Just For You: Your 10-Step Fall Reset
Home Cooking: A Bounty of Apples
The Latest News: MUJI at Mayfair!   
+ Upcoming Events
Dance Victoria Giveaway

How is it September already? It feels like the May Long was just yesterday, yet here we are, hauling the cashmere sweaters out of storage again. Don’t you feel like running out and buying a new pencil case? I sure do. I love the cool nights, the return of cultural events and the season’s heartier foods and bolder wines. But wait! There is still ice cream to be eaten and farmers markets to visit, patios to relax on and beaches to stroll. There are, officially, still a few days of summer left. Let’s make the most of them before cashmere sweater weather really arrives.

Joanne Sasvari
YAM Editor-in-Chief

Already the nights are getting cooler, the sun setting earlier, the mood feeling decidedly more serious and back to business. Autumn may not officially be here for another three weeks, but you can sure feel it in the air. That makes this a great time to get yourself and your family ready for the busy months ahead — while also making the most of this beautiful time of year. We’ve put together a 10-point checklist to help you do just that.

While it’s sad to see the end of summer’s berries and stone fruits, there is still a sweet treat in store for us: the return of apple season. In fact, a day trip to Salt Spring Island is a journey to apple Nirvana, where a reported 500 varieties are grown, many of them rare heirlooms. Hop over and try them in cider, pie or straight from the tree or market. 

Apples are both nutritious and delicious, easy to pack in your lunch kit and so versatile they work in everything from salads to sandwiches, curries to crisps. In fact, they’re great in all sorts of baked goods, including these easy Cinnamon Apple Rhubarb Muffins from Campbell River-based food writer Sabrina Currie. For more of her recipes, check out her new cookbook West Coast Kitchen Garden or visit her website sabrinacurrie.com.

> We’re excited to see the Japanese minimalist store MUJI coming to Mayfair Shopping Centre. It’s the first Vancouver Island location for the retail chain, which already has stores in Vancouver, Burnaby, Richmond and Delta and is known for its high-quality, value-driven clothing, household goods and stationery. Opening date to be announced soon.

> It’s the end of an era: After 57 years of business in Victoria, Baggins Shoes has announced it will close permanently by the end of the year. Two years ago, the owners closed their Johnson Street storefront and moved operations online; now they’re calling it quits amid an increasingly challenging retail landscape. No official last day has been announced, but customers can continue to shop online until the business closes.

> Until October 12, the beautiful and romantic Abkhazi Garden is celebrating its 80th anniversary with a month of art, music and community events. This is also a good time to visit the garden’s new interpretive centre, which features photographs and artifacts that tell the sweeping story of Prince and Princess Abkhazi, the exiled royals who created this Victoria landmark.

> Cook Street’s loss; Esquimalt’s gain. Benjo’s Tacos has moved back to the community where they first started making their cult-fave birria tacos in 2022. In 2023, they began sharing a space with Empire Donuts in Cook Street Village. But now they’re moving again, this time into a food truck parked at 900 Carlton Terrace. The owners promise exciting new additions to the menu, and we can’t wait to try them.

One lucky winner will receive two tickets to the Dance Victoria presentation of My Fierce Ignorant Step, the stunning Canadian debut of renowned Greek choreographer Christos Papadopoulos.

A founding member of The Lion and the Wolf contemporary dance company, Christos Papadopoulos is renowned for creating minimalist works of striking musicality. My Fierce Ignorant Step features 10 dancers building an ecstatic soundscape of voice and movement rooted in the sonic memories of Papadopoulos’s childhood in Greece.

Performances are at 7:30 p.m. on November 6 and 7 at the Royal Theatre, and the contest winner can choose which night to attend. This prize has a value of $218. The contest closes September 30. Good luck!