Sorry about the lack of posts recently, I’ve been working like nobody’s business. #excusesexcuses

I do want to give you a quick heads up about The Vancouver Recipe, a documentary on which I was a bit of a hired gun interviewer. As Senor Poster above says, it’s airing at 7:00 tomorrow (Saturday). Set the PVR, or, you know, watch it live if you’re all retro like me.

The basic premise involves chefs talking about what makes the Vancouver food scene what it is, from the actual ingredients we can access here, to the mix of different ethnic backgrounds, the extremely active dining culture, and the chefs who actively choose to live and work here.

At least I think that’s what it is.

You see, as per my hired gun reference, this is one of a few projects that I’ve taken on recently where I’m not involved every step of the way. In place of pitching an idea, doing all of the interviews, writing the copy or script, and then being intimately involved with the edit process, I’ve shown up on the day of the interview (after doing some prelim research, of course), done my best to engage with the interview subject and evoke thoughtful, heartfelt answers, and then strolled away.

In some ways, it feels like I’m on the other side of the table, the one where interview subjects usually are. What’s the direction of the story? What clips are being used and why — how are they being positioned? What’s being written into the story? Where does each person fit into the overall piece? etcetera etcetera etcetera

Not only am I not able to answer these questions, I’m asking them myself. I’ll only know, I guess, on Saturday.

I do know I suggested including certain people versus others, and that I loved having the time to have nice long interviews with the subjects — a luxury compared to the world of daily news. I also know in our conversations that the chefs spoke knowledgeably and passionately about what they do, guided in a tiny way by the focus I had thought about in advance, and the question line I crafted.

I love interviewing. I mean, I seriously love it. It’s one of the best parts of being a journo. And truth be told, being a hired gun has a more immediate financial return than taking a project entirely from concept to completion. It may also create a better overall product, with individuals able to step in and perform tasks at which they excel, rather than having it entirely handled by a jack of all trades.

It is still a little strange for a control freak like me to step away from the process. I’m looking forward to checking out to the results on Saturday night.

So I blathered on yesterday about the state of journalism and some of the limitations involved, some of the things that are problematic. But it’s important to feature the fun bits too — why we keep on doing this and what we like about this profession.

I forgot to post this piece about glamming up garages when it was first published in the At Home Section of the Vancouver Sun a couple of weeks ago. (Obviously) it’s not earthshattering news, or an investigative piece that will change society as we know it; it’s a lifestyle piece that hopefully has news you can use. I also got to put on my wishful thinking hat for the sidebar, where I suggested six ways you can make an uber mancave. That’s at the bottom.

L: Greg Ewasiuk, Park Place Garage Co R: Robbie Dickson, happy garage owner. Courtesy of The Vancouver Sun

It’s a little secret some men keep: when it comes to hanging out, the garage can be even more enticing than the house.

So suggest those in the booming business of garage renovations – those makeover artists who see the space as largely the last bastion of man, the space where they can spend time surrounded by all things masculine.

“If you look at the size of an average two car garage, it’s about 400 square feet,” says Greg Ewasiuk of South Surrey’s Park Place Garage Company. “It’s really the biggest room in the house – there’s lots you can do in that space.”

Ewasiuk, along with owner Dan Robbins and vice-president Scott Robbins, have installed televisions, beer fridges, leather couches, pool tables, and cabinetry with space for everything imaginable – from custom shelving for motorcycle equipment to rack attachments to tidily dispense pet food. Ceiling-mounted storage racks can accommodate up to 600 pounds each.

In Dan Robbins’ experience, there’s usually a gender division where priorities are concerned.

“The negotiations are pretty interesting,” he says. “Basically, the understanding we often see among couples is that the wife gets a wedding ring, the guy gets a garage!”

Transforming a garage from an oilstained vehicle pen to an attractive multipurpose area, of course, is a process that literally starts from the ground up.

The garage company team uses a diamond grinder with a HEPA filter to smooth down the concrete floor pad until it’s flat as can be. They fill any cracks that might exist, and then apply a mid-coat of sealant.

They also embed the chips of vinyl that will give the floor its colour and texture, and then seal it all with a final clear coat. The entire process takes up to half a day and includes lots and lots of vacuuming.

The resin coating is heat-, chemical-, and abrasion-resistant, and can be cleaned with a simple spray from a garden hose. Best of all, it’s fairly inexpensive – about $6.75 per square foot.

Askari Sabbaghi, general manager of Port Coquitlam’s Clever Quarters Incorporated, says business is booming on the garage makeover front. About 30 per cent of the time, he says, men are giving garages as a gift to themselves, or perhaps to parents. The remainder of the time, the women of the house are the gift-givers. As long as necessary items have been organized and stored away, the rest of the space is turned over to the men.

“People are frustrated when that space is out of control – it’s full of junk, they can’t access it, stuff like ladders and skis might fall over on people,” he explains. “A lot of people see a value associated with claiming the space back.”

A transformation can take place as quickly as two days, with one devoted to flooring and the next for installing cabinetry. Sabbaghi says many customers see that as a way to add value to a home, and to distinguish a residence from that of the neighbour’s, especially when it comes to resale.

Both Sabbaghi and Ewasiuk agree that some of the interior design tips used to finish homes are now being extended to the garage. Even though resin or polyurethane floors come in every colour of the rainbow, most people choose neutral grey and brown tones that mimic stone. Likewise, although wood and metal cabinets can be any colour, buyers are usually selecting doors in universal shades, like tan, brown, grey, blue, and black.

But if you want to have a garage that suits you perfectly – and hang the cost – you could follow the example of Robbie Dickson.

In November 2010, the car aficionado decided he wanted to splurge on his garage. He cleared out the junk from the three-car space, and put it all into a mid-size plastic shed behind the house. Then he gave the Park Place team just a week to get the job done.

“They designed it with some different options on paper first,” says Dickson. “And then when it came time for the install, it was like bang, bang, done!” The garage now looks more like a high-end club or gallery space, paying homage to the art of the automobile. Dickson had 120 spotlights installed in the ceiling to illuminate every corner. The walls have been painted a gleaming white, in sharp contrast to the Ferrari red of the metal cabinets.

Diamond plate sheets of stainless steel and glittering black rectangular tiles laid in a zigzag tire tread pattern add some sparkle to the room, while a full size bar can comfortably seat four. A custom foosball table in one corner is covered in the same diamond plate. Black microfibre cloth lines the entire back wall to baffle sound from the four TVs. But two elements really dominate the room: a full size fibreglass model of the F1 Ferrari Michael Schumacher drove from 2004 to 2007, and a vehicle hoist to “stack” an additional vehicle in the garage over top another, for total storage of four. That was the original goal of the project, but $100,000 later, Dickson is pleased with all of the other additions.

Although most consumers aren’t working with a budget of that size, both companies say there is value in having the guidance of a professional when revamping the garage. They can help plan the space for maximum efficiency and assess structural capacity for mounting items.

“A lot of the flooring jobs we do, we’re grinding out layers and layers of epoxy or sealant that someone has slapped on without smoothing out the floor properly, or allowing for enough drying time to avoid cracking,” says Dan Robbins of Park Place. “We can see when someone’s reapplied every few years. So having us come in and do it, in a job that will last for decades, really is a gift for everyone!”

Sidebar article

GARAGE MAKEOVERS: SOME TIPS ON HOW TO BECOME THE ENVY OF THE NEIGHBOURHOOD.

Finding ways to dress up your garage doesn’t have to cost a fortune. Here are a few tips on how to find ways to make yours the envy of the neighbourhood.

1. Grand garage doors

Garador (www.garador.ca) makes corrugated structural steel doors that roll up overhead, saving valuable storage space. They’re also much quieter than the traditional sectional wooden door, promises CEO Arkadiusz Lewandowski, who says the doors are much more secure than wooden ones.

2. Banner time

Go to a sign shop like http://www.fastsigns. com with a computer image of a logo or sign that you like, and see if the staff can recreate it for you on a banner.

3. Scrounge around

See if your local scrap yard has old auto parts that you can spray paint and assemble into a wall collage. Maybe a restaurant that’s remodelling is selling off neon signs, or a movie prop house is getting rid of faux licence plates. If not, you can always order these from sites like http://www.garageart.com.

4. Functional furniture

You don’t want your garage to degenerate into the repository of junk not fit to be in the house. If a sofa is being demoted out of the home, see about getting the cushions or upholstery repaired before you put it into the garage.

5. Light it up

If the garage is going to be your space of peace and quiet outside of the house, invest in some good lighting. Even an inexpensive Ikea lamp (www. ikea.ca) can make help.

6. Secure your stuff

If you’ve made your garage a great spot, someone might covet what you have. Have a security professional or locksmith fix obvious weak spots.

Image courtesy of http://www.sinkingtowardretirement.com

You know what journalists apparently love to talk about? The state of journalism today.

The truth of the matter is that being a journalist can be simultaneously uplifting and rewarding and thrilling and depressing and tension-filled and infuriating. Yes, people experience that range of feelings in other professions (emergency services, I’m looking at you), but journalists have the means to easily talk about it, via the airwaves and printing presses, and these days, social media.

A few days ago, Kai Nagata’s 3000 word manifesto started blowing up in my Facebook and Twitter feeds. Not that he needs any more pageclicks or coverage from the likes of me, but in essence, the former National Assembly correspondent for CTV Montreal said that he could no longer stomach the superficiality of TV news, ie the dictating of news coverage by the audience/a quest for ratings, the way reporters are hired for their looks, and the frustration involved with not expressing an opinion on stories he was covering, among other things.

I’ll admit I sat and read the entire thing at one go. At the time, I even posted this status update: “judging by how many of my FB journo friends have re-posted Kai Nagata’s piece, it must have really struck a chord.”

In the days since, Nagata has done a range of interviews, and been hailed as a hero for daring to speak his mind, and for his “bravery” in quitting his job. There have been other responses too: Edmonton-based journalist Max Fawcett calling Nagata out for being a self-serving lazybones and Sandra Thomas of the Vancouver Courier quite beautifully expressing why she DIDN’T quit her job.

Then there was this thoughtful comment from my Facebook friend Hilary Henegar, reproduced here with her permission.

There is an underlying tension between ‘what the people want to see’ and ‘the important stories we should be bringing to people.’” this was something that proved a big struggle at my last editing gig (no need to name names)… people tend to click on top 5 lists about cats wearing costumes and charlie sheen catch phrases with the word “idiot” in the title, and advertisers want to see high traffic #s, so there’s a lot of pressure on editors to produce such content.

however, catering to this means they have to take resources away from more important content that meets the editorial mandate and serves readers, which then reduces “brand” loyalty – especially since the kind of traffic generated by ‘what the people want to see’ types of content tends to be low quality with very little return on investment besides the initial advertiser buy-in, which really is only a short-term solution to the much bigger problem of achieving sustainable revenue. the result: noise. a lot of it. and shrinking hard journalism budgets, especially for niche and hyperlocal markets, where the potential audience is already quite limited.

Also in my feed today via another Facebook friend – a link detailing why Claude Adams is no longer working at CBC Vancouver, after inadvertently “killing a dog” on air. I feel for you Claude; mistakes like that get made all the time. It just depends on where it airs and how many people hear it. And maybe how important the person hearing it is. I hope you land on your feet.

For what it’s worth, here are my thoughts on all of this.

Quitting a full time job in the broadcast industry IS a brave move; they are hard gigs to come by, especially in the post financial meltdown world. I myself haven’t had a full time staff job (for a variety of reasons, which I’ll get into below) since August 2008. Others have gone for years beyond that.

I know some of Nagata’s points resonated with colleagues; I’ve heard some of the same viewpoints expressed privately at dinner and cocktail hour conversations.

However, some of his points criticize the way TV news is inherently set up. It is a visual medium. If a reporter had a giant festering zit on the nose, it’s unlikely a viewer would be able to concentrate on what he/she was saying, no matter how brilliant the coverage might be. There is an understood and I think acceptable compromise that TV reporters must be look a certain way, otherwise the message is lost. I don’t think it’s ‘Barbie and Ken’ as much as it is ‘look the way you would want to look on the day of a big job interview.’

TV is also a limited medium for telling certain stories. I think you could even say it is a shallow medium. It is better at telling stories with simple narratives: “hero cop saves woman’s life”, “girl dying waiting for surgery because of bureaucracy”, and yes, “attractive young royal couple tours Canada.”

Daily TV news is not as good as telling the international stories Nagata referenced, and will never be as good as telling them as, say,  a lengthy newspaper or magazine article, or a long radio report. I’ve always been told, ‘if you don’t have the pictures, you can’t talk about it’, and context is something that it’s often difficult to find pictures for.

Truth be told, I’m not sure that TV news viewers are looking for that type of coverage anyway. I’ll quite freely admit that I checked in on the Royal tour coverage every so often, because I did want to see what the Duchess of Cambridge was wearing, and to see what parts of Canada were being showcased.

Why is there an assumption that if I’m watching the Royalpalooza that I don’t get tons of other meaty/serious content somewhere else? For every minute I tuned in to the Will and Kate show, I probably also read articles in the New York Times and The Guardian, or listened to some BBC and NPR podcasts. I don’t think we should make the same assumptions of the general audience.

As for Nagata saying he was tired of not being able to express his opinion?

It’s true that it’s a filter that all journalists have to apply. But there’s an easy solution, even within the world of journalism — it’s called writing an editorial. I did this year, for the first time ever.

Sandra Thomas quite rightly pointed out in her column that with a mortgage and bills to pay, it’s a rare bird indeed who can just up and quit a job. She also points to the responsibility she feels to her readers.

The question then becomes whether you want to work within the system or not. At the age of 24, Kai Nagata decided it wasn’t working for him (which is his prerogative). And maybe, as Max Fawcett says, there was a self-serving element to it. After all, a blog post doesn’t get picked up the way this one has without a little bit of a push out behind it.

I myself choose not to work full-time in the broadcast industry, because quite frankly, there are a crapload of egos, time pressures, rules, and other people who aren’t very good at their jobs to put up with. (The days I do go in, I do it to work with brilliant dedicated journalists who see themselves as servants of the public interest.) I’m very lucky that I have a number of freelance gigs that allow me to keep telling stories and meeting interesting people, and to be paid a decent amount while I’m at it.

I guess what I’m saying is that journalism isn’t inherently special. Like any other job or industry, you can try to change it. You can put up or shut up. Or you can leave, and others will step in to keep doing the job. Which is not to say that debates about the state of journalism aren’t interesting and perfectly valid, I only mean that there’s an ultimate bottom line.

I myself am waiting to see what happens to Kai Nagata. I suspect that he’s probably already fielding different offers, based on the buzz his blog post has created for him.

If he ends up with some plum job — courtesy of the “superficial TV news” coverage of his story — well, wouldn’t that just beat all.

Bin 942 will have a new look and new menu as a Go Fish location.

A little news on the restaurant front now — Bin 942 is no more at the corner of Broadway and Granville; chef/owner Gord Martin is electing to turn it into a second outpost of his Go Fish concept. It will be open in mid- to late July from 11 am to 10 pm seven days a week, and will include more seating to accommodate family style dining.

What the crap is this critter? What does it want?

Please help, Interwebz frenz — what on earth is this, and what should I do about it? (It might be a little tough to make out in the photo, but it’s mostly black with a little light brown and white speckling on the back, about a centimetre long. And yes, I Googled “apple tree” and “beetle” already, but didn’t see anything that really matched.)

I’ve had my garden out on the deck of my condo for three years now – strawberry plants, blueberry bushes, some mint, and a dwarf apple tree, and as I chronicled for CityFood at the time, I don’t mind that other children of nature come to visit me there (flip through to page 15 if you want to check the piece out.)

However, my hospitality stops at these bugs!

Some background: as mentioned above, I’ve never had any real pest problems since setting the garden up in 2008; even an aphid infestation was dealt with fairly quickly and easily. I mulched over the winter with some maple leaves, and bought some soil (from Home Depot I think?) to top the planters up. The only new plants in the garden were two yellow Kalanchoe in 4″ pots, that I put in metal planters on the railing near the apple tree.

When I went to move the apple tree a few weeks ago, in order to get it into a sunnier spot, I grabbed the planter without a second thought and put my hand right into a cluster of about eight or ten bugs. I was DISGUSTED, because they’re, um, … crunchy.

I found a few more on the trunk of the apple tree and in the dirt at the base of it, and dispatched them quickly, but none anywhere else in the garden. A few days later I found some more, took care of them too, and figured I was done with it, until I found this one in the house today. I’m not really a squeamish person, but YUCK. I really hate these bugs! Where did they come from, and why is this the first time I’ve ever seen them?

Anyone know what these are? Will they harm the apple tree, or are they beneficial? Should I go Stompy McSmasherson on them, leave them alone, or eradicate them in another way?

Any help in the comments below would be uber-helpful from this still rookie gardener.

I had a birds eye view of all of the Stanley Cup riot ruckus, so much so that the above video has now had 15,000+ views. Update: 18,000+ views.

It’s been an incredibly long week with peaks and valleys of emotion. I tried to sum it up in a bit of a Twitalogue yesterday, reproduced with the screen cap below.

In the days ahead, I think we’ll be having a lot of conversations around what was done and what more should have been done, especially with policing and planning for the crowd. There will be some soul searching around public events in Vancouver, and I think about our own behaviour.

While I do think there should be consequences for rioters and looters — I feel the need for vengeance myself — I have seen a number of thoughtful posts analyzing the vigilante aspect the quest for justice is taking online. Mob mentality isn’t any prettier on the internet, and the people who have either been turned in or turned themselves in deserve a chance to defend themselves against the accusations in a proper court of law.

There’s also the question of how many degrees of separation there should be between these people and associated organizations, and how long they should be punished for. Serial killers get a ‘faint hope’ appeal for parole after twenty five years, but the Internet is forever. So are some of these allegations still going to be around in 2060 when the rioters are grandparents? What will that mean for them and society as a whole, ie when you take away all hope of redemption, a condemned man may decide there is no option other than to continue destroying.

All of these are questions that are much too big for me to even attempt to address, and I have to confess I’m exhausted. In the meantime, I feel like we’re going through the different steps of grieving after collectively observing the trauma of the riot.

I’d really like to get to the healing and acceptance part soon.

Image courtesy of Natural Balance Home Builders.

Just a quickie (that’s what she said) as I’m scooting out the door to go watch the Canucks game. Sorry about the decided lack of posts recently — down to just one a week for the third week in a row now — but it’s just been extra bananas with work lately.

I had a piece published in the At Home section of the Vancouver Sun today on a subject that I’m increasingly fascinated by — sustainable home design. Nick Kerchum and his business partner Galen Evans are trailblazers; they began work on the now-LEED Platinum certified Kerchum House in late 2006, when green building was hardly being considered by anyone. I thought the house was a good way to talk about all of the different certifications that exist around eco-design for homes, and it’s something I could have probably written reams more about.

Even though I tried to keep most of the verbosity down, it’s still a long-ish piece below, as I’ve reproduced it in full. If you’re interested in envirofriendly home tactics though, it’s worth going all the way through.

Photo credit: Glenn Baglo, PNG. Courtesy of the Vancouver Sun.

Nick Kerchum’s house definitely stands out from its Craftsman-style neighbours in the west side of Vancouver.

Okay, I think I’ve gotten all of the hooting and hollering out of my system. It’s time to face the reality of what happens when I watch the Canucks play.

Whether I’m watching the game out at a pub or at home, I invariably end up stuffing my face with an unhealthy assortment of food, like pizza, nachos, M & Ms and the like. I do put out veggie and fruit plates too when I have people over, but it probably only ends up comprising a tenth of what I end up consuming that night.

With the Canucks set to play at least three more games in the run to the Stanley Cup, I figure it’s time to get the game day noshing under some semblance of control.

For that, I’m turning to Alyssa Bauman of Nourished Health Consulting Firm. I can’t promise to follow everything that she’s recommending, but some is better than none.

Q. Why do we crave salt and fat when we’re watching the game? Is it to balance all of the adrenaline racing through our veins?

Just a small taste of what downtown Vancouver was like after the Game Five victory over the Sharks, (and how it will likely be for hours)

I always have this sense of joy commingled with fear when it comes to the Canucks, as if hoping for victory is enough to doom it to failure. But for tonight, I’m content to be happy with the win.

Having seen the celebrations of the Olympic gold medal victory, I can only imagine what it’ll be like if they take it all the way to the Cup!

Preserved lemon halibut steak. © Claudia Kwan 2011.

I am intimidated by fish.

Oh, not in their natural habitat (despite having watched Jaws at much too young an age), or when they’re swimming around in aquariums.

Rather, I’m intimidated by the prospect of cooking fish — I’m always worried about overcooking it and wasting a bunch of money. I’ve been avoiding the prospect altogether, which means I’ve been leaving an important and healthy source of protein out of my diet on a regular basis. I do eat fish when I’m dining out, but of course that costs a lot more than making something at home. I’m also trying to limit how often I head to restaurants, and as a consequence, I’m eating less and less fish.

Ultimately, cowardice means I’m shortchanging myself. It’s really not justifiable anymore.

So, I braced myself last weekend, and popped by the Whole Foods on Cambie to pick up some halibut.

Now I know the pop moniker for Whole Foods is “Whole Paycheck”, and I don’t shop there all the time for that reason, but I will say in certain circumstances, I do think you get what you pay for.

If I’m searching for something common, there’s no additional product information needed, and I don’t mind a ding or a dent or two, sure, I can head to pretty much any grocery store out there. But if I’m looking for something special and might have some questions, Whole Foods is a much better bet.

Such was the case on the weekend, when I encountered fishmonger Cavan Hua.

Big fish - Cavan Hua of Whole Foods holds up an ~25 lb halibut. © Claudia Kwan 2011

He had answers to all of my queries.

Q: How do I know this fish is Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certified?
A: There’s a pink tag on the unprocessed fish with a unique ID number; you can go online and check out exactly where and how it was caught.

Q: How fresh is this fish by the time it gets to the store?
A: It’s put on ice right after it’s caught and only came in today, so it’s probably two or three days from the ocean. You can see that pearly sheen on it, and smell it, that’s how you know it’s fresh.

Q: How big of a fish is it?
A: The head’s been removed, but probably when it was caught it weighed about 25 pounds. That’s a good size.

Q: How would you cook this? I was thinking maybe something with a salsa, like this recipe here suggests? (I point to a nearby display.)
A: It’s so fresh, I wouldn’t cover it up with a salsa. I would suggest some sea salt, black pepper, and lemon zest, pan searing it and then finishing off in the oven.

I mean really, right? When was the last time you went to [name redacted] and had someone working the seafood counter who would take the time to discuss recipes?

As big as the steaks are, they're just 1/4 of the fish. © Claudia Kwan 2011

Cavan cut me a gorgeous hunk of halibut – dinner for five that night – and wrapped it up.

After I got it home, I revised his suggestion. There was a kid dining with us, and I didn’t know how well the black pepper would go over. Aesthetically, I also didn’t think I wanted to have the black showing up all over the white of the fish.

Instead, I melted some butter in a pan while giving the fish a quick brine in some coarse sea salt. Then, I added some sugar to the butter, and the zest of a whole lemon, sort of a take on the salted/preserved lemon that you see in Vietnamese cuisine (and some Italian too, I think.) While that was melding together beautifully, I turned the oven on to 325F.

I seared the halibut to a gorgeous golden brown in the pan, and then squirted the juice of the whole lemon over it, before setting it in the oven.

Leaving the piece whole, rather than cutting it into individual portions, gave me some more leeway on roasting time. I left it in for fifteen minutes, let it rest for five minutes, and then cut it into two finger thick portions.

The results? Super delicious, and not as scary as I thought.

I can’t say that I’ll be re-creating this recipe all the time – halibut, after all, is slightly on the pricey side – but it is nice to know that I don’t have to be such a fraidy-cat about fish, and that I can make something half-palatable of a piscine nature when I have guests over.