There is something about a bowl of hot soup on a cold day! Especially in the weeks before winter holidays when it seems like everyone (me included) is trying to cram too much (shopping, volunteering, partying, visiting) into too little time.

Today between volunteering for Santa’s Breakfast at the Burnside Gorge Community Centre and delivering truffles to @2GlassyLadies at the Moss Street Market Craft Fair; and before the excellent “Little Shop of Horrors” by Canadian College of Performing Arts Company C students this evening, I had time to do a few chores and put on a pot of Minestrone soup.

What about you? Do you make your own soup, or prefer the ease of ready to made, whether Tetra Brik™, can, jar or dried mix?

Here’s my recipe for Minestrone soup. It makes about 4 litres, plenty for a large family, or to freeze for later use.  This soup will also keep well in the fridge for 4-5 days. I usually make a big pot on the weekend and then have soup to take for lunches at work or a quick supper on the run between holiday activities.  Enjoy! Please share one of your favourite soup recipes below.

Minestrone

2 T olive oil

1 onion, diced

2- 4 cloves garlic, minced

2 carrots, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

2 medium zucchini, chopped

2 potatoes, diced

1 large (28 oz/796 ml) tin tomates, diced

1 can (19 oz/540ml) white or romano beans, drained and rinsed

3 -4 cups stock or water with 2 bouillon cubes

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp basil

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

400 gm Italian sausage, cooked and removed from casings, sliced (optional)

1 – 2 c. small pasta like ditalini or shells, cooked separately.

grated parmesan cheese

In a large pot, heat olive oil over medium heat.

Add onion; cook, stirring occasionally until softened.

Add carrots and celery; cook, stirring occasionally, 3 minutes.

Add zucchini and garlic; cook, stirring occasionally, 3 minutes.

Add potatoes and cook, mixing occasionally, 3 minutes.

Add beans, tomatoes, broth, water, basil, oregano, salt and pepper.

Cover and bring to a simmer; adjust heat and simmer gently until all vegetables are done (30 -45 minutes).

Add cooked pasta and sausage if desired.

Serve with Parmesan cheese.

Some recipes say to cook the pasta with the soup; it can get thick that way.

Saturday December 4th saw the Victoria BC #yyj Twitter community join together in support of the Mustard Seed and Westshore Food Banks.  Rocky Mountain Soap, Fiber Options and Jamtots agreed to be our drop off spots.

Thanks to Scott McDonald  (aka @FootButterGuy) of Rocky Mountain Soap for the updates for Victoria proper(Megan from Fiber Options – now EcoEverythingBC – took the donations from her store to Scott).

There was a total of $146 in cash, 7 large bags and one very large plastic packing box of food.

Food items donated were:  mostly pasta, tuna (31 cans) and peanut butter but also fruit  cups, Xmas candies, chocolate, tea, granola bars – total pieces 213.

22 twitter people came in, among them:

@yukarip- thanks for having the initial idea of a Christmas and holiday season fundraiser Yukari

@scottgarman

@ericporcher

@glassoceanweb

@sosaut

@nancyfraser

@toots11- thanks for tweeting from @ecoeverythingbc Janice

@fransjonker

@narinaanne

Scott apologizes for not getting the names of all.  “There were more but I didn’t catch them all, many came before I got
there.”

In addition out on the West Shore both @kevinaschenbren and @DustypupVI devoted their day to tweeting @Jamtots. Thanks Kevin and Cathy.

@wakemp and @RasheedBolade came in to make donations.

Quoting Scott “Would we do it again?  Absolutely. The Mustard Seed people were delighted.”

We’ll get updates from @Jamtots and report back soon.
Thanks again to everyone who participated. If your name is not on the above list, please let me know. I’d be happy to add you.

At the #victoriatweetup this morning we were already  discussing our next fundraising initiative – should it be another food drive (say in July) or back to school supplies in August or??  Give us your ideas.  Comments welcome.

@lacouvee

Next Saturday December 5th from 10am – 4pm we are calling on the power of the local Victoria BC #yyj Twitter community to fill the coffers for the region’s food banks.

After Twestival Victoria, several local twitterers were wondering what we could do for a charity event in Victoria leading up to the Christmas holiday season. The challenge – most of us are already busy people with businesses, families and other volunteer commitments.

Then, an article appeared in the Times Colonist, referencing the fact that monthly visits to the Mustard Seed Food Bank had increased by 44% in one year (from 5000 to 7200).  We had our idea!

A brief tweet for help, and to gauge interest, was sent out in October. Several businesses agreed to serve as drop off locations, more than we can actually accommodate this year (with our apologies!).

Thanks to Megan from Fibre Options, 577 Johnson Street, Scott and Kazuo from Rocky Mountain Soap in Mayfair Mall, and Jamtots, 748 Goldstream Avenue for their assistance with the #yyj Twitter #fooddrive.

We are accepting donations of food, basic toiletries and cash (which actually buys $3 worth of food for every $ donated).  Please be as generous as you are able. The need is indeed great this year.

If you are interested in helping, please contact:

@lacouvee

@toots11

@yukarip

@DustypupVI

@kevinaschenbren

or, the stores:

@ecoeverythingbc

@RockyMtnSoapVic

@jamtots

You can help too by tweeting and re-tweeting – use ” #yyj Twitter #fooddrive”.

Imagine that in Edmonton (#yeg ) they had a diaper drive for young mothers that brought in over 12,000 diapers in 72 hours – all using social media.

What would be a good goal for our inaugural #yyj Twitter #fooddrive? Your comments and feedback are appreciated.

@Cabin12Victoria is an amazing story. The owner Corey Judd raised the capital to start his restaurant from a Facebook group.

Cabin 12 is home to our morning #victoriatweetup. We’ve enjoyed the casual atmosphere and honest home cooked food on many occasions.

Now, they need our help. Operating funds have dried up – not surprising for a newer restaurant in November in Victoria BC. Corey is staging a fundraiser on Saturday November 21st from 10am to midnight to raise operating funds.

He’s got a good handle on his Facebook promotion but could use a hand with Twitter. This is where we come in.

I will personally deliver one dozen of my hand crafted French truffles to you for every $50 donation made. Sure, it’s a bribe, but the amazing community of Cabin 12 is worth it.

I’ll be @Cabin12Victoria 607 Pandora Avenue from 10am to noon tomorrow Saturday November 21st. If you would like to make a donation please @reply me. You can deliver the donation (and receive a certificate good for one dozen truffles) or I will pick it up if getting downtown on Saturday is not possible.

My goal is a minimum of $500 but do you think we could raise $1000??

Please retweet this message widely. I admire the resiliency and spunk that Corey and his team display.

That’s when it hit me – my late husband’s birthday , October 17th, was fast approaching – quick calculation; it would have been his 60th today. And I forgot!

So, in honour of Yves Loran….

Yves was a lover of single malt Scotch, judo, horses, jazz, Victoria BC, his kids and me (not necessarily in that order).  He grew up just after the Second World War, working class, in a small French village that later went on to become one of Georges Pompidou’s famous “new cities” or “villes nouvelles”.

As was not uncommon for the era, he left school at 14 to work first as a delivery person and then later as an apprentice butcher.

We met because he volunteered at a stable where I took my kids from the group home for therapeutic riding.  Back then he rode in Civil War renactments and broke and trained the most obstinate of horses.  His passions extended to the local judo dojo where he was completing his first degree black belt.

Married, it soon became evident to us that we did not want to raise a family in a country with very rigid social conventions and norms; a country where working class was always working class, and most definitely, not middle class.

Moving to Vancouver Island , my home, we settled in Victoria. Over the years Yves worked in the hospitality industry, in building maintenance, and finally as the owner of a landscaping business.

Family and community were his two foci – he volunteered as a sensei (teacher) at Victoria Judo Club, at École Victor-Brodeur, with Childrens’ International Summer Villages (CISV), the Saxe Point Residents Association (SPRA), the Upper Room, the Mustard Seed and Francophone Scouts .

He could be counted on for any event involving food – the hot dog barbecue at school, deboning 100s of turkeys for the Mustard Seed Christmas dinner, making crèpes for over 200 at the Scouts’ Maple Sugar Dinner (dîner de sirop d’érable), dishing out salads and cake for our neighbourhood’s July 1st Block Party.

He was proud to continue his progression from 1st degree (nidan) black belt to 3rd degree (sandan) and see his sons join him at the club.  As a dad he was involved, long before it became fashionable; we made a great team in so many endeavours. His quiet presence, guarding my back, allowed me wide ranging freedom to explore my own passions.

In life he was at ease among people, whether the Lieutenant Governor of the province, the mayor of our municipality (Esquimalt) or people he served at the soup kitchen – he saw people on an equal footing, and they appreciated him for that.

Injured in a serious vehicle incident as a young man, and confined to a wheelchair for two years, he was told he would always be a “cripple”. Stubborn, he continued to dance with the Breton folkdance troupe, and took up first aikido, then karate, and finally judo.  Being so close to death so young, he approached life as a grand adventure. His favourite saying was “every day above ground is a good day”.

Thanks for the constant reminders of a life well lived.

Yves Loran 1949-2001

Today is my sixth month Twitter anniversary! Appropriately, it was also the morning of our regular #victoriatweetup.

I remember being introduced to Twitter and thinking “this isn’t for me, it’s just another time waster”. Then, I went to a business breakfast where we discussed  social media. One of the participants @Susan_Low mentioned that twitterers in Victoria were actually meeting face to face at spontaneous tweetups.

Something went “Click! – I can use this tool to increase my network  in Victoria.”

From that very humble beginning in April 2009, I have found a new community in Victoria. Together we meet for business networking sessions and for fun. We’ve organized a Twitter fundraising festival – Twestival Victoria @yyjtwestival - and raised $5000 for Power To Be Adventure Therapy Society.

We teach and mentor people who are new to Twitter, we do business with one another; some of us are members of Social Media Club Victoria @smcvictoria an organization dedicated to social media literacy, knowledge and standards.

Projects initiated through Twitter, #victoriatweetup and Social Media Club Victoria include @yyjWordCamp, #vicChangeCamp and a Twitter based winter food drive (more details coming soon).

This morning’s breakfast included:

@Babes Go Bare -  a fundraising calendar for the BC Cancer Agency initiated by Trish Caddy

Christopher Loran -  the Q’s roadie #1 son to @lacouvee

@Rod_Phillips – buyer for Liquor Plus stores – the cork dork

@FootButterGuy – Scott McDonald, Rocky Mountain Soap Mayfair

@Ahkonsu – John Overall, Fire Dragon Hosting

@matvic – Mat Wright, the Wright Result, Web & Graphic Design

@ScottGarman – Scott Garman, realtor with Sutton Group

@_hipples – Jeremy from @HempandCo, Hemp and Company

@oceanrivervic Brian Henry , Ocean River Sports

@gapowell – Graham Powell , Ocean River Sportss

@sosaut – Bill Broughton, SOS Automotive

@CWCDVan – Dan Dobbie, City Wide Coupon Directory

@jodie_nodes – Jodie Gastel, In Jodie’s Brain

@josealbis – José Albis, marketing manager, Morriss Printing

Stan Gielewski - photographer & website development

@DustypupVI – Cathy O’Connor, volunteer extraordinaire

@LawlessBrown – Krista Lawless, mortgage broker

@B_West – Chris Burdge, BWEST Interactive

Randy Waldie – employment counsellor, Worklink and musician

@ArtofCocktail – Kathy Kay, general manager the Victoria Film Festival

@mikevardy – Mike Vardy, Eventualism (and operations manager the Victoria Film Festival)

@CJStephenson – Cindy Stephenson, communications professional

@hedyhear – Hedy Senz, director of meetings & events at Carlson Marketing

@NancyFraser – Nancy Fraser, Nota Bene Consulting

@margarethanson – Margaret Hanson, graphic designer

@lacouvee – Janis La Couvée, financial services professional (me!)

Thanks to everybody who has been a mentor and collaborator in the past six months on this fantastic journey of community building in Victoria, BC.  There is definitely more to come.

Our local radio station, CFAX 1070, has on online poll  “Would significant funding cuts to British Columbia’s arts programs affect you personally?”

To me, the results are astonishing – over 60% of respondents indicate that they are not personally affected.

And yet, if you have ever attended a live theatre performance, walked through the art gallery, listened to a free outdoor concert, sang in a choir, been a participant at a community festival or enrolled your child in music, art or dance lessons, you will be personally affected.

In the coming months, arts organizations and ordinary citizens who value the contribution of the arts to their community will need to educate others about the magnitude of the cuts and their implications.

Admittedly, I may be more aware than most. My mother, now 80, founded the Arts Council in Ucluelet in the early 1970s. Music lessons were a fact of life. I went on to live in Europe for 6 years, surrounded by millenia of artistic expression.  My family is Francophone;  art and culture have ensured the survival of Francophones as distinct in our multinational country. And finally, my young adult son is an emerging performing artist.

Would I care as much if none of the above points were true? Hopefully – yes.

How do the arts contribute to your life? Do you see them as indispensable? If so, how are you willing to get involved to ensure that they remain a vibrant part of our society in BC?  If government funding sources are cut, will you be willing to fund arts organizations with your donations and through increased ticket prices?

Although I worry about cuts to funding of arts organizations, above all I worry that the majority may not care about the implications to them personally.

My friend Peggy Frank of Positively Africa sends along a request for books for children in Zimbabwe from Doug Funk

I need books for Zimbabwean school children and young adults. I will be sending a 20 foot steel container of books from Victoria to Harare, Zimbabwe. I hope to pack the container around June 20, 3 weeks away, next month. I have around 5,000 books thanks to the Compassionate Warehouse in Esquimalt but would love to double that amount.

What I need are reading books  … something that will help Zimbabwean school children to learn the love of reading. If you have 1 book, 10 books or more, all are welcome.

I have helped start a new “learning to read” program  in Zimbabwe called THRASS, and it’s working great. Early reports are of a 50% increase in literacy within 6 months. That’s terrific but the kids have no books to read! You can help!!!

I need anything from kindergarten “learning to read material” right though to high school and adult novels. Please carefully select any books you may consider giving that they are appropriate (no werewolves, demons, nothing to sexual, etc.)

Also, no text books as they use a very different curriculum there.

You can drop your books off at my house, call or email for location and to arrange drop off.

(250-370-0077)

dougsolon at gmail dot com

Please pass this message on to your book club, church, office school, friends, anyone that you think would be willing to help.

Thanks for anything you can do to help!!!   … Doug

THRASS stands for Teaching Handwriting, Reading and Spelling Skills. Developed in the UK for kids there. It is now moving around the world.

If your interested in THRASS, have a look at these websites:

http://www.thrass.co.uk/

www.thrass.co.uk/cart/cc.htm

www.thrass.co.uk/zimbabwe0309.htm

www.phonememachine.com

Every day I take my small dog for a walk in the neighbourhood – sometimes up the hill to the Garry Oak meadow, sometimes past the temple and around.

Yesterday two young girls called out, telling me how pretty she was. A long conversation ensued about the appropriate way to pet a dog, the new baby, soon to be born, whether they were any help to their mom, had they been up the hill to the meadow, their names.

As we walked away I reflected and questioned, had I no dog to call out to, would they have called out to me.

Many times I know the name of the dogs here before those of their owners. We share common concerns about bylaw enforcement & green space but bit by bit we share our lives.

Dog create community in a way that no other animal does. I am reminded of a sign that our neighbour posted on her lawn to tell everyone that her beloved pet, known to all, a celebrity, had died. Soon the lawn was filled with flowers, cards and small gifts. We wept.

And yet, it is harder and harder to own a dog, and keep a dog in this increasingly single society where they often provide the only companionship.

So, I walk, and as I walk, I learn my neighbourhood and am “the familiar stranger” to many.