October Full Moon Feast - Oyster Extravaganza

Well it looks like we're full for our September Full Moon Feast and October is well on its way. The October FMF is sure to be great, I'm featuring oysters on the menu - and if we're lucky, I may convince Brent Petkau, The Oysterman, to come out and do some shucking.

Moon time

I've noticed something interesting in the last 2 weeks - I'm tracking time based on the moon. With so much preparation for the Full Moon Feasts and having the dates for the full moon memorized from now until June 2010, the moon is in my thoughts all day.
With all this hot weather and clear skies, I find myself looking up at the moon every night and every morning - tracking its fullness. This is how I'm counting down the time to the first Full Moon Feast. It may sound silly but for some reason I find that pretty profound.

#realfood to help Evergreen

Our Big Earth - Comox Valley is raising money for a Canadian organization called Evergreen. Today, every time you type #realfood in a Tweet, Facebook comment or Blog, Hellmann’s will donate $1 per #realfood hashtag in a drive to raise $25,000 for Evergreen programs across the country. How easy is that!?

So what is Evergreen?

Evergreen is a not-for-profit organization that makes cities more livable.
Evergreen motivates people to create and sustain healthy, natural outdoor spaces and gives them the practical tools to be successful through its three core programs:

• Learning Grounds - transforming school grounds
• Common Grounds - conserving publicly accessible land
• Home Grounds - for the home landscape

Check out their website www.evergreen.ca
Check out Our Big Earth - Comox Valley at www.ourbigearth.com

Remember, type #realfood and you're helping to raise money for a great national organization.

Crunch time!

It's down to the wire ... less than 2 weeks until Tria's first Full Moon Feast. The kitchen is finally coming together. All my small equipment is getting moved in today and we can start cleaning in earnest. One final phone call to the health inspector and we're good to go. It is so exciting to create something and see it come to fruition; to see it finally go from paper to 3D.

After a year and a half of laying the foundation, there is finally a light at the end of the tunnel - a tunnel full of monotonous phone calls, e-mails, and general frustrating correspondence regarding everything from fire suppression to highway signs; from invisible lines that people cannot step over to ventilation parameters. There were many times I wanted to throw in the towel ...

Now I can finally have some fun in my kitchen!
I've placed my first orders with farmers and fishmongers, bakers and butchers ... time to start cooking.

Foodites

Connie Earl and I were approached by the Comox Valley Record newspaper to contribute to a monthly food page series they have developed. Connie was asked to do a wine review and I was asked to contribute recipes.
Connie and I thought we would take it one step further. We decided we would get together once a month and create a meal using local products and then we would actually write about it - the whole process, from gathering the ingredients at the market, choosing the wines and then enjoying the fruits of our labour. We buy two bottles of wine and we taste each wine with the dinner we've created, deciding which we prefer with the meal. Then we write about it.
The problem is, the newspaper has only so much space for us.
So we decided to create a blog elaborating on the article in the newspaper. At our foodites.blogspot.com you'll find more recipes and funny stories and anecdotes about our meals - for example, I forgot the tuna was on the barbecue this evening and I ended up totally overcooking it (whoops!). Doesn't matter how long you've cooked, you still screw up sometimes! Check it out.

Full Moon Feast Menu for August 6

Here's the menu for our first Full Moon Feast - I'm not sure if it reads clearly or not. Check out Tria Culinary Studio's facebook page if this version is not clear.

A complete list of the names of the producers and farmers will follow but I can tell you right now that Pattison Farms, Nature's Way Farm, Seaview Game Farm, fisherman extraordinaire Wes Erikson, the Oysterman Brent Petkau (from Cortes Island), Beaufort Winery and of course Blue Moon Winery will be featured, to name of few.
Vive la Comox Valley!

Full Full Moon Feast

Our first Full Moon Feast on August 6 is, well, it's full!
We're taking bookings for our September Full Moon Feast already (Friday, September 4).
Thanks to all those who are coming out to the feast for the very first time, the support from the Comox Valley folks is unbelievable!
Looking forward to cooking for you ...

Beyond the Kitchen Door Demo

I'll be at Beyond the Kitchen door from noon to 3 p.m. today along with Karen Pattison from Bite Size Specialty Foods. Come down and try some samples ... maybe try your hand at raking some crepes?
Have a great Market Day!
www.bitesizespecialtyfoods.com

Trials and tribulations

I love what I do - I have a crazy passion for food, cooking and hosting. Sometimes I can't imagine a day without it.
It's funny, when you start a business doing the thing you love to do, you never get to do it. I can't wait for the farmers' market days to come around because I finally get to cook and interact with people after spending the week dealing with nothing but paperwork, regulations, forms, licenses, banks, lawyers and all the mundane, time consuming bureaucratic (insert expletive here) you need to do in order to operate.
When did it all become so complicated?

Vancouver Island MusicFest

It's Vancouver Island Music Fest this weekend! The weather gods have blessed us with gorgeous sun and an awesome line up of music.
Make sure you go and have a burger from Sugar Mammas - they source all their products locally. A lot of people think that you can't source local products for large events like this - I think Jen and Dallas have proven that theory wrong. They do several events throughout the summer for 1,000 people + and they always use local products. No doubt it takes more work but it's worth it - trust me, when you try those burgers you'll agree.
Have a great festival - don't forget to come to the market for crepes! We're doing a crazy fresh cherry crepe to die for ...

Amazing talent

Back at the Wednesday market at Simms Park from 9 a.m. -1 p.m.
There was an amazing musician performing, Luke Blu Guthrie. I was busy raking crepes when all of a sudden this incredible voice floated into our tent - it actually gave me goosebumps.
Check him out this weekend at MusicFest or on his Facebook page.
Looking forward to MusicFest weekend!

Blue Moon's opening

Yesterday was Blue Moon's opening and first public tasting - we had a great turn out! The wine tasting room looks amazing - if you haven't seen Nature's Way Farm since they began renovations it's worth it to stop by and check it out.
My favourite comment from yesterday came from a young couple. They were just leaving and I overheard her say "I really like the apple wine ... it's like a breakfast wine."
What a great concept - a breakfast wine!

New business fears

Egad ... I need some moral support from new business owners who are freaking out over the cost of doing business!

Wednesday market crepes!

Tria will be back at the Wednesday market at Simms Park beginning this week. The Wednesday market hours have been extended, the market now runs from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. in order to allow more time for those business folks to come and grab some fresh local items.
Come and have a crepe - we'll provide the picnic blanket!

Blue Moon Wine Tasting

The wait is over! Blue Moon Winery will be open for tasting on Tuesday, July 7 from 1-6 p.m. Come and try the Dusk Blueberry and Soleil Apple table wines - fantastic organic fruit wines produced right here in the Comox Valley. The farm stand is now open and Tria's kitchen is not far behind. Stay tuned ...

Full Moon Feast

Tria's first Full Moon Feast is on August 6 - come and experience a magical evening of food, wine and great company.
Visit www.triaculinarystudio.ca for more information.
The menu will be posted soon ...

Wednesday markets

Tria will be up and running at the Wednesday markets, beginning on July 8 from 9 a.m. - 1 p.m.
The Comox Valley Farmers' Market has extended the hours to 1 p.m. for those business folks who want to come and grab some fresh local items.
We'll be selling crepes (of course!) and within the next few weeks we will also start offering a salad and crepe lunch special, featuring Nature's Way Greens and other products from the incredible farms we have here.
I can't wait to for Gerry Pattison's tomatoes - I love to make gazpacho with them!

Successful day - even with some bumps

Canada Day at Riverside Park with the Chef's Association was a success - even with some equipment malfunctions in the morning.
I had the pleasure of working with two culinary arts students from North Island College, Kathryn and Kanae who work at Locals and the Kingfisher respectively. It's always stressful to learn something new right in front of your customers but they did a fantastic job of raking the crepes - good job ladies!
Check out the North Vancouver Island Chef's Association website at www.northvancouverislandchefs.com