Norquay Learning Orchard Celebration

Our friends over at the Renfrew Collingwood Food Security Institute have a bunch of great events coming up! For example:



Friday, August 25 // Norquay Learning Orchard Celebration

2732 Horley Street, Vancouver

4:00-7:00 PM


Nestled in the heart of Renfrew-Collingwood, the orchard is a beautiful site for learning and summer parties! Join us for an evening of fun family activities, light snacks, and learn more about what we do.

Photo Credit: Renfrew Collingwood Food Security Institute

Food Safety is local. Get to know your producer on CBC's Weekend Morning Show

Yesterday, on CBC's Weekend Morning Show, with host Laurie Hoogstraten, I featured local beef sausages, in response to a recent report on sausages in Canada not being what is labelled.  This is generally never the case when buying from your local producer, butcher, farmer, etc. 

Get to know your local producer!  I featured the beef breakfast and beef smokies of Manitoba Beef, locally produced grass-fed beef.  When you speak to to butcher, or the farmer at the market, you can be guaranteed that you are getting the product that you expect, in fact, they were great!

Local Halal butchers offer the products that you expect as well.

Featured below are beef breakfast sauasages and smokies by Manitoba Beef.  Also featured are Cook's Creek Kimchi, and Nature's Farm eggs.  These products are all available at the St. Norbert's Farmer's Market.

Enjoy!

Spicy Edamame Dip

I recently tried out Our Harvest back east, which is basically an online farmer's market experience.  You pick out fresh, organic, local foods and then either have them delivered or you pick them up at a convenient location.  Everything we picked was so good, but I was especially impressed with an Edamame Dip that was made in Brooklyn by a company called MOMO Dressing.  It was SO tasty, and after reading the simple ingredients on the packaging, I knew I could recreate it at home.  And so I did.  And now I am sharing my version of the recipe with you.  Amen.  

Spicy Edamame Dip

Serves 8

(Printable Recipe)

1 12oz. bag shelled edamame, cooked per instructions on bag

1/4 cup chopped red onion

1 jalape�o, ribs and seeds removed, roughly chopped

1 large clove garlic, stems removed

1 handful cilantro, stems removed

Juice of 1 lime

Sea salt to taste

Extra virgin olive oil, about 1/4 cup (more or less depending on desired consistency)

Combine first 6 ingredients in a blender or food processor and pulse to combine.  Stream in the olive oil until desired consistency is reached.  Season to taste with sea salt and serve along side crackers or veggies!

Gardener in Residence

Did you know that Burnaby Village Museum has a Gardener-In-Residence?!

Sundays, 12noon-4:00pm 

Tuesdays & Wednesdays, 12noon-4:00pm
Until September 5th

Farmhouse Garden at Burnaby Village Museum
Photo Credit: Rebekah Mahaffey

Drop-in on our Gardener-in-Residence and learn how to see, plant, grow, tackle pests, and ensure bountiful harvests. This position is partially supported by Burnaby Food First. 

Farmhouse Garden at Burnaby Village Museum
Photo Credit: Rebekah Mahaffey

Burnaby Self-Guided Farm Tours

With Tourism Burnaby and support from the City of Burnaby, we have developed and released a self-guided map listing participating farms and nurseries that are opened to the public within Burnaby�s Big Bend area.




Did you know that Burnaby has some of the most productive farm land in the region?

Did you know that there are a number of active farms, and related businesses, in South Burnaby that you can visit?

At last count, 43 farms were in operation in Burnaby, growing everything from cranberries to zucchini!

Take the whole family along on this self-guided tour of some of the agriculture sights of Burnaby�s Big Bend. 

Visit Burnaby�s �country in the city� to shop for fresh local produce, tour impressive greenhouses, meet some farm animals, and try some tasty treats - all close to home!

Download your copy of the brochure in PDF format, or visit the interactive Story Map. 

Participating Burnaby farms/nursery

• GardenWorks at Mandeville


• Sun Tsai Sang Farm


• Wing Wong�s Nursery


• Hop on Farms


• Burnaby and Region Allotment Gardens


• Leong�s Nursery


• It�s About Thyme Nursery


• Common Ground Community Farms

About Big Bend Community

It is a mixed-use community with various land uses such as parks, open spaces, agricultural, residential and industrial. Big Bend is bounded by Marine Drive (to the North) and located within Boundary Road to Fenwick Street. The Fraser River runs south of the area.

Agriculture is a very important activity in the Big Bend area. It is a significant producer of field vegetable production, in the Greater Vancouver Regional District, following Surrey and Delta.  

Turkey Schnitzel and Roasted Tomato Coulis for CBC's Weekend Morning Show

This morning I am featuring a simple dish to prepare that is full of great summer flavour CBC's Weekend Morning Show with host Nadia Kidwai.

The basil and tomatoes are from Almost Urban Farm, and available today at the St. Norbert's Farmer's Market. The roasted tomato coulis is very easy to prepare and can be used in many ways.

Enjoy!

For the Schnitzel:
1 Turkey Breast (I used a local free range turkey that I cut into parts and the breast was large enough for more than 5 portions)
1 egg
1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp smoked paprika
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup Panko bread crumbs *
1/2 tbs butter (I used Notre Dame butter, local)

* Panko bread crumbs available at many Asian groceries


For the Charred Tomato Coulis:

2-3 medium tomatoes (available at St. Norbert's Farmer's Market)
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbs fresh basil, chopped (available at Almost Urban Farms at St. Norbert's Farmer's Market)
salt and pepper to taste
1 tbs olive oil

Charred Tomato Coulis: In a baking dish, bake whole tomatoes (without stems) at 350�F until tomatoes begin to darken (up to one hour). Let cool. In a food processor or blender mix all ingredients until well blended into a loose paste. Set aside and chill.

Turkey Schnitzel: Cut Turkey breast into small fist size pieces (maybe a child�s fist size). On a cutting board, place turkey breast piece and cover with plastic wrap. With a food hammer or pounder, flatten Turkey breast piece until quite thin. Set each piece aside and then soak in the beaten eggs. On a plate mix Panko bread crumbs, nutmeg, paprika and salt and pepper. Bread each Turkey piece well and place in a medium high heat pan with butter. Saut� Turkey schnitzel pieces until brown on both sides. Place on plate to rest and DRIZZLE the charred tomato coulis on plate to bring out the natural sweetness of the flavours. A variety of mustards also accent the turkey schnitzel nicely.

Enjoy!

White Chocolate Blueberry Truffles

I'm going to take a wild guess that wherever you live, it's hot.  Humid too, maybe?  Sort of like you're living in an armpit?  Or maybe it's a nice dry heat.  Like you're stranded, naked, in the middle of the dessert.  With a pet camel.  OR it's totally beautiful and you have no idea what I'm talking about...

Anyway.  As much as I love to bake, I usually don't want to turn the oven on in the middle of summer.  That's why I was so excited to come across this truffle recipe.  I've made truffles before (here and here), but a rich, dark chocolate is usually the star of the treat.  These stood out because they are made with only 5 simple ingredients, two of which are sweet blueberries and creamy white chocolate.  They were extremely easy to throw together, and my kids had fun helping me roll them into truffle balls!  I highly recommend for a no-bake summer treat.     

Recipe here.