We've bought quite a few of these packs of enoki mushrooms (there's a recipe on that page, which I have lost count of how many times we have made it); I like them very much as mushrooms go. I like that they are very local, grown in Burlington, and that they are therefore very fresh. You can find these in most Chinese supermarkets here in Mississauga. Usually, they run about 2 containers for $2.50, or even less.
I recently read about Red Fife wheat, which was at one time the best wheat in Canada (a good crop yield at an early date); it has been recently, in the last 10 years, rediscovered and reintroduced to the market. Red Fife wheat was developed by David A. Fife near Peterborough, Ontario, from some seeds sent to him from a friend in Glasgow Scotland; he had got it from Danzig or Gdansk in Poland. It is red in colour, thus was called Red Fife, as was the naming convention of the day.
In looking for Red Fife, I noticed the other day, that you can buy the flour at Bulk Barn. I picked some up, and want to try it making bread, which it is best for.
The other Red Fife I found, was in Loblaws, they were selling artisanal bread made from Red Fife by Weston's (makers of many breads). We picked up a loaf, which tasted pretty good to me, with a dense loaf (this was a whole wheat loaf) and a chewy crust.
As it turns out, we didn't have to travel so far to see Japanese Cherry trees blossoming, there are some right here in Mississauga, though only about 27.
Since 1981, Mississauga has enjoyed a twin-sister relationship with Kariya, Japan, which lies between Kyoto and Tokyo. The park honouring Kariya was opened in 1992, and features many of the trees and flowers that grow in Kariya, including Kariya's official city flower, the rabbit-ear iris (Iris laevigata), and rhododendrons, pine, gingko and sweetgum trees, as well as several varieties of sakura.
In the main entrance of the park stands another Japanese feature, a gift from Kariya, a friendship bell, a very large bell cast using traditional methods, it has both Japanese and Canadian symbols.
The park has a number of winding trails, several ponds, and various wildlife, including geese and duck (and recently I saw several ducklings and goslings).
The park is located south of Burnamthorpe, west of Hurontario, on Kariya Way (southeast of Square One). There is very little parking available.
This year, finally, we decided to make the effort to go see the Sakura blooming in High Park. And, despite the large number of people and the lack of available parking, we did achieve just that, enjoying the pink-white blossoms, and giving our daughter her first "taste" of Spring blooms (and taste it was, nearly).
In 1959, 2000 Japanese Sakura trees were given to Toronto by Tokyo, in appreciation for relocating Japanese-Canadians following the Second World War. Many of these trees were planted in High Park, specifically near Grenadier Cafe, around Grenadier Pond. More Sakura were planted over the years; in 1984, several trees were planted near the Children's Adventure Playground; 50 or so were planted more recently, again around Grenadier Pond. You can read more about the cherry trees in High Park here.
It was the grove of trees near the Children's Adventure Playground that we finally saw and took pictures of, after inching around Grenadier Cafe after entering the main entrance on Bloor Street, and unsuccessfully finding a parking place close by there, we did finally manage to snag a parking place near their small Zoo, which we got to by driving down Parkside Drive and going into the side park entrance. If you have small children, or, like us, babies in strollers/travel systems, the Adventure Playground area is a better option, as some of the hills around Grenadier Cafe/Pond are quite steep; conversely, the area around Adventure Playground is only a little hilly.
Getting to High Park is relatively easy. By TCC, the High Park or Keele station on the subway gets you close to the entrance, or take the 506 Streetcar via Howard Park or the 501 Streetcar via the Queensway. By car, go to the Bloor Street entrance (main entrance) just west of Keele, or take Parkside Drive south (on the east side of High Park) from Bloor, or north from Lakeshore Blvd., to go to the East entrance.
Going to see the Sakura blossoms are well worth it, an interesting and beautiful aspect of Toronto, though next time we will go during the week, so we can go to the other, larger, grove of trees, and easily find a parking place.
You could be forgiven for passing by this unimposing store, you also could be forgiven for thinking this store only sells apples (no, not Apples, as in Apple computers, rather, the fruit). Located at the corner of Queensway and Camilla Road, a couple stoplights west of Hurontario, I've driven by it a few times before we decided finally to make that turn south and into the parking lot. This used to be a 15-acre farm, specializing in apples, onions, carrots, tomatoes, and rhubarb, eventually a small store was opened to sell seasonal fruit, there was a garden centre as well. Over the years, this evolved to include fresh-baked goods, unique groceries (with a fair number of them Organic or healthy), a full-service meat counter, and, so you're thinking now this is a big store, it also includes a health and wellness section (and they stock some of the health products that I had to go downtown for!). There is also a Health and Wellness fair every September. Going up to the main entrance, we noticed people go into a shed, looking like it was sunk into the ground, and other people coming out holding big baskets of apples. Another thing I like about this store, is an emphasis on local, Ontario, produce (though there are lots of produce I see that you find in any supermarket); I would like to see more emphasis on local products, but perhaps that's just because we haven't got much produce yet from within Ontario. The staff is friendly, it's a family-owned and run business, the prices are fairly reasonable; all good reasons to check this store out!
I came across this contest in the latest Foodland Ontario brochure I picked up at Loblaws (and I'm sure lots of other places have it), which also features recipes using Ontario produce and meat; if you are picked as a winner, you will receive a $200 gift certificate at a participating Savour Ontario restaurant. You can read about the various restaurants at Savour Ontario. To enter the contest, go here. Contest ends June 30, 2009. For legal residents of Ontario, Canada who have reached the age of majority. Good Luck!
Like the other two I have tried, Blood Orange and Strawberry, this one has a good ingredient listing (organic wild blueberries, organic golden sugar (made from cane sugar), natural fruit pectin, ascorbic acid and citric acid) and features 1/3 less sugar than conventional jams, but I saved the best from Parry Sound, ON, for the last, because this one contains wild blueberries, my favourite fruit (while there is no indication of the origin of said wild blueberries, let me tell you that Ontario produces some of the finest blueberries of the wild kind, and I have eaten my fair share of them - though not enough, there's never enough).
Opening the bottle reveals the heady scent of those blueberries, and I was more than hopeful that they had done themselves proud with this blue offering. And it does taste good, the best of the three, though, for me, I can eat them as they are, straight off the bush, but this is another way of enjoying them.
Having tried their more unusual product, Blood Orange Spread, this one is more conventional. Again, this spread has 1/3 less sugar as commercial jam, and its ingredient listing looks good, organic strawberries, organic golden sugar (made from cane sugar), natural fruit pectin, ascorbic acid and citric acid.
How does it taste? Not as sweet as commercial jams, certainly, but still good, with lots of fruit throughout (you can see I've already consumed a fair bit).
I like blood oranges, and look forward to them every Winter, now that I discovered them, so I was interested in this jam I found in the Organic section of Loblaws (I think you can find this particular brand in most health food stores). Not only is the jam organic, it has 1/3 less sugar than conventional jams, and has a high fruit content. Ingredients, other than blood oranges, include golden sugar (dehydrated cane juice), natural fruit pectin, ascorbic acid and citric acid. So far, so good.
Regardless of how healthy it purports to be, it's no good if it doesn't have excellent flavour. This definitely has the taste of blood orange, and smells really fragrant and tasty, which I like very much, though there is an underlying bitterness to this jam that spoils my enjoyment and makes we wonder if it would taste better with the missing 1/3 sugar.
Update: I've eaten two blood oranges in the last couple of days, one was sweet, the other one was slightly bitter, similar to the underlying bitterness I was talking about. Still, I'd say go with a little extra sugar.
We were done in Niagara Falls this week, and spent a little time at the Butterfly Conservatory, located on Niagara Parkway close to the Falls. It's an interesting place, they have lots of gardens there, rose, herb, vegetable, and so forth, and in one heat-controlled building, there are hundreds of butterflies flittering around the tropical plants. Very interesting, and fun for kids who enjoy nature and animals, it's always a joy to see the smile on a child's face when a butterfly lands on them (well, some of them cry or try to squirm away). Here are a bunch of the more interesting pictures we took.
The Farmer's Market at Square One Shopping Mall in Mississauga, Hurontario/Hwy. 10 and Burnamthorpe, located in the Zellers parking lot, opens again this Friday, 6 June, 2008, and is open Fridays and Sundays 8am till 4pm till November 2. Come and check out the more than 150 farmers, locally grown fruits and vegetables, fresh flowers, baked goods, all kinds of good things. There are better ones out there, like the ones in Kitchener and Waterloo/St. Jacob's, but, for me, I can't beat the location, just up the street from me (as opposed to driving over an hour).
Update: We went there on Sunday, and there were hardly any vendors, nor many customers. There were early strawberries, rhubarb, lots of tomatoes and new potatoes, a fellow selling Fair Trade coffee, and one selling freshly picked mushrooms.
