We were lucky enough to travel to Vancouver Island earlier this summer for a week. It was an absolute blast, and now my youngest sister and her boyfriend are travelling there in a couple of weeks themselves. So why not get them a little extra hyped with a Vancouver Island Dinner Party?
Decorations That Will Shorely Impress
Natural, coastal and a little bit rustic all come to mind when I think of a Vancouver Island Dinner Party. White and blue or green is a really nice base, with pretty pops of colour to lean into the natural feel.
For the table setting, I used my grandparents’ classic white tablecloth with a simple blue runner. A wooden tray from our wedding gifts held seashells from past trips, while blue bowls filled with fresh focaccia tied in the coastal theme. A bouquet of flowers from my sister’s surprise graduation party added the perfect finishing touch.
The Menu: Reel Them In
The Shaft Drink was named after private detective John Shaft from the 1971 movie Shaft. It was created in Calgary; however, it became so popular in Victoria that people believed it was a Vancouver Island creation. We made our own following this recipe, but using decaf coffee instead of the real deal (it was a weeknight!). It was really easy and very tasty!
For sides, we tried our best to pull in lots of fresh vegetables. We made a warm yam and green bean salad with blue cheese and honey dressing from Edible Vancouver Island. It was delicious and is going to be on the rotation now! We also had a mushroom risotto and a loaf of sourdough bread from a local baker.
Our main was salmon that my husband actually caught on our trip in Tofino! His parents drove it all the way back with them to our home in Ontario.
For dessert, we of course had to serve Nanimo bars – but with a bit of a twist. While in Nanimo, we visited Wolf Brewing and enjoyed a Nanimo dog with our beers.
What is a Nanimo dog exactly? Great question. I couldn’t find a recipe online, so stay tuned for next week for our recipe!
Acting Up On The Island: Reverse Charades Edition
Reverse charades are a great way to get everyone out of their seats, with a fun twist on a party classic.
How To Play:
- Split into two teams
- Instead of one person acting and the team guessing, the team acts together while one person guesses.
- Set a timer for 90 seconds per round.
- One player stands up. The rest of the team gets a Vancouver Island-related word and instructs the person standing on how to move.
- The person standing has to guess the word.
- One point for each correct guess.
- Sitting on your hands is a very good idea!
Words:
- Whale watching
- Orca whale
- Picking berries
- Sea lion
- Deep-sea fishing
- Bald eagle
- Kayaking
- Nanimo bars
- Seafood boil
- Surfing
- Victoria
- Salmon
- Ferry
Gifts For Your Host: Whale, Thank You!
If you have been invited to a Vancouver Island Dinner Party, be sure to bring some of your local favourites as a treat for your host. One thing that really stuck out to me on our trip was the culture of shopping local.
This is a dope microlearning travel x cuisine blog. I loved travel and themed dinner parties so this was a pleasure to read!
Thank you so much! I’ve never thought of this as microlearning but you are absolutely right! I love doing research so that’s something I’ll definitely be doing more of.
Love your content!