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Savouring and Celebrating the CK Table

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Picture an outdoor dinner party, surrounded by the fields of a local farm, featuring food that was grown or raised within relatively close proximity, or – as the farmers might say – within spitting distance. The local residents eating the meal can pinpoint on a map of their municipality where the food came from. During the meal, the diners mingle with the farmers who supplied the food and cooked it on site with their own hands. It just doesn’t get more local or more delicious. Read more

A Harvest of Canadian Food Writing

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With the autumn harvest of regional foods behind us and the fresh sprouting of spring gardens still months away, it’s time to embark on a harvest of a different sort – the culling of good Canadian food writing to sustain a restless mind through the winter months. Or, if you find yourself in the throes of Christmas preparations, this list could help alleviate the gift-buying anxiety for any of those patriotic foodies in your life. Read more

The A, Bee, C’s of Honey

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When it comes to learning, there is no better way to make things stick than to have fun while doing it. Clovermead Apiary, just north of Aylmer in Elgin County, has taken their role as an educator about bees and honey very seriously while having loads of fun along the way. With honey running through their blood, the third and fourth generations of the Hiemstra family have kept the family business thriving. Chris Hiemstra, along with his wife Christy and their three children, take pride in inviting other families to share in the joy of beekeeping by engaging in fun and educational activities on the farm, including informative Bee-Line Tours of the apiary and fun-filled activities in the Adventure Farm. Their working farm has been turned into a destination for family outings with a zip line, a pedal go-kart track, wagon rides, and friendly farm animals. And while you’re here having fun, tidbits about beekeeping stick to your brain, just like honey to toast, as the Hiemstra’s offer an education about these fascinating insects. Read more

The Whole Pig … And Nothing but the Pig

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As Ontario pork producers, Martin and Teresa Van Raay have pledged an oath – to sell the pig, the whole pig, and nothing but the pig – by taking their already-successful pig farm and adding a new business approach by delivering whole, half, and quarter pigs to end customers. It is a unique concept that is gaining them recognition in the industry as recipients of two awards in 2011: the Premier’s Award for Agri-Food Innovation Excellence, and the Entrepreneur of the Year Award for the South Huron County Chamber of Commerce. Read more

A Bird for All Seasons

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There are few products that create a more memorable culinary image than a whole roasted turkey glistening with golden skin at the Thanksgiving dinner table. For over 60 years, Hayter’s Farm in Dashwood has done its part filling holiday platters with these traditional birds. In fact, Tradition is a word imprinted on their logo and the farm has been run in the most traditional of ways by passing down the family-run business through three generations. Read more

Living La Vida Local

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I recently travelled south to sample the flavours of Ecuador. But it wasn’t nearly as far as you might expect, not as far as the country itself in the northern part of South America, but a mere 60-minute drive southwest of London. With a Spanish name to match its philosophy, Lo Maximo Meats is an offshoot venture of Spence Farms near the tiny community of McKay’s Corners in the Municipality of Chatham-Kent. The people responsible for the Ecuadorian food I sampled are Canadian-born farmer, Paul Spence, and his wife, Sara Caiche, born and raised in Gauyaquil, Ecuador, who now shares her style of cooking with our part of the world. Read more