Yam Tofu Pie With Vitamix Whipped Cream (Chinese Canadian Historical Society) Yam Cooking Contest

Easy delicious recipe for Brulee Yam Tofu Pie. The highlight of my recipe is that I used an industrial blow torch to caramelize the sugar crust on my yam tofu pie. This recipe was my entrée in a "cook-off challenge" similar to the "Iron Chef" with a secret ingredient. The common ingredient in each recipe was "yams". The contestants were also encouraged to wear something orange.

I wore a wild orange shirt. I saw a guy wear it one day and I asked him where he bought the shirt. He said it was at some store in Seattle, Washington. I didn't think about the shirt until one day it was being sold at a surplus store called the Army And Navy Store. The company went bankrupt and the wild orange shirt was on sale for $10. I bought it and I put on the shirt at home. I SAID I WOULD NEVER EVER WEAR THIS SHIRT IN PUBLIC. Eventually this wild orange shirt made its debut in the yam cooking contest. I took some good ribbing about how ugly and loud this shirt was. Some pictures of me in this wild orange shirt did end up in "Yammerings", a book of recipes and writing compiled and edited by Ken and Gail Yip. Ken, Gail and all the cook-off contestants were members of the Chinese Canadian Historical Society of B.C. The contestants were also writers in the anthology put out by the society titled, Eating Stories: A Chinese and Aboriginal Potluck".

Now I thought, I'll have no reason to wear this wild orange shirt again. Then I heard about "Orange Shirt Day". Every year on September 30, Canadians were asked to wear orange to acknowledge the wrongs of the Residential School System and to honour survivors of these residential schools.

Orange Shirt Day has been celebrated every year since 2013. It was inspired by Phyllis Webstad who was 6 years old in 1973. Her grandmother had given her an orange shirt to wear for her first day of school. That orange shirt was taken away from her on that first day of school, never to be worn again. She primarily wore a student uniform from that day on.

From 1883 to 1996, aboriginal children in Canada were removed from their homes. They were placed in residential schools to live away from their parents. They weren't allowed to speak their own language or learn about their own culture. Essentially their own language and culture was to be eliminated.

Orange Shirt Day is a celebration so Canadians will not forget about this black mark in Canadian history. The theme is Every Child Matters. I'm happy to say I found a reason to wear my wild orange shirt again.