I didn’t grow up celebrating Thanksgiving but this doesn’t mean that I didn’t want to take advantage of the long weekend. So off I went to Taboo  to take advantage of some peace and quiet and to enjoy the beautiful Fall season.

Naturally I had to start the trip with a stop at  Webers  to enjoy one of their famous hamburgers.

The weekend was all about food and snapping photos of the scenery. What a perfect time of year to take a lot of photos. I simply couldn’t stop.

I even managed to get off the couch and stroll thru Gravenhurst, Bracebridge and Bala too! Naturally there was a goal. ..to find the perfect butter tart! Sadly Marty’s World Famous Cafe was closed but I managed to find 2 butter tarts to compare.

The butter tart on the right is from The Chancery Lane Co.  (33 Manitoba St, Gravenhurst, ON 705 645 424).  This butter tart is actually called: Rick’s Handbaked in Muskoka butter tarts.

The butter tart on the left is from Gravenhurst Bakery. (14 Brock St, Gravenhurst, ON 705 687 2579.

In my humble opinion: I preferred the butter tart from The Chancery Lane Co. (pastry, filling and flavour)

When I wasn’t busy eating butter tarts I was busy in the kitchen cooking up a storm. I brought up some goodies from Yummy Market as well as a bag of root vegetables from Cookstown Greens. Seriously there was no shortage of good food.

The weekend also included Season 2 of Prisoners of War  which can be found at Videoflicks. I watched Season 1 in Vegas and now I had the chance to watch Season 2 at Taboo. Why is it that I love watching a TV series while Im away? LOL

The best part of the weekend was returning back to Toronto to find out that I had received a Hoptorial Six-Pack from Muskoka Brewery. Each pack features two bottles of the brewery’s famous IPAs. I opened up a bottle of the Detour immediately as a way of reminding myself what a fantastic weekend I had.

Cheers!!

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I recently was involved in a conversation where we discussed “what food would you feel funny about, if you didn’t eat it every day”?. I have to admit there are days where I don’t eat any fruit but there’s hardly a day that goes by without me eating vegetables. Here’s a few of my favorite QUICK and SIMPLE veggies dishes.

1. Roasted Brussel Sprouts: Wash, trim, sprinkle with olive oil, salt and pepper …stick them on a tray in a 425 oven for 15 minutes. VOILA.

2. Kale with Red Pepper, Onions and Goat Cheese: Stir fry the onions, add some red pepper and then the chopped (washed) Kale. Add some goat cheese for some creamy-ness. SO SO good for you.

3. Stir Fried Veggies; No need to explain. Right? LOL

4. Roasted Root Veggies: Try Cookstown Greens…it’s worth the $$. Promise. Wash the veggies, stick them on a tray, drizzle with olive oil and salt and pepper and bake in a 425 oven for 30 minutes. YUM.

5. I’m perfectly happy with a salad too!

What’s your favourite vegetable? Do share…

Next blog post…will be all about FRUIT. Stay tuned.

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In the last 6 weeks, I have been fortunate enough to attend two media tours to visit a variety of farms. One tour was organized by Farm Food Care and the other tour was organized by Farmers Feed Cities. Both tours were amazing and have been thinking about visiting more farmers and eating local. Therefore, on my way back from Collingwood, I stopped by Cookstown Greens to see their farm. Caroline and Simon Ffrench were all too happy to give us a tour and teach us about their unbelievable operation. Just take a look at these photos. These images say a lot!!

Stunning!

Black Tomatoes!!

Beauties.

On our way out, we received a beautiful bag of goodies. These vegetables were truly appreciated as I’m still on a low carb diet and it meant that I would have a beautiful lunch today!!

Salad Ingredient

Cookstown Greens Seedling Salad ( may contain: daikon and burgundy radish, popcorn pea, chickpea, chard, red cabbage seedlings and edible flower petals). I also chopped the beautiful cucumber and the purple green pepper into the salad. Trust me – this was not your average summer.

I did not need to add toasted nuts or feta cheese. My salad was going to taste amazing without any additional ingredients. The only thing I needed was a dressing. (which I make without using a formal recipe. Sorry)

Salad Dressing Ingredients:  Lemon Balm (from Cookstown Greens), olive oil, balsamic vinegar, a bit of honey, a bit of grainy mustard and then I whizzed up all the ingredients in the Cuisinart.

I love homemade dressings.

End Result: A stunning, TASTY salad.

Cookstown Greens Inspired Lunch

For more info about Cookstown Greens, please visit their website.

To find their products in retail stores click here and to find their farmer market locations please click here.

Ps I think  Ontario Table  would be proud of me for having a LOCAL lunch. You too can have a LOCAL lunch. (hint hint) For more info about her quest for everyone to eat local, please check out her website here.

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Being a food sales rep, means that I have the opportunity to shop while I work. (shhh- lets keep this a secret).

One day while visiting Pusateris Fruit Market (497 Church Street) I stumbled upon a bag of Cookstown Greens Seasonal Heirloom Vegetables. It’s not cheap but when you eat every single vegetable in the bag – then nothing goes to waste. Plus Im supporting a local business. So after a few seconds of comtemplation, I bought the bag.

A Bag of Goodness!!

When I got home, I roasted them and then continued to buy this bag of vegetables almost every week throughout the entire winter. Then – poof –  they disappeared over the spring/summer. Sadness. However this past weekend, I discovered that they are back in season again. I scooped up a bag for $10 and then went home immediately to make them.

This is how I prepared them:

a) washed them

b) cut them in half

c) put them on a shallow baking pan.

d) added a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper .

e) 425 degree over for 45 minutes.

END RESULT:

OMG…these vegetables are dynamite. I hope you get a chance to try this “bag of goodness”  one day soon. It’s SO worth it.

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