Autumn has certainly arrived here in Van. The berries at the market are starting to be replaced by apples and squash and with that I'm starting to think about winter stews and comfort food. I picked up some organic stewing beef along with pearl onions, baby potatoes and some beautiful carrots to start cooking later this week. Mmm I can't wait.

And with Autumn comes figure skating season. Yes, I did say figure skating. Over the next few months I will be learning as much as I can about the sport as it will figure (KMS) prominently in my work. Last night I was at a dinner with the national team and was asked by one the top skaters in the country whether I liked skating. For those of you who don't know, I'm a hockey player, not a figure skater. I've never even owned a pair of figure skates. I thank my mother for all of the Sunday afternoons we spent watching figure skating so I can say that I know a bit about it. However, I'd never taken it seriously until I got to view a video put together by Skate Canada last year. Watching the skaters in this video gave me a whole new appreciation for how hard they work and what athletes they really are. So I was glad that I could honestly tell Lesley that yes, I am a fan of figure skating. Who knew?