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We’re heading into mid February, and while we’ve had a relatively mild winter here in Toronto, it still feels long! No doubt our grandmothers’ root cellars would be getting a tad depleted by this time of year, and our stores are no different today: local vegetables, even those that keep well, are less available, so if you’re committed to local eating, try to look away from that produce from California, not to mention Israel!

I was pleasantly surprised to enjoy Ontario foods while eating out recently. Last week I took my mom and my partner to The Local Company, a Toronto restaurant located on the Danforth. (Disclosure: I heard about the restaurant via a media release, but they didn’t know I was coming – I received no special treatment.) I’d practically given up scanning menus for local options, so it was lovely to see ingredients such as celeriac, parsnips, onions, butternut squash, beets as well as maple syrup, cheeses and locally raised meats such as veal, chicken and pork. Apparently Chef Steven Wilson creates condiments, garnishes and ice creams in house. The meal was a delish treat in many ways – it felt great to support local farmers in February!

Homemakers magazine’s food editor, Andrew Chase, is a big supporter of eating sustainably, so he also develops many recipes with seasonal ingredients. A few of my favourites for this time of year are Stuffed Turnips, Scalloped Celery Root and Coq au Vin.

Are you finding ways to work with local ingredients through the winter?
Have you found a restaurant that features local food? Tell me about it!

I love eating locally — not just the idea of it, but the flavours of unusual varieties, like the Cippolini onions from Pfennings Farms in Baden, Ont. and potatoes called “cranberry reds” from Kawartha Farms. While local produce offerings may be slimming down at this time of year, I know many of them can still take centre stage at my family’s Christmas dinner.

Let’s talk turkey. I am a wholehearted convert to a locally raised bird. Not only is a smaller bird operation more sustainable, healthier and a great source of jobs on the rural landscape, those turkeys are delicious. (And I’m actually glad not to have my turkey injected with butter, thank you!) For Thanksgiving, my mom ordered a turkey from Wendy Banks, local food distributor in the Frontenac Arch region. If you would like to try a local bird, your neighbourhood butcher shop might have some unfrozen turkey for sale, as might specialty grocery stores.

When it comes to veggies for Christmas dinner, it’s hard to beat mashed potatoes made with local spuds. (No really, they’re hard to beat, but put some elbow grease into it and you’ll get there!) Here are a few of my favourite Homemakers holiday recipes made with home-grown foods.
- Here is Andrew Chase’s favourite turkey recipe. (Andrew is Homemakers’ food editor.)
- If you have a little time before the meal, go for Carrot Souffle with Parsley Sauce. It’s delish, so make sure you save a full serving for yourself!
- Yes, rutabaga can be mouthwatering. Try Maple-Glazed Rutabaga and Parsnips.
- You could have the usual stuffing. Or you could go all-out and have Bacon, Celery Root and Rye Bread stuffing!
- You could have pumpkin pie for dessert, or you could have Squash Custard with Ginger Caramel. Mmm!

Have a local wine with your Christmas dinner and you’ll have one a truly green Christmas!

What are your favourite holiday dishes?

Last weekend I took in the Picnic at the Brickworks, an annual event held by Evergreen and Slow Food Toronto. It’s hard to imagine an event nicer than this — dozens of local food producers each teamed up with a top chef to serve up delicious bite-size num nums, complemented nicely by a splash of local wine or beer. I was in local food heaven!

Another local dining opportunity is coming up: Localicious is a WWF event offered at restaurants in many Canadian cities. The participating restaurants will serve up dishes made with local food, and a portion of the proceeds will go to WWF Canada.

Aside from these kinds of delicious events, I just hope I can take in a few more farmers’ markets before they close for the year.

How are you enjoying local food this year?

While mixing up ingredients for Homemakers magazine’s Fresh Tomato Lasagna (mmm, ripe tomatoes and fresh basil, my favourite combination!) last week, I opened my drawer of too-rarely-used baking dishes and mixing bowls to pick a dish for the wet ingredients. If the recipe isn’t too large in volume, I pick my mom’s mom’s glass Pyrex mixing bowls (stamped “Made in Canada” on the bottom), bowls she used to make many many dishes, bowls with some light scoring from all the baking whipped to form within, bowls that are thick and heavy and hard to break.

Sure, I could get a set of matching plastic or ceramic bowls for a surprisingly small sum at any home store. They would be lovely. They would get used. They would chip, crack and eventually be tossed out. But grandma’s bowls stood up to everything she could dish out, so they’ll have no problem with my occasional baking whims. If anything, I’ll be hunting around antique shows (including the Odessa Antique Show, on west of Kingston this weekend) for a larger bowl to go with grandma’s set.

Do you have a favourite kitchen item, at home or at the cottage, that has stood the test of time?

As I noted in my earlier post about bottled water, it seems there is a link between education and deciding to consume bottled water. And as I’ve learned in reading health research for Homemakers magazine, a reuseable bottle isn’t a reuseable bottle. While the bottles that bottled water comes in are safe to drink from, they become less so over many refills, since it’s hard to clean the narrow-necked bottles thoroughly. And, of course, there’s the concern over the health effects of long-term exposure to bisphenol A (BPA) from some types of plastic food and drink containers.

Luckily there are lots of great reuseable water bottle options on the market. I really like stainless-steel bottles, since it’s a durable, food-safe material I can scrub away at and put in the dishwasher as well. I have an “Otterbottle”, which is from an Alberta-based company (although the bottles are manufactured in China), and I also have a larger SIGG bottle, made in Switzerland, which is aluminum, made with a can liner that’s BPA and phthalate free. I’ve even seen glass bottles shaped like plastic water bottles!

What’s your favourite way to tote refreshment on the go?

I’ve sunk my teeth into that most anticipated event of spring: that first bunch of sautéed local asparagus. It will be official when I buy it direct from a farmers’ market, but that first clutch of asparagus stalks I bought from the grocery store did have the authentic earthy taste of home-grown goodness. My partner and I ate about half of it sauteed with a bit of butter, then the next night I tossed sections of asparagus stalks, chunks of zuchinni,grape tomatoes and mushrooms in olive oil, then threaded them onto skewers and grilled them within a couple of minutes on my super-hot ceramic grill. Perfection!

For a terrific guide to selecting and preparing asparagus, as well as some to dine for asparagus recipes, check out this article on Homemakers.com by our food editor, Andrew Chase.  

What’s your most anticipated fresh local food?

While looking at the tea offerings at the grocery store recently, I was pleased to see a few organic tea options from several companies. I picked up some organic black and green Earl Grey from Stash — I love their regular Earl Grey variety, so I thought I’d give the blend a try.

(I’m still transitioning to loose tea — I have to find a good place to get it!)

It struck me that, since we’re soaking the tea leaves in hot water in a time-worn method of drawing out components of the plant into the water, organic tea makes a lot of sense. I have no idea how much pesticide coverage is typical for tea plants, but a quick look at an online study shows that the residues do come out when brewed in hot water. If drinking organic tea helps keep chemicals out of my tea cup, I’ll do it!

I think I’m pretty good at eating a variety of fruits and vegetables (since editing health and nutrition stories for Homemakers magazine over the past three years, I’m certain that eating your fruits and veggies is key to living a healthy life). I have looked at Canada Food Inspection Agency data on pesticide coverage on the food we produce and import, and I pay attention to the reports on top foods to eat organic published by the Environmental Working Group and Consumer Reports. There are a few things I always buy organic: strawberries, apples, blueberries, raspberries and bell peppers (although sometimes I go for hot house peppers). Given all this, I’m not sure why I didn’t seek out organic tea earlier.

When I helped set up an organic food information area at Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show a few years ago, I learned about the standards farmers have to adhere to. They have to be ready for rigorous soil testing with regular review, and most can’t even become organic farms for three years after conventional farming – that’s how long it takes for the soil to clear. So “organic” does mean something to me. What does it mean to you?

Are there foods that you always try to buy organic?