OCTA

Calling All Fred’s Bread Lovers!

by Noelle Munaretto

Andrea Damon Gibson and Steve Gibson Write: “Fred’s Bread is 15 Years Young! It’s a little unbelievable because the years have gone by so fast. On reflection, 15 years sounds like we are a success, and all of us behind Fred’s Bread feel lucky. After 15 years we’re creating loaves that are better than ever; if we had to do it all over again, you bet your baguette crumb we would!”

To Celebrate our 15th Year Anniversary- we’re asking you- Fred’s Bread fans, home cooks, gourmands and food lovers to join in the party!

A message from Norfolk’s Cindy Vanderstar

by Noelle Munaretto

As the promotions coordinator of Norfolk County tourism and local foods, I often get asked by city folks about our farmers’ markets.  This year, with the warmer weather and early summer, our crops seemed to just pop out of the ground and it “hit me” – our whole county is one big farmers’ market.

What can be better than stopping by a road-side stand to buy a dozen cobs of freshly –picked corn to eat only an hour later?  Or to take your kids to the local cherry farm, climb a ladder and pick your own cherries right off the tree?

Norfolk County is Canada’s most diverse agriculture area and is home to Canada’s and Ontario’s largest growers of some of your favorite foods.   Sweet potatoes, popping corn, peanuts, asparagus, apples, pumpkins and strawberries are only a selection.  But our local foods also include Lake Erie perch, cheese, honey, Texas Longhorn cattle, a variety of meat products, maple syrup – even wine.  People talk a lot about the “100-mile Diet” in other regions and large cities but can they truly get the variety and year-round selection that is found right here?

Norfolk County promotes its local foods with a campaign “Direct From Norfolk – Know Where your Food Comes From” and it is important for all of us to look for these labels and support the local growers and producers.   You can find over 50 farm gates, pick-your-own, markets, retail stores and restaurants , all growing and supporting the “local movement” , in the official map and local food guide published each year by the tourism and economic development department.

Local foods can be a lot of fun and a great learning experience.  With the popularity of television food channels and celebrity chefs, cooking and local foods have become “cool”.   New terms like “agri-tourism” and “culinary tourism” have emerged as reasons to travel.   If you think about a trip to Italy, what would be your one thing to try?  Pizza? Wine?    Travellers seek out these unique agri-tourism experiences and local food establishments.  If they can “walk the crop” at a nearby strawberry field and learn about the many varieties and differences of strawberries, then purchase their own basket to snack on – they’ve had a great Norfolk County food experience.  If they can horseback ride through a shitake mushroom  farm, then enjoy a western-style barbecue on a picnic table in the woods, served with their own hand-picked mushrooms – they’ve had a great Norfolk County food experience.  The popular coined phrase “field to fork” becomes reality.

It’s an exciting time with local foods as we think more about health benefits, great-taste and helping the environment.  Norfolk County continues to attract new types of crops, such as the Goji Berry and ginseng and to appeal to more businesses joining the “culinary” trend.  You can visit www.norfolkfarms.com to find local foods, recipes and stay current with events and food festivals.  Whether you’re a resident of Norfolk County or just visiting, enjoy our county-wide farmer’s market.  Great flavours, great fun and experiences you’ll never forget.

Cindy Vanderstar
Promotions Coordinator – Norfolk County Tourism

Burt’s Greenhouse Tour & Sweet Potato Workshop

by Noelle Munaretto

When: Sunday, September 12, 1 – 4 PM

Where: http://www.burtsgh.com/ (Lennox Addington – directions will be emailed upon registration)

To register: please visit http://www.newfarmproject.ca/farming-training/.

Be sure to take advantage of this opportunity to see the operations of Burt’s Greenhouses! You will get an overview of the operation from planting to pest control to selling including a tour of our propagation area (both seed and cuttings). After the tour, the real fun begins! Burt’s have been experimenting with sweet potatoes for the past two years including a greenhouse grown crop. You will receive a description of how they came to grow sweet potatoes and how the greenhouse crop is grown. We will then harvest a selection of plants so that you can see how they perform.

To learn about other upcoming FarmStart workshops, visit: http://www.farmstart.ca/workshops_

Please join us on the Savour Ottawa Chef-Media Farm Tours

by Laura Buckley

On Monday September 13th & Monday September 27th,

join Savour Ottawa on a culinary adventure.

What?

Chefs and media will tour Savour Ottawa farms; experiencing and savouring the culinary delights of this region.

The farm tours will include a delicious local lunch.

Watch this video to learn more about the tours from last year:

Monday September 13 Tour

We’ll be heading West, savouring delicious seasonal fruit and vegetables, will meet lovely lambs, elks and more.

A local lunch, catered by the Branch Restaurant, will tempt your taste buds.

Monday September 27 Tour

We’ll be heading South, visiting a cranberry bog, a vegetable patch and will meet eye to eye with local cattle.

A local lunch, catered by the Branch Restaurant, will tempt your taste buds.

How?

A comfortable coach bus will take you out to the farms,

leaving from a downtown location in the morning and returning there by mid-afternoon.

Who?

The farm tours are complimentary for Savour Ottawa member chefs and media representatives.

There will be a minimal fee for non-Savour Ottawa members to attend. There is no fee for media.

Please RSVP to heather@justfood.ca by Wednesday September 8 to reserve your spot. There are limited spaces available.

Get Your Ontario Culinary Tourism Summit 2010 Tickets Now! Earlybird Discount!

by Noelle Munaretto

Tickets are now on sale for the 2010 Ontario Culinary Tourism Summit!

This year’s summit will be held on Monday Nov. 1 from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the MaRS Discovery District in downtown Toronto. A special after-party, pickle “Smackdown” will be held at the Drake Hotel at 7 p.m.

This year’s summit also features:

• Keynote delivered by celebrity Chef Michael Smith
• Discussions lead by NYC food writer Adam Sachs, Chicago culinary journalist Steve Dolinksy, and Vancouver food writer Randall Shirley
• Breakout sessions featuring Local Food Plus, the Wine Council of Ontario, communications design firm Hypenotic, and other industry leaders
• An all-Ontario luncheon organized by locavore chef Jamie Kennedy, featuring the foods and wines from our province’s amazing regions
• Select and exclusive pre-post summit Destination Familiarization Tours (FAMS) to Prince Edward County, Niagara and Toronto, available for an extra cost
• Presentation of Local Food Distribution System research by Lauren Baker
• The chance to network and interact with the best and brightest in the culinary tourism supply chain

Get your tickets at the special earlybird price of $100 (+HST) now by clicking on this link:

http://2010ontarioculinarytourismsummit.eventbrite.com/

We’ll see you there!!

Toronto Beer Quest

by Noelle Munaretto

They’ll look like marathon runners with race numbers on their chest and fire in their eyes, but they’ll take off in all different directions. They’ll want to get to all the right places and end with the fastest time, but they’ll have to use their brains and smartphones in addition to their feet to have a chance to win some prizes.

Beerology and Camarderie have teamed up to host the first Toronto Beer Quest – the event has one goal: provide a fun way for Torontonians to experience beer through fun, history, and strategy. The Toronto Beer Quest is an urban adventure where teams of two solve clues about beer, photograph themselves together at the clue location, and reach the finish line to qualify for prizes.

Event details:

* Sun September 26, 2010

* Check-in at 11:00am, event starts at 12:00pm

* Tickets are $30 (earlybird – ends on Thursday, September 2nd) or $40 for a team of two participants at http://torontobeerquest1.eventbrite.com

Prizes, sponsors, and other event developments will be announced on the Toronto Beer Quest Facebook page at http://bit.ly/TorontoBeerQuest

Feast of Fields Chefs Celebrates Local Produce and Talent at this Year’s Feast of Fields Event at Cold Creek Conservation Area in King on Sept. 12

by Noelle Munaretto

Feast of Fields Chefs Celebrates Local Produce and Talent at this Year’s Feast of Fields Event at Cold Creek Conservation Area in King on September 12

Daniel Gilbert Prepares Feast of Fields Appetizer Recipe Winner’s Dish

September 1, 2010 – King Township, Ontario – Come and be a part of a truly innovative organic experience as Organic Advocates, a non-profit organization that supports organic food awareness, celebrates the 21tst Anniversary of its Feast of Fields event at the Cold Creek Conservation Area in King Township on Sunday, September 12 from 1 pm to 5 pm.

Get up close and personal with more than 40 of Greater Toronto Areas’ top and prestigious chefs including with renowned TV chefs Michael Smith and Brad Long and many high profile chefs from Southern Ontario. This event offers everyone an opportunity to learn more about organic food, sample a wide variety of organic food and drink and talk directly with local farmers, celebrity chefs, vintners and micro-brewers.

With the goal of truly being green, all Feast of Fields food will be served on vegetable leaves and other innovative serving options.  All guests, including media, will receive a complimentary 21st Anniversary recipe cook book with each Chef’s all time favourite recipes. This year presentations will be made to the first-ever winner of the Feast of Fields Appetizer Competition and to honour the donation of Feast of Fields Organic Children’s Garden at Cold Creek Conservation Area.

Date: Sunday, September 12, 2010
Time: 12:30 pm (for media) — 1 pm to 5:00 pm
Location: Cold Creek Conservation Area in King Township
14125 11th Concession, Nobleton, L0G 1N0
Tickets:     $100 each, $90 for groups of 10 or more.  Tickets can be purchased on-line at          www.feastoffields.org or by calling (905) 859-3609

The Stop’s Global Roots Garden Opening

by Noelle Munaretto

On Thursday, September 2, Dr. Eric Hoskins (MPP – St. Paul’s) and Toronto City Councillor Joe Mihevc (Ward 21 – St. Paul’s West) will join The Stop Community Centre at an open house celebrating The Stop’s new Global Roots Garden at its Wychwood Barns location.

Global Roots, created in partnership with CultureLink and with the support of Live Green Toronto, consists of seven different demonstration food gardens representing the diversity of fruit, herbs and vegetables grown by the city’s most prominent ethnic communities: Chinese, South Asian, Somalian, Italian, Latin American, Polish and Filipino. Each garden is tended by senior gardeners from the community. At the open house, visitors will be able to tour Global Roots, meet the gardeners and enjoy tasty snacks prepared with produce from the garden.

Where: Wychwood Barns, 601 Christie St. (at St. Clair), Barn 5

When: Thursday, September 2, 5:30 pm

Blue Mountains Apple Harvest Festival (October 9-11)

by Noelle Munaretto

There’s no better way to enjoy Thanksgiving weekend and no better place to explore the countryside, harbour towns and fall colours.

Free activites throughout the Blue Mountain area all weekend including Live Music, The Apple Pie Trail, street performers, hiking, biking, trails and gallery tours.

Events at Village at Blue

Saturday

10:30am – Columbia Guided Family Hike

1pm, 2pm & 3pm – Birds of Prey Show (Water St. Bandstand)

1pm-4pm – Lemon Pepper Pickerel Live on the Village Stage

1pm-4pm – Face Painting (Water St.)

1pm-4pm – Horse 7 Wagon Rides (Pick up at Windy O’Neill’s)

1pm-4pm – Pumpkin Carving ($5)

Sunday

10:30am – Columbia Guided Family Hike

1pm, 2pm & 3pm – Birds of Prey Show (Water St. Bandstand)

1pm-4pm – Piston Bully Live on the Village Stage

1pm-4pm – Face Painting (Water St.)

1pm-4pm – Horse 7 Wagon Rides (Pick up at Windy O’Neill’s)

1pm-4pm – Pumpkin Carving ($5)

Monday

10:30am – Columbia Guided Family Hike

1pm-4pm – Face Painting (Water St.)

1om-4pm – Jason Redman Live on the Village Stage

Taste of Blue

by Noelle Munaretto

A culinary experience of local proportions!  Tastings on 12 Restaurant Patios, Village Marketplace, Local Cider, Wine, Beer, Demonstrations and Fashion to bring you the best of Blue!  Plus live music, fall hiking and a special Apple Pie Trail kick-off.

We have two discussions happening between 1:45 p.m. and 2:45 p.m. – guest author Lorraine Johnson of City Farmer:  Adventures in Urban Gardening joins us for a reading & signing; & Patrick Johnson of Apple Top Farm will be talking about organic agriculture & nutrition.

We will also have a Village market place – featuring Apple Pie Trail members – history, art, education & tastes + all Village restaurants offering ‘tastes of Blue’ paired with wine & beer.

Cooking demonstrations also happening at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.; there’s a fashion show, children’s entertainment & painting ‘apple’ art supplied by Matilda Swanson Gallery.