As reported in the Windsor Star recently, The Thibert Farm is now taking internet and phone orders and bringing its farm fresh goodness to your front door.

This post is just a reminder that the next delivery is this Saturday, February 20. To order by internet, download and complete February Order Form-1 and email back to Richard.  Or telephone the Thibert Farm at 519-682-0204.

This winter Richard has introduced Irish Oatmeal Bread and “Inspiration Loaf” (with raisins and many nuts and seeds) to his line of bakery and meat products.

Buy Local, Buy Local Buy Fresh, Essex, Essex County, Thibert Farm, angus beef, delivery, eating local, flour

Here’s a way to get your kids to eat some vegetables…

Take root vegetables, peel them and chop them into bite size pieces. Toss with lots of olive oil, salt and pepper, and thyme. Place them in a single layer on a baking sheet or in a casserole dish. Bake at 400 degrees for 45 -55 minutes. Enjoy!

So why will kids enjoy this? If you use turnips or rutabegas, then you can get your kids (or husbands) to eat them under the guise of roasted potatoes.

This is a good, simple recipe to use up any root vegetables you have handy. I used a local rutabega with Ontario carrots and onions. I added the olive oil along with coarse salt, fresh ground pepper and thyme.

Other recommended veggies to throw in: potatoes, garlic cloves (whole), turnips, beets, and kohlrabi bulbs (for you serious veggie growers).

This was just our side dish. The main attraction was delicious Thibert Farm sausage. I had to laugh when I opened the package as I was expecting individual sausages. Silly me! This is real sausage right from the butcher, still wrapped in meat paper. The entire sausage went onto the grill and we cut it just before serving on fresh buns from Pierre’s Baguette.

Eating local in the winter doesn’t have to be a chore…in fact, it was a treat!

Pierre's Baguette, Thibert Farm, root vegetables

Just in time for those cozy indoor days, Martha Stewart’s January issue of Living shares their recipe for cabbage rolls. I think everyone has a favourite recipe for this dish, but if you don’t have one, Martha’s is a good one to try out.

If you are lucky, you can still find local cabbage; the Ottawa Street market still has some. If not, Ontario cabbage should be available at a grocer near you.

For the filling, we used Ontario onions, Dainty Rice, and a mix of ground beef / ground pork from Thibert Farm in Comber. For the tomato puree you can use Thomas’ Organic Tomatoes (available directly from Thomas’ in Maidstone, from Sanson Estate Winery, or at any participating grocery store…mostly found in the county though).

The recipe turned out quite well. I would have boiled the cabbage leaves for a bit longer than recommended. Also, adding a little of the tomato puree to the filling would have been a nice touch.

A friend once gave me a cabbage roll casserole recipe and I think that it what I will always use. It is so much simpler to just dice the cabbage and add it to everything else than to boil the cabbage head and peel and stuff the leaves.

If you try the recipe, good luck! I couldn’t find it online to post so maybe I’ll post recipes for both the rolls and the casserole when I find them again.

Thibert Farm, Thomas' Organic Tomatoes, cabbage rolls

Are you ready for the holidays? There are a few people that might help you get some of those last minute gifts in order…

• Thibert Farms is doing one last delivery before Christmas. Contact Richard and get your order in so he can deliver it Saturday morning. For the holidays he has added a traditional fruit cake and gift baskets to his usual foods.
• Tredki Acres has launched their new website. Give them a call to check store hours and then pop in for jams made from their own chemical-free berries.
• Black Kettle Bistro has gift certificates for the restaurant or for their series of cooking classes that they will be holding on the third Sunday of each month.
• Made in Windsor hosts Marty Gervais for a book signing this Saturday (Dec. 19) from 1 to 3pm. If you are interested in the history of Hiram Walker and prohibition in our region, then get your copy of Rumrunners for $22.95 and Marty will sign it.

After the holidays, get ready for some great events:

• WindsorEats is holding its Winter Bites event again from January 17th to 23rd. Check out their website for the different events that are planned.
• The Downtown Windsor Farmers Market will be holding a town hall meeting for vendors on January 13th at 6pm at the Leamington Kinsmen Recreational Complex.

Happy holidays!

Black Kettle Bistro, Downtown Windsor Farmers Market, Thibert Farm, Tredki Acres, WindsorEats.com

As we enjoy fall and get ready for the holidays (are they really that close?!?) we have the opportunity to choose from many events:

• November 19 – Aleksander Winery’s Harvest Winemakers Dinner – Enjoy a harvest meal paired with Aleksander wines at Per Bacco; check out their website for details
  
• November 21 & 22 – Sanson Estate Winery Holiday Open House – complimentary food and wine tasting in the events hall; live cooking demos; see their newsletter
• November 28 – Southwestern Ontario Vintners Association (SWOVA) Holiday Open Houses – Celebrate with 12 local wineries; each winery celebrates in a different way so check out SWOVA’s site for details

There are more events to choose from so check out my calendar for those that are related to local food and spirits.

Other news this week:

• The Kildare House closed it’s doors – I am very sad!
• WindsorEats launches their Wine Trail Rides website (after winning the culinary tourism experience award!) …[scooped from Bike Windsor, be sure to check them out if you are interested in lots of cyling info in the area]
• Walkerville’s Holiday Walkabout is this weekend; check out their website for details and be sure to stop at Taste Bud for a local focus on prepared meals
• Richard of Thibert Farm mentions that he will try to grow oats in 2010/11 – I can’t wait!
• MIT releases a study that links local food with aiding the obesity epidemic; eating local helped me lose a lot of wait so maybe people will believe this study if they don’t believe me

Kildare House, SWOVA, Sanson Estate Winery, Thibert Farm, Windsor Eats

After a recent visit to The Thibert Farm to get my fix of cookies and pancake mix, Richard mentioned that if all went well, he would be starting a home delivery service soon. Well eating local just got a little sweeter now that he has definitely decided to do a monthly food delivery to his Windsor customers.

A vendor at the Downtown Market this summer, Richard’s cookies, breads and flours were a big hit. But how often are customers willing to drive out to Comber to stock up? We don’t need to ask that anymore!

Richard writes:

I decided that I would cater to my customers by implementing a home delivery service. That’s right! Not only will I grow the grain, mill it, and bake it into the yummy nutritious breads, cookies etc. that everybody loves, now I will deliver it right to your door. Also by providing this service It will allow me make available the meat that I also grow right here on the farm. Hormone and chemically free meat that was fed only from my “non GMO” grain and hay (also grown on my farm)!

The Thibert Farm is on Facebook or you can visit the website. You can also email Richard directly (richard@thethibertfarm.com) …don’t forget to ask for the order form!

Richard shows us his cookie batter
during a recent visit.

My faves are the oatmeal raisin cookies. They make a great snack or I crumble them into a bowl of plain yoghurt. And no weekend would be complete without Thibert Farm’s multi-grain pancake mix. Yum!

You may hear a lot about this as Richard’s announcement came out today. Many of us are very excited since The Thibert Farm is committed to sustainable farming and provides quality products that are definitely local!

[A group of bloggers visited Richard in the summer for an in-depth tour of his operations. You can check out my post about that here. ]

Thibert Farm, delivery

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On a warm July morning we assembled a group of Windsor bloggers and took a short trip out to Comber to meet Richard Thibert and tour his farm. We were greeted warmly by Richard and his dog, Pharoah.

Like many farmers, Richard Thibert has another job working for a company other than his own. At one point in history, farmers only took care of their own property and thrived on this livelihood. Those days are long gone. So why do people still farm? From farmers that I have spoken with who are working one job but also trying to make their own farm a viable business, most of the answers seem to be the same:

“I love it. This is what I should be doing. I care about the food that I provide for my family and others.”

Richard Thibert feels much the same way and for 2 hours, we got an in-depth tour of the property, learning about the land, the animals and Richard’s commitment to sustainable farming. Along with the natural feed that his animals receive, the animals are allowed to roam in grassy pastures. A man-made pond surrounded by wild flowers sits at the back of the property, creating a natural habitat for various species including turtles, frogs and birds. The crops are non-GMO and are free from “unnecessary chemical inputs”.

Not only can you buy a loaf of bread at the farm, you can see the wheat field where the grain grew, buy the flour that was ground onsite to make the bread, and meet the farmer/baker who made the bread for you. What a great experience for anyone!

Here’s what you can buy from Thibert Farms:

• Angus beef
• Pork
• Chicken
• Eggs
• Flour
• Garlic
• Bread (whole wheat honey or multigrain)
• Cookies (oatmeal raisin or oatmeal chocolate chip)
• Pancake Mix (regular or multigrain)

Thanks to the Downtown Farmers Market, you can now meet Richard each Saturday at the old Greyhound Bus Terminal and purchase fresh bread, cookies, flour and pancake mix. Or call him at 519.682.0204 if you plan on visiting the farm.

Richard Thibert cares about what he feeds to his family. Luckily he has grown enough for us too.
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Garlic, Thibert Farm, angus beef, flour, pancake mix

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There is so much going on that it is hard to keep up! We are in a very busy time of year for life in general, but especially for locally grown produce.

Hopefully you have been stopping in at the downtown market. Despite the rain, the vendors were still out there this weekend and I got my bread and cookies from Thibert Farms and some amazing peaches from another vendor.

SWOVA’s Annual Vintage Tasting was also this past weekend; let me know if you made it out and tell me how it was. $50 for a ticket would have been wasted on me as I cannot drink yet (8 weeks to go, but who is counting?)!

The highly sought “Bird Dog Red” is back at Sanson Estate Winery. Bird Dog has been missing for the past 3 years so fans are eager to try out the new pup. It is an ‘05 blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet France and Merlot. Grab a bottle while you can! It is hard to fall in love with a wine as they may sell out or some winemakers do not make the same wines each year (this happened to me when I went to Aleksander and they were sold out of their Baco). Make sure to find a few local faves and cross your fingers that supplies last.

Stop in at the Leamington Tomato Fest this weekend for loads of family fun. A new feature this year is the wine tent with several local wineries participating. Check out their website for details.

There are loads of other events coming up so be sure to check the food calendar.
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Aleksander Estate Winery, Downtown Windsor Farmers Market, Leamington Tomato Festival, SWOVA, Sanson Estate Winery, Thibert Farm

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Saturday was a fabulous day full of sunshine and fresh produce.

Tecumseh Atta Flour

Richard Thibert, Thibert Farm

I loved the selection and the prices were fabulous. I arrived at 10 for the grand opening but since the market started at 8, I missed out on great things like fresh strawberries and green beans.

Plenty of bloggers were on hand to cover the event. Check out these blogs for more info and great photos:

• Photo404 (pic of me with hubby carrying all of our food, video too!)
• Schnurr’s Sound Off
• Western District

The market’s official website is now live so bookmark it and check it often.

A big thanks to the volunteers that made this happen! Great job!!!
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Bradley's Potatoes, Chana Flour Products, Downtown Windsor Farmers Market, Thibert Farm

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I hope you are enjoying your Canada Day, perhaps with Canadian food and drinks or (even better) Ontario products!

We had a nice meal of local chicken with BBQ sauce from Windsor Ravioli (in fresh buns with local lettuce), local green beans and steamed Dainty Rice. Dessert was easy with fresh chocolate chip and oatmeal cookies from Thibert Farms in Comber.

Richard from Thibert Farms joined us at our CSA meeting this weekend to tell us about his farm in Comber and all of the food that he produces. He has a great vision of what a farmer can and should provide to ensure quality products that we are comfortable eating.

Here’s some of what is offered at Thibert Farms:

• Bakery products like cookies and bread (featuring the farm’s own grains, ground using a stone flour mill that is located at the bakery)
• 60 % whole wheat stone ground flour
• Pancake mix
• Natural beef
• Pork
• Free range chicken

The farm is open on Saturdays from 9am to 4pm or by appointment. Visit their website for more info.

Orrrrr…

…this Saturday the Downtown Windsor Farmer’s Market opens in the old Greyhound bus terminal! I am so excited for this and I know that many other are too.

Starting at 8am this Saturday, everyone can stop in and enjoy the outdoor market at 44 University Avenue East. The market closes at 3pm and runs every Saturday until October 10, rain or shine!

Stop in this week for Thibert Farms, Bradley’s Potatoes, A&M Farms (veggies), Chana Foods (flour), and C’est Bon Nuts.
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Downtown Windsor Farmers Market, Thibert Farm