Wanderlust and Words

It’s a holiday tradition to review the books I’ve read over the past year. Here are my favourites for 2012. (It was a tough choice; when in doubt, I chose books that were less well known.) Travel I love to travel – both physically and mentally. The following books taught me a great deal about life in other countries. Dancing in the Fountain: How to enjoy living abroad , Karen McCann Oh, if only I could move to Sevilla, Spain, and really learn to speak the language and experience the culture like Karen McCann! Home is a Roof Over a Pig , Aminta Arrington This book provides an exceptional overview of education (kindergarten and university) in China and the inherent contradictions between what people believe and what they say. Running Away to Home: Our family’s journey to Croatia in search of who we are, where we came from, and what really matters , Jennifer Wilson A family lives in a small village in Croatia for a year. Food Chasing Chiles: Hot spots along the...

“Slow food is real food,” says Mike McKeown of Prairie Harvest Café. Rather than mass-produced food that has been transported thousands of miles and contains unpronounceable chemicals and preservatives, I eat Wally’s carrots, Michelle’s macarons and Trent’s bread. My brother, Andrew, and his wife, Shelley, share my appreciation for high-quality, local, organic food, so we decided to host a Slow Food Tapas Party for the staff of Andrew’s company, Axon Development Corporation . We had so much fun, and the food and drink were both beautiful and tasty. Here are some of the highlights. Many hands made quick work of the set up and preparation. Shelley did an amazing job of cooking and organizing, and we’d never have been ready on time without help from Jennie. Saskatchewan grains and pulses: Shelley made Wild Rice Balls and Hemp, Lentil and Flax Cookies. We served bite-sized portions of Wheat Berry Salad, and there were four varieties of bread from Earth Bound Bakery: Red Fif...

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...

P r airie Pie Co.’s Home Baked Oatmeal My go-to breakfast at the Saskatoon Farmers’ Market is home baked oatmeal topped with fruit and cream from the Prairie Pie Co . It’s healthy and delicious – the perfect way to start the day. And now I can enjoy it at home as well. Mary Uzelman and her sister, Cindy Placatka, are selling ready-to-serve baked oatmeal in two flavours – Tart Cherry & Almond or Saskatoon Berry. Yum! A New Look for City Perks City Perks on 7th Avenue starts renovating their space on December 27 . They’re finding a little more room for customers and redesigning the kitchen to make it more convenient. Their designer is Jacqueline Neusch from Sew Chic Eco Décor . I spoke to Jacqueline last year about her environmentally-friendly design practices , working with refurbished, repurposed, and sustainable furnishings. Great Tea, Great Service I’ve been purchasing loose leaf tea online from Camellia Sinensis Tea House in Montreal for a number of years. They have a...

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...

Just Ginger  Just Ginger is right beside the door as you enter the Saskatoon Farmers’ Market. The vendor has an amazing collection of preserves made with ginger – candied apple ginger jam, ginger seabuckthorn syrup, garlic ‘n chili sauce, raw pickled ginger and candied ginger (with and without seabuckthorn) and more. I really like the chutney. Eagle Hill Foods Shelley, my sister in law, visited Sun Dog Craft Fair this past weekend and brought back some Eagle Hill Foods chocolates. They were delicious! Each large square was filled with a fruity mixture of saskatoons and cherries (with a little sugar, corn starch and rice krispies). Eagle Hill Food also sells fruit toppings, cherry juice and iced teas. All their products will be available at the Little Corner Store at the Saskatoon Farmers’ Market; some are available at SaskMade Marketplace and Nutters. Herschel Hills Artisan Cheese I am delighted by the variety of different cheeses that are now available from Hersc...