What We Caterin'

Kreck here.  For the last few weeks I've been spending a ton o' time preparing for my final planning studio presentation at school on farm innovation and land use planning in Ontario.  Exciting!  Because my studio group is looking at food, we offered to do the catering for our presentations.

We went to St. Lawrence Market and picked up a ton of local vegetables, cheeses and ingredients to make this spread.  After hours (and hours) of washing, chopping, blending and displaying we came up with this:

Here are the veggie platters we made up with local produce, including white and purple carrots and orange and purple cauliflower...

And the dips...

Cilantro Dip

Spicy Sundried Tomato Dip

Hummus (with a lovely garnish)...

Local food: It's what we caterin' with!

Where We Goin': Soup-A-Licious

Kreck here. Yesterday some friends and I did a road trip up to Holland Marsh to check out the Soup-A-Licious festival that's taking place this weekend.  We took part in the self-guided farm tours and saw some neat things...

Bajar Greenhouse

Carron Farm Ltd.

(Red, purple, white, yellow and orange carrots, oh my!)

The festivities continue tomorrow, so check it out if you have a chance!

Kreck's Vegetarian Food Fair Diary

Dear diary,


Today Jen, Greg and I went to the Vegetarian Food Fair down at Harbourfront.  I ate some awesome food and scored some sweet deals...


First I'll tell you about the deals:

The New Moon Kitchen, a bakery specializing in all-natural, vegan baked goods made with spelt flour was in full force today with samples of their super wicked awesome cookies and treats.  Their booth was offering 3 items (cookies or granola) for $10 (!).  Usually one bag of cookies alone is $5 or $6 in the store, so I jumped on this one.  It was a hard choice, but I settled on the gluten-free, vegan macaroons, the vegan mint chocolate cookies (made with spelt flour), and a huge container of granola.

Then I ran into Ella from Ella's Botanicals, with her all-natural, handmade soaps and lotions.  You've probably seen them at Whole Foods and other health food stores around the city.  I've been lovin' these soaps for the last year, since meeting Ella on the craft show circuit.  My mum and dad are also fans!  I took full advantage of her 5 bars of soap for $20 deal (I had a request from my dad to hook him up with a couple of bars, so this saved me a trip to Noah's!).  The soaps I bought were the Almond Scrub, Lemon Eucalyptus, and Lavender Rose, but I'd also recommend the Chai Latte and Anoint Me soaps.  

  

Now, on to the eats!

I'll briefly mention an awesome (non-gluten-free) Jamaican Patty I had with collard greens and hemp seeds from a booth whose name escapes me.... it was super tasty.

Oh diary, I think I'm in love... with a plate of salads.  Okay, I'm exaggerating, but yeeesh, this was good.  Hearty Catering was offering samples of their different organic, vegan dishes for $2 a pop, or full plates of their salads for $10.  It was well worth it.  I had the cold plate which consisted of beet salad, pecan and apple salad, a green salad, quinoa salad and a roasted tomato slice slathered with tapanade (!) -- there was also a hot plate option with rice and stew.  Holy lord, this was good and super filling.  

Finally, what better way to finish off a visit to the food fair than with a sample of vegan ice cream?  This scoop of green tea ice cream was only $1!  Mmm mmm.

Well diary, thanks for listening.  

Until next time....

Kreck

What We Pickin': Blueberries

Wilmot Orchards

Concession Rd. #3, Newcastle, ON

http://www.wilmotblueberries.com/

Today I went blueberry picking with my mum, brother and his girlfriend in Newcastle, ON -- so much fun! Blueberry season will probably last until Labour Day, so go pick some while you can!  Fresh blueberries will probably keep for 3 weeks in your fridge!

THIS WAS $4!