Wanderlust and Words

Bodega Melipal  Meet Victoria Pons, Bodega Melipal’s winemaker : 4-5:30 pm, Oct. 30 , Saskatoon – City Centre Liquor Store 7 pm, Oct. 30 , Saskatoon – tasting at Co-op Wine Spirits Beer Store Oct. 31 , Moose Jaw – winemaker dinner 5:30 pm, Nov. 2 , Regina – tasting and hors d’oeuvres at Café Drip Night Oven Bakery Night Oven Bakery makes awesome bread. I also really, really like their veggie sausage rolls with house-made seitan. Our Reps. at Terra Madre  I’ve been excitedly following Nicole and Kristy from Daybreak Mill as they post photographs from Terra Madre where they are representing Slow Food Saskatoon. Here’s their photo of Slow Food Canada’s booth. Urban Agriculture  Los Angeles City Council is promoting urban agriculture by offering tax breaks to property owners who lease their vacant lots for urban farms. What a great way to encourage property owners to turn their vacant lots into productive farms rather than parking lots. Bid...

Uptown City Perks  If you love the food at City Perks Coffee Shop but hate the crowds, head over to Uptown City Perks in the Stonebridge Toyota dealership. It’s quiet, spacious and light-filled – perfect for lunch or coffee with a friend. Sobey’s Liquor Store  I visited the new Sobey's Liquor Store in Stonebridge and wasn’t impressed. It’s a decent neighbourhood liquor store, but it’s not a specialty liquor store. The variety of wine and beer is better at the Co-op Liquor Store or even the SLGA on 8th Street . (This was confirmed by a couple of people I follow on Twitter.) Sobey’s has a stand-up bar where you can try the products they are advertising in their flyer, but it doesn’t bear comparison with the tasting room and tastings at the Co-op Liquor Store. Tins of Tea Churchill’s British Imports   Look at some of the fun things I discovered at Churchill’s British Imports in Cumberland Square. Chili Marmalade The Christmas shipments will sta...

Happy Thanksgiving! I’m dogsitting in Calgary and having a wonderful time. Mama G Opens Restaurant in Borden  Thanks to her crowdfunding campaign, Mama G is opening a restaurant in Borden. G G Garden Grill will be open from 12-6:30 pm starting October 18 . The restaurant will serve both Canadian classics and Nigerian cuisine. Send reservation or catering inquiries to siranneka1@gmail.com or call 306.881.0213 or 306.249.1698. Tomato Wine  Who would have guessed that you could make wine from tomatoes ! Omerto , based in Baie St-Paul, Quebec, makes two aperitif wines, each using a blend of six types of heirloom tomatoes. Omerto uses a family recipe developed in Belgium over four generations ago. Ditching Disposable Coffee Cups  There’s a campaign afoot on US university campuses to promote reusable mugs. The We Hate to Waste campaign is aimed at having fun and taking selfies rather than stern moralistic messages. 10 Ways to Grow a Healthier Food System...

History books can be very dry. They list dates and facts, focussing on battles and politicians rather than the everyday lives of people like ourselves. Out of Old Saskatchewan Kitchens by Amy Jo Ehman is the exception. Short accounts of different time periods and various immigrant groups tell of picnics and harvest meals, hunger and seasonal festivities. The recipes paint a vivid picture of the lives of those who came before us on the Prairies. Saskatchewan History  Did you know that the fur trade forts had to be completely self-sufficient? They had wheat fields, huge gardens, and their own mills for grinding grain. I was surprised to learn that there were no Ukrainian settlers to Saskatchewan because there was no independent nation of Ukraine. Perogies is actually a Polish word. Ukrainians refer to them as verenyky. Cabbage rolls were common in many countries, travelling to Saskatchewan with the Croatians who settled at Kenaston and the Hungarians in Esterhazy. Homes...

Saskatoon Co-op Tasting Events – October Ardbeg and Glenmorangie Scotch Tasting ( 2 pm, Oct. 18 ) and Dinner ( 7 pm, Oct. 17 ) If you missed the wine tasting with Pierre Jhean of Henri de Villamont in the spring, be sure to try his Burgundy wines at 7 pm, Oct. 24 . Melipal ’s winemaker, Victoria Pons, will introduce her wines at 7 pm, Oct. 30 . There are also rum, tequila and beer events . Reduce Your Food Waste, Oct. 21 In Canada, an estimated $27 billion of food is wasted every year, half of it at the household level. The SK Waste Reduction Council will share information about composting and other ways of reducing food waste at 7 pm , Oct. 21, at the Frances Morrison Library. The Sustainable Speaker Series is sponsored by the Saskatchewan Environmental Society and the Saskatoon Public Library. The Boreal Feast, Oct. 26-27 Whitehorse-based chef Michele Genest will be in Saskatoon October 26 and 27 to promote her new book, The Boreal Feast: A Culinary Journ...