♪ I'm a journalist, and I'm travelling across my home country, Canada.

On this journey, I'll be experiencing some of Canada's most interesting destinations.

My next journey takes me to the province of British Columbia.

I'll be visiting a guest ranch and learning about rural living.

♪ ♪ I've come to British Columbia, and I'm starting my journey here in the Cariboo Chilcotin region.

This area is famous for its rugged landscape, cowboys and its gold rush history.

While I'm here I'll be meeting some of the locals who are opening up their doors to visitors like me who want to explore the region.

♪ [Brandy] I've come to Riske Creek, which is in the Cariboo Chilcotin region, and I'm with Brenda Van Ember.

She is a co-owner of this lodge with her husband, and she's also famous for her cinnamon buns.

You used to have a franchise, you sold it and then you bought the lodge, right?

Yes, correct.

Tell me first Brenda, why did you decide to buy this lodge?

My husband and I had retired, we sold our franchise in Salmon Arm and we were gonna just retire and be with the grandkids.

But we were just too young for that.

And we just so full of life.

And so we thought we just looked through the internet.

And my husband found it on the internet.

And we thought we need to come up here and take a look.

So we did, we came up with our son.

And as soon as we walked through that door, we knew this was our new home.

Tell me a little bit about how old the lodge is and what it's like as you go from room to room.

This lodge was built in 1940.

It has all the original logs, most of the original walls, the flooring, everything, but when you walk through, we've got the dining area, we've got a lounge.

It's got a nice rock fireplace.

We've got a games room, it's got a 1918 pool table in it to play.

We've got 10 rooms upstairs, and they're all uniquely decorated.

And we've got a nine RV campground outside as well.

[Brandy] Wow.

So when people come here, and they're having this experience, and they drive out here, how long does it take them to get to the lodge?

From Vancouver, it takes about six and a half hours.

And we're on highway 20.

So it's a circle tour.

That'll take you all the way to Bella Coola.

And then you can jump on the ferry to Port Hardy and do a full circle.

[Brandy] When people come here... what do they do?

[Brenda] When people come here, they like to sit, relax, drink wine, read a book, sit on the patio, go for a hike.

We've got Farwell Canyon, that's just 18 kilometres south of us.

And then we've got the dormant volcano, the Dome, that is just about 13 and a half kilometres north.

[Brandy] So interesting.

Okay, so this sounds like a very adventurous thing that you and your husband did.

But you also had this cinnamon bun franchise, and I'm so curious to learn some of your secrets.

So, what is the first step to make cinnamon buns?

[Brenda] So we're going to start with the mix that has five ingredients in it, which I'm not telling you.

[Brandy] Okay.

[Brenda] And, we're gonna weigh it on the scale.

[Brandsy] Let's do it.

Alright.

[Brenda] Okay.

What do I do?

So we need two and a half pounds of the mix in the bowl.

OK. [Brandy] So just put it in here until it's two pounds?

[Brenda] Yeah, two and a quarter about two and a quarter pounds.

We're gonna put the yeast in there, you're gonna take, there's a little quarter cup measurement in there.

And you're going to fill it to the top and just place it on top of the mix.

So that's a quarter cup of yeast right here.

Yeah.

And I just pour it on?

Right on the top.

You betcha.

Got it.

[Brenda] Now we're going to put the water into the hopper.

And it's lukewarm water.

And just put it right in here?

Yes.

Oh, how much water?

It's two and a half cups, Two and a half cups.

Okay.

Okay.

[Brenda] And so now you're going to take the bowl, and you're just going to pour it in there.

Oooohh.. [Brenda] Okay, so you're going to crack an egg and put it on top.

Alright, one egg.

Yes.

One egg.

Ooh, okay.

Just, I don't want to make a... just do this, right?

(tapping) You got it.

I'm not good at this.

Yay.

No shells?

I hope not.

Okay.

(laughing) All right, and a little bit of butter, a quarter cup.

And this, just dump the whole thing in?

Yeah, you can use a spatula.

All right, fantastic.

[Brandy] Okay?

[Brenda] Perfect.

Now we're ready to mix.

We've got everything locked down.

And we raise it up.

Okay, and then we turn the button and you just push the green button.

Ready?

Ready.

(Click) (Machine Noise) (Machine Noise) All right, so we're gonna form it into a nice rectangle.

Smells really good.

Yeah, wait 'till we get the cinnamon on it.

(laughs) All right, so then what you're gonna do is you're gonna dust the rolling pin so it doesn't stick to the dough.

Okay.

Perfect.

Yeah, you can just use your hands and wipe it on there.

Everything's sterile.

All right, and then you're gonna want to start the rolling pin right in the centre.

Yep.

And you're going to turn it this way.

This way?

No, you're going to turn the rolling pin this way.

Okay.

And you're gonna start just rolling back and forth.

Like this?

Yes.

Is this supposed to be connect like... Nope.

...scooping up like that?

Put a little bit more flour on it.

Okay.

Yeah.

So we'll put some flour on the top of it again.

Like on the top of the actual...?

On the dough.

You betcha.

Yep.

And keep rolling.

And what you want to do is make a nice rectangle.

So you're going to start that way.

And then you're going to make the corners.

[Brandy] Okay, Is that big enough?

[Brenda] A little bit bigger.

Yep.

Perfect.

Okay, so then we're going to use the butter.

What you're going to do is you're just going to take the butter and you're just going to put it on and then make sure the whole dough is covered with butter.

What!?

Yep!

And this is just butter?

[Brenda] Yep.

Yep, you keep doin' it until the whole dough is covered.

Okay, so we just want to take off just the bulky layers of the butter.

You want enough butter on there for the taste, but you don't, you don't want to have too much butter.

So we'll just take just slightly a little bit off.

And then it's ready to go with the cinnamon.

Okay.

All right, so you're gonna fill that up to the top.

Well, this is like a cinnamon shaker.

All right.

Oh, I love cinnamon.

So wonderful.

And you're just going to make sure that all of the dough is covered.

All of it?

All of it.

Just like this.

So probably - no, you're gonna go like this... Whoa!

Like that all the way around.

That's a lot!

[Brandy] This smells incredible.

[Brenda] Mmm hmm.

All right!

Perfect!

Now we're ready to roll it.

Okay.

Are you ready to roll?

I don't know.

Okay, let me just show you the beginning.

I always start from the left side and I start rolling like this.

And then I just bring it right across to the other end.

And then you can go back the other way again.

And then I'll let you take over.

So just keep goin' back and forth.

That's it.

It's getting really thick.

Mmm hmm.

Okay, what do I do now at the end?

Okay, so now we're going to seal it.

So we'll bring it right back a little bit.

Okay.

And we're going to bring this over and seal it right to the top and given a nice pinch.

Perfect.

[Brenda] We'll take the dough marker.

That's what this is.

[Brandy] Did you make this or did you buy this?

My husband made this.

My husband made this.

The dough marker.

I've never heard of it in my life.

I know.

But then all of the cinnamon buns are even.

[Brandy] He's amazing.

[Brenda] All right, so now we just need to cut.

Perfect.

[Brenda] All right, we got 16 and now we're ready to put, place them in the pan on the parchment paper.

I can't wait.

[Brenda] Put the end ones in, cut side up.

Just like this.

And the same with the other side.

And then you're going to fill it, so you're gonna go two by four.

Perfect.

So can I eat these now?

No, you can't.

But they look beautiful.

They have four rolls in them.

Now we're gonna get the other pan.

All right, there we go.

Same thing, two by four.

These look so good.

Perfect.

These look so good.

[Brenda] All right, now they're ready for the proofer, so we're gonna put 'em in the oven that's not turned on.

And the hot water, boiling water in there is going to activate the yeast and they're gonna grow twice the size before we bake them.

Okay, how long does that take?

Approximately an hour.

There we go.

[Brenda] What I did, 'cause I'm gettin' hungry is I made them ahead of time so we can have ones that I've baked already.

And we'll we'll start icing them, and then we'll eat them.

Oh, wow, Brenda I'm excited.

Okay, I've got a knife.

And I see that there is something in here too, what should we do?

Yeah, it's a spatula.

So what I'm gonna do... is I'm just going to pull this off of here.

And then what you're gonna do, I'll hold the knife.

And then we're just gonna... do a little bit of icing.

I'll show you one and you can do the rest.

So you're just gonna go like this, and ice them and then you can just do the rest of 'em.

And the idea is just to get it all over the top.

Yes, you want it on every mouthful.

Yummy.

I think we need more here.

[Brandy] So, do the people that live here stop by and buy them a lot?

[Brenda] Yeah, we have a lot of locals and we have people coming from far away.

150 mile, 100 mile, Williams Lake, so, they're getting very popular.

Everybody needs their cinnamon bun fix.

[Brenda] Yeah, sugar fix.

[Brandy] Mmmm.

Perfect.

Wonderful.

All right.

Now we can cut one off and you can try it.

All right, you take the first one.

[Brandy] I can't wait.

Wow, it looks amazing!

All right.

Cheers.

Cheers!

[Brandy] Go for it.

Mmm.

Oh, my goodness.

Mmmm.

Good, eh?

[Brandy] Brenda, these are wonderful.

Mmm hmm.

How would you describe it?

[Brenda] Just warm and cozy and comfort food.

But it's actually not very sweet, which kind of surprises me.

Uh huh.

I love it.

Well, it's just the right amount of cinnamon sugar on it.

Tastes a little bit like scones to me.

Does it?

Oh.

But so delicious.

Like, I... love this.

Good.

And I'm so happy I traveled all this way to be able to try this with you.

And I'd love to go home and try a version of it.

But you won't give me all your secrets.

So I'll just have to make do with what I think is inside that mix.

You'll have to come visit me, I'll make you some more.

That's a great idea.

Cheers.

Cheers.

Thank you so much!

You're welcome.

MM-hmmm!

♪ To reach my next destination.

I head west 212 kilometers or around 132 miles across the Chilcotin plateau facing into the iconic Coastal Mountains.

I love going off the beaten trail and while I'm here in the Cariboo Chilcotin region, I've come to the Terra Nostra Ranch.

I'm with Christoph Gisler and he owns this beautiful ranch.

He moved from Switzerland, how many years ago?

Eight years ago.

Eight years ago to start this beautiful project.

Tell me, why would you move from Switzerland to come here to this remote place?

This is so a big open area here.

Less people, less houses, way more space.

And it's a challenge to do something new.

[Brandy] And a lot of people dream about selling their house, quitting their job and going on an adventure like this, buying a ranch.

I mean, why did you have the courage to do it?

Just do it.

This is the way and do something new.

It's a guest operation.

And we had a roofing company before.

It's great.

It's great to do something different out here.

[Brandy] How many acres and horses do you have?

[Christoph] We have 150 acres and we start with five horses.

In the meantime, we have 25.

And I know you are remote.

How far away is the closest town to here?

Closest town is Williams Lake, it's 265 kilometers in the East.

And this is a place where we have our, get our grocery and equipment and tools and parts we need out here.

[Brandy] And what can visitors do when they come to the Terra Nostra Ranch?

Yeah, they go for a horseback ride.

We do one- to three-hour horseback rides here on the close by to the ranch.

They can go on the lake for canoeing, fishing.

We have some hiking trails around the ranch, or do nothing.

[Brandy] Do nothing.

Yeah, learn to do nothing.

This is really tricky.

[Brandy] (laughing) I love it.

Well, we're not gonna do nothing today because we have this beautiful horse.

What's your horse's name?

This is Casey.

Okay.

She's a Tennessee Walker.

And we do the hoof, the hooves today.

This is, like, maintain our fingernails.

We have to do this every eight to ten weeks on each horse.

It's big job, but I can show you how to do this.

[Brandy] Sure.

And are we gonna put horseshoes on Casey?

[Christoph] No.

And are all the horses we have they walk barefoot here on this ground, it's really sandy.

It's more healthy for the horse, too because the hoof can move and the blood circulation is way better than with the shoes on.

Okay, well, what's the first step?

Let me trim this horse's hooves.

We take first the hoof-stand here and then make a good position and make sure the horse is well.

Then we take our tools close by and we start to lift up the hoof.

First step, we clean the whole hoof.

Then we start with the nipper.

This is like a manicure.

Yep.

The horse seems very relaxed though.

It is.

Okay.

We, the next step we use the knife and we start cutting, clean up all this stuff here.

Important is here it has to be opened and the dirt can go out.

After then we take the rasp.

We start make it flat.

This is important.

Have a parallel line here, too high on this side.

Then I can flat up front and then go for the last step.

Come on.

Come on.

Okay.

She is good.

She,she give the hoof really easy.

Some horses you have to lift up whole horse.

And then after one or two horses per day.

You're ...[Brandy] You're done.

Done.

You're exhausted.

It's like, it's like running a marathon.

And how much does this horse weigh?

This horse... Maybe 5-600 kilo?

Wow.

Maybe?

Yeah, 600 kilos, something like this.

Okay, well, I've always dreamed of cutting the hooves of a horse.

So can I do the next one?

We can try.

Okay.

(laughs) Good!

[Christoph] Go to the, to the back end.

We tell Casey she should lift up the foot.

Alright?

On the stand.

Please Casey put your hoof on the stand.

Exactly.

And then we can hold this a little bit like this.

Okay.

With the knee.

Okay.

Then it's solid.

[Brandy] Okay, let me try.

Yep.

[Brandy] But I have to do it this way.

Yeah, exactly.

What are we poking out?

Is this pooh?

No, it is everything, sand, dirt, pooh.

Whatever.

Great.

I'm so happy.

Yeah, this is okay.

(Brandy chuckling) Rest we cut with the knife.

We can pull it out with their fingers?

No, no, no.

nope.

Okay, keep going?

That's okay.

It's clean enough.

It's cleaned enough and then we're gonna pull it out.

This one?

Yep.

But then you have to come from, from my side.

I'll let you do it because it's super dangerous.

Yes, this is, this is sharp knife.

Ew.

[Christoph] Is again with the nipper here?

[Brandy] Okay.

We can start here.

Okay, let me try with you.

Yep, yep.

Try.

(grunts) I'm scared.

Try again.

(grunts, laughs) Christoph, This is not easy!

No, no, of course not.

It looks easy when you do it though.

Yeah.

I'm scared she's gonna kick me in the face.

No, she don't.

Here - try again.

(snip) I know, I'm totally chicken.

[Christoph] This is, uh... this is... [Brandy] Wow, you're not, you have a lot of confidence here.

You're not worried.

(Christoph laughs) You've done it a lot.

Yeah.

[Brandy] Whoa.

[Brandy] Good girl Casey.

You have to, you have to read the horses all the time.

[Brandy] Okay.

[Christoph] You have to be quick.

[Brandy] Okay, and then the last bit?

[Christoph] Last is with the rasp.

Can I try the file?

Yes of course, here - come to this side, a little bit more to my side.

I'm just worried I'm going to do something wrong and Casey won't like it.

[Christoph] No, no.

This is like... [Christoph] On this side, when we, when we do this.

It has to be flat.

Okay.

This is like getting rid of a big callus on your foot.

Yeah, I mean, when you, when you make your fingernails it's pretty much the same.

Wow.

A little bit different size.

Let's just say I hope my fingernails don't look like that.

Christoph, I never thought that a pedicure would be so exhilarating.

And I just want to thank you for having me here on the ranch and teaching me a little bit about what it's like to be a rancher.

Yeah, you're welcome.

We can do this anytime.

Well, you could do my feet next.

(both laughing) Okay!

The rest of my trip at the Terra Nostra Ranch was wonderful.

I went horseback riding, had a delicious steak, and took the time to do nothing at all.

My final adventure takes me through a landscape like an old western movie.

I travel southeast around 422 kilometres, or 262 miles to get there.

♪ While I'm here in the Cariboo Chilcotin region, I decided to come to the village of Clinton, and I'm at the Junction Coffee House with David Arlen Park.

He is the musician and the owner of this cafe.

Why did you decide to have a cafe in Clinton?

Well, I wanted to move home and raise my family here.

And so when I couldn't do my previous job that I was doin', so I had to create one and thus I created a coffee house.

[Brandy] And what is so special about Clinton, why did you decide to do it here?

[David] Well, being raised in this town, I know what the people are like, raising kids here.

Everybody knows everybody, everybody looks out for everybody.

And not to mention nature's all around you.

It's a beautiful spot.

And lots of visitors come through the area because of the historical background.

Absolutely.

Clinton was from the Gold Rush era created that way, wasn't Clinton back then.

One of the names it was called was actually called the Junction because it was the meeting of two trails, actually had the Cariboo road and the trail coming from Lillooet, British Columbia, um, time they got here horses had to be changed over, wagons, people that have somewhere to stop and eat, etc, etc.

On their way up to Barkerville.

[Brandy] Wonderful.

Now, what does a musician know about coffee?

Well, for one, you always have late nights so as a musician, so you always like coffee.

So that's one reason I created a coffee house, so I'd be around it all the time.

[Brandy] Okay, well, I have never made coffee on a fancy machine like this.

Of course I've made it at home.

But I've never been a barista, right?

That's the name of it.

Yes, it is.

Teach me how to be a barista.

Okay, so today I'm going to teach you one of the more popular barista drinks called the cafe latté.

It's two simple ingredients, espresso and milk, steamed milk.

And the first thing we're gonna have to do is we're gonna have to grind the beans in a group head, and then we'll steam the milk and then add the two together to get our drink.

Yummy.

Okay, let's start.

Okay, sounds good.

So group head comes off, we're gonna come over here, this is actually a coffee grinder.

It's a very fine, fine coffee grind we're gonna use for espresso, has a very fine filter in it as well.

So what we're gonna do is we're going to... this is what we call... automatic doser.

So means literally, it's very simple.

We use 18 grams of coffee, we're gonna press a button.

It's gonna shoot out 18 grams.

A little higher version of the home version for sure.

And then, so now it's loose.

So, what you want to do is you wanna compact the coffee.

So when the water is goin' through it, we don't want it to go through too fast or you don't get the, the flavours or the coffee, the oils or the coffee that you want for espresso.

So first thing we do is we're gonna actually tap it.

We're going to use this, which actually is knurled steel... Oh, can I do it?

Oh, yeah, feel it, and so you want to do it.

Yes, it so it fits right in there.

You want to push it down, and..

Tap it?

Now, exactly where you want to keep it flat.

So the water is gonna hit it evenly.

Exactly.

Push it down.

Exactly.

All right, it's like a stamp.

So now you can see the coffee is in a kind of a puck shape now, so we're gonna go back to the machine, but it can walk over here.

Just like a bayonet-style entry, goes in.

Turn it so it's sealed really well because it's gonna be under nine bars of pressure.

And you want to do it as fast as possible.

Hit the button.

[Brandy] Here we go.

Here we go.

(Click) [David] Perfect.

So it's gonna take a couple seconds for it to actually get through that puck of coffee now.

Nice tan colour.

As you can see, it's about 20 to 25 seconds for the whole process to be finished.

Nice tall tan, that's a crèma coming up, which is the oils of the coffee.

[Brandy] Oh, I've seen them do this and they're doing multiple things at once.

Exactly.

So right, you won't get burnt at that distance it's so - so we're trying to get the marker bubbles, which means you're gonna get a little air into the milk, we're gonna froth up a bit for presentation wise not to mention, it mixes well with the Espresso.

Okay.

and the end result when we're actually tastin' it.

So we're just going to building the milk up a bit.

Stop it, feel a temperature and then we're going to bring it up the temperature.

I use my hands... because as a guide, some people some people like to put in a thermometer but they, we have one built right on our right hand, right?

We have it wherever we go.

Okay, so, so want to keep that milk alive.

We've got a nice marker bubbles on it.

We're gonna take a cup.

You can put both shots in there, go ahead and just grab'em... Two shots!?

Yeah, sure.

We'll do a two shot'er.

[Brandy] A double shot?

[David] A double shot.

Absolutely.

[Brandy] Ooh, this is really hot.

I don't know how you can touch this without it hurting you.

[David] Perfect, good job.

So what we're doing now we're gonna try to get a little art for you.

So we're keeping the milk alive by swirling it so it's not settling the bubbles will come to the top.

We're mixing all in there.

And then we're gonna do... pouring into it.

There you go.

Café Latté!

[Brandy] Oh, wow.

I really appreciate you teaching me how to make coffee.

You're welcome.

And uh, yeah, I hope that you're gonna write some songs about coffee next.

Yeah, maybe.

Hey, well, you got to taste it.

Make sure you did a good job.

Okay, hold on.

You'll call this the BRANDY coffee?

Sure!

Mmm.

It is delicious.

Thank you.

Good.

You're welcome.

Now I'll walk down the main street of Clinton and enjoy my day.

Excellent!

Sounds good.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

♪ (Singing) ♪ ♪