And Today's Local Feature is…Takeout!

Gratefully, packing day has arrived, and we’re glad to be having someone else take care of the work. After all the sorting and separating, we’re bushed! Fortunately we have someone local to take care of the food, too: our local pizzeria, Colombo’s. Real Italian, made with love.

The Journey Begins

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Good Morning! Those of you who know us as walkablefeast, news flash! We’re headed for the coast. Today we are getting ready for moving day, when we will head for Nova Scotia. Our new home takes us from the urban centre to a less walkable country property. But our commitment to local food and local providers is not diminished. After fuelling up on some homemade Ontario strawberry jam, we’ll begin chronicling the foods we encounter as we drive cross-country…and ultimately land in our new space near the sea. We’re now eatcoastal, and things are about to get a whole lot saltier around here.

A Little Lamb

20120704-095152.jpg Yesterday was a slow, sultry day, the kind where salad is the best option for any meal.

We had a bit of leftover roast lamb (the roast came from the East Lynn Farmers’ Market, just down the street) and a small chunk of feta (from Better Bulk) begging to be used. So we put this salad together:

15ml/1T each of balsamic vinegar and olive oil, whisked together in a medium bowl
A good handful of fresh oregano leaves, chopped
90g/3oz of diced cooked lamb
6 black olives, pitted and chopped
1 medium tomato, diced
250ml/1c broccoli florets

Our lamb had been roasted in a coating of Dijon; otherwise add about 5ml/1t of that to the dressing as well. Toss the vegetables and lamb in the vinaigrette. Serve on a bed of:

500ml/2c romaine

Over the top of the salads, sprinkle:

30g/1oz feta, crumbled

Serves 2

Greek, but not a Tragedy

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Since noticing we have been on an egg jag lately, today’s breakfast feature nothing of the sort. Instead, some strawberries, not local unfortunately but bought at one of our neighbourhood places, Plank Road Market, owned by a charming young couple, Roger and Julie. On top, Greek yogurt (Liberté), cinnamon, and a sprinkling of pumpkin seeds from Better Bulk.

Now off to work!

Just Poachy!

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It looks like spring but feels like winter this morning. What a glorious burst of sun. So what better way to start the day than with a breakfast stack like this one: whole wheat English muffin, Rowe Farms ham, fresh yellow Ontario hothouse tomato, all topped with a fresh poached egg.

Secrets of the Freezer

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It’s the time of year when you really feel the urge to de-clutter…lots of household “sprucing up” projects. And then one day you look in the freezer.

So many things have accumulated over the winter. One of them, a bag of roasted beets, another, the remains of a package of phyllo. A few mushrooms, a bit of goat cheese, and voilà! Beet Wellingtons.

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Playing Chicken

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’twas in the dead of wintertime…yet it hardly seems it. We had a great walk around the neighbourhood today, and it was chilly but the sun was blazing. We spent the afternoon readying the house for the New Year, after the post-Epiphany cleanup.

Then to dinner. An amazing chicken breast (the whole thing, not just parts) from Plank Road Market. The husband did it as a simple roast, nothing added. We mad a little garlic mash and served it with a salad of Ontario veg, many hothouse-grown. Lettuce, arugula, cukes, tomatoes, and mushrooms. Dressing of mustard, chicken fat, and cider vinegar. A little candlelight, some East Dell wine. Ahhh…

How Tourtière Turned my New Neighbourhood into Home

Christmastime at our house always involves tourtière, usually on Christmas Eve, after Mass. The year we moved to the walkablefeast Neighbourhood, I went shopping at Royal Beef for my ingredients. I didn’t see any ground pork, so I asked the butcher. And do you know what he asked me? “Are you making tourtière ?” and ” What mix with the beef, 50-50? Because I can just make that up for you.”

Those are the sort of touches that make you know you’re at home, even if your “real” home is miles away. And they’re also what make you want to be a small shop shopper, and turn in your big box membership forever.

It's World Food Day. Do You Know Where Your Food Came From?

We love being lucky enough to walk out in our neighbourhood to buy food. Sometimes it’s from small shops where we know the proprietors and they know the source of the food they’re selling. Other times, we’re lucky enough to get it direct from the farmers. Even luckier, is that we’re never truly hungry.

Today groups around the world are celebrating World Food Day. We’ll be giving thanks for the food we have, and doing our part to support our local food bank. We hope you will, too.