To say that Whistler is a place that knows how to have fun is an understatement. It could grant PhDs in it. And there’s no better time to take a few lessons than during their annual Cornucopia. 

This is the 14th year of the food and wine celebration, which takes place November 11 to 14. Highlights include “wine flights,” which are intended as affordable introductions to wine tasting, or for those who want to sample offerings from different regions. For example, a Regional Walkabout, at $35 per person, allows tasters to meet vintners and to try wines and appetizers from South Africa, Australia, and the Okanagan’s own Golden Mile. Sommelier Kurtis Kolt returns this year to host a Mini Tasting Series featuring B.C. wines from the Okanagan and Similkameen valleys ($30 per person).

And if you like a good food fight, check out the Whistler Chef’s Challenge. The free event will see the area’s culinary magicians vie  for the King of Cooks title. See the Whistler Cornucopia website for full details on all the events.

Be still, my beating heart. Seriously. After all the sugar I consumed last night at Rogers’ Chocolates 125th anniversary celebration, my heart is happily skipping a beat or two today!

The Vancouver-Island based company celebrated their big day in style at Victoria’s Fairmont Empress Hotel, where they offered guests delicious treats like gooey sea salt caramels, light-as-air Victoria creams, chocolate-covered strawberries, and chocolate-inspired libations. Heaven!

The City of Victoria paid tribute at the event to the founder of Rogers’ Chocolates, declaring October 25 Charles “Candy” Rogers Day.  (Here’s hoping they’ll have a party next year, too!)

Rogers made his first chocolates in the back of his grocery store in Victoria in 1885, and many of the goodies we tasted last night still use his original recipes. The company also introduced a delightfully rich ice wine truffle and a new line of organic chocolates last night.

Congratulations, Rogers’ Chocolates!

It was a declaration typical of two-year-olds: “I not going to daycare anymore, I only going trick or treating.”

“Really?” I asked my daughter. “Every day?”

Saying my two preschoolers are keen on Halloween is like saying Steve Nash can kinda handle the ball. My son (above) and daughter looove the holiday. We’ve been debating costume choices for weeks (a princess and a macaw parrot, as of the moment). So, I am definitely planning to herd them to the BC Forest Discovery Centre in Duncan for the special Halloween Train, which runs October 29, 30 and 31. Spooky+train ride. What could be better?

The train, Samson, is a 1910 steam locomotive, and will leave the station every 30 minutes from 3 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. (although there is no 4:30 p.m. train).  Samson will chug past ghostly scenes and scary characters at the museum. Trick or treating, festive crafts, a torture chamber, and a haunted house will round out the fun. Adult admission is $11; children aged five to 12 are $7; seniors/students are $9. Children under five are free.

The BC Forest Discovery Centre is a 40-hectare open-air museum off the #1 Highway in Duncan. Displays at the museum tell the story of province’s forestry industry through exhibits, artifacts, and heritage buildings.

See you there!

Did you know you can now shop for distinctive, B.C.-inspired gift items from our new British Columbia Magazine online Gift Shop? (We won’t even tell if you shop while you’re at work!)

Visit our website and click on the gift shop tab to browse from our selection of fine gifts, including food and home products, apparel, books, toys, and accessories. Most of these beautiful items have been created or designed by B.C. artisans.

Here are a few of my personal favourites:

•  A “beachstones” necklace from Victoria-based mixed media artist Gera Scott Chandler. Price: $55
• A set of four coasters with a salmon design by Gitksan artist Jamie Sterritt. Price: $10
• A gleaming, silver-plated bowl with three-dimensional frog design by Haida artist Corey Bulpitt. Price:  $91.75
• An adorable plush otter backpack from Langley, BC-based Stuffed Animal House. Price:  $27.75*

*Prices do not include shipping, taxes, or handling.

High fives to British Columbia Magazine contributor Frances Backhouse, who took home the City of Victoria Butler Book Prize last night for her adult non-fiction work, Children of the Klondike, published by Whitecap Books.

Frances, who had to awaken at 3:50 a.m. this morning to catch a flight to attend a writers’ conference, is still a little stunned. “Despite the lack of sleep, it was a thrilling night,” she reports.

Each year, the International Regional Magazine Association (IRMA) hosts its own version of the Academy Awards. This year, we were called to the podium nine times at the association’s 30th annual awards ceremony, held September 26 in Branson, Missouri.

Our awards for excellence in magazine publishing included Finalist of the Year, Gold for Nature Feature, and Gold for Special Focus for our Summer 2009 issue (our big 50th anniversary issue that featured the full-length special feature “50 Things to Do in B.C. Before You Die”).

With a mere month under my belt as editor here at the magazine, all I could say was, “Wow!”
Thanks and heartfelt congratulations to our talented staff and our fabulous contributors who worked so hard on these issues!

The awards are selected by a panel of independent writing and design judges across more than 20 magazine categories.  Our nine awards included:

• Finalist, Magazine of the Year
• Gold, for Nature Feature (GSI: Grizzly Site Investigators, Fall 2009, by Dave Quinn)
• Gold, for Special Focus (50 Things to Do Before You Die, Summer 2009)
• Silver, for Illustration (50 Things to Do Before You Die, Summer 2009)
• Bronze, for Profile (Annie Oakley of the Chilcotin, Fall 2009, by Danielle Egan)
• Bronze, for overall art direction of a magazine over 40,000 circulation (our own art director, Ken Seabrook)
• Award of Merit, for Art Direction of a Single Story (Nick Bantock’s Saltspring, Spring 2009 (again, our art director,  Ken Seabrook)
• Award of Merit, for Travel Feature (Itcha Ilgachuz, Spring 2009, by Larry Pynn)
• Award of Merit, for Culture Feature (Secrets of Klemtu, Fall 2009, by David Leach)

Cheers to British Columbia Magazine contributor Frances Backhouse. The Victoria writer and biologist was recently nominated for a City of Victoria Butler Book Prize for her non-fiction work, Children of the Klondike, in the adult book category. The award goes out each year, along with a children’s book prize, to a writer living in the Capital Region.

Frances, the author of five books, wrote “Children of the Chilkoot” for our Spring 2010 issue, and has contributed several other articles and features to our pages.The awards take place October 13, 2010, and Frances is among some excellent company. Congratulations, Frances! We’ll keep our fingers crossed.

I admit it.  I’m a foodie.  So when I received an invitation to attend the live, red carpet premiere of a new culinary travel television show last Sunday night, it didn’t take me long to RSVP.

I actually met the producers of Flavours of the West Coast, Karen and Dai Davies of Cedarwood Productions, last year, when they won our Meet Nick Bantock contest.  (Small world, this province of ours!) In their new 13-part series, which airs Sunday nights at 6.30 p.m. on CHEK-TV, host Steve Walker-Duncan, executive chef and owner of Victoria’s Ambrosia Conference and Event Centre, travels across the province to profile local food and wine producers.

After enjoying a tasty selection of hot and cold hors d’ouevres, B.C. wines, and ciders from Saanichton’s Sea Cider Farm & Ciderhouse, guests settled in to watch the live airing of the first episode, which focussed on Vancouver Island’s Cowichan Valley area.  We travelled with Steve, who is also a chef-instructor at Camosun College, to Cobble Hill to learn about Venture Schulze Vineyards and their fine, aged balsamic vinegars from owner Marilyn Venturi.  Then we tromped through a meadow near the Cowichan River with First Nations chef Jared Williams to pick stinging nettle, of all things. Williams prepared a mouth-watering meal of stuffed local pork chop, served over mashed potatoes, with the cooked and pureed nettle.  The audience sighed when the meal was plated. (Many of us, in fact, couldn’t help but murmur, “YUM!”)

The episode wrapped with Steve showing “Rookie Chef” CBC/CHEK news anchor Tony Parsons how to prepare one of the simplest, tastiest, late summer dishes of all time — bruschetta — using fresh local ingredients.  Finally, the show’s wine expert, Tony Phillips, stepped in and offered suggested pairings with B.C. wines. Then the credits rolled, and the live audience erupted in applause.

Food has a way of building community, whether it’s around a kitchen table, or at a gathering like this one in a conference centre.  Last Sunday in Victoria, media, program sponsors, guests from the first episode, chefs, and the folks who created Flavours of the West Coast all came together in the name of great B.C. food.  Just thinking about it is making me hungry all over again!

Watch excerpts from the first episode here.  Tune into episode two this Sunday at 6.30 p.m. PST on CHEK-TV.

Bibliophiles and magazine junkies will descend on downtown Vancouver this Sunday, September 26, for The Word on the Street, a nation-wide celebration of the written word–and British Columbia Magazine will be there to join in the fun! Will you?

Look for our booth in the “Mags BC Tent” at the Homer Street side of the Vancouver Library for a special subscription offer. Then, step up to our prize wheel for the chance to win great British Columbia Magazine swag. All proceeds go to Raise-a-Reader, and every spin wins.

And don’t miss contributing photographer Gary Fiegehen’s presentation “The Power of a Picture: My Work with the Lil’wat Nation” in the Magazine Life Tent at 1 p.m. Fiegehen recently received special permission to attend a traditional Lil’wat naming ceremony for the feature story “A little girl gets her name,” appearing in our Fall 2010 issue. You can get a sneak peek at some of his images here. Everyone who attends the presentation will receive a free copy of the Fall 2010 issue, while supplies last!

The Word on the Street, taking place at Library Square and CBC Plaza from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., also offers more than 100 author events, exhibits, and performances, and a marketplace. Admission is free. For more information visit www.thewordonthestreet.ca/vancouver.

The editorial team at British Columbia Magazine is pleased to introduce our new Editor-in-Chief, Jane Nahirny!

Jane officially took the Editor’s chair on August 23, but she’s no stranger to the magazine. Jane first joined us in November 2007 to fill a maternity leave. One of her first tasks was writing the 18-page sesquicentennial feature for our special B.C. 150 issue.

Further assignments followed, and, one year later,  Jane returned to serve as promotions coordinator to market the magazine’s 50th anniversary. During that time, she developed the master plan for our popular “Share Your B.C.” campaign, in which participants contribute their favourite B.C. places and activities to a searchable, permanent database. For our current issue, Fall 2010, she explored and wrote about the charms of Nelson, available to read here.

Jane’s editorial background includes more than 20 years of experience as a writer and editor with such publications as Canadian HomeStyle, Hamilton Magazine, Golf Canada, and Wedding Bells Magazine. Most recently, she worked as Communications Director for the Montreal-based Canadian Sporting Goods Association.

“I truly feel honoured to guide this iconic publication into its next era,” says Jane. “I look forward to continuing to provide readers with the high-quality articles and inspiring photo spreads they’ve come to expect from British Columbia Magazine, and to creating editorial features that meet the needs of a new generation of readers.”

We’re all thrilled to have Jane here: for her numerous editorial talents and her infectious enthusiasm.

Watch for Jane’s first Front Lines column in our upcoming Winter 2010 issue, out on newsstands in early December.