Slow Food Calgary

Backyard Benefit for Slow Food Calgary at Vinestone Wine Co. in Cochrane

Tonya Lailey — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 04:34:20 +0000

LAST CHANCE TO GET TICKETS!!!

Vinestone Wine Co. on behalf of Slow Food Calgary presents…

GRAZIN’ THE BACKYARD
a celebration of wine, food & music

Saturday July 17, 2010
6:30 to 10 pm

@ Vinestone Wine Co. – 608, 2nd St. West, Cochrane
www.vinestonewine.co

Featuring…

The Ethical, Delectable Offerings of Forage Foods
The Swinging, Smooth Melodies of Spiral Groove &
The Adaptable, Intriguing Wines of Vinestone!

$85 per person
Proceeds go to Slow Food Calgary

Call 403-981-9463 for tickets and info.

Preserving the Season – Your Guide to Local “Canning Bees” this summer

Tonya Lailey — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 20:28:25 +0000

By Karen Anderson

“Never Can Alone” is the motto Barbara Kingsolver expressed in her ode to living seasonally and locally, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle- a year of food life (Harper-Collins, 2007). If you have ever attempted preserving or canning and faced a mountain of tomatoes, pickling cukes or a garden over run with zucchini you’ll remember a certain sagging of the spirit if you were facing them alone. This sagging feeling can become even more overwhelming if you are attempting the whole process without ever having received any mentoring.
I grew up helping my parents make jams and pickles. I loved the steamy kitchen and sense of camaraderie that came from working long and hard to “put-up” those little jars of jewels from the garden. I especially loved opening those jars all winter in the small remote town where we lived because the amount of fresh produce at the market was reduced to apples, oranges and a few root vegetables. My parents didn’t can because it was fashionable, they canned because it added variety and enjoyment to our diet through the long, cold Canadian winter.

I am proud to be the coordinator of Slow Food Calgary’s Canning Bees for the 2010 Season. I consider canning a great life skill and each year when we host our canning bees we are able to pass those skills onto a few more people who weren’t as fortunate to grow up surrounded by three generations of great cooks like I was. I have witnessed in past years that the experience of being at one of these workshops can be life-changing. Young people gain confidence, bonds are formed, connections are cemented and mentors are found at last. People slice and peel and talk, we sip a little wine and have a great lunch and everyone leaves with new capabilities and comestibles in pint sized containers.
This summer Slow Food Calgary is proud to offer three opportunities to learn the heritage skill of preserving the best of the season. The instructor for all three classes is Slow Food Calgary member, veteran teacher and chef Val Andrews. Come and join one of our Canning Bees to learn the process of preserving the bounty of summer. Classes fill very quickly so sign up quickly for one of the most memorable events of the culinary year. These are “hands-on” workshops and participants need to bring their own paring knife, cutting board and aprons.
July 24th (10am to 3pm)Cambrian Heights Community Centre, 600 Northmount Drive NW

August 22nd (2pm to 7pm), Cambrian Heights Community Centre, 600 Northmount Drive NW

September 25th (10am to 3pm) , The Cookbook Co. Cooks Basement Classroom, 722-11 Avenue SW ***please note the different times and places for these classes*** Call The Cookbook Co. Cooks to register , 403-265-6066 - Members: $85 / Not-yet-members $100
If you can’t make it to a Slow Food Calgary Workshop here are a few other ideas for you. We really want you to have this opportunity and are thrilled there are so many options to share with you.
If you are willing to travel to the Innisfail area you can get in on some great classes at The Jungle Farm. Owner Leona Staples will be running “Field to Jar” Courses all summer. These courses will be about two and a half hours and will include picking the produce in the fields, washing and preparing the produce, and then processing and preserving it. Each participant will take home a jar of homemade preserves with them plus the recipe and all sorts of other gardening and preserving tips. The Staples’s commercial kitchen is small so each course has a maximum of 15 people.

The schedule at “The Jungle Farm” is as follows:
Jam Making classes are July 27 and August 3

Dill Pickle Making is August 10 and August 17
Privately booked courses on different days are possible for groups of 10-15.
For more information, costs and times check out the website at www.thejunglefarm.com

Last but certainly not least, our friends at The Cookbook Co. Cooks are also featuring chef Val Andrews on two other dates this summer.
The dates for those classes are as follows:

Saturday July 10 at 10-3, $100
Sunday August 29 at 10-3, $100
Call The Cookbook Co. Cooks to register at 403-265-6066

Backyard Benefit for Slow Food Calgary at Vinestone Wine Co. in Cochrane

Tonya Lailey — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 20:11:33 +0000

Vinestone Wine Co. on behalf of Slow Food Calgary presents…

GRAZIN’ THE BACKYARD
a celebration of wine, food & music

Saturday July 17, 2010
6:30 to 10 pm

@ Vinestone Wine Co. – 608, 2nd St. West, Cochrane
www.vinestonewine.co

Featuring…

The Ethical, Delectable Offerings of Forage Foods
The Swinging, Smooth Melodies of Spiral Groove &
The Adaptable, Intriguing Wines of Vinestone!

$85 per person
Proceeds go to Slow Food Calgary

Call 403-981-9463 for tickets and info.

Slow Food Calgary’s 9th Annual Feast of Fields

Tonya Lailey — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 16:34:32 +0000

June 15, 2010 (Calgary) – Join Slow Food Calgary for a food-fuelled afternoon in the garden. Enjoy plenty of local fare to eat and drink, meet the people who grow your food and the chefs who create delicious dishes with our wonderful Alberta
harvest. Last year we debuted our “The Alberta Snail Trail”, our guide to
local products and this year we’ve expanded it to include 78 local food
producers who meet our good, clean and fair criteria. Come and connect with
all things local.

Slow Food Calgary’s 9th Annual Feast of Fields
Sunday, September 12, 2010: 1 – 4 pm

Rouge Restaurant, 1240 – 8 Ave SE, in the garden. Rain or Shine.

FURTHER EVENT DETAILS COMING SOON!

Farm family opens Okotoks’ newest, freshest Café

Tonya Lailey — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 04:26:14 +0000

Grand opening celebration June 5th.

Kayben Farms, a local family owned garden centre, u-pick operation and family destination near Okotoks, AB will unveil their new JoJo’s café on Saturday June 5th from 10:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. The celebrations will include fresh food, an artist painting water colors, live music, and a chance to enter a grand prize draw for a weekend getaway at one of the Canadian Rocky Mountain Resort properties. The farm is located just north of the town of Okotoks.

When Claude and Judy Kolk first planted nursery trees and 20 acres of black currants with their three young daughters, in 2002, they had no idea that the farm would go in this direction. ”As we expanded, we got more and more interested in bringing people to the farm and letting them experience the nature all around us that we take for granted” says Judy. After attending numerous conferences, and visiting many similar operations, they decided that a perfect complement to the Garden Centre, U pick orchard and Sunshine Adventure Park would be fresh food made and served on the farm.

The café is named after Claude & Judy’s youngest daughter Jolene, who’s dream to become a pastry chef began when she was about 8 yrs old. A grade 11 student, she now works part time in the cafe and hopes to take the Pastry Arts program at SAIT after graduation.

The café was built over this past winter, and the final touches have just been completed. Claude Kolk who is also a professional engineer, designed the building as well as a highly efficient air exchange system using exhaust heat from the building to preheat incoming fresh air. His training as an mechanical engineer and experience in farming give him an innovative approach to design, which he employed for many of the café’s features. ”Whenever I need to build something that seems more complicated than it should be, I start to look at alternative solutions” he says. The railing around the stairway and mezzanine was built from reclaimed drill stem pipe. Huge timbers purchased at an auction sale provided the inspiration for the solid wood look of the building. Nathan Born, construction manager, says the project was unlike any other he had worked on before. ”The building has a personality, a warmth and atmosphere that really reflects it’s natural setting.” he says. The building’s exterior gives you a taste of what’s inside, finished with a rich larch wood and fresh green accents. Sitting on the café’s patio, you can imagine you are miles away from the city life, and enjoy the soothing sounds of the waterfall and a sense of tranquility. The waterfall and surrounding landscaping was constructed by Alexis Ference one of the farm’s landscape foremen who is also one of the Kolks’ daughters.

Stephanie Kolk, manager and chef, is a student in SAIT’s Culinary Arts program. She is the eldest of the three Kolk daughters. Her passion for local and fresh food is seen everywhere, from the menu selections to the fresh herbs she picks daily from the greenhouse to make pesto and foccocia breads. The café menu features ingredients from several local producers and fruit grown on the farm. A large chef’s garden, recently planted, will provide most of the produce for the kitchen. ”Our focus is fresh, fair food. There’s nothing fresher than eating a meal on the farm where the food has been grown” she says.

The Kolks and the rest of the staff at Kayben Farms invites you to come out and celebrate the Grand Opening of JoJo’s with them on Saturday, June 5th from 10:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. Guests will be able to sit on the covered patio beside a bubbling waterfall gazing out on the plants and bushes that produced the fruit and vegetables that they are currently enjoying. For more information on the farm, or directions see www.kayben.com

Local Food Policy Development: “Finding our Roots”

Tonya Lailey — Tue, 11 May 2010 16:40:06 +0000

Slow Food Calgary members Darrel and Corinne Winter (Winters Turkeys), Cherie Andrews (Chinook Honey & Meadery) and Kris Vester (Blue Mountain Biodynamic Farm) emphasize the elements. The photo was taken at “Finding our Roots”, an event hosted by Calgary’s Office of Sustainability in an effort to develop a local food policy.

Island Chefs Encourage Field to Fork Dining

Tonya Lailey — Thu, 06 May 2010 04:23:07 +0000

Victoria, BC is well known for its love and support of local food and an extension of this is the Island Chefs Collaborative (ICC) Farm Market. Now in its fourth year, the popular downtown market will return to Bastion Square on June 3, 2009.

The ICC identified a need in downtown Victoria for urban residents and visitors to taste some of the Island’s finest produce with local, primarily organic fruits and vegetables for sale at farmgate prices. What began as a small two table market has quickly grown to represent over 100 local farmers and producers.

Each week, ICC chefs will be on hand at the market to provide recipes, cooking tips, and explanations of the more exotic items for sale. The two-day ICC Farm Market will be held every Thursday and Friday through September, from 10:00 am – 5:00 pm.

The ICC aims to increase public consumption of Island-grown produce and to decrease reliance on imported foods. Sales from the market will help provide income for local farmers; many of whom have come through the Island Chefs Collaborative funding program. For more information visit : www.iccbc.ca

Permaculture workshop coming to Okotoks

Tonya Lailey — Wed, 05 May 2010 03:20:38 +0000

Do you want to learn how to replace your lawn with a food-producing landscape?

Are you looking for ways to harvest and store water on your property?

Are you interested in positive and practical ways of addressing today’s environmental challenges?

Learn how in Big Sky Permaculture’s next Introduction to Permaculture workshop on June 19 and 20 2010 in Okotoks, Alberta (40 minutes outside of Calgary)!

The Introduction To Permaculture workshop is a popular first step into formal training in permaculture. Informative, inspiring and practical, this workshop contains a healthy mixture of theory and engaging hands-on exercises that will equip you with the fundamentals of permaculture. This course will arm you with methods and strategies to have a positive impact on the environment, boosting food productivity on you own yard, (re)designing to maximize water efficiency, and reducing energy usage and costs at home.

Click here for registration information: Intro_Poster_06_2010

Announcing…SLOW FOOD CALGARY TERRA MADRE 2010 NOMINEES

Tonya Lailey — Tue, 04 May 2010 22:45:57 +0000

6 Chefs:

o Shelley Robinson, Baker Creek Bistro, Castle Junction, AB

o Andrew Bujak, Boxwood & River Café

o Cam Dobranksi, Muse/AKA/Wine Bar Kensington

o Genevieve Wakeham, Infuse Catering & Forage

o Adrienne Penney & Darren Nixon, Divine, Okotoks, AB

1 Instructor:

o Andrew Hewson, SAIT

3 SAIT Culinary Student/Youth nominees:

o Stephanie Kolk, PCK professional cook in training

o Kate Campbell, PCK professional cook in training

o Darl Hobsbawn, 2^nd year cook’s apprentice

5 Producers:

o Elizabeth, Xina & Tonya Chrapko, En Santé Organic Winery & Meadery, Brosseau, AB

o Tom Olson, Olson’s High Country Buffalo

o Mark & Tamara Taylor, Ravenwood Farm Fresh Meat, Caroline, AB

o New Oxley Garlic, Naturally, Jackie Chalmers, Millarville, AB

o Carman & Ian Murray, Shoestring Ranch, Acme, AB

Lindsay Anderson writes from UNSIG

Tonya Lailey — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 21:15:40 +0000

dispatch #2

Buon giorno from Parma! More specifically, Colorno, where our University of Gastronomic Sciences (UNISG) campus is located. The school is housed in the Reggia di Colorno, a grand, buttery-yellow former palace built as a fortress in the 13th century. As a later Baroque palace, it was home to Napoleon’s second wife, and has since been occupied by a number of institutions, including – fun fact – an insane asylum. Now it is home to a variety of organizations including UNISG and ALMA, an international Italian culinary school. Our classroom runs the length of the palace’s gardens, which I must say provides the loveliest views I’ve ever had from a desk.

Our class is made up of twenty-five students, and each of us are proud to belong to the most diverse group UNISG has ever seen. We represent sixteen different countries, a privilege which has already enlivened classroom discussions and offered promises of a ‘Korean’ or ‘Greek’ or ‘Japanese’ night, to name a few. I am already pondering what on earth I will make on July 1^st.

Ultimately, we share several things in common. Firstly, there is our love of food in cooking, eating, and discussing the issues surrounding it. Secondly, many of us have encountered the same dilemma: describing to people that we wish to work ‘in food,’ but then explaining that no, this does not mean we want to be chefs or food critics. This leads to the task of figuring out what our non-chef/non-critic niche is in the food world, with desires to extend ourselves beyond just trendy restaurants, glossy photos of styled food, and the Food Network.

Don’t get me wrong – I love eating out, reading food magazines, and I’ve learned most of what I know about cooking from people like Christine Cushing. It’s just that there are an indescribable number of things that food affects that aren’t always focused on, broadly including the environment, economics, politics, psychology, and anthropology. Within these many disciplines, there is all sorts of work to be done which relates to food, and amongst these lesser-known avenues are where many of us hope to find some understanding through this program.

We have been in school less than a week, but so far we have been lectured on molecular science, with a professor so understanding of her students that she made frequent analogies to butter and compared micelle cells to Ferrero Roche. With another prof, we have begun the long and perhaps impossible process of defining the word ‘gastronomy.’ Several days ago, we learned about the science of taste and smell, then were tested with scents to determine the winner of the ‘Gold,’ ‘Silver,’ ‘Bronze,’ and ‘Stone’ Noses (I did not win but thankfully wasn’t declared ‘Stone’).

We met and were lectured by Carlo Petrini, the founder of Slow Food. Through an interpreter, we listened to this very intense and passionate man talk about the need for gastronomy to be understood as a science, rather than the ‘art of eating delicately’ or ‘food pornography’ (a term quite frequently used in school thus far). He discussed the current food system, the notion of consumption, people’s right to pleasure, and issues surrounding Slow Food and elitism. Ultimately, he told us that the one thing we can be sure of after this program is that we will be confused. Even more-so than when we began it.

Judging by my experiences so far, I am willing to whole-heartedly embrace this confusion and ready to muddle-up-my-mind even further. And with you I shall share the chaos.

Two new things I learned in Italy today? That there are five, not four bakeries on my block, and that I have some incredibly poetic classmates.

Until next time!