It was Katie's last day at work and now she's heading off to do her Master's degree in the wilds of Ontario. I made a strawberry cake to send her off in style. This recipe came from Martha Stewart (what a surprise!) and was easy to make and delicious to eat.

This was the weekend of making jam. We headed to the Trout Lake Farmer's Market which had amazingly beautiful produce and  craft stalls. Of course we didn't end up buying anything related to jam at the market, just carrots, corn and peppers. I didn't buy wool but I was quite tempted...

After heading down to Commercial Drive to get everything we needed, including the biggest bag of sugar I've ever seen, we started back to Trish's house but then decided that we should get a little something to eat. We stopped at Coco et Olive and I picked up a slice of mushroom, thyme and cave gruyere galette. So light and creamy!

And we couldn't resist going into Transilvania Peasant Bread. Inside there's a guy with a wood burning oven who makes 2 pound or 5 pound loaves of bread. Nothing overly complicated here, just really good bread. We each bought 2 pound loaves that were still warm from the oven.

Now, finally we get down to making jam. Here are our ingredients: pears, strawberries, grapefruit rind, rhubarb, candied ginger and figs. So pretty!

And the final products:

• strawberry & fig
• strawberry & rhubarb
• pear & ginger
  
• rhubarb & grapefruit
  

Going to the Richmond Night Market is like going to another world. Where else can you buy 10 bras for six dollars or underwear that has a front zippered pocket? And after you've picked up your undergarments, go and buy some decorative stickers for your nails, a USB cable or a pink panther beach towel. And if you need some food to keep you going, they've got you covered. Everything from fried squid to strawberry crepes. I know it doesn't sound very adventurous but I kept my purchases to some stationery and bubble tea.

I just ordered Jason Polan's "The Every Piece of Art in the Museum of Modern Art Book" and it arrived today. That was super fast! He was also kind enough to include a little book called "An Entire Bag of Popcorn" which includes drawings of popcorn, even the unpopped kernels. I love it!

Trish invited me to join her to see Matt & Kim. First we had a lovely dinner...

... and then we headed downtown on a bus where we overheard a conversation that involved a young drunk guy trying to tell a girl about Gene Simmons' tongue. She had clearly never heard of KISS or their incredible black & white make-up. We made it past that and the sketchiness of Main & Hastings to Pat's Pub at the Patricia Hotel.

It seemed kind of quiet as we walked in the door and then we saw a sign that read:

TONITE

Canaries

Silence Industry

Elton Bong 

At first we thought we had arrived on the wrong night, but no, the show was simply cancelled. So we hopped on the bus back to Trish's to have tea and banana bread. This is as close as we got to seeing Matt & Kim: