Flavourful Saskatoon, August 14, 2017

Grandora Gardens

Whites from Portugal 
James Romanow recommends some white wines from Portugal and points out the difficulties wine distributors such as Doug Reichel face in introducing a wider variety of wines to the Saskatchewan market.

Thank you Doug for recognizing that some of us are wine lovers and appreciate the opportunity to sample a wide variety of wines from around the world.

Neighbourhood Grocery Stores 
A market survey indicates that Saskatoon’s downtown population is too small to support a grocery store. And yet, which comes first – the residents or the store? Less people are likely to live downtown if they’re unable to shop locally. Councillor Darren Hill points out that City Park, North Park, Richmond Heights, and Sutherland also need a grocery store and they should be taken into consideration if the City decides to offer incentives for grocery development in downtown.

Prairie Grid Dinner Series
Eat North is hosting the Prairie Grid Dinner series this fall. A team of Prairie chefs, including Christie Peters of Primal and The Hollows, will work together to produce a 5-course dinner in 4 different prairie cities. They’ll be in Saskatoon on October 3.

Afterschool Program Teaches Kids about Food 
The Food Action Committee of Halifax’s Ecology Action Centre has developed Plants to Plates, a 10-session facilitator’s guide filled with fun and educational activities, recipe ideas, and garden activities for an afterschool program to teach kids about food.


Socially Minded Enterprises 
I’m always pleased to see businesses lending their support to social or environmental causes. Prairie Sun Brewery and 9 Mile Legacy Brewing both develop special beers to support local events or causes, such as Meewasin Valley Authority and Wild About Saskatoon’s NatureCity Festival. The Karma Conscious Café and Eatery donates 3% of their sales to a local charity (currently Bridge City Bicycle Co-op).

Further away from home, Huppybar has become the official energy bar of the Arizona Trail. The bars contain mesquite meal as well as Arizona honey, pecans, and cayenne chiles. A portion of the proceeds from sales of the bar go to protecting and maintaining the 800-mile trail from Utah to Mexico.

Inside a Manhattan subway station is the Bolivian Llama Party, one of the few Bolivian restaurants in New York. They’re working with a local charity to raise money to help single mothers in Bolivia find day care so that they’re able to work.

Karma Cafe and Eatery

Peppers of the Americas 
If you love hot peppers and are intrigued by the wide assortment available from Grandora Gardens, you will want to read Peppers of the Americas by Maricel E. Presilla. The book includes photographs, tasting notes, gardening notes, recipes, and history for 180 different peppers.


Flavourful Saskatoon is a weekly Monday feature. I also post articles about food that is good, clean and fair; travel; and books. You may also enjoy EcoFriendly Sask profiling Saskatchewan environmental initiatives and events. 

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