Field Notes for Winter 2018
All-Day breakfast, Seven Fallen Feathers, an Orangeville classic is closing and what is more fun than a salad bar?
Quick bites: All-Day Brekkie
What’s better than breakfast? Why, breakfast any time of day. Sure, the fast food chains have clued in that we’d like our eggs, bacon and other morning morsels well past 11, but more intriguing indie options exist. Hailing from Simcoe County, mini-chain Stacked Pancake & Breakfast House recently opened on Broadway in Orangeville, featuring towers of pancakes in a mind-boggling array of flavours. (New York-style strawberry cheesecake is one that caught our eye!) They’re open from 7am to 3pm daily.
Breakfast sandwiches have long held permanent spots on the menus at local spots such as Orangeville’s French Press Coffee House & Bistro in Credit Creek Village and Mochaberry Coffee (dubbed the “Eggy Thing”) on Broadway. “Our customers are looking for healthier, relatively quick options to eat on the go,” says Mochaberry owner Troy Brett. “All-day breakfast items are a good fit. Our overnight oats are also becoming increasingly popular.” Visit Mochaberry Monday to Friday 7am to 8pm, Saturday 7:30am to 8pm, Sunday 9am to 5pm, and French Press Monday to Friday 8am to 6pm and Saturday 9am to 5pm.
Erin’s Tin Roof Café also offers convenient handheld fare, along with some clean-eating novelties – a vegan chia pudding with house-made berry compote and pomegranate juice, for one. Get your grub there Monday to Friday 6:30am to 7pm, and Saturday and Sunday 8am to 6pm. But order your hot stuff before 5:30pm, when the kitchen closes. Da Bean (formerly The Coffee Bean) on Highway 10 near Inglewood goes for diner classics – think home fries, perfectly cooked eggs and fluffy pancakes – from 7:30am to 3pm Tuesday to Friday, and 8am to 3pm on weekends.
For details, visit stackedpancakehouse.ca, mochaberry.ca, tinroofcafe.ca and The French Press on Facebook, or call Da Bean at 905-838-1888.
The New School
Artist and educator Jenny Lorito’s Raise-an-Artist project is known for offering art classes for all ages in a cozy bohemian farmhouse in Ballinafad. Now she and her staff are hosting the Raise-a-Lifelong-Learner program, a one-day-a-week alternative school for both the homeschool set or for families who can take their kids out of school once a week.
“Learning takes place in a warm, bright, happy, creative house surrounded by fields, forest and creeks,” says staffer Jessica Hill. “We spend time outside in all seasons and we engage in hands-on learning and coaching to help each child take pride in who they are and what they make.”
Learn more at raisealifelonglearner.ca.
Save the date: Reflect on Reconciliation
Theatre Orangeville and BookLore present An Evening with Tanya Talaga on December 4 at 7pm at Orangeville’s Town Hall Opera House. Tanya is the author of the award-winning nonfiction book Seven Fallen Feathers, the tragic story of seven Indigenous youth who go missing in Thunder Bay. As the publisher describes it, the book delves into the history of a “small northern city that has come to manifest Canada’s long struggle with human rights violations against Indigenous communities.” The evening includes an author reading, on-stage interview and audience Q&A.
For more info go to booklore.ca.
An Orangeville Classic
Sad but true: Orangeville’s Soulyve, which has been masterfully helmed by chef and owner Phil DeWar since 2009, is closing on December 31. “I want to spend more time with my young family and invest in home – the rest of life will follow after that,” says DeWar, adding that in the future he’d like to blend food and mentorship “as vehicles to impact youth and change.” That could mean teaching cooking as a life skill, he says, or helping ensure youth have the healthy meals they need.
In the meantime we’re making tracks to nab our favourite Soulyve eats including Reggae Wraps, Trini Doubles, and Tofu and Vegetable Curry.
Go to soulyve.com or follow on social media for news about the final festivities.
Pom Pom Bar
This is way more fun than a salad bar! Erin clothing and accessory shop Amorettos has set up a pom pom bar with an exclusive line of merino wool hats with snap-on fur pom poms in 20 different jewel tones. Hats start at $99 and include one pom pom; add more for $59 each.
Visit Amorettos’ Facebook page.
Holiday Craft Shows
None of us has to travel far to shop for holiday gifts or decorations, thanks to a boom in craft sales and holiday pop-ups. One annual favourite, Holiday Treasures, is packed with exceptional handmade gifts – from stuffed animals and knitwear to jewellery and bath goodies – at the Museum of Dufferin from November 24 to December 9. And from now until December 24, Bolton’s Sisters Touch of Christmas stokes the holiday spirit with their holiday baking and personalized, hand-painted ornaments. Grand Valley’s Christmas in the Valley takes place November 25 and the Craft Sale in Caledon Village happens December 1.
For these and other sales, see What’s On.
We toasted the 25 amazing young people selected for the 25 Under 25 Award by In The Hills, Theatre Orangeville and Museum of Dufferin. We squeezed *most* of them on stage with us! Photo by Pete Paterson.
Little Big Hearts
Youngsters inspired by the recipients of the 25 Under 25 Awards may want to know some way they too can make a difference. Enter 100 Kids Who Care Dufferin, a quarterly event where kids ages five to 18 form a temporary philanthropic board of directors, of sorts. After donating $10, donors nominate a charity to receive the funds. Three organizations are selected to make presentations, then the kids vote to decide who receives that quarter’s full funding.
After the inaugural event held on October 21, the kids gave the Parkinson Society Southwestern Ontario a cheque for $1,000, of which $750 was raised by the 75 kids in attendance and $250 from an anonymous donor. Since doing good is infectious, another anonymous donor matched the $1,000, which was split between Streams Community Hub and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, the other two presenting charities. Now that’s the spirit.
Registration is open for the next event, in January, at 100kidswhocaredufferin.weebly.com
Don’t Miss: Wassailing
Start 2019 off in traditional and gastronomic style with the Cider Master’s Wassailing Dinner in January, a five-course meal with cider pairings at Caledon’s Spirit Tree Estate Cidery on January 12. The evening comes complete with a performance by the Orange Peel Morris Dancers and a historic wassail ceremony once believed to drive away evil spirits from the apple trees and bless the next year’s crop.
A second wassailing event happens the next month with the Family Day Festival for all ages on February 18, complete with skating and tobogganing.
Visit spirittreecider.com for more.
