Coming soon: Downtown Localicious 2009 - Hamilton's Fresh-tival of Flavour!

Join us for the LOCALICIOUS LAUNCH PARTY: Wednesday, September 16th, 2009 7 - 10 p.m.

Lincoln Alexander Centre at the Crowne Plaza Hotel

150 King St. E.

Hamilton, Ontario

Guests will enjoy local samples from the best downtown Hamilton restaurants, a local winery and brewery, local music from Mike Trebilcock's CHOIR DEETS, and a chance to see and hear rising culinary superstar and region's leading localvores Executive Chef JEFF CRUMP and Pastry Chef BETTINA SCHORMANN of the Ancaster Old Mill.  Jeff and Bettina will perform a culinary demonstration from their new book "EARTH TO TABLE", which is being launched next week and guests can pre-order their copy of this exceptional book at a discount and have both sign their copy personally at the Downtown Localicious 2009 Launch Event.

Proceeds from this event will in part support HAMILTON PARTNERS IN NUTRITION (HPIN), a partnership of community agencies and community members that supports and facilitates local student nutrition programs for children in Hamilton.  A portion of books sales will help support SLOW FOOD HAMILTON, a convivium of Slow Food celebrating the pleasures of the table and promoting the value of food that is ”good clean and fair”.

Tickets are $20 plus applicable taxes and can be purchased by visiting http://tickets.lincolnalexanderlive.com/ ; there will be tickets at the box office starting at 6pm on the night of the event, and will be sold on a first-come-first-served basis.

Downtown Localicious 2009 is a 10-day celebration of Hamilton’s downtown restaurants and Hamilton’s remarkable agricultural heritage. From Friday, September 18th to Sunday, September 27th, restaurant-lovers can taste their favorite local foods prepared by some of Hamilton’s finest restaurants.

A lunchtime special and a 3-course dinner menu will be offered at the 12 participating restaurants at the following rates:

$10, $15 or $20 lunch specials

$20, $30 or $40 prix fixe dinner menus

For more information please visit http://www.localicious.info/  or call the Downtown Hamilton BIA at 905-523-1646.

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Visit "The Delicious Dozen", our Downtown Localicious 2009 Restaurants
Reservations for dinner are recommended!

Acclamation - 191 James North 905 523-7269

al Centro Paninoteca & Pizzeria - 24 King St. E. 905 524-2444

Boo's Bistro & Wine Bar - 164 James St. S. 905 296-7598

Bread & Roses Cafe - 27 King William 905 777-8102

Brownies Downtown - 275 King St. E. 905 526-6047

Capri Ristorante Italiano - 25 John St. N. 905 525-7811

Dalina's Egyptian & Mediterranean Cuisine - 49 King William 905 522-6252

Incognito Restaurant &Wine Bar - 93 John St. S 905 296-5832

La Piazza Allegra - 180 James St. S. 905 777-8970

Saffron Mediterranean Restaurant & Wine Bar at Crowne Plaza Hotel -

150 King St. E. 905 528-3451

Slainte's Irish Pub 33 Bowen St 905 528-8000

The London Tap House - 31 John St. N 289 396-8779

*** visit www.localicious.info for information and tickets ***

Tapestry Bistro Summer Beerfest

Personally, I cannot think of better things summer brings us than crisp beer and succulent fruits. And I know I’m not the only one because Tapestry Bistro’s first-ever Summer Beerfest is featuring FRUIT BEERS!!

The event is happening on this Saturday, August 15^th, 4-8pm. There will be food pairings for the beers on hand as well as live acoustic music during the event! And if that is not tempting enough, this beerfest will feature some beers crafted solely for this event.

Tickets are $50 plus tax and is available at the door or by reservation (905-481-2166). Last Bistro Beerfest was sold out so reservation might be the method to go.

And finally the part you’ve all been waiting for—this list of Ontario Craft Beers participating in the 1^st Bistro Summer Beerfest:

-Churchkey

-Cameron’s

-F&M

-Grand River

-Great Lakes

-Amsterdam

Hope to see everyone there,

Sarah

Preserving the Art of Preservation

If we want to capture a sight, we take pictures.

If we want to capture a sound, we record it.

But what happens when we want to capture a taste?

We preserve it of course! Preserving foods has been an essential technique for good eating for countless centuries and it's an especially good way to be sure that you can 'eat local' all year 'round. But at the same time, food preservation skills are something that we’ve recently begun to lose. Perhaps it is because we have no time, perhaps it is because of all the imports and convenience foods available, or perhaps, it is simply that we cannot remember how or never learned in the first place.

Hamilton Eat Local believes than now more than ever we’ve come to a complete disconnect with our food – not knowing how it should actually taste or how to obtain food that is good for both us and the environment. Amidst such melancholy though, there is hope: we can re-learn, if we so please.

Like any other skill, learning the art of preservation takes time, but once you learn the basics it gets easier, and more interesting. Start with making jam or canning tomatoes; these are simple to ways to start that do not require much equipment. Opening up a homemade jar of strawberry jam in January is like a tasty trip back in time to last June. When you’ve put up your year’s stock of assorted jams and tomato sauce, move on to pickling. Who doesn’t crave the texture and tang of pickled beets mid-winter?

The next progression is towards pressure canning, a technique used in preserving low-acid foods, such as meats, seafood, and vegetables. Low-acid foods such as these require specialized equipment which allows processing to reach temperatures and sterilizing capabilities far beyond the simpler boiling-water bath method used for more acidic foods.

At last, the final step in 'preserving the art of preservation' is to spread it! Let your children get involved, share jam recipes with your friends, invite neighbors to can with you, organize workshops, become a part of food advocacy groups such as Hamilton Eat Local and Slow Food Hamilton—do your part in re-establishing our connection with locally grown food and all its glory.

Spec's Hamilton Eat Local Feature

The Hamilton Spectator is preparing to run an Eat Local feature again on August 8th and 15th to help continue promoting the concept as well as give an opportunity for famers whose crops were not available earlier to participate. Any parties interested in advertising on this feature can contact Paul Glendenning, Advertising Consultant for The Hamilton Spectator. Listed below is the contact information as well as the advertising rates.

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Paul Glendenning
Advertising Consultant for The Hamilton Spectator
Phone: 905-526-3224
Fax: 905-522-1696
Email: pglendenning@thespec.com

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2” x 2.5” full colour ads for $199 total for both days (or $99 each)

Full colour Banners for $499 each ($999 for both days)
Other sizes are possible!

Special Eat Local Farm Package for only $425 (Regular price for the 1” Classified ad alone is $454.50)
2” full colour ad in both days of the feature
PLUS : 1” display ad in our Classified Farm Fresh Products section for 30 days in the Spectator & 5 weeks in the Ancaster News, Dundas Star, Mountain News and Stoney Creek News
Other sizes are possible!

We're jamming -- I wanna jam it with you, and we hope you'll start jamming, too!

The Hamilton Fruit Tree Project had its first canning workshop last Thursday and boil did it go well! We made jam from sour cherries picked from our very own Fruit Tree Project. It was the perfect introduction to canning and preserving, needing no more than fruit, a stockpot, canning tongs, and copious amounts of sugar!The Hamilton Fruit Tree Project and OPIRG PEAS will continue to offer canning and preserving workshops throughout the summer. Each workshop’s focus will depend on the fruits and vegetables in season -- another reason to look forward to our August crop!!!

An Announcement from Ancaster

For nearly two hundred years, Ancaster has been a strong and vibrant farming community.

The Ancaster Farmers Market Management Group is bringing the farm community back to the Ancaster heritage village core.

Every Wednesday until Thanksgiving, local farmers will be selling their produce on Wilson Street.

We believe a community central Farmers’ Market making fresh, local, naturally grown produce available will give added reason to walk to the Village Core to mingle and shop. Its central location means that local residents can decrease their dependency on cars.

We will increase the size of the market based on demand and are prepared to move the site to accommodate growth. Currently, we have produce from the Heart’s Content Organic Farmstead and the The V Spot vegan bakery, Fresh cut flowers from La Primavera Farms, Naturally raised chickens & certified organic chickens from Fenwood Farms , as well as a variety of fresh fruit and vegetables from Berry Fresh Farms available on a weekly basis. We also have local honey and beeswax candles from the Pomegranate Trading Company and Happy Harvest Breads. We have new vendors coming in on a weekly basis and hope to add musical entertainment provided by the young local Annie Shaw at next weeks market

The Market will be open one day a week on Wednesdays starting at 3:00 p.m and closing at 7:00 p.m. from Mid-June to Thanksgiving..

For information please call

Franca Quinlan (905) 928-2202 Market Secretary
Karen Wilkins at (905)-515-5346 Co-ordinator Ancaster’s Farmer’s Market

Chef's Night Out: Local Food -- Local Heroes

On the evening of Sunday, June 28th farmers put down their pitchforks and chefs their spatulas. They headed over to the The Bright Room on the third floor of The Staircase Theatre for Hamilton Eat Local’s and Slow Food Hamilton's first-ever “Chef’s Night Out: Local Food -- Local Heroes” event. Guests were greeted with live acoustic music by singer-songwriter and guitarist, Ian Reid. Locavore Chef Sam Robertson served up free range Omani spiced chicken skewers, deliciously home-cut French fries, cucumber chips with dip, bite size hamburgers, their famous "bread and spreads", and delicate little pots of crème brûlée for our guests to taste and admire. Complementing these finger foods were beverages served by Daniel Speck of Henry of Pelham Family Estate Winery and Jason and Rachel Hofing of Red Hill Coffee Trade.

The documentary film Tableland showed real-life examples of a vision many of our guests share. Tableland focused on food systems where little stands between the farmers planting their seeds, the chefs garnishing their dishes, and the diners enjoying the fruits of their joint labours.

Excited and inspired, our panel discussion consisting of Jeff Crump of Ancaster Old Mill, Chris Krucker of ManoRun Organic Farm, Daniel Speck of Henry of Pelham, and Barbara Ramsay-Orr of Hamilton Magazine began a discussion on how field-to-table can become a greater reality here in Hamilton. In next to no time, the entire room joined in the discussion: farmers recommended strategies that have worked for them, chefs offered their concerns, and the current larger, more dominant food systems were called into question.

The panel was introduced by Lori Stahlbrand, founder and president of Local Food Plus, and Slow Food Niagara's Karen LaVigne, of Selections de la Vigne introduced the film and brought along copies available for sale (which sold out!). Hamilton Eat Local's new "Local Food Resource Guide for Chefs" is now available, just contact Project Manager Karen Burson for your copy: kburson.eatlocal@environmenthamilton.org.

Special thanks go out to William Dam Seeds, Red Hill Coffee Trade, Sherlea Acres, and the Ottawa St. Farmers Market for providing market bags full of local goodies and assorted local food resources for our guests to take home. As well, thank you to Joanne Feddes of LaPrimavera Farms who’s fresh local delphiniums were complemented by many.

“Chef’s Night Out” was funded by Friends of The Greenbelt Foundation (www.greenbelt.ca) with the intention of providing these two influential contributors of our food culture an opportunity to meet, share, and re-create.

The Dundas Farmers Market opening was a big hit!

Consumers who were delighted by the re-opening of the former town's traditional market lined up for fresh berries, local meats, produce and baked goods. Cloudy overcast skies did not stop eager eaters from coming in droves to see what delicious goodies were available. Hamilton Eat Local handed out maps and chatted with the diverse range of vendors and farmers - most are currently listed on our Hamilton Eat Local Farm map.
Mayor Fred Eisenberger, Leona Dombrowsky the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Councillor Robert Pasuta, HWFA President Roy Shuker, members of the Dundas Downtown BIA, Ted McMeekin MPP, Caroline Merritt (Market Manager of the Ottawa Street Farmers Market) were all present to celebrate with the Dundas community. The Dundas Farmers Market is located behind the public library and it is open from 3-7pm
on thursdays until the end of October.

Rain on the parade... or should I say garden party?

"Slow Food Hamilton's Old Fashioned Strawberries and Ice Cream Summer Solstice Garden Party at Whitehern on Father's Day 2009" will not take place this fathers' day. Stay tuned for a new date!

With regrets,

*karen b, Slow Food Hamilton

Read about this upcoming event in The Hamilton Spectator : http://thespec.com/go/food/article/581463

ECO MARKET at the Canadian Centre for Inland Waters

“Are you going to be here everyday?”

That seemed to be the recurring question asked when representatives of Hamilton Eat Local joined Judy MacDonald from Farm Fresh Country Market at the Burlington Green Team's annual Ecomarket. The Ecomarket is held annually during Environment Week, in the auditorium of the Canadian Center for Inland Waters (CCIW) on Lakeshore Rd.

Judy had two long tables full of fresh produce from local farmers to sell and plenty of delicious recipe ideas. She literally brought the farm-to-table freshness of market shopping to the workplace, which coincides with this year’s market theme of Living Green. Everyone was pleased to get their grocery shopping done during their lunch break! An average of 800 employees pass through there during their workday from Environment Canada and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
Thanks to Cheryl Tinson and the Burlington Green Team for organizing the event, and inviting us to join in your effort to make a difference. Also thanks to Judy for being such a great promoter and provider of fresh local produce. Visit the Farm Fresh Country Market in Stoney Creek (390 Barton – Barton and Millen Rd)) to get your local produce all year round, and look for Judy at the Hamilton Mountain Farmers Market on Saturdays in the Sacred Heart Church parking lot (Viewpoint and Mountain Park Avenue)