Saturday, October 12, 2024

Absolutely Canadian's Tea Creek, BC On Screen with the Small File Media Festival, and Shashi Bhat's Death by a Thousand Cuts

NXNW Oct. 12/13, 2024

Welcome to the NXNW newsletter! We've got a feast of great conversations for you this Thanksgiving weekend. We're spotlighting Absolutely Canadian's documentary about Indigenous food sovereignty, launching our B.C. film column with the Small File Media Festival, and diving into Shashi Bhat's book Death by a Thousand Cuts.

Looking for something from a past show? Check out our CBC Listen page.

Coming up on NXNW this weekend:

Saturday

If you're an avid reader, you'll quickly realize books written in English are just the tip of the iceberg. CBC's Antonia Reed takes us through the world of translated books, and why translators are still important in the age of AI.

CBC's Philip Owira drops by to talk Thanksgiving Monday, Industry on HBO, and KANTE by Davido in another edition of pop culture fun with Phil's Corner.

Can filmmakers reduce their carbon footprint? Yani Kong explains how the Small File Media Festival (Oct. 18-19) meets that challenge in BC On Screen, a new monthly film column from NXNW's Jeremy Ratt.

Nelson-based singer-songwriter Emily Millard chats about her new album Hazy Blue, a dreamy collection of unabashed love songs that chronicle teenage breakup, a whirlwind affair and an unworn ring.

Sunday

A New York barn sale sold a painting from esteemed artist Emily Carr for $50, having no idea what it was truly worth. Fine art appraiser Kelly Juhasz reveals why these surprise discoveries happen more often than you would think.

Looking for inspiration this Thanksgiving weekend? Baking columnist Haley Landa brings us a recipe for German apple cake, as part of our October series about apples. (Recipe listed below, of course.)

Death of a Thousand Cuts is a collection of short stories that explore the everyday trials of being a woman. Before she appears at the Victoria Festival of Authors (Oct. 20) and the Vancouver Writers Fest (Oct. 23), author Shashi Bhat stops by to tell us more.

In the span of three years, Indigenous entrepeneur Jacob Beaton turned his family farm into a training center for Indigenous food sovereignty. Beaton and Indigenous filmmaker Ryan Dicke join us to talk about Tea Creek, the new Absolutely Canadian documentary that chronicles this journey.

Future seeds in Indigenous food sovereignty

Tea Creek is a new Absolutely Canadian documentary that follows Indigenous entrepeneur Jacob Beaton and his family in Kitwanga, in Gitxsan territory. In a period of three years, Beaton and his family transformed their family farm into an Indigenous food sovereignty training center, in an effort to revive the abundance that once defined Turtle Island.

Ryan Dickie is the Indigenous filmmaker who directed the short. He joins us alongside Beaton to talk about a year of filming onsite at Tea Creek, and what it took to get the farm to where it is today.

Tea Creek is available to stream on CBC Gem.

Ryan Dickie in the NXNW studio.

Jacob Beaton, joining us virtually.

October apples with Haley Landa

Continuing our October series about apples, NXNW baking columnist Haley Landa joined us with a new recipe you can try this Thanksgiving weekend.
We've listed the recipe below. May this pie be the apple of your eye!

German Apple Cake (Apfelkuchen)

Ingredients:
1.5 pounds sweet-tart apples (about 4-5 apples, Honeycrisp is a good one!)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
320 grams flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon

200 grams unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
175 grams granulated sugar
40 grams brown sugar

3 large eggs
45 millilitres whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla paste (or extract)

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350F and get a 10'' or 11'' springform round.

2. Cut and process your apples. Three of the apples should get cut into half-inch cubes, while the remaining two apples should get cut into thin slices for the top of the cake.
Toss the cubed apples in the lemon juice and set aside.

3. In a bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon together.

4. In the bowl of a stand mixer (fitted with the paddle attachment), scale in the butter, sugar and brown sugar. Begin to cream them together on medium-low speed.

5. Once lightened in colour and creamed properly, add in the eggs one at a time until incorporated.

6. Scrape down the bowl and add in half the flour mixture, alternating with the milk until both are incorporated. Finish with the remaining flour mix. Add in the vanilla and combine.

7. Once the batter is smooth, remove from the stand mixer and gently fold in the apple chunks. Spread into the cake round and smooth out the surface. Fan out the sliced apples into your desired design.
(Note from Haley: I personally like to sprinkle the entire top of the cake with a small amount of turbinado sugar for some extra crunch, but this addition is not necessary.)

8. Bake for 45 minutes, and do your first toothpick test to see where the bake is at. This cake generally bakes for about an hour, but will vary slightly depending on your oven.
Once an inserted toothpick comes out clean, the cake is done.

9. Remove it from the oven and allow it to cool completely before slicing it and eating! This cake freezes very well, so don't hesitate to portion out the leftover cake and throw it in the freezer for future snacking.
This cake is best enjoyed with a side of vanilla whipped cream or ice cream.

(Pro tip from Haley: Once the cake is baked, brush the fanned-out apples with some warm apricot preserves, so they become shiny!)

Enjoy!

In case you missed it...

Last week on NXNW, architect Taizo Yamamoto joined us to talk about his new book Carts, Hedges, Lions. The novel is a field guide, featuring detailed illustrations and accompanying essays that reflect on the overlooked elements of Vancouver's urban landscape.

Stream this interview on CBC Listen.

Thanks for listening!

Have comments or suggestions you'd like to share? Email us!
The NXNW Team