The Feast of St Lawrence - Dinner under the Stars

FEAST OF ST LAWRENCE

DINNER UNDER THE STARS

When:    Saturday July 14, 2018
What:     Media Preview for Dinner Under the Stars
Why:      Charity Event for Second Harvest
Who:      Sponsored by Audi Toronto
Where:   Preview at 4 participating restaurants in the St. Lawrence Market Area

On August 10th there will be a great Sit Down Charity Event called the FEAST OF ST LAWRENCE -DINNER UNDER THE STARS that will take place at St. Lawrence Market.  It will feature restaurants in the St. Lawrence Market area and the proceeds from this event will be donated to the Food Rescue Non-Profit organization Second Harvest.  I really love what Second Harvest does because it tackles the food waste problem while also taking care of food insecurity for so many people in Toronto. Sponsored by Audi Toronto.

On a very humid Saturday afternoon I joined fellow bloggers/influencers for a walking tour and preview of some of the participating restaurants for The Fest of St. Lawrence - Dinner Under the Stars.  Unfortunately I missed the first stop at Pearl Diver because of the subway closures but luckily I have been to Pearl Diver many times so I know they are fantastic. I haven't had a chance to go to the Feast of St. Lawrence but I have heard that it's an amazing event and it's a gorgeous night out at the Market while doing great things for so many people.
                                  

1st Stop: Pearl Diver

Location: 100 Adelaide St E, Toronto, ON

Tasting: Oyster 

                                 

2nd Stop: Omni King Edward Hotel
Location: 37 King St E, Toronto, 

Tasting: Ancient grain and hazelnut clusters, roasted summer vegetables, charred pickled onion, petit tender - Beef, Chimichurri crema. Vegetarian Alternative: Ancient grain and hazelnut clusters, roasted summer vegetables, charred pickled onion, squash blossoms, carrot cider puree.

   

 

                           

3rd Stop: Farmr

Location: 140A The Esplanade, Toronto, ON

Tasting: Pickled Watermelon Salad, local tomatoes cucumber, arugula, finger chilies, tomato vinaigrette, micro basil

This was probably my favourite on the tour only because it was a hot day and this was so refreshing and light and we had it sitting outside on their cozy patio sitting on picnic tables so it really felt like summer.

                                  

4th Stop:  CC Lounge and Whisky Bar

Location: 45 Front St E, Toronto

Tasting: Gooderham & Worts Four Grain Canadian Whisky and

Cocktail Toronto -  J.P. Wiser’s Deluxe, triple Sec, Lillet Liquor and fresh Lemon.

Herbed fries with dips.

This Lounge is beautiful with some fantastic huge chandeliers and a long bar and cozy seating.  The building has a ton of history and you sort of feel it when you are there.

Now for more details about the actual event including the full menu and ticket information:

DETAILS for the DINNER UNDER THE STARS

The Feast of St. Lawrence begins on August 10th with an exclusive, al fresco fine dining event for charity. Two hundred and fifty guests will be seated at two continuous tables on Front Street (between Scott and Church Street) and served a sumptuous five-course dinner prepared by chefs from some of the top restaurants in the St. Lawrence Neighbourhood including Biff's Bistro, Farmr, ARDO, The Hot House Restaurant, The Omni King Edward Hotel, Pearl Diver, The Sultan's Tent and George Brown College. 

Wine pairings from Prince Edward County vineyards and Creemore Springs beer will

be served with the dinner and CC Lounge will present a special Whisky tasting bar. The 18-piece JAZZ.FM91 Youth Big Band will provide added ambiance in the beautifully illuminated Berczy Park lounge area.
The event begins with a reception featuring hors d'oeuvres, wine and beer starting at 6:00 p.m. and ends at 11:00 p.m. 

A portion of ticket sales will be donated to Second Harvest.

Tickets are $200 and are on sale now!

Purchase tickets:

https://www.showpass.com/feast-of-st-lawrence-dinner-under-the-stars/

By Phone: call 416 410 9242

Location: Front Street East (between Scott and Church Street)

Friday August 10, 2018 - 6:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m.

Official Accounts:

@oldtowntoronto

@auditoronto

Official Hashtags:

#oldtowntoronto

#feastofstlawrence

#dinnerunderthestars

ABOUT:
Second Harvest: Second Harvest is the largest food rescue organization in Canada and a global thought leader on food recovery. With a goal to drastically reduce the amount of food wasted while ensuring people have access to the good, healthy food they need for success, Second Harvest works across the supply chain from farmer to retail to capture surplus food before it ends up in the landfill and negatively impacts our environment.
Since 1985 we have rescued and delivered more than 127 million pounds of food and prevented over 70 million pounds of greenhouse gas equivalents from entering our atmosphere. Currently, we rescue food from over 470 donors and deliver that food to 253 social service agencies in Toronto and food hubs across Ontario, providing enough food for 30,000 meals a day.

No Waste. No Hunger.

DINNER UNDER THE STARS MENU

FEAST OF ST. LAWRENCE 2018

HORS d’OEUVRES

Stationary

Oyster Station (Pearl Diver)

Whisky Bar (CC Lounge)

Beer Bar (Creemore Springs Brewery)

PASSED BY THE SERVERS

Biff's Famous Chicken Liver Parfait (Biff's Bistro)

Falafel with Tahini Sauce (The Sultan's Tent)

Stanners Vineyard 2016 Lincoln Lakeshore Riesling / Stanners Vineyard 2016 Prince Edward County Chardonnay / Broken

Stone Winery 2017 Estate Pinot Noir

APPETIZER

Chilled Melon Soup with ginger (The Hot House)

Rosehall Run Ceremony Blanc de Blanc Brut

Tagliata di Spada - Nova Scotia Sword fish with Ardo sour dough, breadcrumb green peas mint pure, pickled cipolline

(ARDO)

Closson Chase 2017 K. J. Watson Pinot Gris

ENTRE METIER

Pickled Watermelon Salad, local tomatoes cucumber, arugula, finger chilies, tomato vinaigrette, micro basil (Farmr)

Karlo Estates Winery 2017 Frontenac Gris Rose

MAIN

Ancient grain and hazelnut clusters, roasted summer vegetables, charred pickled onion, petit tender, Chimichurri crema

(Omni King Edward Hotel)

Vegetarian Alternative: Ancient grain and hazelnut clusters, roasted summer vegetables, charred pickled onion, squash

blossoms, carrot cider puree (Omni King Edward Hotel)

Keint-he Winery & Vineyards 2013 Queenston Road Pinot Noir

SWEET

Tonka Pavlova with Ontario peaches, wild blueberry and basil cream (George Brown College)

S'mores Tart with smoked chocolate, toasted marshmallow and crushed raspberry (George Brown College)

Broken Stone Winery Exuberance Sparkling Riesling

The Stop's Night Market fun for good.

The Stop's Night Market

June 14 & 15, 2016

7-11pm

158 Sterling Ave (Parking Lot)

www.thestop.org

@thestopcfc

@TheStopNM

This was the 5th year for the Stop's Night Market and it's a great place for over 70 chefs over 2 nights and in over 35 customized food carts to show off their food and raise money for the Stop's Food Programs at the same time.  Some of Toronto's best chef's love to do this event because it's very casual, you need to leave those stilettos at home and bring the running shoes because it's held in a gravel parking lot.  The chef's also like to hang out with other chefs and see what they are doing and while doing this they help raise some much needed funds for the Stop's Community Programs in sustainability, poverty and kids and seniors programs as well as training and diversity focused.
They also get to meet the eaters face to face and get feedback on their dishes which is something they never get to do in their restaurant kitchens.  It's really like cooking for friends because it's a very friendly atmosphere.
It started off in the parking lot at Honest Ed's but it quickly outgrew that space so they searched for another venue and found a parking lot on Sterling Ave.  They were at a different lot on Sterling last year.  If someone that has a large venue can donate their space for next year I am sure they would be very grateful and so would I.  Ideally they need a paved space outside but I would like to see space to sit like benches or even a bit of a green space would be nice.  Real washrooms instead of port a potties would attract a lot more people too. Accessible for disabilities and for drivers and people travelling by TTC or bike even.  These are my wishes for them and for attendees.

There are over 35 customized food carts that compete for the best cart prize.  I don't know what it is but I am sure they do it for bragging rights.  These were some of my favourite carts.  The trend seemed to be circles, recycled things and wood.  These carts really make their booths interesting and makes it stand out from a lot of other generic events.

 And the food.  Imagine 44 booths each night with at least 35 with food and the rest beverages.  You have to have a really big appetite to try all of the different vendors.  I think I managed about half each night.  I was able to attend both nights this year.  The first night as media and the second night as a guest of a friend.  I sampled a whole lot of different things over 2 nights.

Some of the dishes that stood out to me where the following.

Night 1
Rose and Son's - Smoked Chicken Wings with Alabama Sauce - great smokey flavour.
Rasa - Crispy Brussel Sprouts and Cauliflower cheese - mind blowing good
Mad Maple Country Inn - Vanilla cream, strawberry rhubarb and maple sugar meringues - so fresh

Night 2
Art Gallery of Ontario - Sweet and Spicy fried chicken - so unexpectedly delicious
The 47 - Steak with chimichurri sauce - the beef was perfectly cooked.
The Dock Ellis - Fried Mac and Cheese bites

These were my favourites but I only tried half of the vendors each night before I was full.  The tickets are $100 and everything is included in that price so you can eat all the food and drink you can fit in your belly in a few hours.  Some of the food was really filling.

I am not much of a drinker and can't speak about the wine or beer but I did try this amazing Strawberry Daquiri and I had some grapefruit Dillon's Distills Gin.  For dessert my favourite was hands down the Strawberry Rhubarb vanilla cream from Mad Maple but I also tried the Smore's cookies from Sullivan and Bleeker and the smiley face cookes from Lindsay Bakes and the Duck Fat donuts from Sweet Sammies.

As you can see I took a lot of photos over the 2 days, probably about 100 so this isn't even all of them so hopefully you can imagine how much stuff there was.  There was even music each night.

I love these types of events because it really brings people together.  The photo above is with my foodie pal Mary Tang my food partner in crime at these charity events and my friend Sylvia who volunteered for the event.  I got to hang out with my fellow food bloggers and friends over these 2 nights and just stuff my face and take silly photos with them.  I hope to be back again next year and I hope that some generous sponsor donates a paved parking lot or grassy field for next year.  Remember all this food is helping people that are dealing with hunger so please donate even if you can't attend this event.  Check out the Stop's website for more info on how you can get involved.

OH and this event raised $215, 000 so great job and hopefully bigger next year.

WWW.thestop.org

Feed it Forward

Food insecurity in Canada

Do you know what the face of hunger looks like?

·       

1 in 8 Canadian families struggle to put food on the table.

·       32% of the people requiring food assistance are children.**

·       25% of food bank users are immigrants.**

·       79,000 people each month access a food bank for the first time.*

·       Almost 40% of food bank clients have a diploma, degree or higher.**

·       On average, people who use food assistance programs do so for two years.**

*According to Food Banks Canada's HungerCount 2015 report.

**According to Daily Bread Food Bank's Who's Hungry 2015 report.

1 in 6 Canadian Children are affected by food insecurity.
*Source: Maple Leaf foods

Over the past couple of years I have learned a lot about Food Insecurity in Toronto and around the world because of my blog and in my work as an Ambassador for Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution.  I got involved to see if I could do something to help people learn about their food and in the process I learned about the food insecurity issue from attending local charitable events that raise funds for programs like the Stop Community Food Program, who have various food training programs and they provide food to local communities in need.  This past October  a group of people and  I toured a couple of local schools and we learned about the Feed Tomorrow program that has school programs that provide food to school children who are experiencing hunger.  The older students volunteer to assist the program.
Second Harvest is another great non-profit that has great initiatives that many local restaurants in the city support by donating food.  And don't forget the food banks, one of the largest being the Daily Bread Food Bank who work tirelessly to get food and cash donations to provide food for people on various forms of assistance.

In a city as big as Toronto that is supposed to be "booming" why do we still have these organizations struggling to serve the local community?

Is food a Human Right?

While I am not a big fan of giving street people spare change because I don't believe it helps them in the long run, but I do believe there are a lot of people that need help.

Food Insecurity is a bigger problem than you think.

Recently the cost of produce shot up almost triple the normal cost and a head of cauliflower could cost about $8.  When you make $11.50 an hour you

If you think about the fact that the minimum wage is under $12 and the cost of living in Toronto for just a bachelor apartment starts at $900 if you are lucky, there isn't much left for enough food  after you pay your necessities but isn't food a necessity too?

If you are single on Ontario Works assistance you only get $681 dollars a month.  They believe you should spend $200 a month from that for food.  Good luck with that working out.
Disability is somewhere around $900 a month I believe.
In other words if you get sick or lose your job you have a good chance of going hungry at some point unless you have some other assistance.

As a regular contributor to Gastropost (The National Post's) community I am happy to support a new partnership campaign between Gastropost and Maple Leaf Foods.
Maple Leaf Foods will provide a $10,000.00 donation.

THE CAMPAIGN:

Feed it Forward by nominating a great Canadian in your community who has gone above-and-beyond to use good food to better the lives of others. Whether they have put in place a program to nourish school children, deliver nutrition education for people who need support, or use food as a way to bring people together and teach valuable life skills.

Nominate a great Canadian in your community who has gone above-and-beyond to use good food to better the lives of others. Whether they have put in place a program to nourish school children, deliver nutrition education for people who need support, or use food as a way to bring people together and teach valuable life skills.

They could receive a $10,000 donation towards their organization and enjoy free Maple Leaf groceries for a year.  And just by nominating them you could have the opportunity to receive free Maple Leaf groceries for a year.

The Nominee must volunteer or work for a registered not-for-profit organization or community group that uses food as a key component of supporting their program goals.

I mentioned a few of these organizations above.

To NOMINATE someone submit your information here:  

http://www.mapleleaf.com/feed-it-forward-donation/

This program takes place from March 21 to April 9, 2016.

Spread the word and get people talking about this great campaign that can make a difference in a lot of people's lives through this large donation. It's easy, all you have to do is nominate someone that is already doing good things to help them and you be rewarded for the great work.

Don't forget to follow along on social media and Tweet, Instagram, Facebook or whatever else you use to spread the word.

HASHTAG #feeditforward
Don't forget to follow @MapleLeafFoods on Twitter and Instagram
Follow fellow Gastroposter's feed using the Hashtag #Gastropost
Become a Gastroposter and submit your food photos for weekly missions and follow @Gastropost
http://gastropost.nationalpost.com/

This blog post was promoted by Gastropost + Maple Leaf Foods but the opinions are completely my own based on my experience.

Could you live on $1.75 a day?

Could you live on less than $1.75 a week?  I might not be Gwynneth Paltrow and rich but I already know that I probably wouldn't last longer than a day.  I don't have a job right now and probably should be living on less than $1.75 a day for food but I have been relying on my credit cards and the fact that I am able to sometimes attend food events because of my food blog so I am able to eat food I like most of the time.  But what would happen if I didn't spend years building my credit?  Well I would probably be one of those people that aren't able to eat 3 meals a day or  I would have to go without a lot of meals.

Starting April 28th, 2015 there is a challenge to Live Below the Line from April 28 to May 2nd.  Five days to live on less than $8.75.  I won't be participating in this challenge because I already know that I spend more than $8.75 on just one meal most of the time but I wanted to write this blog post i support of people that are living this way in Canada, the U.S. and the U.K. this week and for people all over the world who are food insecure.   The point of this challenge is to raise money for 10 different charities and to raise awareness.  I am doing my part by raising awareness because I know that I am not an effective fundraiser and won't be officially participating in the challenge.

If you would like to participate you can either join the challenge or donate funds to someone that is participating or just donate.  Here is the link if you would like to participate:  https://www.livebelowtheline.com/ca/challenge

There are lots of resources on the website including a Living Below the Line Cookbook.  I had a look through the cookbook and decided to make a modified version of the pancake recipe.  I added lemon zest and dash of vanilla cinnamon maple syrup to the blueberry topping.  I also added cinnamon to the pancakes.  This would probably bump up their estimated cost of $0.58 for a portion.

Adapted Recipe

Pancake

1 cup of all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

2 teaspoons of sugar

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1 egg

3/4 cup of milk

Syrup

zest of half a lemon

handful of frozen blueberries

2 tbsp of sugar

juice of half a lemon

dash of vanilla cinnamon maple syrup or equivalent

Mix all of the pancake ingredients into a large measuring cup and mix until combined.  I use a measuring cup so that it's easy to pour into a pan.  Less clean up.

For the syrup add a handful of frozen blueberries and add the juice and zest of half a lemon.  Add the sugar and a splash of maple syrup for flavour.   Cook until the syrup can coat the back of a spoon.

In a frying pan heated on medium heat Add a bit of oil or butter to coat the pan and then pour the pancake mix into the pan.  I made one large pancake and had enough for 2.  When bubbles form flip the pancake and cook on the other side for a minute or so.  Remove to a plate and serve with the blueberry syrup on top.

This is just one meal and I know that breakfast is the easiest meal to eat fairly cheap during the day but what about the rest of the day.   Could you survive? 

I bet that I could survive by making soups and rice and things like these pancakes and find ways to make them taste ok but I know that I would miss protein and more substantial meals.

If you can afford to donate.  If you think the challenge is easy, try it.  

Let me know how it goes....

good luck.

What is Food Security?

I went to see a film called FINDING NORTH at the Hot Docs Film Festival yesterday and it struck me that the term Food Insecurity is coming up a lot lately.  Why?  What is it? and how do we get rid of it?


Food security refers to the availability of food and one's access to it. A household is considered food-secure when its occupants do not live in hunger or fear of starvation.

Food security is a problem that isn't a new problem it's just a new name for poverty and starvation.  People in the U.S. and ever growing in Canada don't have enough food to eat because they are losing their jobs or making minimum wage and don't have money left to buy food for their families.  In a nation of overabundance of wealth and food, how is it that people can be starving?  Well the answer doesn't lie in the families themselves it's in the whole government process from the top down.  We spend more money on gas/oil than we do on food.  People including myself waste as much food as they eat sometimes.  Junk food is subsidized by lobbyists lobbying for corn, wheat and etc commodoties because they can make money when the food turns into products that can be manufactured and distributed.

There are so many levels to the issue of Food Insecurity.

1. Families buy junk food to get by because it's cheaper.
2. Government agencies do not provide enough subsidies for food programs for kids and families.
3. Minimum wage does not provide a living wage for people to survive and thrive.
4. The lack of proper nutrition is causing the obesity epidemic to rise.
5. Because of the obesity epidemic people are developing diseases at younger ages and with more severity.
6. Proper food isn't available to low income neighbourhoods in some states.
7. Food that is available is heavily processed, or genetically modified so people aren't getting the proper nutrition to lead healthy lives.
8. People get stuck in the endless cycle of poverty because the system is broken and doesn't allow them to get healthy and have the opportunities to get ahead of the food game.
9. People don't know what to do to change the problem.
10. Something needs to be done before our 1st world countries end up like Third World Countries.

What can you do?  Help to change policies of governments by lobbying for things like raising minimum wages or lobbying for more money for food programs or for food stamps in the U.S.

But really the answer isn't in more charity it's in finding ways to help people help themselves.   People need to be educated and given opportunities to earn a living that will put food on the table and all people to live their lives in dignity and contribute to the world.  If all people are doing is focusing on ways to survive they are not thriving and not producing or contributing anything to build a nation.  Help give people an opportunity to focus on something other than how they are going to get food to eat.

Think of the changes that could be made in the World if people had enough food to eat and didn't have to work 2 jobs to survive.  Maybe they could cure Cancer or find ways to make wars dissapear.     Aren't wars usually caused by the Have's and Have not's?  Aren't they usually caused by resentment and anger.   Don't you ever get cranky and angry when you are hungry?  Imagine what it would be like if a Country wasn't hungry.  What could they do?

Personally I think the answer to some of these problems is to stop paying for military planes, weapons and missions and to put the money into education, healthcare and farmers and job creation.

We need to eat Real Food, be healthy and be educated to be able to have jobs to go to.

We need to find ways to eliminate the need for Food Banks and eliminate the word Food Insecurity in the coming years.

Do something to make a change.  Start a community garden, send a letter to a politician, help people that are struggling to survive by giving them an opportunity or a little help.

People are getting fatter and it's not because they are eating more it's because they are eating less and the over processed chemical laden foods they are surviving on is killing them.

If you have the power do something to make a change.

Do something on May 19th .  Start a Revolution.  Join Food Revolution Day and hep make a change.
http://www.foodrevolutionday.com