The last two weeks of July and first two of August are prime vacation times. During these four weeks, the school year has already ended. Summer school is winding down. Summer camp has had its run. Home renovations and landscaping projects are nearly complete.

Where I work, it is actually referred to as the "summer lull", a slowdown that results from significant numbers of personnel, taking vacation. Many project teams are reduced to skeleton staff. Remaining staff are often rotated into critical roles to ensure service levels to high priority projects are maintained.

These days, I hear many of my friends and colleagues, opting for partial vacations (staycations) or extended weekend summers. The former is a compromise. Employees take vacation, but must remain within a city's radius of work. They are required to check their electronic correspondence regularly and return to work should a crisis arise. The latter involves employees, distributing their vacation time to create shortened work weeks. Neither permits much travel.

But, remaining city or mostly city bound does not mean locals cannot be tourists. Make plans just as you would if you were traveling abroad. If you are an Ottawan, I recommend participating in a culinary tour. One of the reasons journalist Michael Kaminer of the Washington Post deemed Ottawa "Canada's cool capital" is its evolving food scene. What better way is there to learn about it than by taking a tour, lead by passionate food enthusiasts?

Paola St-George (@cestboncooking) and Andree Riffou (a Cordon Bleu trained chef) offer one such culinary tour of the ByWard Market through C'est Bon Cooking. It is a 2.5 hour walking tour, costing $45. Wear comfortable shoes and bring a little notebook to take notes. If you happen to be a food blogger, bring a camera with a freshly charged battery (a spare helps) and lots of memory.

Here are snippets from one Jenn and I participated in:

Not included in this slide show are photos from our visiting the Courtyard Restaurant (21 George Street), Murray Street Kitchen Charcuterie and Wine (110 Murray Street), and La Bottega Nicastro (64 George Street), all of which were incorporated in other blog posts.

Now, if you plan to wander the ByWard Market unguided, as Jenn and I often do, here are some additions I would like to recommend:
The Farm House (55 ByWard Market Square)

Signage
For a quick lunch in between shopping at the boutiques, fashion houses, and farmer's market, the Farm House in the ByWard Market Square serves pork and chicken schnitzel. Schnitzel is a flattened piece of meat that is typically breaded, deep fried, and baked crisp.

A-Style Sign

Chicken Schnitzel Platter

Cross Section

Pork Schnitzel Sandwich

Cross Section
While the platter came with unremarkable salad (poor attempt at tabbouleh) and instant rice, the schnitzel was made to order, fresh and crunchy. The sandwich was a little heavy on the bread, but it was quite well seasoned and tasty.

More after the jump...

The gourmet deli and food shop La Bottega Nicastro is a staple source of Italian fine food from olive oil to cheeses, balsamic vinegars, in-house made pickles, and the odd in-house made artisan cured meats. An Italian grocery for over 30 years, it has been owned an operated by Pat Nicastro for the past 15. Pat is the son of Joe Nicastro, the proprietor of Nicastro's Food Emporium on Merivale Road (1558). According to Paola St-George (@cestboncooking) of C'est Bon Cooking, the owners of the Bank Street (792) and Wellington Street W. (1355) Il Negozio Nicastro's are also related, though more distantly.

Speaking of C'est Bon Cooking, Jenn and I took the following photos at La Bottega Nicastro during one of their ByWard Market tours.

Signage

Sandwich Sign


Nicastro Brand Olive Oil

Italian Soda and Olive Oil

15 Year Old Balsamic


Fine Italian Food Stuffs, including Lots of Dry Pasta

Fresh Bread

More after the jump...

Those of you who know me know that I am a proud Canadian and I fervently believe in supporting local businesses, especially locally owned restaurants. It is one of the reasons I live in an area of Ottawa that has one of the highest concentrations of locally-owned eateries and fine food stores outside of downtown Ottawa, the Wellington Village.

Imagine my glee when I had the task of putting together a Canadian Care Package to send to Texas. I literally had an overabundance of ideas to balance against shipping restrictions. Heavier and larger packages become increasingly difficult to ship. To solve the dilemma, I first consulted the Internet to see what foods are common up north, but less so down south. On J.J's Complete Guide to Canada, I found a "Foods of Canada" list. The list includes everything from nanaimo bars to butter tarts (something I thought was British in origin), Beaver tails, Poutine, ketchup chips, and several chocolate bars. I was rather surprised to find that Coffee Crisp, Aero, Big Turk and Smarties are rather Canadian. After selecting two items from that list, I decided that I had to include coffee from my favourite local purveyor of Fair Trade brew, Bridgehead.

The rest of the package I promised myself would come from outdoor markets, preferably local farmers' markets and absolutely local producers. Here is the what I ended up putting together:

One Canadian Care Package
Top row:

• Dark Maple Syrup from the Byward Market
• Apple Jelly from the Marche Vieux Hull
• Ketchup chips
• Whole bean Columbian from Bridgehead

Middle rows:

• Cherry Blossoms
• Red Deer Pepperettes from the Marche Vieux Hull

Bottom row:

• Maple syrup candies from the Byward Market
• A fall picture of Ottawa's Parliament Buildings from the Collected Works Bookstore, an independent bookstore

I originally wanted to include some locally produced honey, but realized that Texan bees can easily produce comparable wild flower honey. Though, they arguably have different plant blossoms to feast on.

Aside: Speaking of the Marche Vieux Hull, when I went wandering that Thursday on rue Laval for care package fodder, I happened to come back with an apple pie from the Verger Lacroix Cider House.

Old-Fashioned Apple Pie
The label actually reads "Grandma's Pies."

Here's what it looks like unboxed:

Not your ordinary boxed pie
Unboxed, the crust smelled distinctly of butter and was brushed with an egg wash. Though, it also flaked as if the crust were made with shortening.

Here's a slice:

Sliced, served
What are my characteristics of a good boxed pie? Cooked apples, non-soggy bottom pie crust, flaky strata in the top crust, egg wash to colour. This pie met all the requirements. Best of all, the apples tasted incredibly fresh.

How can you serve a slice of great apple pie better?

A la mode
Top it with rich ice cream from Pascale's. The ice cream of choice, dulce de leche, to add just a bit more caramel flavours.

It has been a wet summer, but autumn is upon us and we have had 2 glorious weeks of cool, but sunny weather in Ottawa. Labour Day has come and past. Newly minted students from the local universities have flooded city streets with music, dance, and Shinerama stickers to raise money to fund cystic fibrosis research. The sun is setting earlier. The commute to work has become more hectic. And, it is time to start thinking about what to do with the oncoming fall harvest bounty.

To help out, Amrita Singh from CBC Radio 1 (91.5 FM) is kicking off a new season of Town and Out with an Autumn Produce Primer. Can you guess which local blogger she chose to provide some sound bites?

In preparation, my better half and I visited the bustling ByWard Market on Labour Day Monday, armed with the newest member of foodiePrints' blog arsenal, a Nikon D60 SLR camera with an 18-55 mm lens.

Crowded ByWard Market

Lots of Families Out and About

Before we begin, the unusually wet summer has shifted the growing season somewhat, causing some characteristically autumn produce to come to market late.

Such was apparent when I asked the lovely tweeps I follow about their favourites. Suggestions included: sweet corn, turnips, parsnips, carrots, butternut squash, and apples. Not only were they available, but so too were raspberries, strawberries and peaches, typically late summer fare in the Eastern Ontario region.

Strawberries

Strawberries AND Raspberries

Peaches

Only now has quality sweet corn started appearing.

Sweet Corn

Jumbo Cobs
Look for ears with bright green and tight-fitting husks and golden brown silks. Kernels should be plump and should come all the way to the tip of the ear. Fresh yellow corn is sweetest when it is eaten as soon as it is harvested. The longer an ear of corn spends away from the plant, the more likely its sugars will be converted to starch.

Regarding root vegetables like turnips, parsnips, or carrots...

Turnips
The turnips we most often see are rutabagas, relatives of the British white turnip. Choose heavy for their size turnips. Smaller, hence younger, ones tend to have a more delicate flavour and texture. They should be firm to the touch. If greens are attached, they should be bright green and not withered. To store, wrap turnips, unwashed, in plastic and place in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks, discarding the leaves. However, like other root vegetables, they can last longer in a cool ventilated area. This is why our grandparents had subterranean root cellars.


Carrots
Carrots, including increasingly common heirloom varieties (purple, blue, gold), should be firm and smooth. Avoid those that are cracked or have begun to soften. If greens are attached, they should be bright and crisp. To store, bag in plastic and refrigerate for up to 7 days, again discarding the leaves.

Parsnips should be chosen in a similar manner as carrots and turnips. Look for firm roots that are neither shriveled nor spotted. They can be stored, bagged in plastic, in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Regarding winter squash (we actually found none) and pumpkins...

Pumpkins

and more Pumpkins
Winter squashes like butternut, acorn and spaghetti, should be heavy for their size and have hard rinds mostly free of blemishes, cracks, or moldy spots. If any are present, they should be dry and well healed. Whole, winter squashes can be stored in a cool dark place for a month or longer, depending on the specific variety. Cut, they can be stored in the refrigerator, wrapped in plastic, but should be eaten within several days.

Smaller pumpkins, like the ones pictured, tend to be sweeter and more tender. Like winter squashes, they should be picked blemish and crack free. They should also be heavy for their size.

One of my favourites of the fall harvest has to be apples, such as those from Hall's Apple Orchard and Market

Apples

Glorious Apples
No matter the variety, be it for baking or eating raw, buy firm apples with a fresh fragrance. Their skins should be smooth and bruise and gouge free. Paula red, Lobo, Fuji, gala, golden delicious, granny smith, and McIntosh apples are versatile varieties that are equally good raw or for cooking. Store in a plastic bag in the refrigerator.

More after the jump...

What do you do when the management of your condo building decides to perform electrical maintenance one Saturday and informs you that, for that day, all power will be shut down?

First, you contact the property manager to ask why the work can't be done during a week day when the majority of tenants won't be at home.

When you hear that the answer resembles the typical corporate excuse to dismiss rational concerns, you go to the dollar store. There, you pick up 8 mini ice packs ($1 each) and one large ice pack ($2 each). Reason: As Alton Brown recently explained in a freezer-related episode of Good Eats, placing bottles of frozen water through out your freezer provides insurance against spoilage during accidental power outages. The bottles of water act as capacitors, keeping neighboring frozen goods frozen, even as they themselves melt. In my case, because the power outage is intentional and prolonged (power will be off for approximately 8 hours), I substituted ice packs for water bottled and distributed them throughout my freezer 2 days before "lights out." Ice packs are filled with a viscous fluid that has different thermal properties than water. It melts far more slowly. Hopefully, this will keep my well stocked freezer frozen. Otherwise, I am going to heap spoiled foods on the doorstep of my property manager's home and car and wish him an unhappy Halloween.

So, if power is out, how am I blogging? I'm currently sitting in the lounge of a Chapter's (downtown Rideau location) with my ancient laptop, sipping something called a Grande Tazo Chai from Starbucks. After all the years of Starbucks' existence, I still don't understand why a medium-sized cup is called a "Grande." The drink itself tastes somewhat artificial, but the spice from the chai tea is carried well by its dairy ingredient. Given that the drink seems rich, I'm wondering if the dairy ingredient is cream. At $4.29, I hope I bought some time to sit and blog before I'm accused of loitering. At least the older gentleman, sitting in front of me is somewhat entertaining. He's playing the hapless proletariat, trying somewhat unsuccessfully to impress a much younger woman.

On the bright side, my better half and I took a stroll through the Byward Market on our way to brunch at Dunn's this morning. There, we found pumpkins. We found lots of tourists too. They seemed to be very interested in the pumpkins.

Pretending to be a tourist, I joined the crowd and took pictures. This first picture is what a lot of Asian tourists seem to be interested in capturing:

Jack O Lantern-sized Pumpkins

Here's what I feel is a sexier take:

Better side of Pumpkins

Since Jack O Lantern-sized Pumpkins make unwieldy souvenirs, a pumpkin farmer two autumns ago started selling painted mini-pumpkins in the Byward Market. Now they're everywhere.

Painted Mini-Pumpkins

While most people forget that pumpkins can be cooked and eaten, one stall in the Byward Market had sweet "eating" pumpkins for sale. The sales lady suggested that the pumpkins make good pies. I only saw large bowls of luscious creamy soup.

Eating Pumpkins

If decorative pumpkins aren't on your Fall menu, how about lacquered gourds?

Decorative Gourds
I recommend against eating these...