Death to TIGHTS as PANTS. It has been a long time coming. The footless leggings revival, the lace cuffed tights, American Apparel outfitting all young women in leggings under micros, equestrian pants, yoga spandex sported as jeans. Vancouver has been lapping up the lazy wardrobe of T as P for quite some time now, but I finally feel compelled to scream “ENOUGH!” We have gone from short dresses and pretty tunics paired with leggings, which I can abide, to full-fledged too much information. Instead of opaque knit leggings or faux jeans, we have women of all ages, shapes and sizes shimmying into nylons as pants. Semi-opaque tights that are often filmy in the thigh and bum, and sheer hose with shirts that don’t even reach the hip bones. Hollywood party girl at her most disheveled. In one morning commute I know the thong style, garter girth and shadowed crackage (and that other unmentionable side effect) of more women than I ever thought possible.

Most women can effortlessly pull off leggings as pants (emphasis on leggings made of fabric more opaque than 40 denier) if they understand the general rules, i.e. that they do not replace pants purely because you pull them on in the same manner. Solo sheer pantyhose can’t replace your skirt, your dreadful formal shorts, or your over-sized shirt. It is an accoutrement! Pair T as P with the trend for cropped leather jackets and you have a recipe for disaster. Any gal with a little common sense will whisper “Heavens, that girl forgot her skirt!” when you walk by – you leave nothing to the imagination and if you were to get a run in the back like three girls I saw in the past week, game over. A little modesty is a hell of a lot sexier. Bring it back girls, bring back the air of mystery. Leave the scary T as P to the likes of Juliette Lewis, we can’t all be bad-ass rock stars.

I know the pants-less revolution is taking place all over the world, but by golly I think the Vancouverite ladies may have interpreted the trend a little too transparently. For the cheeky promoters of death to T as P, check out Tights Are Not Pants for helpful DIY propaganda kits. Maybe they will help convince your friends averse to leaving the house fully dressed to return from the dark side.

I welcome new grocery shops in town. And local produce? For real? I will keep the Den posted on my thoughts once the opening details spill out and I study the aisles. For now stay tuned to Greens Organic & Natural Market for more details. They use the word “affordable”. Fingers crossed!

The Olympics are fast approaching but you didn’t have the foresight to score cheap tickets, heck you don’t even have the cheery red mittens. But you aren’t a curmudgeon, you like the idea that Vancouver is going to be hopping with energy in a matter of weeks. So what can you do to join the revelry beyond watching CBC at home? Lots. Thanks to the Cultural Olympiad there is no shortage of boisterous fun on its way:

Hawksley Workman’s new album Meat is full of eccentric, gritty devilishness. Pair that with his new digital album Milk, which is being released song by song over a 5 month period, and you have a lot of new material to add to his epic library of original song-writing. If you can’t get over to Victoria for March 6 (for some reason his tour bypasses Vancouver on this leg), check out one of his two free performances during the Games: February 16 at Whistler Live! and February 17 at Richmond’s O Zone (which by the way has a juicy line-up of free programming; think Wintersleep, Tokyo Police Club, Hey Ocean, Bedouin Soundclash and Kathleen Edwards to name a few more).

The Orpheum will be humming with grandiose talent. My picks include Feist and Hall Willner’s Neil Young Project (a host of special guests including members of Broken Social Scene and Iron and Wine with Lou Reed and Ron Sexsmith).

LiveCity Downtown (Georgia & Cambie) and Yaletown (David Lam Park) are two additional ways to soak it up freestyle. In addition to watching televised sporting coverage on a grand scale, each evening will feature live entertainment at the two locations. My top picks are Wilco (Feb 13). Mother Mother (Feb 14), Coeur de Pirate (Feb 20) and Wintersleep (Feb 23) – all at David Lam Park.

Out of breath yet? That is just the tip of the music offerings. In the performing arts the door is blown wide open by the little festival that could, the PuSh Festival. Macabre, boundary-pushing, zany – PuSh programming always has something for every discerning quirkster. Check out Jerk, So Percussion and The Show Must Go On.

And it is no coincidence that the Vancouver Art Gallery’s Leonardo da Vinci drawings show (The Mechanics of Man) happens to open just in time for the February-March blitz. Thirty-four of Leonardo’s pen and ink anatomical drawings will be on display, while upstairs Visceral Bodies will showcase contemporary artists who also examine the human body through a scientific lens. Looks like the gallery is going to extend hours nightly to 9pm and offer free admission during the games. While Michael Lin’s A Modest Veil has taken over the Georgia Street side of the building, the Robson Street facade features Cue, with more than 80 video art titles screened for passersby.

With this saturated artistic buffet, maybe it will lessen the sting that hockey games are not on my menu. In the meantime, I think I will still cling to the hope that I win a last minute ticket contest.

* Pictured is a mock-up of Rafael Lozano-Hemmer’s Vectorial Elevation. Starting on February 4th, 20 robotic searchlights will illuminate the city’s sky and English Bay. The designs created by the searchlights will be controlled by audience participation from around the world via internet.

P.S. for more free events in and around Vancouver check out City Caucus

Our holidays were chock-a-block with entertaining, catching-up with long distance connections and playing outdoors. Every moment in between was filled with whipping, dicing and nibbling in the kitchen. Interludes of strong coffee brewing throughout the day, all while sporting a holiday apron as a permanent garment. I love it. Already I feel a lull as we are back full force into our routine. Who can I bake for, what large group can I cook for? Don’t we eat turkey every Sunday? Hence why I pulled out a favourite gingerbread cake recipe for last Sunday’s family dinner. I thought it may make a repeat performance for my birthday, as one slice just wasn’t enough. However my stomach ache from the lip-smacking torta I consumed for lunch at Las Tortas kept my appetite on low right until the aroma wafting from Les Faux Bourgeois‘ kitchen hit my nose. A Kir Royal, soupe a l’oignon gratinée (a meal in itself if you eat an entire baguette alongside it comme Mr. Dandi) and the savoury portabello parmentier, all washed down with a hearty Chateau de Cabriac GSM. And in the end, the gingerbread cake wasn’t needed; I was surprised with a wedge of Panaderia Latina Bakery’s dulce de leche cake as well as their tres leche cake. A perfect cap to a perfect evening. After a bon anniversaire full of palette pleasers it got me thinking about the added enjoyment of good food with great company. I wouldn’t pick up a spatula or whisk as frequently if it weren’t for family and friends joining me in the kitchen, sharing their recipes, and treating one another to new concoctions and old stand-bys. Christmas with my mom side-by-side in the kitchen, Saturday nights with a bottle of wine appearing during prep, potluck planning and recipe hunting with friends…I get excited about these moments because of the chemistry brewing in the kitchen. Story-telling and laughter go into each meal. I think this is why I often pick up the phone and call someone if I am preparing something solo. It’s the extra ingredient if you will.

Salt Spring Island Cooking : Gingerbread Cake
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
½ tsp cloves
1 tsp cinnamon
1 ½ tsp ginger
1⁄3 cup oil
1 cup molasses
1 cup hot water
1 Tbsp vinegar

I highly recommend these additions from my mother’s kitchen:
½ cup brown sugar (this isn’t a sweet cake – I either add the brown sugar or make a warm lemon sauce to top)
1 tsp Keen’s dry mustard
½ cup finely diced crystallized ginger
1 – 2 tsp grated fresh ginger

Preheat oven to 350°F. Sift the dry ingredients together. Stir all liquid ingredients until blended. Mix the liquids into the dry ingredients slowly and throughly. Add fresh and candied ginger at the end if including. Pour the mixture into a well-greased and floured 8×8 pan (or 8×2 round). Bake for 40 minutes. Once cool enough to handle remove from pan to finish cooling. Serve plain or with a warm lemon sauce (I like the clear lemon sauce in the Joy of Cooking).

Gifts from the kitchen are a way to wear your heart on your sleeve: you pick out a recipe, find the ingredients, and engage with your kitchen before presenting your efforts to a special someone. I wouldn’t cook or bake nearly as much as I do if it weren’t for the fact that a very appreciate belly and mouth resides with me. This belly/mouth often moans when I package up a homemade gift for someone else, so I have to remind him that the wealth needs to be shared. Not enough people have someone nurturing them through apron strings.

Christmas is an excellent time for goodies. Chocolates and candy from the shops are fine and dandy, no one is complaining here! But a mixture of homemade sweets to round out the flux of holiday treats adds an extra bit of warmth to the season; and they don’t have to be difficult (candy thermometers make me cringe). For example, do you have some good quality chocolate lying around? Roll fresh marzipan into balls and dip in dark chocolate, or dip chunks of candied ginger for a little kick to the palette. You don’t even need to temper the chocolate if you let them set properly at room temperature. Or melt the chocolate and pour onto a cookie sheet with toasted almonds. Break up once set for the easiest almond bark ever at half the cost. Another sweet treat I finally got around to making this year: Vanilla Bean Marshmallows. I was surprised how easy they were and how delicious and fresh they stay for days on end. We even threw one in our morning coffee! Stack them in a mason jar and you have a gift that will bring out the inner child in anyone.

A recipe I used for an indulgent gift last year makes truffles more approachable. Silk Road’s Chai Tea Chocolate & Whiskey Truffles are exotic, spicy and rich. The key is a strong loose-leafed chai. I am biased when I can’t imagine making these without SR’s chai, and I haven’t found an equal comparison in my tea hunting. So if you know anyone in Victoria, ask them to pick up a tin! You will never buy tea bags again.

Truffles
5 Tbsp Silk Road Chai tea
300g milk chocolate chopped into small chunks
300g dark chocolate chopped into small chunks
250ml whipping cream
120g unsalted butter
4 Tbsp whiskey
icing sugar and cinnamon powder

Place 1 Tbsp chai tea in 4 Tbsp whiskey, and infuse for 24 hours, then strain. Place 4 Tbsp chai in cream and heat on low for 15 minutes. Strain tea leaves from cream. Place cream back onto stove, add butter and chocolate chunks. Keep on low heat, and stir constantly until chocolate is melted and all the ingredients are dissolved. At the very end, quickly stir in the infused whiskey.

Cover a shallow pan (that is at least one inch deep) with plastic wrap. Pour chocolate mixture over the plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 1 ½ hours so that it sets. Remove the chocolate from the pan and plastic wrap. Roll into balls, working quickly so that the chocolate doesn’t start to melt. Rinse hands in cold water if they get too warm. Sift together equal parts icing sugar and cinnamon powder. Roll truffles in icing sugar/cinnamon powder.

Happy homemaking and merry Christmas!

The Christmas baking, batch by batch-day by day, is well under way. It’s never an option to pare down the list of items to bake either, for fear that someone may throw a hissy fit if their favourite treat isn’t fully stocked in tins. Melt in your mouth shortbread is always on the list, and lately I have been playing with the shortbread recipe my family has been using since 1986 (according to some chef notes). Variations on buttery, light shortbread include rosemary, lavender and candied ginger. Even something as simple as orange zest can transform your shortbread aroma and flavour ten-fold. I use both a clay cookie stamp and a cookie press to make little flowers. Unbelievably easy, the addictive results mean they don’t last for long.

Basic Shortbread
1 cup butter
½ cup icing sugar
½ cup cornstarch
1 ½ cups flour

Preheat oven to 300°F. Using an electric beater, whip room temperature butter and icing sugar until light and fluffy. Continue to beat on low speed while gradually adding cornstarch and flour. Roll into balls and press with a cookie stamp, or gear up your cookie press if you have one. Bake for 20 minutes (cookies should be a light golden brown, don’t over bake). Transfer to rack immediately.

Variations:
For candied ginger shortbread I use ½ cup dark brown sugar in place of icing sugar. While whipping the butter and sugar add ½ tsp of ground ginger. Once the dough is prepared, fold in ¾ cup minced crystallized ginger.

Or follow the basic recipe and fold in minced fresh rosemary or dried, food-grade lavender at the end for a real treat!

I secretly loaded Sufjan Steven’s five-volume Songs For Christmas to my iPod in October. Not long after I pulled out Hawksley Workman’s Almost a Full Moon and Vince Guaraldi’s A Charlie Brown Christmas alongside James Brown’s Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto track. Today the holiday flood gates are officially open. No longer will I stall when Mr. Dandy bursts into the room and asks “uh, was that King’s College Choir singing Ding, Dong Merrily on High?” December 1st means that choral music, Fitzgerald and Burl Ives are A-OK. And any free form dance that accompanies these tunes will not be viewed with alarmed expressions and a glance at the calendar. I used to be strict regarding when it was safe and appropriate to break out the holiday tuneage. When I learned a few years ago that a friend routinely begins listening to the Carpenter’s Christmas Collection in September (possibly even earlier), I realized I could throw a little caution to the wind. Yank the headphones from my ears on the bus and I could be listening to Elliott Smith, or Hannah Georgas or…June Christy’s This Time of Year. I feel liberated and I don’t flinch at the scroogeness of others who can’t handle an extra jingle bell or roasting chestnut here and there.

This year I took the opportunity to locate my all-time favourite Christmas album on iTunes: Liona Boyd’s A Guitar for Christmas. Released in 1981 by the First Lady of guitar, Boyd’s album has been played every year while my family bakes or decorates the tree. The cassette tape is still well and alive and was even sent to my dorm in first year university; my mom thought I needed a little cheer up over a biology exam that was scheduled for the very last possible day. I sought out a tape player from a floor mate and secretly played A Guitar for Christmas while I stared blankly at descriptions of cells and lab reports. Frankly, Christmas just isn’t the same without Spanish Carol or Yuletide Garland.

I am waiting rather impatiently for the December 1st green light to head over to Kitsilano Secondary to purchase our spruce or fir. The scent is intoxicating and every year we add a new decoration or two to the branches and add half a foot in height it seems. A cut tree is not cheap, and purchasing it from students in a basketball court while it’s raining is definitely different than trudging in the snow wielding an axe. But that smell…no matter how realistic they are constructed, the artificial petroleum alternatives leave me cold. Also, a Christmas tree is essentially a crop, grown on a tree farm and replenished each year. Occasional pangs of guilt are involved with cutting down a tree that gave 6-12 years of its growth for one month of pageantry. Yet tradition is hard to break, and trimming the tree brings such joy and evenings curled up in front of the beauty. Do you feel conflicted too? Two UBC forestry graduates have come up with a brilliant solution: Evergrow. Based in Burnaby, Sean Macalister and Jeff Ferguson started Evergrow earlier this year, a live tree rental service focused on earth friendliness and convenience. All trees are grown and nurtured in the Fraser Valley, with the idea that each tree will experience multiple holidays before outgrowing pots and graduating to the ground. The public is able to rent a tree for up to three weeks with the click of a button.

The only catch I see is hefty: $90 to $150 (plus $50 security deposit) depending on variety and size. The totals quoted on the site do include the fact that these trees need year-round nursery care before they make their way to your doorstep, as well as both delivery and post-holiday pick-up fees. It really bites the bullet that being eco-conscious always seems to cost an arm and a leg. It is a hard sell when someone enjoys weaving through rows of trees to hand-pick their perfect Charlie Brown greenery, and when the kind volunteers at Kitsilano Secondary offer to swing by your place at the end of the night with your tree. Not to mention the fact that Ikea boasts trees for $20 a pop with a $20 coupon as a reward, so it feels like a free tree. And you cannot really fault Ikea for this marketing plan to get people shopping in the slow months with their tree rebate; for every tree part of the sale goes towards planting new crops via Tree Canada.

Rent a designer handbag. Rent a wedding dress. Rent a tree. Accumulate less but keep the experience intact. Something to ponder while I pull out the ribbon and glue gun for a decoration-making blitz. What do you do each year? Mix it up (do you decorate your fern or spray paint a branch silver)? Ban all trees? Pull out the faker that pops open like an umbrella? Carry a fresh cut tree on your shoulders?

Last weekend I went to my first Circle Craft Christmas Market after missing the boat too many years in a row. It was by far the most glam and polished Christmas craft fair I have set foot in, other than maybe the Toronto One of a Kind show. No grandma knits or gingerbread man to be found at the Convention Centre! In fact I got the impression that most women were shopping for themselves rather than playing Santa’s little elves. The steep price tags also didn’t add much to the festive atmosphere. But don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t all Scrooge: I did watch a glass blowing demo put on by Totally Amazing Glass, which prompted me to pick up a Vancouver rain drop ornament by artist Malcolm MacFadyen. I had to pull my hand away from trying on some single wing necklaces by Vancouver designer Jessie Turner, and I regret helicoptering around Victoria’s family-run Coastal Prezence booth so many times without picking up a delicate red seaweed print. Circle Craft is just the beginning though, and I have a feeling there will be more to wet my whistle at the smaller, homier markets popping up in the next few weeks:

♦ Under the Big Top Etsy Sale: November 21, Cambrian Welsh Hall. 30 of Etsy’s best from the Vancouver region.

♦ Make It!: November 20-22, Croation Cultural Centre.

♦ Toque: November 27-28, Western Front. A good chunk of the Got Craft? kids will be here showcasing their wares, including Track & Field Designs.

♦ Portobello West Holiday Market: November 28-29 & December 12-13, Rocky Mountaineer Station.

♦ Got Craft?: December 6,  Legion Hall (Commercial). Some of my favourite local designers will be on hand: BuenoStyle, Cabin + Cub, A Farmers Daughter.

For someone who loves to cook I don’t seem to have many cookbooks, but what I do own I read like paperback novels. There are the classics (Joy of Cooking), the nouveau classics (Bon Appetit, Jamie, or Canadian Living’s “tested till perfect” series), and the niche of restaurant owners and bloggers turned recipe auteurs (Rebar: Modern Food, or the recently purchased Super Natural Cooking come to mind). The online treasure trove of recipes available for print cuts down on the obsessive purchasing of more books than my shelves can support. However, the abundance of creative and clever cookbooks and entertaining guides is starting to become too difficult to resist. I can’t pass a bookstore without leafing through Amy Sedaris’ I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence. I mean, you can actually learn a thing or two from this very cheeky guide to hostessing.

Some other flights of artistry that come to mind:

Canadian illustrator and food blogger Pierre Lamielle’s quirky Kitchen Scraps is stuffed full of illustrations straight out of a Roald Dahl-Quentin Blake oven. Each recipe is matched with a tale bound to spark your culinary imagination.

Heston Blumenthal’s The Big Fat Duck Cookbook is both autobiography of one of America’s most revered restaurateurs and a full-on love letter to the cookbook fiend. I don’t think I could actually cook a single thing out of this 10-pound volume with my regular kitchen gadgets, but the daydreaming that ensues from flipping through this beast is just as rewarding. (I must warn it is a wallet wounder).

Jennifer McLagan’s Fat: An Appreciation of a Misunderstood Ingredient has topped many a hit-lists for her detailed research paired with gorgeous recipes to highlight the role of fat in our diets, and the fantastical ways in which it can be used in the kitchen.