Company's Over - Time for Real Meals

You know what's the best thing about having company over? Being able to cook meals. Because my husband travels a lot for work it's just myself and my daughter most of the time I don't always have the chance to cook a really nice meal without ending up with a lot of leftovers.

My parents are visiting this week from Sudbury so I've had a chance to let myself loose in the kitchen these last few days.

To start, I made a couscous salad. Couscous is a great dish to make when it's really hot outside and you don't feel like cooking. It's so simple to make too - put one cup of couscous in a bowl, add one cup of hot water and then cover with saran wrap. After 5 minutes take a fork and fluff it up. Cover again for another 5 minutes and it's ready to use.

To make the salad I added chopped zucchini, tomato, red pepper, green onion and a little bit of shredded cheese. To pull it all together I dressed it up with garlic olive oil and seasoned it with salt and pepper.

The next day I prepared a flank stank on the barbecue (a first for me), steamed some yellow beans, made a great tomato cream sauce for some gnocchi and finished off the rest of the couscous.

For the gnocchi (Glenda's at the Covent Garden Market has some in the freezer) I boiled them and then added them to a pan with garlic olive oil to saute and then made a sauce with strained tomatoes, cream, cherry tomatoes and chives. They were yummy! My dad asked for seconds but none were left.

The flank steak was delicious as well. I had picked it up at Farmgate Markets at the Western Fair Market. I didn't have a chance to marinade it overnight (as suggested) but did season it and let it sit for a couple of hours before putting it on the bbq low and slow. It was perfectly tender and everyone raved about it.

Luckily we had lots left for the salad I put together the next night, which included sliced radishes and yellow peppers as well as some cheese. For the dressing I made a creamy garlic dressing by combining:

• 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
• 3 tbsp garlic olive oil
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp mustard
• 2 tbsp mayonnaise

Along with the salad we had steamed corn-on-the-cob topped with a garlic butter and sprinkled with salt. I had hoped to barbeque the corn but didn't end up having the time to do it.

One of the desserts that I made this week was a Yellow Plum Souffle from Lynn Ogryzlo's "The Ontario Table". My mom had brought a basket of plums with her because she didn't want them to go to waste at home while they were away. Coincidentally I had been eyeing this recipe just a few days prior and was happy to be able to enjoy it sooner than expected.

To begin, make a yellow plum puree:

Pit and quarter 6 yellow plums (I used 8). Put them in a saucepan with 1/4 cup sugar and 2 tbsp Ontario honey. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes or until plums are soft. Puree in a blender.

This is very tasty on its own; I think that plums would make a really great jam!

To make the souffle you'll need:

• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2 tbsp Ontario butter at room temperature
• 3 Ontario eggs, separated
• 3 tbsp Ontario flour
• 1/2 cup yellow plum puree
• 1 cup while milk
• dash salt
• 1/8 tsp cream of tartar

Preheat oven to 350F. In a bowl, beat together the sugar and butter until creamy. Beat in the egg yolks one at a time. Gradually stir in flour, alternating with the yellow plum puree and milk; stir until well blended. In another bowl, beat egg whites until foamy. Add salt and cream of tartar and continue beating until the soft peaks form.

Fold egg whites gently into the plum mixture, just until incorporated. Pour into a 1 1/2 quart souffle dish. Set the dish into a larger pan with about 1-inch of hot water. Bake until top is set, about 35 - 45 minutes. Serve it hot with the remaining puree.

I'm not sure if the result was what it was supposed to be but the top was set while the bottom was still runny. Anyone know if this is how it's supposed to be? Or should it have been set all the way through? It was delicious, nonetheless.

Other than these dishes, I also made a garlic and zucchini pasta dish, pork burgers, a fresh loaf of raisin bread (recipe to follow on another post), and made an attempt at some honeyed plum swiss chard. Swiss chard is something that I'm really having a hard time enjoying. It's not something that I grew up eating. I enjoy it in an omelet or incorporated into something but not as the star of the show. Anybody have any tried and true recipes that will help me learn to like swiss chard?

Do you have any dishes that you like to make when company's coming over?

Visit to Springridge Farm and Baking Cookies at Chudleighs

On Friday my daughter and I went to Milton for the day. We attended a mom and child cookie event at Chudleighs with Stacey Fokas. I had heard about the event on Twitter and was so happy to see that the event was happening on my week off from work so we signed up. Road Trip!!

Since we were going to Milton for the event I figured it would make sense to make a day out of it and visit Springridge Farm too. Located 10 minutes away from Chudleighs on Bell School Ln, it's nestled right in the escarpment between Appleby Line and Tremaine Rd; one of the most beautiful places to drive through in the GTA. I still remember the first time I accidentally took Appleby Line from Campbellville Rd. to Derry Rd. and ended up driving through the windey road on top of the escarpment, near Rattlesnake Point. If ever you're in the area take a drive through and then make a stop at Springridge at the bottom of the hill. It's worth it.

When we arrived we were just in time for lunch. Luckily they had a great selection of sandwiches and snacks to choose from. I ordered the Heirloom Tomato BLT with pesto mayonnaise (which was delicious) and my daughter had their Sandbox Special. The Sandbox Special is a choice of either a grilled cheese or jam sandwich with carrots, a cookie, and a drink inside a sandpail. What a cute idea for the kids!

While we were there I had a chance to meet Jesse Lauzon (food manager at the farm and president of the board of directors for Ontario Farm Fresh). We had a nice discussion about the farm and about food in general. It was great to meet someone so enthusiastic about food, farming and about the industry in general.

Unfortunately we didn't have time to get the full experience of the farm while we were there, but we did leave with a blueberry pie. We'll go back again for another visit in the fall during their Harvest Festival. The store has many goodies inside that I really need to go back for and my daughter would have a great time playing in the Farm Fun Yard.

After our lunch we made our way out to Chudleigh's. We were scheduled for our baking class with Freshalicious cookbook author, Stacey Fokas. We were going to be making Maple Apple Shortbread Stars. Thirty of us were there to hang out with Stacey, roll out cookie dough, cut out star and apple shapes, and then topping the cookies with caramelized apples.

Stacey Fokas is the author of Freshalicious (http://www.freshalicious.ca/), which features delicious dairy-free recipes and chronicles Stacey's fabulous food journeys in Ontario and her tips on buying local and eating within the seasons using the freshest ingredients. I have her book in my kitchen and have made a few recipes from it already; I especially love the perogie pizza.

Here is the recipe for the shortbread cookies that we made:

Salty Cardamom Shortbread Dough

• 1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp cardamom
• 2 tsp ground cloves
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup icing sugar
• 1 cup + 4 tbsp non-hydrogenated lard

Combine flours, salt, and spices. In another bowl, cream the lard with the icing sugar and vanilla. Slowly mix in the dry ingredients until completely combined. Wrap the ball of dough in saran wrap and press the dough to make a disc.

Dough can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, or frozen for a couple of weeks. If using it immediately, place it in the refrigerator for 45 minutes to one hour first.

Each batch can make up to 24 cookies, one tart, or one pie shell.

Once the cookies came out of the oven we topped them with finely diced apples that had been caramelized with maple syrup, cinnamon and brown cane sugar.

My daughter had a great time making the cookies and had even more fun afterwards playing in the playground, riding the horse swings, running in the maze and checking out the farm animals. Doesn't she look tiny on this slide? The slides are huge!

Chudleigh's holds a special place in my heart - when we were living in the Burlington area a few years ago we visited the farm for the first time when my daughter was just 9 months old. We picked apples, took tons of pictures and bought her a little pumpkin of her own. I had never been apple-picking before, or rather, anything-picking before. I don't even believe I'd ever visited a farm to that point or really considered where my food came from. That all changed after my first apple-picking experience. We went back again the next year and thus began my journey. Here's a picture of us on that first visit....

A trip to Hensall for Garlic, Meat and Honey

Sigh....it's going to be really hard to go back to work on Monday. We have spent pretty well every day either at the beach, in a pool, or in the sprinkler. It has been so HOT!! So hot that it has taken me two days to write this post. Last night I was trying to write this but the heat from the laptop was too much to handle on my legs. It's a little cooler tonight though so I'm hoping that I can finally post this one.

Unfortunately with this heat I have not been able to do ANY cooking. This isn't how I had planned on spending my holidays but I guess this is the hand that I was dealt this time around. I have, however, been able to visit some farms on my travels. On Tuesday, for instance, I drove up to Bayfield to visit friends who had rented a cottage for the week. On my way there I made a few stops in Hensall.

My first stop was at The Garlic Box. Located on Hwy 4 just past King St. This was my first-ever visit but I had been meaning to go there for a long, long time. I absolutely love garlic! Did you know that they process more than 40,000 pounds of fresh Ontario garlic per year?

The store had so many products to choose from. I ended up coming home with Garlic Bread Seasoning, Garlic Grilling Sauce, Garlic & Mango Dressing, Garlic Dip Seasoning Mix, Roasted Garlic Oil with Scapes, Dehydrated Garlic Scapes (seasoning), and a Garlic/Olive Tapenade. I can't wait to use them. I'm going to use the roasted garlic oil in some pasta, and will use the Garlic and Mango Dressing in the August Foodland Ontario Calendar recipe (grilled chicken salad with peaches and pears).

Are you a garlic lover but can't make it out to Hensall? Did you know that you can order their products online (http://www.thegarlicbox.com/)? They also have their products available at the Remark Fresh Market, Jill's Table and Kingsmills in London. For other locations check out the website and click on Store Locator.

My next stop was to Metzger's Meats. Initially, when I planned my trip I had hoped to purchase some meat to take home with me at the end of the day. However, due to the heat and the fact that I forgot my freezer bag at home I didn't come home with anything. I did buy some pork tenderloin wrapped in bacon though. I thought it would be nice to bring something along with me to the cottage to contribute to my friends' dinner. I'm glad I did. Everyone loved the pork!

Metzger's is very well known in Hensall and throughout Southwestern Ontario. Located on Brock Rd. (off of King St., they process and supply their customers with locally grown pork, beef, lamb, chicken and turkey products. For more information about them go to their website at http://www.metzgermeats.com/ or check out this video I found about them: http://vimeo.com/20456702

I'm sure I'll be back again another day; with a cooler this time! Or maybe in the winter when I can just throw everything into the trunk of my car.

My third stop was to Ferguson's Apiaries. This was another place that I had been wanting to go to for a while now too. I had seen their products at The Covent Garden Market at Doris Family Produce and was curious about what other products they had. In the past, I had gotten a honey barbeque sauce, but after looking at their website (http://www.fergusonapiaries.on.ca/) I really wanted to give their honey-mustard a try.

I wasn't disappointed; they had some in stock. I bought the honey-mustard and also a honey-lime dressing. I was told that it would be great on some coleslaw. As soon as cabbage is in season I'll have to try that. I'm also thinking that it may work with an apple and pecan salad in the fall. Hmmm...the heat seems to be getting to me...why am I already looking forward to fall - cabbage, apples??
According to my daughter though, the honey mint chocolate patties were the highlight of our trip. I bought two of them (one for her and one for me) but she ended up eating them - minus the tiny piece that she left for me. Has anybody seen these in the London area? I think we should have bought more than two...

Overall we had a great trip. We had a nice break in Hensall and had an even better time in Bayfield. It was a great way to spend a day that was just way too hot to handle. Unfortunately I wasn't able to visit any other farms/producers in Grand Bend, Bayfield or Goderich but I am hoping to make my way out there again soon!

My Homemade Beauty Products

Have you ever read the ingredient list on your beauty products? Again, like food, there are many ingredients that I am not familiar with or that I really shouldn't be ingesting or putting onto my skin. Think about it, even though the product isn't ingested, per se, it's still getting into your body.

I read somewhere that if you rub a clove of garlic on your feet then within 15 minutes you should be able to taste garlic in your mouth. I haven't tried this myself, but a quick Google on the topic shows that people who have tried it say that this actually does work. So what does that mean? It means that products on your skin are actually being absorbed into your body. Not good!

I've been on an ongoing mission lately to remove many products from my home (not just processed foods) and making homemade versions of them using stuff from my kitchen. Shocking, isn't it? (I'm being sarcastic obviously)

The first things to go were the bottles of body wash, face cleansers, and moisturizers.

The body wash was replaced by actual bars of soap; I've been buying my soap at the Natural Foods place in the Covent Garden Market at $1.25/each (sorry, can't recall the name of the store...)

My facial cleanser is now a simple mixture of baking soda and honey. On those days, however, when my skin needs extra cleaning my new exfoliating scrub is a combination of sugar, honey, and olive oil. What a difference that has made to my skin! It feels smoother and my pores actually appear smaller. The best part is that it has really reduced some of the redness on my nose and cheeks - bonus!

According to http://www.benefits-of-honey.com/ "honey's ability to absorb and retain moisture make it an ideal ingredient in a lot of cosmetics as it helps keep skin hydrated and fresh and prevents drying. Also, honey's natural antioxidant and anti-microbial properties help to protect the skin from the damage of the sun's rays, supports the skin's ability to rejuvenate and to refresh depleted skin, leaving it feeling silky soft and supple".

Last, but not least, my moisturizer. Yeah..that's gone too. In its place is a bottle of almond oil. Again, I picked this up at the health food store in the Covent Garden Market. There are several different types of oils available but this was the one I had chosen at the time. At $5.95 a bottle it has lasted me months. I use it on my face (doesn't clog pores) and on my body too.

These aren't the only products I've removed from my bathroom and laundry room but I'll save those for a future post (hint: homemade mouthwash...oh yeah!).

On the topic of chemicals in our beauty products and such, I thought I'd make you aware of a talk going on next week. My chiropractor, Dr. Paul Catania, is hosting a talk in his office about living in a chemical free home. He will have a few different speakers discussing simple and healthy changes that everyone can make in their homes.

If you are interested in attending please RSVP to the number listed in the poster below.

Have you made any changes in your home recently? Do you have any homemade recipes for facial cleansers or moisturizers?

Foodland Ontario Calendar - July (Spicy Garlic Bok Choy Stir-Fry)

We're getting to the end of July already. Can you believe it? I really wish time would slow down a little. I wish summer was a little longer so that we could take more advantage of all of the foods available to us. Oh well, that's what makes it that little bit more special, right?

This month's Foodland Ontario's recipe (a stir-fry) made use of many seasonal summer vegetables - greens, peas, carrots, garlic, etc.. It's also a great dish to make when it's hot and humid outside; only one pan to wash and the cooking time is minimal.

Spicy Garlic Bok Choy Stir-Fry

• 2 tbsp Ontario canola oil
• 12 oz Ontario boneless beef grilling steak, cut into thin strips
• 12 oz Ontario baby bok choy, sliced in half
• 2 cloves Ontario garlic, minced
• 4 oz Ontario sugar snap peas or snow peas
• 1 Ontario carrot, shredded

Sauce

• 1/3 cup chicken-broth
• 3 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tbsp Ontario soy sauce
• 1 tbsp cornstarch
• 2 tsp Asian chili garlic sauce
• 1 tsp sesame oil

In a bowl, whisk together broth, oyster and soy sauces, cornstarch, chili garlic sauce and sesame oil; set aside.

In a wok or large deep skillet, heat 1 tbsp of oil over high heat. Stir-fry beef in 2 batches for 2 minutes or until browned but still pink inside; transfer to a bowl. In wok, stir in remaining oil; add bok choy and garlic for 2 minutes. Add sugar snap peas and 1/3 cup water; cover with lid and stir occasionally for 3 minutes or until vegetables are tender-crisp.

Pour sauce into wok, stir-fry for 1 minute or until sauce thickens. Stir in beef and juice and stir-fry for 1 minute. Add carrot and serve.

I made a few changes to the recipe based on what I had in the house. Rather than using beef I decided to use elk that I had purchased at the Covent Garden Market in the morning. Also, instead of shredding one large carrot, I cut my small carrots into slices. I added some red pepper to the mix as well for a little color.

The biggest change, however, was my use of teriyaki sauce rather than using the ingredients listed. For one, I didn't have most of the ingredients on hand, and two, I had just purchased a bottle of Ontario teriyaki sauce in Niagara the previous weekend. The sauce, from Pristine Gourmet (http://www.pristinegourmet.com/) is made from Ontario soybeans and doesn't have any artificial flavours or colours; just water, soybeans, sugar, wheat flour, salt, red wine vinegar, rice vinegar, garlic, and onion.

I paired the stir-fry with some potato salad I had left from the night before.

August's Foodland Ontario Calendar recipe is a Grilled Chicken Salad with peach and pear slices. Doesn't that sound delicious?! Can't wait for the peaches to come into season...

For an electronic version of Foodland Ontario's 2011 calendar see: http://www.foodland.gov.on.ca/english/calendar/2011/index.html

To view the previous Foodland Ontario Calendar recipes I've made this year click on the 'foodland ontario'  label on the left side-bar.

January - veggie chips

February - parsnip, apple and brie soup

March - breakfast ham 'n' cheese egg wrap

April - potato toppers

May - grilled proscuitto and asparagus bundles

June - strawberry cheesecake shake

Caramel Popcorn

I'm on holidays from work for the next week. I have been looking forward to some holidays for a while; it's my chance to fully focus on the blog, cooking, and enjoying the foods of summer. I have quite a few plans for this week, in fact. We're hoping to go blueberry picking, checking out a local apiary, going to visit friends in Bayfield and in Sarnia, and also making a trip out to Milton to visit a couple of farms and visiting another friend in Burlington.

To start the week, however, last night I took my daughter to see Rio at the Fanshawe Conservation Area. She had never been to an outdoor movie showing and we didn't have to chance to see Rio when it was out in the theatres. For me, it was an excuse to make a great snack for us to enjoy. There was going to be some pizza, candy and drinks for sale at the event but I chose, instead, to make some caramel popcorn.

Caramel Popcorn (from the Canadian Living website):

• 8 cups popped Ontario popcorn
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup Ontario butter
• 3 tbsp corn syrup
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp vanilla

In a small saucepan, combine sugar, butter, corn syrup and salt over high heat; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium, stirring for two minutes. Stir is baking soda and vanilla and remove from heat. In a large mixing bowl, immediately toss caramel with popcorn to coat. Transfer to large baking sheet and bake at 325F for 10-12 minutes. Let cool slightly and transfer to container. Once completely cooled, cover the container and shake it to break up the pieces.

The popcorn was a great snack for the evening. I would have loved to add some nuts to the mix but opted out due to the risk of affecting any children with possible allergies at the park.

What are your favorite movie/evening snacks?

Has anyone tried making popcorn with a maple syrup coating? I regularly make roasted nuts with it, why not do the same with popcorn?

Weekend Trip to the Niagara Region

The family and I visited the Niagara region over the weekend. We thought it would be nice to go on a mini-vacation and decided on visiting Niagara Falls. We hadn't been in a few years and my daughter had never been. We arrived Friday, had fun viewing The Falls, played mini golf, had a ride on the ferris wheel, did the haunted house/fun house, etc..

That was what our Friday evening and early Saturday was like. Our Saturday afternoon, on the other hand, it was all about visiting the different farms and markets on our way back home.

Our first stop was to the Whitty Farm Market in St. Catharines. Here, I purchased some zucchini, some black raspberries and saskatoon berries. I also spotted some great flatbreads and almost got one for dinner. The problem - someone else picked up the one that I was eyeing. Oh well!

Our second stop was just a couple of kilometres away at Inn The Pines (just east of Port Dalhousie). This was such a cute little farm market. We picked up some cucumbers, peppers, gooseberries, and beans (yellow and green). While we were there we also visited their calfs and free-range chickens. My daughter loved watching them run around on their short little legs.

Next up was Nokara Farms (just down the street from Inn The Pines). Here, I got a pie and some red raspberries.

Lucky for us some children at the farm were selling lemonade. We were very thirsty so they didn't have to ask us twice. We each had a glass. Very refreshing!

Our last stop was in Vineland at the Grand Oak Culinary Market. Would you believe that they had just had their grand opening just the day before? Yup! We were there on their 2nd day of business! We found quite a few treasures here. We found quail eggs, duck eggs, tea from Guelph, and some Ontario soy sauce. But what did we come home with? Well, we got 'real' grape juice, Ontario teriyaki sauce, and more raspberries. Yes, more raspberries...got the yellow ones this time.

We had a great trip home. I love visiting markets when we're out and about in different parts of the province. You never know what you'll find. On this trip I came home with 5 different types of berries; most of which I haven't seen around London yet this year.

Unfortunately we didn't have time to tour around Niagara-on-the-Lake but it's definitely on my list of places to visit very soon! Another place I'm hoping to visit this summer is Manitoulin Island. My husband has an aunt that lives in Little Current so we're hoping to pay them a visit very soon for some sailing and to see what they've got growing at their end. Has anyone got any suggestions for farms or markets in that area?

What is Cultured Celery Extract?

Hmmm...it looks like a lot of people are looking for information about cultured celery extract lately. Actually, I'm getting a ton of hits on my site as a result of people's curiosity. I think I can give a pretty good guess as to why too....there seems to be a trend among food manufacturers/processors to remove nitrates/nitrites from processed meats and going 'natural'. But what does this have to do with celery extract you ask? Read on...

'Natural' weiners for instance, have the following ingredients: pork, water, sea salt, vinegar, cane sugar, cultured celery extract, spice, dehydrated garlic, and smoke. Doesn't sound half bad, eh? Hmmm...there has to be a catch; there always is...when processed foods are labelled with 'natural' I'm always suspicious. Did you know that there aren't any guidelines for using the word 'natural'? Putting the word 'natural' and a picture of a barn or cows on the front doesn't make the food any healthier. It's called healthwashing - promoting something as healthy when it really isn't.

But, one may say, the ingredients aren't that bad, are they? No, not really. They could be a lot worse actually. I've seen many, many other products with way worse ingredients. A loaf of processed bread, for instance, has a list twice as long AND with words that most people can't even pronounce. Looking at the ingredients, the one item that most people seem to be wondering about is the cultured celery extract. Why is there celery in weiners, bacon and deli meats? Plain and simple - it's a natural source of nitrates.

Traditionally, sodium nitrite has been used as a preservative in processed meats and fish to prevent the formation of bacteria that may cause botulism. Unfortunately, it has been shown to have carcinogenic side effects. Recently, fooducate.com listed 7 things to know about nitrites in your luncheon meats http://www.fooducate.com/blog/2009/03/16/7-thing-to-know-about-nitrites-in-your-luncheon-meats/ Here are a few highlights from the article:

• Sodium nitrite is a food preservative used primarily in prepared meat and fish such as ham, bacon, hot dogs, corned beef (spam), luncheon meats, and smoked fish
• Sodium Nitrite helps preserve the pink/red color of the meat which should have been grayish having been precooked.
• It wards off closridium botulinum, the bacteria responsible for botulism, a dangerous disease causing respiratory and muscular paralysis.
• When cooked or broken down in the stomach, nitrites form nitrosamines, which can cause cancer in young children and pregnant women.
• Spinach, beets, lettuce, celery, parsley, and cabbages are among vegetables with high concentrations of nitrates. The amount is determined by the plant's genetic age, and the amount of nitrate in the soil. Don't stop eating these veggies, many of them also contain vitamin C, naturally limiting the formation of the toxic nitrosamines.

The last point is interesting... After doing some additional research, I have learned that sodium nitrate is a naturally occurring mineral and is actually present in most vegetables. Basically, anything that grows from the ground draws sodium nitrate out of the soil. Even still, the nitrate present are not a cause of concern because due to the vitamin C and antioxidants present the negative effects are eliminated.

 As a rule I don't buy meats from the grocery store but I have bought elk weiners from a vendor at the Covent Garden Market. I did speak to him about the trend towards using celery extract and he told me that he also used this ingredient in his weiners. To be honest, he said, it's impossible to make true 'nitrate-free' weiners, bacon, or deli meats. They would be completely unpalatable and everything would have a grey color tinge to them.

The question remains, however, if the 'natural' celery nitrate is a good replacement for the traditional sodium nitrate?? What do you think? What are your thoughts? Are you more likely to purchase these products?
I'm on the fence on this one.... I'm not sure if I support the use of celery extract or not. It's a step in the right direction I'm sure, but there isn't a lot of information out there to support any benefits of using celery versus traditional sources. I've concluded that everyone else is on the fence as well because there doesn't seem to be any difference really. Is it just a case of food processors 'healthwashing' their products once again?

The Great Canadian Bacon Festival - Arva Flour Mill

Today was a picture-perfect Canada Day. It was sunny and warm outside and we were able to celebrate Canada's birthday enjoying pork and bacon at the Great Canadian Bacon Festival. I was in great company too. I met up with my friend Kelly from http://www.eatlocallondon.com/ who originally let me know about the event.

The festival, put on by Sarah Reynolds was held at the Arva Flour Mill. Even though this was a new event, the turnout was huge. Just look at the picture below. This was the line-up for pulled pork sandwiches. Along with the sandwiches they were giving customers cupcakes with bacon sprinkles. I didn't get a chance to try one but my daughter said that it was very yummy.

The Whole Pig from Dashwood, Ontario (near Grand Bend - http://www.thewholepig.ca/) was also on site with samples and had some of their pork for sale. The big draw to their table, however, was their Spiced Twisted Bacon. I had one and it was delicious! Luckily they were giving away the recipe so I'll be making some of these next time we have guests over for breakfast.

Here is the recipe:

• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp ground mustard
• 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
• dash cayenne pepper
• 10 center-cut bacon strips

Combine the first 5 ingredients; rub over bacon on both sides. Twist bacon; place on a rack in a baking dish. Bake at 350F for 25-30 minutes or until firm.

Other items I found were bacon salt, bacon-flavored toothpicks and bacon cheese buns. Although the toothpicks were pretty cool I bought some of the buns instead. They will be great for the picnic lunch I'll be packing for our trip to the beach tomorrow.

Apparently, there was also supposed to be bacon coffee, pork dumplings, a whole roast pig, peameal on a bun, bacon chocolate and vegetarian options but I did not see these. I think that because this was the first time for this event a few things likely didn't make it. Next year I suppose...

I was happy that the event occurred at the Arva Flour Mill. It's been a long time coming I think. I absolutely love the mill and was so excited to see so many people visiting it today. I overheard many people talking about how they'd never been to the mill and that they had no idea it was there or what they were about. I'm sure many people will be making a return trip to buy their flours and grains going forward.

The proceeds from the event's entry fee are going towards a restoration project at the mill. I've blogged about the mill before (see: Arva Flour Mill) and couldn't imagine what else they could do to improve on it. I assume it'll be to replace some of the behind-the-scenes machinery that they use to mill the flour and to the building itself.

Other news from the mill that I found out today is that beginning in September they'll now be open on Sundays from 11-4. How exciting! Also, in case you weren't aware, they also carry many gluten-free pastas and flours/grains.

For more information about the Arva Flour Mill and its products check out their website at http://www.arvaflourmill.com/ or better yet, just pay them a visit. You won't regret it; although you'll have to wait until next year for some bacon.