Bitters, Ginger Beer, Kombucha – Oh My! I’ve attended a few Food Connection potlucks over the past 6 months, but August’s potluck is my favorite to date as the workshop focused on two of my favorite things: fermented drinks (ginger beer and kombucha) and bitters (for cocktails or ‘mocktails’ – the non-acoholic variety). Back in April, Joey and I were chatting and I mentioned that my boyfriend Thomas has a food blog (shameless plug for Shady Morels here: shadymorels.com). I th

Participants travelled from both near and far in torrential rain to our Show and Tea evening. The third event of the year was an intimate gathering, and as we arrived into the cosy, warm neighbourhood house, the entire group huddled around the table together to enjoy a delicious potluck supper of salads, pasta and fresh homemade bread. On the table beside us sat a wonderful array of teas brought along from our kitchens, cupboards and tea collections. After supper, we enjoyed

For our second event of the year, Sachiko shared her knowledge of the fabulous cuisine of Japan. Living in Vancouver surrounded by sushi restaurants, this workshop enlightened us on other aspects of Japanese home cooking, such as dashi, miso and onigri. Firstly, everyone had a chance to introduce themselves at their table, meet their neighbours andshare their own experience of Japanese cuisine. It was especially fascinating to hear stories from those who have travelled in Jap

Our October event was an action-packed night filled with community, food and kimchi! We kicked things off with a Community Dialogue facilitated by Andrew and Blanca from the Mount Pleasant Food Network (based out of the neighbourhood house). As a relatively new food network, they were interested in receiving community input about what neighbourhood food resources and knowledge should be shared, as well as what people think makes a healthy food community. At the Dialogue we di

Our very first potluck and food workshop! We were excited to be at Mount Pleasant Neighbourhood House with its big hall and full kitchen, and there were 15 of us ready to get our hands dirty and make sauerkraut. After the potluck and introductions, Steph gave us a quick overview about kombucha and the benefits of fermenting for gut health. She also split some 'mother' starters into jars for a few of us to take home. The idea is that you can keep splitting more starters with e