Ontario Government is Encouraging Consumers to "Buy Ontario"!

In a press release, sent out May 11, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Leona Dombrowsky stated: " The Ontario Government will be putting the spotlight on the fresh, high-quality foods grown and produced in the province this summer with a new "Buy Ontario" marketing strategy.

"If we all buy Ontario, everybody wins," the Minister was quoted as saying. " We're getting healthy, fresh food from here at home and we're supporting local farmers, our rural economy and our environment."

The government is contributing $12.5 million to the ‘Buy Ontario’ strategy, which includes a consumer awareness campaign designed to increase interest and demand for local foods across the province, expands the Foodland Ontario program to more fresh food products, and boosts the Savour Ontario program in fine and vacation dining establishments. Of the total, $2.5 million has already been distributed to a number of agri-food industry associations to assist them in promoting the sale of Ontario products.

Peterborough Wednesday Farmers

- Market Opening Day Wednesday May 2nd -

Environmental issues are forefront for most Canadians these days. Climate change, over flowing landfills, soil, air and water pollution are issuesnagging us to take action. It can be overwhelming sometimes to know where to begin. The Peterborough Wednesday Farmers' Market is a great place to start. Food is one of those things that we make decisions about many times day.What we choose to eat, how it is produced and where it comes from all havean impact on the natural world.

The Peterborough Wednesday Farmer's Market, located in downtown Peterborough, is a unique market, as it is a local producers only market. What does that mean for you the consumer? Well that means that each vendor must ensure that 80 percent of all the products that they sell are produced from their own farm, while the remaining 20 percent can come from off farmas long as it is still regionally produced. By shopping at the Peterborough Wednesday Farmer's Market you can ensure that you reduce the “food miles”associated with the food you eat. When we reduce the distances our foodtravels to get to our table, we significantly reduce the greenhouse gas emissions our food we produces.Other good, green reasons to check out the Peterborough Wednesday Farmers'Market are:

· Healthy and farm fresh foods produce is picked fresh and brought to the market, often within a day of being harvested! Ecologically grown andorganic produce is also available just ask.

· Support your local agricultural community in developing a secure and healthy food system.

· You can leave your car at home and take the bus, bike or walk to the markets central location.

· Bring your cloth bags and/or support the Peterborough Wednesday Farmers Market by purchasing one at the market and reduce the number of plastic bags being littered, landfilled or even recycled in our community.

· The Peterborough Wednesday Farmer's Market is friendly, filled with vendors that carry a wide range of products from organic produce to localmeats, handmade natural soaps to fresh fruit, gourmet cooking to preserves, potting plants to spun wool, all locally produced. At the market you get to meet the growers, producer, chefs, and crafts people, ask them questions and get connected.

To start the season off in an environmentally sound way, the Peterborough Wednesday Farmers' Market will be giving away 25 Peterborough Wednesday Farmer's Market tote bags to the first 25 customers at the market on our OPENING DAY, WEDNESDAY, MAY 2ND , 2007. For the remainder of the day these beautiful yet sturdy market bags will be on sale for our opening day priceof $5 each.We hope to see you at the market every Wednesday! It is open from May toOctober, from 8:30 am until 2 pm on Charlotte St. (between George St. andWater St.). For more information contact:P aula Anderson 745-3238 or Lynn Hassen 705-324-9413

The Martini Subculture

The Martini Subculture
By Chantal Saville

There is a whole world of people out there who live, breathe and drink martinis. Gin, a dash of vermouth and a lemon peel or olive. No more and no less. They are almost fanatical about it, to the point of getting right snippy if you dare to call one of those ‘other’ cocktails a martini.

A standard martini is a five to one ratio – five of gin, one of dry vermouth. A ‘dry martini’ uses even less vermouth. The less vermouth, the ‘drier’ the martini. People who are truly into the dry martini will ‘rinse’ the glass in vermouth, but ultimately pour it out before adding the gin. “Connoisseurs boast of… passing the vermouth cap above the glass, shining a light through the vermouth bottle onto the glass, momentarily passing the finished drink near a closed vermouth bottle, or jokingly whispering "vermouth" over the glass. It's been said that a "Churchill Martini" contains no vermouth, just British gin. The legend holds that Churchill would get as close to the vermouth bottle as to "look at it from across the room". This would make it very dry or a so called Churchill Martini.”[*] A ‘dirty martini’ has a little olive juice included with the olive, which is said to lessen the intensity of the alcohol. A lemon peel is another ‘acceptable’ garnish. In fact, the best way is to peel the lemon right over the glass. The peeling action releases some of the lemon oil onto the top of the drink. I myself prefer lime, but that’s a whole other story.

If there was ever a more schizophrenic drink, it is the martini. If you order a martini at a bar, you should receive a standard gin martini. Where it gets complicated is when people order a martini but in fact they are expecting something other than a gin martini. Because of course, the modern bartender can read minds! Should it be ‘shaken not stirred’? This ubiquitous sentence is from James Bond, who always orders his martinis this way in the movies. However, true martini followers have several bones to pick with Bond. First, he asks for vodka, which as we have explored above, is not what a martini is traditionally made with. More importantly, the use of a shaker causes the ice to chip into the drink, thereby diluting it. The proper way to mix a martini involves stirring it carefully with a long spoon. There are also those who say that shaking it will ‘bruise’ the gin. Ultimately, you can tell a shaken martini because it is cloudier than a stirred one, since the shaking adds air to the mixture. Furthermore, a true martini drinker will keep all his ‘tools’ in the freezer: gin, vermouth, glasses, mixing glass.

If you enjoy a good dry martini, you are in good company: Churchill, Truman Capote, J. Robert Oppenheimer, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Cary Grant, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt all partook in martinis, some with better results than others![†] During Prohibition, martinis were the drink of choice because gin was easy to produce – whiskey was too time consuming to make in the quantities needed by speakeasies. Today, there are thousands of variations on the martini that have been developed: Vodkatini, Kangaroo, Cosmopolitain, Appletini… I can’t even begin to list them. Purists, however, would disagree. They would say there is only one martini – stirred, not shaken.
© 2007 Chantal Saville
[*] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martini_(cocktail)
[†] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martini_(cocktail)

Update from Kawartha Food Share

Kawartha Food Share is pleased to welcome five new Member Agencies who are working to help fight hunger in Peterborough. These new member are:
- Big Brothers & Big Sisters of Peterborough
- Canadian Mental Health Association
- Peterborough Community Chaplaincy
- Peterborough Housing Corporation (30 Alexander Avenue)
- St. Johns Anglican Church

Each of these agencies are either creating a new or bolstering an existing food program to help clients who are going hungry. Kawartha Food Share is a distribution warehouse that now provides 30 agencies in the City and County of Peterborough with emergency food supplies. In 2006, our Member Agencies provided food to about 6,500 people each month, with 57% of these being adults and 43% being children. In 2006 we distributed over 400,000 items of food. The generous support of local residents, businesses and agencies such as the United Way enables us to help feed the hungry in Peterborough.

For further information please contact:

Chris Kawalec,
Office Manager
Kawartha Food Share
665 Neal Drive, P.O. Box 1413
Peterborough ON K9J 7H6
ph: 705.745.5377 fx: 705.745.7908
www.kawarthafoodshare.com

Fish Facts and Fictions

There has been quite a lot on the news of late regarding overfishing and species that are almost extinct. It is, at times, difficult to keep track but it matters. The Endangered Fish Alliance has extensive information on the topic and you can even download a wallet size card to keep track when you are out and about!

The ULTIMATE food tool!

I thought I had seen everything. I was wrong:

http://www.leevalley.com/gifts/page.aspx?c=1&p=56683&cat=4,104,53210#pb

Visiting the Big Smoke sometime soon?

Check out a new blog we found: http://www.tasteto.com/
Tons of information on what's going on in Food & Wine in Toronto! Visit soon and enjoy!

Dry Rub for Wine Lovers!

It's called Sweet Jamaica and by all accounts, it is outstanding! A dry rub is used for marinating, grilling, baking, broiling, frying, stuffings, sauces and crusts. Sweet Jamaica is an artisan, hand made dry rub for wine lovers. The seasonings and measurements within this dry rub have been carefully selected to harmonize with certain wines. Foods seasoned with Sweet Jamaica, when served with specific wines, will create a culinary orgasm! You and your guests are sure to moan in ecstasy! Sweet Jamaica was developed by food and wine pairing expert and best selling cookbook author, Shari Darling, The Sophisticated Wino. You can visit her site or pop in to FireHouse Gourmet on Hunter Street East to get some! www.sophisticatedwino.com

New & Exciting!

Well, it looks as though Bacchus is now open (George Street South), as well as a new place called Splice Lounge at the site of the old Cinema 379. If anyone has been to either, we'd love to hear your thoughts on them!

Shafiq's Taste Of India Now Open

Taste of India has opened its doors at 301 George Street South. Feel like a casual evening of Indian food? Call them 741-0009!

New Restaurant in Peterborough

Well, it looks like the site of the Electric Clove has barely had a chance to cool down! There is a new restaurant going in there called Bacchus. The signage is already up so it will be interesting to see what evolves in that space!

Electric Clove Closes its Doors

We were sorry to see them go! Here's to wishing Anthony and Sam all the best in whatever future endeavors they pursue.

New Look for the Original Greek!

George and Anna Anagnostou have just completed renovations at The Original Greek Restaurant at the corner of Parkhill and Water streets in Peterborough. Celebrating 30 years in business they’ve done a nice facelift inside, and honoured their parents, the original Greeks -Paul and Anna Anagnostou, last Thursday with a ribbon cutting and prices from 30 years ago. (source: The Business Beat, by Stu Harrison)

Hot New Wine Book: Red, White, and Drunk All Over

In Red, White, and Drunk All Over: A Wine-Soaked Journey from Grape to Glass, Canadian writer Natalie MacLean takes her readers behind the scenes of the international wine world—exploring its history, visiting its most evocative places, and meeting its most charismatic personalities. The book has been described as A Year in Provence meets Kitchen Confidential then goes Sideways. For more information on the book, tour dates/venues and to sign up for Natalie's free wine e-newsletter, visit http://www.nataliemaclean.com/.

Saporito's for Dinner?

Jim at Saporito's let us know recently that he will no longer be serving lunch at his restaurant - he wants to focus on his dinner business. The only exception is if you wish to have a group gathering there for lunch, you can still do so by reservation only! Visit Saporito's soon for dinner and tell him Kawartha Cuisine sent you!

Surreal Café

The AGP's (Art Gallery of Peterborough) new outdoor food and beverage service is now operating from Tuesday to Saturday 11 am to 4:30 pm. The Surreal Café's offerings include scones, wraps, coffee and tea not to mention beautiful views of Little Lake and Del Crary Park. See you there!

Parkhill on Hunter's New Owner!

... is none other than the restaurant's manager Judith Thompson! We wish her all the best in her latest endeavor and look forward to many years to come at Parkhill!

Harvest is open in Prince Edward County!

Per an earlier posting, while we realize this is not in the Kawartha's, it is a personal fave and so ... since this is our blog... you get to hear about it!!! Below is the information we received from Harvest:

HARVEST RESTAURANT IS NOW OPEN
cuisine@harvestrestaurant.ca

WHERE ARE WE:
We have moved from The Milford Bistro into Picton,
And are now located at: Harvest, 106 Bridge Street, 613.476.6763 .... (on the road to the Glenora Ferry, across from the Claramount Inn and Spa)

HOURS OF OPERATION
Dinner: 7 days a week from 5:30-10
Lunch: Thurs-Sat 11:30-2
Sunday Brunch 11-2

Come and experience the same great food, Still lovingly prepared by Chef Michael Potters. Enjoy lunch, dinner or brunch In our larger, more comfortable dining room. Relax on our patio, or sit at the bar. Savour the tastes of the seasons. We’re ready when you are!

FireHouse Gourmet

There is a fabulous new shop on Hunter Street East (Hunter street is becoming quite the hub for all things food!) that sells rubs, marinades, oils, mustards, sauces... just about everything you could ever want for flavour and fun in your food! It’s definitely worth a visit very soon. 73 Hunter Street East • 741-5181• http://www.firehousegourmet.ca/ and as they say at FireHouse Gourmet: “Have a Zesty Day!”

Julia Child Movie?

Yup ... it's true! Click here to read about it!

Freezer's On the Bottom Aren't a New Thing at All!

I had no idea ... I thought that the new models of refrigerators with the freezers on the bottom instead of the top was just the newest thing. A visit to T.J. Cavanagh Ltd in Peterborough told me otherwise. They've been around for 72 years and seen it all. Most interestingly though, on the wall, was an ad from 1965 which showed a Frigidaire model with...yes, you guessed it: the freezer on the bottom! You really do learn something new everyday!

G&M Article: New regulations in works for sale of homemade food

"New rules regulating homemade jams, pies and other food sold at farmers' markets and roadside stands are in the works, said Health Minister George Smitherman.

Inspection of the products sold at the popular markets became a political issue last fall when some Eastern Ontario farmers accused public health officials of being overly aggressive with provincial guidelines governing food safety.

Mr. Smitherman said the new rules for the $600-million-a-year industry could be ready as early as the fall. CP"

Print Edition of Globe & Mail: 17/05/06 Page A10

Farmer's Markets

• Every Saturday from 7am-1pm. Discover fresh fruits, vegetables, baked goods and crafts from over 100 vendors. Open rain or shine. Located in Morrow Building from November 1 - April 30 and Outdoors from May 1 through October 31, at the corner of Lansdowne St. & Roger Neilson Way (George St.) in Peterborough. For more information, call 705-742-3276
• The Farm Gate Sales Association hosts the Downtown Peterborough Farmers Market (on Charlotte St., between George St. and Water St.) every Wednesday from 9:00am - 2:00pm, May - October.

Good Food Guide - Map to Local Farmers

The Kawartha Choice Good Food Guide – a map featuring local Kawartha Choice Vendors. From Beef to Bison, Fresh vegetables to Eggs, this guide is an excellent resource to assist consumers with buying local. Look for your copy at events this fall, or go to the Tourism & Chamber Offices – and buy local.

Visit Kawartha Choice for more information.