Similkameen Valley Wine Trip

My birthday was in May and my husband decided that instead of buying me a present as per the usual tradition, he was going to plan a trip for me. Just a small weekend getaway! So he planned a little trip to the Similkameen Valley, which is prime vineyard country. We stayed in the quaint little town of Keremeos. It was a really nice trip and I was plesantly surprised with the quality of the food and the caliber of the wineries we visited. I will post about the wineries later… for now, I’m just going to post about some of the food.

On Saturday afternoon, we wandered over to Sanderson farm market, who we had heard sold awesome pakoras and samosas. The pakoras were far from the best I’ve ever had – I found them a bit tough and lacking flavour. The samosas however were AMAZING! I am pretty sure they were the best samosas I’ve ever had. They were just veggie samosas, but the spices were so perfectly balanced and the filling was amazing! The outer shell of the samosa was crisp and delicious! They could have used a bit more heat, but I guess in the market they’re catering to, they probably don’t get a lot of people requesting spicier ethnic food!

At the farm we also purchased some lovely cherries! They were so juicy and sweet! I think cherries are one of my favorite fruits.

That afternoon we went for a scenic drive – we took a back road that my husband found on google earth and proceeded to 4x4 over the mountain to Oliver, BC rather than take the highway like everyone else does. Luckily for us, we have a nice big truck that didn’t have any trouble getting over the mountain. While it was a very bumpy ride, it was also a very pretty ride and it gave us the chance to do some wildlife viewing. In Oliver we took in a couple of wineries then drove back through Osoyoos to Keremeos. It was a really nice drive with lovely weather.
For dinner that night we went to Benja Thai in Keremeos. I had my doubts about eating Thai food in a small town, but I read a few very good reviews to calm my nerves. Honestly, I had NOTHING to worry about. The food was fantastic! Here are a few pictures of the menu items we ordered:

We started with the Por Pia Todd (vegetable spring rolls):

For our meal we ordered two other dishes and rice. The first dish was Panang Curry with chicken. It was declicious – spicy and flavourful (sorry for the quality of this photo – husband was in a hurry to eat and didn’t let me get a good shot, but I wasn’t really mad about it, because honestly I was in a hurry to eat this delicious food too):

Now I cannot remember what the last dish was called… it may have been Pad Priew Waan (we ordered it with pork), but this could be the wrong name! Either way it was delicious and flavourful too and very spicy! Loved it.

For dessert I ordered thai coffee. It was declicious, sweet and creamy. I looked up a recipe later and it is made up of really strong coffee (about ¾ of the glass), lots of ice, and sweetened condensed milk. Sounds gross, but actually really lovely. I didn’t take any pictures, but it also looked very pretty – coffee stays at the bottom of the glass while the creamy mixture at the top floats without mixing much with the coffee. Stir before consuming!

Overall it was a fantastic weekend! I should also mention the bakery in Keremeos – while I didn’t take any pictures of the goods, I should have because they were fantastic. We had breakfast there one morning – we both had lemon-cheese turnovers. They were amazing! The people who run the bakery are also very kind. I forgot my purse and they put it behind the counter and had it ready for me when I realized I had left it behind! The bakery was called the Crowsnest Bakery and was owned by one of our favorite vineyards of the weekend – Crowsnest Vineyards! Annnddd they had a brand new espresso machine delivered to the bakery while we were eating our breakfast – so I would imagine that by now, they are selling lattes and cappuccinos! Yum! If you ever get the chance, do stop in – its worth it!