Savour the Flavours Culinary Boot Camp on at The Arts and Cookery Bank

 

Savour the Flavours Boot Camp is an Outrageously Rural experience that leads to great food, lots of fun and a few good laughs! This chef-led, intensive, outrageous culinary training demands participants roll up their sleeves, dig in and take a fresh look at the foods they eat and how they are prepared.

This summer the Arts & Cookery Bank is offering this amazing opportunity for Junior students from ages 11 - 14.

 

Here's what's happening in the Boot Camp:

• An opportunity to work with real professional chefs
• An opportunity as part of a "Chef Team" to plan and cook a Celebration Event.
• An opportunity to tell your outrageous Boot Camp stories on our Savour the Flavour blog.

To read all about the first week of the boot camp and watch videos of campers at work visit the Arts and Cookery Bank's blogcast: http://theartsandcookerybank.com/page/news&iArticle=472

DG Custom Cycle - A Mom and Pop Chopper Shop

Dave Green started his career at a young age as a licensed body man building award winning custom hot rods and trucks. Eventually he developed a passion for custom motorcycles and his hobby became a business in 1996. Kyle Green joined his father in the family business in 2006, bringing with him his expertise as a licensed motorcycle mechanic and a certified Harley Technician.  This self described “Mom and Pop Chopper Shop” is truly a family endeavour with Dave’s wife Kim working in the business as well.

Located at 51999 College Line just outside of Aylmer, DG Custom Cycle is home to a full-service maintenance and repair shop, a parts department, a custom paint shop and a showroom. DG Custom Cycle offers a wide range of services from oil changes to creating one-of-a-kind bikes from the ground up. They understand the importance of a regular maintenance schedule to keep a bike running smoothly and in the event of a repair, are dedicated to getting a bike back up and running quickly. Riders wanting to increase the performance of their Harley Davidson motorcycles can come to DG Custom Cycle for a variety of solutions including punched out cylinders, reworked heads and replaced cams.

The business is best known for its fabrication of custom motorcycles. With over a decade of experience, DG Custom Cycle’s Rotten Chopper brand has made a name for itself nationally and internationally. DG Custom Cycle’s work has caught the eye of several major industry magazines and their bikes have been featured in Bagger Magazine, Urban Bagger Magazine, American Iron Magazine, Chopper Builds Magazine and Hot Bike Magazine. Recently, their work was featured on the front and back covers of the Mid-West Motorcycle Supply Catalogue – the first time a Canadian bike has been given this honour. DG Custom Cycle regularly attends Daytona Bike Week where they have received several awards including second place in a show with over 200 entries.

All fabrications begin with an in-depth one-on-one consultation with the customer. Each custom bike is a work of art with radical, yet fully-functional designs that set DG Custom Cycle apart from other fabricators. Custom frames, stretch metal work and unique airbrush painting make each bike unlike any other. Recently the shop has been working to accommodate those who want the storage capacity and smooth ride of a touring bike with the look of a chopper by adding 26” and 30” wheels to touring bikes. A gallery of past builds can be seen on the DG Custom Cycle website (www.dgcustomcycle.com/).

DG Custom Cycle services and builds custom bikes for clients all across Canada and their ultimate goal is to ensure that these clients are satisfied with the quality of the finished product. 

*This article first appeared in the June 2014 Elgin County Economic Development Newsletter.

Bee Beard Competition at Clovermead This Friday!

The 10th Annual Clovermead Bee Beard Competition will take place this Friday July 25th, 2014 at Clovermead Apiaries. The following information about the event was provided by Clovermead:

Welcoming Competitors from across the Globe.  This year we welcome Boaz Ben Zeev, from Israel.

There are four teams of competitors. Each team includes a bee beard growing beekeeper, and a bee whisperer who grooms the bees into a stylish beard.

 

Each team goes into their own bee beard tent with their very own beehive to work with.  The crowd watches safely from outside the tent. After 20 minutes, the timer ends and the teams gather on the stage to be weighed. The contestants with the beards perform a dance on the catwalk in front of the crowd full of their friends and families.

 

Two judges determine who dances and struts their bee beard the best on the catwalk.  The Bee Beard Champion is picked by the judges, and a Crowd Favourite award chosen by the people.

 

$2500 is donated to the champion’s favourite charity, $2000 to the Crowd Favourite's charity of choice, and a $500 Consolation Prize to the other two contestant's chosen charities.

 

Afterwards, the crowd of “Admirers/Don’t Wanna-Bees" are encouraged to have their photo taken beside their favourite contestant.  

 

This is the first year we will try a Friday evening event, which starts at 7 pm. The Adventure farm will be open with family fun untill 9 pm if the event runs on the Friday Evening as planned.

In case of inclement weather, the competition will be postponed to 2:30 pm the following day to accommodate international guests. 

For more information please visit: www.clovermead.com 

Great Lakes Farms and Shaw’s Ice Cream Partner with Delicious Results

For a limited time Great Lakes Farms’ strawberry sauce will be available at Shaw’s Ice Cream.  
MaryAnne Van de Gevel of Great Lakes Farms met Kristine Hayes of Shaw’s Ice Cream at a local food meeting over the winter months.  The pair talked and decided it was important for local businesses to work together and cross promote.  

“At Great Lakes we are trying to come up with ways that customers can enjoy our delicious fruit longer,” states Van de Gevel.  “The strawberry fruit sauce still has the delicious fresh taste of our strawberries but with a longer shelf life.”  

Hayes is "excited to be working with MaryAnne and her family at Great Lakes Farms.  This partnership gives us an opportunity to provide our customers with local seasonal sundae sauces, and celebrate the wonderful foods grown in our community." 

The strawberry sauce is being well received by customers as they enjoy their sundaes. Both women see this new partnership as a way to further enhance their businesses by promoting each other’s products in their retail locations.

Ice Cream Fun Facts

• Around 5% of people share their ice cream with a pet!
• Approximately 13% of men and 8% of women admit to licking the bowl after eating ice cream!
• It takes approximately 50 licks to polish off a single scooped ice cream cone.
• Children between the ages of 2 -12 and adults over 45 eat the most ice cream
• Vanilla is the most popular ice cream flavour 

Strawberry Fun Facts

• Strawberries are the only fruit with seeds on the outside
• The average strawberry has 200 seeds
• Strawberries are a member of the rose family
• Belgium has a museum dedicated to strawberries
• The strawberry plant is a perennial; you plant one this year it will grow next year!

Active Living in Elgin County

Being physically active is an important part of a balanced lifestyle. It is important not only for your physical and mental well-being, but also to help you lead a long and rewarding life. 

It is easy to enjoy an active lifestyle in Elgin County.  With an abundance of recreational activities and high quality recreational facilities including: swimming pools, fitness centres, community complexes and arenas, Elgin is the ideal place to stay fit while having fun. 

Safe towns and villages, 120 km of scenic shoreline and hundreds of kilometres of trails along lush Carolinian forest paths are the ideal locations for running and hiking enthusiasts alike. Elgin County trails wind through the countryside connecting to the Trans Canada Trail, the longest recreational trail in the world. Whether you are a beginner or an expert, Elgin County's vibrant running community has an event for you! 

If you prefer to get around on two wheels, routes through Elgin County provide some of the best terrain for cycling in North America. Ride along the Lake Erie shoreline, through rolling hills, lush forests and picturesque countryside. The area boasts hundreds of kilometres of low-traffic country roads and paths that are perfect for short rides or longer day trips. In addition, Elgin County has recently become part of the Waterfront Trail, a signed cycling route that travels through 27 waterfront communities in Ontario. 

The sandy beaches and warm, shallow waters of Lake Erie are perfect for recreational swimming and other water-based activities. The temperate breezes that blow in off the lake provide the perfect conditions for wind surfing and kite boarding adventures. 

If tranquil waters are more your style, paddling your way around Springwater, Dalewood and Lake Whittaker conservation areas or up the Big Otter Creek in your canoe or kayak are perfect ways to spend a spring or summer afternoon. 

Trade in the hustle and bustle of city life for the fresh air, open roads and sun-dappled forest pathways of Elgin County. 

www.sportinport.ca 
www.catfishcreek.ca
www.kettlecreekconservation.on.ca
www.runforyourlifecanada.com
www.threeporttour.com/