John Devitt

Rules of etiquette are funny things.  These secret codes are often unwritten but one must learn to understand and practice them if one is to become an accepted member of society.  In fact, it is often considered inappropriate to tell someone they are not following proper etiquette unless; they are specifically asking whether they are being rude, or the person is under your instruction, such as is the case with a parent, babysitter, teacher, or supervisor.  So we will politely discuss proper etiquette as though we all need a little instruction.  If this offends you, then I suggest visiting the following link: http://www.wordworx.co.nz/seriously.html otherwise, please continue reading.

Recently, a friend of mine was telling me about how while they were participating in a winter sport at Revelstoke Mountain Resort, they came over one of the rollers only to find a group of winter sport participants stopped dead in the middle of the run.  Luckily my friend wasn’t going that fast and was able to check their speed enough to go around them safely.  Etiquette prevents me from either naming the person or the sport being participated.  Furthermore, etiquette prevented my friend from making any sort of statement, either positive or negative to the group of winter enthusiasts who were an endangerment to others on the mountain.  Silly etiquette, getting in the way of safety and opinions and stuff.

The truth is there are very few rules to enjoying the mountain.  Most people are enjoying their day so much, that they really don’t care about anything other than the snow.  However, there are a few things that irk anyone throughout their day on mountain.  Through a highly scientific and accurate series of guerilla interviews of “locals,” “non-locals,” “visitors,” “tourists,” “just living heres,” “re-locals,” “seasoners,” and “Australians” at popular environs of socialization throughout Revelstoke, here are a sampling of the “rules” most frequently mentioned.

Please note that this list is presented in no particular order.  This is in order to prevent any personal emotional connection inferred by the reader’s present state of mind thereby leading them to believe these items are written and directed specifically to said individual.  Please visit: http://www.wordworx.co.nz/seriously.html for more information. Now, onto the “rules”:

• Always warn others when bringing down the safety bar on the chairlift.  No one likes being bonked in the head.
• Be aware of your surroundings!  Keep your head on a swivel and know where others are regardless of who has the right of way.
• Like to dart in and out of the trees?  Check uphill before reentering the run to make sure you don’t slam into someone.  In fact, always look uphill when merging onto another run!
• No friends on a powder day!
• Never stop in the middle of a run!  Do it off to the side so you are not an obstacle that other skiers have to avoid. 
• Never stop in a blind spot!
• Try to keep a consistent line going down the hill.  Don’t take up the entire width of the run by zigzagging.  Skiers behind you that are faster than you are trying to anticipate where you will go so they can pass you safely.  If you take a sudden wide turn to one side it may take them by surprise and cause a crash.  If you need to cut across the hill, look uphill before you make your move.
• In the Day Lodge don’t hog the whole table.  When its lunchtime and the restaurant is busy try to keep your helmets, gloves and stuff off the table or in a small area to allow others to join you.  There is nothing more aggravating than walking around with a tray of food looking for a place to sit especially when you see all these chairs taken up with clothing and stuff.
• Watch your gear in the lift line.  People don’t really like their skis or boards run over or poked with poles.
• Don’t laugh at others when they crash, laugh with them.  Remember you were learning once too, and if you don’t crash once in awhile it means you’ve stopped trying to learn.
• Try to avoid telling mountain staff who are working that day just how awesome it is up there and what they’re missing.  Believe me, they know, and would much rather be up there with you.
• Always smile, wave, say hello and wish a wicked day of shredding the gnar gnar to anyone you see!

Proper etiquette suggests I thank you for reading and direct your attention to this link: http://www.wordworx.co.nz/seriously.html prior to suggesting you go play in the snow for a while.

The Community Development Corporation is launching a new program to promote volunteerism in our community. Revelstoke has a strong history of volunteerism, contributing not only to the ‘hidden’ economy but also to the vitality and spirit that makes our community “the friendly, happening place we all know and love,” it said in a news release.

“The Spirit of Revelstoke award program recognizes citizens who have made outstanding volunteer contributions to our community,” the release said.

“Award recipients will be honoured with a personal letter from the Mayor of Revelstoke and a small token of appreciation. Names of recipients will be published in local media and entered into a draw to win a Spirit of Revelstoke print designed by local artist Rob Buchanan. The names of nominators will remain confidential.”

The volunteer nominated can be any age and his or her  contribution must be significant:

• Having occurred on a regular basis over time (i.e. shoveling a neighbour’s driveway all winter), or
• Related to a community organization, or
• Having made a major impact on a specific project that will benefit the community at large.

Please click here to access an interactive nomination form.

Nomination forms can also be picked up at Chamber of Commerce reception (204 Campbell Ave) or requested via email to: volunteer@revelstokecf.com

Send us your completed nomination form to Volunteer Revelstoke via email to:  volunteer@revelstokecf.com

OR drop off at 204 Campbell Ave. or mail to PO Box 2398 Revelstoke BC V0E 2S0

These Colombian empanadas will delight your taste buds. The name comes from the verb empanar, meaning to wrap or coat in bread. Empanadas ares made by folding a dough or bread patty around the stuffing. The stuffing can consist of a variety of meats, cheese, huitlacoche, vegetables or fruits among others. Leslie Savage photo

Food Editor Leslie Savage

Medellin, Colombia in 1970 was a city of one million people and no drug trade. Or at least not one that dominated anyone’s agenda. The city on most days was filled with two marvelous aromas—coffee and chocolate. The Antioqueñan hillsides surrounding the city were planted with small coffee farms. A regular site was a campesino huddled under his ruana — a Colombian poncho — leading a donkey laden with huge sacks of coffee beans into the coffee cooperative. Some of the beans were roasted there, as were the cocoa beans that also came from the surrounding areas.

We lived on one of those hillsides for two years, and when I think of Colombia it’s not of the later stories of violence and cartels  but of coffee and chocolate. It was a lucky time.

I’ve tried several times to replicate the empanadas we often ate with coffee, in the afternoon — served as espresso, and called in Spanish tinto, for “ink.” I’m on a quest for the authentic Colombian recipe for empanadas.

Having proposed to the Carousel of Nations organizers that I would make empanadas colombianas, I wanted them to taste exactly like the ones I remember from my years in Colombia.

Empanadas are the perfect snack — a little meat, a few tiny cubes of potato and tomato, all inside a tiny crispy corn tortilla packet that holds, when you break it apart, a spoonful of aji, salsa but better. In Colombia we ate these by the basketful, at lunchtime, or late in the afternoon with a beer, or very late in the evening, at a bar where the local anise-flavoured firewater, aguardiente, was cheap and the women drank Coca Cola, in a glass with a straw and no ice. I think food is always (for me anyway) associated with the best of the memories of new experiences, and when I think of the things I loved about Colombia, and there were lots, empanadas is one thing that comes to mind right away.

I wanted to make these for international food fair on Saturday, February 4 at the Community Centre. Problem: the masa harina we used to buy ready made at the market is unavailable here. I made one batch with the Bob’s Mill yellow corn masa harina, but the result was thick and doughy. Another batch I made with wheat flour — the way empanadas are made in Argentina and Chile — and baked them in the oven. These were very popular with one of my grandsons. But they weren’t authentically Colombian.

David Rooney came to the rescue producing a 4 litre package of white corn flour or areparina, from Texas.  I wasn’t convinced at first, and even David’s family recipe called not for areparina, the white corn flour, but for the white corn itself, to be boiled, ground and strained. No chance. ( I did eventually find areparina in the international food section at SuperStore in Vernon, and I hear there’s a great Latin American food store in Calgary.)

So for two weeks I experimented with the areparina. The first few batches, following the recipe on the package, another few including a video from the Maseca brand (www.mimaseca.com) found on-line, and another in a cookbook, weren’t just right. By adding oil and an egg, we finally got a result that seemed close to the empanada of memory. It presses neatly, holds together, doesn’t split when filled (usually) and has the requisite crispness and offers nice combination of delicacy and toughness.

The Rooney family recipe — also authentically Colombian from their years of living in Cali—for the filling was very like the one I remember, though the women who worked for us (yes, mea culpa the help, without whom I would have been a lost lamb in Medellin and Cali) insisted on three kinds of onion, three kinds of potato, and decreed that these be chopped, not cooked and mashed. I’ve added Maletti Balsamic vinegar as it sparks up the filling and makes a delectable little empanada. But authentic it ain’t.

You can taste my slightly unauthentic empandas on Saturday next, February 4, where Savage Delights will have a table at the Carousel of Nations. And if you want to make your own, here’s the recipe that although not 100% authentic, comes close, and works. Read the whole recipe through thoroughly before you start. This is in three parts: make the filling, make the dough and shape and fill the empanadas, then deep fry them.

Yup: deep fry. This is possibly the only time I will recommend this method of cooking. Use canola oil. Use a candy thermometer that clings to the edge of the pot with a clip. Heat the oil to 350F and keep it there by adjusting the heat underneath. This is most easily done on a gas stove or in a deep fryer. I don’t own one, as I seldom deep fry anything. But heck, most of us eat a French fry now and then, and they’re deep fried. In a culture without ovens — many Colombians cook on one or two burners, nada mas, so deep frying is common. So are pressure cookers and rice cookers, for the two staples of Colombian cuisine, beans and rice. Platano, or plaintain, is sliced finely and deep fried too.

Empanadas colombianas:  filling

Make the filling first — days ahead if necessary. Cooked, it can be kept in the fridge for a few days, or frozen until needed. For 50-60 empanadas.

Ingredients
½ lb ground lean beef
½ lb ground pork
2 tbsp olive oil
1 lb mixed white, yellow and red potatoes
1 cup each chopped red and white onion
1 large clove garlic
1-2 cups water.
3 tomatoes
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tbsp sea salt
1 tsp black pepper
2 tbsp Maletti Balsamic vinegar (available at Crescendo shops)

1. Steps
   In a large skillet, heat the oil and brown and chop the ground beef and the pork. Add the salt and cumin. When the meat is thoroughly cooked, remove it from the pan with a slotted draining spoon, leaving the juices in the pan, and set aside in a large bowl in the fridge.
2. While the meat is browning, peel the onions and potatoes. Chop both very finely — into cubes 1-2 mm.  Do the same with the garlic. This takes a long time. (However, you can — as many colombians do — use a food processor)
3. Put the onions, garlic and potatoes into the skillet with the pan juices from the meat, and sauté until the onions are transparent and the potatoes are cooked. Add water little by little as the onion-potato mixture requires it, to keep the vegetables from sticking to the pan or burning.
4. Chop or mulch the tomatoes in a food processor and add to the potato mix. Continue to cook over low heat until the potatoes are thoroughly cooked.
5. Add the potato-onion-tomato mix to the meat. Add the Balsamic vinegar and taste. Add more salt or pepper if needed.  If everyone in your crowd likes hot spicy food, you can add hot sauce or red pepper flakes to taste. Be careful though — the heat in the empanada dish comes from the aji salsa, and traditionally the filling is mild and smooth tasting to contrast with the aji.

Empanada dough

Makes 50-60 empanadas
Equipment
1 large bowl
1 measuring cup, at least 2 cup size
2 flat surfaces, a tortilla press, or 2 perfectly flat plate bottoms
cookie tray or flat surface

Ingredients

4 cups areparina (Maseca brand white corn flour)
3 ¾  cups hot water
8 tbsp olive oil
2 eggs
3 tsp salt
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp ancho chili powder

Steps

1. Put the flour, salt and chili powder into a bowl and stir with a whisk to blend.
2. Measure the hot water, and add the olive oil and the egg to the measuring cup. Fill to make 2 cups liquid if there’s less than that after adding the oil and egg. Stir to beat the egg and oil into the water.
3. Stir to blend, then mix and knead with your hands until the masa is smooth, warm and soft. If the dough is sticky, add 1-2 tbsp more flour. and knead until the dough is smooth and less sticky. If the dough is hard, it won’t press into shape neatly, so don’t add too much flour.
4. When the dough is well integrated and smooth, shape into a ball and leave under a damp towel throughout the shape and fill process.

Shape and fill the empanadas

In Colombia women do this shaping between their hands, with a bit of waxed paper or  plastic wrap on each side of the dough.

Equipment
• squares of plastic wrap
• a tortilla press OR any very flat surface and another flat board to press down on

1. Working with fresh warm masa dough (believe me , you cannot make this ahead and freeze it — I tried), break off a piece of dough in your fingers and make a ping pong ball sized sphere, then flatten it slightly.
2. Put a square of plastic wrap on the flat surface of the tortilla press or other flat place.
3. Place the ping pong ball of dough in the centre, cover with another square of plastic and press down.
4. Press the dough into a neat circle about 4” in diameter.
5. Peel off the top paper, flip the dough circle into your left hand, (reverse if you are left-handed) and remove the other piece of plastic wrap.
6. Put 2-3 tsp (1 tbsp if possible) of filling in the centre of the circle.
7. Gently curl the little tortilla around the filling and press the edges together, fluting them slightly as you work to seal the edges.
8. If the tortilla breaks, you probably have made it too thin or too dry. It may take a few tries to get is just right. If the tortilla breaks, put the dough back into the bowl and add warm water, 1 tbsp at a time.
9. Once the empanada is formed, place it on a sheet of waxed paper or a flat surface.

Fry the empanadas

1. Heat 1 litre of canola oil to 350° F.
2. Put 4-6 empanadas in the oil for 7-10 minutes each, turning once after 3 minutes.
3. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Serve immediately with aji picante, below.

Aji picante for empanadas
Makes 2 cups: this goes fast, make lots

Ingredients
8 large scallions
2 large or4 small tomatoes
2 jalapeño pepper
big handful of cilantro
juice of 2 limes
4 tsp vinegar
4 tbsp water
salt and fresh pepper to taste (about 1 tsp each)
hot sauce by drop to taste

Chop the scallions, tomatoes, and the green part of the pepper plus ½ the white inside and seeds. (This is where the heat of the pepper is, so use the whole thing if you like it really hot.)
Add the lime juice, water, salt and pepper and hot sauce.
To eat the empanadas, break one in half and use a small spoon or popsicle stick to put the aji  into the shell with the filling. Two bites is about it, maybe three. But oh boy — what lovely bites.

John Devitt

Spend any time in Revelstoke and you’ll be treated with the “local” versus “live here” conversation.  Perhaps it will be at a community meeting of some sort, where before each person speaks their view, they will grace the audience with the length of time they have lived in Revelstoke, and if it applies, which generation of their family was born here. “I’m so and so I’ve been here 11 years and this is my opinion.”  Then the next person strives to one up the first, “Well I’m so and so and I’ve been here 26 years and this is my more informed opinion.”  Finally there’s Grandmaster Flash with his or her black belt in localism, “My grandparents were born here and I’ve lived here all my life and here’s my infallible and incontrovertible opinion and this is the way it will be done if you know what’s good for you.”

On the flip side is when you’re out for a night on the town and start a conversation with a stranger.  “Where are you from?” you ask.  “Oh, I’m a local, I moved here in October.” It’s mind numbing, as most “isms” are.

This attitude of extremes embraced by “locals” ultimately alienates the people in the middle.  They’re the ones who when asked will say, “No, I’m not local, I’ve just lived here for six years.”  Unfortunately, despite often being the ones contributing the most to the community, they are also made to feel the most unwelcome and have their efforts denigrated.  These are the folks creating new events, enhancing the arts and culture scene or creating unique and interesting new businesses.  They’re the ones who are bringing a richness of experience to Revelstoke and helping rejuvenate this vibrant community.

I had a great example of localism thrust at me while I was out just the other night.  I was enjoying a pint and watching a snow video when a “local” asked me where I was from.  I told him I’d lived here for a number of years, but that wasn’t what he meant.  Growing more and more confused to his pressing questions I finally replied, “Um, Canada?” This still didn’t satisfy him, “No, I mean where are you from?  Look at your arms, look at that arm hair, you must have some spic or wop in you.”  I always thought I was the only one who noticed that I’ve got some pretty furry and stick-like arms.  Apparently not.

It was at this time that a series of random events ended the conversation and sent this racist young local out the door.  I turned to my friend who was working behind the bar and we had a good laugh and a chat about localism.  The fact was between us we’d done more and contributed more in the past couple of years to better the community than that guy probably had his entire life.  Unfortunately, if you weren’t born here, often times your contributions mean nothing.  Another “non-local” friend of mine once said that you shouldn’t consider yourself a local until you’ve lived here 10 years.  Well I say bullshit to that.

With the amount of transition we see in this town, I propose a new definition for local.  If you’ve attended a fundraising event in Revelstoke that supports a community group, you’re a local.  If you’ve waved and said hello to a stranger on the street, then you’re a local.  If you’ve helped someone push his or her car out of the snow after a big dump, then you’re a local.  If you’ve been sun burnt sitting on a patio watching beach volleyball all day, then you’re a local.  If you’ve been part of a committee or group that has attempted to do anything in the community, you’re a local.  If you’ve donated a can of food to the Revelstoke Food Bank, then you’re a local.  What should we add to this new, improved definition Revelstoke?

I propose that instead of dwelling on the differences we focus on similarities.  Hey, do you like snow?  I like snow too.  I love the way it looks when it’s falling past the streetlights at night.  I love the way it swooshes up into my face when I’m shredding at RMR.  I love the way it goes “fwoomp” when I fall into it to bust a mad snow angel.  Hey, do you hate snow?  I hate snow too.  I hate how it gets brown and crunchy when it’s dirty.  I hate how I have to shovel it 3 times a day.  I hate how the plow pushes it all onto my lawn so it doesn’t melt until July.  I hate how it sometimes blocks the reception on my satellite dish.  Jeez, see how much we have in common?!

Jackie Goodman poses in front of semi bearing the logo of the Enbridge Ride to Conquer Cancer. Darrell Goodman photo

As a member of the Lake Revelstoke Dragon Boat Society Jackie Goodman is an active campaigner against cancer. Now’s she’s expanding her participation in cancer research fund raising by cycling from Surrey to Seattle.

“t was nice talking to you the other afternoon,” her husband, Darrell said in an e-mail Wednesday. “To further our conversation, Jackie and I are doing something I think is pretty amazing at our age. We are doing a bike ride in June together from Surrey to Seattle in two days.

“Jackie did it last year and I was her cheering squad, photographer and roadie and I kind of got caught up in the whole moment when there were 2,874 people on bikes to raise money for cancer research that benefits the B.C. Cancer Foundation.”

Now these are a lot of bikes. In fact, they are some of the the bikes that were dropped off the night before for the early departure from Surrey. Darrell Goodman photo

Darrell and Jackie are now working out three times a week, and as soon as the snow is gone they’ll be on their bikes training for this year’s Enbridge Ride to Conquer Cancer, which last year raised $11.3 million dollars that stays in British Columbia for cancer research.

Last summer's rain made for a wet ride but that didn't deter Jackie and other ardent campaigners for cancer research. Darrell Goodman photo

If you’d like to learn more, please watch the video below:

Baby it’s cold outside! Chase away those chills with a muffin chocablock with fruit and nuts or upside-down cake with a crunchy fruit topping. Leslie Savage photo

Food Editor Leslie Savage

Cold weather sharpens the appetite for carbs and also the craving and need for fruits that ward off colds and flu. Cranberries, a fruit native to North America (others are blueberries, pumpkins ands squash, some grapes), contains flavenoids that according to many studies help fight infection. Apricots, featured in the Morning Glory Muffin recipe, contain Vitamins A and C, as well as minor amounts of calcium and iron. Walnuts are said to have more omega 3 fatty acids — the ones that are good for you — than other nuts. Both recipes call for grated apple — I used one apple and one unripe pear in the upside-down cake, and the muffins also contain carrots and coconut — great use for “bottom-of-the-barrel” apples you might otherwise chuck. A plus: one tin of pineapple stretches to cover both these recipes. If you’re more than a purist than I am, use a cup of mulched fresh pineapple.

My mother used to make pineapple upside-down cake back in the 1960s. Before Dole started to export pineapples all over the world, this was our one and only pineapple sighting. When I finally visited Maui for the first time, what a revelation it was to eat, on the porch of the LaHaina Hotel, fresh pineapple pancakes. Along with our kids, I couldn’t get enough of that fresh-from-the-hills succulence of a pineapple picked that morning. Well, almost. Slices of fresh pineapple could be substituted or added to the upside-down topping in the cake below.

These recipes for a scrumptious upside-down cake and morning glory muffins are from Cathy, our friend in Sarnia who bakes and bakes and bakes. I tried them out several times, once disastrously as I didn’t leave the cake in the oven long enough, and cut the muffin recipe in half but forgot to cut the sugar. Cathy makes BIG desserts! And I have halved her recipes; I’ve also used less sugar and a little less fat than she calls for. A new trick she’s taught me: you can use oil and avoid the cholesterol of butter, in baking these items, but keep the butter flavour by using Wilton’s Butter Flavour. You only need a little to replicate amazingly the flavour and aroma of real butter.

Both the cake and the muffins keep well in the fridge. You can warm them in the micro for 10 seconds only. I haven’t frozen them; if you do, let me know how it works.

Cranberry Upside-down Cake

The only problem with this cake is it’s irresistible addictivity. My photographer self ate the whole piece after setting up and taking this shot. (Note to self: get down to the gym TODAY!) Leslie Savage photo

An upside-down cake is a glorious way to make a cake—the work is all done at the start, and there’s no frosting needed. You create a topping on the bottom of the pan, with butter, sugar and fruit, then when it’s out of the oven you invert it onto a cake plate and presto, ready to serve. You can substitute apple slices, peaches, pears, raisins, apricots — any dried berry or stone fruit — for the cranberries.
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
2 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup vegetable oil (canola, peanut or sunflower)
1 cup crushed pineapple (with juice)

1 cup grated apple

1 ½ tsp vanilla
1 tsp Wilton’s Butter Flavour (available at Chantilly)
½ cup butter
¼  cup brown sugar
1 ¼ cups dried cranberries
½ cup orange juice

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Soak the dried cranberries in the ½ cup or orange juice in a small saucepan; these can soak for an hour, or, if you are pressed for time, simmer over low heat until the orange juice has evaporated and been soaked up by the cranberries. (If you use pineapple chunks or other fresh fruit, omit this step.

Prepare a nine-inch round cake tin with straight vertical sides by smearing the ½ cup of butter all over the bottom, thickly. Use a little butter to grease the sides of the pan too but leave most of it on the bottom.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.

In another bowl, mix together the eggs, oil, vanilla, and butter flavour.

Stir the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until ingredients are well moistened, but do not beat. Stir in the crushed pineapple and the grated apple.

Spread the moistened cranberries in the pan on top of the butter-sugar coating, and then spoon the batter into the pan.

Bake at 350° F for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. If you have to leave the cake in the oven longer than this to get it fully cooked, put a “bain-marie” under it — that is, set the cake tin in a larger pan containing one inch of boiling water, so that the fruit/sugar on the bottom won’t burn.

Two minutes after the cake is out of the oven, take a large cake plate, turn it upside down over the cake top, and invert the whole thing so that the plate is on the bottom and the cake tin with bottom side up is on top. Gently jiggle the cake tin until the cake comes out. You may wish to cut around the sides with a knife before the inversion process, but I found with sufficient butter this isn’t necessary.

Serve plain or with — for a wow! Dessert — some caramel or bitter almond ice-cream.

Morning Glory Muffins

Ain’t that sweet? Nothing like a little love to get you moving in the morning. Leslie Savage photo

With apple, eggs, grain, carrots, stone fruit and nuts, these muffins are the porridge-haters’ answer to breakfast. My spouse told me when I first made these that they aren’t really M.G. muffins — his all-time favorite — because they lack dates. I guess. Despite overkill being generally under-rated, in this instance I think dates might be over the top. If you like a richer muffin, however… When I used double the oil and double the sugar, the muffins were so rich the baking soda proved ineffective against gravity and they were delicious but flat on top and soggy throughout. I like the less sweet and less gooey version below. And with so much “substance” in the dough, I upped the baking soda to three tsp to ensure a rise.

You need a muffin tin and some muffin papers for this.

Preheat the oven to 350° F.
Set the muffin papers in the muffin tin.
2 cups flour
½ cup brown sugar
3 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp salt
2 eggs
½ cup vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup grated carrots
½ cup raisins or dried cranberries or currants, soaked in
½ cup fresh orange juice
½ tin crushed pineapple with juice (scant 1 cup)
½ cup chopped walnuts
½ cup shredded coconut

½ cup chopped dried but not dessicated apricots
1 tbsp orange zest
1 apple, grated

Grate the apple and the carrots.
Mix together the dry ingredients: flour, brown sugar, baking soda, salt.

Mix together the eggs, oil and vanilla. Add the crushed pineapple.

Mix the dry and wet ingredients together.

Add the fruits and nuts, coconut and the apple.

Spoon into twelve muffin cups. They will be pretty much full.

Bake at 350° for 35 minutes. Test for doneness with a toothpick. Don’t overbake, however.

Some of the highest fee increases are those for development services. Please click on the image to see a larger version of it. Revelstoke Current scan

By David F. Rooney

Proposed changes to the City’s schedule of fees and charges mean yu may end up paying more for the privilege of playing Bingo or renting a ball field. You’ll also pay 2% interest — up from 1.5% on overdue accounts — and a whopping $35 on any NSF cheques — up from $15, under this plan intended to help the City recover the cost of some services.

A couple of years ago the City hired a cost and management consultant, James Pammenter, to complete a Cost-Recovery Report for the City’s Planning/Building Department and Fire Rescue Services to compare fees against neighbouring communities similar to Revelstoke. Last spring, Council decided to refer the cost recovery report to the Economic Development Commission for review and comment. The response was to have further public input once the language was clarified from the report to the new bylaw.

There are also a number of new fees attached to certain Fire Rescue Service and Engineering and Public Works charges. For instance, it will now cost you $30 to register a fire alarm, $110 to have a fire alarm installation or modification inspected, or $480 for a Fire Safety Plan review.

A Heritage Alteration Permit will set you back $300 and there are some real eye-poppers contained in a section detailing proposed increases to municipal development service charges.

It is important to stress here that most user fees and charges will not change. Most fees and charges are not changing but there there are increases, many of them quite stiff.

Council gave the changes proposed in Bylaw No. 2008 first and second reading. It will now actively seek public comment on the changes until February 8. They will be presented to Council during its regular meeting on February 14 with third and final reading of the bylaw expected sometime after that. However, it is worth noting that the increased revenue anticipated from these changes is included in the Five-Year Financial Plan 2012 to 2016 — in other words, the next budget.

Planning Director John Guenther said many existing fees had not been adjusted in many years and consequently when increases are proposed some people believe the changes are inordinate and unfair when, in fact, they are not.

The real question is whether service is being improved, he said.

Additional fee schedules will be forthcoming in 2012 for water, sewer, animal control, business licensing and the cemetery.

Click here to read the full set of proposed changes

These are the different homes that were nominated for this year's round of Heritage Awards. Please click on the image to see a larger version of it. Images courtesy of the Revelstoke Community Heritage Commission

Four local residents have been awarded Heritage Awards for their treatment of existing homes or the way their new home fit in with their neighbourhood’s character.

This year’s winners are:

Residential Renovation — Chris Johnston  for his treatment of the old Sturdy House at 102 Third Street East. He removed a stucco exterior, reconditioned the original wood siding and applied new paint that brought out the structure’s original details;

Residential Renovation — Paul and Eileen Sutherland for their application of hardi plank siding and shingles, a new roof, new windows and new paint to the Down’s House at 917 Second Street West;

Residential Detail — This award went to David and Leslie Savage for their use of new paint and wood detailing in a heritage style to give new life to their home at 111 Fifth Street East; and

Residential Infill — Laura Stovel won this award for the way her newly built home at 404 Connaught Avenue reflects the character of her neighbourhood with sensitivity.

The briefing package provided to Council by the Community Heritage Commission noted that there were seven entries in just three of the six categories available. There were no nominations for the Commercial Renovation, Commercial Infill and Institutional Renovation categories.

Plaques will be awarded to the owners during Heritage Week, February 20-26.

Councillor Steve Bender, who was hospitalized in Vancouver last week after he experienced serious internal bleeding, could be back home in Revelstoke by the end of the week.

His wife, Adelheid, said “his vital signs are good” and doctors at Vancouver General Hospital have resumed his blood thinner treatments. He started taking Warfarin after heart surgery in 2010. The blood thinners were suspended after he collapsed last week.

“He doesn’t have cancer, he has a kidney condition where scar tissue forms on the kidneys that cause them not to work properly,” Adelheid said.

“His kidneys are about 20% working, but he doesn’t have to go on dialysis at this time.

“He must be getting better he is starting to get grumpy.”

Maybe if everything goes well we can take him back to Revelstoke at the end of next week.”

Her husband’s ordeal began Jan 5, when he underwent a kidney biopsy at Royal Inland Hospital.  He was sent home on January 7 and January 14 he experienced abdominal pain and severe vomiting. That night he was taken to  Queen Victoria Hospital where they diagnosed internal bleeding from the kidney and measured his blood pressure at 70/35 — far, far below normal.

Steve was then transported to Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops and from there to Vancouver General by air ambulance at which point he was sent to surgery.  He had only 20% function in his kidneys and he lapsed into a coma and was attached to a ventilator. He was then sent to the Intensive Care Unit.

“By the end of that day — Monday — he was breathing on his own,” Adelheid said in an interview from Vancouver last week. “His hands and feet are very swollen and his stomach is hugely swollen.

It looks a lot like your house… wait a minute! It is your house.

This sounds like a bad joke but it has really happened to one Revelstoke woman.

School teacher Sue Leach said a good friend contacted her on January 14 to tell her that her house was being advertised for rent.

Imagine checking The Stoke List one day and finding your own house posted for rent! Would that surprise you? You bet it would. The scammer who claimed to own Sue Leach's house scooped this photo of her house from a legitimate real estate web site. Screen Shot by The Revelstoke Current

“Yikes!” Sue said as she asked me if I could contact the Stoke List’s Karilyn Kempton “in case there is a scam in the making.”

I called Karilyn who was alarmed when I told her that Sue’s house at 1300 Front Street was being listed as a rental when it was actually up for sale. She said that was the second complaint she had received about a local house being falsely listed for rent.

“Crazy story!” she said.

“The sad thing is, people do get scammed on the Internet.  Good to put the word out there. Occasionally Stoke List users will post warnings about scams, so I’m glad to see that it is a little bit self-policing. I do try to delete as many scam ads as I can (some, like the exotic pet ads, are quite obvious). Someone posted a while back about a scam and finished it by saying we might as well be flattered that scammers think the Stoke List is important enough to scam. Glad you picked up on it right away.”

Karilyn’s partner, Simon Wex said he hadn’t spent any real time investigating such scams.

“I did find that the obvious scams weren’t being posted from Revelstoke. You’ll notice that I then added the “Posted From” field at the bottom of posts. It isn’t 100% accurate, but for a free service, it was the best I could do.”

Curious, I decided to see what would happen if I sent an e-mail inquiry to the person who posted the for-rent ad on Sue’s home.

“How much are you asking for this?” I asked

Here’s the reply I received:

From:        Derek Herringthon triangle@ireland.com
Subject:        Re: 4 bedroom home for rent in downtown revy
Date:        January 15, 2012 11:51:23 AM PST
To:        David Rooney <drooney1@telus.net>

Hello Tenant,
The house offers comfort and style, from the bright and elegant living room to the contemporary designer kitchen, which comes fully-equipped with everything you may need during your living there, It is also spacious and inviting, and has been furnished with top quality fittings and features. their is carefully selected light fittings to the intricate interior decor. Bedrooms are bright and spacious, and offer a cozzy experience.
Amenities: Parking, TV, DVD Player, Wifi High-Speed Internet, Gas Heating (“Gas Natural”), Central Air Conditioning, Refrigerator, Dishwasher, Washing Machine, Dryer, Oven, Microwave, electric kettle, cooker, autonomous hot water supply,The floor is heated,the apartment has a perfect location.
Don’t be nervous am saying so much classy thing about my place,what is your budget and are you looking for short or long term?how many of you would be living there?I relocated from there to Ukraine and that’s why am renting it out,if not it’s a lovely place to reside.My phone number might not go as it is roamed or might be switched off if am not at work.
Thanks
Derek
Omega Equipment Services, Inc.
Derek +447011120311
jupongatana01@omegaequipment.com
omegaequip@excite.co.uk
www. omegaequipment.com

Do you notice anything about this guy’s command of the English language? Despite his use of the word “cooker,” which is an Anglicism, he doesn’t write as though he is a true English speaker, does he?

It was obvious to me and to Sue that this was a scam. The friend who originally told Sue about it  received a nearly identical response. And although she didn’t take it much further, I did. I wanted to know who and where this guy was and how much money he thought he could scam from us. So, I asked him how much he wanted for it. Here’s his reply:

Hello,
You will make out a refundable deposit payment to me as a sign of commitment,you will then give me a date so i can come over to hand over keys,receipt,sign lease and show you around.
Deposit would be refunded if you won’t be in the area any longer,maybe found another place to stay or my rental doesn’t seem appealing again after viewing which i know it’s impossible.Forget to say their is fridge and freezer and oven.I will exchange location area details and more pictures if you want to proceed.
Sincerely
Derek

When I asked him how much he wanted as a deposit he responded:

Hello,
The deposit will be made out through western union money transfer or money gram agent near to you,i will be needing some of your details before i send you my details and address to which the money will be made out.As soon as i receive the payment i will travel over to meet with keys and relevant document. 2 yrs ago when vacating abroad some Mexican contacted my wife and me to rent and we sent address to them to look up,they leverage on the opportunity of our not been around to loot our property ok?I will travel over and meet you personally if you are interested in this,the value of the property is higher than what we are giving out because a tenant that will take care of it matters to us most.I have accepted your budget.I would be there whenever you want me to be in as much you make out the deposit.i can send more pics and address ok?
Bye
Derek

I really wanted this putz to ask for a specific amount of money so I sent him another e-mail:

From: “David Rooney” <drooney1@telus.net>
To: “Derek Herringthon” <triangle@ireland.com>
Sent: Sunday, 15 January, 2012 18:15:22 GMT -08:00 US/Canada Pacific
Subject: Re: 4 bedroom home for rent in downtown revy

Hi Derek:
My partner would like to see some additional photos. And I would like to know how much you want for the deposit and what the monthly rent will be. Once I have those I can arrange a deposit on Monday afternoon or Tuesday morning.
David

Derek, of course, thought he had hooked a real sucker and sent us a selection of photos. We have no idea where he got them but they are obviously not Sue’s house. Here’s his reply:

The man who tried to scam Sue Leach attempted to claim that there were shots from her house. Anyone who has been inside Sue's house would know they're not. Screen Shot by The Revelstoke Current

Hello David,
I hope your partner like the details i supply below,do you know the western union money transfer agent close to you?

To which I responded:

Hi Derek:

My partner was pleased with the photos. And the $2,000 is reasonable for a house like that. Let’s do this.
How do you want me to send the money to you?
Cheers
David

At this point I contacted RCMP Const. Michael Shannon at our local detachment.

Mike and I talked it over and we decided that once he sent me the details of how the money would be transferred to this guy we would, if he was here in Canada, contact the nearest RCMP detachment and have them talk to the Western Union office Derek specified. They’d get Western Union to alert them when they called our buddy Derek and, when he showed up to collect the cash, they could bust him.

Unfortunately that didn’t happen.

And, finally, Derek (or perhaps I should call him Igor) sent this last message:

Make out the deposit through western union to my details below
Derek Hetherington
Address-2b matrosava
City-lugansk
Country-ukraine.
Zip code- 91001
when you are through let me know and let me have the mtcn number then we shall organise meeting
thanks.

That was definitely my last conversation with “Derek” who also sent me what he claimed was a scan of his British passport and birth certificate.

Not only is "Derek Herringthon" or "Derek Hetherington" incapable of writing in English, he doesn't even look like someone from the British isles. Screen Shot by The Revelstoke Current

The fact that this self-described Brit was asking for the money to be sent to the Ukraine told Shannon and I that this guy was most likely working the scam for an East European criminal gang. There would be no point in going to the Ukrainian police as East European police forces are allegedly very corrupt and deeply penetrated by organized crime.

All of this info was, however, sent to the Mounties division that follows national and international frauds.

I haven’t heard anything back from Derek or Igor or whoever he is and don’t expect to hear from him either. But perhaps I’ll send him a copy of this column… just for fun.

PS: Is there a moral to this story? Be careful on the Internet. That sounds trite. But most people think nothing bad will happen to them online. And that is the wrong way to think. Bad stuff does happen to nice people