Sunday 15 April 2007

Wasabi, Honey & Horses



Lately, the weather has been fantastic.

I try to ride my scooter in most weather but it’s days like Saturday that are warm and sunny that I love the most. Riding is not only exciting and exhilarating, it is also not too much of a challenge.

My ride yesterday was not a terribly long ride, although I did have a couple longer rides during the week. I scooted to Superstore which is a large grocery chain in Canada to track down a treat that a co-worker had shared with me earlier in the week - wasabi and honey flavoured tortilla chips. They’re Superstore’s own premium brand called President’s Choice (nothing to do with George W., thank goodness) and are a unique taste. I got a little carried away with my enjoyment of them as I took some photos and then played around with the images with Photoshop. Trying to avoid my marking load again, I guess...



On the way home, I took the back roads. There are many different farms and horse ranches in Maple Ridge which I still find new and interesting even though I’ve lived here for twenty years. I grew up in the city of Vancouver and really only saw farms and horses when we went away for the holidays. Living in Maple Ridge, just a few minutes on my Vespa or a few more on my bike and I’m in the middle of farming country.

It was a very pleasant ride - neither bricks nor bouquets today - and I came home with a nice cache of wine, chips and a few other groceries, all carried in my handy pet carrier. As always, I felt recharged, yet also relaxed, and maybe even ready to mark those darned math tests...

6 comments:

Bill Sommers said...

I need to find some of those chips!

Like you, I only need to ride about 10 minutes till I can lean on a fence and watch the cows and horses. I enjoy the way that the farming area seems to be so much slower and simpler than within the city limits.

Have fun,
Bill

Combatscoot said...

Those chips sound good! That second pic looks like it came from another blog I know of, but the scoot's not silver! Aren't scoots good for trips to the market?
John

Orin said...

One of the most popular posts at Scootin' Old Skool is a YouTube video of the Doritos Tandoori Sizzler commercial that runs in Canada. I see at least one search on it every day. Your wasabi honey tortilla chips are a different cuisine mashup. Years ago, someone wrote a lengthy dissertation on how a fast-food restaurant's "fajita pita" represented a significant combination of cultures.

However, I don't think chocolate tacos fall into the same caategory...

Anonymous said...

Mmmm... nothing like starting a post with some food, I say! Now you've got us all reaching for our scooter keys to zip down to the shop!

Man - are you really a teacher? Sounds like you should be thinking about a career in advertising (Incidently, I'm a teacher too)! :-)

Being smack-bang in the geographic centre of Sydney (city of 4.5 million and largest in Australia) I'm miles upon miles away from anything remotely resembling open countryside or quaint little country towns. I'm jelous of you guys!

Cheers,

M

Dave Dixon said...

Bill
I do enjoy living so close to nature - but I actually enjoy riding in Vancouver as well. Maybe because I don't have to do it every day...

John
Those chips are good! I'm sure there's a Japanese version you could get at an Asian store.
Thanks for the compliment on the photo taking! I'm learning a lot as I go along.

Orin
That is a super commercial! I hadn't seen it before - although we have a Multicultural TV station that shows Bollywood movies every week on our regular cable so it might have aired on there.

I think cuisine mashups (I like how you've used those two words together) are one of the benefits of the world becoming smaller and more accessible.

Michael
Yes, I'm a teacher - but I love to play around with Photoshop - and I am always working to improve my photos. Thanks for the advertising comment (that was a compliment, right?).

I love being able to ride around country roads but I also really like the city. I guess I'm pretty lucky because an hour west and I'm in the big city, and twenty minutes north or east and I'm in the country.

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