Lessons of Stone Soup
I recently discovered a new – to me – Island magazine Island Farm & Garden Resourceful Living. As a magazine buff, I was really impressed by the quality of both its format and its content. The publisher, Lesley Lorenz, has created a first class magazine and she should be congratulated. Another talented Island woman who makes the Island so special. It is available in print and online. The article below was published the winter 2013/2014 issue and is yet another example of the resourcefulness and tenacity of Island women. Please read this and then consider how we can emulate...
Read MoreLocal Loves Christmas!
Hey Ya’ll, it’s December and the Christmas Spirit is definitely here. We feel it in our fingers, We feel it in our toes, Christmas is all around us and so the feelings grow… and if you’re not singing this song yet, now you definitely will be! With this song now playing, check out our first Christmas Recipe for you! The first of our many Christmas recipes is a sugar cookie done in four different ways! We made Salted Chocolate, Chocolate Peppermint, Coconut and Lemon Sugar Cookies! Although there are four varieties here, it all starts with the basic sugar cookie...
Read MoreNo-stress Hostess Gifts
Bringing a hostess gift to any dinner party need not be a stressful event with this delicious twist on the standby cranberry sauce. Put it in a glass jar and decorate it any way you wish with some Christmas cheer. Cranberry-Orange Relish Ingredients: 2 cups Fresh Cranberries 3 tablespoon(s) Dried Cranberries 2 stick(s) Cinnamon 1 teaspoon(s) Fresh Gingerroot, minced 1/2 cup(s) Dark Or Light Brown Sugar, firmly packed 1/2 cup(s) Apple Cider 1 teaspoon(s) Fresh-Grated Orange Zest Additional Cinnamon Sticks, (optional) Orange Slices, (optional) Directions: In a...
Read MoreFall and Farmer’s Markets
Here at Local Loves Nanaimo, we love farmer’s markets, and it seems like everyone we talk to these days does too! There were so many farmer’s markets happening all over Vancouver Island this summer and especially Nanaimo. Luckily, for those people who either worked all summer or hid in their houses playing video games, crops keep growing all year round and provide luscious fruits and veggies well into the fall. The Downtown Farmer’s Market, the Bowen Road Farmer’s Market, the Cedar Farmer’s Market and the Lantzville Farmer’s Market are all open well into...
Read MoreVegan Coconut Cherry Garcia
You don’t know this about me, but I’ve mentioned countless times over at Local Loves Nanaimo that I have a love affair with coconut. I also love Ben & Jerry’s Cherry Garcia. So when I came across a recipe a friend posted on Facebook for vegan banana cherry ice cream, I thought I’d put a coconut twist to it! I opted to forgo the bananas that the original recipe called for. I also used some of the local cherries I bought from Coombs County Market (I set aside the cherries that looked like they had only a few days left on their shelf life and quartered them then froze them in...
Read MoreWinter is Coming, Plant now!
Even though our yards are parched from the summer heat, it’s time to start thinking about winter, your winter garden, that is. When we moved to the Island in June 2011, we promptly got our vegetable garden started. One month later, we found out that you can grow veggies throughout the winter. We had heard West Coast gardening expert, Linda Gilkeson speak, and learned where to start. We raced to all the garden centres to see what plants were left. THE CONCEPT The whole idea of growing vegetables in winter sounds crazy, especially if you are from the prairies. We were pleasantly...
Read MoreDo or Dye?
So, this is going to sound completely vain, and not the usual food related topic, but please bear with me. I have been wavering back and forth for months now on a probably silly decision. Do I dye my hair or embrace the grey? Here are my pro and con arguments for this debate. Dying my hair: I work in service-related industries. Unfortunately, appearance is important. When I am doing my day job of cleaning houses, I need to have a neat and pleasant appearance so clients will trust that I will take equal care of their homes. When I am selling at Farmers Markets, my appearance also inspires...
Read MoreIs Ice Cream Good For You?
July is National Ice Cream month and “Yes” Ice Cream is good for you! Despite the ingredients; cream, milk, eggs, sugar, and flavorings, it isn’t the worst thing you can eat. Nutrients like calcium, phosphorus, potassium, and B vitamins can be found in ice cream. Recently researchers found that when eaten as part of a healthy diet, ice cream can aid weight loss… within moderation. This may be due to ice cream contains calcium, which is needed for fat metabolism, and ice cream satisfies food cravings better than most foods. This summer, ask a friend out for an ice cream and...
Read MoreHow Sweet It Is!
The first pleasure of my mornings starts with drooling a spoonful of golden honey into that first cup of coffee. Only then do the lists and chores of the day follow the sweet sipping from a sturdy wide-bottomed mug. Beekeeping naturally precedes the collection of honey, and beekeeping has often been out of favour in urban areas. But with the growing interest in and appreciation of homegrown food, the option of keeping a hive or two of bees in one’s own backyard is again becoming part of a homeowner’s possibilities for providing her own food. Just this spring, Qualicum Beach adopted a...
Read MorePicnic season on the Island
I love , love, love picnics. If and when I write a cookbook, it will be my picnic favourites. We are a busy family, with rarely much extra money. Holidays are not in our timeframe or budget. But we do want to spend as much fun time as we can with our kids and whoever tag alongs end up in our car. Instead of holidays, we do a lot of picnic road trips, probably one a week during the summer. We find that this is a great way for us all to see new things and spend some quality time together soaking up some biophilia. This is how it works: we pack a picnic, we get in the car, we choose which...
Read MoreTomayto? Tomawto?
Wouldn’t you agree that there is nothing like a sweet, ripe, home-grown tomato? They are precious to everybody who grows them, whether you have a whole field of them, or just one container on your balcony. Growing tomatoes on Vancouver Island can be a bit tricky, as the nights are cool. Just like peppers and melons, tomatoes like heat. Many people here grow them in their greenhouses and never put them into the ground. We don’t have a greenhouse, so decided to try a new experiment this year. My husband built a ‘hoop house’, out of PVC piping, some left-over plastic sheeting and a...
Read MoreOrganic on a budget!
OK, reality check: We are all on a budget when it comes to food buying. So, how do we make the best choices when it comes to grocery shopping? I had a friend on social assistance who only bought organic for herself and her three children. While I applaud the sentiment, her children were hungry. I know this because they came to my house every day and rooted through my cupboards for something to eat. Unless you have a healthy income, eating everything organic is not the best decision. So, what do the rest of us with real grocery budgets do? My personal take on this dilemma is to buy as much...
Read MoreSharing What We Know
Growing up, my mom kept a large vegetable garden, as did her mom. My paternal grandparents also kept a large garden along with cows, pigs and sheep. We had our own chickens for eggs and meat. My dad hunted wild game and fished for food. I both watched and helped with preserving fruit, vegetables and sauces, freezing corn and peas; watched my dad skin and butcher deer and moose, I helped my mom with wrapping cuts for freezing. We also had fresh (unpasteurized) milk from a neighbour’s milk cow. Although we had treats here and there, Mom was strict about what we did buy from stores: we...
Read MoreStuck in a Food Rut?
Have you noticed that you are stuck in a food rut? It’s easy to do … We’re in a hurry, so we grab the same things as usual when we shop. Our kids have things they will eat, so that’s what we feed them. We are tired by the time dinner rolls around, so we cook the things that we are confident about. You can keep going this way for years. But learning to eat with allergies becomes a LOT easier when you learn to like new foods! Our daughter was the classic picky eater when she was a toddler. She wanted nothing but fish sticks and broccoli for weeks on end; then it was beef barley...
Read MoreGive Food Allergies Attitude
You, your child, or someone you love has been told they have a food allergy (or intolerance) – so now what? Our family is big on food. Really. My husband and I have spent decades feeding people in various capacities. When you come to our home, you eat. That’s just the way it is. And for the last six years, everyone we feed has been a guinea pig for all sorts of gluten-free goodies. So, while I’m not an expert by any means, I have learned a few things about living with food allergies and and making it an enjoyable experience. The first thing you must learn when you find out you have...
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