Wanderlust and Words

German Cakes at the Market  The Cake Witch has teamed up with Wild Cuisine, one of the Saskatoon Farmer’s Market tenants. We can now purchase fancy German torte every weekend. Wild Serendipity Soups I am so happy that Michelle of Wild Serendipity Foods is once again selling her fabulous soups at the Saskatoon Farmers' Market. She's already served up two of my favorites:  Cuban Blackbean and Thai Coconut Carrot (both vegan). Little Bird Patisserie Once I’m more mobile, I’m really looking forward to visiting the Little Bird Patisserie & Café on Avenue B, just north of 20th Street. She offers a luscious array of baked goods as well as soups, sandwiches and salads. Escape Winter – Food Gardening, Feb. 8 Join the Prairie Master Gardeners for a day devoted to food gardening . Workshops include Small Space Gardening, Culinary Herbs, Harvesting & Storing Produce for Winter, and Starting a Horticultural Enterprise. Shop Local There is a commonly-held belief that...

A favorite book in the Rawlyk/Côté household is In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak. The bakers work hard, all night long, so that delicious cakes will be ready and waiting when people wake up in the morning. Bryn Rawlyk hopes that people will be able to make the connection between the food and where it came from when they visit his bakery. Standing at the front counter of The Night Oven Bakery, customers will see the millstones that have ground the grain and the wood-fired oven where the bread has been baked. The Baker When Bryn moved away from home, he didn’t know how to cook. He was conducting a long-distance relationship with Beth Côté, soon to be his wife, and she would email him recipes. From a rudimentary start (sloppy joes, three times a week) he progressed to working in various restaurants and bakeries across Canada. Bryn was living in Montreal when he discovered wood-fired ovens. “I got excited about taking grains and making bread with the least amount of fancy t...

Drop In Collective Kitchen, Jan. 22  CHEP is sponsoring a Drop In Collective Kitchen at Station 20 West. It starts January 22 from 6-8 pm and will run for 5 weeks. You can find out more about collective kitchens without needing to immediately make a long-term commitment. Moose Tracks Launch, Jan. 24  Prairie Sun Brewery is launching Moose Tracks, their Hazelnut Espresso Stout , on January 24 from 11 am to 11 pm with snacks, pints, music and tours. Cakes in the City, Jan. 28  L’Arche Saskatoon and Cheshire Homes are hosting a cake display and fundraiser during Wintershines at the Saskatoon Farmers’ Market. Admire and taste! Cultivating the Vision Community Garden Conference, Feb. 8  The CHEP Community Garden Conference will be held at Station 20 West on February 8. Topics include school gardens, the Bauta Seed Saving Initiative and Growing Food in Canada: Perspective from a new Canadian. Seedy Saturday, March 8  Seedy Saturday will be held Marc...

Coffee shops are community gathering places and, as Saskatoon grows, it’s heartening to see new coffee shops opening their doors, inviting people to come in. Nikita and Brittany Brown are sisters in law who started dreaming about opening a coffee shop together 7 years ago when they worked at PickNic’s. Later, both of them worked at Caffe Sola, and they say that the owner, Sarah, was a huge inspiration to them.  So were their parents. Brittany’s father always said that he wanted to open a coffee shop, so Brittany feels that she has inherited and is following through on his dream. As a child, Nikita remembers going out to coffee shops with her mother. “I liked the atmosphere,” Nikita says, “and I wanted to make it my own.” A place where everyone is included  As Nikita and Brittany discussed their dream coffee shop, one key concept emerged. This would be a coffee shop that was accessible to everyone. In the end, the name would say it all. This was the Citizen Café ...

Birthday Cakes If you have a January birthday in your family, consider ordering a cake from Cake Witch Café . You have a choice of Lemon, Black Forest, Chocolate, Vanilla, Sour Cherry, and more. Barbara requires 5 days’ notice. Two Gun Quiche, Feb. 14 You may still be recovering from a feeding frenzy over Christmas, but Chef Bill at Two Gun Quiche is already planning a Valentine’s Day feast. The six-course meal will cost $50, and he offers to custom create vegetarian options. Chefs' Gala and Showcase, Feb. 15 The Saskatoon Chefs’ Association, in conjunction with Little Opera on the Prairie, Live Five Theatre and Ritornello Chamber Music, is planning a celebration of the City’s "best eats and cultural treats" at Prairieland Park on February 15. To purchase tickets for the Chef's Gala and Showcase , visit www.picatic.com/chefsgala or call Anastasia Winterhalt at 306-716-6982. Micro Breweries in the News The January/February 2014 issue of Taps magazi...

Here are some of my most memorable reads in 2013. Food  On the Noodle Road: From Beijing to Rome, with Love and Pasta by Jen Lin-Liu Who really invented the noodle? Lin-Liu travels along the Sillk Road linking Asia to Europe, making and eating pasta, in order to try and find the answer. Day of Honey: A Memoir of Food, Love, and War by Annia Ciezadlo Annia Ciezadlo spent her honeymoon in Baghdad and then spent many years in Lebanon. For Ciezadlo, cooking and sharing meals created community and continuity while living in war-torn lands. Desert Terroir: Exploring the Unique Flavors and Sundry Places of the Borderlands by Gary Paul Nabhan Nabhan explores the connections between food and the land through stories of some of the iconic flavours of southwestern United States, such as Mexican oregano, mesquite-flour tortillas, discovering unexpected connections with Mediterranean and Middle Eastern desert food. The Whole Fromage: Adventures in the Delec...