Thursday 13 December 2012

An Introduction


Adrian
Blogger

Hi! I'm Adrian. I'm going to tell you my food story.

It starts in utero but I am going to skip to when I remember things. One of my first memories about food is picking nanking cherries from a bush in my parents front yard as a very young child. When I was young my parents lived in a house that had a grape vine, a nanking cherry bush, raspberries, strawberries, chokecherries, and apples. During that time we would also pick strawberries and saskatoons with my grandparents. Hot summer days with pails full of berries and hands full of juice we would wash and hull endless strawberries on 'the porch' still brings up a powerful scent memory which instantly makes me nostalgic. During this time my mom shopped at small organic groceries and bakeries and lived what is pretty much my food sourcing dream. Then we moved, but the dream continued. My family were a part of the Weins farm vegetable share, and later a different share. My dad build a cold cellar in the basement and we ordered all of our meat from a farmer in Saskatchewan whom we visited occasionally. But those days weren't meant to last, something changed somehow and we started shopping at superstore and everything but the apples stopped being picked. Then my parents separated.

I think it wasn't possible for either of them to support a household and work and keep up the same energy they had for food production. Although it wasn't overly fancy, I remember the computer desk filled with zucchini the size of children, large braids of garlic, and rhubarb crisp made from amazingly tart apples. These memories lay dormant throughout my adolescence.

During my teen years there were also a few memorable months where the meal rotation was between smokies served with Caesar salad and farmer sausage with perogies. But it was also during this time that I was forced to learn how to do dishes, and help a little bit with the cooking. The meals I made were unexceptional, and sometimes quite ghastly (peppercorn soup comes to mind) but it was a start. 
A second food transformation occurred when I dated (and eventually married) a life-long vegetarian. Her parents were much more engaged with food, they baked their own bread, and their fridge was always full of fancy cheese and endless quantities of vegetables. I love the food my (now) in-laws make, and it was not hard to decide to become vegetarian. This life-style change taught me to experiment with food and flavour and I have not turned back. I would call myself an avid amateur cook whose favourite social events are potlucks. My favourite food is pizza.  

In the future I would like to be able to purchase milk from dairy farmers, keep chickens and bees. These dreams also mean that my wife and I have to move out of the small apartment we live in. Until then we will bake and garden and eat, and most of all enjoy food.

An Idea Hatched Late at Night


The idea for this blog came to me late at night not very long ago. I have been one of those unreliable bloggers who wishes they could do better but is uninspired by their current blog theme. I have been bundling around the recesses of my mind for a topic that would be interesting and fit with something I care about.

I think that talking about food is a really great way to get to know people and share the best of ourselves. Winnipeg has a great blogging community and a great food blogging community as well. The long-term goal of this project is to talk about food with people from all walks of Winnipeg life. I want to talk to elderly people, to young people, to new Winnipeggers, and lifelong residents. I also have a secret ambition to interview the mayor. Why not? However, for now I am planning to start simple. I want to talk to the people who are already my community and share with you their food stories.

If you would like to share your story with me, even if you aren't from Winnipeg, send me an email. I would love to talk

Wish me luck!
Adrian