a quiet place to enjoy it.

Lately, I’ve been finding grace in baking.

I’ve spent much of the year without access “Baking is a meditative to my kitchen, and it’s been sheer, sybaritic act, a series of meaningful pleasure to measure flour and mix batter motions that result in and inhale the fragrance of a freshly baked cake. Baking is a meditative act, a something beautiful.” series of meaningful motions that result in something beautiful. Baking is also a generous act, because a loaf of bread, a batch of cookies or a tin of squares is never meant to be for just one person, but to share with someone else. Plus, there is something delicious to enjoy when you are done.

This issue of YAM is filled with similar moments of grace and beauty. I hope it brings you and your family joy this holiday season and beyond.

Joanne Sasvari editor@yammagazine.com

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PUBLISHERS Lise Gyorkos, Georgina Camilleri EDITOR Joanne Sasvari DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY Jeffrey Bosdet PRODUCTION MANAGER Jennifer Kühtz DIGITAL MARKETING MANAGER Amanda Wilson LEAD GRAPHIC DESIGNER Janice Hildybrant ASSOCIATE GRAPHIC DESIGNER Caroline Segonnes MARKETING COORDINATOR Claire Villaraza ADVERTISING COORDINATOR Lauren Ingle ADVERTISING CONSULTANTS Doug Brown, Cynthia Hanischuk, Brenda Knapik

JANIS JEAN PHOTOGRAPHY

FASHION EDITOR Janine Metcalfe

Have you ever played duvet tug-o-war with your partner? You're not alone!

St Genève’s new Euro Twin size was developed to bring peace back to your bed with two individual duvets, so that each sleeper can have a good night’s sleep tailored to their needs.

Visit us at Muffet & Louisa, we would love to help you choose the perfect duvets.

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Cinda Chavich, David Lennam, Wendy McLellan, Danielle Pope, Diane Selkirk CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER Dasha Armstrong, Michelle Proctor PROOFREADER Paula Marchese CONTRIBUTING AGENCIES Getty Images p. 15, 16, 17, 18, 21 23, 32, 60, 61, 76, 79, 80, 86, 87; StockFood p. 55, 56, 58; Stocksy p. 12, 32, 32, 33, 57, 59 GENERAL INQUIRIES info@yammagazine.com LETTERS TO THE EDITOR letters@yammagazine.com TO SUBSCRIBE TO YAM subscriptions@yammagazine.com ADVERTISING INQUIRIES sales@yammagazine.com ONLINE yammagazine.com FACEBOOk facebook.com/YAMmagazine TWITTER twitter.com/YAMmagazine INSTAGRAM @yam_magazine ON THE COVER Gingerbread, Pear and Dulce de Leche Trifle.

See recipe on page 68.

Photo by Jeffrey Bosdet.

Special thanks to Hansell & Halkett and Muffet & Louisa.

Published by PAGE ONE PUBLISHING 580 Ardersier Road, Victoria, B.C. V8Z 1C7 T 250-595-7243 info@pageonepublishing.ca pageonepublishing.ca

Printed in British Columbia by Mitchell Press.

Ideas and opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of Page One Publishing Inc. or its affiliates; no official endorsement should be inferred. The publisher does not assume any responsibility for the contents of any advertisement, and any and all representations or warranties made in such advertising are those of the advertiser and not the publisher. No part of this magazine may be reproduced, in all or part, in any form — printed or electronic — without the express permission of the publisher. The publisher cannot be held responsible for unsolicited manuscripts and photographs.

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BC 14

YAM MAGAZINE NOV/DEC 2022

HERE + NOW

HEAVENLY FLOWERS

JEFFREY BOSDET/YAM MAGAZINE

Dreamy. Romantic. Breathtakingly beautiful.

And surprisingly practical.

Floral clouds are dramatic arrangements that hang from the ceiling, usually above a dining table, often replacing the old-school centrepiece.

“It’s an interesting take on something traditional.

So many people are doing family-style dinners right now, and it frees up space for the food and the utensils and other important things,” says Natalia Solis Vermette of Apothecary Floral in Saanich, who designed the cloud on this page.

“They are functional and beautiful.”

Vermette loves designing floral clouds because she can use “things that are interesting texturally that we can’t use in a traditional centrepiece.” That might mean dried wildflowers, vines or cascading seasonal plants. “I try to create meadows wherever I can,” she says, “whether it’s on the table or on the ceiling.”

YAM MAGAZINE NOV/DEC 2022

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HERE + NOW

Roll out the holiday bar cart It may look like a frivolous Hollywood accessory, but your bar cart can make entertaining both easy and elegant.

T

he rest of the year your bar cart may be a repository for books and bills and other detritus, but holiday season is its time to shine. Keep it well-stocked, and it will make your entertaining both easy and actually enjoyable.

In her new book, The Five-Bottle Bar: A Simple Guide to Stylish Cocktails (Touchwood Editions), author Jessica Schacht has a whole section dedicated to “The Art of the Bar Cart.” She suggests stocking it with all the essential tools: shaker, mixing glass, bar spoon, strainer, glassware, ice bucket “and

then something to make cocktails in.”

“I also have a couple of decanters that I like,” she says. As for spirits: “Gin and whisky, I would definitely recommend on the bar cart for making easy cocktails. If you have gin, whisky and amaro, you’re going to be able to make a lot of cocktails.”

Shawn Soole, the bar manager and executive barkeep at Clive's Classic Lounge, suggests stocking “middle-of-the-road, versatile base spirits; not too cheap, not too expensive, but ones that you can use in multiple drinks, or sip neat.” He suggests

starting with the basics — gin, vodka, rum, bourbon, rye and tequila — then adding modifiers such as Campari, sweet and dry vermouth, simple syrup and citrus.

“A gin that can stand up both in a gin and tonic or a gin Martini, or a bourbon that makes a fantastic Old Fashioned, but can also be sipped neat later in the evening — those are the best brands to get,” he says.

Most importantly, he adds, “Entertaining shouldn't be stressful — Christmas already is.” The perfect bar cart will let you roll that seasonal stress right out of your house.

Wondering how to stock your bar cart?

We’ve got some ideas for making it both beautiful and functional.

Stock your bar cart with some pretty glassware for the kinds of drinks you like to serve, such as coupes for “up” drinks and Collins glasses for long ones.

Along with your glassware, include a decanter or two for house spirits or premixed cocktails.

Don’t forget the bar tools and accessories.

Add a few bottles of basic spirits for the drinks you make most often, especially gin, vodka, whisky and vermouth.

Just before guests arrive, fill your ice bucket with fresh ice.

PHOTO: ERIKA BIERMAN DESIGNER: LISA BENNETT LERNER

In addition to stocking it with the essentials, you can dress your bar cart up for the season with festive garlands and ornaments.

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YAM MAGAZINE NOV/DEC 2022

3 COOL TOOLS FOR BAKING SUCCESS

Add these great gadgets to your essentials for better bakes.

Copper Beating Bowl Love macarons and meringues? Try a copper beating bowl like the ones from French brand Mauviel (available at Williams Sonoma).

Copper reacts naturally with egg whites so they can nearly triple in volume when whisked.

Get set for the holidays ... and bake!

Appearing on The Great Canadian Baking Show inspires Victoria’s John Fowler to bring out the cookie sheets.

J

ohn Fowler plans to bake a lot of cookies this holiday season. He pretty much has to. “Pre-COVID, l would bake six to eight different types of cookies, package them and give them to people for gifts,” he says. “Now I think people will expect them again.”

That’s because the administrative officer for UVic’s department of geography has been competing this fall on Season 6 of The Great Canadian Baking Show (Sundays on CBC).

“Cartography is my background, so that’s a natural progression to baking, I guess,” he says with a laugh.

Fowler, who learned his love of baking from his grandmother in Newfoundland, adds: “I’ve always been a huge fan of the show and I saw something that said, ‘If you have a passion for baking you should apply,’ and I thought, ‘Why not?’ ”

It took a few tries, but he finally made it on this season, and just in time, too, because he’s getting married next year, right when the show is usually filming.

He made lifelong friendships on the show, pointing out that the competition is “you against the ingredients, you against the recipe, you against the clock.

It’s not you against the other people.” He adds: “To be one of the 60 people who’ve ever been in that tent is a real privilege. It’s really stressful, I’m not gonna lie, but it was still fun.”

And now he’s ready for a big holiday bake of Linzer cookies, chocolate crinkles, pfeffernusse and an orange and ricotta chocolate chip cookie he loves. His advice to home bakers: “Quality ingredients make a huge difference. Shop local, if you can.

And weigh your ingredients, if you can.

It’s so much easier.”

“Cartography is my background, so that’s a natural progression to baking, I guess.”

Baker’s Dusting Wand Become the good fairy of the kitchen by waving this OXO Good Grips wand to evenly distribute icing sugar on cookies, flour into greased cake pans and toppings over popcorn — all without making a giant mess.

Perforated Baking Sheet The tiny holes increase airflow, which speeds up bake times and, most importantly, avoids the dreaded soggy bottom. Ideal for crisping pizza, cookies, pastry shells and bread.

YAM MAGAZINE NOV/DEC 2022

17

HERE + NOW

Mostly for Men

These stocking stuffers are perfect for the impossible-to-buy-for gent on your list. (And you’ll like them, too.)

 For the Sweetest Guy

 For Tender Tootsies

Select one — or more! — of The Chocolate Project’s 350-plus different bars, ethically crafted by more than 60 bean-to-bar artists from around the world. Available online or from the kiosk in the Victoria Public Market. chocolateproject.ca

You may think socks are the gift of last resort.

Not Victoria-based Outway Socks. This highperformance hosiery is designed to meet the technical demands of professional athletes — while also being comfortable, stylish and fun. outway.com

 For the Coffee Lover Jazz up his java with a one-of-a-few mugs from Wicked Wanda Pottery.

Each sturdy, small-batch item is handcrafted by Sooke-based artist Erika Arbour-Nevins, and is designed to be both functional and beautiful. erikaarbournevins.com

 For the Bearded One That chin curtain needs special care, and Victory Barber & Brand is all over it with their line of products that include beard oil, WASH, a barber brush to keep things ruly and a branded Dopp kit to pack it all in. victorybarber.ca

 For the Spirited Sipper DEVINE Distillery’s Honey Shine Amber is an award-winning rum-like spirit made from honey in Saanich. Warming, spicy and a little sweet, it’s perfect for a chilly day — and it comes in a handy 100 mL bottle, just the right size for the guy on the go. devinedistillery.com

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YAM MAGAZINE NOV/DEC 2022

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Prep Your Pets Make sure your furriest family members are set for the holiday season.

Y

ou’re not the only one who needs to get their hair styled, their nails buffed and a new outfit to wear for all the events ahead. So do your pet cats and dogs.

We checked in with Tamara Castle, the owner of Paws on Cook, for some advice on getting your pets ready for the holidays. She advises: “Definitely book any grooming early. The groomers start to book up for December around July, so book now and take what you can. If you can’t get in with a groomer, we do have a selfserve dog wash, so that’s a good Plan B.” Once your pets are clean and pretty, accessorize their look with cute sweaters, scarves, bandanas and holiday garlands. And don’t forget to stuff their stockings with toys and treats. That way, Castle says, “When everyone else opens their stocking, your pet gets to open theirs, too.”

She also has some tips for avoiding an unexpected trip to the vet. (If you do have a holiday pet emergency, try the 24/7 “telehealth for pets” at vetster.com.)

Poinsettias are toxic to cats and dogs, and so are human treats like chocolate, grapes and nuts.

Meanwhile, those pretty glass ornaments look like toys to playful pets, and can cause serious injury. Keep them all well out of reach.

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Open 7 days a week 1887 Oak Bay Ave | 250.370.5000 Victoria 102 Craig St | 250.597.0044 Downtown Duncan Follow us on Instagram @tulipenoireclothing

JEFFREY BOSDET/YAM MAGAZINE

Gracie the Chiweenie stays warm in a stylish cable-knit sweater

by Chilly Dog and hopes you will give her some Grandpaw’s Treats.

YAM MAGAZINE NOV/DEC 2022

19

HERE + NOW

Festive Funghi orinne Vader’s white porcelain mushroom ornaments add a haunting sort of magic to your Christmas tree or holiday wreath.

“I love them so much because each one is so unique,” she says.

Vader is the proprietor of Korinne Vader Handmade Goods, a line of women’s clothing based here in Victoria. But a few years ago, she “dove deeply into clay” and says, “I wanted to keep doing it in a small way. I have such a small kiln, and I just wanted to make an ornament that I could fire myself.”

She also wanted to give back to the community, and, in 2017, the idea for the mushrooms sprouted. Since then, she has sold them every holiday season to raise funds for the Victoria Women’s Transition House Society. So far she has donated about $10,000 to the shelter.

This year, the $28 ornaments will be available starting in mid-November at korinnevader.com.

Reconnect on a cozy holiday.

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MOLLY JANE

K

Holiday Markets Whether you’re searching for a perfect, one-of-a-kind gift or just looking to get into the holiday spirit, these makers’ markets are sure to put you in a festive mood.

Victorian Christmas Craft Fair 2022 November 19 to 20, Saanich Commonwealth Place One of the city’s favourite holiday traditions is back for its 28th season, with more than 70 makers and artists selling handcrafted décor, gifts, baked goods and more. facebook.com/ victorianchristmascraftfair

Owl Designer Fair November 19 to 20, Fernwood Community Centre This annual community craft show features terrific local musicians and food trucks as well as handy gifts, plus it supports local non-profits. owlfair.com

Out of Hand Modern Market November 25 to 27, Crystal Gardens Browse through works by more than 100 of the best artists and makers in Western Canada at this muchanticipated holiday market. outofhand.ca

Victoria Edelweiss Club Christmas Market November 26, Victoria Edelweiss Club Enjoy the fairy-tale romance of Christmas in Germany while shopping for holiday wreaths, stollen, deli items and gifts. victoriaedelweiss.ca

Touch of Salt Spring Crafts & Art Show December 2 to 4, Saanich Fairgrounds The best-attended arts and crafts show on the islands features more than 200 crafters and artisans. atouchofsaltspring.com

Dickens Fair December 3, James Bay Community Centre No humbug here! Enjoy the toys, jewelry, festive food and more from dozens of artisan vendors at this beloved, 40–plus-year Victoria tradition. jamesbaymarket.com/dickens-fair

YAM MAGAZINE NOV/DEC 2022

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HERE + NOW TASTES + TRENDS

By Cinda Chavich

A Baker’s Dozen of Holiday Gifts Make the people you love happy this holiday season with sweet treats and tempting reads.

BAKING THE BOOKS The holidays are all about baking and gifting, so how about gifting a new baking book to your favourite home cook? Here are some of the latest titles to cross my desk.

1

The Artful Pie Project: A Sweet and Savoury Book of Recipes (Whitecap, $40).

This is a wonderful book for anyone keen to learn how to make perfect pies, from local chef Denise Marchessault and photographer/ illustrator Deb Garlick. fruity jams, jellies and marmalades, Whether you’re a new baker or an you’ll love Wynne’s recipes for expert, this book walks you through baking with preserves. It’s an every step in the pie-making interesting mash-up of her skills as process, with special emphasis on a pastry chef and master preserver the key ingredient — pastry! (and founder of Montreal’s Marchessault begins with an Preservation Society). Make some of entire section devoted to mastering her creative jams (Cherry Negroni, a wide variety of pastry doughs. Who Mulled Wine Marmalade or Coffee, knew there were Date & Pear), then more than a dozen “Who knew there fold them into her different recipes were more than pound cakes or Eton for pie crust? She a dozen different mess, layer them then follows up with in Linzer tortes or recipes for pie tempting pies that gin-glazed Empire crust?” include gorgeous cookies, or pipe berry or cheesy them into her angel potato galettes, tourtière with duck biscuit doughnuts and take your confit, fish pot pies, caramel crème own preserves to new culinary brûlée or triple chocolate tarts. heights.

I love Garlick’s illustrations, too, Shortlisted for the 2022 Taste both the informative step-by-step Canada Awards. photos and whimsical art that would not be out of place on your 3 Baking with Bruno: A French kitchen wall.

Baker’s North American Love Story

2

Jam Bake: Inspired Recipes for Creating and Baking with Preserves by Camilla Wynne (Appetite by Random House, $32).

This innovative collection of recipes bridges the gap between baking and preserving, answering that age-old question, “What can I do with this jam, other than put it on toast?”

If, like me, you’re the kind of person who buys a boat load of fresh berries or peaches every summer, then jars a boat load of

22

by Bruno Feldeisen (Whitecap, $35).

Chef Bruno Feldeisen is the friendly face of CBC’s The Great Canadian Baking Show — the quiet French pâtissier with years of Michelin-star experience and a knack for calming the anxious contestants he’s about to judge on national television.

Feldeisen is a thoughtful guy with an impressive résumé. He trained under chef Alain Ducasse and worked at top restaurants in Los Angeles and New York, before stints as executive pastry chef at the Four

YAM MAGAZINE NOV/DEC 2022

Seasons Vancouver and instructor at the Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts.

This book focuses on the journey that brought Feldeisen from France to his current home in Vancouver, with recipes reflecting his many experiences as a professional pastry chef. From French chocolate soufflé to New York chocolate pot de crème, classic sablé Breton to peanut butter spritz cookies, Linzer torte to cotton candy crème brûlée, Feldeisen embraces his illustrious past and future in this very personal recipe collection.

His next book, The Bacon, Bourbon, Chocolate & Butter Cookbook, is scheduled for publication in 2023.

4

Baking Day with Anna Olson (Appetite by Random House, $40).

Food Network Canada star chef

Anna Olson has written several baking books and her latest celebrates the joy of baking with family and friends. The collection is perfect for a beginning baker — or for baking with kids — as it includes lots of step-by-step illustrations, information about tools and timing, and recipes rated by difficulty level for both sweet and savoury bakes.

Her baking day projects range from skillet brownies and nutty white chocolate cranberry cookies to fruity muesli bread and glutenfree gingerbread cake. There are even recipes for the family pets.

And with her encouraging voice and smart tips, it’s like having this sweet baker at your side, whenever your family takes time to bond over a baking day. A Taste Canada Gold Award winner.

BEER + COOKIES Do you reach for a cookie when you pour a glass of your favourite craft beer? You will after you’ve tried the perfect pairings created by Bonnie Todd of Off the Eaten Track Tours and local beer guru Joe Wiebe.

They are joining forces again in December for a holiday Beer and Cookie Tasting Box, with live (and possible virtual) tasting events around town.

Wiebe (a.k.a. the Thirsty Writer) chooses the local brews to sip with Todd’s curated collection of cookies from local bakers. Both walk you through the pairings in detailed tasting notes. At just $55, and comprising four tall cans of beer and eight cookies, the tasting box makes a delicious diversion for two and a great gift for beer lovers.

Available for free pickup, local delivery or shipping within B.C. from offtheeatentracktours.ca.

VISIONS OF SUGAR PLUMS It’s always great to have a selection of Christmas cookies to serve over the holidays, but if you don’t have a team of elves at the ready, there are a couple of simple solutions.

The most fun is organizing a cookie party/ swap with your friends — the more the merrier! If six of your friends each bake six dozen of their family’s favourite cookie (such as ginger cookies, shortbread, rugelach, rum balls, almond spritz or Linzer cookies), plus an extra half-dozen for the party, you can all get together for holiday drinks and nibbles, and head home with a mixed box of six dozen assorted goodies.

If that sounds too daunting, see if your favourite bakery is offering a holiday cookie assortment. Baker extraordinaire Tracie Zahavich of Fox & Monocle Bakery/Café is again offering her holiday cookie box (six items, four of each, $40), plus dark fruit cakes, fancy yule logs and gingerbread houses. Get your orders in early for pickup in December.

You can also build your own cookie collections with a little cherry picking from city bakers: Scottish-style shortbread from Martha’s Delectables in several tasty flavours (in sleeves and gift boxes); gingerbread and rum balls from Pâtisserie Daniel; the Dutch Bakery’s festive boxes of spiced speculaas, shortbread wreaths and pretty marzipan fruit; custom assortments from the Heartfelt Cookie Co.; or a variety box from Melinda’s Biscotti.

Cookies make memories and great gifts for family and friends!

Holiday Season SHOP LOCAL AND DISCOVER UNIQUE GIFT IDEAS AND JOYFUL WINTER ACTIVITIES.

This holiday season, visit local artists and retailers to celebrate the winter festivities, and find unique gifts for your loved ones from talented Langford creators.

Enjoy carriage tours, crafternoons, live music, and ice carving demonstrations for a one-of-a-kind holiday experience!

720 STATION AVENUE Open Thursday to Sunday. Hours Vary.

Langford.ca/Station

cityoflangford

YAM MAGAZINE NOV/DEC 2022

23

WHERE MAGIC HAPPENS Over the years, Langford has flourished and attracted large retail stores, smaller owner-operated boutique shops and has cultivated a vibrant, chef-owned restaurant scene. Langford is packed with welcoming patios and eclectic menus, and brimming with year-round events. Be sure to check out the new Langford Station Cultural District with murals, retail shops, artist studios, food trucks and arts workshops.

Langford is the perfect place for connecting with family or celebrating with friends.

For a directory of shops, restaurants and winter festival events, visit:

Langford.ca/events

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IN PERSON

The Wordsmith The multi-talented writer Mark Leiren-Young dives into the world of sharks.

By David Lennam | Photo by Jeffrey Bosdet

T

he National Post once described Mark Leiren-Young as someone with a background in pretty much everything.

That’s fairly accurate.

Leiren-Young is a playwright, author, screenwriter, novelist, journalist, editor, podcaster, producer, director, documentarian, comedy performer, satirist, memoirist, university lecturer, occasional actor and fulltime environmentalist.

But, the prolific 60-year-old explains, all that diverse body of work just boils down to writing.

“I still always default to writing. If you get down to it, everything I do is writing. Even when I was performing, I always considered myself a writer who performs.”

The writer just released two books on sharks — both aimed at young readers — Sharks Forever and Big Sharks, Small World (both from Orca Publishing).

The biggest misconception around sharks, he says, is that they will kill us. “How seldom they actually go anywhere near us. How absolutely uninteresting sharks find us,” he says.

More people are killed by falling vending machines than by sharks, according to the late Canadian photographer, filmmaker and conservationist Rob Stewart, of Sharkwater fame, whom Leiren-Young befriended and calls “one of the most amazing humans I ever met.”

Then there’s that Jaws thing.

“It blows my mind [that] a movie that was released when I was a kid is still defining the global message of sharks. How in the world does Jaws still rule our imagination a couple of generations after it came out? How is that still in our zeitgeist? It’s not like It’s A Wonderful Life; they don’t play it every Christmas,” he says.

Before sharks, he was all about orcas: books, movies, endless podcasts (The Killer Whale Who Changed the World; Orcas Everywhere; The Hundred-Year-Old Whale). He even helped create the Royal BC Museum’s recent “Orcas: Our Shared Future” exhibit (now touring the world).

And before the books, before his celebrity as the go-to guy on orcas, before the ongoing Skaana podcast, there was Mark Leiren-Young, local satirist.

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“How seldom they actually go anywhere near us.

How absolutely uninteresting sharks find us.”

Almost 40 years ago, he was part of the team that created the improvised soap opera Beacon Hill, which grew to include a huge cast that performed every Friday night in a converted dance studio on Lower Johnson Street.

“I loved doing those,” Leiren-Young says.

There were comedy newscast bits where he would watch the six o’clock news, then work like mad writing a satirical take of what he’d heard, and be on stage at 7:30 p.m. delivering it.

“Every once in a while, I’d do a joke that people didn’t realize was based on an actual news story,” he recalls. “The one that sticks in my head was ‘This just in, Ronald Regan has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.’

They thought I was kidding, but that hit the news at six o’clock that night.”

Beacon Hill co-creator (and recently retired Dance Victoria executive producer) Stephen White met Leiren-Young at UVic’s theatre department.

“Someone pointed him out to me as a budding writer,” recalls White. “I distinctly remember my first impression of Mark. Physically, he looked like he was still emerging from adolescence, all limbs and jerking movement.”

Those early writers’ meetings would probably have made a good show themselves.

“We laughed, we debated, we compromised and we ended up with a big underground success,” says White. “It was a first for Victoria: popular satire that appealed to a sell-out crowd with a new episode every week.”

A comedic second act was teaming up with Kevin Crofton to become Local Anxiety, spawning a pair of albums, appearances on just about every stage in Canada and national acclaim. (Sailor-cap-wearing Maclean’s editor Peter C. Newman almost waxed poetic praising Local Anxiety in a 1994 column.) It even showcased Leiren-Young’s obsessively passionate environmentalism in the duo’s EarthVision award-winning TV special Greenpieces: The World’s First Eco-Comedy, featuring David Suzuki as a god … or, at least, an eco-deity.

He turned a shade greener with the comedy-with-a-message Fringe show Greener Than Thou, directed by Victoria’s celebrated monologist TJ Dawe.

At one performance in Edmonton the audience sat dead silent throughout. Leiren-Young figured

he’d bombed and asked Dawe what happened.

“They were crying,” replied Dawe.

Dawe previously directed the stage version of Never Shoot a Stampede Queen, LeirenYoung’s Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour award-winning book, which chronicled his time reporting at the Williams Lake Tribune.

Leiren-Young’s writing, notes Dawe, is guided by idealism, urgency and curiosity.

“He’s an easy and generous collaborator. By his own description, he doesn’t so much walk as bounce, like Tigger, and I’d add that he’s got Tigger’s sense of joy and ability to share it.”

Leiren-Young laughs when I ask him if he has some vast chamber, its walls lined with his honours and awards. “Yeah, I keep some of them around in my office to remind me they happened. The reason they kind of mean what they do to me is so many people tell me ‘You’re just dabbling in this or that.’ I’ll try something new and they’ll say, ‘Well, he’s really a playwright’ or take your pick. Whatever world people know me from, that’s the world I am.”

Like most writers running the gamut of lowpaying gigs, Leiren-Young is sadly aware of how the “free” in freelancer works against scribblers trying to make a living. The new reality, where paid journalism is on life support, has changed the way he writes. Or has had to write.

Between deep sighs of exasperation, he admits he’s done far less journalism simply because no one wants to pay for it.

“If someone said I could go back to what I used to do for the [Georgia] Straight and profile something cool every week, I would be all over that.”

And finally, the truth about his Summer of Love hair. It’s a showbiz thing.

“When I was performing with Local Anxiety, we realized, watching other acts, that people would refer to people on stage by their hair.

Our schtick was I was the hippie and Kevin, who looked very much like [former B.C. premier] Mike Harcourt, was the corporate guy.

We made a deal that he would cut his hair as short as he could stand it, and I had to grow my hair as long as I could stand it. And then every time I thought about cutting my hair, I would score some cool acting gig because of the hair.”

5 FUN FACTS Mike Keenan as coach. “That’s the only time I found myself saying, ‘I don’t think I can cheer for my team anymore. Omigod, do I have to start liking the Oilers?’ ”

2. A long-suffering Vancouver Canucks fan, he believes the team’s all-time-low was hiring

3. He’s an adjunct professor at UVic and is teaching a course on the Marvel Universe. “Teaching,”

D E S I G N L

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D

Whether your style is subtle sophistication, classic elegance or modern simplicity, we’ve got you covered.

Upholstery and slipcovers Custom window coverings, blinds, drapes and motorization Cover Story Bedding and custom bed linens For your home, office or yacht

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about Mark Leiren-Young

1. He’s a self-confessed comic book nerd and once owned 15,000 comics. He even wrote a script for a Marvel superhero Moon Knight series 20 years ago that was never picked up.

O

O U T L OOKS

he says, “makes performing so much less scary.”

4. When he worked as a reporter for the Williams Lake Tribune, Leiren-Young’s record for daily story output was 30.

5. He wrote a documentary on figure skater Brian Orser.

Serving Sidney to Victoria and the Gulf Islands

OUTLOOKSDESIGN.COM 101-9818 Third Street, Sidney

YAM MAGAZINE NOV/DEC 2022

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Gift Wrap Goes Glam Whether for the holidays or any other occasion, think outside the boring old box and tie your presents up with sparkle and imagination.

JEFFREY BOSDET/YAM MAGAZINE

By Wendy McLellan

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FANCY THAT

I believe that every customer deserves the best care and service.

JEFFREY BOSDET/YAM MAGAZINE

emember last Christmas, when you promised yourself that next year would be different? That you wouldn’t be frantically wrapping a hostess gift while putting on your coat and rushing to a holiday open house? That you wouldn’t be up in the early hours of Christmas morning, juggling tape and rolls of paper, searching for matching bows and gift tags to finish the wrapping before the family wakes up?

Yet here we are again. The holidays are just a few weeks away, but you can still keep that promise. There is time to organize the gift wrapping — and get help from experts — if it’s one of the tasks you dread at Christmas. And if wrapping gifts is your favourite creative outlet, it’s time to bring out the colourful ribbons, pretty paper and stickon rhinestones and follow along with YAM’s guide to giving your presents real presence.

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Ashley Stelck of Hansell & Halkett in Sidney uses golden ribbons, eucalyptus sprigs and dried citrus wheels to transform plain kraft paper into something luxurious and beautiful.

Ashley Stelck, co-owner with Patricia Pearson of Hansell & Halkett Vintage Home Decor in Sidney, loves to make holiday gifts look beautiful. “We’re not super fancy,” says Stelck. “The signature to our look is pretty, but not fancy. Not glitzy — it’s more muted and natural, but says something special.”

To wrap gifts, Stelck uses kraft paper and gift bags, tied up with wide ribbon in rich green or gold.

She adds a bit of eucalyptus — or a sprig of cedar if it’s a last-minute gift — and tucks in a slice of homemade dried orange strung on natural jute.

“Charcuterie boards are really awkward to wrap — they definitely aren’t my favourite,” she says.

“If you can lay them flat they look really pretty, but in a bag, they just slump.”

For tissue, and to wrap fragile items, Stelck searches out sewing patterns at thrift shops. She upcycles the paper sewing instructions for wrapping fragile things such as candles, and the tissue patterns to tuck into bags and boxes. “Our store motto is environmental, recycled and minimal impact,” Stelck says.

For customers who prefer to wrap gifts themselves, the shop sells furoshiki, traditional Japanese wrapping cloths. The cloths are pricey ($17 to $26), but she knows of friends who exchange gifts each year and wrap them with furoshiki so they can trade the cloths back and forth as part of their holiday traditions. For more fabric gift wrap ideas, check out the bold and colourful line created by Victoria artist Jennifer Playford, who is also the author of Wrapagami, the Art of Fabric Gift Wrap (Macmillan NYC).

ELEGANTLY SIMPLE Carolyn Stobbart, manager of The Papery, expects nature-themed gift wrap and embellishments to be popular again this year. The shop on Fort Street sells ribbon by the yard, paper, tags and giftwrapping items that are co-ordinated to make presents look professional. There are also some offthe-wall collections (Hawaiian-themed holiday paper, for example) for the right person.

Muffet Billyard-Leake, owner of Muffet and Louisa on Beacon Avenue in Sidney, prefers a classic look for wrapping Christmas gifts.

“My favourite store in the world is Hermès, and I love the simple, elegant way they package gifts in orange boxes with brown grosgrain ribbon. I decided to go the same way,” she says.

Billyard-Leake buys holiday wrapping paper from The Papery and orders 5/8-inch grosgrain ribbon with her store’s name printed in gold. Customers can choose from red or cream ribbon, which co-ordinates with the holiday papers that don’t have typical Christmas prints. No Santas or nativity scenes, but instead rows of white owls on dark red and green, or other bold patterns.

< Add even more glamour to gorgeously patterned gift wrap with sparkly stick-on rhinestones. Select papers from The Papery.

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Victoria, BC V8Z 0B9

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That’s a Wrap!

HANDY TIPS

12 Creative Ideas with Real Presence Sometimes you just want to put your gift in a pretty bag and be done with it.

Other times you want to create a work of art as beautiful as the gift inside.

Here are 12 ways to do just that.

RUTH BLACK/STOCKSY

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ALITA/STOCKSY

MELANIE DEFAZIO/STOCKSY

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1. Holiday Ornaments Add a whimsically festive touch by tying a small ornament to your bow or tucking it under the ribbon.

Think: candy canes, wooden cutouts, tiny jingle bells or vintage-style glass ornaments in cheeky motifs like Champagne bottles, sports cars or oysters on the half shell.

2. Take a Bow If you’re handy, you can design bows out of origami paper or fabric, or fashion pom poms out of yarn and tie them to your gift. Or how about adorning your parcel with a bouquet of faux flowers instead?

3. Ribbon Cuttings OUTSOURCE THE WORK If you would rather drink eggnog and decorate sugar cookies than wrap presents, The Mustard Seed is ready to help. This Christmas, for the first time since 2019, volunteers will wrap gifts for a donation to the non-profit’s food bank, December 1 to 24 at Mayfair Shopping Centre. The Mustard Seed is also looking for volunteers who have a knack for wrapping and decorating presents.

To volunteer, visit mustardseed.ca.

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Those cheap, plasticky spools of ribbon are fine, as far as they go (and not actually all that cheap). But why not try something more beautiful? Real fabric ribbons are elegant and so much easier to tie nicely. Raffia or twine can add a cheerful rustic touch. A vintage scarf creates a luxe, fashiony note. And don’t feel tied to traditional holiday red or green — consider metallics, pastels, even black, which is surprisingly elegant against brown kraft paper.

4. Jewel Tone Take inspiration from precious jewelry and glue rhinestones to your gift wrap. Arrange them in rows, circles or patterns that mimic holiday ornaments for the glammest of gifts.

5. Feed Your Senses Wrap a gourmet gift in a beautiful tea towel, then tie it with a ribbon or kitchen twine and tuck an olive-wood spoon or colourful silicone spatula under the bow. Add a rosemary sprig or cinnamon stick for some festive fragrance.

GILLIAN VANN/STOCKSY

“I’ve wrapped just about everything over the years,” says Jane Tice, a personal gardener whose last role before she moved from retail to horticulture was general manager of Victoria’s Chintz & Company.

But her first job as retail manager many years ago was at a kitchen store in Montreal.

“We gift-wrapped everything — we got good and fast at wrapping crazy shapes.”

Over the years, she learned many tricks for making gifts look special, and her family always looks forward to seeing how Tice will wrap their presents. One Christmas, she mailed her sister a parcel filled with small, individually wrapped gifts all tied together. When her sister lifted the first present from the box, the others followed on a long strand of ribbon.

Here are few of Tice’s ideas for wrapping gifts that are as much fun to open as to receive: • Buy good paper or use kraft paper if you can’t afford quality gift wrap. “Good quality paper makes sharp corners,” she says.

• Measure paper before you cut.

• Have the tape ready: Cut small pieces and tack them gently to the edge of the table so they are lined up to make it easier to keep the paper tight.

• Fold the cut (rough) edge of the paper first, then tape the nicer edge on top. Neatly fold in the sides.

• Buy ribbon at fabric stores; it’s less expensive and the selection is usually better.

Thrift shops are also a good place to scout for ribbon.

And if you can, upcycle. Tice reuses paper and ribbon, just like her mom did, adding a second short piece of ribbon to a bow in a complementary colour to use up bits and pieces. To reuse gift wrap, she tapes together several smaller pieces and turns the paper into a Christmas collage. If using kraft paper, she might cut out a few images from magazines — such as flower or tool photos for a gardener — then hot glue them to the paper after the gift is wrapped.

“If you’re not reusing, it’s so expensive now to wrap gifts,” she says. “It was more fun when it was less expensive.”

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6 6. Pretty in Ink Wrap your gift in kraft paper, then use a silver felt-tip pen to draw lines, squiggles, snowflakes or other personalized patterns. You can also use other colours of ink or paper, if you prefer, but we love the elegant sheen of silver against the rustic brown paper.

7. Box Up Your Baked Goods If you go to all the work of making cookies or candies for the people you love, make a point of packaging them in professional-looking bags or boxes. Companies like Creative Packaging have a good selection available online — all you need then is a pretty ribbon to tie it all up.

8. Natural Elements Create a festive winter motif by adorning plain-coloured wrapping paper with a simple cedar or spruce branch, a pine cone or two, a holly sprig or even a small wreath.

9. Word Has It

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TRINETTE REED/STOCKSY

Use stick-on letters, stencils or stamps to write a thoughtful message for those you love best — right on the wrapping paper. Or create a chalkboard effect, either by using white marker on black paper, or using chalkboard paint and writing a note in chalk.

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DARREN MUIR/STOCKSY

Instead of commercial wrapping paper covered in Santas and snowpeople, think outside the (gift) box. You can use stamps, stencils or paints to transform basic kraft paper into something unique. Or grab a roll of white butcher paper and use watercolour paints to create abstract designs. Or try your hand at collage or découpage — glue paper cutouts onto your gift wrap and add special paint effects or gold leaf — for something that’s truly one of a kind. Even better, let your kids join in the fun to create their own works of art.

RUTH BLACK/STOCKSY

10. Artful Paper

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11. Washi Tape Another option is to replace ribbon with easy-to-use washi tape, which comes in pastel, glitter, floral, vintage, metallic, natural and brightly coloured designs. You can even create a layered effect by weaving the tape horizontally and vertically in an alternating pattern.

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12. The Practical Stuff Before you start, make sure you have all your supplies. In addition to wrapping paper, ribbon and accessories, you will need: scissors, tape (double-sided tape is the way to go), gift tags and something to attach them with, a ruler, tissue for gift bags.

Celebrate the season of sparkle with the latest holiday pieces from Part Two

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YAM MAGAZINE NOV/DEC 2022

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Holiday Greetings

from the

The Victoria Public Market, located in the iconic Hudson’s Bay Building, features locally sourced artisan foods, handcrafted goods and gourmet items — perfect for all your holiday gifts!

1701 Douglas Street | Open Monday-Saturday, 11am–6pm (Individual shop hours may vary.)

We look forward to seeing you!

QUANTUM YOGA CLUB

LA PASTA LA PIZZA

Quantum Yoga Club. Victoria’s premier hot yoga experience.

Offering The Original Hot Yoga, Hot Pilates, Flow, and Yin classes. New student offer: $50 for your first month!

Celebrating authentic Italian cuisine where all of our pasta, pizza and sauces are housemade ... it’s the only way! We have a cozy event space to book for an after-hours holiday party, birthday or just because.

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ROAST From our oven to your table — let us do the work and you get the credit this holiday season.

Visit our website or give us a call.

roastsandwichshop.com 778-433-6639

DHAGA FASHIONS Dhaga Fashions specializes in the creation of unique block printed apparel, accessories and home furnishings. Designed by the owner Dolsy Babrah and thoughtfully manufactured in their Jaipur factory. Dhaga Fashions is the perfect place to pick up your next treasure or gift.

dhaga.ca 778-966-8800

THE CHOCOLATE PROJECT & CIRCLE CANNING

TACO STAND

The Chocolate Project features Canada’s largest selection of bean-to-bar chocolate. Let us guide you through our curated collection of over 300 bars. We also carry Circle Canning, a line of seasonal, small-batch artisan canned goods produced in the Hudson Building and sourced from local farmers.

Taco Tuesday is our favourite day. Buy 2 tacos = 1 FREE! Have you tried our famous loaded breakfast burrito?

It’s legendary.

778-432-4775

chocolateproject.ca

victoriapublicmarket.com

HOME + LIFESTYLE

By Danielle Pope | Photos by Dasha Armstrong

Comfort, Joy and a Bright New Future A thoughtful renovation transforms a family home from hospitalized space to a welcoming place of connection.

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PHOTO OF LARISA HUTCHESON BY JEFFREY BOSDET/YAM MAGAZINE

W

hen you walk into Larisa Hutcheson’s home today, the front door opens onto beautiful hickory flooring. A winding staircase ascends to the left; to the right, a cozy sitting room invites you in. Signature works of art adorn the walls, while bronze and black finishings punctuate each room. A porcelain mantel gleams from the family room and a Twirl pendant lamp is poised, like a bow, over the dining table.

It’s hard to imagine this is the same home that, for years, Hutcheson says, became a hospital. The house was interrupted with commodes, walkers, lift systems, support railings and hospital beds. Hutcheson’s husband, Derek, had the neurodegenerative disorder ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) for seven years before dying in 2020. At the same time, the couple’s young son, Will, was diagnosed with cerebral palsy and the family was adjusting to that reality.

“At one point, Will was sleeping in a hospital bed, and my husband was sleeping in the living room — our home just became a hospital for some time,” says Hutcheson.

A NEW CHAPTER A few years into Derek’s journey with ALS, Hutcheson saw a design ad in a magazine and clipped it out, vowing one day to transform their home into a space they would all love.

“There’s only so much room to fit a commode and an extra wheelchair. Things just don’t feel comfortable,” Hutcheson says. “When you think about that energy in a space, you can’t get away from it. You walk around your home and everything is out of sorts. It feels like your whole life revolves around hospital equipment, because it does.”

Years passed. Then, in 2020, Josée Lalonde, principal of Josée Lalonde Design, got a call. Hutcheson was ready to start a new chapter in her life and, holding onto the old ad she’d saved, was asking for help. Lalonde says the connection was instantaneous and emotional.

“How could we not say yes to this project?” says Lalonde, who partnered with Melanie Henson, owner of Home Style Solutions, as co-designers of the project.

“Larisa was the easiest client — we heard her story and her hopes, and, because of that ad, she trusted us to help her find a vision.”

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Pages 36 and 37: This home’s great transformation — from hospital beds to porcelain mantels — came after homeowner Larisa Hutcheson decided to fulfill a long-standing dream: to have a space where she could feel proud to host people.

Left: Hickory flooring brings a modern, rustic feel to the entry, but it isn’t the only major shift to this area. The stairwell’s dated spindle banister was modified with black powdercoated rungs and a natural hickory frame.

This page: The sitting room was created to be a pinnacle of entertainment for Hutcheson.

The red and mustard-coloured walls and dated blue tile fireplace were replaced by an inviting space full of light and striking finishes. The Cecelia 8-light pendant by Capital Lighting brings class to this space and the feature mantel, painted in Grays Harbor from Sherwin Williams, creates a transitional design, as it is featured on the kitchen island, family room bookshelves and barn doors as well.

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With the decision made to stay in place, thanks to a neighbourhood and a property they loved, Hutcheson added a dog to the family for Will, and worked with the design team to renew their home for this new phase of life.

“Larisa really wanted to have the space to entertain,” says Henson. “The home was accessible, but they never had people over because there was medical equipment everywhere. She and her son liked to cook, so they needed a bigger kitchen, and we wanted to give them a spot where they could cozy in to watch movies together. The dining area had been used for storage, so we wanted to open that back up, too.”

WARM AND INVITING Furnishings hadn’t been a priority for the family — when Derek had been well, they spent time outdoors camping when they could.

During the medical years, the carpets became badly worn and rooms grew less

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The kitchen has seen some of the biggest changes in the home and is now Hutcheson’s favourite room, made more spacious so she and her son can easily enjoy creating meals together. The feature hood fan above the island draws eyes up and mirrors the hickory floors below. A herringbone patterned subway tile and the Kato Tori faucet in matte black bring a creative modern look, and the quartz counters (Silestone Eternal on the surrounds and Silestone Eternal Bella on the island) give the room a durable sheen. A wall was removed between the dining area and kitchen to open up the space and revise it for communal gathering. The statement chandelier over the dining table (pages 36 and 37) is a Twirl Pendant by Dals Lighting, found at McLaren Lighting.

“I KNOW WHAT I LOVE WHEN I SEE IT, BUT I CAN’T CREATE IT MYSELF. THE WHOLE HOME IS VERY WARM AND INVITING NOW.”

functional as they fell out of use. The old spindle staircase was a barrier for wheelchairs, and the kitchen’s linoleum was aged. A rough brick fireplace dated the house, which was originally built in the 80s. Still, the home captured some of the family’s dearest memories.

“So many rooms are never used because they just aren’t furnished the right way,” says Lalonde. “Larisa plays the piano, but she never used the room it was in. Now, when she has girlfriends over, there is an elegant space where they can enjoy after-dinner coffees and visit.”

The reno worked to transform the home into one that encouraged Hutcheson to entertain, cook and host. The kitchen — Hutcheson’s new favourite room — was expanded to bring in light and style. A hickory hood fan mirrors the floor to create a centrepiece for gathering. A wall was removed to join the dining area to the kitchen, and the special sitting room was created with guests in mind. The family room pairs a modern fireplace with a media centre. Even the laundry area received a complete reno, with mosaic tiles and functional cabinetry replacing a disjointed space.

“I know what I love when I see it, but I can’t create it myself. The whole home is very warm and inviting now,” says Hutcheson. “I wanted a cohesive space, and one that flowed together.

Now, it feels connected.”

The home’s shift hasn’t just brought classic style to Hutcheson’s atmosphere. It’s helped her step into what she calls her “first real adult space” and a phase of life she knew she’d have to face. Though she and her son are taking on this new chapter together, Hutcheson says she knows her husband would be happy for them.

“I always wanted a space I felt proud of, and this is it,” she says. “Derek was a pretty handy guy, but he was all function and no form, so he didn’t really care about design esthetic — things just needed to work. But I know he’s extremely happy that we’re happy.

I know he wants that for us.”

The family room was redesigned for cozy connection and entertainment, with a TV and fireplace acting as the centrepiece of the space. The stone fireplace mantel, a 24-x-48 slab of Casa Roma Onyx porcelain tile, brings natural elements to this space.

Again, the Sherwin Williams Grays Harbor colour appears as a link to other rooms.

This space was once dedicated to medical supports, and bringing an open and bright atmosphere to the room helps it find new purpose.

New Year’s Eve at Fairmont Empress You’ve waited for this. Now it’s time to gather those who mean the most to you and share an experience like no other. Eloquently ring in the New Year in Fairmont Empress’ most historic Ballroom. This year, in classic formal fashion, Fairmont Empress’ New Year’s Eve Event will involve black-tie attire, cocktail upon arrival, live entertainment and a four-course seated dinner.

Reserve Today Tables of six to 12. December 31. 8:00pm - 1:00am $329 per adult plus taxes and gratuities. visit fairmont.com/empress to reserve

YAM_4.94x4.7_Holiday_Issue_EMP_092322.indd 1

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pillows | duvets | covers | sheets Great selection from Daniadown, Revelle, Manito, Cuddle Down, Dream Designs, Pokoloko, Laundress and more!

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250 656 0510 2492 Beacon Ave, Sidney

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t s e F n e a i st F

RESOURCE LIST Designers: Josée Lalonde and Melanie Henson Builders: Maxwell Developments Framer: West Coast Container Homes Plumbing and Mechanical: Oceanview Mechanical Electrician: V I Electric Light Fixtures: McLaren Lighting Doors and Hardware: Slegg Building Materials and Richelieu Hardware Windows: Westeck Windows & Doors Tile: Hourigan’s Flooring Kitchen Appliances: West Coast Appliances Countertops: Abstract Stone Plumbing Fixtures: Splashes Bath & Kitchen Flooring: Hourigan’s Flooring Painter: Quesada Coatings

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The laundry area, just off the stairwell, saw a complete metamorphosis, transitioning from an awkward blue space with disjointed cabinetry to a light and functional room. Floating shelves brought new use, with lower cabinetry making it easier for everyone to access supplies.

A stacking washer/dryer combo saved space for this small room and allowed for additional cupboards. The artistic tile, Seville Black from the Picasso Series, gives a modern flavour to this clean space.

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STYLE WATCH

Fashion Stylist: Janine Metcalfe | Photographer: Michelle Proctor

Vintage Luxury This holiday season, make your own richly colourful fashion statement by combining new trends and resale treasures.

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YAM MAGAZINE NOV/DEC 2022

This page: Teal green jumper designed by stylist Janine Metcalfe. Floral Puff Cuff top

by Leisure the Brand, available at Leisure & The Proper Table.

Wonders Seville shoe in black/ cream, available at Waterlily Shoes. Hera brass filigree and smoky quartz drop earrings

by Ellice and Her Necklace, available at De Mode En Vogue.

Left: Eileen Fisher wrap dress in cinnabar and faux fur jacket by Band of the Free, both available at Tulipe Noire. Necklace

by ELK, available at Moden Boutique.

This page: Vintage Welsh tapestry coat and vintage black faux fur scarf, both from House of Savoy. Black tights by Philippe Matignon, available at De Mode En Vogue. Wonders Seville shoe in black/ cream, available at Waterlily Shoes.

Right: Blouse by Free People, velvet beaded vest by Dries van Noten, tweed blazer by Karl Lagerfeld and black satin pants by Judith & Charles, all from Turnabout Luxury Resale. Gold earrings

by Jenny Bird, available at Tulipe Noire.

This page: Rose gold lamé dress

by Leisure the Brand, available at Leisure & The Proper Table.

Left: Rust velvet suit by Yerse, available at Moden Boutique.

Silk velvet cami and black tights

by Philippe Matignon, available at De Mode En Vogue. Gold necklace by Jenny Bird, available at Tulipe Noire. Sable wristlet by Hobo and Celine ankle boot by Angel Alarcon, both available at Waterlily Shoes.

Model: Leigh Dickson/Lizbell Agency Hair & makeup: Anya Ellis/Lizbell Agency Special thanks to Point Ellice House Museum and Gardens

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SIMPLE & SPECTACULAR

A towering seafood sampler is the most sumptuous — and easy — way to celebrate the season with your favourite people.

L

By Cinda Chavich oaded with everything from tender oysters and buttery crab to smoky salmon, plump prawns and briny caviar, a seafood platter is the exquisite start to many a formal affair. And this year feels like the right time to pull out the stops and seriously celebrate the season in West Coast style. So dig out your prettiest plates, visit your local fishmonger and start shucking.

SOME ASSEMBLY REQUIRED

At The Courtney Room, a seafood tower is always on the menu and features freshly shucked oysters, crab legs and other sustainable delicacies from local waters.

The beauty of a cold seafood buffet is its simplicity. It’s mainly a matter of collecting, curating and arranging an array of fresh shellfish rather than cooking a lot of complex recipes.

Your display can be as simple or as opulent as time and budget allow, and most of the chilled seafood on the menu can be prepared a day or more in advance.

A quick “seacuterie” board can be as easy as a trip to your favourite fishmonger. Several local fish stores make products that are perfect additions to a seafood platter, such as house-smoked oysters, salmon and octopus from Oak Bay Seafood or silky cold-smoked tuna loins at Finest at Sea (FAS). Marinated salmon or tuna poké and seafood ceviche, crab cakes and seafood pâtés are also available at the fish counter.

Both of these city purveyors specialize in sustainably sourced fish and shellfish from local waters, so you can also buy live clams and mussels to cook at home. You can also ask them to clean and pre-cook a Dungeness crab or curate an entire seafood platter for you.

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FAS in James Bay offers its own premium cold-pack canned salmon and tuna, as well as a variety of other easy options, including partyready seacuterie boxes of shellfish, pickles, pâtés and other gourmet goodies. They’ll even deliver a decadent caviar-and-lox platter featuring three tins of Northern Divine sturgeon caviar, cold-smoked spring salmon lox, fresh blinis and crème fraîche.

Tinned seafood is another great option for your cold seacuterie selection. Serve the kind of gourmet Spanish “conservas” that are opened to order at tapas bars, such as marinated octopus, white anchovies or mussels escabeche in a traditional vinegar sauce with paprika. Find them at Charelli’s, Fig Deli and other specialty stores.

OYSTERS ON TOP Every seafood tower features an array of shellfish, but here on the West Coast, sweet Pacific oysters are the crowning glory of any display. Presented in their frilly shells, on deep platters filled with sparkling crushed ice, freshly shucked oysters and Champagne get the party started quickly.

Raw oysters or clams should be shucked just before serving, and if you’re up to the task, it can be part of the main event. Or you can leave the shucking to the professionals.

The Wandering Mollusk offers the ultimate home oyster experience. For a big splash, hire them to set up their mobile oyster bar at your holiday gathering, or simply pick up a platter of freshly shucked oysters on ice, along with their own mignonette and hot pepper sauces.

“Everything is sourced from local shellfish farms and fishermen, fresh to order,” says owner Jess Taylor. You may see Taylor or one of his staff shucking oysters at a local event or pop-up, but

STEP BY STEP: HOW TO SHUCK AN OYSTER Shucking oysters to order can be fun at a party.

Make sure you have a great source of very fresh oysters — ask when and where they were harvested (a food fishmonger has this information). Oysters need to be kept cold and alive, so store live oysters in the refrigerator, cupped side down, topped with a moist

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Don’t feel like prepping your own seafood? Have the Wandering Mollusk shuck an oyster platter for you (above), or order a bountiful seafood platter from Finest at Sea (left).

you can also find him at Whistle Buoy Brewing Company in Market Square, the pick-up location for pre-ordered oyster platters and seafood boil buckets, his latest innovation.

Each seafood bucket features sustainable, locally sourced seafood that’s steamed to perfection in less than 20 minutes (indoors on the stovetop or outside over a grill or beach fire). Make it a memorable, hands-on party with a classic Crab Buckit (Dungeness crab, spot prawns, clams, mussels, corn and baby potatoes); Brussels-inspired mussels with bacon, shallots, mustard and leeks; or spicy Wu-Tang Clams with bok choy, chilies and ginger.

towel (but don’t cover them with ice — fresh water will kill them). When you tap a shell it should close. If it doesn’t, toss it.

Get a sturdy shucking knife, one with a solid handle and a thick, short blade. Wear a heavy, cutproof glove to protect your hand.

Scrub oysters with a brush to remove any mud or sand before shucking.

YAM MAGAZINE NOV/DEC 2022

Set the oyster on a clean towel, on a flat surface, with the deeper, cupped side down. Fold the towel over the oyster to partially cover it and hold it on the board.

You can also buy a cupped container to hold the oyster and steady it for shucking.

Place the point of the shucking knife into the hinge between the top and bottom shell (at the pointed end of the oyster).

“I pack every bucket fresh that morning,” says Taylor of the six different Wandering Mollusk boils. “Then you just boil them with two cups of beer or wine or cider, and roll them out on butcher paper for family feasting.”

EXPERT INSPIRATION Given our proximity to the sea, it’s no surprise that many local menus feature an array of shellfish starters, whether it’s the crab cakes and shellfish steamer pots at Blue Crab Seafood House or the chilled seafood platters at Nautical Nellie’s.

Ferris’ Upstairs Seafood & Oyster Bar features our Island bivalves in various guises — oysters baked with spinach and Pernod or creamed leeks and prosciutto or served raw with icy horseradish-infused vodka or Champagne — plus tuna sashimi, scallop crudo and smoked seafood with squid ink crackers.

And there’s an impressive cold seafood selection at The Courtney Room, where you can

Twist the blade and pry/ pop the oyster open, sliding the blade inside, along the top shell, to release the meat.

Separate the top shell from the bottom, then cut the abductor muscle on the bottom to release the oyster from the shell.

Remove any shell fragments before serving.

Set the shucked oysters in their shells on a layer of

crushed ice or rock salt to keep them upright, taking care not to lose any of the juicy liquor.

Serve your freshly shucked oysters straight up, with a squeeze of lemon or a little mignonette.

Pass them to your guests immediately after they’re shucked. Raw oysters should not sit on a buffet for more than an hour, even if they are on ice.

A great seafood tower, like this one from Boom + Batten, features both raw and cooked items, as well as dipping sauces.

REBECCA WELLMAN

start with a plate of briny Island oysters, raw tuna crudo scattered with glistening trout roe or a spectacular tower of shellfish, the pinnacle of the cold seafood plate.

“We prepare towers for parties and regularly serve a selection of cold seafood dishes,” says executive chef Brian Tesolin, who offers an array of sustainable seafood onThe Courtney Room’s menu, including dry-aged Kona kampachi (young Hawaiian yellowtail), sidestripe shrimp and Northern Divine caviar with crème fraîche and duck-fat-fried potatoes.

“We age kampachi for two weeks and serve it raw, like tartare,” says Tesolin. “Oysters are always on the platter, with chilled prawns and sometimes seared albacore tuna tataki or king crab.”

MAKE IT AHEAD While raw oysters or clams should be shucked just before serving, prawns, crab legs, mussels and other shellfish can be quickly steamed in advance, plunged into ice water to chill, then dried well and refrigerated until ready to serve.

Chef Tesolin says cooked shellfish will hold for a couple of days when properly handled.

“Keeping it dry and cold is number one,” says Tesolin, who also suggests a fast escabeche-style marinade of citrus, onion, garlic and olive oil to lightly pickle and preserve cooked seafood.

“Cooking” raw fish or shellfish in citrus juice for a simple ceviche or preserving cooked

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When shellfish is the star of the show it needs little embellishment, save for a few wedges of lemon and dipping sauces. But you can also get creative when it comes to presentation. shellfish in a vinaigrette for a mixed seafood salad are both great do-ahead ideas. Cold mussels make a splash on my seafood buffets, too — try them steamed, removed from the shell and tossed with a fresh tomato balsamic dressing (recipe on page 61), garlic and fresh herbs.

Another of my favourite recipes is salmon gravlax (recipe on page 60), the ruby red sockeye fillets cured simply with sugar, salt and dill, then sliced thin. Serve it on rye crackers, buckwheat blini or corn cakes, with mustard or horseradish mayonnaise.

For cold tuna tataki, quickly sear albacore tuna loins (just 30 seconds a side), then slice and serve with a soy yuzu dipping sauce.

Or make easy tuna crudo — thinly slice raw, partially frozen tuna, then dress it with olive oil, sea salt and fresh lemon juice, and garnish it with capers and shallots.

PERFECT PRESENTATION When shellfish is the star of the show it needs little embellishment, save for few wedges of lemon and dipping sauces. But you can also get creative when it comes to presentation.

Oysters arrive in their own naturally stunning shells for serving cold or hot. A bed of crushed ice holds freshly shucked oysters upright, keeps them cold and preserves their natural juices.

A layer of rock salt works as a base for oysters baked Rockefeller style or broiled with garlicherb butter and breadcrumbs.

Cold king crab legs or lobster tails can be served in their shells, too, while other raw offerings, such as tuna sashimi, crudo or seared tuna tataki, can be served on chilled plates.

A bed of blanched and chilled seaweed, sea asparagus (samphire) or kale makes a good base for a cold shellfish platter.

Impress with a pile of chilled prawns and classic tomato-and-horseradish cocktail sauce for dipping. Or layer cold shrimp in mini Mason jars, with a bit of rémoulade or Peruvian green sauce for individual shrimp cocktails. A small cocktail glass filled with iced gazpacho and garnished with a skewer of cold shrimp and cucumber spears is a perfect passed canapé.

Crostini toasts and rice crackers make a good base for smoked salmon lox, crab salad or prawn rémoulade bites. Try baby or fingerling potatoes — halved and steamed, or lightly “smashed” and baked until crispy — as a base for crème fraîche and caviar or smoked salmon starters. Or use sliced cucumbers, endive and small butter lettuce leaves as crisp containers for seafood salads.

And don’t forget the wine. Local bubblies and crisp Island whites pair naturally with our spectacular seafood.

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CLASSIC SEAFOOD TOWER

RÉMOULADE SAUCE

You can make a seafood platter simple or grand, but it’s always impressive.

• 1 ½ pounds extra-large prawns • 1 large Dungeness crab • 8 (or more) king crab legs • 1 pound mussels • 2 to 3 lobster tails, halved after being cooked and chilled • 24 freshly shucked oysters • Cold smoked fish or salmon gravlax (recipe on page 60) • Greens or blanched seaweed • Seafood sauces such as cocktail sauce, horseradish, mignonette and/or rémoulade (see recipe, opposite) • Hot drawn (clarified) butter for dipping GARNISHES: • Small ice cubes or crushed ice • Sea asparagus or seaweed, blanched and chilled • Dill or fennel fronds • Lemon wedges

Store your serving vessels in the freezer to chill before filling with ice.

Prep prawns, crab legs, mussels and lobster up to a day in advance. Steam each separately, plunge into ice water to cool quickly, then drain well and refrigerate for several hours (or overnight). Alternatively, for mussles, prepare Mussels Vinaigrette (see page 61).

Shuck oysters just before your guests arrive.

Present cold shellfish on platters or pans that are deep enough to hold a good layer of crushed or cubed ice. Put a towel in the dish before adding ice to absorb some of the water as it melts.

If you can, use separate tiers or plates for raw and cooked shellfish. Present raw food on ice. Cooked cold shellfish can also be simply served on a chilled plate lined with a bed of greens or blanched seaweed.

If you don’t have a specialty tiered appetizer dish, you can improvise by using a cake stand or an upturned bowl to balance a second tier or by elevating a shallow dish on a metal pizza stand.

Arrange your chilled seafood artfully in sumptuous piles for best effect, largest items on the bottom tier, smaller on the top.

Tuck small bowls of cocktail sauce, horseradish, migonette and rémoulade amid the seafood, but keep drawn butter warm on the side.

Garnish the platters with sea asparagus, dill or fennel fronds, and lemon wedges. Serves 8.

A holiday to

A simple sauce for dipping prawns, lobster or other cold seafood.

•1 cup mayonnaise •2 tablespoons Dijon mustard •1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice •1 tablespoon finely chopped flat-leaf parsley •1 green onion, minced •2 tablespoons tomato sauce (or 1 tablespoon tomato paste) •1 tablespoon capers, roughly chopped •1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce •1 teaspoon hot sauce, or more to taste Garnish: • Paprika or cayenne pepper Combine all ingredients (except garnish) and refrigerate. Serve dusted with a sprinkle of paprika or cayenne. Makes about 1 ½ cups.

remember!

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GRAVLAX ON RYE

GRAVLAX: • 1 cup chopped fresh dill, divided • 2 boneless sockeye (or other salmon) fillets, skin intact, pin bones removed (2 to 3 pounds total) • 1/3 cup coarse sea salt • 1/3 cup packed brown sugar • 1 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper • 4 tablespoons aquavit, gin or brandy SHAVED FENNEL SALAD: • 1 large fennel bulb, core removed and very thinly sliced, fronds reserved for garnish • ½ teaspoon finely grated lemon zest • 1 tablespoon lemon juice • 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil • Salt and freshly ground pepper

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FOR SERVING: • Rye crackers or rye bread • Mustard mayonnaise • Chopped dill Find a deep glass or ceramic dish just large enough to hold the salmon fillets. Sprinkle ¼ cup of the chopped dill over the bottom of the dish. Pat the salmon fillets dry.

Combine the salt, sugar and pepper in a small bowl, then rub most of the mixture over the flesh side of both fillets, then sprinkle with aquavit, gin or brandy.

Lay one fillet, skin side down, in the dish. Evenly sprinkle the fillet with ½ cup of chopped dill, then lay the second fillet on top, flesh side down. (To create an even thickness for curing, lay fillets in opposite directions — tail end to head end.)

Sprinkle any remaining dill, seasoning mixture and aquavit over top of the fillets. Cover with plastic wrap.

Find a board or plate that will fit into the dish and set it directly on top of the plastic wrap covering the salmon. Place something heavy over the board — such as bricks or cans of food — and transfer the dish to the refrigerator. Refrigerate for 2 to 3 days, basting twice a day with the salty juices that will accumulate in the dish. When the fish is properly cured, the flesh will become opaque and firm, as if cooked, and the fish will keep for a week.

For the fennel salad, combine all ingredients in a medium bowl. Toss lightly and season to taste with salt and pepper. Chill.

To serve, rinse fish to remove the excess dill and salt mixture. Pat dry. Set the cured fish on a cutting board, skin side down, and cut on the diagonal into thin slices, freeing each piece from the skin as you cut it.

To serve, top rye crackers or bread with fennel salad and salmon gravlax, drizzle with mustard mayo (mix a little Dijon into mayonnaise, to taste) and sprinkle with dill.

TIP: Aquavit is a grain-based Scandinavian spirit similar to vodka, but flavoured with aromatic herbs and spices such as coriander, lemon, dill and caraway seed. On Vancouver Island, Sheringham Distillery makes Akvavit, an award-winning craft spirit with notes of dill, caraway, anise, citrus and wild-harvested, local winged kelp. Use it in this gravlax recipe and sip it, ice cold, alongside.

JEFFREY BOSDET/YAM MAGAZINE

Gravlax is a traditional way to cure salmon. Start with a fish that’s scrupulously fresh or frozen at sea.

It takes a few days to “cook” the fish in this marinade, but it’s dead easy and makes an impressive nosh for a party buffet. Serve gravlax on rye crackers or bread with fennel salad and mustardy mayo, or on buckwheat pancakes (blini) with horseradish cream and dill.

MUSSELS VINAIGRETTE This recipe comes from Prince Edward Island, which is known for mussels, but Salt Spring Island mussels are my new favourite. If you like, substitute cooked shrimp and squid for a portion of the mussels and make this into a mixed seafood salad. (You will need about two pounds of seafood in total.)

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MUSSELS: • 1 tablespoon olive oil • ¼ cup minced onion • 1 cup white wine • 3 pounds large mussels in their shells VINAIGRETTE: • 1 very ripe tomato, seeded and chopped • 2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced • 2 green onions, chopped fine • ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil • 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar • 2 tablespoons minced fresh basil and Italian parsley, plus extra chopped herbs for garnish • 1 teaspoon sugar • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard Heat oil in a large pot and sauté the onion for 5 minutes, until soft. Add the wine and mussels.

Cover the pot, bring to a boil and steam over medium high heat for 5 minutes, or until the mussels open. Discard any that don’t open.

Cool and remove mussels from the shell and place in a bowl. (Reserve/freeze the broth for your next chowder, and save a few dozen of the nicest large shells for serving.)

For the vinaigrette, combine the ingredients in a blender or food processor and whirl until combined. Pour over the mussels, cover and marinate for a few hours or overnight in the refrigerator.

Spread a layer of rock salt on a platter and arrange mussel shells attractively on top.

Fill each shell with two or three mussels in vinaigrette. Garnish with herbs. Alternatively, serve in shot glasses with cocktail forks, Asian spoons or endive leaves. Makes 24 appetizer servings.

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PERFECT PAIRINGS Choose the right wines for your big turkey dinner, your NYE oyster bar and every social event this season.

By Joanne Sasvari

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I

f you’re anything like me, after the last two years of smaller, quieter celebrations, you’re more than ready to fling your doors open this holiday season and invite everyone you know to gather around your table. But before you do, give some thought to the wines you plan to serve them.

The right wine will make your food taste better, your guests feel more comfortable and yourself oh-so-much happier.

“Holidays are fun because there are so many flavours going on and so many wines to choose from,” says Jayme Beaudry, the general manager and wine program director at Zambri’s. Adds Adrienne Bertrand, the Union Club’s assistant food and beverage manager: “It’s a marathon, the holidays, all those meals. It’s a marathon and you’ve got to treat your body well.”

Whether it’s passed canapés, brunch or a fancy dinner, festive food tends to be rich, with many flavours competing at once. Here are some basic pairing rules to keep in mind: • Choose a wine with a similar weight, intensity and character to the food you’re serving.

• Richer foods need acid to cut through the fattiness.

• Spicy foods demand sweetness and/or spice.

• Tannins (the bitter flavours in some red wines, like Cabernet Sauvignon) clash with spice and salt.

• Pair the wine with the sauce and sides, not the protein.

“When it comes to wine pairing, especially when it comes to holiday dinners, people will just focus on the main protein,” says Jasmin Dosanj, sommelier at Wind Cries Mary. “But there are a lot of side dishes, so you have to think of the whole meal. There are so many different textures and acid levels.”

Also keep in mind that you may love that super-funky natural wine, but not all your guests might agree. Choose wines that are more likely to appeal to a crowd than to a niche taste.

Medium-bodied and lightly oaked wines with a touch of acidity (such as Pinot Gris, unoaked Chadonnay, Gamay, lighter-bodied Merlot and Syrah) are food friendly and accessible.

But don’t overthink it. As Beaudry says, “If you like the wine and you like the food, it’s not a bad pairing.”

Here’s what some of Victoria’s top somms recommend for your holiday festivities.

“Definitely bubbles. Bubbles go with everything,” says Beaudry.

Dosanj agrees. “I would definitely start with sparkling, like a Crémant de Jura or, if you’re really celebrating, some actual Champagne,” she says. “There are some amazing grower Champagnes out there.” (Crémants are bubbles made in the traditional Champagne style but in other regions of France. Grower Champagne generally refers to wines from the Champagne region that are made and bottled by the same person who grew the grape.)

Prosecco is another classic sparkler, but fruitier and with softer bubbles than Champagne. “But something different I’d try to serve, especially for lunch or brunch, is Lambrusco, a dry red sparkling wine,” says Beaudry. “It’s good with cured meats or a cheese board. I’ve never had anybody who doesn’t love it.”

Rosé is another good welcome sipper, and versatile enough to go with lots of different foods. “When you pour, it looks festive, no matter what,” says Bertrand. “And if you can get pink bubbles, even better.”

LILLYA RODNIKOVA/STOCKSY

RICHARDSON ALAN/STOCKFOOD

Canapés and Other Small Bites

“I WOULD DEFINITELY START WITH SOMETHING SPARKLING...”

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The Big Bird Given how ubiquitous turkey dinner is for all our fall and winter celebrations, you’d think we’d have nailed the wine pairings by now. But no. “What we get stuck on is we think of turkey as chicken,” Beaudry explains. Turkey has a deeper flavour, and the stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce and other sides add richness and complexity. “So you can definitely have a red wine,” she says.

She recommends Cesanese, a red grape from Lazio — Casale del Giglio produces an excellent one. “It’s got lots of cherry spice to it, it’s a good price point and it’s very crowd pleasing,” Beaudry says. “It’s what we served last year at all our holiday parties.”

Bertrand, on the other hand, suggests a

Fancy Prime Rib Dinner

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YAM MAGAZINE NOV/DEC 2022

B.C. Merlot. “It is very food friendly. Merlots got a bad rap, but here in B.C. it’s done very well,” she says. “And Syrah, what a wonderful option.”

For Dosanj, a rustic, earthy, spicy Sangiovese like a Rocca delle Macie Chianti Riserva “would be my number one go-to.”

She also recommends bright, food-friendly and crowd-pleasing Oregon Pinot Noir or Gamay from Beaujolais. “Especially when you’re dealing with a group of people, you want a wine that people will enjoy,” she says.

“If you must have white wine,” Bertrand adds, “think of something with some texture, like an oaked Chardonnay or Chenin Blanc that has a minerality to it.”

THIS IS YOUR OPPORTUNITY TO PULL OUT THE BIG REDS.

Nothing says “celebration” like a glorious standing rib roast with gravy, Yorkshire pudding and all the fancy fixin’s. This is your opportunity to pull out the big reds, the Bordeaux blends, California Cabs, opulent Super Tuscans, Barolos or that bottle of Black Hills Estate Nota Bene you’ve been hanging on to.

But Beaudry has another idea. “I am loving Nebbiolo from a region called Valtellina,” she says. (Nebbiolo is a tannic but fruitforward Italian red wine grape grown in the Piedmont region and used in the wines of Barolo and Barbaresco.) “It’s not a Barolo, it’s an alpine Nebbiolo. The colour is really light, but it packs a big punch.”

MARY WADSWORTH/CANDIS MAGAZINE/STOCKFOOD

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Brunch Brunch, whether it’s the traditional Boxing Day eye opener or any of the many other occasions we gather for a mid-day meal, is all about fried things, eggy things, salty, fatty, buttery things slathered in syrup or hollandaise. Not to mention, as Dosanj notes, “You might be a little hungover.” She would serve a fizzy red Lambrusco, “a lighter style that’s well rounded.”

Bertrand, too, would offer bubbles. “I’m thinking a sparkling cocktail, maybe with grapefruit,” she says. “I’m always for bubbles with eggs.”

She likes the idea of something “light, light, light,” like a Moscato.

Then again, maybe brunch isn’t the time for wine.

“If you’re having all that salt and fat, you could just have a beer,” Bertrand says. “If you’re having a brunch after a long night, it’s an easier pairing.”

“IF YOU’RE HAVING ALL THAT SALT AND FAT, YOU COULD JUST HAVE A BEER.”

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Is there a better way to usher out the old year and welcome the new than with a glamorous, over-the-top chilled seafood buffet? Freshly shucked oysters, lashings of caviar, crab legs, prawn cocktail, “seacuterie” — it’s a spread to remember and a way to indulge in all the bounty of the West Coast (see our story on page 54).

The wine you choose should live up to it.

Sparkling wine, such as Vancouver Island’s own Charme de L’île or traditional brut from Vigneti Zanatta or Blue Grouse, is a natural. But why not go beyond the bubble?

“When you think of seafood, you think of a certain flavour profile,” Bertrand says.

That profile is light and a little bit neutral, with a touch of minerality and maybe even a slight salty note. She suggests Muscadet, a light white wine from the Loire Valley, or Albariño and other whites from Northern Spain and Portugal.

Similarly, Dosanj would reach for a Chablis, the lean, flinty Chardonnay from Burgundy, which often has a saline note. “Most Chablis has a lot of minerality and little to no acid, which would be great with a seafood platter,” she says.

And, Bertrand says, don’t count out red wines like a lightly chilled Pinot Noir or Gamay. “Blue Mountain does a great Gamay, or Averill Creek for Pinot Noir here on the Island,” she says. “If you think of a seafood tower, just think lighter.”

Pairings for All Occasions Over the winter months, there are dozens of other events and situations where you may be called on to choose a wine. Here’s a guide to help you out for (almost) every occasion:

1 | Vegetarian and vegan fare Traditional pairing rules tend to focus on animal proteins — red wine with beef, for instance, or white with fish — so where does that leave the plant-forward folks? In pretty much the same place, because modern pairing rules are all about matching the flavours, not the ingredients. Pair cashew cream pasta with a complementarily buttery Chardonnay or contrasting Pinot Noir; spicy chickpea curry with an off-dry Riesling; and savoury mushroom Wellington with a luscious red blend.

Cashew cream pasta PAIRS WITH: Chardonnay

or Pinot Noir

2 | Hanukkah The table will be loaded with lots of savoury flavours during the Festival of Lights. Pick a wine bold enough to stand up to them, but with enough fruit, spice and acid to balance them out, like Syrah or Gamay.

3 | Lunar New Year Chinese food, with its myriad umami, salty and at times spicy flavours, is notoriously difficult to pair. Welcome the Year of the Rabbit on January 22 with the easygoing versatility of rosé or a lighter red like Pinot Noir or Gamay.

Then again, bubbles are celebratory and go with everything.

Thai takeout PAIRS WITH: Aromatic

white, rosé or fruity red

4 | Feast of the Seven Fishes White wine is the go-to for this Italian seafood extravaganza celebrated on Christmas Eve. Choose a crisp, high-acid Verdicchio for lighter courses and something rounder like Chardonnay or Bellone for richer ones.

5 | Netflix and takeout If you’re ordering Thai or Indian cuisine to enjoy with your favourite holiday movie, remember that tannin and spice are mortal foes. Avoid big reds and choose aromatic whites, rosé or light, fruity reds.

Trifle recipe on page 68

REMEMBER: TANNIN AND SPICE ARE MORTAL FOES.

The general rule for pairing wine with dessert is that the wine should be sweeter than the dish. That doesn’t always apply — Cabernet Sauvignon, for instance, can partner beautifully with chocolate — but for the most part you should consider dessert wines such as Port, some sherries, and late-harvest or icewine. They come in a huge range of flavours and sweetness levels, though, so also consider the secondary characteristics. A rich Cognac or nutty, spicy tawny Port would be great with Christmas pudding or the gingerbread trifle on the cover (recipe on page 68), while a luscious Riesling icewine would be a better partner for lemon tart. If in doubt, ask your wine store for advice.

JEFFREY BOSDET/YAM MAGAZINE

6 | Dessert

Gingerbread trifle PAIRS WITH: Cognac,

tawny Port or a sweeter aged sherry.

YAM MAGAZINE NOV/DEC 2022

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Gingerbread, Pear and Dulce de Leche Trifle Recipe by Joanne Sasvari

Sweet pears, creamy caramel and spiced cake combine in a perfect dessert for a wintry celebration. Rushed for time?

You can replace the gingerbread below with store-bought cake of any sort and/or use purchased dulce de leche instead of making your own. Pair with a V.S.O.P. Cognac or tawny Port.

Serves 8 to 10

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Gingerbread cake: • Softened butter for greasing the pan • 1 ½ cups flour • 1 tablespoon baking soda • 1 teaspoon cinnamon • 1 teaspoon ground ginger • 1 teaspoon ground cloves • ½ teaspoon salt • ¾ cup granulated sugar • 1 large egg • ½ cup applesauce • ½ cup molasses • 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil • ¼ cup hot water

Caramelized pears: • 4 tablespoons butter • 6 pears, peeled, cored and cut into 1-inch cubes • ¼ cup brown sugar • ½ teaspoon ground ginger • ¼ teaspoon salt Trifle: • 2 cups whipping cream, divided • 1 cup dulce de leche (see note) • ½ cup brandy, tawny Port or sherry (or more, if you prefer a more spirited trifle) • ¾ cup finely chopped crystallized ginger, divided Garnish: • Gingersnap or gingernut cookies, crumbled • Finely chopped crystallized ginger

Make the gingerbread cake: Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter an 8-by-8-inch square baking pan, or line it with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ground ginger, cloves and salt.

In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar and egg until thick and pale. Stir in applesauce, molasses, fresh ginger, vegetable oil and hot water. Stir in flour mixture, mixing until fully incorporated.

Pour into the prepared pan and bake about 35 minutes, or until a wooden skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Cool in the pan for about 5 minutes, then turn out onto a rack and cool completely. Cut cake into 1-inch cubes.

Cook pears: Melt the butter in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add pears. Cook, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes, then stir in brown sugar, ground ginger and salt and cook for about 10 more minutes or until just starting to caramelize. Remove from heat and cool completely.

Whip 1 cup of cream until soft but firm peaks form, then gently and gradually fold it into the dulce de leche. Whip the other cup of cream separately. Set both aside and keep chilled until needed.

When you’re ready to make the trifle: Layer half the cake cubes in the bottom of a trifle or other glass bowl, then drizzle with brandy, Port or sherry. Spoon half the caramelized pears on top of the cake and sprinkle with ¼ cup crystallized ginger. Top with half the dulce de leche mixture.

Repeat all the layers, then top with the reserved whipped cream and garnish with crumbled ginger cookies and the remaining ¼ cup of crystallized ginger. Serve immediately, or cover and chill for up to one day.

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NOTE: You can purchase dulce de leche at most grocery stores, but it’s easy to make your own. Remove the label from a 300 mL can of sweetened condensed milk (such as Eagle brand) and lay the tin on its side in a deep pot. Add enough water to cover by at least 2 inches, then bring water to a boil. Cook at a lively simmer for 2 hours, replenishing water every half hour or so. (It’s important to keep the tin covered with water so it doesn’t explode under pressure.) Drain pot and run cold water over the can until it is cool enough to handle. Pop open the lid, and the condensed milk will have transformed into sweet, thick, irresistible caramel.

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The Butchart Gardens 12-Month Pass The perfect holiday gift for the whole family! Looking for a gift to be enjoyed year round? Give a 5-season experience from The Butchart Gardens with an Adult, Youth or Child 12-Month Pass. Adult Pass only $74.50 THE BUTCHART GARDENS 250-652-4422 butchartgardens.com

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From views of the magnificent Salish Sea, to treatments at The Boathouse Spa and delicious cuisine at FARO Pizza, The Snug Pub and The Dining Room, an Oak Bay Beach Hotel eGift Card provides the ultimate luxurious escape for all those near and dear to you this holiday season.

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Sometimes the best way to survive the stress of the season is to outsource it to the people who are best placed to accommodate it — at our city’s hotels.

By Joanne Sasvari

74

Checking in — for Holidays the

YAM MAGAZINE NOV/DEC 2022

JORDAN DYCK/DESTINATION BC

W W

hatever holidays you celebrate, or whether you celebrate at all, these next few months of winter can be a fraught time.

Yes, we love the twinkly lights and cozy sweaters, the mugs of hot chocolate, all those festive cookies and the arrival of visiting friends and family. But someone has to hang those lights and prepare that cocoa and make up the guest rooms. Question is: Does it really have to be you?

The answer is no, not if you choose to check out of the stress and check in

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YAM MAGAZINE NOV/DEC 2022

to all the seasonal magic that Victoria’s hotels can offer.

“First and foremost, Victoria, as a whole, is a very Christmassy destination,” says Bill Lewis, general manager of the boutique Magnolia Hotel & Spa. “It’s a place people travel to for the holiday. And Victoria is a city that dresses up during the holiday season.”

But even if you already live here, he says, “Sometimes it’s just fun to trade in the walls of your home for the walls of a hotel room.”

Along with their high-thread-count sheets and attentive room service, hotels also offer spas, restaurants,

lounges, afternoon teas, gift shops and beautifully decorated spaces with staff ready to make you feel right at home, only better, because you don’t have to wash the dishes later.

Take the Oak Bay Beach Hotel, with its giant tree in the front lobby, evergreen garlands draped across the grand fireplace and the thousands of gold ornaments twinkling from the ceiling. “The hotel is decorated from top to bottom in the holiday spirit,” says Anneke Feuermann, the property’s marketing manager.

Or the Fairmont Empress, the “Castle on the Coast.” “Starting with the

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Left: Get into the festive spirit of the beautifully decorated lobby at the Oak Bay Beach Hotel.

Above: Enjoy a boozy hot chocolate and some s’mores toasted over an open fire on the Veranda at the Fairmont Empress.

anticipated lighting of our Christmas tree [on November 26], we look forward to delighting our guests with a special holiday menu and a number of dining events to enjoy, whether you are celebrating with friends, family or work colleagues,” says general manager Dan McGowan. “Myself and the team at Fairmont Empress look forward to reuniting with the community for a magical holiday season.”

Now, we know that a stay at a fancy hotel is not in everyone’s budget, and we know that some family members would be forever insulted if you didn’t flip open the hide-a-bed for them. But there’s something gloriously indulgent about escaping from the festive fray and sipping a cocktail at a hotel bar, booking a relaxing massage or lining up for a Boxing Day brunch buffet. Here’s how to make the most of what our local hotels have to offer.

Contact me today to learn more about how I can help.

Joanne Vesprini, BA (Econ.)

Investment Advisor 250-356-4679 | joanne.vesprini@rbc.com joannevesprini.com RBC Dominion Securities Inc.* and Royal Bank of Canada are separate corporate entities which are affiliated. *Member-Canadian Investor Protection Fund. RBC Dominion Securities Inc. is a member company of RBC Wealth Management, a business segment of Royal Bank of Canada. ® / ™ Trademark(s) of Royal Bank of Canada. Used under licence. ©2022 RBC Dominion Securities Inc. All rights reserved. 22_90851_WSQ_001

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SEAWEED Mysteries of the Amber Forest

FEAST WITH YOUR FRIENDS Parties! Parties! Parties! Expect every Friday and Saturday between now and January 1 to be booked by people ready to celebrate, especially after two years of smaller gatherings due to pandemic restrictions. But aside from all the private events and gala New Year’s Eve bashes, every major hotel also offers special meals that offer us a lovely way to connect with each other on these cold, dark, wintry days and nights.

Starting in November, the Fairmont Empress, for instance, serves up festive afternoon teas, s’mores on the Veranda and special cocktails at Q Bar, as well as the grand Christmas Day buffet in the Crystal Ballroom.

And up at the Villa Eyrie Resort on the Malahat, guests can enjoy a “majestic” New Year’s Eve dinner, toasting 2023 under starry skies.

EXHIBIT ON NOW

9811 Seaport Place, Sidney | salishseacentre.org | @salishseacentre YAM MAGAZINE NOV/DEC 2022

77

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Meanwhile, in addition to its festive “share plates” brunches every weekend, the Inn at Laurel Point is opening a new bakery café in time for the holidays, highlighting the exceptional work of pastry chef Kimberley Vy. “The café will be a Christmas gift for everyone, and we’re so excited to offer our guests and the community a cozy café ambience, combined with a uniquely Inn at Laurel Point experience,” says general manager Eda Koot.

As for the big day itself, wouldn’t you rather spend it with the people you love than stuck in the kitchen mashing potatoes and basting the turkey? Check with your favourite property and

chances are they are offering a special meal on December 25 — for instance, the Oak Bay Beach Hotel offers a brunch “which is highly sought after,” as well as Christmas dinners in both the Snug Pub and dining room.

Or if you feel like dining in, but don’t want to do all the work, why not order turkey dinner with all the fixin’s to go and enjoy the hotel experience at home?

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At the Inn at Laurel Point, its Festive Brunch is all about sharing plates with your favourite people.

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JUCEE HEALTH BAR

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Above: Indulge in a luxurious, effort-free Christmas dinner like the one served at the Oak Bay Beach Hotel. Below: Work out your holiday stress with a massage at a spa like the one at the Brentwood Bay Resort.

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stressors of too much to do and too little time to do it in. You have to take time to care for yourself, and one of the best ways to do that is by opting out for a few hours at a spa. Enjoy a massage, get a facial, have your toenails painted and relax amid the fragrance of eucalyptus and the soothing music of pan flutes.

The Magnolia, Fairmont Empress, Hotel Grand Pacific, The Westin Bear Mountain, Brentwood Bay Resort, Villa Eyrie Resort and Sidney Pier Hotel & Spa are all known for their spa facilities, and offer an excellent day escape no matter what part of Greater Victoria you are in.

Introducing Christ Church Cathedral School’s New Strings Program Cathedral School is excited to now be offering a strings program as a complement to the established band, jazz, and choral programs.

Violin and cello instruction beginning in grade 4 and 5.

Contact us for a personal tour and educational consultation!

YAM MAGAZINE NOV/DEC 2022

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But for a uniquely indulgent experience, soak away the stress in the mineral pools at the Oak Bay Beach Hotel, steaming gently under the starry winter skies on a cliff overlooking Juan de Fuca Strait. “The pools are really underrated in the winter season,” Feuermann says. “We have our loyal guests who return every year and spend the holidays as almost a wellness experience. We even have some locals who make a point of staying with us.”

Aside from splashing in the hot pools, guests can also wander through nearby Oak Bay Village, all decked out in its festive finery.

“It’s the perfect way to get into the holiday experience,” Feuermann says, adding, “We have the resort experience without the resort fees.”

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You can also have your favourite hotel — near or far away — take the chore of gift-buying off your hands. Sure, you can just pop a gift card for the spa, dining room or accommodation into an envelope and be done with it. Or you can click over to the online shop and browse through the bathrobes, scented candles, fancy soaps and shampoos, or even the custom mattresses that keep guest after guest snoozing comfortably.

The Westin Heavenly Bed, for instance, earned its moniker for good reason — it has a plush quilted pillow top, motion isolation and individually wrapped coils that offer a longlasting, comfortable and supportive night’s sleep. Hilton, Marriott Bonvoy, Sheraton, Four Seasons and other major brands also sell their quality mattresses, as well as the luxe linens and pillows to go with them, allowing you to give the priceless gift of a good night’s sleep.

Then again, you could also tuck a plush Magnolia robe, a Royal Empress tea set, a RitzCarlton room diffuser, a pair of Four Seasons velvet slippers or so much more under the tree instead.

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640 Fort Street mellingerie.ca @Mellingerievictoria

The Magnolia hotel lobby welcomes guests with cookies, cider and a festive tree.

ACCOMMODATE YOUR GUESTS The main purpose of a hotel is to offer guests a place to stay, and while we all like to think of ourselves as gracious hosts, truth is, sometimes our guest spaces aren’t all that ideal. Many of them have been turned into home offices these past couple of years or forced to do double duty as storage spaces, nurseries or gyms. Even if they haven’t, we’re all used to our privacy now, and a little togetherness can go an awfully long way, especially when there are shared bathrooms involved.

That’s why, Lewis says, “Hotels are great for your out-of-town guests to spend some time.

You can get R&R and still have your own space and be pampered.” (Note that many hotels, like the Magnolia, also offer special holiday packages.)

Every property we spoke to has regulars who show up each year for the holiday season, some to visit family, others to escape it, arriving from all over the world to spend Christmas in Victoria. Increasingly, though, those guests are coming from right here at home.

“The staycation market even before COVID was becoming a thing. But COVID took that to a new level during the Christmas season,” Lewis says.

That might mean a couple in from up-Island coming to town to do some shopping and enjoy a dinner out, or a family from Oak Bay or Langford wanting to celebrate without worrying about getting home after a few glasses of festive cheer, or anyone at all simply hoping to escape the stressors of this busiest of seasons.

“It’s a really interesting crowd between December 23 and January 1,” Lewis notes.

“It’s a steady flow of relaxed people from when they get up in the morning until they have that late-night drink at the bar. It’s as busy as August, but it’s really relaxed. It’s the best week of the year.”

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YAM MAGAZINE NOV/DEC 2022

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SERENITY IN THE SNOW Strap on the skinny skis and learn why cross-country is the best winter sport for exploring the Island (and beyond) at any age and skill level.

By Diane Selkirk

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FREYA WASTENEYS

Cross-country allows skiers to escape the crowds and explore the snow-clad forests.

Here, members of the Strathcona Nordic Ski Club venture onto the trails of Mount Washington Alpine Resort.

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On a clear day,

A SPORT FOR LIFE Once considered the stodgiest of the snow sports (compared to the flash of snowboarding or the thrill of downhill skiing), cross-country has recently come into its own and is now one of winter’s fastest developing activities. In British Columbia, interest in the Nordic sport had already been growing steadily for the past few decades, but since COVID-19 hit, the province’s ski clubs have reported a 50 per cent increase in their membership numbers.

Wannes Luppens, executive director of Cross Country BC, says this growth isn’t a surprise.

“Cross-country skiing is a lifetime sport, from ages 0 (in a chariot or backpack) to 90-plus,” he says. “It’s a full-body, low-impact outdoor activity that’s accessible, affordable and great for families.

It can be a peaceful experience in the woods, an exhilarating workout and everything in between.”

I first tried cross-country skiing as a teen through a high school outdoor education class.

NEIL HAVERS

the views from Mount Washington’s cross-country ski trails seem endless.

To the east are the blue waters of the Salish Sea and the rugged mountains of the Coast Mountain range. To the west are the bright, snowy peaks of Strathcona Provincial Park. But today, as my family and I ski along the winding trails of Paradise Meadows, I can only imagine those stellar views. Lightly falling snow and low clouds give the forest an insulated and secluded feeling — perfect for the kind of quiet, meditative ski I was hoping for after a busy week.

But then, our daughter Maia kicks it up a notch. Lengthening my stride to catch her, I feel a bit of a wobble and think I may end up practising a newly learned manoeuvre that allows me to get up (more or less) gracefully after a fall. Instead, I calm my breathing and coach myself back into the simple, smooth rhythm of kicking and gliding. Within moments, I’m speeding along the tracks so confidently that skiers going the other way probably spot my grin of delight.

Mount Washington’s pre-set classic trails make it easy for people of all skill and fitness levels to try cross-country skiing.

“It can be a peaceful experience in the woods, an exhilarating workout and everything in between.”

Initially, it didn’t captivate me — I was a downhill skier, and my novice Nordic skills didn’t give me the shot of adrenalin I craved. A few years later, I tried it again by venturing into the backcountry with friends. This time I used special metaledged skis to cut trails into the unblemished snow. Setting off over frozen ponds and into towering old-growth forests, we’d camp out for a night or two — providing some of the most memorable winter adventures of my life.

Several years after those rugged undertakings, things changed again when my husband Evan and I introduced our baby daughter to the hills.

Nothing could compare to Maia’s joy when she

WHAT TO KNOW BEFORE YOU GO There are three main types of Nordic skiing: classic, skate and backcountry. With each one, the gear is a bit different, but the similarity is your toe stays attached and your heel is free (not fixed as with downhill).

Classic skiing uses a gliding motion in preset, parallel tracks. Almost anyone can successfully shuffle along flat trails.

Skate skiing can look a bit like speed skating on snow. Done outside the tracks, the skating motion propels you forward quickly.

Backcountry touring takes you into the wilderness. It requires a range of backcountry skills (including avalanche safety) and safety gear.

Cross-country is for everyone. Many clubs run lessons and programs for people with all abilities, including adaptive ski programs, options for the visually impaired and rentals for all ages.

For more information, visit crosscountrybc.ca.

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graduated from a backpack to her own pair of tiny toddler skis — even though that first year, they only carried her the short distance from the parking lot to a warming hut for a cup of hot chocolate.

VARIED TERRAINS AND STYLES This something-for-everyone flexibility is what makes cross-country so special, says Andrea Stapff, the head coach of the Strathcona Nordic Ski Club on Mount Washington. “In some ways, it’s like bike riding and all of the different ways that can look. You ski at your own pace and at your own level,” she says.

And while non-skiers often assume crosscountry is a physical slog that’s tough to get the hang of, Stapff explains that once you nail the basics, it’s pretty straightforward. “When you start, the first thing you do is literally just walk on the snow — and then you learn to slide,” she says. From there, Stapff says, you can go any direction you like: “You can become competitive and start racing, head off bush bashing in the wilderness or just enjoy a leisurely classic ski with friends.”

The goal is to have fun, stay active and ski at the level that suits you.

As a young family, cross-country skiing became our favourite winter activity. With a much lower barrier to entry than alpine skiing,

it was easy and affordable to take up. Trail passes are a fraction of the cost of downhill passes, and the clothing consists of the kind of items many people already own for winter biking or hiking (a base layer, fleece layer and a wind or waterproof shell). Basic classic ski gear is also quite cheap and, like many new skiers, we bought our first skis, poles and boots on the used market.

As we spent more time on the hills, Maia began lessons. This was when we discovered that cross-country clubs attract a diverse and welcoming community of people who enjoy being outdoors as much as we do. Luppens explains that because of the unique way that cross-country skiing first developed in the province, most cross-country ski areas are managed by non-profit clubs. He says that many clubs go beyond simply managing the trails and often offer rental equipment, run social programming and provide lessons for children, youth and adults — even those who have never skied before.

X- Country Destinations While you can ski just about anywhere that gets enough snow (the Cowichan Valley Trail is popular in the right conditions), check out these winter-long options:

Mount Washington Alpine Resort

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The resort’s 55 kilometres of machine-groomed crosscountry trails provide stunning views of gorgeous Strathcona Provincial Park.

What to try: Check out the Strathcona Nordic Ski Club’s programs for people of all ages and abilities — the club has two sit skis and also offers options for the visually impaired.

Mount Cain Alpine Park This ski area northwest of Campbell River offers some of the easiest access to backcountry skiing found on the Island.

What to try: Hike Vancouver Island (Island Alpine Guides) have intimate knowledge of the terrain and can introduce skilled skiers to this muchloved area.

Dakota Ridge Ski Area With 20 kilometres of volunteer-maintained trails, a warming hut and outhouse, this area on the Sunshine Coast is rustic Nordic skiing at its best.

What to try: Car-free skiers can catch a shuttle in Sechelt from Alpha Adventures to the ski area.

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BUILDING CONFIDENCE While Maia became faster and more fearless on the trails, the opposite seemed to happen to me. She was a teen when I realized our family sport was at risk of turning into individual sports because the pace I’d been skiing since Maia was a toddler wasn’t cutting it anymore. This is when I discovered that adult lessons and masters programs could offer a way to improve at something I’d been doing sort of badly for over 20 years.

The first classes I took were filled with a range of adults wanting to improve skills, switch sports because of downhill injuries or simply see what the hype was about. I quickly learned my self-taught ski techniques needed refining — but by the end of the first set of lessons, not only was I quicker, I was more confident.

A few weeks later, we set off along the trails on Mount Washington. After Maia picks up speed and I almost lose my balance, I settle into a comfortable pace.

Breathing deeply, the cold air fills my lungs while snowflakes dampen my cheeks and catch in my lashes. The snow-covered trees look almost alive — bent into hunched human-like forms under a blanket of white. “How perfect this is,” my now-adult daughter Maia says, before slowing just enough to catch a snowflake on her tongue.

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YAM MAGAZINE NOV/DEC 2022

87

SCENE

“This is OUR Show.”

Lynda Steele and Jody Vance bring decades of experience, passion and personality to their new CHEK TV talk show.

By David Lennam

S

he is the first woman in Canada to host her own prime-time sports show.

And she is a one-time Broadcast Performer of the Year and recipient of the Radio Television Digital News Association Lifetime Achievement Award.

She received a Paul Carson Sports Broadcast & Journalism Excellence Award for Leadership in Sports.

She’s a CKNW talk radio legend who even had a day named in her honour in Vancouver.

She trained as a chef and got her break serving drinks at legendary band manager Bruce Allen’s birthday party.

She received the first-ever BC Care Providers Association Family Champion of the Year Award.

She knew she wanted to be a sports anchor when she was a child.

Can you guess?

She is Lynda Steele.

And she is Jody Vance.

Collectively, Steele and Vance — whose new talk show began airing on CHEK TV in

STEELE & VANCE: WHO’S WHO YAM: Who’s funnier, you or Lynda?

Jody Vance (right): Oh, Lynda’s funnier.

Lynda Steele (left): Hmm… I think we’re both funny — in different ways, maybe. Jody makes me laugh, I know that. And we have lots of laughs whenever we’re together.

YAM: Who’s the strict and serious one?

Vance: Lynda. I’m more Jimmy Kimmel to her Walter Cronkite.

Steele: Definitely me. I’m the planner/worrier. She’s the freespirit type who’s ready to go at a moment’s notice. A perfect match, I think.

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September (Thursdays, right after Jeopardy) — are both renowned broadcasters in B.C. “The two of us have worked really, really hard for others and worked well with others, and built the thing that sold the stuff, and this is OUR show,” says Vance. “There are no rules unless we make them.” That said, Rule No. 1 is: “Enjoy it.”

Working on separate but parallel careers, they’ve been talked to, talked at, talked about, analyzed, dissected, lauded and fêted. Television, radio, print, podcasts, social media — the only way you’d not recognize them is if you’ve had your electricity cut off for the past 30 years.

But for those who have been living in the dark, a primer.

Steele was a Global TV anchor in Edmonton, host of the consumer investigation segment Steele On Your Side at CTV Vancouver and, recently, host of the Lynda Steele Show on CKNW radio.

Vance has carved out an impressive career that has seen her all over the airwaves (Sportsnet, Leafs TV, CBC, CTV Breakfast Television, the FM radio station Shore 104, Roundhouse Radio).

Lately, she’s been freelancing for Al Jazeera English, co-hosting the UnSpun podcast, writing a column for The Orca and filling in at CKNW. It was at CKNW that she met Steele, working as her co-host for the afternoon drive show. The on-air chemistry was instant.

“In those early days of filling in, she said we should go out for a glass of wine,” recalls Vance, noting there was a mutual admiration and a shared affinity for salty snacks. “We hit it off right away. [Lynda’s] such a conversationalist.

She’s an unbelievable touchstone of a woman in this industry, and women sticking together in broadcast and media is so important. And she’s the greatest leg-up mentor giver of props.”

There may have been thoughts of teaming up for a gig, but it had to wait.

Steele was being forced into another kind of decision. Her father was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Her mother had passed away 18 months earlier with dementia. Steele had already spent stressful years helping her mom and dad navigate the long-term care system.

Now she was back at it again. And there was no way she could juggle a daily radio talk show with caregiving, so, two years ago, she sent out a now famous tweet.

“My career can wait. And my family cannot.”

Steele left CKNW, not knowing when she’d be back behind the mic. But she had a pretty good idea who she wanted to work with.

When her dad’s declining health forced him into long-term care, Steele was ready to return to work and cobbled together a list of media women whom she’d take out to lunch, one at a time, and pick their brains. “I was suffering creatively and wondering how I could scratch that creative itch,” she says now.

Vance was at the top of that list.

“And she surprised me,” recalls Steele. “The screw top wasn’t off the bottle of wine when she said, ‘Let’s do a podcast’ and I was like ‘What?’ ” Almost before the bottle was finished, they were meeting on Zoom to rehearse what was originally conceived as a podcast on the (now defunct) Orca website.

Those practice sessions started at a half-hour, but when CHEK picked up on their pitch, they realized they’d have to fill an hour. No problem.

“What was happening was we were getting cut off from Zoom, saying your time is up, after an hour and 15,” says Steele with a laugh.

Vance says she and Steele are very different, but those differences make for better banter. “If you unpack each of our lives, we bring to the table almost polar opposites, but not in a societal sense of the word. Our opinions are similar, but we come from very different day-to-day,” she says. “I have a child. She never had kids. I have two dogs and might be the craziest of crazy dog ladies, and she has yet to get a dog, but I will talk her into getting one. She does not cook. I went to culinary school and live with a chef.”

I’d heard Vance in an interview mention this was a chance for her and Steele to “scare themselves,” so I asked her how two savvy veterans would get the shakes.

“There’s no net, no control room, no producer in your ear. This is Lynda Steele and Jody Vance talking about the news, about things that are going viral, about the issues around the city, around the province, around the country, around the world and how they land on the kitchen table here.”

“Nervous excitement,” is how Steele frames it. “Every broadcaster, if they’re truthful, when the mic goes on you’re a little bit amped up and ready to go, but there’s always a little element of being on three wheels, enjoying the circus ride, so to speak.”

Asked whether the affiliation with the employee-owned CHEK, truly Canada’s only independent television station, was key, Vance doesn’t hesitate. “Absolutely,” she says. “Can you put that in all caps for me?”

CHEK Media Group CEO and general manager Rob Germain was thrilled to give them a weekly spot. He’d noticed the spark when the duo briefly co-hosted at CKNW. “All we have to do is give them a platform and stay out of the way,” he says. “These strong female voices will create the content they, themselves, would want to watch and listen to, and that is underrepresented in B.C.”

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89

DO TELL

Adding Magic to Mealtime A Q&A with Carmen Spagnola, the somatic coach, kitchen witch and cookbook author.

By Joanne Sasvari | Photo by Jeffrey Bosdet

B

efore she became a somatic coach and spiritual seeker, Carmen Spagnola worked as a Cordon Bleutrained chef and WSET-certified wine rep. Now she considers herself a “kitchen witch” — and has brought all her expertise together in a beautiful new cookbook called The Spirited Kitchen: Recipes and Rituals for the Wheel of the Year (Countryman Press, an imprint of W.W. Norton, NY).

In it, the Victoria-based author creates menus, rituals and recipes for eight key periods of the year, and shares how to “create a little magic spell” with every meal.

What is kitchen magic, exactly? Kitchen magic is about layering our meals with spiritual nourishment and nutritional sustenance. Every plant, herb, fruit, vegetable and animal has its own life force and its own energetic signature. When we take that into our body, we are imbued with their medicine and gifts ... our meals become spells and our bodies become vessels for magic to occur. We become talismanic.

What brings you the most joy? These days I am certifiably giddy about my efforts to grow a giant pumpkin. If you win a title [in a pumpkin competition], you get a jacket and everything!

What are some of your favourite recipes from the book?

My favourites are the ones I first learned at cooking school in Paris in the 90s … I like the recipes that say things like “Salt the potato water till it tastes like the sea.”

What kinds of flavours would you use to create a little kitchen magic at this dark, wintry time of year?

Cinnamon is so perfect for snuggly winter vibes because it ignites passion and is a key ingredient for love magic — if you wanna get frisky, add some to your coffee, hot chocolate or potpourri. For folks who really suffer from the gloom, go for oranges. They represent the sun and carry the energy of pure vitality.

Why do you think it’s so important for people to eat and drink together? Food affirms life, historically has affirmed alliances and is an ancient way to affirm our bond with each other. The most fundamental unit of society is not the hetero couple or even the nuclear family. It’s who gathers around the table.

We’re about to enter the 12 days of Yuletide (December 21 to January 1). What are some of the seasonal rituals you plan to follow? Yuletide is a replay of the year in miniature, so each day something is eaten, crafted, or placed on the altar to represent the corresponding month. Yuletide is a major deal around our house, particularly the tree worship. We get a 10-foot-tall ceiling-scraper every year, which is dripping with hundreds of vintage glass ornaments and real candles.

(We keep the fire extinguisher close by.) Sitting in the quiet house, lit only by candles on the tree and the sparkling glass, is the most peaceful I’ve ever felt.

I love those gentle Yuletide times.

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“Yuletide is a replay of the year in miniature ...”

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