Last week, after many months of receiving the Food Connection newsletter and getting invitations to so many intriguing workshops in my inbox (Dumplings! Honey! Soap-making!), I finally attended my first workshop. The day’s theme did not disappoint: coffee and desserts. Yum... After a round of introductions, the group, made up of around half Food Connection vets and half newbies like myself, shared a wonderful potluck dinner. Then we got to the informative portion of the eveni

On March 30th, The Food Connection hosted a Community Growing Social, which was a fun casual evening where new and old friends got together to make Buddha Bowls, swap seeds and get excited about gardening. We appreciated the seed sharing with the seemingly unlimited choices and numerous ideas and tips for gardening; it was especially educational for us beginners. The discussion on bug infestation problems and solutions was of particular interest to us; one method that stood o

Searching for a good veggie burger recipe? I know I’ve been searching for one for several years. As soon as I heard that this month's recipe was coming from Whitewater Cooks, I knew I had to come out to this workshop. I'm a big fan of Shelley Adams' recipes so I knew this would be good. As with every Food Connection workshop, we introduced ourselves to everyone at our table. We were asked to share our experiences with veggie burgers. I confessed that during my post secondary

The Bread Workshop was my introduction to The Food Connection, I love bread, and most food in general so I was really looking forward to the evening getting started. As people arrived, they said their hellos and began setting up their pot-luck contribution on the long table. Most seemed to be familiar with The Food Connection, but as I chatted, I discovered that there were also a few “newbies”, like myself. A very friendly and welcoming group though, it must be said. Once th

For April we devoted our workshop to a topic that is behind all the delicious food we base our Food Connection evenings on: Gardening! In terms of the growing season, it was the perfect time to dig up (pun intended) our seed collections at home and bring them to swap with each other, since right now lots of veggies can be planted outdoors. We also set some seeds aside for our fieldtrip after to our community garden plot at Dude Chilling Park (aka Guelph Park). After cleaning

This month's theme was sprouting seeds. Sprouting seeds is an important step when you're eating any kind of seed, nut or grain. It involves a period of soaking, followed by a cycle of thorough rinsing and draining. The idea is that prior to soaking, seeds are hard to digest because they require extra energy to break down. By sprouting them you're waking them up and priming them for optimal digestion. Check out this soaking wheel that tells you how long to soak and sprout cert