This month, “Diversity in the Kitchen” features the Philippines, my native country. Born and raised in Manila, my parents, younger brother and I moved to Wolfville, NS, when I was in high school. We lived there for a few years until we moved to the U.S., where I finished university and spent my career as a research scientist. I never forgot my love for the Maritimes and the Bay of Fundy area. For more than 30 years, we visited my sister and her family in Waterside almost every summer. My husband and I are now happy to have made our permanent home in Waterside!
by Lynne Greenblatt
This month, “Diversity in the Kitchen” features the Philippines, my native country. Born and raised in Manila, my parents, younger brother and I moved to Wolfville, NS, when I was in high school. We lived there for a few years until we moved to the U.S., where I finished university and spent my career as a research scientist. I never forgot my love for the Maritimes and the Bay of Fundy area. For more than 30 years, we visited my sister and her family in Waterside almost every summer. My husband and I are now happy to have made our permanent home in Waterside!
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By: Tessa Wissink Hello! My name is Tessa Wissink and I am 28 years old. Over the past five years, I have become increasingly interested in the intersection of food, environmentalism and quality of life. I have found the experiences of starting to grow my own food at home, foraging for wild food, and learning to hunt, trap and fish extremely rewarding. I feel a much greater connection to the food I eat and the land around me, much more than I ever had before, and would like to share these experiences with others wherever and whenever I can. We are so excited for you to join us for the 2021 farmers' market season at The Old Village Church (2807 Main Street, Hillsborough) every Saturday rain or shine from 9am-2pm.
There will be hot coffee and tea to enjoy as you browse, to take-out or to enjoy outside on the picnic tables. Stock up for the week's supply of veggies, meats, breads, cheese, eggs, preserves, baked goods and more. Get locally made and hand-crafted gifts for friends and family and birthdays and other special occasions. Find beautiful pieces made by the creative artisans in our region. Come out and support the talent in our community and our neighbours. We are happy to welcome new vendors to the market and also excited to have familiar faces back that were not with us last season. See you there and "Keep It Local!" Angela MacDougall This is the first in a series of articles celebrating the growing diversity of countries, cultures and cuisine among our neighbours in Albert County. We will feature stories and recipes from around the world, brought to you by new friends who now call Albert County home. Enjoy! Lynne Greenblatt Hakka Yong Tau Fu (客家釀豆腐) by Lim Lee Fui
I moved to Alma a year ago to be with the love of my life, whom I met in Malaysia nine years ago. I like my life in Albert County where I am well pampered by (besides the nature and scenery) local produce and seafood, of which I am a big fan. I am so grateful that I am still able to create many recipes from home with the vegetables, meat and seafood found in Albert County. I am honoured to share a recipe that is connected to my heritage, Malaysian Hakka, with Connecting Albert County. Hakka is a Chinese subgroup and means ‘guest families.’ By Angela MacDougall
We are so excited for you to join us for the 2021 farmers' market season at The Old Village Church (2807 Main St. Hillsborough). Every Saturday rain or shine. 9am-2pm. There will be hot coffee and tea to enjoy as you browse, to take-out or to enjoy outside on the picnic tables. We have had a few very fun special markets over the winter months to keep you entertained and now we are diving into our regular summer season. Stock up for the week's supply of veggies, meats, breads, cheese, eggs, preserves, baked goods and more. Get locally made and hand-crafted gifts for friends and family and birthdays and other special occasions. Find beautiful pieces made by the creative artisans in our region. Come out and support the talent in our community and our neighbours. We are happy to welcome new vendors to the market and also excited to have familiar faces back that were not with us last season. See you there and "Keep It Local!" By Anna Holdaway
True or false? One out of every three mouthfuls of food we eat comes to us with the help of bees. False, but if you change the word ‘bees’ to ‘pollinators,’ it would be true, and bees are one of Canada’s most important pollinators. Squash, cucumbers, blueberries, apples, cashews, sunflowers, alfalfa and clover are some of the many plants we eat, either directly or by eating meat. All of these rely, to varying degrees, on the presence of pollinators. Bees are declining throughout the world both in the wild and in human-made hives. They need our care and support, and so do our beekeepers. Tell us about your favourite vegetable that can be grown in Albert County. Let us know why you like it and how you like to eat it. Feel free to add pictures, recipes or stories about gardening or cooking the vegetable. The contest is open for kids in rural Albert County up to grade 6. Participants are eligible to win prizes including gardening books for kids, gift certificates for The Old Church Farmers' Market, maple syrup and more. We also welcome volunteers to help with the contest.
by Angela MacDougall Spring is in the air and people are craving fresh leafy greens. The days of eating starchy, hearty storage crops are over for now. When I think about spring foods, a myriad of leafy greens come to mind. Greens are cold tolerant and love the sunny days and cool nights. They actually prefer the cooler weather and do not do well in the heat of the summer. In terms of pests, it's easier to grow leafy greens in colder temperatures because many pests of green leaves, such as flea beetles, are much more abundant in the warmer months. This can make it more difficult to grow these types of veggies in the summer. If you’re eating in season or buying from local markets, the types of veggies to expect in spring include: arugula, mustard, spinach, bok choy, broccoli raab, kale, chard, collards, loose leaf cabbage, dandelion greens, green onions, peas, salad turnips, radish, nettles and early lettuce. By Brittany Butland, RD Fruits and vegetables are an important part of a healthy eating pattern. They are great sources of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and fibre. Eating more fruits and vegetables may lower your risk of heart disease, stroke and some types of cancer. Try these tips to help you eat more fruits and vegetables while keeping the cost down. by Angela MacDougall When thinking about winter salads, it is best if you leave the thought of a typical salad behind. Winter salads are about using what is in season and easily available to you. This may mean a salad without lettuce or growing your lettuce, but the main goal is to get you thinking about salads in a different way… outside the box. When I think ‘winter salad,’ my go-to salad is quick to prepare, requires few ingredients and people love it. There is definitely room for altering the recipe. You could use a different dressing; although, I find the raspberry vinaigrette is a perfect match. Sometimes I’ve added raisins, sesame seeds, grated cabbage or grated kohlrabi into the mix‒they’re all great. By Angela MacDougall It's no Sonny and Cher song, but the lowly beet has played an important role in feeding the world since the Roman Empire. Although a beet is not really attractive to look at, it’s a nutrient powerhouse for your body. In the past, beets were used as a medicinal food for detoxification and to improve digestion, blood health and heart health. Now, people appreciate beets for their high level of antioxidants. by Janet Wallace Food is a source of joy. I love food: it’s that simple. Fortunately, most of the foods I enjoy eating are healthy. But it wasn’t always like this. When I was learning to cook, I was also learning about nutrition. At that time, food was fuel. I balanced my ingredients to ensure that I ate enough protein, fibre and vitamins, with a minimum of fat, oil, sugar and salt. Looking back, it was a rather miserable diet, even though the nutritional principles were sound. I didn’t enjoy my meals very much, which led me to binge on junk food every once in a while. Now, my diet is much less rigid and, as a result, much healthier. March 6th, brought to you by Foods of the Fundy Valley by Kris Buck This free event will include seed sellers, garden groups, local environmental businesses and organizations, a seed swap table, free catalogues and brochures, activities and workshops throughout the day. Lunch will be available from the famous Foods of the Fundy Valley Soup Bar. Further details on this event will be available through our Facebook page in the weeks to come. Participants will be asked to pre-register in order to allow for adequate crowd control. Please note this event is subject to the restrictions of the yellow phase of the Covid recovery plan and will be cancelled if the area is in the orange or red phase.
By Angela MacDougall
Save money, prevent food waste, avoid going to town and organize your kitchen: what else are you going to do in a pandemic? I was asked recently if I like or dislike winter. As I was contemplating my answer, I thought about what I do during the winter and what the next few months will bring. I quickly realized that January is Pantry Challenge month. Excitement filled me as I imagined what food I would find in the back of the pantry or the bottom of the freezer, and the creative, fun and crazy meals we will eat. I know countless images of oversized plates of shepherds' pie is what my husband is hoping for. I’m thinking more about all the small amounts of lentils, beans and grains that didn’t quite get used up and how they will make a delicious soup. January seems like the perfect time to do a pantry challenge. It’s the time of year when I seem to lean towards warming, hearty soups and comforting casseroles. By Lynne Greenblatt The Foods of the Fundy Valley (FFV) food forest in Hillsborough is growing! Located on Steeves Street on the south side of the Railway Museum, the orchard was established in the fall of 2018 with a grant from Tree Canada. FFV planted two dozen trees including varieties of apples, cherries, plums and pears. This fall, we added eight high-bush blueberry plants. By Angela MacDougall
Are you interested in gardening? Check out Gardens in the Community: Albert County (Riverview to Alma) Facebook.com/groups/136894827754479. You can ask questions and post ideas or pictures of what you are doing in your own garden. It is a great place to learn and share with others in the same growing area. “These are known in my extended family as ‘Jen’s root vegetables’ and we will almost always have them at family dinners during holiday season. There is no specified temperature for cooking them: my brother-in-law likes a hot oven and I like a long, slow cook for almost 1½-hours until they are crunchy like French fries. You can also vary the vegetable mix any way you like to suit your very own picky eaters!” says Jennifer.
Neeps and tatties are a classic Scottish dish – the 'neeps' refer to rutabaga or turnips and the 'tatties' refer to potatoes.
By Janet Wallace
Potatoes played a role in the history of Atlantic Canada. The Lumper potato particularly was in part responsible for the immigration of many Irish settlers. When we eat potatoes today, we can thank the Incas. The wild potatoes found in South American mountains, specifically the Andes in Peru and Ecuador, are small and somewhat toxic. However, after generations of Inca farmers selected the largest and best-tasting tubers to plant, they ended up with potatoes similar to those on our tables today. By Lynne Greenblatt This year marks the tenth anniversary of Foods of the Fundy Valley! We incorporated in December 2010 as a result of ABCD workshops (brainstorming solutions to the challenges facing our rural communities). Foods of the Fundy Valley’s mission is to foster an environment that promotes the production and consumption of local foods and local goods in the Albert County area. Education is a key component of our mandate. We host hands-on workshops on diverse topics such as planting garlic, hydroponics, building a cob oven, beekeeping, seed security, gardening techniques and preserving. Text by Jim Kitts; Photography by Jim Kitts and Ruth-Ann Mitchell One of the most evocative sentences in the English language is “Give us this day our daily bread.” This line from a prayer may have been on Pierre Thibodeau’s mind (in French) in 1700. That year he bought a grindstone in Boston and built a grist mill around it in Shepody, the village he founded in 1698. The grindstone, now on display in the Albert County Museum, must have played an important role in the nourishment of the people living on the shore of the Petitcodiac River. Although those folks were forcibly deported during the British/French Seven Years War, their descendants are all around us. They are forever linked to this grindstone and “Chipody” (another spelling of Shepody or Chipoudie). Peggy Newcombe gave Elaine Holmstrom this recipe when Stephen and Elaine first came to New Brunswick in 1989. "I have sold many jars of it over the years. Peggy told me that I wouldn’t find a better recipe than this!” says Elaine.
Vegetables
Dressing 2½ cups vinegar 1 tsp ginger 1½ cups cold water 1 tsp celery seed 5 cups white sugar ½ tsp turmeric 3 tsp dry mustard ½ cup flour Mix well and add vegetables. Simmer 30 minutes. Bottle and seal in sterilized bottles. Submitted b Elaine Holmstrom, Peck’s Colonial House B&B An excerpt from the Albert County Museum cookbook: Fiddleheads, Fricot & Frittata: A Hodgepodge of Atlantic Canadian Recipes. The book is only $8 (no tax) for 200+ recipes, as well as stories about the people and foods of Atlantic Canada. Order at https://www.albertcountymuseum.com/giftshoponline or pick up a copy (or two) at the Albert County Museum in Hopewell Cape.
Submitted by Hanna Downey An excerpt from the Albert County Museum cookbook: Fiddleheads, Fricot & Frittata: A Hodgepodge of Atlantic Canadian Recipes. The book is only $8 (no tax) for 200+ recipes, as well as stories about the people and foods of Atlantic Canada. Order at https://www.albertcountymuseum.com/giftshoponline or pick up a copy (or two) at the Albert County Museum in Hopewell Cape. |
Food, Farming & Fishing
Connecting Albert County would like to thank the following supporters & advertisers: Platinum supporters - Bennett and Albert County Health Care (BACH) Foundation - Albert County Pharmacy - Hon. Rob Moore, MP for Fundy Royal Gold supporters - CBDC Westmorland Albert - Albert County Funeral Home - Friends of Fundy Silver supporters - Crooked Creek Convenience - Hon. Mike Holland, Minister, MLA-Albert - Fundy Highlands Motel and Chalets Bronze supporters - Chipoudy Communities Revitalization Committee (CCRC) - Jeff MacDougall, SouthEastern Mutual Insurance If you would like to support Connecting Albert County, visit our Advertising page or Donation page. With your support, we can continue to share the news of rural Albert County. Comments We welcome comments to our blog postings. Please provide your email address and name with your comment, and respect our content guidelines. Archives
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