[fusion_builder_container admin_label="Top Banner Ad" hundred_percent="no" hundred_percent_height="no" hundred_percent_height_scroll="no" hundred_percent_height_center_content="yes" equal_height_columns="no" menu_anchor="" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" status="published" publish_date="" class="" id="" background_color="#ffffff" background_image="" background_position="center center" background_repeat="no-repeat" fade="no" background_parallax="none" enable_mobile="no" parallax_speed="0.3" video_mp4="" video_webm="" video_ogv="" video_url="" video_aspect_ratio="16:9" video_loop="yes" video_mute="yes" video_preview_image="" border_size="" border_color="" border_style="solid" margin_top="" margin_bottom="" padding_top="" padding_right="" padding_bottom="" padding_left=""][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type="1_1" layout="1_1" spacing="" center_content="no" link="" target="_self" min_height="" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" class="" id="" background_color="" background_image="" background_image_id="" background_position="left top" background_repeat="no-repeat" hover_type="none" border_size="0" border_color="" border_style="solid" border_position="all" padding_top="" padding_right="" padding_bottom="" padding_left="" margin_top="" margin_bottom="" animation_type="" animation_direction="left" animation_speed="0.3" animation_offset="" last="no"][fusion_widget_area name="avada-custom-sidebar-topbannerad" title_size="" title_color="" background_color="" padding_top="" padding_right="" padding_bottom="" padding_left="" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" class="" id="" /][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container][fusion_builder_container hundred_percent="no" hundred_percent_height="no" hundred_percent_height_scroll="no" hundred_percent_height_center_content="yes" equal_height_columns="no" menu_anchor="" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" status="published" publish_date="" class="" id="" link_color="" link_hover_color="" border_size="" border_color="" border_style="solid" margin_top="" margin_bottom="" padding_top="" padding_right="" padding_bottom="" padding_left="" gradient_start_color="" gradient_end_color="" gradient_start_position="0" gradient_end_position="100" gradient_type="linear" radial_direction="center center" linear_angle="180" background_color="" background_image="" background_position="center center" background_repeat="no-repeat" fade="no" background_parallax="none" enable_mobile="no" parallax_speed="0.3" background_blend_mode="none" video_mp4="" video_webm="" video_ogv="" video_url="" video_aspect_ratio="16:9" video_loop="yes" video_mute="yes" video_preview_image="" filter_hue="0" filter_saturation="100" filter_brightness="100" filter_contrast="100" filter_invert="0" filter_sepia="0" filter_opacity="100" filter_blur="0" filter_hue_hover="0" filter_saturation_hover="100" filter_brightness_hover="100" filter_contrast_hover="100" filter_invert_hover="0" filter_sepia_hover="0" filter_opacity_hover="100" filter_blur_hover="0"][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type="1_1" spacing="" center_content="no" link="" target="_self" min_height="" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" class="" id="" hover_type="none" border_size="0" border_color="" border_style="solid" border_position="all" border_radius="" box_shadow="no" dimension_box_shadow="" box_shadow_blur="0" box_shadow_spread="0" box_shadow_color="" box_shadow_style="" padding_top="" padding_right="" padding_bottom="" padding_left="" margin_top="" margin_bottom="" background_type="single" gradient_start_color="" gradient_end_color="" gradient_start_position="0" gradient_end_position="100" gradient_type="linear" radial_direction="center center" linear_angle="180" background_color="" background_image="" background_image_id="" background_position="left top" background_repeat="no-repeat" background_blend_mode="none" animation_type="" animation_direction="left" animation_speed="0.3" animation_offset="" filter_type="regular" filter_hue="0" filter_saturation="100" filter_brightness="100" filter_contrast="100" filter_invert="0" filter_sepia="0" filter_opacity="100" filter_blur="0" filter_hue_hover="0" filter_saturation_hover="100" filter_brightness_hover="100" filter_contrast_hover="100" filter_invert_hover="0" filter_sepia_hover="0" filter_opacity_hover="100" filter_blur_hover="0" last="no"][fusion_text columns="" column_min_width="" column_spacing="" rule_style="default" rule_size="" rule_color="" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" class="" id="" animation_type="" animation_direction="left" animation_speed="0.3" animation_offset=""] Sadly, fresh and local gets a little thin on the ground this time of year. Luckily, we are saved by imported sunshine in the clever guise of seasonal citrus, most notably oranges. It’s hard to think of these fruits as being seasonal… they’re always in our markets and grocery stores. And while it’s true that some citrus trees bear fruit throughout the year, winter is when we see an influx from Arizona, California, Texas and Florida. A kitchen without a lemon is tantamount to a kitchen without an onion, so essential is that bright, acidic element to almost any preparation, sweet or savoury. Recent years have brought us Meyer lemons, a delightful addition to the citrus pantheon. It hails from China and was brought to the U.S. in 1908 by Frank Meyer where it was primarily grown as a backyard ornamental. Smooth, thin-skinned and often golden in colour, this juicy lemon is quite sweet (for a lemon), with a distinctive floral note that lends itself to marmalades and specialty cocktails. Of course, a Meyer lemon can be used in place of the common variety in any recipe. Tip : As with any citrus, use fresh juice; the bottled product pales in comparison. If you have a glut, you can freeze the juice without much loss of flavour, but lemon juice rapidly loses its vitamin C immediately upon being squeezed. The popularity of easy-to-peel mandarins has made these mostly-seedless sweet oranges much more common today than in the past. Remember how we used to wait impatiently for that first box of “Japanese” oranges to appear? Around the holidays and into the new year, we see clementines, satsumas and tangerines in grocery stores, Italian markets and specialty stores. These are often graced with stems and leaves, creating a lovely display. For the serious marmalade makers, Seville oranges should be appearing in late January, early February. These sour oranges can’t be eaten out of hand, but, marmalade aside, they make a considerable contribution to the kitchen. Tip: I buy more than I need for the annual marmalade extravaganza, then freeze the juice and dry the zest (removed with a vegetable peeler) to use in osso buco, tagine-style stews and sauces for grilled duck breast or roast chicken. Blood oranges, previously grown primarily around the Mediterranean, are now coming to us from California. However, some Italian markets still bring in moro blood oranges directly from Italy, sometimes individually wrapped in colourful paper. Blood oranges can be substituted for any other orange. Some have described the flavour as a happy collaboration between an orange and a raspberry. Tip: Curd and hollandaise sauce, to name just two preparations, can be endlessly re-imagined using a different citrus fruit. A chance meeting with friend and culinarian Grayson Sherman, resulted in this tasty cocktail recipe… he calls it a Venetian Sunset: Combine 2 oz of a reliable London gin, 2 oz Campari, 1 oz Solerno liqueur (use Cointreau if you can’t find Solerno), a dash of orange bitters, 2 oz freshly squeezed blood orange juice, a little lemon juice if you’re using Cointreau, and 2 oz San Pelligrino blood orange soda. Over ice, combine everything in a large old-fashioned glass, top with soda and garnish with a slice of orange and a sprig of mint or basil. The Cara Cara, with attractive pink flesh and a subtle berry-like flavour, is a newcomer on the citrus scene. The following simple, multi- coloured orange salad is guaranteed to perk up any winter dinner table. Choose two Cara Cara oranges, two regular navel oranges and two blood oranges, all about the same size. Using a very sharp knife, cut off the blossom and stem ends. With a flat side of the orange down, cut from top to bottom in a curving motion to remove the peel and white pith, retaining as much of the flesh as possible. Squeeze the peel with the residual flesh into a small bowl for the dressing. Slice the peeled oranges into ¼ inch rounds. Do this on a plate to save the juice, again for the dressing. Arrange the slices on a platter with sliced rounds of red onion, mint leaves and pomegranate seeds. Add the juice of a lime to the reserved orange juice, add a pinch of Maldon salt and drizzle over the slices. Finish with a very good fruity olive oil. Sliced fennel and/or avocado slices are also nice additions and make for a heartier dish. Tip: Put the onion slices in ice water in the refrigerator for an hour or so before patting dry and garnishing the salad. They will be cool and crunchy, and much milder tasting. Of course, there are limes and grapefruits in abundance and any treatise on citrus wouldn’t be complete without a mention of kumquats. These cute little ovals are unusual in that the juice is very sour and the peel is delicate and sweet. They are often full of seeds, but, for a fun treat, cut them in half, squeeze out the juice and seeds between two fingers, and just pop them in your mouth. Don’t forget to use the juice in your next vinaigrette. Tip: For juicier fruit, choose citrus that is heavy in the hand with relatively smooth skin. [/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

[fusion_builder_container admin_label="Top Banner Ad" hundred_percent="no" hundred_percent_height="no" hundred_percent_height_scroll="no" hundred_percent_height_center_content="yes" equal_height_columns="no" menu_anchor="" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" status="published" publish_date="" class="" id="" background_color="#ffffff" background_image="" background_position="center center" background_repeat="no-repeat" fade="no" background_parallax="none" enable_mobile="no" parallax_speed="0.3" video_mp4="" video_webm="" video_ogv="" video_url="" video_aspect_ratio="16:9" video_loop="yes" video_mute="yes" video_preview_image="" border_size="" border_color="" border_style="solid" margin_top="" margin_bottom="" padding_top="" padding_right="" padding_bottom="" padding_left=""][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type="1_1" layout="1_1" spacing="" center_content="no" link="" target="_self" min_height="" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" class="" id="" background_color="" background_image="" background_image_id="" background_position="left top" background_repeat="no-repeat" hover_type="none" border_size="0" border_color="" border_style="solid" border_position="all" padding_top="" padding_right="" padding_bottom="" padding_left="" margin_top="" margin_bottom="" animation_type="" animation_direction="left" animation_speed="0.3" animation_offset="" last="no"][fusion_widget_area name="avada-custom-sidebar-topbannerad" title_size="" title_color="" background_color="" padding_top="" padding_right="" padding_bottom="" padding_left="" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" class="" id="" /][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container][fusion_builder_container hundred_percent="no" hundred_percent_height="no" hundred_percent_height_scroll="no" hundred_percent_height_center_content="yes" equal_height_columns="no" menu_anchor="" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" status="published" publish_date="" class="" id="" background_color="#ffffff" background_image="" background_position="center center" background_repeat="no-repeat" fade="no" background_parallax="none" enable_mobile="no" parallax_speed="0.3" video_mp4="" video_webm="" video_ogv="" video_url="" video_aspect_ratio="16:9" video_loop="yes" video_mute="yes" video_preview_image="" border_size="" border_color="" border_style="solid" margin_top="" margin_bottom="" padding_top="" padding_right="" padding_bottom="" padding_left=""][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type="1_1" layout="1_1" spacing="" center_content="no" link="" target="_self" min_height="" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" class="" id="" background_color="" background_image="" background_image_id="" background_position="left top" background_repeat="no-repeat" hover_type="none" border_size="0" border_color="" border_style="solid" border_position="all" padding_top="" padding_right="" padding_bottom="" padding_left="" margin_top="" margin_bottom="" animation_type="" animation_direction="left" animation_speed="0.3" animation_offset="" last="no"][fusion_text columns="" column_min_width="" column_spacing="" rule_style="default" rule_size="" rule_color="" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" class="" id=""] Sci-Fi prognosticators in the ’60s foresaw computers magically manifesting a milkshake for an ensign with a sweet tooth. Others figured we’d be popping nutrient tablets by now and foregoing the earthly pleasures of food altogether. Well, Instapots and air fryers are getting us closer to treating ourselves Star Trek style, but the future of food is firmly planted in the past. Dan Berezan is the owner of CultivatR, an an online farmers’ market delivering natural, antibiotic & hormone-free, cost-efficient, and locally-sourced food products straight to your home. If the technology is new, the philosophy is ancient: eat what’s growing near you, now. “We’re basically using technology to go back to the future,” says Berezan. “We can basically solve so many of the food system’s problems with the work we’re doing.” The problems he’s talking about first became apparent with Berezan and his wife, Joanne, moved from Calgary to Pincher Creek to be closer to the fly fishing and found themselves in conversations with their farmer neighbours.” “We kept hearing how hard it is for them to make a living as farmers,” he says. “With groceries being so expensive, it just didn’t add up for us.” So, he started to look into the math. What he found was that two major problems are plaguing the food industry in Canada: waste and middle men. According to a 2019 study by Second Harvest [1] , a food rescue organization based in Toronto, nearly 60 per cent of food produced in Canada – amounting to 35.5 million metric tonnes – is lost and wasted annually. Of that, 32 pe rcent – equaling 11.2 million metric tonnes of lost food – is avoidable and is edible. Berezan likes to put it terms of dollars. “Basically, Canadians spend $101 billion on groceries every year,” he explains. “Of that, $48 billion is wasted. We’re spending $1,100 a year after taxes for the right to throw out food.” Why are we wasting so much food? A lot of it happens at the industrial processing level, something CultivatR aims to mitigate with its model, and somewhere around $35 billion is what consumers throw out because it went bad before they got to it or they didn’t eat their leftovers. Then there are the middlemen. Berezan says one of the things that shocked him the most was how much our food is marked up between the farmer and our plates. “From the time an animal is born or a seed is planted, our food goes through six to eight levels of markup by the time it gets to us,” he says. “In our grandparents’ day, they went to a store that dealt directly with the farmer. That’s sort of who we are now, one level that provides the service of getting food from farm to table.” So, back to the future. CultivatR aims to mitigate waste by ensuring the freshest produce gets to your crisper one day after it’s picked – so it spends its freshest time with you, rather than on a truck from California. It also vacuum-packs flash-frozen meat so that if life takes you away from your meal plan, you don’t have to throw away what you took out for dinner. Set delivery dates cut down on transportation waste and CultivatR only ships once and entire animal has been sold. “We have an Artificial Intelligence platform that allows us to not carry inventory and have to store product,” explains Berezan. “So we’re not having to pass that cost onto the consumer. Also, the more business we do, the more the system learns and allows us to continue finding the most efficient way to do things.” Berezan’s vision is that farmers are paid fairly for their products, that consumers know exactly where their fresh food is coming from without breaking the bank, and that his business model has a positive impact on the environment and the local economy – especially these days. “Most of the food we buy doesn’t come from here,” he says. “But it can, and we can actually help the environment while we’re at it.” CultivatR deals with upwards of ten farms with new ones being added all the time. They focus on sustainable land management, zero waste, no pesticides, no hormones beef, lamb, pork, poultry, produce and artisan foods. Delivery to Calgary is free for orders over $35 and happen about every two weeks. Check back often for new products. [1] https://secondharvest.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Avoidable-Crisis-of-Food-Waste-Technical-Report-January-17-2019.pdf [/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

[fusion_builder_container admin_label="Top Banner Ad" hundred_percent="no" hundred_percent_height="no" hundred_percent_height_scroll="no" hundred_percent_height_center_content="yes" equal_height_columns="no" menu_anchor="" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" status="published" publish_date="" class="" id="" background_color="#ffffff" background_image="" background_position="center center" background_repeat="no-repeat" fade="no" background_parallax="none" enable_mobile="no" parallax_speed="0.3" video_mp4="" video_webm="" video_ogv="" video_url="" video_aspect_ratio="16:9" video_loop="yes" video_mute="yes" video_preview_image="" border_size="" border_color="" border_style="solid" margin_top="" margin_bottom="" padding_top="" padding_right="" padding_bottom="" padding_left=""][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type="1_1" layout="1_1" spacing="" center_content="no" link="" target="_self" min_height="" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" class="" id="" background_color="" background_image="" background_image_id="" background_position="left top" background_repeat="no-repeat" hover_type="none" border_size="0" border_color="" border_style="solid" border_position="all" padding_top="" padding_right="" padding_bottom="" padding_left="" margin_top="" margin_bottom="" animation_type="" animation_direction="left" animation_speed="0.3" animation_offset="" last="no"][fusion_widget_area name="avada-custom-sidebar-topbannerad" title_size="" title_color="" background_color="" padding_top="" padding_right="" padding_bottom="" padding_left="" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" class="" id="" /][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container][fusion_builder_container hundred_percent="no" hundred_percent_height="no" hundred_percent_height_scroll="no" hundred_percent_height_center_content="yes" equal_height_columns="no" menu_anchor="" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" status="published" publish_date="" class="" id="" background_color="#ffffff" background_image="" background_position="center center" background_repeat="no-repeat" fade="no" background_parallax="none" enable_mobile="no" parallax_speed="0.3" video_mp4="" video_webm="" video_ogv="" video_url="" video_aspect_ratio="16:9" video_loop="yes" video_mute="yes" video_preview_image="" border_size="" border_color="" border_style="solid" margin_top="" margin_bottom="" padding_top="" padding_right="" padding_bottom="" padding_left=""][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type="1_1" layout="1_1" spacing="" center_content="no" link="" target="_self" min_height="" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" class="" id="" background_color="" background_image="" background_image_id="" background_position="left top" background_repeat="no-repeat" hover_type="none" border_size="0" border_color="" border_style="solid" border_position="all" padding_top="" padding_right="" padding_bottom="" padding_left="" margin_top="" margin_bottom="" animation_type="" animation_direction="left" animation_speed="0.3" animation_offset="" last="no"][fusion_text columns="3" column_min_width="300" column_spacing="" rule_style="default" rule_size="" rule_color="" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" class="" id=""] Frank Spinelli had a gift for bringing people together. From his earliest days of importing Italian newspapers and espresso for his friends and neighbours in Edmonton, he and his wife, Rina, always had a place for people to come together, talk politics, drink coffee and, of course, eat. Sixty years after Frank and Rina opened their first Italian Centre Shop in Edmonton, their daughter, Teresa, celebrates that legacy of community and hospitality in what has become a large family of three stores in Edmonton, one in Calgary and two more on the way, each carrying more than 30,000 items that bring the flavours of Italy to Alberta. Legacy, tradition, quality and family are at the heart of Teresa’s aspirations for the stores and for her community – and never is that more apparent than at Christmas. “Christmas has always been a big deal,” she says. “Everyone would come over to our house. Anyone who didn’t have somewhere to go was welcome at our table. We had people from all over the world and from all walks of life at our house for Christmas. And it’s still that way today.” In the early days, upwards of 20 people would eat, laugh and argue about whose homemade wine was better around a table laden with meats, fruits and cheeses, with braciola and chicken cutlets, with green peas, rapini and salad and nuts. From noon until 9 p.m., friends, family and newcomers would come and go from the Spinelli dining room. And from all that food, drink and communion, a few dishes stand out for Teresa as the definitive Christmas dishes in the Spinelli home. “Mom’s ricotta and spinach ravioli was always there,” she says. “And panettone (Christmas cake). To this day, everyone brings a panettone. Growing up, I wasn’t a big fan, but today they make them lighter and there are more flavours.” Another sweet treat that stands out for Teresa is struffoli, a dish made of deep-fried marbles of sweet dough arranged in a wreath shape. While Frank passed away in 2001, and the Christmas lunches have moved to her cousin’s house, Teresa still hosts Christmas Eve. In the Italian Catholic tradition, that means serving the Feast of Seven Fishes. The tradition comes from southern Italy, where it’s known as La Vigilia -- a celebration that commemorates the wait for the midnight birth of Jesus.The Spinelli family adapted the tradition to include 12 fish dishes – bringing a whole new realm of flavours and textures to the table. One of Teresa’s favourites is actually not Italian at all, rather a traditional Portuguese dish called bacalhau bras – a salted codfish, egg and potato layered casserole. While the dish is Portuguese, baccalà , or salted cod, is also a southern Italian Christmas Eve staple. If you’d like to infuse your holiday meals with a little Italian gusto, but would rather leave the prep to the professionals, Teresa says many delectable offerings can be found in Massimo's Cucina Italiana line of foods, the Italian Centre Shop’s own brand of heat-and-eat meals, sauces, fresco-to-go salads, dips and soups. She also says mountains of panettone in all sorts of flavours fly out the doors during the holidays, adding that the Italian Centre Shops sell more today than they ever have. However you choose to prepare your holiday meals this year, we hope your table sees as much love, laughter and community as the Spinellis have at theirs. Buon Natale! Teresa’s recipes for spinach and ricotta ravioli, bacalhau bras and struffoli can be found at www.savourcalgary.ca. Struffoli photo and recipe courtesy of A Tavola at a_tavolayyc [/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]