Aspartame has been Renamed and is Now Being Marketed as a Natural Sweetener | Health Freedom Alliance

Really?!?

Aspartame has been Renamed and is Now Being Marketed as a Natural Sweetener | Health Freedom Alliance:

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Richard Wilkinson: How economic inequality harms societies | Video on TED.com

Richard Wilkinson: How economic inequality harms societies | Video on TED.com:

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#Foodstock: Cooking to Stop the Mega-Quarry

Twitter / Recent images by @TeamHeadwaters:

Chef Michael Stadtlander, environmentalist and owner of Eigensinn Farm, with the help of the Canadian Chefs Congress, mobilized many of Ontario’s best chefs to come out last Sunday, October 16th to cook up a storm of protest in support of the Stop the Mega-Quarry movement. They named it Foodstock and the event attracting foodies and environmentalists alike,  took place in Honeywood on the farm of Diane and Bill French. Both Stadtlander's restaurant/farm and the French farm are not far from the Melancthon Township proposed quarry site.

Stadtlander and the more than 70 Ontario chefs prepared a feast in the forest for the  25,000 plus Foodstock attendees who came out in the cold, wet and windy weather in support of Stop the Mega-Quarry. To name only a handful of the hard working chefs who ventured out in the early morning hours to start cooking and setting up for the event were: Brad Long (Café Belong), Order of Canada recipient Jamie Kennedy (Jamie Kennedy Kitchens), Victor Barry (Splendido,The County General), Keith Froggett (Scaramouche), Alexandra Feswick (Brockton General), Zane Caplansky (Caplanskys Deli), Anthony Walsh (Canoe), chefs from Parts & Labour, Enoteca Sociale and Buca, Kristen and Dan Donovan (Hooked), butchers from Cumbrae’s and chocolate makers from ChocoSol Traders.

In addition to the chefs that came on board were some iconic music industry performers you just might have heard of. To the delight of the crowd, singing and playing their support on the rain soaked stage were musicians Jim Cuddy of Blue Rodeo fame, with Cuff the Duke, Sarah Harmer, band members of the Bare Naked Ladies, Ron Sexsmith and Jeremy Taggart of Our Lady Peace acting as MC.

The mega-quarry that Foodstock was organized to help oppose, is a controversial proposal by The Highland Companies, an American-backed entity intent on transforming 765 hectares of Ontario’s best farmland into one of the largest limestone quarries in North America. When completed this hole in some of the best farmland in Ontario would be 1.5 times the depth of Niagara Falls. The quarry plans to excavate high-quality limestone deposits that sit well below the water table. Projections show that up to 600 million litres of water would be pumped from the massive quarry every day. The negative impact on local rivers, cold-water fisheries and Southern Ontario’s water supply would be catastrophic.  

These days tickets for food events with chefs of this calibre can be $100+, but the people organizing Foodstock wanted everyone to be able to participate with a pay-what-you-can or a suggested $10 donation. The money will be used for legal fees to fight the mega quarry.

Giving a nod to 1969's Woodstock, a defining moment for an entire generation that attracted half a million participants to a dairy farm in upstate New York, Foodstock organizers drew inspiration from the Woodstock poster that featured a white dove on a guitar.  The Foodstock poster (seen above) features a bird on the handle of a saucepan. Not just any old bird though, this bird is a bobolink, a threatened species that nests in the farmer's fields and grasslands in the proposed mega-quarry site of Melancthon Township. 

 ”...and everywhere there were songs and celebration..."

French Canadian Delight - Sweet!

I wanted something rich and sweet today...Pouding Chomeur was the answer.  This is an amazing self-saucing Quebec dessert.  It's easy and fast to make -  great for a week night dinner. Salut!

Pouding Chomeur avec Sauce aux Sirup d'Erable 

Yield:  12 portions

Ingredients

Cake

½ cup unsalted butter, melted

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 ⅓ cups milk

Maple Sauce

1 ½ cups maple syrup

1 ½ cups brown sugar

1 ½ cups heavy cream (you can omit the cream and substitute water instead)

⅓ cup butter

Method

    Preheat oven to 325°F

Cake

1. In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light.
2. Add eggs and vanilla while continuing to mix.
3. In another bowl, sift together flour and baking powder.
4. Add dry ingredients to the butter mixture, alternating with the milk, and mix well.
5. Pour the batter in a greased 13' x 9' glass oven dish.

Sauce

1. In a medium saucepan bring the syrup, brown sugar, heavy cream and butter to a boil while stirring. Reduce the heat and let simmer for 2 minutes or until the sauce has slightly reduced.
2. Let cool slightly and pour slowly over the batter.
3. Bake for approximately 35 minutes or until the top of the pudding is golden and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
4. If you are entertaining, invert the cake onto a large serving platter.
5. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Foodstock Preview « Good Food Revolution by Malcolm Jolley

Foodstock Preview « Good Food Revolution:

Chef Michael Stadtlander cooks lunch for Foodstock volunteers and visiting journalists at Vander Zaag Farm.
"On October 16 the Vander Zaag Potato Farm in North Dufferin County is going to smell delicious. At Foodstock, a hundred or so chefs from across Ontario (and a few special guests from further away – see the list below) will be cooking for anyone who shows up to hear concerts by artists like Jim Cuddy and Sarah Harmer to show opposition to the proposed Mega Quarry, which is to be dug (literally) next door. The farms that make up the site of Foodstock will, by all accounts, be destroyed if the environmental disaster is allowed to come to pass."
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Joan E. Keegan - Artist and Family

Art | Beach Metro Community News

Multi-media artist Joan E. Keegan will be having an exhibition of her paintings at The Beacher Café, 2162 Queen St. E., from July 26 through Aug. 31.

This collection of paintings and multi-media works ranges from her early abstract and intuitive pieces where she depicts the literal, spiritual and philosophical effects of urban development on the environment, to her more recent works depicting the environmental theme through abstract landscapes.

Keegan was born in Montreal, received her BA in Fine Arts from Concordia, and currently lives in the Beach. She also likes to travel to New Zealand.

Revealed: Charlie Burger's true identity - The Globe and Mail

Revealed: Charlie Burger's true identity - The Globe and Mail: "Franco Stalteri and his day job is director of experiential marketing for Your Brand Integrated Marketing Communications. He puts together high-end events for banks or luxury car companies or other prestigious clients such as Dom Perignon Champagne."

Easier for Mr. Stalteri to organize events but wasn't that part of the fun?