I was invited to a #TasteTheSeason dinner hosted by Sweetgreen to showcase their Autumnal seasonal menu. Over to Ward's Berry Farm we went, where we were introduced to farmer Jim Ward who took us on a hayride through the fields where many of the ingredients of Sweetgreen's menu are sourced.
Vancouver: Granville Island's Public Market
I love a good market. Vancouver's Granville Island's Public Market is ah.mah.zing. The only snag, not being able to buy fresh produce that I could actually take home. Hmm...although, I did buy the most insanely divine Ice Wine Chocolates from Rogers' Chocolates and beer from Granville Island Brewing Company (so my priorities may be questionable) BUT I must say, the beer served us well during the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Anyway, I digress. Back to the public market....where the selection is vast and the freshness, out of bounds.
For lunch, I had fish and chips (obviously) from Celine's and I had to make a stop at the famous Lee's Donuts (as seen on tv) after which I parked myself at the Granville Island Tea Company with a pot of Earl Grey admist a crowd of market goers.
Come with me to smell the peonies, maneuver pyramids of fruit while oogling the abundance of fresh fish...
Vermont: Stowe, Ben & Jerry's, Cabot Cheese
Locations:
Ben & Jerry's 1281 Waterbury Stowe Rd, Waterbury, VT 05676
Cabot Cheese 2878 Main St, Cabot, VT 05647
Who knew that the Ben & Jerry's factory was in quaint and picturesque Stowe?
Not to mention Cabot Cheese? I literally ran out of Lactaid, but that may have been TMI. And while the lactose-free MILD cheddar I got is incredibly sharp, I'm always just happy to find lactose-free cheese.
And hey, I didn't really spill my ice cream!
Don't forget, TODAY is Ben & Jerry's FREE CONE DAY!
Love this fake ice cream spill!
Cambridge: REI Camp Cooking Challenge
On July 28, 3 local area chefs battled it out on a grassy hill-top using only 1 local (and secret) ingredient.
The 3rd annual Camp Cooking Challenge was sponsered by REI and the Massachusetts Department of Agriculture, hosted by Dane Tullock, Outreach Specialist, REI Boston and videographed by Jeremy from Studio603films.
Using REI's camping gear and fresh produce from The Food Project the chefs were challenged to serve two dishes to the judges using the red fish as their master ingredient. The judges were DAR commissioner Greg Watson, Editor of Northeast Flavor Magazine, Jean Kerr (whose current issue features Julia Child), Founder and President of Chop-Chop Magazine, Sally Sampson and Director of Food Initiatives , Edith Murnane.
The winners were Chefs Chris Douglass and Nuno Alves from Tavalo for their seafood risotto (I tried it, it was delicious!)
Coming in second was Chef Jay Murray from Grill 23 with Chef Patricia Yeo (from tv's Top Chef Masters fame and Moksa) coming in third. (I'm a huge fan of Top Chef so it was a pleasure to meet Chef Patricia Yeo).
Here, some highlights (my interview by Dane made it to my Instagram feed!)
Happy Birthday Julia Child!
PYO: Cherry Picking
Locations:
E.D. Smith Cherry Farm
980 Highway #8, Winona, Ontario
Puddicombe Estate Farms & Winery
1468 #8 Hwy, Winona, Ontario
All summer long I'd been meaning to go strawberry picking...which by late summer had turned into peach-picking. Finally, when the opportunity for anything-picking came up, our GPS was eagerly set up to locate the E.D. Smith farm. Unfortunately, E.D. remained a mysterious location on our GPS, but our old-fashioned road-trip technique of stop-and-ask-for-directions worked out perfectly and brought us to E.D's gate which...was CLOSED?!?! You had to be kidding me.
Good thing our GPS located another farm close by. Puddicombe!
For cherry, apple and pear picking.
Didn't look like there was anything to be picked when we got there though. We were too late for cherries and too early for pears or apples. The boy behind the outdoor stall mentioned heavy rainfall having ruined the cherry crops, but the Puddicombe railway and petting zoo was open. None of us were five years old however, so we decided to taste some wine, instead. Blueberry, raspberry, cranberry and pear. Deeeellliiiiicious! Our journey wasn't completely wasted; we bought a couple of bottles of blueberry wine and called it a day.
As for pear-picking? Maybe next year.
PYO: Apple Picking in Milton
Location:
6063 Fifth Line
Milton, Ontario
An apple a day.....is what I've been having ever since we went apple picking on Sunday at the Willis Family Fruit Farm in Milton. 
Jonagolds, Golden Russets, Empires, Courtlands and Mutsus were all ready to be picked...and pick we did. 
I think it really does make a difference picking your own fruit - the apples are crispy, juicy and delicious and the Empires are still waiting to be made into an apple crumble!