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Strong Family Bonds and Ties To The Land in North Buxton, Ontario
We purchased a cottage on the north shore of Lake Erie, in Chatham Kent, Ontario, because we needed a test kitchen. Little did we know that just 20 minutes away, in the midst of farm fields filled with history, in North Buxton, we would discover life-long friends. Our...

Dark Beer and Stinky Cheese at The Milky Whey
Liz Payne, proprietor of The Milky Whey Fine Cheese Shop, in Stratford, Ontario, is in her 10th year as a cheese monger and self-described “käsephile” or lover of cheese. We attended Dark Beer and Stinky Cheese Pairing, the fourth in her series...

Stratford Slow Food Market is Year-Round
The Stratford Slow Food Market, in Stratford, Ontario, offers local foods, drinks, and crafts, year-round. Slow food markets are a way of saying no thanks to the rise of fast food and fast-paced lifestyles. They facilitate eating locally and seasonally, taking time to...

Making Tiaras at Stratford’s Off The Wall
Off The Wall in Stratford, Ontario, was formed by theatre artists and arts education volunteers who wanted to mentor aspiring theatre production artists. Courses are held at the Desmond Heeley Theatre Production Arts Studio at Factory163. Coincidentally, the furniture...

Stratford Literary Dinners – What to Expect
We attended the Cooking with the Wolfman: Indigenous Fusion Literary Dinner at the Stratford Chef School, October 25, 2018. The event was a part of Appetite for Words, a Stratford literary festival with a culinary twist. The lineup for 2018, with the final dinner on...

FARM TO TABLE Celebrating Stratford Chefs School Alumni, Recipes & Perth County Producers
FARM TO TABLE Celebrating Stratford Chefs School Alumni, Recipes & Perth County Producers by Andrew Coppolino is a unique farm to table story, with recipes, photos, and a strong sense of place. The place is Stratford, Perth County, Ontario. You just have to look...

Garlic Festival. In Ontario. Absolutely.
At the Stratford Kiwanis Garlic Festival, garlic is the star. In 2007, the Kiwanis Club in Stratford, Ontario, joined local garlic growers to promote Ontarian garlic which was struggling to gain a foothold in a market that was dominated by China. Today, the demand for...

Touring in Southwestern Ontario’s Sunny South
While touring out-of-town friends around Southwestern Ontario’s sunny south, we always discover a new twist on the familiar. We look through our visitors’ eyes and love it when they "ooh" and "ah" at every stop. Recently, with friends from Edmonton, the surprises...

Our Cookbook Photo Shoot Will Get You Grilling
In order to include an additional 20 full-page photos in our cookbook, On The Road With The Cooking Ladies, Let’s Get Grilling, our publisher, Whitecap Books, sent a professional photographer to our test kitchen on the north shore of Lake Erie. Jonathan Bielaski...

Maple Syrup in Shrewsbury Served Up With Tidbits About Trees
A lineup formed outside the door for the Shrewsbury Community Association’s annual Maple Syrup Festival in Chatham-Kent, Ontario. Breakfast-style sausages sizzled on an outdoor grill. Inside, volunteers flipped pancakes, poured hot apple cider, and kept maple syrup...