I am blessed to be a part of a special community. Canola Alumni events take place on a regular basis so that the community can reconnect and share our passion for food and the farmers and scientists that are supporting the effort of producing a nutritious product for our families.  If you think that listening to futurists, sustainability excerpts and policy writers is boring, think again! The presentations were dynamic and they were interspersed with delicious food samplings and (new this year) progressive craft making sessions.  All this along with a mindfulness session and team-building drumming opportunity!

This was our mid-morning snack as we commenced our first crafting session.

What I appreciate the most about attneding a Canola Connect event is having the opportunity to speak directly to Manitoba’s farmers. They answer my questions carefully but with passion. I met Pat and Paul Orsak a number of years ago when I visited their farm with Canola Camp. Paul spoke again at the recent Canola Community Summit. He got me thinking….

Inventory for our crafts.

Lunch of raw vegetable salads and tuna bowls with rice or spiraled zucchini.

I was reminded that organic standards leading to certified organic are NOT about nutritional value, food safety, or end use quality. Organic standards are about production methods and marketing. The setting of those standards is led and designed by the organic industry itself NOT by independent health regulators or science based third parties. Does this seem reasonable?

Our afternoon snack of parsnip, carrot, beet and lotus chips with sweet potato hummus.

Bruschetta made from three cold-pressed canola oils: Prairie Sky, Northern Lights and Heartland-all delicious in their distinct ways.

Innovations in plant genetics and precision farming practices ensures that land use is optimized. Natural wilderness areas can be preserved. Harmful tillage can be avoided, reducing the amount of silt going into rivers and streams. We should all be for this, shouldn’t we?

Meat + Bread appetizers.

Three salads for our salad course.

Chicken with a fruit sauce and a savouring potato patty.

So if farmers want to produce the same amount of food organically, where are they going to get the extra land? Should farmers choose a production method that would require using more land? What do we think about deforestation? Clearing wilderness?

The gang called these snowmen, I didn’t sample them…two desserts was enough!

Do we want to knowingly and willingly price food out of reach of some consumers? Are we concerned about food prices for those less privileged here at home, or for those who live in the third world?

A cream puff filled with a chunky chocolate.

Can the global agriculture and food industry afford not to use all the tools in the tool box while still trying to feed a growing world population?

Lemon Meringue Tarts

Farmers like Paul want to be sustainable. They  want to leave a legacy. They don’t want to squander the land resource they’ve been entrusted with and they want to leave the land in better condition than they got it. The farmers I have met through Canola Connect want to produce food that is affordable, safe, and abundant.

A couple of weeks later I am still rolling these questions over in my mind. The thing is, I know Paul, I know his wife, I know his daughter. I make decisions with my heart (that is pretty obvious if you spend any time on my blog space) and I know that Paul wants what is best for his family and ultimately for us all. Do I trust what I read on line? Do I trust the scare tactics that are promoted by extremists? Or do I trust Paul to make the best choices for his family and the world? I think that you know my answer to this…

I was so proud that the beer poured that evening was son J1’s 1919 from Little Brown Jug.

Kath’s quote: “I love food. Farmers love food. I love farmers“. -Me

Love never fails.

Thirty years ago, prior to my marriage, I lived downtown in the Holiday Towers. Often times on a warm evening while I sat out on my balcony, I would get a beautiful waft of mellow spices. The East India Company (349 York Ave.) was responsible for the exotic aromas. Recently I stayed next door to my old apartment for a conference/retreat and followed my nose back to the East India Company.

The restaurant is narrow but deep and I was surprised when I went to the buffet just how many people were there for lunch. I would imagine the convenience of grabbing a quick and easy meal was what attracted them as well. I had a small window for lunch and so not having to wait to have my order taken or the food prepared meant that I was eating within five minutes of arrival.

I do not profess to have an expansive knowledge of Indian food so I made very sure of noting the name of every dish that I was tempted to sample. But, by the time I had eaten, walked back to the hotel and wrote everything down, I had a few memory gaps.

I do know that I selected a Pakora (a cauliflower & potato packet) and enjoyed the unusual taste more than the vegetable Samosa. I also loved the bright green Palak Paneer: a creamed spinach made gooey with homemade cheese; so too, the Bhurta of smashed eggplant and peas. I appreciated their roasted chicken which had a pink flesh from the permeation of spices. My favourite of this and most Indian dinners was the butter chicken (Murgh Makhan), wondering how they manage to retain the tenderness without the dish tasting stewed.

The East India Company makes eating vegetarian, vegan or gluten-free very easy indeed and is likely another reason why the restaurant is so popular. The operation was overseen by a handsome gentlemen in a white suit, whom I suspected was the owner. He was too busy that day for me to inquire.

East India Company has dine in, take out and catering menus available. They are open on weekdays from 11am -3:30 pm and 4:30-10 pm. On Saturday they are open from 5-10 pm and on Sundays from 12-3 pm and 5-9 pm. They are wheelchair accessible via the north door of the restaurant.

Watch for Food Musings every second Wednesday in your copy of The Headliner, The Herald, The Lance, The Metro, The Sou’wester and The Times.

Kath’s quote: “Don’t go and cook Indian food if you never cooked Indian food, you know?”-Wolfgang Puck

Love never fails.

Our family has been visiting Fredy at his restaurant since 2006 (we missed him our first year on the island). If there was one restaurant that we frequent more than any other on the island it would be Fredy’s. We even had our family Christmas dinner at his restaurant one year!

This year we celebrated a wedding on the island and so there was a time when almost our entire family were on Isla at one time. Fredy offered to open the restaurant on a Tuesday evening just for us. We were thrilled!

The youngest family member that was at the table that evening.

Fredy fixed us up with some appetizers not typically on his menu.

I had his double-boned pork chop (I always have his double-boned pork chop)! Later in our stay we visited with Fredy 0ne evening and he shared with us that he has to perform his own meat cutting to secure this special cut. We are a family that LOVES meat and the chops and his ribs got rave reviews!

His seafood dishes also got high accolades as well. This dish is called: Frey’s Shrimp.

We even got to enjoy the dusk sky from our sidewalk table.

I have a couple of Fredy’s recipes from a Isla cookbook that I own but I can never duplicate Fredy’s flare. I think that he cooks with a secret ingredient which if you asked him, he would brush off with a joke. I think that ingredient is love. He tries to come off as a business only, tough guy and even though he runs a great business it is not his culinary savvy that brings us back again and again. It is the tender underside of Fredy. It is the love that he cooks into his food.

Kath’s quote: “Good morning to all feel better today so lets start working and try to make nice smilles“- Fredy

Love never fails.

For decades Ami Hassan has been a permanent fixture at the River Heights restaurant that he owns and operates. He is typically visible in the open kitchen putting his special flair onto Middle Eastern dishes. I have know him to leave his station and come into the dining room to admonish patrons for lingering too long over coffee, declaring that he needed the space for hungry customers. On this day my dining companion and I met for an early lunch and I was surprised to find the Falafel Place (1101 Corydon Ave.) already busy. Perhaps they were still there from breakfast as the restaurant does have an all day menu.

My lunch date was drawn to the breakfast section and ordered a Falafel Breakfast complete with two eggs, 8 falafel balls (essentially a spiced chickpea fritter) , tahini (sesame seed sauce), hummus and pita wedges. For good measure and to share her fare, she ordered a side of potato pancakes (latkes) topped with garlic, onions and peppers. She oohed and awed while savouring every taste but made specific remarks about the perfectly cooked over easy eggs and that the potato pancakes were delightfully crispy on the outside and silky in the middle. I tasted the falafel balls and those pancakes and would whole heartedly agree with her assessment. I have travelled to Israel and my favourite cook book is one entitled “Jerusalem” so I consider myself acquainted with the tabbouleh salad making technique.

Essentially the salad is a parsley/bulgur one, with different ratios of the two ingredients depending on which regional variant of the salad you’re making, or your personal preference. There is a warning in my cookbook that “other elements need to be handled carefully”. I made a judgement error with my order, because I was craving a traditional tabbouleh salad with fresh tastes of parsley and mint. Ami’s emphasizes slices of vegetables.

Originally I had been torn when I saw spanakopita on the menu, so we ordered it to share. As you likely know, the spinach dish wrapped in a crunchy phyllo is a Greek specialty and it is not intended as a criticism when I say that Winnipeg Greek restaurant’s spanakopita recipes are much better. Enjoy Ami’s specialties and you will be more than impressed. The Falafel Place is open seven days a week from 6:30 am-9 pm. There is an all day menu available. They are wheelchair accessible. Watch for Food Musings every second Wednesday in your copy of The Headliner, The Herald, The Lance, The Metro, The Sou’wester and The Times.

Kath’s quote: “Parsley – the jewel of herbs, both in the pot and on the plate.”-Albert Stockli

Love never fails.

One difference of the first half of this year’s sojourn to Isla Mujeres is that half of the family that being our son, his wife and their two little ones, had a different dining schedule than us. When we are typically planning a Happy Hour somewhere, they need to get their girls fed and hopefully maintain a similar bed time schedule to that of home. This meant that on some evenings, some or all of us, would join them for a beverage as they had their dinner and then when they headed “home” (the reason a hotel in Centro was key for this stay), we would depart for our own supper plans.

On this evening we joined them at Angelo’s.

They graciously poured me a glass of wine, having selected my favourite varietal which I enjoyed

as I watched them tuck into a Bolognaise with Meatballs

and a delectable pizza. Between the poufy bread that is always delivered hot to the table

and the extra effort that the bartender went to in satisfying a chocolate milk request, the little girls were equally pleased with their parents’ choice. We made our way to Fredy’s for our later dinner, but that is another blog post.

Later in our stay: week two, when most of the 83 people that had gathered onto the island for a family wedding, made their way home, D and I returned for our own dinner at Angelo’s. From virtually our first taste in 2005, Angelo’s has been a must visit. We are crazy about both their fruita de mare pizza and pasta. I have said it before and I will say it again here, I am not just saying that these items are great compared to other island offerings, I am saying that Angelo’s rivals dinners that we have eaten in Sicily, on the Amalfi Coast, in Cinque Terra and in Tuscany!

On this second visit, we may have indulged a little bit too much with the vino tinto before dining. While the kittens are away, the cats will play! I took one blurry picture of our pasta

and another inadequate one of our pizza.

Suffice it to say, the meals were as stellar as previous visits, but our merry-making made for an inadequate reporting of such. We will try to behave and do better next time.

Kath’s quote: “All is fair in love and beer.”~ Kurt Paradis

Love never fails.