Gardening Therapy Program

Dear Food First-ers:

We want to let you know about a great program looking to expand in our community! As you might know, Vancouver Eco-Village has started a Permaculture Gardening Program in Burnaby. They are also looking to expand their Garden Therapy Program.



Through this program, Vancouver Eco-Village is partnering with Spectrum Society, the Canadian Mental Health Association, and posAbilities to provide opportunities for their participants to get involved in gardening activities and to benefit from the many emotional and physical benefits that come from interaction with nature as well as a chance to connect with other members of the community. 



This is where you come in! The Garden Therapy Program is looking for additional gardening sites. Teams of 2-3 volunteers from the organizations mentioned are available to assist gardeners with watering, weeding and dead-heading. 



Interested?! We hope so. Please email Vancouver Eco-Village directly to find out more information or how you get involved. 

Source: www.vanecovillage.com

What's Happening in August!

Sorry Food Firsters for a late post however, we needed to promote our Fats: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly and our Winter Container Gardening workshops, so we had to delay this posting! If you are considering attending, please register!



So, let's see what is happening around BC!



Farm to Feast at Loutet Farm - August 6th



Join the North Shore Neighbourhood House for a meal to remember, and get more children learning in their veggie gardens!



The Edible Garden program brings over 1000 children and youth into their gardens each year to meet the worms, learn how to grow their own veggies, and become empowered to make healthy eating choices. The Farm to Feast will ensure that the North Shore Neighbourhood House can bring more students outside to learn and be inspired by the joys of growing food! 



When:

Thursday, August 6, 2015 - North Vancouver

5:00 pm to 8:00 pm



More information (or buy tickets):

http://ediblegardenproject.com/farm-to-feast-at-loutet-farm/ 

Farmers on 57th Open House - August 12th

Farmers on 57th would like to invite you to see how community agriculture functions within a health care or social housing environment!



RSVP: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/farmers-on-57th-open-house-tickets-17785162901?ref=elink

Feast of Fields - August 16th (Okanagan)



Support FarmFolk CityFolk�s work to cultivate local, sustainable food systems across British Columbia. They have events in the Okanagan, Metro Vancouver and Vancouver Island.



Feast of Fields is a four hour wandering gourmet harvest festival that highlights the connections between farmers and chefs, field and table, and between farm folks and city folks.



When:

Sunday, August 16, 2015 - Okanagan

Sunday, September 13, 2015 - Metro Vancouver

Sunday, September 20, 2015 - Vancouver Island



More information (or buy tickets):

http://www.feastoffields.com/



7th Annual Garlic Festival (Richmond) - August 23rd



This fundraiser supporting The Sharing Farm.



Highlights for include:

• Delicacies from up to 20 local restaurants


• An expanded farmers & garlic market


• Live music


• Cooking demonstrations for the whole family


• A �kid�s zone� with tons of fun food and farm-themed activities


• A mad dash cooking competition with chefs harvesting their own ingredients from the fields

When:

Sunday, August 23, 2015 - Richmond's Terra Nova Rural Park

10:00 am to 4:00 pm

Admission by donation

Free parking



More information: http://yvrgarlicfest.ca/



Farmer's Markets in BC



Don't forget to check out all the local farmer's markets in and around BC. Support a farmer and eat local!



Check us out at Burnaby Farmer's Market every Saturday from 9 am to 2 pm, at City Hall in Burnaby! Don't forget to pick up a t-shirt and/or an apron at our table!



More information for Burnaby Farmer's Markets and events, visit http://www.artisanmarkets.ca/



Eat Think Vote



Does food matter to you? Then let's make food a federal election issue!



Sign the Eat Think Vote petition and get Federal politicians and candidates to make a national food policy a reality in Canada so that no one goes hungry! Let's make sure that all Canadians have access to healthy and affordable foods. 



More information: http://campaign.foodsecurecanada.org/





If you have a farming/gardening/food security event that you would like to share, please email us with the information to: burnabyfoodfirst@gmail.com. We would be happy to share the information with others!

This Saturday on CBC's Weekend Morning Show - Suffering Succotash with green beans.

-->

On Saturday's CBC's Weekend Morning Show with guest host Laurie Hoogstraten, I'll be presenting the following two seasonal dishes.  

Traditionally Succotash is made with Lima Beans but green beans are in season now and here is another way to prepare them.  I give the option of parboiling the beans and cooling them in an ice bath but the colour remains without that step and I prefer crispy beans to soggy beans.  I also added more chilies and a 1/4 tsp hot smoked paprika.

The beans are in the market now.  Okra may not be so look for it in the freezer.  You may find all that you need for these dishes in the Farmer's markets.  I'll be at the Downtown Winnipeg Manitoba Hydro Building Farmer's Market on Thursday. 

Suffering Succotash no more!

Ingredients

1/4 lb bacon, small chop

2 small shallots, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

4 ears corn, kernels cut off and cobs reserved for making stock

1 large fresh jalape�o chile, seeded and finely chopped

1 lb green beans, trimmed and parboiled for 2 minutes, then in ice bath

1/2 lb okra, cut into 1/3-inch-thick slices (fresh or frozen)

3/4 lb grape tomatoes (1 pint), halved by filling on a yoghurt lid, place another lid on top and with a very sharp knife, slice through the tomatoes while holding down the top lid. 

2 tablespoons cider vinegar, or to taste

a few sprigs fresh thyme

a few leaves fresh sage, chiffonade

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

In a large skillet, cook bacon and shallots together over medium heat.  Add garlic and stir for a minute.  Stir in corn, chilies, green beans, okra and tomatoes and cook until the vegetables are tender, about 5-7 minutes.  Stir in vinegar, herbs and season. 

Serve with fresh herbs sprinkled on top as well.

Enjoy!

 Caprese Salad Skewers

Very easy to prepare.  Mini bocconcini, fresh grape tomatoes, fresh basil leaves, skewered and seasoned and drizzled with Balsamic reduction.

Peach, Nectarine, and Plum Pie

This is my favorite pie, and basically the only fruit pie I make. A crispy, flaky, super rich all butter crust with a sunset of colorful peaches, nectarines, and plums inside. A few summers ago, I made it for my parents, and my dad said it was the best pie he�d ever eaten. That�s a pretty big compliment, because the man loved desserts. I got his sweet tooth, and my mom�s taco tooth.  

We were never really a summer pie family. We had fresh strawberry pie in the spring, and pumpkin, pecan, and huckleberry at Thanksgiving. And my dad usually made an apple pie, with meticulously thin sliced apples, once every fall or winter. But our summers were 100 degrees without AC, not ideal baking conditions. Very ideal ice cream and swimming conditions. Suffice it to say, I didn�t have a whole lot of experience with summer fruit pies. Until a few years ago, I could probably count on one hand the number of times I�d eaten peach pie. But now I think there�s nothing better.

This pie, my go-to, is basically the stone fruit pie from a 2011 issue of Bon Appetit, plus Smitten Kitchen�s glorious all-butter crust. It�s a pie worth turning on the oven, even when it�s 90 degrees in Seattle. Even if you don�t have AC. 

It�s also a little tribute to my dad, who�s been gone one year this month. I thought of him the whole time I was making this pie. I think about him with each beautiful sunset, every weird joke, every time I hear wind chimes or the Rolling Stones, with every old Subaru wagon I see, every time I turn off a light to save a salmon, and all the times lately that I've caught myself walking his walk. I think of him, and miss him, every single day. 

Stone Fruit Pie with All Butter Crust

Adapted from this recipe and this recipe

Crust
1 recipe all-butter crust from Smitten Kitchen (her instructions are impeccable and so easy to follow)

Filling
4 pounds stone fruits (I used 2 giant peaches, 4 nectarines, and 4 plums)
1/3 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
Pinch fresh grated nutmeg
Zest of 1 lemon
1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoon turbinado sugar

Crust
Follow the recipe for double pie crust (2 rounds). Once dough is fully chilled, roll out both disks to about 14 inch rounds, and continue to chill until ready to use. 

Filling
Slice fruits and remove pits, peel the peach slices. Add fruit slices and 1/3 cup sugar to a large bowl, and toss to coat. Let sit for 30-60 minutes. 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

Strain juice off of fruit, saving about 1/4 cup of the juice in a separate bowl. Add cornstarch, nutmeg, and lemon zest to juice and whisk well to combine. Stir back into fruit. 

Transfer one pie dough disk to pie dish, picking up the edges and letting it slump into the dish. Trim so about 1 inch of dough hangs over the edge. Fill with fruit. 

Cut remaining dough disk into strips to make a lattice crust. I went with a wide lattice on this one, but a thin lattice is super pretty and fun too.

Brush lattice topping and edges with beaten egg, and sprinkle turbinado sugar on top. Transfer pie dish to a parchment lined baking sheet.

Bake for 40 minutes at 400 degrees, then turn heat down to 350, and bake another 30-40 minutes, until dough is golden and juices are bubbly. Cool dish on a wire rack. 

Fats: The Good, Bad, and Ugly

Burnaby Food First is pleased to offer another FREE workshop!



Fats: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Wednesday, August 19

6:30 pm - 8:30 pm

Brentwood Community Centre (2055 Rosser Avenue / Burnaby - map)



Join holistic nutritionist Suzan Anbari to learn what makes a good fat and a bad fat! Find out how to use good fats for healthy meals and also natural deodorant.



Registration is required. Space is limited! To register, please contact Leanne at (604) 618-3581 or by email.

----

Enjoy Burnaby Food First workshops? Want to get involved as a
volunteer?

Check out all the great ways you can get involved. All are welcome, and we'd love to have you on
board! For more information, send us an email.

Homegrown Harvest Workshops!

Dear Food First community -



A reminder that the new Homegrown Harvest Workshop Series held at the Burnaby Village Museum this summer is underway with free workshops on lots of subjects! Check out the full list of upcoming workshops on Museum�s webpage under the �programs� tab or by downloading the Homegrown Harvest brochure (PDF).



The workshops were also recently mentioned in the Vancouver Sun (scroll to bottom of article) and Burnaby Now!!!


The next free workshop is:


Pickles

Sunday, August 2 / 1:30 - 3:30pm (Drop in / no registration needed)

Location: Meadow


Andrea Potter, Holistic Nutritionist, will show you everything you need to know to make your own batch of perfect pickles!

Credit: Sofi Martinez

Upcoming topics include Preserving your Harvest and Winter Container Food Gardening.  


This series was developed and is presented as a collaboration between Burnaby Food First and Burnaby Village Museum, and Food First volunteers will be on site! See you there!



If you'd like to be alerted of any upcoming Burnaby Food First workshops, consider subscribing to our listserve by sending us email, with "Subscribe" in the subject line.

Ginger Lime Turkey Sliders with Peanut Slaw

Last weekend was my SEVENTH year running Ragnar Relay Northwest Passage, and I have a serious case of the post-Ragnar blues.
I ran around 15.5 miles! My final leg was just under 7 miles, all hills, and I almost stepped on a snake! We jammed out hard to some 2AM Celine Dion, had a few epic dance parties and costume changes, mastered the art of glow-stick dancing (ahem, raving?), and wondered how that one team next to us at the brewery managed to run after consuming so many burgers and beers. And extra sides of ranch. Also, this year, a few other teams copied our name! We�ve been Chafin� the Dream since 2009, so it was annoying to see other folks stealing our swagger. Imitation�something to do flattery�blah blah� Nope, get outta here with that. #theoriginalchafers

Anyway. I feel like I've been super MIA on the blog this summer, but I just haven't been cooking much. Instead I've been running, swimming, gardening, eating popsicles, seeing Dashboard Confessional and Third Eye Blind (!!!) with my girlfriends, and binge watching Sopranos. These sliders are maybe the only dinner I've actually cooked in the month of July!

Turkey sliders! The patties are Asian-inspired with fun flavors like ginger and lime, which goes great with the sesame-peanut slaw! I actually liked them wrapped in lettuce even more than with a bun, and that's surprising, because this girl loves big buns, hun. 

Ginger Lime Turkey Sliders with Peanut Slaw 
Makes 10-12 small sliders

Peanut Slaw

2 tablespoons mayonnaise

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1 tablespoon peanut butter

1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

1 squirt of Sriracha

Half a head green cabbage, sliced thin (and diced, if desired)

2 green onions, sliced thin

2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped

1 handful peanuts, chopped

1/2 teaspoon black sesame seeds

Salt and pepper to taste

In a large bowl, Whisk together mayo, lime juice, peanut butter, sesame oil, and sriracha. Add cabbage, green onions, and cilantro. Toss until coated. Add salt and pepper to taste, and toss in peanuts and sesame seeds just before serving. 

Sliders

1 pound ground turkey

1 inch chunk of ginger, grated

1 clove garlic, grated or minced

1 Green onion, sliced thin

Zest from 1 small lime + splash of lime juice

1/2 teaspoon soy sauce

Panko bread crumbs

Salt & pepper

Mix turkey, ginger, garlic, onion, lime zest and juice, and soy sauce together (with your hands), until combined. If the mixture seems too wet and loose, add a bit of panko to bind it. Separate into about 10-12 small slider-sized patties, and salt & pepper both sides of each patty. Chill for at least 30 minutes so they firm up a bit. 

Heat grill, brush with oil, and grill patties until charred on the outside and cooked through. 

Serve on slider buns or in lettuce cups, with peanut slaw and extra sriracha! Also, not pictured but a great addition: avocado!