Greenhouse - wee yummy sprouts

The holiday break from school doesn't slow the growth of the seedlings planted in our Seeds of Change greenhouse.  Students Devon, Barry and Lizzie worked hard with Steve Stacey (The Local Come Lately) to clean and organize the greenhouse and plant sixty-four trays prior to the winter break.  On one of the days Shawn Hartwell  (Simple Fish and Chips ) dropped by to lend a hand.  This brought a great connection for the students as Shawn will be using some of the greens in his restaurant.  Of the remainder, some will be used in the Screaming Avocado Canteen and others will be sold to those interested in delicious organic greens that support a great cause.  Check out the photos Shawn snapped today in the greenhouse - they're growing!  This project is made possible through the generous contribution from Libro Financial's Community Builders Grant. 



The Screaming Avocados

Devon, Barry and Lizzie

Half the trays

Wee yummy sprouts

Charlie’s Burgers: Arctic Diplomatic Incident Dinner

Sunday, December 19th the Charlies Burgers dinner went down.  So much to digest - both literally and figuratively.  Three days of prep and an outstanding evening that rocked the house and left the guests wanting more.  Chef Louis the Great designed a menu that showcased northern fare and married it with the finest ingredients we could find in the south.

Why would we try to put into words the events of the evening when our friends Twyla Campbell and Steve Stacey have done it so eloquently on their blog sites.  Check it out and be amazed at the transformation of the raw ingredients to finished product.  Please find below some images on the ingredients in the raw.... then go to Twyla and Steve's blogs. 

Twyla's Blog on the Arctic Dinner

Steve's Blog on the Artic Dinner

Check out the article it the Stratford Beacon Herald:

Stratford Beacon Herald - Dinner Comes From the North


The Screaming Avocados


Walrus

Muskox

 Foie Gras

Seal

Arctic Char

Whale 

Screaming Avocados and Charlies Burgers

On December 19th the Screaming Avocados will team up with the uber-talented Chef Louis Charest to helping in the preparation of a challenging menu for the guests of Charlies Burgers in Toronto http://www.charliesburgers.ca/.  'Charlie' describes the menu as  The Arctic Culinary Diplomatic Incident.  We see it as an opportunity for the fledgling avocados to learn from Louis and to connect to incredible ingredients that have fed the Inuit peoples for a thousand years. Since an experience like this needs to be shared, we invited some Stratford Chef School students to help in the prep. 

For the foraging of the northern fare we turned to our foodie friends Steve Cooper and Twyla Campbell ( weirdwildandwonderful.blogspot.com/ ).  Steve grew up in the north and spends much time up there with work. His connections are far reaching, which allows him to have access to ingredients we've only read about.  Thank-you Steve and Twyla.

Everything is in motion for a truly memorable night.  We'll be back with details and more photos on December 20th.  Check out the menu below and be amazed.  For more on Charlies Burgers visit http://www.thestar.com/living/article/610726

The Screaming Avocados

Menu & Wine Pairing
Prosecco Asolo Montello DOCG - Veneto, Italy

Clams and Muskox
Qikitartuaq clams, Mipkuzola fennel fire roasted muskox, narwhal bannock
2008 Chardonnay, Baglio del Sole, Feudi Del Pisciotto, Sicily, Italy

Blubber Pie
Sanikiluak sea urchin, star fish, whipped beluga
2004 Muskat, Josmeyer, Alsace France

Davis Strait Shrimp Bisque
Matsutake mushroom, shrimp ceviche
lemon grass sabayon
2009 Bergerie du Capucin, Pic Saint Loup, Dame Geannie, Languedoc, France

Seal and Walrus Crackling
Sumac grilled rack of seal, star anise walrus crackling, foie gras
candied candy cane beet, mango sambal
1999 Vinsobres, Domaine Chaume Arnaud, Cotes Du Rhone Villages, France

Cape Dorset Kelp Sorbet
ponzu gastric, fresh kelp, kelp chips

Wild Ginger BBQ Duck Flavoured Sea Cucumber and Veal Marrow Pot au Feu
Cambridge Bay Arctic Char Tataki, Batawana Bay Herring Roe
Bok Choy, Root Vegetables, Buckwheat Tempura
2007 Barbera Asti DOC, Scagliola, Piemonte, Italy

Inuksuk
ice wine Akutak profiteroles
blue berry, spun sugar
2000 Ice Wine, Vidal, Pilliteri Canada

Screaming Avocado's on Jamie Oliver Website

 The local food bag fundraiser is on the Jamie Oliver website.  Check out the link below:

http://www.jamieoliver.com/news/screaming-avacado-fundraiser


If you're curious check out a past post on the site as well.

http://www.jamieoliver.com/news/screaming-avacado-a-recipe-for-success

The Screaming Avocados

SKYPE Gardens

The trip to Nunavut offered many great experiences for the students that participated - check out the photos on the Flickr Photostream on the right.  We knew this would be the case before we departed, so we were determined to find a way to share it with elementary students who couldn't join us on the trip.  To bring them along (without sneaking them into our luggage of course) we proposed a SKYPE broadcast where our students would share their experiences with classes down south.  This proved to be an easy sell and soon enough we had eight schools signed up.

Every morning our students rose early, rubbed the sleep from their eyes and readied for an onslaught of questions from excited elementary kids.  Many were curious on the food we ate (lots of caribou), what the weather was like (snowy and cold), what the people were like (fantastic and friendly), what the trip was like getting there (long and full of delays) and what sports they play in the north (hockey, soccer, basketball and everything we play in the south plus Arctic Games - more on that later).   SKYPE worked incredibly well.  The picture and sound was clear and made the elementary kids feel they were in Cambridge Bay.

The added bonus to the broadcasts was when the students from Cambridge Bay joined Stratford Northwestern kids.  The students from north brought to the SKYPE experience real knowledge from the north.  They spoke of their lives and demonstrated their Arctic Games skills.  Thank-you to all the elementary classes, Nunavut and Stratford students who participated in the broadcasts.

After such a successful SKYPE experience, we didn’t want to leave Nunavut without setting up further.  Since we’re all about food, we decided to marry the two.  Beginning in the New Year we’ll have SKYPE Gardens running.  Two classes, one south and one north will have windowsill vegetable gardens that will be their link.  They will share the experience, stories and recipes all the while developing friendships from afar.  The northern schools will have some help from a grow light. 

We have a couple of schools ready to go.  If anyone else is interested please let us know.  We’ll help fund the project and organize twins. 

The Screaming Avocados

Local Food Bags

We hate the idea of elementary students being sent through neighbourhoods selling chocolates door to door to fund school projects.  It really isn't modeling good eating habits.  To counter this, the Screaming Avocados teamed up with local farmers, producers and Slow Food Perth County to provide a healthy alternative that would benefit our community as a whole. 

The local bags contained fresh produce, cheese, eggs and yogurt.  Our farmer friend Laurie Neubrand went to auction and bought all the produce needed at market value.  Greg Hanlon from Saputo helped with the cheese and Merrick Burr of Festival City Dairy with the eggs and cream.  Without these incredible people the idea wouldn't have got off the ground.

The Bedford Public School students eagerly sold them and with the help of Brian Shypula of the  Beacon Herald and Eddie Matthews at CJCS Radio the word got out to the community at large.  In one short week 318 bags were sold to the Stratford community - fantastic for a first run!  For every ten bags sold, one was donated to the House of Blessing Food Bank which resulted in hundreds of pound of fresh food to accompany the successful city wide food drive the night before.  All proceeds from the sale of the local bags are being used to feed hungry kids at Bedford Public School.

The idea worked and plans are in place to open it to more schools early next fall.  Thank-you to everyone who made it a great success.  Please see the links to the articles below.  If you live in a different community and want support on how you can run of these in your school community please contact us.

The Screaming Avocados


Stratford Beacon Herald - Local produce a winning idea
http://stratfordbeaconherald.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?archive=true&e=2872917

Stratford Beacon Herald - Food baskets sold by school
http://stratfordbeaconherald.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?archive=true&e=2858342

Our Nunavut friends have gone home

The trip to the north is over and I can't believe it's been so long since we've posted.  The Nunuavut students visited, shared and experienced.  Their days were full of southern adventure and things they wanted to do and visit.  From seeing a cow milking operation, the smell of a pork producer, Niagara Falls, Toronto and hanging with students at Stratford Northwestern they actively participated with enthusiasm.

Their trip home made our missed flights silly to complain about.  While they were able to get out of Stratford, Toronto an Edmonton on time, they were left waiting in Yellowknife for three extra nights due to a blizzard in Cambridge Bay.  The finally did get home on three different flights and without their luggage!  It arrived later in the week. 

We miss our friends from the north and all plan on seeing them again.  Another trip to Cambridge Bay you ask?  Already planning it for future students.  Please click on article links below.

The Screaming Avocados 


 Stratford Beacon Herald -  Trip to Far North opens eyes
 http://stratfordbeaconherald.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?archive=true&e=2834966

 Stratford Beacon Herald -  Northwestern exposure
http://stratfordbeaconherald.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?archive=true&e=2806849

 Stratford Beacon Herald -  Nunavut students head south
http://stratfordbeaconherald.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?archive=true&e=2856784

 Stratford Beacon Herald - Cultural exchange provides unique learning experience
http://stratfordbeaconherald.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?archive=true&e=2812622

It's a Weird, Wild and Wonderful Life Blog - Twyla Campbell
http://weirdwildandwonderful.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2010-11-02T10%3A19%3A00-06%3A00&max-results=7

The Local-Come-Lately Blog - Steve Stacey
http://local-come-lately.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2010-11-24T14%3A37%3A00-08%3A00&max-results=1

Screaming Avocado Offical Website

Welcome

The screaming avocado has an offical website  http://screamingavocado.webs.com/  .
It has: 

• Upcoming dinners
• Pictures
• An understanding on what we do
• Contact information for Caterings
• Speaking Inquiries
• Farm and Garden Project

If there is anything you are wondering about feel free to use the contact form to get in touch with us directly.