Wanderlust and Words

“The imagination is not an escape, but a return to the richness of our true selves; a return to reality.” – George Mackay Brown  Local News  Blue Plate Special: 100 Years of Saskatoon Restaurants , an online slideshow sponsored by the Saskatoon Public Library’s Local History Room, will be on Facebook and YouTube at 4 pm , Dec. 3 . I’ll try and include the link in a future issue of Flavourful .  The University of Regina Centre for Lifelong Learning is offering a 4-session virtual course exploring the major wine-producing regions of the world from Jan. 21-Feb. 11. What a fun idea! Chef de Partie is selling Christmas cookie decorating kits – as well as ready-to-eat Christmas dinners for one or many that include vegetarian options and lots of extras.  Sparrow Coffee is now offering a weekly menu plan and delivery, while City Perks is working on a winter patio and kitchen staples – plus fresh-baked pretzels on Saturdays.  A new website, onesmallstepsk.ca , “con...

Local News  The Food Centre is hosting a free teleconference on finding your place in the marketplace by knowing your product and your customer from 1-2:30 pm , Apr. 14 . Kaleidoscope Vegetable Gardens is offering weekly deliveries of fresh vegetables on a month-by-month basis. The May box is expected to include spinach, radishes, green onions, Hakurei turnips, beet greens, beets, and pea shoots. Selection will vary from week to week and may be affected by weather. Almost half the delivery boxes are already spoken for, so put in your order now . The Night Oven Bakery has hot cross buns on their online order form . Plus flour, coffee, pains au chocolat, croissants – yum! My sister in law and I ordered takeout from Chef de Partie Catering this past week. We can highly recommend the lentil terrine served on a bed of sweet potato mash, the kale slaw (lots of red and green pepper slices for crunch and dried cranberries for sweetness), the dill pickle pasta salad, the m...

Local Happenings  Knox United Church is holding a Strawberry Social from 2-4 pm , June 8 . Fancy hats are optional. (No strawberries as of yet at the Saskatoon Farmers' Market, but I did pick up a lovely armful of rhubarb (Thank you Simpkins Market Garden !) Chef de Partie Catering is holding an open house to celebrate their fifth anniversary from 3-6 pm , June 9 . Be sure to RSVP if you plan to drop by and enjoy a taste of what they do. I’m looking forward to trying out two new restaurants . Odla , on Broadway Avenue, supports local producers, such as Kaleidoscope Vegetable Gardens . Yay! Thai on 2nd Avenue S offers plant-based Thai dishes. It’s owned by the folks from Karma Café . Churchill’s British Imports is now selling fresh sausage rolls, Eccles cakes, Chelsea buns, scones, and Bakewell tarts on Fridays. They’ll be opening a British café later this month and are inviting applications from bakers, cooks, and servers. In addition, they stock a good variety of...

I've been eating some very fresh eggs this week! Botté Chai Bar  Parviz Yazdani plans to open Botté Chai Bar , a Persian tea house and eatery, to share the culture and food of his country of birth. Hearth Restaurant  Beth Rogers and Thayne Robstad grew up in Saskatoon. After travelling and finessing their culinary skills, they moved back to Saskatoon and opened Caboose Catering in 2015 . They have now purchased the former Crazy Cactus restaurant on Melrose Avenue and hope to open the Hearth Restaurant in Spring 2018. Cooking with Chef Jenni, Jan. 10 & 25  Learn to make homemade perogies with Chef Jenni at The Local Kitchen on Jan. 10 . Or you can join Chef Jenni on Jan. 25 and learn to make some new vegetarian dishes . Karma Catering  Karma Conscious Café and Eatery has a catering menu with sandwiches, soups, salads, main courses, desserts, and drinks. Kernza  Tall Grass Prairie Bakery in downtown Winnipeg is selling sourdough bread m...

Newport's butcher shop - excellent fresh fruit and vegetables The Changing Politics of Organic Food, Feb. 11   Lisa Clark, author of The Changing Politics of Organic Food in North America , will be speaking at Innovation Place from 3-5 pm , Feb. 11. Raw Chocolate Workshop, Feb. 13  Intuitive Path Superfoods is hosting a raw chocolate workshop including raw chocolate body painting (!) from 2:30-4:30 pm , Feb. 13. Cooking on a Budget, Feb. 16 (Swift Current)  Sarah Galvin is offering a free Cooking on a Budget class at 5:30 pm , Feb. 16, in Swift Current. Email sgalvin@shaw.ca to register. Flavour 101, Mar. 8 (Swift Current)  Sarah Galvin will share her knowledge of how to add flavour to your food at 6:30 pm , Mar. 8, in Swift Current. Sarah says herbs and spices are just one way to add flavour. Your choice of fat, stock, and vegetables also makes a difference. Student Iron Chef Competition  Working in teams of four, with help from a Mar...

The kitchen on a merchant ship was called a caboose and it wasn’t very grand. It was a simple, portable shelter protecting the stove on the open deck of a ship. In Canada, the galley on a timber raft was also called a caboose. And, of course, a caboose is also a railway car. Whichever definition you choose, a caboose spells out travel and outdoor adventure, with a close link to cooking and food. It’s the perfect name for Beth Rogers' and Thayne Robstad’s catering company, Caboose Catering . A Thirst for Travel  Beth Rogers and Thayne Robstad grew up in Saskatoon and met when they were working in two Broadway restaurants. They both wanted to enhance their culinary skills, and the best way to do that was through travelling and working in restaurants across Canada. “Your learning curve skyrockets at a new restaurant,” Thayne explains. Their first stop was in Vancouver where Thayne worked in La Quercia , an Italian restaurant. “The chef had a huge influence on me,” Thayne ex...

  Saskatoon Farmers’ Market 40th Anniversary, Aug. 22  The Saskatoon Farmers’ Market is celebrating its 40th anniversary from 8 am to 5 pm , August 22. There will be a corn roast and corn husking contest, a charity barbecue, beer garden, food samples, buskers and a clown. 19th Street will be shut down with Escape Sports hosting a sidewalk sale and displays. Woods Ale House & White Birch Catering  Chef Moe Mathieu and White Birch Catering have found a kitchen and will be catering for The Woods Alehouse . They are hosting a Brewer’s Dinner, Night of a Thousand Monkeys , on August 22 . Five versions of cask-condition stout that are flavoured differently will compliment or contrast with five food courses. I attended a White Birch Catering dinner a few years ago and enjoyed the beer and food pairings. Community BBQ & Garden Tour, Aug. 28 CHEP Good Food Inc. is hosting a Community BBQ and Garden Tour , starting at 11 am , August 28. The Chocolat...

New Businesses  Drift Sidewalk Café hopes to open in October next door to Escape Sports. In the meantime, they plan to launch a popsicle bike. Sounds like fun – especially if we have a hot summer. I know next to nothing about Guerilla Coffee YXE who just started following me on Twitter. They appear to be planning pop-up coffee stands offering “guerilla coffee.” If you can tell me more, please do, as I’m curious. I had a chance to visit with Tempest Besse of Tempest's Gourmet Grub and sample her curried coconut squash soup and quinoa salad as well as her raw vegan Amaze Balls and brownies. They were all really good and made with local, organic ingredients with lots of health benefits. Tempest would like to open a coffee shop one day. In the meantime, you can contact her to cater an event. Tempest will be offering free samples of her wares from 11 to 2 on July 19 and 26 at the 33rd Street Market . International Farmers Market The International Farmers' Mar...

Tempest’s Gourmet Grub  Tempest Besse is a trained chef and holistic nutritionist. Tempest's Gourmet Grub is offering cooking classes and catering. Her menu includes a variety of vegan, gluten-free soups and baked goods. Let me know if you've sampled her wares. Mama G’s Authentic Nigerian Cuisine Crowdfunding Campaign  Grace Mbuekor grew up on her grandparents’ farm in Nigeria and is a strong supporter of local, chemical-free food. She’s undertaken a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo to finance a restaurant in Saskatoon . You can learn more about Grace's story in this Saskatoon StarPhoenix article . Local Food Celebration, Aug. 15 The Saskatoon Food Council is hosting a Local Food Celebration showcasing local food producers in Osler on August 15. Dinner will be prepared by members of the Saskatoon Chefs' Association, and you'll have a chance to talk to local food producers. Prairie Cherry Dinner, Aug. 19  Prairie Ink Restaurant at McNally Robinson Bo...

Bodega Melipal, Jan. 26 Clarisa Aristi, owner of Bodega Melipal , will be at Ingredients Artisan Market from 12 to 4 on Saturday, January 26. Drop by and sample the Ikella and Melipal wines. Root Down Caters Root Down Workers’ Cooperative will now cater everything from breakfast meetings and office lunches to parties and evening events. What a joy – catering that is vegetarian/vegan, local and creative. Paddock Wood is Hiring If you’re interested in brewing, drop off a resume at Paddock Wood Brewery . You’ll start out cleaning and packaging, move on to shipping and eventually brewing. Seabuckthorn Spice Michelle Zimmer of Wild Serendipity Foods has introduced a new flavour of scones – Seabuckthorn Spice (I loved the spicey flavour, would have liked more fruit). Michelle is at the Market on Wednesdays and Saturdays at the moment, so head on over and check it out. Truffles Bistro I hear that Truffles Bistro will soon have a new menu – and they will be serving Herschel ...

As Saskatoon grew, the large supermarkets moved out to the suburbs, leaving older neighbourhoods, such as Riversdale, without a grocery store. For 13 years, local residents, who often didn’t own a car, didn’t have easy access to fresh fruit and vegetables. Good Food Junction: Fresh Fruit and Vegetables  That’s no longer the case. Good Food Junction opened in September 2012, and the first thing you see when you enter the store is a display of fresh fruit and vegetables. It’s not a big grocery store, but it has an ample supply of local vegetables (carrots, potatoes, beets, cabbage from the Milden Hutterite Colony), fresh bread made by local youth at Three Sisters/Nestor’s Bakery , a dairy and a meat section, as well as a variety of dried goods. “Gene Dupuis, the owner of Prairie Meats, is so community-minded – he’s done an awesome job,” says Ralph Winterhalt, the manager of the Good Food Junction. “He vacuum packs all our meat so that it will have a longer shelf life.” G...

Ingredients Artisan Market  I visited Ingredients Artisan Market at the north end of Earl’s on Saturday and fell in love – big windows, classy décor, wine tasting, deli with cheese and fresh products, an Italian espresso machine, bread from Christie’s, and lots of intriguing products from around the world (English crisps, Tahitian vanilla extract, tipsy olives, chocolates). I’ll be going back very soon for a more extensive visit. Sunday Brunch at Root Down The Root Down Workers’ Cooperative is now serving Sunday brunch (Belgian waffles, burritos, tofu scramble, paddy cakes and more). Sounds delicious! Life, Legumes & Pursuit of Nitrogen, Dec. 13 Saskatchewan is the world’s largest exporter of lentils, and commercial lentil varieties bred at the U of S account for a third of global production. Best of all, lentils and other legumes add nitrogen to the soil where it can be used by other plants. Bert Vandenberg, NSERC Industrial Research Chair in Lentil Genetic Impr...

Are you up to the challenge? A celiac bake-off, environmentally-friendly packaging and vineyards, the food bank diet Food Basket Challenge Renee Kohlman, aka sweetsugarbean , has accepted the Food Basket Challenge starting September 13. Good luck, Renee! The Food Basket Challenge will be posting the contents of the food baskets the participants receive online on September 12, so you can try it out for yourself at home. Slow Food Saskatoon, Sept. 13  Slow Food Saskatoon is holding its first official meeting on September 13 from 6:30-8:30 pm at Mayfair Library. Find out about Terra Madre/Salone del Gusto; meet Saskatoon's delegate; compare bread made from heritage Red Fife wheat versus standard wheat. This is a fundraising event to support our delegate's travel expenses and to establish an operating fund for Slow Food Saskatoon. Everyone is welcome. Chef Kevin Dahlsjo @ Creekside Orchard, Sept. 14-15  Chef Kevin Dahlsjo from Two by Dahlsjo in Prince Albert will b...

Food news and events in and around Saskatoon – Slow Food Saskatoon, peas and barley, sticky toffee pudding, a very local holiday, and a food drive  Food Drive, June 2  The Saskatoon Food Bank and Learning Centre needs teams of volunteers to go door to door on June 2 to collect food that people have donated (paper bags to be distributed in the mail). If you are interested in participating, contact Evelyn at 664-6565 ext 228. Slow Food Saskatoon, June 7 Everyone is invited to attend the very first planning meeting for Slow Food Saskatoon from 7-8:30 pm on Thursday, June 7 at Caffe Sola (corner of 23rd Street and Pacific Avenue). Please come prepared to share your ideas, hopes and dreams for Slow Food Saskatoon . I hope that by the end of the evening we will have decided on one or two activities to introduce Slow Food to Saskatoon residents. I know we all lead busy lives, so my goal is to divide up the tasks into bite-size, manageable chunks and begin sharing responsi...

Foodie news and events in and around Saskatoon – raspberry chipotle, mystery crisps, olive oil, and health store expansions  Grandora Gardens   Grandora Gardens has returned to the Saskatoon Farmers’ Market with fresh lettuce and cucumbers. They were offering samples of their newest product - raspberry chipotle sauce – very tasty. Grandora Gardens is on Twitter - @grandoragardens Health Food Store Expansions Herbs n Health (Broadway Avenue) and Dad’s Organic Market (8th Street) have announced that they are expanding and will be nearly doubling in size. They’ve both introduced new websites as well. I'm looking forward to lots of new health food products. Oliv Tasting Room The Oliv Tasting Room will be opening shortly on Broadway Avenue. The founders have an olive farm in South Africa and a store in Moose Jaw. According to their website, the store offers a personal tasting experience of over 60 flavours of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. It’s not very practical...

Foodie news and events in and around Saskatoon – home brew, bird feeders, vegan soups, simply sinful haskap and puddle jumper Winefest, November 9 Winefest on Wednesday, November 9 , from 7:30 to 10:30 pm is a great opportunity to enjoy European wines while listening to great music played by Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra musicians. Tickets are available from Cava Wines & Spirits or by emailing office@saskatoonsymphony.org Paddock Wood Brewing November 8   The Beer Club is meeting at 7:30 pm on November 8 at the P addock Wood Brewery to discuss the art of brewing lagers. November 12  Join the Headhunters home brewing club at Paddock Wood on November 12 from 9 am to 4 pm and spend the day learning how to brew your own beer. Club members will bring their own gear and brew up different styles of beer. Everyone is welcome. For more information, contact Justin at jymana@gmail.com Saskatoon Farmers’ Market Pat Halter of Mistik Acres has been hard at work making...