Author: cpgrisold

So this summer I went to Provenance Regional Cuisine for some delicious wild boar and Saskatchewan berry sausages. The local shop, on Dundas West, was a locavore foodie’s dream: small, charming, with knowledgeable staff and delectable foodstuffs. Due to my not getting out much, and also my shoddy memory, I just realized today that I haven’t been to Provenance since that delightful summery snausage outing. But LO! when I googled the shop, this is the message that pops up on their website:

August 28, 2011

Thank you for supporting Provenance Regional Cuisine, it has been a genuine pleasure serving you. I am excited to announce that as of September 6th the Provenance Local Grocery Store will continue to operate under the new direction of Chef Jamie Kennedy and his team. Jamie Kennedy Kitchens will continue to bring you locally sourced and sustainable foods from Ontario’s family farms and producers as well as their own offering of prepared foods and preserves. The online shopping services offered at www.provenancecuisine.ca, including the Subscription service, will no longer be available. This fall I will be moving into a new position that will provide me with the unique opportunity to work extensively with local producers while directing the food services of a large-scale hospitality operation committed to seasonal and sustainable fare.

I look forward to sharing more information with you in the weeks to come.

Sincerely,

Alex Johnston, Chef & Owner, Provenance Regional Cuisine Inc.

This saddens me for two reasons: I liked this little place a lot, and was looking forward to being closer to it when I move to Roncesvalles in the not-too-distant future (don’t tell my Mom & Dad, they despise how often I move – if only because they’re too old for all this heavy lifting)… and also because this means I NEED TO GET OUT MORE. This change happened in September and I am only discovering it now, at the end of January. Sigh.

Let’s hope this news about Provenance isn’t news to most of you!

ps. This is a cute blog post about the shop :)

x

It is New Year’s Day and I am bed-ridden due to throwing out my back in the shower, shaving my leg. Son of a bean it hurt! Planned on writing nice long New Year’s Resolutions post today but am in too much discomfort to think positively about future. So, instead, I’m going to list my resolutions from 2011 and see what I actually accomplished:

1. No Pork. This lasted three months, which if you know me is HUGE. I just adore that magical animal. My pigless days ended gloriously with an accidental pork belly BLT at The Queen and Beaver Public House on Elm Street in Toronto. MAN THAT WAS GOOD. I consider this resolution a success.

2. Speak French. Total failure. Moving this resolution to another year. (Like I do every year I fail at achieving it!) Je ne parles pas la langue. Je ne la parles pas indeed.

3. Finish & Sell At Least One Piece Of Writing. Again, total failure. I have my chick lit draft sitting by waiting for my edits. Sigh. 500 pages of pure genius. Tick tock. Moving this one to 2012.

4. Complete The Whole 90-Minute Bikram Yoga Circuit. Okay so I totally sucked at achieving these resolutions! I love hot yoga! Maybe if I went to more Bikram classes I wouldn’t have thrown my back out trying to shave my leg. Geesh. 2012-ing it again.

5. Do An Energy Exchange For Three Months At A Hot Yoga Studio. Nope.

6. Jog (Without Stopping To Catch Breath) The Entire Road That Encircles High Park. Note to Self: stop making physical activity resolutions! Next time, try something like “Saunter in High Park.” Much more likely to be achieved.

7. Travel To At Least Two Countries. Alright, more like it! I went to New York City, USA. That’s one country. Was supposed to go to Scotland in October but couldn’t afford it. So I get half a point here! Yay me!

8. LAUNCH THE BEAVE! Done and done! 2012 resolution is to grow it, get it back in tip-top shape. But it’s launched, it’s live, I’ve even sold five Beave t-shirts! Woo! thirstybeaver.ca

9. Teach “The Artist’s Way” Workshop At Least Once. Didn’t do this. Tried to, but didn’t have enough students enrolled. I *did* however give my Marketing Coordinator a copy of The Artist’s Way for Christmas, so I think that deserves a half point too :)

10. Portage In Algonquin Park. I suck at this. I love portaging. This shouldn’t have been hard to do!

That’s only 3 out of 10. Boo-urns.

Although, I should also note that I grew my Twitter following from 0 to 500 this year, plus was named one of the Top 200 Influential Digital Women in Canada by ShesConnected.com! That is not shabby. Not shabby at all.

If the world ends on December 21st, 2012, like the Mayans apparently predicted then I guess it won’t matter what resolutions I keep. But in the slight chance I am blogging about this on January 1st, 2013, I’m gonna make it easy for myself to score 100%.

So my resolutions for 2012 include: Keep Up The Good Work and Do What I Love.

Happy 2012!

x

MerryChristmas from City and Charm & Thirstybeaver.ca!

Uh, uh, uh… I need about treeee fiddy. Tree fiddy! Goddamn Loch Ness monstah! That ain’t no girl scout!

From the film Hable Con Ella. Love this song – and the video.