Sorry for the lag in entries, but this weekend I was occupied celebrating my first Canadian Thanksgiving, which takes place today, the 13th of October. The weekend was spent in the company of twenty wonderful people who's names I will not mention for purposes of anonymity. You know who you are. A comprehensive description of the weekend would be long indeed, but I will try to convey the look and feel of things as succinctly as possible.
Friday morning I took Hwy 99 south to Horseshoe Bay and met S and R at the ferry terminal (scroll down to read the previous entry if you have not already done so). We took a boat to Langdale and then drove about .5 hour to the site of the festivities. We arrived, were fed, and left immediately in search of the prized Chanterelle mushrooms, an elusive fungus that requires a very specific set of environmental conditions to germinate (ask MS if you want to know exactly what it takes to farm them). While the Chanterelle may be a delicacy fit for royalty, the crew that set out to find them was quite the opposite. A historian might describe the quest for Chanterelles as such (imagine British accent):
Friday morning I took Hwy 99 south to Horseshoe Bay and met S and R at the ferry terminal (scroll down to read the previous entry if you have not already done so). We took a boat to Langdale and then drove about .5 hour to the site of the festivities. We arrived, were fed, and left immediately in search of the prized Chanterelle mushrooms, an elusive fungus that requires a very specific set of environmental conditions to germinate (ask MS if you want to know exactly what it takes to farm them). While the Chanterelle may be a delicacy fit for royalty, the crew that set out to find them was quite the opposite. A historian might describe the quest for Chanterelles as such (imagine British accent):
"The ragged assortment of twenty-somethings will clamber loudly into a truck, bringing with them only the barest of essentials: baskets in which to place the harvest, knives to cut the stalks, barbecue-flavored sunflower seeds, and a case of Kokanee, which will be consumed at any available interval between searches, and sometimes during the hunt itself. The activity, in its purest form, involves blundering through a dense wet forest with an unsheathed knife in one hand and an open beer in the other, all while intently scanning the undergrowth for the smallest patch of orange. If, at the end of such an ordeal, all participants are not exhausted, muddy, mildly inebriated, and elated at the finding of several pounds of the precious commodity, something has been done incorrectly."
The mushrooms were used in several dishes including a soup, a sauce, and a salad. They were delicious. (No surprise, as G was cooking.) The next event of importance was dinner and the Canuck's game, followed by a rousing game of "Celebrity." Certain people (most notably the author) were absolutely useless at this game and will need to study up on Canadian celebrities, certain hockey goalies, and singers to avoid future embarrassment.
Saturday morning signaled the start of the "Thanksolympics," engineered chiefly by JT. Four teams were created to compete in six events throughout the day, including ping-pong, croquet, entertainment, golf, centerpiece-building, and bocce. The events were a riot, the entertainment hysterical, and the day was a whopping success.
Sweat-lodge building, which has not yet been accepted as a Thanksolympic sport, was the main extracurricular activity of the day. Building a sweat lodge is a long standing tradition with this crowd, and can be highly entertaining and rewarding if done properly. It is also a first rate excuse to drink beer. Construction begins by building a frame from limber branches. These branches are used to form a dome structure which should be no more than 4 feet high. After building the frame, a tarp is placed over the structure as the innermost layer of insulation. For this sweat lodge, cardboard and sheets of plastic were used to insulate the structure: at some parts of the lodge insulation was 6-10 inches thick.
The next step is to find several volleyball-sized rocks (rock selection is crucial--sedimentary rocks or rocks with air pockets are liable to explode or simply disintigrate when they are heated to extreme temperatures). These rocks are placed into a fire which, to acheive maximum effect, should be stoked until it has assumed the dimensions of a Clydesdale. The rocks are heated until they are red hot, then placed in a hole dug in the center of the sweat lodge. After the rocks are in place, 6-12 grown men clad only in shorts should crawl in, each clutching as many beers as he can carry. The door is closed and water is poured onto the rocks to heat the lodge. When a lodge has been well constructed, it gets really hot. Generally, this causes the occupants to sweat profusely, hence the name. In these circumstances it is important to keep your wits about you, so remember to drink your beer quickly before it becomes warm. If this all sounds like a bad idea, sweat-lodging is probably not for you. Also, as R commented while we were sitting in a small enclosed space throwing cold water onto red-hot rocks sitting inches from our feet: "We threw safety out the window a long time ago."
I would like to extend a thank you to J & J T, and to all cooks, dishwashers, musicians, and everyone who pitched in to make it a great weekend.
If anyone has them, I would like to post pictures from the weekend, especially of the following: sweat lodge, music/singing/entertainment, food, ping-pong and anything else I'm forgetting. Thanks!!
Happy Thanksgiving!!!
Saturday morning signaled the start of the "Thanksolympics," engineered chiefly by JT. Four teams were created to compete in six events throughout the day, including ping-pong, croquet, entertainment, golf, centerpiece-building, and bocce. The events were a riot, the entertainment hysterical, and the day was a whopping success.
Sweat-lodge building, which has not yet been accepted as a Thanksolympic sport, was the main extracurricular activity of the day. Building a sweat lodge is a long standing tradition with this crowd, and can be highly entertaining and rewarding if done properly. It is also a first rate excuse to drink beer. Construction begins by building a frame from limber branches. These branches are used to form a dome structure which should be no more than 4 feet high. After building the frame, a tarp is placed over the structure as the innermost layer of insulation. For this sweat lodge, cardboard and sheets of plastic were used to insulate the structure: at some parts of the lodge insulation was 6-10 inches thick.
The next step is to find several volleyball-sized rocks (rock selection is crucial--sedimentary rocks or rocks with air pockets are liable to explode or simply disintigrate when they are heated to extreme temperatures). These rocks are placed into a fire which, to acheive maximum effect, should be stoked until it has assumed the dimensions of a Clydesdale. The rocks are heated until they are red hot, then placed in a hole dug in the center of the sweat lodge. After the rocks are in place, 6-12 grown men clad only in shorts should crawl in, each clutching as many beers as he can carry. The door is closed and water is poured onto the rocks to heat the lodge. When a lodge has been well constructed, it gets really hot. Generally, this causes the occupants to sweat profusely, hence the name. In these circumstances it is important to keep your wits about you, so remember to drink your beer quickly before it becomes warm. If this all sounds like a bad idea, sweat-lodging is probably not for you. Also, as R commented while we were sitting in a small enclosed space throwing cold water onto red-hot rocks sitting inches from our feet: "We threw safety out the window a long time ago."
I would like to extend a thank you to J & J T, and to all cooks, dishwashers, musicians, and everyone who pitched in to make it a great weekend.
If anyone has them, I would like to post pictures from the weekend, especially of the following: sweat lodge, music/singing/entertainment, food, ping-pong and anything else I'm forgetting. Thanks!!
Happy Thanksgiving!!!
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