“We’re kind of farm sitting,” says Kyle White, co-founder of Milkhouse, a new fromagerie in Smiths Falls. Kyle, with wife and co-founder Caitlin Hynes Dobson are living and making cheese at Caitlin’s parent’s century farmstead in beautiful Lanark County. The 130-acre farm includes a beautifully restored farmhouse and barns, but what makes the farmstead so idyllic is the weathered wooden split rail fencing around the property and sectioned pastures. Caitlin’s family runs Dobson Split Rail Fencing and the farmstead has become a showpiece. Between the fencing and restored stone and plank barns, Milkhouse is a beautifully romantic and pure […]

Lanark County boasts outdoor adventure and quaint historic villages where local food is a form of expression, where maple syrup pours from every table and the garlic growers are award winners. The maple syrup capital of Ontario, Lanark County has more pancake houses and sugar camp restaurants than any other county. Some sugar camps are more formal with a greater choice of dishes on the menu. But whether you’re at a pancake house or a sugar camp, know that the secret recipes for the pancakes you’re about to enjoy have been handed down for generations. One bite and you’ll […]

You’ve heard it before, “butter will kill you and broccoli will save your life”. But culinary icons like Julia Child, Chef Michael Smith and Martha Stewart have always believed that butter is beautiful. Now that the heat has refocused on margarine, butter has never been more fashionable; nor has the opportunity to rediscover it, been more rewarding. All around the country, butteristas like myself have discovered something new to excite our palates; artisanal butter, produced in small quantities, from natural ingredients by small-scale producers around the world. I was first smitten by the butter bug at Savour Stratford. In […]

Just yesterday I was out at Quiet Acres Farm on Lakeshore Road in Niagara-on-the-Lake and their giant sorting tables were covered with strawberries – it was a sea of red! Big, plump, juicy, deep red berries glistening in the sun. They select each berry, check for dirt, bruises and size and fill the pint containers that go into the masters. Who can resist buying an entire master of these strawberries? I got them home and tumbled them into a sink of cold water for a quick bath, then laid them out on a kitchen towel to dry. I took […]