August 1st, 2010 by Dawn Becker

Sure you’ll hear some complaining about the heat and humidity we’ve been experiencing in the Tdot. We’re Canadians and we love to kvetch† about the weather. No matter which province you live in we are fortunate enough to get a sampling of all four seasons. Admittedly, each season doesn’t get its fair share of playtime across Canada. Here in Toronto, we’re definitely not used to such a long stretch of heat but I guarantee that we’ll be ankle deep in snow around the corner and complaining about that too.

For me, I love Canada for all of its seasons and specifically Ontario, which I think has the most beautiful fall — this coming from a born and raised Vancouverite. Cool, crisp Ontario air brings with it the changing colours of leaves that run the gamut of what you visualize when you hear the word “autumn”. Bright orange, earthy browns, shocking reds and deep purples paint a magnificent landscape in what feels too short for that time of year. Maybe those months are short because the fall is conference season when I’m staring at my computer most days working on the majority of events in my annual roster. Nonetheless, the fall is still a prize. Everything is at its peak and then it all begins to die. Everything outdoors must be picked or left to perish for the cycle will have no choice but to begin again. It sounds morbid but that cycle of life is why I love the fall. You can smell death gnawing in the air and I love that. Sure the plants may not but the birth of things new happens all over again in spring so don’t get depressed.Getting back on track, this heat has had a delicious side benefit — luscious, fat, heavenly vegetables and lots of them. Above is a shot of the restrained bounty I impulsively picked up at the Nathan Phillips Square Farmers’ Market this week. On Wednesdays until October 13, 2010, you’ll find tables set up there from 10AM to 2PM, easily accessible to city dwellers and workers in the core. Until August 25, you can even shop accompanied by on-stage entertainment over the lunch hour from noon till 2PM.

I couldn’t resist the vendors’ stalls all of whom wisely presented their wares in irresistible and seductive ways. The scent of bursting ripe plums, dripping chunks of cut tomatoes, corn leaping out of husks, the smell of fresh herbs (though it did lack a bit in selection), sharp headiness of hard neck garlic bulbs, and juiciest sweet peaches practically splitting out of eagerness to be eaten on the spot.

Please, sample this delectable morsel. How can one say no? I had to partake in this and I justified to myself that I was supporting sustainable local farming despite the fact that I would be mostly eating solo a pint of strawberries, a pint of sugar plums — Did I ever mention that I don’t eat fruit? — a significantly larger than ogre-sized handful of beans probably close to a pint as well, four healthy tomatoes, a pint of baby zucchinis, one onion and a head of baby cabbage. To be honest, I regret buying such a teensy cabbage. I could have made a quick batch of homemade sauerkraut to eat with sausages I have frozen here but the mini cabbage wouldn’t make much more than a serving and a half. Regrettable really.I talked about the Farmers’ Market at Evergreen Brickworks in my last post. This is just another one of many weekly outlets that provide fresh, from the farm to your table produce. Edible Toronto, a quarterly magazine that has a focus on promoting local food options provides an online list of Farmers’ Markets available in Ontario — a great resource if you’re looking for an at-a-glance schedule of local markets.

Full disclosure: I met the Publisher and Editor of Edible Toronto by chance when dining one night at Guu Izakaya. My friends and I happened to be seated at a communal table right beside Gail Gordon Oliver and her sister. I was, let’s say, highly “exuberant” that night and I failed to stop myself from sharing all of my thoughts about the menu choices with our neighbours. They took in my zealous food chatter in stride. Upon reflection, as an overactive thinker is wont to do, I know my comments were superfluous. Gail was a real charm for receiving me with my earnest intentions. You need only think of any Katherine Heigl movie for a vision of my over-the-top-ness. At the end of their meal, we did exchange cards and since then I have pleasantly seen her at a conference, while I hid my cringing memories. From the brief encounters, Gail was friendly and seemed quite down to earth. That being said, I share this Farmers’ Market list not because of that but simply because it’s a great list that I refer to. Bookmark it. You will need it one day.

†NOTE: I don’t know anyone who speaks Yiddish but I have always liked the word “kvetch” for its onomatopoeic quality. It’s what I hear when people complain making tiresome, polluting, infiltrating noise. Sounds like“kvetch-ing” to me. I pulled from another language. In turn, I will take no offence if you do that to my mother tongue. Go ahead and call that ludicrous random white guy insisting loudly on getting “cold tea” (a.k.a. beer innocently served in a tea kettle after hours but only available at certain Chiinese restaurants) a gwai lo. I’m good with that. Just say it properly, muttering under your breath, with a slight shake of your head like the elder, wiser Chinese would do. Again I digress, as I do so often…