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Last week’s trip to Leamington was a huge success. Despite the poopy weather, I loaded up the dogs and drove out to find Lakeside Jersey Dairy. The dairy is right downtown between a brand new medical building and a residential neighbourhood. It seems strangely out of place, especially when you enter into the paneled office/store and are greeted by happy workers who are stomping around in their wellies. A 4L bag of milk will cost you $4.75 and eggnog (a popular treat that they say will not last long!) is $2.25. That’s with tax and friendly service. They have a great selection of milk products including 1%, 2%, homogenized, cream, etc.

Just over a few streets I stopped in at Alberto’s European Bakery. Despite having a large store that looks like it used to have a lunch counter and eat-in area (now dark), the store is sparse with 2 shelves in the whole place and everything on them seems to be Portuguese imported cooking ingredients (if you did not know, there is a large Portuguese community in Leamington). A small rack behind the counter held only a few baked items. I asked for the buns that they sell in the Zehrs stores but they were not exactly sure what I was looking for, so we settled on kaisers. $4 got me 6 kaiser rolls and 6 hot dog buns. These buns do not come with the ingredients listed as the Zehrs ones do so next time I get the buns from Zehrs, I will post the ingredients.

From there I went to the Leamington Market. It is not an actual market… it is more like a convenience store, dollar store, and foreign grocery rolled together. It was very quiet and a bit disheveled; I maneuvered through the store wondering what I had walked into. I did not see anything that local (apart from a good selection of Yasmeen Bakery products from Windsor), but they have lots of great middle eastern and Mexican spices, canned goods and other ingredients. If you are looking for something different (or hard to find) for a recipe, this would probably be a good spot to look. I grabbed a Yasmeen coconut cookie (sooo good and fresh!) and a drink and headed to the counter where two boxes of Turkish Delight (made in Mississauga) jumped into my hands. The box managed to stay closed all the way home too, you should be proud of me!

The next stop was at Aleksander Estate Winery. I was happy to see that they again created their magical bottles of Cassis and Peach wines. Unfortunately they were sold out of their Baco. Isabella graciously offered me a tasting of two other reds and I decided on a nice Shiraz.

Then it was back to Highway 3 with one more stop for a Christmas tree and to let the dogs run around. A very successful day.
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Aleksander Estate Winery, Lakeside Dairy, Leamington, dogs, milk

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I did my happy dance today. Someone gave me a lead on local milk and I’m heading to Leamington tomorrow to make a purchase. I’m taking my camera so I’ll post an update after I have some dairy goodness in my greedy little paws.

The weekend at Sanson’s open house was amazing. The winery was packed with guests on Saturday and Sunday and the food and cooking demonstrations from Bamboo and Caldwells Grant were fabulous (more on that later). Caldwells is selling pint jars of their poppy salad dressing for $5 and homemade ready-to-bake tortierres. I tried the tortierre on Sunday and it was phenomenal. Last day to order is November 30th! I’ll post more on Caldwells later too.

Other stops I’ll hopefully make tomorrow:
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• Aleksander Estate Winery – hoping they have their Cassis and Peach wine in stock; looking forward to grabbing a few bottles of their Baco Noir too
• Leamington Market – looking to find anything new and interesting to do with local food
• Alberto’s European Bakery – getting attached to their tasty breads available at Zehrs so I’m going to the source

And finally, if you are free this weekend (Nov 29/30) then you might want to check out Sprucewood Shores Estate Winery’s first Holiday Open House from 11 to 5. This is one of the wineries that I have not been to yet so I’m hoping to have a few hours free to get out there.
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Aleksander Estate Winery, Sprucewood Shores Estate Winery, milk

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It is going to be a busy weekend but I am sure that it will also be fun! I will be busy working at Sanson Estate Winery’s holiday open house and Olde Riverside has their winter festival this weekend too. Here are the details on both events:

• Olde Riverside Winter Festival – Chance to win Grand Prize of $1,000 Riverside Dollars! Friday, November 21 (5-7), Saturday, November 22 (12-7), Sunday, November 23 (12-4). Free hot chocolate at Summit Flooring on Friday, free homemade apple cider at Schwab’s all weekend (& local foods in-store, of course); roaming clowns & elves, inflatable maze, treelighting & more.
• Sanson Estate Winery’s 6th Annual Christmas Open House – Saturday, November 22 (10-4) & Sunday, November 23 (10-4). Complimentary food and wine sampling, gift ideas, guest chefs with demos on Sunday (12-4). Local beef, Berkshire pork and lamb available – all without hormones, antibiotics or steroids. Children welcome!

Remember, you can check my calendar for all local food-related events that I find.
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I try to eat Yoghurt / yogurt / yoghourt / youghurt / yogourt every morning. Not the sweet, sugary stuff with mushy fruit stirred in (or the hideous “on the bottom” offerings), but plain, old-fashioned yoghurt. I see a few of you pulling faces as you have had bad experiences with the white stuff. Too sour? Too lumpy?

Did you know that plain yoghurts can vary greatly? It might take you time to find one that you like. If you do not like any of them, consider still buying it and downing a few tablespoons each morning for your health. Throw in some granola or seasonal fruit and you have a delightful breakfast that is good for you.

Forget the Activia “14-day Challenge”. Eating plain old yoghurt is good for you and can still help your digestion. Plus…

• Yoghurt is high in protein, calcium, riboflavin, vitamin B6 and B12
• You can feed plain yoghurt to your dogs (it is good for their digestive tracts, too!).
• If you do not like drinking milk then yoghurt is a good way for you to get your dairy.

Since I have yet to find a local dairy source, I opt for Ontario brands with recognizable ingredients. Here are the three that I have tried.

• Perth County All Natural Live Culture Yogourt (Ingersoll) - Extremely sour and very runny; my least favourite of the bunch. Bought at Remark Farms – 2% milk fat; (made with milk ingredients, probiotic A & B culture).
• Pinehedge Farms Organic Yogourt (St. Eugene) – Thick and runny at the same time and the jar makes it hard to separate the whey from the yoghurt; a nice yoghurt though but a bit pricey. Bought for $5.69 @ Enchie Organics – 3.8% milk fat; (organic whole milk (pasteurized not homogenized), live bacterial cultures).
• Western Creamery Plain Yogurt (Brampton) – My favourite of the bunch and my favourite against traditional yoghurts that I used to eat; nice and thick. Bought for $3.39 @ Zehrs – 2% milk fat with .2% & 3.2% also available (milk ingredients, bacterial culture).
  

As always, if you find something closer to home, please let me know so I can check it out!

And remember, you can also boost your body’s good bacteria naturally by eating lots of fruit and veg!

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Perth County, Pinehedge Farms, Western Creamery, yoghurt

Many people tie food in with fond memories from family events or childhood. Maybe you love apples strictly for their taste and nutritional value or maybe you also value them because you would pick them from your own tree as a child and that memory makes you happy. Perhaps you savour each crispy bite as you imagine the smell of apple pie wafting from the kitchen.

I have lots of food-related memories and I do not think it is strange to remember that I tried my first falafel in Amsterdam, my first Guinness in Ireland (and found it gross), and my first fresh beet in my grandma’s kitchen (and pulled a face since it had not been pickled yet and that was all I had known).

Many of my food memories include my grandparents. I was born in Wales but I grew up in Canada and visits “home” included spending lots of time with my grandparents who I missed terribly.

As a baker by trade, my Grampy Perry would make the most wonderful pies that I had ever tasted with pastry that would melt the instant that it hit your tongue. My Nanny Perry did not do a lot of the cooking with my grandfather’s culinary talent on hand, but her currant cake made us lift our plates for a second helping. Grampy grew the currants in the tiny backyard, along with rhubarb and a few other treats.

My Nanny Rose was always cooking up a storm. The stove would be covered with simmering pots of beets and beans from the back garden and a nice roast crackled in the oven, picked up that morning from the butcher down the road. The meals were always delicious and filled with laughter as Nanny dished up our plates and added more food than you wanted, even when you adamantly declined. When the dinner plates were cleared away a homemade delight like rhubarb crumble would be presented with a jug of fresh cream.

These were not meals made for special events, they were every day occurances and you were always guaranteed a gravy dinner on Sundays. That is just the way it was. My mum continued this tradition and we sat down as a family every night to a meal that included meat, starch and two veg. At these meals we created more great memories. I think this is something that many families are missing today; parents should reach back for their own memories and introduce some traditions back to the supper table.

Today I am being nostalgic as I always seem to think about my grandparents on Rememberance Day. I think of the veterans too but I think fondly of my grandfathers and their jovial dispositions and my grandmothers with their quirks, vibrant aprons and many hugs. I hope today (and every day) you remember the veterans as well as your own special family members.

If you are fortunate to have your grandparents still around, pick up the phone and say hello or visit them. Maybe you can prepare the special meal for a change and take it with you.

grandparents, rememberance day

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It is not often that I get to sleep in. Even if my husband gets up with the dogs and tip-toes around the house, it is still usually too much noise for me to fall back to sleep. This is part of the reason that I like to go to bed early on the weekend (it is not because I am old! ) as I am often up before 8 o’clock.

With two dogs and two cats it is not always easy to convince them all that the bedroom is the best place to be at 7am. In particular, our foster dog is not used to the concept of going back to bed and enjoying a “lie in” after his breakfast. Today was different. Maybe we all had too much fresh air yesterday but both dogs and one cat came back to bed to sleep in. It was a bit crowded but very warm and comfy. If I wanted someone to actually see what I looked like first thing in the morning, I am sure that this would make a very cute photo.

So it is Sunday and I am well rested after sleeping in to 8:30! After a cup of tea and a bit of Coronation Street it was off to the fridge to see what would be a nice start to the morning. We had a few leftover sausages from dinner (from Olde Riverside Schwab’s) so we put those into some fresh kaiser rolls (also from Schwab’s) and cooked an egg to go on top. So delicious!

Do not skip breakfast! Get fresh eggs from the market and stop in to your local butcher to get some fresh sausages or bacon; enjoy a morning in the kitchen brewing a pot of tea (or coffee) and cooking up some local goodness.

Now at Sanson Estate Winery you can also get some breakfast favourites:

• Farm fresh brown eggs
• Berkshire bacon (fresh or frozen)
• Radishes (add a crisp kick to breakfast with this raw root veggie or dice them in with some home fries)

From Wikipedia: “Radishes are rich in ascorbic acid, folic acid, and potassium. They are a good source of vitamin B6, riboflavin, magnesium, copper, and calcium.” Plus, you can store them for up to one month in the refrigerator!
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It seems to be that even though there are suggestion on what local should be (with books like ‘The 100-Mile Diet setting the standard), everyone’s interpretation of what “local” really is can be different.

Here’s an interesting article from ‘Wine & Spirit’ that gives some information on what “local” means to those in the hospitality industry.

I have to keep an eye on these trends… not just for my blog, but as a new employee of Sanson Estate Winery it is important for me to know the food and the wine side of things now. Now that I am done my training you can come visit me on Tuesdays at the winery from 11-5 and I can tell you what local meat and produce is in that week and help you pick out a bottle of wine to go with it.

I am very happy to work in an industry that allows me to combine my hobby with my job. Yay, me! For my blog that means that I will try to post weekly updates of what the winery has in stock as we have yet to get them blogging.
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Sanson Estate Winery, eating local

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Don’t forget, folks…if you want me to respond to an inquiry, make sure you leave me some way to get in touch in case you don’t come back to see if I commented after your comment.

Nicole had asked about an organic farm in the Kingsville area that had veggies and meat. I found this and hope it helps:

Our Farm Organics
Tom & Lesley Labbe
284 County Rd. #34, RR #2, Ruthven
519-869-6045 / ourfarmorganics@hotmail.com

Free range eggs, Naturally raised, hormone & antibiotic free turkey and poultry by order.

Chemical-free strawberries, asparagus, garlic, hay.
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Kingsville, Our Farm Organics, Ruthven, turkey

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Today marks the official launch of “Bounty of the County“, a website from the Essex County Associated Growers to spotlight our region’s fruit and vegetable producers.

Along with promoting the organization and its events, the website offers a directory of growers with product lines, availability dates, and contact information. Select the item that you are looking for and the search results will give you a list of matches. You can even sign up to receive “Harvest Alert” as seasonal produce is available.

On Thursday, October 30th, The Windsor Star published an article about the upcoming launch. “Essex County Farmers Take Their Produce Online” even had a quote from me, albeit truncated. I had mentioned that a website like this would be very useful and would save consumers time. For example, if you wanted to go apple picking, you could find an orchard near your home as right now there aren’t any fully up-to-date resources anywhere else that would list this and people tend to drive to the only orchards they know.

The downside to this site is that it is being left to farmers to enter the information. There are plenty of free resources available to farmers and small business owners but these databases are not being populated. For some, a lack of time or available staff means no time to commit to marketing and/or research; for others, they simply do not care.

My fear is that if Bounty of the County does not get a full set of listings and consumers cannot find what they are looking for, the website will end up where are the others are…unknown and unused. Because despite the advances that we have made in eating local, Windsorites are still creatures of habit and convenience.
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Bounty of the County, Essex County, Windsor Star