Ottawa Farmers' Market

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Food Network has published another guest blog post of mine. This one's about my latest trip to the Ottawa Farmers' Market, where Robin Turner (above middle) of Riverglen Farm, and Cory (below) of the Elk Ranch, sell their company's locally made foods every Sunday. My post on the market is at this link if you want to check it out. As always, I would love it if you would leave a comment :)


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The open market in Nyons

On Thursday morning we got up early again. The power was back on after an amazing lightning storm that knocked out the neighbourhood's transformer the night before. We drove with Susan and the other cooking students to go to the market in Nyons. It was again pouring buckets, but one third of the vendors were there.

Nyons is a town in the southern part of the Drôme that hosts the largest open market of the region. On Thursdays, vendors take over the whole town square and trickle down the alleyways, laying out a feast for the senses. The usual food stalls of bread, meat, cheese, and fruit and veg are just the beginning. Even on a rainy Thursday there was a great variety of other things for sale, too: scarves, soaps, essential oils, plants, fabrics and lavender sachets. I took this photo at the stall belonging to Susan's favourite spice lady.

Since it's surrounded by silvery olive groves, Nyons is also famous for its locally made olive oils and wines. Susan took S and I and the other cooking students to the olive oil co-operative, where there were wines to be tasted free of charge, confits and tapenades lining the walls and olive products galore. I even found some olive oil bubble bath to take home :)

Sunday Harvest Brunch

Today S and I met some friends at the Landsdowne Farmer's Market and we all bought ingredients for a Sunday harvest brunch at Ella and Cinder's house. The photo above is from the market, and the one below shows all of the delicious dishes we prepared.

Ella made sage-and-brown butter ravioli with toasted almond slivers, and also this amazing dish that was sort of a cross between an apple tart and a semi-sweet quiche. She has promised me the recipe, so stay tuned! She also served prosciutto-wrapped melon and many cheeses, including a great maple cheddar, which she bought recently during a trip to Prince Edward County. We also made insalata caprese and MV made her famous spicy Portuguese shrimp. S and I bought olive and potato-dill artisan breads from the market. Squeaky made mimosas with champagne, peaches and strawberries, and Em and I brought éclairs that we made yesterday and which I'll tell you about soon in another post!

Lovely Cheese, Gromit!

Adventures in cheese at the Granville Island Public Market in Vancouver.

Weekend in Kingston

Last weekend, S and I went to Kingston with Squeaky and Calimocho. From the top, the pictures start with a barbeque at Dad's house, followed by a sampler plate at Mango, a Thai restaurant on Princess Street where we had lunch. The third photo is of raspberries from the Kingston farmers market and last photo shows the chocolate fountain at the Taste of Kingston, a yearly event where local restaurants set up tasting booths at Confederation Basin.