Category Farm, Farm Market, Farmers’ Market

Have you got a hankering for cinnamon-scented apple crisp (recipe here), served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream?

Mom’s Apple Crisp

Maybe a slice of cheddar cheese and homemade apple pie (recipe here), piled high with juicy apples in a flaky crust?

Mark’s Apple Orchard Pie * Photo: Laura Kelly, Carl Laidlaw Orchards

Leaning toward something on the savoury side? How about a steaming bowl of apple squash soup (recipe here)?

Laura’s Apple Squash Soup, Carl Laidlaw Orchards

or honey-drizzled apple and cheese tartine (recipe here) to enjoy with a glass of wine?

Fall Fruit & Cheese Tartine with Honey Drizzle * Photo: Eleonora Gattesco Roberts gattescohouse.com

Perhaps, after all that summer indulging, you just want to sink your teeth in a freshly-picked, crisp apple.

Local apple season has begun! Gather up your family and friends and visit an apple orchard. Visit my post, Happy Under the Apple Boughs: Carl Laidlaw Orchards, for a glimpse of what this beautiful orchard has to offer.

Carl Laidlaw Orchards

Enjoy the fall colours, sunshine, and fresh air. Pick your own apples; come home with rosy cheeks and a bounty of apples.

Learn the proper way to pick an apple so you don’t damage next year’s crop. Ripe apples separate easily from the stem; gently lift the bottom of the apple up towards the sky and twist gently, so you don’t remove any of the branch (and next year’s apple) from the tree. Make sure to thank the farmer before leaving.

Thank you, Mark Laidlaw (Carl Laidlaw Orchards).

Contact your local orchard to find out what fruit is ready to pick (they ripen at different times). It’s a good idea to review their farm etiquette before visiting.

For a list of local orchards in your area, visit:

Grown in Peel: https://www.peelregion.ca/scripts/gip/grown-farms.pl

Grown in Halton: http://www.halton.ca/cms/one.aspx?pageId=19088

My local favourites are listed on my farm directory but call the orchard directly for updated hours of operation for 2015.

Local heroes, Eden Food for Change, buy fresh produce directly from farmers and vendors at the Ontario Food Terminal and sell it at cost in our community. Their goal: make fresh fruits and vegetables more accessible and affordable to all socio-economic brackets.

Strong relationships with farmers and vendors (who often sell the same produce to local grocery stores) have made it possible for Eden Food for Change (EFFC) to buy in bulk at good prices. Weekly trips are made to the Ontario Food Terminal to fill the boxes that have been ordered the night before. Back at EFFC, volunteers separate the food out into individual boxes, deliver them weekly to several locations throughout our community, and sell them at cost. Two box sizes are available: $10/small and $20/large. From a $10 box, $9 covers the cost of the food and $1 covers the operation expenses. Any extra food goes to the food bank.

Christina Philips (Community Engagement Coordinator at EFFC) added, “All of the items for the Fresh Produce Box program are bought specifically for those who have ordered. However, our Warehouse Supervisor goes down to the Ontario Food Terminal later and asks for produce donations for our Food Bank.”

Click on the link to find out locations and pick up times throughout Mississauga. Follow the instructions and use the order form on this link to e-mail your order every week, before Thursday at 4:00 pm. Pick up your box on Fridays at the time scheduled for the location you chose.

I am so happy to hear that there is a location in the village of Streetsville, right in the party room of the apartment building at 4 Caroline Street. Fresh produce is back in the village and within reach of our seniors. Thank you, Eden Food for Change!

Website: edenffc.org/fresh-produce-box/
Questions: [email protected]

Eden Food for Change (formerly Eden Community Food Bank)
2-3185 Unity Drive
Mississauga, Ontario L5L 4L5
Monday – Friday 9 am – 5 pm
Phone: (905) 785-3651

Just a peek of some of the great things I spotted at Port Credit Farmers’ Market this morning.

#unearthingglobalflavours #portcredit #farmersmarket #zucchiniblossoms #beauties

A photo posted by Olive (@olive_to_eat) on Jun 27, 2015 at 8:17am PDT

#freshflowers #portcreditfarmersmarket #treatyourself

A photo posted by Olive (@olive_to_eat) on Jun 27, 2015 at 8:28am PDT

Last of the season #asparagus #portcredit #farmersmarket #unearthingglobalflavours

A photo posted by Olive (@olive_to_eat) on Jun 27, 2015 at 8:14am PDT

#mississippiqueenfoods #portcreditfarmersmarket #unearthingglobalflavours

A photo posted by Olive (@olive_to_eat) on Jun 27, 2015 at 8:25am PDT

Di Liso’s Fine Meats has the best legs in town – duck leg confit, that is! Tender, moist, meaty duck legs are rich and flavourful; the crispy skin my #guiltypleasure. Chef-prepared for this butcher. Priced in range with other duck leg confit available in the burbs but Di Liso’s quality makes the drive to St. Lawrence Market absolutely worth the trip. Definitely my go-to-guys for duck leg confit in our region. Can’t wait to try their duck sous-vide, chocolate and caramel pork tenderloin, and Mennonite-prepared stuffed boneless chicken legs.

Left photo credit: Angela Mondou

Confit is a traditional French method of preparing duck: legs are covered in duck fat and cooked slowly at low temperatures to tenderize while retaining flavour and moisture.  All you have to do is warm up the prepared duck confit under the broiler until skin is crispy and meat is hot. Here is how I served it for my girlfriends on our fabulous weekend getaway: on a bed of greens, with fresh fig, tiny dabs of fig goat cheese, and fig vinegar (all available at the market). High in fat but during an active weekend of night snowshoeing, dancing until 2:00 am, and yoga in the morning I figured we girls deserved a treat! Such a satisfying indulgence and so easy and special for entertaining.

To avoid the crowds at the market, get there very early on a Saturday morning or just after morning traffic on a Friday. If you look for it, you can find public parking dirt cheap within two blocks of the market – if I tell you where I’d have to kill you after. 😉

Di Liso’s Fine Meats
91 Front Street East
Toronto, ON
M5E 1C4
(St. Lawrence Market)

Contact info, map, website, and hours here: http://www.dilisosmeats.com/contact.html

Olive has Christmas all wrapped up – cookie-wise that is. Between my own personal stash of Olive My Love frozen cookie dough and these handmade cookies I bought at St. Jacobs Farmers’ Market, all I will have left to do is bake some squares.

You’ll find the kiosk for Gracie’s Christmas Cookies inside the Peddler’s Village building at St. Jacobs Farmers’ Market. I was told they freeze beautifully so I bought a stash to freeze for Christmas. Gracie’s makes more than 30 varieties. Now I can sleep peacefully while visions of Gracie’s Cookies dance in my head. Aren’t they just adorable?

Gracie’s will be at St. Jacobs Farmers’ Market on Thursdays and Saturdays, from Nov 13 to Dec 20, 2014.  Click here to find other Gracie’s sales locations at craft shows in Southern Ontario (including December dates in London, Niagara Falls, and Toronto).

 Christmas baking all wrapped up…CHECK!