3. Events of Interest
Compiled by Jane Black, Luisa Giacometti & Sarah Hood
THIS MONTH (July 2018)
Toronto
- Sunday, July 1: Canada Day! Many City of Toronto museums and historic houses are open for special proramming.
- Tuesday, July 3: Table Talk with Sujala Balaji: Is Millet the New Quinoa?, 6 to 9 p.m. The Depanneur and Artery present Sujala Balaji, a food scientist-turned-social entrepreneur committed to feeding the world sustainably by using ancient grain millets to address the need for sustainable and resilient food systems. Includes a millet-focused dinner by Len Senater. Admission: $25 + HST, including dinner and coffee or tea.
- Saturday, July 7: Summer Preserves – Jelly & Jam, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Market Kitchen presents a hands-on class that covers homemade jelly, several types of jam made from local in-season fruit, and canning basics. Admission: $60 + HST. Pre-registration is required.
- Thursday, July 12: Canadian Dinner Party Menu, 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. The St. Lawrence Market Kitchen presents a hands-on class in which participants work as part of a team to prepare a delicious three-course Canadian-inspired menu featuring fresh Canadian seafood, tomahawk steak and seasonal fruit tart, and to sample fabulous Canadian cheeses. Vegetarian options are available upon request. Admission: $99 + HST. Pre-registration is required.
- Thursday, July 26: Canadian Dinner Party Menu, 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. The St. Lawrence Market Kitchen presents a hands-on class in which participants work as part of a team to prepare a delicious three-course Canadian-inspired menu featuring fresh Canadian seafood, tomahawk steak and seasonal fruit tart, and to sample fabulous Canadian cheeses. Vegetarian options are available upon request. Admission: $99 + HST. Pre-registration is required.
- Saturday, July 28: Adelaide Hoodless and Friends, all day. A day trip from Toronto to explore the roots of the Women’s Institute and the E.D. Smith jam company in the Stoney Creek area (near Hamilton, Ontario), with visits to the Erland Lee Museum (birthplace of the Women’s Institute) and Battlefield House Museum and Park (site of the Georgian-era home of the Gage family). Admission: $95, including tours, lunch and historic food tastings.
Greater Toronto & Hamilton Area (GTHA)
- Thursday, July 26: Thirsty Thursday, 7 to 10 p.m. (Etobicoke, Ontario). Montgomery’s Inn presents Thirsty Thursday tavern night with beer, wine or a Thomas Montgomery specialty in the restored 1847 barroom, along with Irish stew, fresh-baked bread and live traditional music. Admission: Free. Cash bar; $5 for a bowl of stew, while supplies last. 416-394-8113.
Other Regions
- Friday to Sunday, July 6 to 8: Pysanka Festival (Vegreville, Alberta). Visitors will experience pioneer cooking demonstrations and Canadian-Ukrainian food at this celebration of Ukrainian heritage.
- Friday, July 13: Whisky 301, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. (Kingston, Ontario). Bellevue House National Historic Site presents a special whisky-tasting seminar for true connoisseurs, featuring a line-up of premium single malt scotch served by whisky sommelier Sylvain Bouffard of Just a Wee Dram, who will discuss how whisky is linked to the building of Canada. Admission: $59.95 + HST. Pre-registration is required at 613-545-8666.
- Saturday, July 28: Victorian High Tea, 1 to 2:30 p.m. & 3 to 4:30 p.m. (Chute-à-Blondeau, Ontario). Maison Macdonell-Williamson House presents Victorian High Tea with the English Country Dancers. Admission: $30. Call Alice at 450-451-5693 to reserve and pay for tickets by Visa or MasterCard.
LOOKING AHEAD (August 2018)
Toronto
- Thursday, August 30: Victorian Beer, 7 to 9 p.m. Mackenzie House invites visitors to try out locally brewed beer by Muddy York Brewing Co. in an amazing historic setting. Guests will learn about craft brewing in Toronto and sample Victorian snack food. Admission: $50, including a taste of four beers and two 12-oz pulls. Pre-registration is required.
Greater Toronto & Hamilton Area (GTHA)
- Saturday, August 18: The Spice Is Right, 10 a.m. to noon (Hamilton, Ontario). Dundurn Castle presents a historic cooking workshop during which participants will create Indian-inspired Victorian food. The Victorians loved trying a variety of foods from around the world. Nineteenth-century cooks were especially inspired by the spices and flavours from India, creating adaptations of Indian curries, chutneys and more. All participants will take home a recipe booklet and a free pass to the museum. Admission: $55. Pre-registration is required at 905-546-2872.
- Saturday, August 18: Progressive Lunch, 1 to 3 p.m. (Pickering, Ontario). Pickering Village Museum hosts a progressive lunch that will see participants enjoying each course at a different historic building. Entertainment will be provided at each stop. Admission: $64. Pre-registration is required.
- Thursday, August 30: Thirsty Thursday, 7 to 10 p.m. (Etobicoke, Ontario). Montgomery’s Inn presents Thirsty Thursday tavern night with beer, wine or a Thomas Montgomery specialty in the restored 1847 barroom, along with Irish stew, fresh-baked bread and live traditional music. Admission: Free. Cash bar; $5 for a bowl of stew, while supplies last. 416-394-8113.
Other Regions
- Saturday, August 4: Food Day Canada
- Saturday, August 4: Ontario Fermentation Festival (Picton, Ontario). A family-friendly event celebrating all things fermented in Ontario, with workshops, speakers, demonstrations and a marketplace.
- Thursday, August 9: Whisky Tasting, 6 to 8 p.m. (Kingston, Ontario). Bellevue House National Historic Site presents a special whisky-tasting seminar for true connoisseurs, featuring a line-up of premium single malt scotch served by whisky sommelier Sylvain Bouffard of Just a Wee Dram, who will discuss how whisky is linked to the building of Canada. Admission: $75 + HST. Pre-registration is required at 613-545-8666.
- Wednesday, August 15: Tartan Tea, 2 to 4 p.m. (Cambridge, Ontario). McDougall Cottage honours our Scottish immigrants with a traditional Scottish tea. Admission: $15. Pre-registration is required at 519-624-8250.
- Thursday, August 16: Peach Tea, four sittings: noon, 1 p.m., 2 p.m. & 3 p.m. (Peterborough, Ontario). Hutchison House hosts its 27th annual old-time summer social with home-baked scones served with fresh peaches and whipped cream or ice cream topped with blueberries plus tea, iced tea or lemonade. Admission: $12 door/$10 in advance (adults); $8 door/$6 in advance (children). 705-743-9710.
- Saturday & Sunday, August 11 & 12: A Taste of King’s Landing, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (King’s Landing, New Brunswick). This weekend, the focus is on 19th-century cooking methods, meal-time etiquette, food production and origins. Stories will be told about where ingredients come from, how the plough was used, and how recipes and techniques were learned. Admission: Regular admission applies.
CONTINUING
- To August 17: Mixed Messages: Making and Shaping Culinary Culture in Canada(Toronto). An exhibition of rare and interesting cookery material at the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, featuring a diverse selection of rare Canadian cookbooks, periodicals, manuscripts and culinary objects from about 1825 to 1967.
- Weekends to August 25: A Taste of 1914, 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Waterloo, Ontario). Waterloo Region Museum samples recipes from the turn of the century. Visitors will learn how and what people ate 100 years ago, and how the seasonality of food production affected families’ diets in the early 20th century.
- July 3 to Labour Day: Scottish Tea at Hutchison (Peterborough, Ontario) served Tuesday to Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m. on the terrace in the period garden, with scones, preserves, whipped cream, oatcakes and tea, lemonade or iced tea. Admission: $10 (adults & youth), $5 (under 10), including tours of the 1840s restored stone house. Pre-registration is required at 705-743-9710.
- To September: Upper Canada Village (Morrisburg, Ontario). Open daily, the village offers historical culinary treats, from Sasparilla and Ginger Beer at the Cook’s Tavern to period dinners and afternoon teas at Willard’s Hotel. Admission varies.
- To September 16: Agriculture in Huron County (Goderich, Ontario). Huron County Museum & Archives presents an exhibit on modern agricultural practices, successes and challenges in Huron County.
- To October 8: Kings Landing Historical Site (Prince William, New Brunswick). The site offers historical wine-, butter- and cheese-making demonstrations as well as open-hearth baking and cooking demonstrations.
- Through October 2018: From Glen Notes to War Notes: A Canadian Perspective on the First World War in Rilla of Ingleside (Guelph, Ontario). The first exhibit in the new Archival & Special Collections space in the University of Guelph’s McLaughlin Library, co-curated by staff, students and faculty from the Department of History, commemorates the 100th anniversary of the end of WWI. Materials are drawn from the U of G Library’s extensive L.M. Montgomery Collection.
- Daily: Historic Afternoon Tea & Tour at Fort Langley National Historic Site, tea 1 to 2:45 p.m., tour 3 to 4:30 p.m. (Fort Langley, British Columbia). An elegant afternoon tea at the Little White House (LWH) Salon Café in the coach house of the historic Marr House. Fort Langley, a Hudson’s Bay Company trading post, was first established in 1827. On the tour, visitors will hear about local historical characters and explore the homes and workshops of the people of the trade. Admission: $15.68 per person (plus admission fee for groups of 15–30), including tea, tour and HST. 604-513-4799 or fort.langley@pc.gc.ca.
- Daily: Fishing the West Coast and the Canning Line, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Steveston, British Columbia). The Gulf of Georgia Cannery National Historic Site offers exhibits on the development of fishing on Canada’s West Coast and modern fishing practices, too. Admission: Free for Canada 150.
- Sundays: Gibson House Tea & Tour, 1 to 4:30 p.m. (Toronto). Every Sunday, there’s tea, cookies and a seat for you at the harvest table in the 1850s historic kitchen. Free with regular admission.
- Indefinite run: Food Will Win the War (Ottawa). The Canada Agriculture and Food Museum presents an exhibition on the story of food on the Canadian home front during the Second World War. Focusing on shopping, eating, conserving and volunteering, the exhibit shows how Canadians fought a “war for food” to support Canada’s overseas war efforts. Other ongoing exhibits explore Food Preservation, Potash, Space Technology and Canola. Admission: Free with entrance to the museum. 613-991-3044 or 1-866-442-4416.
- Indefinite run: Beggar’s Banquet (Louisbourg, Nova Scotia). Participants enjoy an 18th-century maritime meal while dressed in period clothing.
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