Wanderlust and Words

One way to get to know a city is through its food, so I signed up with Manchester Food Walks for a tour of Manchester’s Northern Quarter. This tour particularly appealed to me as it combined food with history and street art. The Northern Quarter used to be an industrial area and has maintained many of its old buildings so it’s often used as a film set. It’s centrally located featuring a wide variety of independent stores and restaurants. One of the most famous stores is Afflecks , an "emporium of eclecticism". As we walked around the neighbourhood, the guide, John, pointed out interesting stores and other restaurants worth visiting. I was intrigued to be told that a convenience store was actually a secret bar. Street art is encouraged in the Northern Quarter so there are places where graffiti artists are invited to contribute on a rotating basis. I particularly enjoyed the parrots perched on buildings along a street which used to be home to pet s...

Saskatoon Farmers’ Market Open for Business The Saskatoon Farmers’ Market will remain in its current premises until the end of 2019 . The City of Saskatoon cancelled its search for new tenants when they realized the roof needed major repairs. It’s good news for Farmers’ Market shoppers, but I don’t understand why it took so long for the City to recognize that the building needed repairs. Job Opportunity Jackson Wiebe, Collective Coffee , is looking for a new team leader. Recommend the successful applicant and you’ll get free coffee for a year. Coffee and Donuts Venn Coffee Roasters has Darkside donuts every Saturday and Sunday. Darkside Donuts got a great review in The Globe and Mail this week: “Darkside Donuts uses a blend of Saskatchewan organic flour and heritage-grain flour, the latter of which the baker grinds himself several times a week. . . . ‘There’s an emptiness to regular, bleached white flour,’ the baker says adamantly. ‘I truly believe in the flavour of grai...

“Simple donuts done really well”  Darkside Donuts , a new venture by Bryn Rawlyk of The Night Oven Bakery , will be opening its doors to the public at 9 am, Saturday, October 13, and Saskatoon is in for a treat. I was fortunate enough to be invited to the soft opening on Friday evening and the donuts are delicious! Each donut is big and thick with a generous layer of icing dripping down the sides and pooling at the base. The manager explained that their goal is to serve simple donuts done really well. The ingredients are all organic and they’ll be using as many local, seasonal ingredients as possible. There were 6-8 varieties available when I was there and I sampled the strawberry and chocolate. Both were excellent, but I’ll be going back for the Darkside chocolate donut as the icing was fabulous – dark, rich, and fruity. The other choices were very tempting – sourdough cake, filled pumpkin pie, Venn coffee, cranberry fritter, and animal cracker (vanilla icing sprinkled wi...

AppleFest, Aug. 18  Petrofka Orchard is hosting an AppleFest on Aug. 18 with food, music, a pie eating contest, and activities for kids. Beer Makes You Smarter, Aug. 21 Bill Roe will muse on his time as a defence counsel at 7:30 pm , Aug. 21, at 9 Mile Legacy Tap Room. Ladies that Beer - YXE, Aug. 23  Join a pay-it-forward group of beer-loving ladies at the first Ladies that Beer meet up , at 7 pm , Aug. 23, at Prairie Sun Brewery. Ice Cream & Donuts  If you’re in the mood for something sweet and delicious, head up to Avenue H and pick up some treats from Fable Ice Cream and Darkside Donuts . The line-ups went round the block when The Night Oven Bakery sold doughnuts, so Bryn Rawlyk decided to open a separate store just for doughnuts. Darkside will have some regular flavours, but they also plan to push the limits and try out some “super weird stuff” . Making Death Part of Life A no-tech philosophy of fermentation: “Modern life makes fermentation uni...