Mixtape Monday V11

Mixtape Monday V11 from aussibelle on 8tracks.

1. Switched On - Islands
2. South Side (feat. Morgan Kibby) - Tokyo Police Club
3. Liar - Built to Spill
4. Memory Serves - Interpol
5. Codes and Keys - Death Cab for Cutie
6. Long Distance Lullaby - Stornoway
7. Cato As a Pun - Of Montreal
8. 1957 - Milo Greene


2 1/2 weeks of class left in the term! It's crazy how fast time flew by.

Pizzaz

I pretty much owe this pizza dough my life. I will never buy another pre-made pizza again. I will (hopefully) never order pizza out (unless it's from UNA). And unless something better comes up (is this even possible?!) I will continue to use this pizza dough forever and ever. It's the first 100% whole wheat pizza dough that I've found that is actually really, really good. It took a little practice to get right though. I made it for Valentine's Day dinner when Jess was here and had a little trouble with it rising properly. It was good, but I was sure that I'd done something wrong. A week later I made it again for my roommates (with the same toppings) and had much more success. Last weekend I made it a third time with different toppings and had EVEN MORE success with the dough! I had a few leftover slices the following day and ended up slicing off the crust, eating it, and tossing the actual pizza...


This time around I did: half eggplant, mushroom and Monterey, and half tomato, basil and old Cheddar. I was much more partial to the tomato and basil half. I have a thing about mushrooms... Well, for the most part I just don't like them. I've been trying to get over this by slipping them into dishes (like cheese covered pizza), but I don't think it's working very well.


I also had a small glass of beer with dinner, which was the inspiration for making pizza in the first place. It seemed like a good combo. Ok, let me start by saying that I HATE beer. Can't stand it. It sucks being in university and not liking beer, because it's really all that anyone drinks. When I do occasionally end up going out (seriously, I've been clubbing twice since moving here in August) or going to a party everyone drinks beer. I drink vodka, or if I don't mind looking like a weirdo, wine. Note: wine makes really bad pre-gaming booze, if you couldn't figure that out on your own (DERP). It HARDLY seems fair to my poor liver to be downing shots of vodka while everyone else is drinking beer. On another note completely unrelated to post-secondary binge drinking, it would be nice to enjoy a beer every once in a while on random social occasions. There's something weird to me about drinking a glass of wine on a sunny weekend afternoon on the back porch - a cold beer would be more fitting, hm? Well, I decided that I should try to acquire a taste for beer. I've been trying a BIT over the years, but I was always drinking the crap that everyone else had, which is usually PBR, Cariboo, or Lucky. IIIICCCCCKKKK. Not good. Not good at all. My conclusion was that I should try some foodie recommended quality craft beers and see how I fare with them. Might as well drink the good stuff if I'm going to try to force it down right? I'd heard good things about this Phillips Longboat Chocolate Porter. I surprisingly enjoyed it, although it took me a long time to drink. You can definitely taste the chocolate notes! I won't be rushing out to buy another one (hey bottle of wine), but it's definitely something that I'd consider if I plan on drinking more beer.


I was right though. Beer and pizza were the way to go.

Favorite things: Victoria Public Market & sunny spring days

Photos via Instagram.

Every first and third Saturday of the month, Victoria Downtown Public Market Society puts on a Winter Farmers Market (from November to March) held at Market Square on Johnson St. Today was the very last market of the season, which is both sad and exciting. Sad because, well, I really look forward to going every couple of weeks. Exciting because 29 vendors were scheduled to show up, including some of my favorites! The bright side to the downside is that Moss Street Market starts up soon! Hopefully I'm here for the first of the season.

Thank goodness the weather was so nice today. I got up bright and early and made my way down to the market after having some oats for breakfast. It was so nice that I decided I had may as well walk downtown. Even after seven months of living here it still baffles me that I can walk anywhere in Victoria in an hour or less. I couldn't help but chuckle when my roommate (who was also heading to the market) texted me asking why I was walking and if I'd like her to pick me up. I'm really glad that I don't have a vehicle here, or even have my license for that matter. I have this horrible feeling that I would be suuuuuper lazy if I had a vehicle at my disposal. Anyways, I didn't actually end up buying anything at the market (starving student spent too much $$ on cake ingredients for the roommates birthdays this month), but it was good to go down and be part of the action. Hell, it was good to just be out of the house and spending some time outside. It's crazy the things that you miss being either cooped up in the house or walking a short, direct route to the bus stop, to campus and then home again. I've missed little things like cherry blossoms in bloom, which is one of the things that I love so dearly about Victoria. You don't see those in Calgary! I didn't even realize that they were in bloom until today. I've been that out of tune with my surroundings. After the market I did a little grocery shopping (thrifty shopping with my last $$, ugh March has been rough) and finally made my way home.

I spent a good three hours walking and clocked in 9.4km. TO DOWNTOWN AND BACK. Not too shabby. It was suuuuper nice to not be on a bus or in a vehicle. Why would I not walk if it's so gorgeous outside?! I'm hoping that it stays nice like this so that I can walk to school a couple of days a week. It's an hour walk from my house, but it would be well worth it. I should be taking advantage of being able to walk everywhere while I still can. I've just calculated how far it is to walk from my parents house in Calgary to my old workplace... and it's 12.6km. I have an impossible time trying to clock in 10km any time I go for a walk with a destination here in Victoria. Eek! I seriously underestimate how small Victoria really is. As sad as it is, I'm positive that I will be doing a lot less walking once I am back in Calgary. 

One of the things that I really, really like about Victoria are the farmers markets and general support for local producers/businesses. I don't know if I was just really unaware of it in Calgary, but I never got the sense of community. Perhaps it's because Calgary is just too freaking big. Perhaps it's because I never spent much time at the farmers market (permanent year round and indoor) due to how inaccessible it is without a vehicle. I'm really hoping to get more involved in this sort of thing once I'm back. If anyone has any information about getting involved in any health/fitness/nutrition/slow food/farmers market/local businesses please let me know! It is SO important to support the little guys and I think Calgary really needs more of that.

Ah, and a last little question... What are your thoughts on Wordpress vs. Blogger?

Here's to hoping the sun is shining wherever you are this weekend!