Brownstone Restaurant (Kamloops, BC)

Two cities could not be more different than Squamish, which we left mere days ago and Kamloops, where we find ourselves now. Squamish was a quiet, compact, college and outdoor sports town, Kamloops a sprawling spaghetti of onramps and railyards. Squamptons prefer their food and drink unfussy while Kamloopers relish the theatre of “a big night out”.

Crystal and I were also hankering for one of those big nights out so we squared some reservations at Brownstone in the heart of what we were told was downtown Kamloops. We stumbled in early for our reservation after scoring a cheap copy of Marquis Moon by Television over at Barnacle Records a few blocks down. It was one of the few businesses we found to be open.

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Backcountry Brewing (Squamish, BC)

You can feel the peculiar energy as you walk around pretty much anywhere in Squamish. It’s there downtown while your buying groceries and wafts around in Brackendale’s backwoods, you even get it up in Garibaldi Heights. It’s omnipresent, a feeling of electricity that you might attribute to the towering skyline, but it’s not all just mountains so close you could jog to them… It’s right in front of you: It’s a feeling of youthful exuberance!

Everyone here is so damn young! It’s like they politely asked everyone over the age of 60 to leave and sold all the houses to 30-something couples with four kids, no-one over 15% body fat, please. They are everywhere, jogging and mountain biking, opening yoga studios and breweries like Backcountry Brewing.

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Blogging, Bannock and Eventually a 2025 Beer List

Looking back, it’s amazing to me that in the early years of this blog I banged out two beer lists a year. Either I was drinking ten times the amount and variety of beer I drink now… possible, or I had far more disposable time to dedicate to writing as I have now.

Scrolling down my mid-2000s ubiquitous right blog sidebar it looks like I can barely get off my ass to do a blog post a year, which is a bit melancholy and also a tad misleading. It’s not for love… Food blogs didn’t die the way I was predicting back when I wrote this and I didn’t slow down due to work. In fact, I have MORE free time now that I’m not in a professional kitchen.

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Eat | Drink | Cheap Episode 43 – Aftershifter – A Couple Of Christmas Crackers

Put on your silly paper hats kids! Shawn and Simon sit around the holiday table and sift through the rubble of 2024 to find some recipes, food trends and media they loved and want to share.

Questions, comments or corrections? Hit us up at email@eatdrinkcheap.ca

eatdrinkcheap.ca

eadrinkbreathe.com/podcast

Music by John Palmer

Show notes and Shout Outs:

Too many to list… Just listen to the episode!

Eat | Drink | Cheap Episode 42 – Baking For The Holidays

Another holiday season is upon us, so everyone stay calm! Shawn and Simon are bringing the chill, mindful vibes this Christmas along with boxes of scones, macarons and fruitcake. 

Questions, comments or corrections? Hit us up at email@eatdrinkcheap.ca

eatdrinkcheap.ca

eadrinkbreathe.com/podcast

Music by John Palmer

Show notes and Shout Outs:

Ann Rice’s Interview With The Vampire on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/interview-with-the-vampire-netflix-date-cast-details

Strawberry Hotel by Underworld: https://underworld.bandcamp.com/album/strawberry-hotel

The Many Works of David Lebovitz: https://www.davidlebovitz.com/chocolatecherry/

Macarons by Pierre Herme: https://www.pierreherme.com/en/macarons.html

Savoury Scones

  • 2 cups (260 grams) all purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon (15 grams) granulated white sugar
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons (5 grams) baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon (2 grams) baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon (2 grams) kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon (1 gram) ground paprika
  • 6 tablespoons (85 grams) cold unsalted butter, grated
  • 1/2 cup (40 grams) grated cheddar cheese
  • 1/4 cup (25 grams) cooked bacon, cut into bite sized pieces (about 4 slices)
  • 2 tablespoons green onion, finely chopped 
  • 3/4 – 1 cup (180 – 240 ml/grams) cold buttermilk

Pre-heat oven to 200C or 400 F. Mix it all together to a shaggy mess. Roll out into a block. Cut into shapes. Lacquer with one beaten egg and bake for 15 minutes or until golden and puffy.

Chocolate-Cherry Fruitcake

Adapted from Ready for Dessert by David Lebovitz

I’ve revised and updated this recipe over the years, adding a bit more flour (previous versions of the cake sometimes dipped in the middle when cool, which didn’t affect the flavor) and making other adjustments. In place of rum, you could use kirsch, whiskey, or amaretto. If you have an issue with the cake sinking in the middle, I posted a

to show how I followed the recipe and how the cake was prepared. To make it easier to slice, I like to chop the cherries a bit before adding them to the rum.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups (180-200g) dried cherries, sweet or sour, chopped
  • 1/4 cup (60ml) plus 2/3 cup (160ml) rum
  • 1 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon (180g) all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup (50g) unsweetened cocoa powder, Dutch-process or natural
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 10 tablespoons (140g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 2 cups (400g) sugar
  • 2 large eggs, at room temperature
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2/3 cup (180g) buttermilk or plain yogurt
  • 1 cup (135g) walnuts, pecans, or almonds, toasted and finely-chopped
  • 3/4 cup (120g) chocolate chips

Method

A day or two before you make the cake, toss the cherries in ¼ cup of rum. Cover and let macerate, stirring a few times.

  1. To bake the cakes, butter two 9-inch (23cm) loaf pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC).
  2. Sift together the flour, cocoa, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside.
  3. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or by hand in a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar at medium-high speed until very light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir together the eggs and yolk with the vanilla in a small bowl, then dribble them in while beating at medium speed, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl to make sure they’re getting completely incorporated.
  4. Mix in one-third of the flour and cocoa mixture, then half of the yogurt or buttermilk. Then mix in another third of the dry ingredients, then the rest of the yogurt. Finally add the remaining dry ingredients, and gently stir in the nuts, chocolate chips and cherries. (Which should have absorbed all the liquid. If not, add that as well.)
  5. Divide and smooth the batter into the two prepared loaf pans and bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center just about comes out clean, but avoid overbaking it.
  6. With a toothpick skewer, poke 50 holes in the cake and spoon 1/3 cup (80ml) of liquor over each cake. Let the cakes cool completely.