The Purple Onion Revolution

Hello world... Or rather, those few people who will ever read this.

I'm starting this blog as a sort of combined food and recipe blog, photography blog and general life blog! I will intermittently post recipes of dishes I've made along with pretty pictures of the food. I also live in one of the most beautiful areas in the world, so I will sometimes post pictures of Vancouver and Vancouver Island.

I'm currently entering a new phase in life... I've just started school in New Media Design & Web Development at BCIT. Prior to this, I kind of didn't have any idea what I wanted to do. All I knew was that I wanted to do something that I enjoyed, that also earned me a comfortable living. I also spent most of this year sick. I only started feeling well enough to once again be a functional member of society in mid-August. So that, and other factors (such as the aforementioned wanting to do something), led to me sort of spontaneously signing up for this program. I just decided one day I was just so sick of not having a real job and few prospects to get one. Along with school, I just started playing in the Vancouver Philharmonic Orchestra as a violinist. It's a lot of fun, and it's just so nice to be playing again, since I spent the majority of my youth playing - to the point where violin took priority of high school. I travelled with my violin, I played in orchestras and groups for years, ensembles, and performed as a soloist. I missed it quite a lot, and decided to join so I could play once more!

I had taken Photoshop at BCIT a year earlier, and I really enjoyed that. I also bought a Nikon D3000 on my birthday in March. So now I am combining my photoshop and photography interests with my food and cooking interests. Enter blog!

I would also like to mention briefly the "revolution" part of my blog's name. I am realizing more and more what my body needs in order to feel well - and the biggest aspect of that part of my health lies in what I consume. Like I said, I spent most of 2010 really sick... (Crohn's Disease...) And now I'm feeling better, I feel as though my perspective on my health and my environment have changed. So I'm in the process of trying to do what I can to feel better by eating as naturally and as well as I can. Not necessarily organically, but certainly naturally. Eating organically may come, but it's quite a lot more expensive and I frankly don't have the money for that yet.

So long story short, I'm going through my own personal little "food revolution". That's what Carla and I have started calling it, anyway. She's discovering similar things, about portion sizes and foods that are just not good for us. I grew up loving food, and eating more than my body required. I was never fat because of this, but certainly felt like I could use to lose some weight. But mostly, I never felt well. And I got used to that. I didn't care and came to expect the pain. That's how it was: Eat a big, heavy and unhealthy meal, and then suffer because of it. But I was so used to it that I never stepped back to realize just how stupid it is. If there's a way I can prevent feeling that way, I'm going to try! I'm now consciously aware of every meal and I try to stop myself when I know that eating any more will end up hurting. I also, sadly, barely drink any more. Not like I was ever a big drinker, but I certainly enjoy alcohol and savouring it. So that's another huge change. I never have more than one drink at a time anymore, or I just "mooch" off others and don't have my own at all.

Anyway, that's generally what I'm looking to do with this blog. Share my pictures, share my recipes of foods that I find particularly delicious or healthy, and just general life updates!

Before I finish this post, I want to share a photo of the dinner I ate tonight. I didn't make it, but wanted to share it anyway. It's a tortellini-type pasta (but huge tortellini), that I got at Granville Island at the little Italian deli called Duso's. They're based in Langley, I believe. The tortellini is hand-made, and I bought two types: one is stuffed with Gorgonzola cheese and walnut, and the other is Brie, apple and caramelized onion. I tossed the pasta in a Cilantro pesto I bought at Whole Foods. The pesto is also local - from Victoria, by a company called Golda's. And then I sprinkled some parmesan cheese on it! It was all local and super delicious!