Yummy!

I totally forgot about this place. We used to go see them farming the peanuts when I'd visit my grandparents in Simcoe.

I LOVE peanuts! Too bad the husband can't eat them- guess more for me.

Picard's Peanuts- this page lists all of their Ontario grown peanuts.

Also, they have a store on the way to Elmira so it's close to home!

New Additions

Hey All,

I've added a new item in the sidebar so I could list some of the blogs I read. Most of them are KW- centric and many are also on topics related to this blog.

Check 'em out!

Why didn't I think about the bbq sauce?

Below are a few of the things I'm going to miss eating this summer:

1) Chip Dip- for some reason, this is a new food (well, food-like substance) for me and I've become completely addicted to this vaguely onion scented goo.

2) Chinese Food- if Lai Lai's restaurant goes out of business, it's probably our fault. Oh, how am I going to live without your yummy steamed dumplings and hot & sour soup?

3) Marshmallows- camping sans these toasted morsels will be a challenge in itself.

4) BBQ Sauce- make that sauces and condiments in general- my husband passed a comment tonight that we'll need to get more bbq sauce if we're going to spend the summer eating local meat- especially since we were planning on buying in bulk to save on costs. Then it occurred to me- condiments count! What IS in bbq sauce anyway?

How cool are bike-powered smoothies?!?

This place has yummy local & fair trade food & is a business with a conscience! I haven't tried the smoothies, but it's a neat idea ;)
Check it Out!

Country Adventures

On our way back from London, we decided to take a short detour to visit Oak Manor Farms- an organic mill near Tavistock which is committed to getting their grains & other foods from farms that are as local as possible which means that while not all of their products are 100 mile, a lot are (all are from farms in Canada & the US). Many of their products are available in stores here in KW, but since we're trying to do this as economically as possible, I thought it'd be good to visit their store on site to buy some of our staples in bulk.

Unfortunately, we decided to visit on a day when it was completely pouring rain- which made driving down the stretch of dirt road to the mill pretty bumpy! It was definitly worth the drive (and dirty car) though, since we picked up a large bag of oatmeal, some whole wheat bread flour, and some wheat berries for less than $15. The oatmeal is a brekkie staple in our house, so we were both excited to be able to replace our Quaker! Since I haven't been able to find any local rice and I'm not too hopeful about finding any), the wheat berries I think'll be a nice alternative sometimes.

Right now, I'm flipping through a new book on preserving while counting down the days until strawberry season- geesh, I'm turning into such a 100-mile nerd!

Let the Phasing-in Begin!

Since July 4th (also known around here as 100-mile d-day) quickly approaches, we're starting to see some small changes being made around the house. We've decided that it'd be better for us (and our budget) to make the transition a gradual thing. This means that we're not only trying to use up the non 100-mile food we have, but also replacing things we need to buy with their 100-mile alternatives when this makes sense.

Some of the things I figure we should have ready before July are: meat in the freezer, flour & oatmeal in the pantry, honey & maple syrup. I still plan to buy more asparagus this week to freeze too (since I'm now practically an expert!)

This means some trips to local farms & other places coming up, and since we're going out of town this weekend for our anniversary, we're going to be making some stops on the way home to visit a couple of places- more to come about that soon!

So far, this journey is pretty exciting, but then again it's really not even started yet! Still, it's nice to dig out the bread-making book again, and to start really thinking about what this is going to really mean. No quick runs to pick up a snack, no Tim's with the gals at work, and no restaurants!

My Motivation (rant?)

When we first heard about the challenge put forward to go 100 days only eating food from within a 100 mile radius, I was intrigued. After reading The 100-Mile diet last summer, I'd started taking a closer look at the signs in the produce section and it was surprising. By looking at the selection there, you'd think there was no such thing as seasonal produce anymore.

Strawberries, which as a kid I'd seen as a sign of the end of school and the coming summer, can now be bought in January. Even 'special' imports like clementines, once a Christmas treat, can be bought year-round at almost any grocery store around.

We all look for the signs of the seasons. Crocuses in spring, red and gold leaves in fall- I've always been excited to see the first changes, but never realized until recently how we're missing such a huge part of the changing wheel of the year.

For myself, this challenge is about re-connecting to ideas our predecessors considered facts of life- that we're all connected to the bigger picture, that to everything there is a season, and that good things are the ones you have to wait for.