Flavourful Saskatoon, September 2, 2019


Local Happenings
Do you have an over-abundance of garden produce? The Saskatchewan Nursing Student Association of Saskatoon will help you harvest it and see that it’s distributed to people in need. Email sponsorship.snsas@gmail.com to make arrangements.

Learn the basics of mushroom cultivation for lion's mane and shiitake mushrooms at a workshop hosted by Moss Mama from 7-9 pm, Sept. 19.

Celebrate Seabuckthorn Days and Pumpkin Fest on Sept. 14 and 15.

Saskatoon Co-op Wine Spirits and Beer is hosting a whole range of events over the coming months with wines from Italy, France, South Africa, and the United States. Check it out.

Prairie Sun Brewery expects to open its new facility on Oct. 5. It will include a pet-friendly side room, a tap room with 48 beers, and a restaurant, along with a large area for brewing beer. There will be reminders of the site’s past as the Farnam Block and Lydia’s: “bricks retained from Lydia's will adorn a second-floor bar, while time-stamped timbers from the demolished Farnam Block building are already hanging above the future dining booth area on the ground-floor restaurant facing 11th Street.”


Recipes 
“While veganism is growing rapidly in the west, other parts of the world have had meat-free cuisines for centuries. For a rich and varied plant-based diet, talk to the Chinese, Indians, Ethiopians . . . .” 

Books 
Ruth Reichl – just the name intimidated me. I’m a pedestrian, fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants cook. I hadn’t dared read Gourmet magazine, let alone try out the recipes. But Reichl’s book, Save Me the Plums, about her 10 years as editor of Gourmet magazine is delightful. It’s like sitting down and having a chat with a good friend. She shares her anxiety about starting a new job, her concerns about juggling parenting and work responsibilities, her creativity, and her passion. Read it! Ruth Reichl is sure to become your next best friend.


Food for Thought 
This interview with Coralee Abbott, co-owner of City Perks, is a revealing look at what it takes to run a successful coffee shop. Here’s just a sample: “The biggest misconception is that just because it’s full, it’s making money. We can’t sell a hundred cups of coffee a day and make money. Some feel prices are high, but they’re not realizing the partnerships with the people that we have and that I pay my team very well. We are very limited in our space and we’re doing magical things with a not-so-magical kitchen. We’re trying to give the best quality for the best price that we can and it’s not a very high margin when it comes to the food side.”

Flavourful Saskatoon is a weekly Monday feature. I also post articles about food that is good, clean and fair; travel; and books. You may also enjoy EcoFriendly Sask profiling Saskatchewan nature/environmental initiatives and events. 

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