South Dundas Soccer celebrates World Cup

Upper Canada Village will host over 30 food, wine and beer artisans and producers at a new culinary event Saturday and Sunday, August 16 and 17 showcasing a selection of the region’s best local food and beverage producers.  And there’s more….this year’s event is themed around the love and role of cast iron cookware.

The highlight of the weekend will take place on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m., with an all-new Iron Pan Competition.  

Chefs from across the region will vie for the judges’ favour as they create a dish using a box of local mystery ingredients, each using a single cast iron skillet. 

Competing Chefs include:  Chef Supremo Ahmad Mansori from Cornwall’s Table 21 and Truffles Burger Bar; Executive Chef Derek MacGregor representing Le Chien Noir Bistro in Kingston; Executive Chef John Leung from Ottawa’s Steak Modern:  Steak & Sushi located in the Byward Market and  Executive Chef Jhonatan Gonzales from Winchelsea Events, Winchester.  

Executive Chef Luc McCabe from NAV Centre will lead the judging panel with the help of Peter Hum, Food Editor at the Ottawa Citizen and Hélène Peloquin, Cook, Writer and blogger from Ottawa (La Cuisine d’Hélène). Chef Wes Wilkinson, Culinary Faculty Member at Algonquin College will Emcee.  

Contestants will be judged on, but not limited to their creativity, use of mystery ingredients, flavours, and cleanliness.  

“We’re extremely pleased to see an increase in event vendors this year, proving that Culinary Tourism is strong and continuing to rise”, says Geoff Waycik, UCV Manager. ”We’ve got one of the most unique venues in Ontario to host this event and as we add in our own Village staff cooking interpretations, it really puts a historic spin on food. The iron skillet theme this year has generated much interest – as the trend with many customers is to simplify and get back to basics in everyday life.  This is the year to attend this event!”

On Sunday, a new segment featuring sensational single-skillet suppers made simple will be presented three times during the day at 10 a.m., 11:30 a.m. and at 1:30 p.m.

Special guest Gourmet Food Chef  Dwight Saunders, Teacher and Wellness Consultant of Aura Culinary Arts in Iroquois, will lend his culinary expertise, preparing three unique dishes from around the world, using local ingredients!  

Not to be missed on Saturday & Sunday: 

The Original 100 Mile Diet…

Throughout the weekend, Upper Canada Village’s own characters from the past will be presenting the region’s original 100-mile diet through heirloom garden tours, as well as special heritage cooking demonstrations and taste testing in the historic kitchens of three of its 19th century homesteads (Louck’s Farm, Tenant Farm and Cook’s Tavern). Other food-related activities will include grinding flour in Bellamy’s Steam Flour Mills, baking bread in the bakery and making cheddar cheese in the Union Cheese Factory.  Village flour, bread and cheese will all be for sale in the farmers’ market area.

The cast iron theme continues throughout the site.  Period kettles, woodstoves and utensils all crafted from iron will be highlighted and/or put to use throughout Upper Canada Village over the weekend.   Visitors can test their strength at the skillet tossing challenge, a more than “light-hearted” activity that will add some weight to the event’s full roster of activities.  

Stop in at Crysler Hall to see “Fire in the Kitchen”, a special exhibit showing technological change in the kitchen in the 19th century.  From new food products, gadgets and tools, to new methods of preparing food, the century marked a period of rapid innovation in the home.  See if you can figure out the mystery artifacts!

Dining in a 19th Century Inn – Willard’s Hotel Weekend Special

Historic Willard’s Hotel Restaurant, across the street from the fairgrounds, is featuring a Food Lover’s Special: Homemade Chicken Pot Pie, Side Salad in a Sweet Cider Vinaigrette Dressing, Village Bread, Strawberry Shortcake and Beverage – $20 per person, both Saturday and Sunday.  Reservations are recommended at 613-543-0660. Willard’s Hotel is licensed and air-conditioned. Other regular menu items will also be offered.

Access to the Farmer’s Market in the fairgrounds, presentations and activities are all included in admission to Upper Canada Village. Adult $18, Senior (65 yrs+) $16; Youth (6-12 yrs) $12.  Visit www.UpperCanadaVillage.com or call 800-437-2233 or 613-543-4328 (locally) for more information or to purchase tickets.

A complete list and description of all vendors participating is available online.  Food Lover’s Field Days is also sponsored by Foodland Ontario, Stormont & Dundas Milk Producers and the Ontario Egg Farmers (Eastern Ontario region).

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 “Based on today’s experiences, I would say that this is probably going to become an annual event,” said Iroquois fire fighter, and one of the organizers of the first ever Fire Fighters’ Breakfast, Shawn Markell. “ We had nearly 200 people come out to enjoy the pancakes and sausages. People came steadily from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.”

The breakfast, held at the Iroquois Civic Centre on Sunday, February 15, was cooked and served up by members of the Iroquois fire station. There was no admission cost: visitors were just asked to make a donation when they came in. The funds raised will go to the Firefighters Association for the South Dundas Fire and Emergency Services, and will be used for projects in the community throughout the year such as kids events and safety awareness events. 

The maple syrup was donated from Fowler’s, while Iroquois Foodland donated the food for the event.

“My goal and Mike’s (Eastman) goal was to see that everyone was able to have breakfast as part of our community. We wanted community families to have a chance to get together and enjoy a good meal. A dozen fire fighters and their wives and kids were all working on putting this meal together, and I feel the response to our first breakfast has been great,” said Shawn Markell. 

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In October, reports from the South Dundas planning department showed that South Dundas was having a good year, growth-wise.

 Last week, South Dundas council found out just how good, when they were presented with the 2012 building permit summary.

According to those figures, South Dundas experienced a record year, with construction projects valued at more than $27 million taking place.

That is a huge increase over 2011, when total construction for the year was valued at just under $13 million.

“That’s really good news,” said South Dundas mayor Steven Byvelds at the February 5 council meeting. “We have 34 new residences.”

While the number of new residences is about the same as the previous year, there were about 30 more permits for residential construction sold in 2012, meaning that more people are making improvements to existing residences.

South Dundas even experienced some industrial growth. Five industrial building permits were sold in 2012, as compared to only two in 2011.

The increase in the sale of building permits represents immediate revenue for the municipality when the permits are issued and fees are paid. South Dundas collected almost $40,000 more in permit fees in 2012, than 2011.

In the long run this growth will result in additional property tax revenue for the municipality.

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