My Blog needs a New Name!

A while back I mentioned that I was going to be making a big announcement. Well here it is:

I'm moving to Halifax!!!

For the people who follow me on Twitter or who know me personally this isn't really news. However, for my other followers this is definitely news.

It was a difficult decision but one that we had to make. It's a move that will allow my husband, daughter and I to spend more time together as a family. The move is work-related for my husband who applied for a transfer within his company. We were always drawn to the East Coast so when we saw there was an opportunity in Halifax we took it.

Our home is currently on the market and we hope to move in June.

Now....back to business! I'll definitely be continuing with my blog. However, I obviously need to change the name of it. This is where you guys come in. I need help with this. I am not very creative and just can't seem to come up with anything. Any ideas?

-the name needs to relate to food
-the name needs to reflect something about the maritimes, nova scotia, halifax, etc..
-the name needs to be one that isn't currently used by another blog or organization
-the name needs to be able to be shortened for Twitter - I'll need to change my name there too (it's currently @swontariofoodie)

Submit any name ideas to me via Facebook, Twitter, as a comment to this post, or by email to swontariofoodie at hotmail dot com. If I choose your name suggestion I'll give you a copy of the book 'Real Food' by Nina Planck - it's a book that really influenced my diet and the direction of my blog. And if you're a London resident I'll also throw in a gift certificate to the Covent Garden Market!

We're very excited about the move and can't wait to explore our new surroundings. There will be new farms to visit, new markets to buy from, and new foods to try. I predict that there will an increase in blog posts about seafood! There are so many things that I'm looking forward to doing. It's not just about the food though; we're also very excited about living near the sea and being able to go biking and hiking and kayaking, etc.. At our first opportunity, my husband and I are hoping to go away and spend a weekend biking the Cabot Trail (first opportunity means when my parents come and visit and stay with us for a bit haha).

Anyways, that's my news! What do y'all think?

Foodland Ontario Calendar March Recipe (Chicken and Vegetable Stir-Fry)

March... March is when it starts to get difficult to eat local. At this point you start looking forward to something other than root vegetables and look longingly at the imported berries and wonder how soon before the green onions, radishes, asparagus and rhubarb will be making their first appearance. Another thing about March is that this is when most of the greenhouse produce is available in full-force - peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, etc..

The March recipe for the Foodland Ontario calendar this month is a Chicken and Vegetable Stir-Fry using both root vegetables and greenhouse veggies together with chicken. Stir-frys are wonderful - pretty well any meat could be used, like pork, beef, or chicken. Any veggies work too! It's really versatile and can be made any time of the year, no matter what the season. In the spring peas and asparagus are great additions, and in the summer beans, broccoli or cauliflower work well too. What the stir-fry is served with can be altered too - it can be eaten on its own, on top of noodles or on a bed of rice, couscous, or quinoa. It's really up to you!

• 1/3 cup sodium-reduced chicken broth or water
• 2 tbsp Ontario soy sauce
• 1 tbsp each Asian chili garlic sauce, hoisin sauce and rice vinegar
• 1 tsp each granulated sugar and cornstarch
• 4 tsp vegetable oil
• 12 oz (375g) boneless skinless Ontario chicken thighs, cut into strips
• 1 Ontario onion, cut into thin wedges
• 2 Ontario carrots, cut into thin diagonal slices
• 1/2 each Ontario Greenhouse sweet red and yellow pepper, cut into julienne strips
• 1 tbsp minced gingerroot
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh coriander

Stir together broth, soy sauce, chili garlic sauce, hoisin sauce, vinegar, sugar and cornstarch until smooth, set aside.

In large non-stick skillet, heat 2 tsp of the oil over medium-high heat. Stir-fry chicken for 2 to 3 minutes or until juices run clear when chicken is pierced. Remove to plate.

Add remaining oil to skillet; stir-fry onion, carrot, peppers and ginger until tender-crisp, 3 to 5 minutes. Return chicken to pan; stir sauce mixture and add to pan. Bring to boil and cook until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes.

Sprinkle with coriander.

For this recipe I omitted the coriander because I'm not a fan. People either love it or hate it. I'm in the hate-it crowd. I can't even stand the smell of the stuff.

Next month's recipe for April will be a Fresh Greenhouse Pizza. A suggestion on the page is to end the meal with Rhubarb Apricot Bread Pudding. Coincidently, the Covent Garden Market calendar's recipe for April is Ontario Rhubarb Pudding Cake so I'll be sure to make both recipes on the same day.

**If you wish to view the online version of the calendar you may access it here: http://www.foodland.gov.on.ca/english/calendar/2012/index.html  

**If you'd like to view my blog entries for last year's calendar click on the 'Foodland Ontario' label on the left side of the page or view them by following this link: http://southwesternontariofoodie.blogspot.com/search/label/foodland%20ontario

Why we shouldn't be excited about the unseasonally warm weather...

Hasn't the weather been absolutely beautiful these last couple of weeks? Yes, it's great; everyone is outside, the kids are playing at the park, we're wearing shorts, the barbecues have been fired up, etc.. But wait, it's March?! That's not right...shouldn't we still have snow on the ground? Shouldn't we be flip-flopping between freezing temps at night and mild temps during the day? What's going on here?

Sure, it's 'convenient' and we're all loving the t-shirt weather after the long winter we had last year; however, what kind of impact will this have on the environment in the next few months?

Farmers are really worried about the impact this warm weather will have on their crops this year. Here are a few issues that have already come up:

1) The maple syrup season was really short this year. In fact, it was barely there -

When it gets too warm the sap starts going to the buds on the trees, diverting it away from the taps.
"We make one litre per tree on average and we're probably only going to make about a quarter this year," said Francois Proulx of east Ottawa's Proulx Sugarbush and Berry Farm.

A typical season to harvest sap is from mid-March to mid-April, with optimal temperatures much lower than the 24 C on Sunday afternoon.

"Ideal temperatures for the sap to flow have to be between 3 C and 10 C during the day and below freezing at night," he said.

Proulx said there hasn't been a good stretch of production all winter and he needs a snowstorm to help salvage the season.

(http://ottawa.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20120318/OTT-maple-syrup-warm-weather-120318/20120318/?hub=OttawaHome)

What does this mean? It means that there won't be as much maple syrup and, as a result, we may end up having to pay more for it. Hopefully Quebec and Nova Scotia end up with a better season than we did in Ontario to make up for our shortage.

2) Pests, bugs, and more = more spraying, more chemicals

The mild winter carries others risks for growers, too. Ontario’s farmers count on an extended deep freeze to kill off insects and plant pests that can cut into their crops once they’re in the ground, and they didn’t really get it this year. It’s possible to have an outbreak of insects and plant diseases because the winter didn’t kill them off. (http://www.therecord.com/print/article/686054)

"Because there is a definite downside to this warmed-up winter business, we’re all facing a price to pay for t-shirt weather in March.

See, our plant and animal life has evolved to survive and thrive through the regular southern Ontario seasons (one month of fall, six months of winter, one month of spring and four months of humidity, rainy weekends and road construction known locally as summer.)

When the regular cycle goes off the rails, so does the normal sequence of interaction between plants, animals, insects and environment.

For example, we’ve only had a couple of dozen “freeze days” — days when the mercury never gets above zero — this winter. Normally, we get nearly 70 in a York Region winter.

That’s nice for kids waiting for the school bus, but bad news on the plant front. Those freeze days play a big part in killing off harmful bacteria and bugs, keeping their numbers down in the spring.

This year, we can expect a bumper crop of beetles, grubs and other pests to be feeding on our trees, bushes and food crops. Worse, the warm weather may bring the bugs out early, before their natural predators are out in their regular places and numbers."
(http://m.torontosun.com/2012/03/16/our-warm-march-could-mean-a-long-hot-summer)

So what does that mean? It means that farmers will have a really hard time keeping the pests at bay. As a result, they'll likely end up spraying more chemicals than usual on the food. Again, that increases the cost of the food as well (and decreases the health benefits due to higher levels of toxic chemicals).

3) A return to normal temps = possibility of no local fruit in Ontario

With a March that is acting more like May, buds in the orchards and vineyards are turning green. And if they break open from the sunshine and high temps, it could spell disaster, farmers say.
For almost all fruit farmers. this weather is very nerve-wracking,” said Jim Ochterski, agriculture program leader with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ontario County. Whether it’s grapes, apples, strawberries or peaches, these are all crops that can be seriously harmed by budding prematurely, he said. Though it’s been a warm winter, it’s almost certain we’ll have at least one more frost, as it’s only March, he said, adding risk of frost doesn’t diminish until mid-May.
(http://www.mpnnow.com/farmingandagriculture/x299888457/An-early-spring-is-good-for-some-crops-but-not-all)
(http://www.wsbt.com/videogallery/68905585/News/video:-early-budding)

This means that the fruit trees are already budding. As long as the temps stay above zero then all will be good. However, if the temps go below freezing there's a risk of the buds being affected and will be killed off. This is NOT good. The result? A much, much smaller crop of fruits (if any). Could you imagine a summer with no cherries or peaches or a fall without apples or pears? What would that mean for food prices (again)? We (as well as many other states/provinces) would have to rely on imported fruits and would have to pay a lot more for our food. This is definitely going to keep the farmers up at night for the next couple of months.

My other concern is let's say we don't go below freezing...do the fruits come super early? How long would the season last? Would it be a long season? Or would it end sooner? Nobody really knows because this isn't normal.

It's not all bad news though...this weather is great for early-sow foods like peas and radishes. We'll likely have a really early season for peas, asparagus, rhubarb etc.. Some farmers will be planting grain crops like barley and oats within a few weeks, and corn seeds could be in the ground by mid-April. For those crops, this weather may actually be good (definitely better than it was last year).

It'll be interesting to see what happens in Ontario in the next few months. It's really scary to see how extreme the weather has been in the last couple of years - lots of snow and rain last year and now this year a lack of snow and really warm temperatures. It's definitely not normal.

Sure, people are excited about this year's weather but we'll definitely be paying for this in the near future (literally). I'm not happy about it. I'd like to see the return of the 4 seasons with average temperatures and precipitation.

Here's what my rosebush already looks like. Soooo not what it would look like in March I'm sure!

Covent Garden Market Calendar - March (Lemon and Maple Shrimp Fettucine)

Spring is in the air! On Sunday we spent most of the day outside at the park (twice) and in the yard riding bikes, playing with chalk, etc.. Another good sign of spring coming is that maple season has arrived...well, it arrived and then passed... The downside of this nice weather is that the temps aren't going below freezing at night which has pretty well stalled maple syrup production already. It was a short season (sigh).


The Covent Garden Market calendar has a great recipe for the month of March using maple syrup - Lemon and Maple Shrimp Fettucine. Man oh man was it ever good!!

Ingredients:

• 1 lemon, zested and juiced from Havaris or Doris Produce
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp dijon mustard
• 1 tbsp maple syrup
• 4 cloves garlic, minced from Havaris Produce
• 24 raw, peeled and de-veined shrimp
• 1/2 cup chopped parsley from Doris Produce
• 350g fresh pasta (fettuccine, angel hair, linguini or spaghetti) from Glenda's
• butter and olive oil
• salt and pepper, to taste

There are quite a few non-local ingredients in this recipe (like shrimp and lemon) but I still feel good knowing that I am able to support the little guys in the community by buying my ingredients from them. The shrimp, however, I ended up getting at the grocery store (gasp!). Seafood can be purchased at the market via the Seoul Seafood Shop but on that day there was no shrimp to be found.


The pasta, however, was easy for me to find. Without doubt, I knew that I'd end up at Glenda's in the market. Glenda's has many different fresh pastas to choose from. For this recipe, for instance, I chose the lemon pepper linguini. It was the perfect choice.

In a small bowl, whisk together lemon zest, lemon juice, olive oil, Dijon mustard, maple syrup, and garlic. Place the raw shrimp in the bowl with the marinade, stirring until all the shrimp are coated. Marinate the shrimp in the refrigerator, for 1/2 hour to 1 hour, no longer.

Meanwhile, heat water in a large pot. Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook according to package directions, usually 3-5 minutes.

Begin cooking the shrimp while the pasta is cooking. Add a bit of olive oil to a saute pan and heat over medium high heat. Scoop the shrimp out of the marinade and saute, tossing them in the pan so they cook evenly.

When pasta is done, drain it and put it back in the pot, adding a bit of butter and olive oil so it doesn't stick together. Season it with salt and pepper, and toss in the freshly chopped parsley. Place pasta on a serving dish, top with hot shrimp, and serve.

All I've gotta say is 'YUM'!! Even my daughter ate it so that says a lot! I'll definitely make this recipe again.


For an online version of the Covent Garden Market Calendar see this link: http://www.coventmarket.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/2012-Market-Calendar.pdf


For other blog posts about the Covent Garden Market (and the calendar) see here: http://southwesternontariofoodie.blogspot.com/search/label/Covent%20Garden%20Market


April Recipe for the calendar? Ontario Rhubarb Pudding Cake...Ooohh...that means we can look forward to rhubarb coming into season! Yay for Spring!


NOTE: don't forget - the outdoor farmer's market will be open the Saturday of the Easter long weekend in April!

Greens for the Winter Months at Slegers Organics

When people think of eating locally in the winter most people assume that finding lettuce, fresh herbs and other greens would be out of the question. Not so! There's a lot out there if you know where to look.

One great place to check out is Slegers Organics in Strathroy (7496 Calvert Drive). They've been growing organic living greens (year-round) in their greenhouses since 2004. I was there on the weekend and picked up some green leaf lettuce and some basil. There was lots more available too; like kale, arugula, cilantro, romaine lettuce, wheatgrass, etc.. The price was right too - very reasonable. (note: they're open to the public on Fridays and Saturdays only - see: www.slegersgreens.com)

As soon as I saw that they had basil I knew I had to get some. And then when I got home I just had to make some pesto for dinner. Mmmm....pesto....reminds me of summer....

Here's a recipe for traditional pesto:

-2 cups or so of fresh basil leaves
-1/4 cup pine nuts (or whatever nut you have on hand - I use sliced almonds)
-1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
-1/4 cup good quality extra-virgin olive oil
-salt/pepper

Blend the ingredients together in a food processor, adding more oil as required until the mixture becomes smooth.

There are many ways to use pesto - on pizza instead of using tomato sauce, on grilled shrimp, as a marinade for chicken, in mashed potatoes, mixed with mayonnaise for a great sandwich spread, and on pasta (of course).

The best part is that there is so much nutrition in this dish of pasta with the good fats from the nuts and oil and the vitamins and antioxidants from the basil. All four food groups are in there - protein, dairy, grains, and vegetable!

Homemade Banana Pudding

Last night I had a craving for banana pudding; like the one you normally find at the grocery store in a box. You know which one I'm talking about..

As you know, I wouldn't bother going to the grocery store to buy a box. Geez, it was cold, rainy, windy, and dark outside; besides, I was sure I could make my own version at home. After a few Google searches though I didn't really come up with anything other than several recipes for banana pudding (vanilla pudding with layers of vanilla wafers and banana slices) or recipes for vanilla pudding that suggest using banana extract instead of vanilla extract. Uhm...no....

In the end, I thought that perhaps I could just add pureed banana to the mix and see what happens. Such a simple solution, eh? Imagine...add banana to create a banana flavour. Don't need a fancy recipe to do that!

Homemade Banana Pudding

• 3 1/2 cups milk
• 1/3 cup plus 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup corn starch
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 large egg yolk
• 2 ripe bananas
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp unsalted butter

In a food processor mix together1/2 cup of the milk, 1/3 cup sugar, cornstarch, salt, eggs, egg yolk and the bananas. Process until smooth and pour the mixture into a large bowl. Set aside.

Pour the remaining 3 cups of milk, along with 1/4 cup of sugar into a saucepan and bring just to a boil.

Gradually add the hot milk into the banana mixture, whisking constantly, until smooth. Transfer the mixture back into the pot and place over medium-low heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens. Remove from heat and whisk in the butter and vanilla extract. Pour through a strainer to remove any remaining lumps. Cover and place in the refrigerator to chill.

So what's actually in the boxed version?

SUGAR, DEXTROSE (FROM CORN), MODIFIED CORNSTARCH, CONTAINS LESS THAN 2% OF NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, SALT, DISODIUM PHOSPHATE & TETRASODIUM PYROPHOSPHATE (FOR THICKENING) MONO- AND DIGLYCERIDES (PREVENT FOAMING), YELLOW 5, YELLOW 6, ARTIFICIAL COLOR, BHA (PRESERVATIVE).

Uhm...yeah...I'm happy I made my own!

Eat Fresh, Eat Loca, Eat REAL Food!