Last weekend was a time for eating -- it was the Tofino Food and Wine Festival, which was fabulous and very yummy. All of the local restaurants, and many BC wineries, set up in the lovely Tofino Botanical Gardens. It was the first sunny day in awhile and was just a great day visiting with friends, wandering through the gardens, sipping on some lovely wines and eating great food. Tres decadent. My favourite munchie was definitely the crispy wonton filled with shrimp and veggies from the restaurant Shelter.

This weekend it was pay back time for last weekend -- I was asked at the last minute to be on a relay team for the Edge-to-Edge marathon (relay version). The race was today and I ran the 4th leg (7.8 km). Felt pretty good and we did well, primarily because our last leg was "wheeled" by our friend Pam, who zipped along on her recumbent bike. Huge admiration for the marathoners who tackled this route -- there are a surprising number of hills given the relatively flat geography in this area.

No books to recommend about running, but, as far as food books go, I'd definitely recommend all of Ruth Reichl's books -- Tender At the Bone, Comfort Me With Apples, and Garlic & Sapphires. The triology recount her life from a young child thrown into the world of cooking (her mother had many challenges; she was a terrible cook but occasionally would throw dinner parties where she was known to give her guests food poisoning), through her time running a restaurant and living in a commune in Berkley, to being the New York Times restaurant critic. Reichl, who is now the editor of Gourmet, is a very funny writer and she's had a pretty interesting life. Good beach reading I think. Tender at the Bone was my favourite. Here's Reading Group Notes and a review from Salon, if you want to know more.