A Fashion Event

Last week our neighbour,Catherine, graciously hosted a fashion event in our Grand Room. Nancy Lord brought in rackfuls of her designs for the KL ladies to check out. I got there early and over a cup of coffee chatted to Nancy about her work.

Often, at a very early age, children may give hints of what will be their driving passion in later life. One hears of writers who wrote poems and little stories, or artists who compulsively drew from very young. Nancy told me that she knew from the age of 5 that she wanted to make clothes.

Although her company is based in Vancouver, where she designs to order and manufactures locally, she got her start in Montreal where she worked for a European line before being invited to design for Ports International in Toronto. After moving to Vancouver almost twenty years ago she designed for the Jaxsport division of Mr. Jax before starting her own company.

Her signature motto is "Clothing to Fit Your Soul". Working to develop a style that suits your character and fits within your budget, Nancy will create a single piece or a collection. I loved the feel of some of the microfibre and jersey fabrics she had on display.

For someone like me who is a reluctant shopper at the best of times, an event like this offered an unusual opportunity to have an experienced designer make suggestions around a suitable style for my build and lifestyle.

Thanks Catherine for the hosting and Nancy for bringing your range to us.

Movable Feast Reminder from Gillian

Well here I am in sunny California having been to a Tap/Ballet class for 4 to 5 year olds, helped get the house ready for a birthday party and then watched a covey of cute little kids play in a Bounce House, consume Pirate's Booty and banana cupcakes with chocolate cream cheese icing (yummy) and generally have fun.

We didn't have Bounce Houses and that sort of stuff when my kids were small but enjoy the video anyway. Watching the Bounce House expanding reminded me that I should remind you all of the upcoming Movable Feast. I will leave you to make the connection.

Please remember to email your reply and let us know you plan to come.

A Special Fashion Invite for the ladies of Kings Landing

Dear King’s Landing Resident:
You are invited to an exciting Nancy Lord Private Shopping Event which will be held in the King’s Landing Grand Room in your complex on Wednesday February 25th. This is an exciting look at the latest Spring 2009 fashions brought to you exclusively by your neighbour Catherine Spanevello, who is kind enough to host this event. Wine and cheese will be served.

I will have a fantastic collection of ready to wear items along with my made to measure groups. Please RSVP by e-mail and supply me with your clothing size. I would be happy to put together a selection of items especially for you.

Everyone is welcome. Feel free to bring a friend.

Here are the details:
When: Wednesday Feb 25 9 AM to 7 PM
Where: King’s Landing
Grand Room
3rd Floor 420 Beach Crescent
Vancouver, BC
Please call Nancy Lord now at 778-241-5673
or contact me by e-mail to confirm.
nancy@nancylord.com


Nancy Lord
NL Showroom World Trade Centre 520 999 Canada Place Vancouver BC V6C 3E1

Hot Lucy at The Yale

The KL community is fantastic as a fan base if you have some activity to share. On Tuesday night The Yale was packed with enthusiastic KL folk to applaud HOT LUCY, a new band featuring our very own Terry Fay as drummer extraordinaire.

I was experimenting with new settings on my camera which were not entirely successful - there was an overall red glow which made everyone look like shadowy denizens of an inferno - but here is a picture showing three of the band members and as well, a video clip in which which we can catch a brief moment of Terry in action.

The World though the Eyes of our Head Concierge

Most of our KL community has been very appreciative of our concierge team, headed by the very capable, unflappable and unfailingly courteous Michael Winters. But for those of you who have not yet become fans of the artistic Michael, check out his daily photography blog at

http://michaelseye.blogspot.com/

As you will see from my next posting, I need to get lessons in focus from Michael

Cooking with our own resident Chef: Feb 28, 2009

In response to urgings from us KL foodies, Hilary will be giving a cooking class on February 28th. Hilary has chosen to feature a favorite and versatile citrus fruit. In her own words:-

HOMAGE TO THE LEMON

COOKING CLASS
February 28 2-5pm
Saturday Grand Room

I would like to do a class that honours this beautiful fruit which is just coming into season now. It has a lot of diversity and hopefully will catapult us into spring!. If you are interested, I thought I would do a class on Saturday Feb 28 in the Grand Room from approximately 2-5:00 pm. I am a little uncertain about the exact length of the class because this is a little experiment with these ingredients. This will be a hands-on+demonstration class so be prepared to have some fun with your lemons.

WE WILL MAKE

Limoncello
An Italian aperitif/digestif from Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast region originiating in the early1900’s using fresh lemons, alcohol and sugar. You will take home a bottle of approx 400 mls of your very own limoncello that you will have made yourself in class. You will not believe how easy it is to make and you wil not believe how good the homemade stuff is compared to the store bought stuff. But you will have to allow it to cure for 80 days in Italian lore.

Preserved lemons
You will take home a quart size jar of salt preserved lemons that you will have made with your own hands. Salt preserved lemons originated in middle eastern cultures but now have been fused into other international cuisines. You can use preserved lemons in various recipes with meats and seafood and as well as vegy dishes. Your preserved lemons will be salt cured and ready for use just in time for late spring-early summer BBQ’s and braises, stir frys, tagines or to use as a condiment or in an appetizer tray. They are also beautiful when added to a cheese plate.

Shucked Oysters on the Half Shell Using the Theme Ingredients Preserved Lemons and Limoncello
I will use these ingredients to pare with seasonal oysters (limoncello and preserved lemons that I made earlier to give them time to cure) Oysters are at their sublime during this time so I thought this would be a wonderful accompanyment. I will teach you the basics of shucking oysters and serving them on the half shell and then will make a very light cream sauce using limoncello and preserved lemons which will be lightly basted over the oysters and baked. Then we will eat them!

You Will Each Take Home
.400 mls (approx) of limoncello
.Quart size jar of preserved lemons
.Oyster gratification
.Recipes

What to Bring
Vegy peeler (one where the main head doesn’t swivel)
Very sharp pairing knife
Lemon squeezer
375 mls of your fave vodka(the smallest vodka)
(If you are wanting to sip wine while you’re doing all this please feel free to bring whatever you would like to drink) I will be serving homemade limoncello with the oysters.



I Will Provide
Sterilized jars and ingredients for the limoncello (except vodka)
Sterilized jars and ingredients for the preserved lemons
Oysters and ingredients for the sauce
Sauce techniques for this dish
General instruction for ingredient preparation
Homemade limoncello will be served with the oysters

Cost of the Class
$50 per person $90 for a couple

Class Date and Time
February 28, 2009 Saturday 2-5:00 pm approximately
Grand Room Kings Landing

From my "castle in the clouds"

What a shock to come back
from almost a month of bright sunshine, cool silky blue waters and
pina coladas

to a thick fog blanketing False Creek
so that each morning it seemed as though my blinds were drawn

What a shock to come
from no commitments other than to an intense daily aerobic workout and to mastering a new sentence and new words of Spanish each day

to schedules, appointments and all the things I left undone before I left!

What is one to do?
Luckily I live at Kings Landing so the possibilities are endless. Keep reading for what is upcoming over the next few weeks:

Check out Hilary's Cooking Class - details in the next posting
Book clubs, Film clubs
and my new proposal for those who love music, love to dance (not the scary movie) and want to keep fit at the same time

Congratulations to our Strata Council President, Deb and my fellow council members who were re-elected at our AGM this week. Welcome to Gordon who is replacing Brian on the Council and thanks to Brian for his service during the last year.

Cheers

Gillian