Here in Southern Ontario, local fruits and veggies are beginning to make their way in droves to our local farmers’ markets. Asparagus, lettuces, chard, garlic scapes, beans, peas…the list goes on. But look no further than your neighbourhood fruit trees and a whole other harvest may be ripe for the picking!
Despite the blustery cold *appearance* of winter, local food is still bountiful…if you know where to find it. Here’s a guide on where to find local food in Toronto throughout the winter, including a listing of winter CSAs, farmers’ markets, and grocery stores.
It’s been a long while since I’ve held a photo shoot in my kitchen. This probably means two things: 1) I have a kitchen again! 2) I have my Canon SLR camera again! (after 3 months of travel, I had neither of the two, and sorely missed them both. And thus is how my Saturday [...]
I rolled up to Tide Mill Farm in Maine on a sunny afternoon in late July. Within moments of my arrival, I had jumped into my first real encounter with a livestock farm… from milking cows, to slaughtering chickens. I even shot a video of how they slaughter the chickens, which I urge you to watch if you’ve never seen this happen before.
The Intervale is fertile valley located a stone’s throw from downtown Burlington. It’s home to a dozen small, community-oriented organic farms and an armload of food system development programs. The Intervale Center coordinates it all – their many programs are definitely worth a gander.
Take the plunge! Connect with your farmer and your community by joining a Community Supported Agriculture program. This post features nearby farm, The Cutting Veg, home of delicious organic veggies, the “Global Garlic Project,” and catchy phrases like “keep livin’ on the veg”!
IS WALMART GOING ‘GOOD’? This article flies in the face of what so many Walmart-dissidents like me have said over the years. Are large, industrial superstores like Walmart poised to make a positive change to our food system? Check out the Atlantic Monthly Magazine article, “The Great Grocery Smackdown” to add a dash of controversy [...]
Have you ever been to a tropical country and eaten your favourite tropical fruit, be it pineapple, mango, or banana, and noticed how incredibly awesome it tasted? If you have, the “yum” moment was probably closely followed by an “ah-ha” moment when you realized that the imports we receive here in Canada can’t possibly compare [...]
As promised since my last post (a mere 10 minutes ago) here is a recipe I’m working on. Your (honest) feedback would be appreciated! Pumpkins are in season right now so I encourage you to roast your own instead of the canned stuff. Your local farmer will thank you. Pumpkin Swirl Brownies *makes two dozen [...]
Going for long periods without food is always a recipe for disaster. Last night I got home late without having had a proper dinner and then this morning I went for a run first thing. Although it’s not good to eat before exercise, all I could think about was breakfast – and more particularly – [...]
Friday night I did something I never though I would do: I put on my dancing shoes, hopped on the subway, and went to a farm. A momentous occasion on any day, but today was the official launch of FoodCycles, Toronto’s first urban farm – and it’s 14km from my house! Here’s how they describe [...]
If you’ve found your way to my blog, chances are you have some kind of love affair with food. This time of year especially, when locally grown food is abundant, and every morsel is just bursting with flavour. Or is it? If you’re anything like me, you probably have a busy life. And since time [...]
I’ve been on a big preserving kick in the past couple weeks. I went to a “Preserving the Harvest” workshop put on by local farmer/food entrepreneur, Daniel from The Cutting Veg, and have since been inspired to freeze, jar and dry everything in season I can get my hands on. So far, I’ve frozen chopped [...]
As a kid I was constantly trying to bring people together through ‘clubs’. I think it was the Babysitters Club books that inspired me initially…but that desire to socially convene people has lived on, and generally in a less ‘members-only’ way. Nevertheless, whenever I hear about clubs, my ears perk up hearkening back to times [...]
It seems as if my cookie strike inadvertently translated into a blog strike. And a kitchen strike actually too. The past month I’ve spent a dismally low amount of time cooking meals for myself and I was probably too ashamed to post the hodge-podge dinners I’d been assembling on the blog. No matter how hard [...]