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Icewine, Canada’s celebrated treat, will be the focus of an upcoming event at the LCBO Roundhouse. The famous dessert wine will be showcased with Icewine tastings, desserts created by local chefs, Icewine bottles decorated by local artists, and a beautiful ice sculpture.

Visitors are invited to attend this free event to indulge in samples from across Ontario, including a few of Essex County’s favourite Icewines. A grab bag will go to each guest with drink tickets, voting ballots for the sculptures and culinary creations, information on the artists and chefs, and Icewine brochures supplied by the Wine Council of Ontario.

After enjoying everything offered at the event, guests can buy raffle tickets for a chance to win the uniquely designed bottles. Proceeds from the raffle will benefit the John Atkinson Memorial Fund in support of the Special Olympics.

Saturday, January 31st, 2009, Noon to 4pm
LCBO Roundhouse (3165 Howard Avenue, Windsor)

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I have wanted to write about my trip to the local flour mill for some time but I have a lot of media to go through so I have not been able to get to it. I have decided that I should be sharing this information as soon as possible though so I will be adding this entry in two parts.

There are a few things that Essex County needs to make the locavore lifestyle easy for everyone and this is a major part of it. Local flour mill. It still sounds so strange!

The whole thing started when two people had mentioned seeing a sign for flour on 42 so I did some research and found Chana Food Products. On a cold winter morning I ventured off to 11664 County Road 42 in Tecumseh and found Rajason Tools and Chana Food Products nestled between Banwell Road and the Whistling Kettle restaurant.

Inside I received a warm welcome from the Chana family and we sat around their board table to discuss how a tool shop gets around to building a flour mill. That great discussion resulted in a 30-minute sound file and then a tour of the flour mill. So, the whole story will have to wait but for now I will leave you with some photos.

Pull up to the flour mill (located next to Rajason Tool) and enter the retail area. There’s also a bell in case no one is in the store. For now, sales are cash only. Hours are Monday to Friday from 7am to 5pm, Saturday from 10am to 2pm and Sunday from 1pm to 3pm.

One of the owners, Ajit Singh Chana, stands with some of his products. As you can see, the flour is available in small bags or bulk.

Those white cones near the bottom right funnel the grains into a stone grinder (in the cylindrical white container immediately below). The grains are ground slowly and without heat to keep them as close to their original state as possible.

100% stone ground. 100% pure. No additives. No preservatives. Flours are available in Soft White, Whole Wheat, Corn (non GMO!), and Gram (chickpea). Other flours are being researched and may be added as demand allows.

Here Ajit shows me the wheat grain. In his left hand (shown top) are the original grains; in his right hand (bottom) are the grains after they have gone through 4 cleaning processes. The hulls and the grains remain intact.

More to come!
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Chana Flour Products

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WindsorEats.com has put together “Winter Bites” an interesting event that I will definitely be attending.

It’s time to give winter a kick! WindsorEats.com invites you to a week long event, the first of it’s kind in Essex County.

From January 18 to January 24, 2009, diners can visit any Winter Bites participating restaurant and indulge in a 3-course meal of an appetizer, entree and dessert for only $25. Each restaurant will offer a unique Winter Bites menu where diners can select from 3 appetizers, 3 entrees and 2 desserts.

Reservations are recommended to ensure a seating upon your arrival. The $25 3-course meal is per person and does not include beverages, taxes or tip.

Buon Appetit!

We are going to go to Three this week to try (taste?) this event. Hope you can make it too!

Let me know if any of the menus include a local flair.
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Windsor Eats, Winter Bites

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Just found out about this today (thank goodness for Facebook!):

Unbottle It…Maude Barlow Speaks
Kick the Bottle…Tap into Public drinking water

Monday, January 12, 2009
7 to 9pm at Club Alouette (2418 Central Avenue, Windsor)

Senior Advisor on Water to the President of the UN General Assembly and National Chairperson of the Council of Canadians, and Sid Ryan, CUPE Ontario President.

The bottled water industry has worked hard to undermine our faith in public water. The industry sells water — a shared public resource — for huge profits. It’s time to get the facts, kick the bottle and tap into clean, safe public drinking water.

Come out and learn how to take action in your community!

Wish I could have posted this sooner. Hope to see some of you there.
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I really wish that I could attend this one! My favourite recipe uses a bottle of Walkerville beer and lots of spice. If you are looking for a recipe so you can enter, Thompson’s Beans have great recipes on the back of the package. Try the red kidney beans for a traditional chili or the 15-bean mix for chili soup (freeze it and then thaw it and it’s thick like chili).

During the bitter cold of winter the chill is going to thaw at FedUp Windsor’s first Annual Vegetarian Chili Cook-Off.

Enter to win ‘Best Chili‘
The cook-off is open to any and all contestants; contestants may register as individuals or teams. Entry fee is $5 per chili. All entries must be registered by January 18th, 2009. All chili must be brought in crock pots by 10:15am on the day of the cook-off. Please fill out the attached registration form and send it to FedUp (contact info attached).

Free tasting for volunteers
We will need volunteers to help on cook-off day. Please contact FedUp Windsor if you would like to volunteer. Here are the shifts that will need to be covered:

1. set-up: 10am-12pm
2. cashier: 11am-2pm
3. take-down: 1:30pm-3pm

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FedUp Windsor, Thompson's Beans, chili