First tomatoes

We savoured the first luscious warm ripe tomatoes from the garden today (an heirloom variety called Stupice)!   So worth the wait...

Tomatillo salsa

We're working on more tomatillo salsa.  We harvested about 20 lbs of tomatillos from our garden, and have about that much more still not quite ripe on the plants.  Hopefully we can get those in before the frosts come (the weather seems unpredictable this time of year, with cooler nights already).  The garden still has tomatillos, zucchini, cherry tomatoes, hot peppers and eggplants for picking.  We came up with a great tomatillo salsa recipe, an adaptation of what we happen to have in the garden that is ripe (hot peppers, onions, herbs like cilantro or parsley, garlic) as well as following two or three different books for advice on how much vinegar, salt, sugar and lemon juice/lime to add.  I think this is my new favourite salsa!

Neighbourhood peach tree

Word has gotten around that we like to rescue forgotten fruit around town, picking and harvesting wonderful fruit from the trees of willing neighbours, as well as trees, bushes (or the ground) on boulevards, in city parks, along hiking trails, etc...and there is a lot of fruit to be found in our city!  We've had luck finding pears, apples, cherries, grapes, saskatoon (service berries), raspberries, mulberries, and even plums - but so far did not come across anyone with a peach tree.  Today, a friend dropped by with a basket full of plump miniature peaches - perfectly sized for a child's hand.  They were tiny, oval-shaped, sweet, very fuzzy (much more than market full-sized peaches), and oh so tasty!  She sourced them from a tree growing right nearby, which a neighbour had shared with her and told her the tree was aproximately 100 years old!  Don't know if the age of the tree is correct, but it is certainly old and would then likely stand where one of the original farms in this area was.  I would love to know more about the story of this tree - who planted and cared for it, was it part of an orchard, how far does it date back?  What a great historical landmark for this neighbourhood.  Delicious - thanks for thinking of us Michelle!

100-Mile Desserts: Profiteroles with Fruit Whipped Cream

We heard from our favourite local organic strawberry farmer that this season has not been so good for strawberries. With the late frost during the first week of June, and the extremely hot weather that followed, the berries are now all but over. Luckily, we did manage to put several quarts into our freezer for winter use, but for now we are just trying to enjoy the last of the fresh berries in as many ways as possible. The 100-Mile Dessert recipe for today was profiteroles (cream puffs), filled with a honey-sweetened whipped cream and fresh berries. The recipe comes from the Moosewood Restaurant Book of Desserts, slightly modified to meet our 100-mile criteria. They are an impressive, yet not difficult dessert to make and can be filled with a variety of sauces, creams or fruit. Here's how to make them:

Profiteroles with Fruit Whipped Cream

1 cup water
5 Tbsp organic butter
1 cup unbleached organic flour
1/4 tsp salt
2 Tbsp maple syrup
4 large eggs

1) Preheat oven to 400F. The key to successful puffs is to have the high heat that quickly expands the egg-rich dough.
2) In a sauce pan bring water, butter and maple syrup to a boil.
3) Then add the flour and salt, stirring constantly to get a nice smooth dough.
4) Remove from heat and allow to cool for 2-3 minutes.
5) Beat in one egg at a time, stirring well to bring the sticky clumpy dough back into a smooth consistency. It can also be blended in a food processor for a few seconds to make a smooth dough.
6) Lightly oil baking sheet. Drop mounds of dough 2 inches apart on the sheet. Use about 1/4 cup dough for large profiteroles, or 2 1/2 Tbsp for small ones.
7) Bake for 10 minutes at 400F, then reduce heat and bake at 350F for another 15 minutes.
8) Restrain yourself from opening the oven until the profiteroles are done - otherwise, you risk the puffs not rising properly!
9) When the puffs are firm, let them cool and then score a horizontal cut about 1/3 of the way through the middle of the puff.
10) Fill with favourite cream or sauce and replace the top - we used 500 ml organic whipping cream blended with 2 Tbsp honey, and then mixed in 2 cups fresh strawberry slices.

Makes about 12 large profiteroles or 20 small ones.

100-Mile Desserts: Maple Glazed Peanuts

Just in time for the long weekend holiday coming up, I thought I'd add the recipe for a very simple 100-Mile camping sweet treat. It can be made ahead of time at home (it transports well), or it can also be made over a campfire in a cast iron pan. It would be a fun and easy cooking project for kids to help with! Of course, be sure to ask first if anyone has peanut allergies.

We found locally grown peanuts at Pickards (available directly, or through Bailey's Local Foods). They offer redskin peanuts that are salted, unsalted or garlic. Any variety would do for this recipe. There are also a variety of other nuts available through the Ontario Nut Growers Association (hazelnuts, heartnuts, walnuts), but they are significantly more expensive and need to be shelled by hand.

Happy Canada Day! Enjoy this recipe:

Maple Glazed Peanuts
2 cups peanuts (e.g. Pickards Peanuts)
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 tsp salt (if peanuts are unsalted - e.g. Sifto salt)
1 Tbsp canola oil (e.g. Pristine Gourmet)

1) Pre-heat a large sturdy cast iron frying pan. Prepare a lightly oiled sheet of waxed paper on a baking tray and set aside.
2) Dry-roast the peanuts in the pan over medium heat for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly.
3) Add maple syrup, salt and oil. Stir the mixture to coat peanuts well.
4) Continue to stir well as the maple syrup boils down. This will take about 15 minutes.
5) When the maple syrup has boiled down, the peanuts will look glossy and sticky. Scrape them onto the oiled sheet of wax paper and let cool completely.
6) Break the maple-peanuts ("brittle") into small chunks. Store in sealed container or glass jar.

100-Mile Desserts: Custard & Berry Pie

Last week a local 100-Mile Diet Challenge was started in our community. Two of our community naturopaths (from the Healing Path Centre for Natural Medicine in uptown Waterloo) are heading up the challenge, inviting 100 people to eat 100-mile diet for 100 days. So far more than 160 people have already signed up! There are various slight exceptions, but for the most part participants are attempting to support only local farmers and producers for this duration. The hope is to learn more about the great food varieties in season for us locally, to build a sense of momentum around local eating which will hopefully encourage new food sources and suppliers to become available, and to become a little less reliant on the long-distance transported food system.

More info about this local 100-Mile Diet Challenge at: http://www.healingpathcentre.com/blog/index.php

We already pretty much eat a local seasonal diet, and love seeking out local farmers and producers, and supporting restaurants that feature local foods on their menu. However, my husband cringed at the thought of not having his daily morning coffee, and although he doesn't mind the odd cup of herbal tea, or even dandelion-chickory root brew I suggested, he decided that coffee would be his "exception" as long as it was fair trade and organic. Fortunately, there is a good selection of 100-Mile wine available, not to mention apple cider and other locally made fruit juices, and we are growing hops in the hopes of trying to make our own beer from scratch this fall.

I am not a coffee drinker, but do like my desserts. The thought of no sugar or chocolate for 100 days seemed a bit daunting, but then again it would probably do me good to reduce my dependence on these two items! I decided I will go without both, and will make it my goal to compile 100-mile dessert recipes during this time. We are a region rich in dairy, and there are several excellent locally made sources for organic yogurt, cream, icecream, butter, milk and of course eggs available. I am also excited about all the seasonal berries, local fruit, wild herbs & edibles (like rosehips & wild grapes), wild-harvested abandoned fruit, edible flowers, locally grown nuts, maple syrup and honey available to us, and will be posting weekly 100-mile dessert recipes on this blog along with photos of the desserts we create & sample here at home! To find a quick complete list of all the recipes just do a search in this blog under "100-mile desserts". I will only list general sources for ingredients, and more specific names of farms can be found on our region's Buy Local map, through Bailey's Local Foods, or at the local farmer's markets.

Here is the first recipe, which we savoured on our picnic blanket outside in the garden:

Custard & Berry Pie

Pie Crust:
1 1/2 cups organic spelt or wheat flour (e.g. Oak Manor)
1/2 tsp salt (e.g. Sifto salt which comes from near Goderich)
1/2 cup chilled butter
3-4 Tbsp ice water

1) Mix all ingredients in food processor. This makes a soft ball of dough.
2) Chill for 30 minutes.
3) Roll out and spread into a large pie dish.
4) Pre-bake for 5 minutes at 350F.

Custard Filling:
4 organic eggs (various good local sources, or your from your own backyard hens)
1/2 cup maple syrup (e.g. sources at Kitchener Farmer's Market)
4 Tbsp organic flour (e.g. Oak Manor)
1 3/4 cups organic milk
2 Tbsp organic butter

Plus 2 pints fresh seasonal berries or fruit (we are using strawberries right now).

1) Preheat oven to 350F.
2) Whisk eggs, syrup and flour together. Add other ingredients and blend well.
3) Pour into pre-baked pie crust. Bake for 40 minutes.
4) Cool pie completely. Then cover with fruit or berries in concentric circles.
5) This pie is not very sweet - the sweetness comes from the fruit ontop. It can be garnished with local whipped cream (sweetened with honey) or fresh mint sprigs.

Serves 10.

100 Mile Diet for K-W group introduced in local paper

Are 100 People Ready to try the 100 Mile Diet? by Dinah Murdoch

If you committed to a diet of food that was grown within 100 miles of your house, what would you miss most? Coffee? Spices?

It's a valid question for Waterloo naturopaths Rachel VandenBerg and Michael Torreiter, who hope to round up 100 local residents to join them in eating "100-mile food" for 100 days.

Alisa Smith and James MacKinnon, a B.C. couple, were the first to try it. They devoted themselves (with some exceptions) to eating local for a year, then chronicled their experiences in the much-discussed 2007 book, The 100 Mile Diet.

Smith and MacKinnon then took the idea to everyday folks in Mission, B.C., having six families there try 100 days of eating food that was grown and produced within a 100-mile radius. A TV report describing the results recently aired in a Food Network Canada program called The 100 Mile Challenge.

Torreiter and VandenBerg run the Healing Path Centre for Natural Medicine on King Street in Waterloo. They thought about their 100-mile idea a couple of years ago and were going to try it then. Other things got in the way, but fast forward to now and the two are ready to take on the task.

On Tuesday, they'll hold a recruitment session of sorts from 7 to 9 p.m. at The Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery on Caroline Street in Waterloo. The event will be catered with locally produced food. All are welcome.

Region of Waterloo public health planner Marc Xuereb will give a presentation on local eating and growers will be on hand. There will be a Q-and-A session about how the project will work.

Though the 100 days won't officially start until Saturday, July 4 -- it's timed to coincide with the local growing season --VandenBerg says they're organizing now to help people to avoid the stress of being unprepared.

"This way we can paint a picture of what these 100 days will look like and people have time to figure out what prep work they'll need to do," she said in an interview.

Over the course of the project -- it wraps up at Thanksgiving -- there will be potluck events, organized farm expeditions and workshops.

VandenBerg says she and Torreiter are open to suggestions from participants as to how the experience can be enriched for everyone.

Local food growers and sellers are thrilled about the project and many are offering to help in any way they can. It will, after all, mean increased sales for those who run small food-based businesses and are constantly struggling to compete with commercial grocers and big box stores.

Asked what participants will find hardest to give up, Torreiter and VandenBerg offered a few thoughts.

"Coffee and chocolate," they both said, right off the bat.

"Sugar might be tough but we do have honey and maple syrup," added VandenBerg.

"Nuts and seeds might be a problem. And people pretty much can't have anything that comes in a package, so the loss of convenience will be tough. I think making everything from scratch will be the hardest thing."

Torreiter laughs at the thought of getting out a pasta maker late on a Friday night and telling the kids to wait a couple hours while he prepares and cranks out the dough.

The 100-mile diet is seen as a good way to reduce your carbon footprint while supporting the local economy. But Torreiter said he thinks the health benefits will also be well worth the effort as well. (One 100-mile eater in Mission, B.C. unexpectedly lost 42 pounds.)

"As naturopaths, we're interested in healthy eating and (in) anything that gets people back to a whole-foods-based diet," Torreiter said.

"The prevalence of processed foods is just huge. Giving that up will be hard for people."

If you think you're up to the Healing Path Centre's 100 Mile Challenge, visit the centre's website at www.healingpathcentre.com or phone 519-578-7000.

Or head down to the gallery on Tuesday night. Maybe one bite of those homegrown regional canapés will have you signing up on the spot.

Dinah Murdoch is a Kitchener writer. You can contact her by email at dinahmurdoch@yahoo.com.

100 Mile-Diet, 100 People, 100 Days

Our friends Michael and Rachel over at Healing Path Centre for Naturopathic Medicine in uptown Waterloo, are launching a 100-Mile diet project for this summer. They hope to start sometime this coming July, and hopefully gather 100 (or more) interested people who are willing to eat locally for 100 days. As they are both naturopaths, they also plan to lead workshops on local nutrition, herbal medicine, healthy cooking, and so forth, as well as organize a few group potlucks, canning bees, harvest parties, and get-togethers. They are working on a new blog that will give opportunity for those involved to write about their experiences sourcing local food, putting food away for the winter, sharing recipes and other ideas. To sign up or learn more go to: www.healingpathcentre.com (blog soon to be ready)