Happy Pride month from your local YAA blogger buddies, Estelle Kim and Iliana Cutten! School is finally over and we are ready to take on summer. This month’s blog will include new topics such as location of the month and project of the month. Hope you enjoy!
LOCATION OF THE MONTH
Estelle – Saskatoon Farm
Saskatoon Farm is the perfect place to visit, especially during Spring. It is a small farm located between Calgary and Okotoks and “on the farm you can find greenhouses full of plants, a gift shop full of treasures, a 100 seat restaurant with a covered outdoor patio, a seasonal farmer’s market full of local & organic food, an annual U-pick for Saskatoon Berries and Sour Cherries and so much more“. There are so many different kinds of flowers and plants to look at and the place always reminds me of the forest in Snow White!
FOOD OF THE MONTH
After tasting both the Saskatoon berry pie & ice cream, we wanted to share with you simple recipes to both of them! They are delicious and incomparable to any of the other berries out there!
Saskatoon Pie
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
In a large saucepan, simmer berries in 1/4 cup water for 10 minutes. Stir in lemon juice with berries. Combine sugar and flour together in a medium bowl, then stir into berry mixture. Pour mixture into a pastry lined 9 inch pie pan. Dot with butter. Place second crust on top of pie; seal and flute edges.
Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes. Then reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and bake for an additional 35 to 45 minutes, or until golden brown.
From: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/20244/saskatoon-pie/
Saskatoon Ice Cream
- Heat the milk, salt, and sugar in a saucepan
- In a separate bowl, stir together the egg yolks
- Temper the yolks by gradually pouring some of the milk into the yolks, whisking constantly, then pour the warmed yolks and milk back into the saucepan
- Cook over low heat, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom with a heat-resistant spatula, until the custard thickens enough to coat the spatula
- Mix ice cold heavy cream and Saskatoon coulis together in a large bowl over a bed of ice
- Strain the custard into the cream and Saskatoon coulis mixture; stir over the ice bath until cool
- Refrigerate to chill thoroughly: preferably overnight
- Freeze the custard in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions
From: https://www.acanadianfoodie.com/2012/07/25/saskatoon-berry-ice-cream/
PLANT OF THE MONTH
Iliana – Algerian Ivy
This month’s plant selection is my algerian ivy which sits in my room and is over 5 feet long! I bought the plant two years ago as a two inch seedling and it has since grown wildly. It has wonderful delicate foliage and is super easy to grow.
Estelle – Cosmos
Cosmos has been my absolute favourite flower since day 1. Unlike other flowers, it usually blooms in the fall time, which makes them very rare in places like Calgary. However, I was able to see them at the Saskatoon Farm (a.k.a Location of the Month) where they were being seeded in their green houses and moved outside later on. Cosmos has a very simple and plain outline, but the different colours they bloom in will never fail to remind you that spring is here!
VOLUNTEER PROJECT OF THE MONTH
Estelle – Cooking for Your Family
As Youth Central volunteer projects are now done virtually, I had the opportunity to explore many different kinds of at-home projects. One of the projects that I really enjoy being apart of is “Cooking for Your Family”, which is a 2 hour long project that leads you through 2-3 dishes for you to share with your family. I have learnt and tried so many new dishes thanks to this project that I would have not been able to without it. Some of the dishes we made were fried rice, hot & sour soup, stir fried green, jajangmyeon, custard pudding and many more!
Iliana – Sien Lok Chinese New Year
Among the many events in Calgary which I have attended with Youth Central, none of them have compared to Sien Lok Chinese New Year. I have gone twice now and would recommend this project to everyone. Each year the Sien Lok Society of Calgary hosts a fundraiser gala for Chinese New Year. The Sien Lok Society of Calgary is a non-for-profit organization dedicated to promoting and enriching Chinese culture within our community. During the project volunteers help with setup, coat check and registration. To show their appreciation they share with the volunteers Chinese food for dinner plus plenty of snacks! Everybody from the Sien Lok Society is always very kind and grateful for the help which creates a very genuine and positive environment. Not only is it a great event to volunteer at but the event celebrates and promotes the cultural diversity within Calgary.
SONG OF THE MONTH
Iliana – “Tough On Myself” by King Princess
I absolutely cannot stop listening to King Princess. With so many good tracks in her short career it’s hard to choose just one, however I think that “Tough On Myself” from her debut album Cheap Queen is my favourite. I have been living for her music since last summer. Not only is King Princess an amazingly talented artist but she is an advocate for LGBTQ+ rights and is outspoken on social media about her experiences as a gay and genderqueer individual. On top of all her many irreplaceable traits King Princess is a hilariously witty person with a huge personality.
Estelle – “I Just Came to Say I Love You” by Stevie Wonder
The fact that the lyrics directly refers to June in “No wedding Saturday within the month of June” would just be another excuse to listen to this classic song. Being away from everyone and not being able to see our friends and families really makes us feel the importance of checking in with our loved ones. How about you use this song as your excuse to call your friends or family and tell them how much you care?
RANDOM CATEGORY
Iliana – Breadface Blog
The internet can seem like a chaotic and wild place, but I have found a quiet corner of the internet full of comfort. On Instagram exists a profile dedicated to the kinesthetic pleasures of grains, gluten and dough. In particular the sensation of her face in bread. @Breadfaceblog began five years ago and has since gained a mass following of nearly 200k subscribers. Among the many dimensions of each clip is the carefully selected music, the type of bread and the fit. After long wondering about the experience I decided that for the sake of research I had to recreate it. I based my simulation on the post below.
There was a lot to consider, the outfit, the lighting, the type of bread. Sweet, savoury, crunchy or soft? I chose a sourdough loaf as my medium and did my best to replicate the experience. I can say that there really is something rewarding about the entire action. I enjoyed the softness and warmth of the loaf. Please enjoy my budget recreation below.
Estelle – Gudak Cam
Have you ever wanted a film camera but just didn’t have the time & money to get one? Well if so, “Gudak” is the perfect app for you! Gudak Cam is a disposable photo app where it takes photos for you with the same filter a film camera would! Also, in order to resemble the nature of a film camera, the app takes 72 hours for your photos to develop. When you are taking the photo, the lens that reflects what you are looking at is also very small, making the photos a happy surprise when they come out! This is a great app that can make something as simple as the view outside your window suddenly look like the most aesthetic place on earth. Here are a couple of photos to give you a taste of the filter!
And that concludes K&C Corner: Blog of the Month for June 2020! Thank you for tuning in and have yourselves a lovely spring. See you back in July!