Wanderlust and Words

Gluten-Free Food Fair, Nov. 18  The Garlic Guru is hosting the winter edition of the Gluten-Free Food Fair on November 18 from 5-7 pm at the Saskatoon Farmers’ Market. There will be about 15 dishes to choose from. Sample plates cost a toonie. Cooking Classes If you love to cook, here’s an opportunity to improve your skills and have fun with a group of other food lovers. Grace Whittington of Riverbend Plantation will be offering four different cooking classes at the Saskatoon Farmers’ Market during November and December. They include: Dips and Spreads, Cheese Balls and Pâtés, Hot Appetizers, and Basic Cooking for Students. Souleio’s Liqueurs  I had a fabulous evening at Souleio this past Friday. Souleio’s four house-made liqueurs were served alongside desserts and cocktails made using the liqueurs. The Carmincello was paired with a dark chocolate pot de crème that was wonderful. My favourite liqueur was the Crème de Cassis because you could really taste the fruit and...

When I was growing up, whole wheat flour and rice were exotic options. Now we have a whole range of intriguing choices – buckwheat, spelt, millet, kamut – the list goes on and on. My problem is that I don’t know very much about some of these grains, so I arranged a phone call with Nicole Davis, the Owner/Manager of Daybreak Mill near Estevan. Daybreak Mill grows and processes approximately 18 different kinds of flour, whole and de-hulled grains, flakes, cereals, and legumes. They are 100% organic. “We want people to have access to healthy, wholesome food,” Nicole explains. Two of Daybreak’s products – spelt and millet – have been nourishing people around the world for over 9,000 years. Spelt Spelt was cultivated by ancient civilizations in Europe and the Middle East for thousands of years. It grows well in poor soil and doesn’t require fertilizer. It’s resistant to frost and the thick husk protects the grain from insects. However, spelt requires more processing than wheat as ...

Sugar Moon Cakery  It was 10:30 am on a week day, and Starbucks on 2nd Avenue was jam-packed with people. But just two doors further down, I got immediate service at Sugar Moon Cakery – and my choice of fresh-baked-from-scratch goodies. I’ve been following Sugar Moon on Facebook, and Brenda bakes small batches often two or three times a day, so you know that what you’re getting is straight out of the oven. I loved the small, plump chocolate chip cookies – homemade goodness without any of the work. The cupcake icing is surprisingly light and airy, and I liked the raspberry cupcake as the real raspberries in the icing added a refreshing tang. Brenda says her puffed wheat and rice krispie squares are particularly popular, and she makes colourful Jolly Pops – I wanted to smile just looking at them. Childhood treats for grown-ups. Sugar Moon Cakery serves hot and cold drinks as well as muffins and other goodies. They are open from 7 am to 3 pm, Monday to Friday . You can also ...

Loreto was the first settlement on the Baja Peninsula and served as the capital of Las Californias from 1697 to 1777. Loreto is located on a large bay in the Sea of Cortez, and there is a large marine preserve with dolphins, sea lions, blue-footed boobies and lots and lots of pelicans. A tropical storm passed to the east of Loreto while we were there, making for a very wet, rainy day. I would happily go back again, to sip a glass of wine at the bar overlooking the square, to watch the sun rise over the bay and to stroll the streets and alleys. The town is full of palm trees and flowers and framed by the coastal mountain range.

Start turning the pages of Taste: Seasonal Dishes from a Prairie Table by CJ Katz and you’ll be seized by a desire to head to the kitchen and start cooking. But you’ll also be filled with pride because you live in Saskatchewan, a province that produces such a wide variety of healthy, tasty food products. CJ Katz is a food writer and photographer based in Regina and culinary host of The Wheatland Café on CTV. Taste is her first book, and it’s a treasure trove of seasonal recipes highlighting Saskatchewan ingredients. Spring features asparagus, fiddleheads, rhubarb and strawberries. Summer brings barbecued burgers, wild mushrooms and cherry pie. The Autumn feast includes wild rice, squash, apple dumplings and spelt cookies. Winter warms the stomach with split pea soup, braised lentils and bread pudding with brandied fruit. (Disclosure: As a vegetarian, I’m not highlighting the meat recipes!) I’m longing to make the Dark Chocolate Cherry Brownies (a rich batter with both cocoa ...

My Favourite Things I had a great holiday, but it’s good to be home and picking up great food from some of my favourite producers. Here are just a few of this week’s food delights: Pumpkin-Chocolate Brownies from Earth Bound Bakery – they just celebrated their 4th anniversary! Vegetarian pad thai from Sawaddee Bistro I won a basket of goodies from SaskMade Marketplace at the Three Farmers’ celebration of their Dragons’ Den win. SaskMade has so many great products – from Petrofka Bridge apple cider vinegar to sweet potato soup from Simon’s Fine Foods (and so many more – I can’t possibly name them all). Fresh n Local delivered groceries to my home on Tuesday. What a timesaver in a busy week! They're now supplying City Perks Coffee Shop and Caffe Sola with fresh, local, organic produce - isn't that great! Free Friday Frenzy  The Garlic Guru , Saskatoon Farmers’ Market, is offering week-day specials and the chance to enter a draw to win a free Friday meal for y...

The malecon in La Paz, Baja California del Sur, is a popular place at sunrise and sunset when the air is a little cooler. Just hanging out . . . . A fast food feast from a fishermen cleaning out his boat: Jacques Cousteau called La Paz the "aquarium of the world."

San José del Cabo is just a few miles away from the glossy resorts that line the tip of the Baja Peninsula, drawing millions of North American tourists to Cabo every year, but it has managed to retain at least some of its own personal identity as a Mexican town. As with so many Mexican cities, the central square is a community gathering place once the heat of the day is past. On the weekends, vendors set up stands to sell food, candy and toys. Children play soccer and everyone enjoys an iced fruit bar or ice cream from the paleteria. There’s a bandstand for concerts as well as a stage, and the cathedral is right across the street. San José has one of the largest Mexican flags I’ve ever seen. It’s quite a job for the municipal police to take it down at night. The square is surrounded by colourful stucco buildings. The neighbouring art district has a wealth of galleries and craft shops. It pays to wander as there is less touristy kitsch and more real art ...

The Baja Peninsula is a desert and the heat can be overwhelming. There’s been a lot of rain in the past two months, a source of delight and astonishment to the locals who say that they have had no rain for the past four years. The hillsides, which are normally brown, are currently green, but the dominant plant in this region is still the cactus, that canny plant that does such a good job of storing and conserving water. For a close-up look at cactus, we visited the Wirikuta Cactus Park just outside of San José del Cabo. It’s part of the planned resort community of Puerto Los Cabos, providing plants for local gardens and a site for events. But it also plays an important role in conserving endangered cactus and succulent species from around the world. The 12-acre garden houses one million plants, with over 1,500 different species and a labyrinth of 1,000 bonsai bougainvilleas. There are massive greenhouses with tiny cacti of all shapes and sizes. I particularly liked the ...

Heat still blanketed the uneven pavements and colourful stucco buildings of San José del Cabo as we (my sister, Clare, my brother, Andrew, and his wife, Shelley) headed out of town on palm-tree lined boulevards. A steep, curving dirt road led us downhill to Flora’s Farm . Bird song punctuates the sweet, fresh air as we are seated in the outdoor restaurant. Our table is directly beside the farm garden, with a border of perennial herbs on the side closest to us and a tall row of palm trees at the far end. An informal arrangement of flowers adds a bright splash of colour to our table, and we’re pleased to find Baja wines on the menu. Flora’s Farm is a ten-acre organic farm in the foothills of the Sierra de la Laguna Mountains in San Jose del Cabo, Baja California del Sur, Mexico. They grow a huge variety of different herbs and salad greens, raise their own animals and make their own bread. In the busy winter season, visitors can enjoy breakfast, lunch or supper in the restaurant, g...