Kemptville Wine and Food Show

Last night we went to Kemptville's first ever Wine and Food Show. It wasn't very big, but admission was free. You could buy tasting tickets in five dollar strips, worth 50 cents, each and exchange the correct number at any of the stands to taste their wares.

We have been to the Brockville Wine and Food Show twice, and as I said, this was much smaller. There were just three wine companies, two beer companies, and maybe five or six restaurants or other food vendors represented. Costco was there trying to drum up some business by offering reduced membership rates and free food samples. Marlin Travel and a couple of other product vendors were also on hand so not everything was wine and food related.  I found that a bit strange.

Normally we find the samples at such shows are just wee tastes of things. After all, you have a lot of booths to work though. Since that generally takes a while, and you nibbling over a period of time, it's not like eating an actual meal. We decided to eat our supper before we went.  That was a mistake as the samples at this show were much larger and I'm sure we would have left feeling like we had eaten a whole meal if we had tasted from several of the booths.

Catered Affairs was offering two main dish foods but I opted for the brownie s'mores.  Red Hatters like to eat dessert first, you know.  We used up most of our tickets on those, actually.

The Empire Cheese people, from Campbellford, are always a welcome sight as they offer a wide variety of flavoured cheeses and never charge you anything. Tonight I discovered that Mrs McGarrigle's mustard has now been added to two varieties of their cheese.  They didn't come with the salsa cheese this year, which is one I'm always looking for, but their extra old cheese was absolutely amazing. I'll be bringing some of that home soon.  While Mrs McGarrigle's carries some of their cheeses, I was told that Kemptville's B&H store carries most of them.  I have not been in there in years, but I will be now.

I think I spent most of my tickets on various wines. I especially liked one that comes from the Harwood Estates Vineyards in Prince Edward County. It was a Pinot Gris, if I remember correctly, but I'll be able to find it easily when I go there, as it's in a distinctive blue bottle.  It's not found in the LCBO. I was given a card for a complimentary wine tasting when I visit the winery.

The local winery, Blue Gypsy Wines, was also on hand. I thought I had tasted all their wines at the winery last fall, so I didn't use any of my tickets at that booth. My hubby tried their raspberry wine though, as apparently it wasn't available when we went there.  

We stopped by the Nakhon Thai booth and I asked if the food was very spicy. The lovely lady, assured us that was a misconception. She said that 80% of the dishes on their menu were not spicy, and if we wanted something that normally would be, we could always ask them to cut back on that and they would.  To prove her point she offered a plate full of rice with a curry dish, as well as some Crispy Lemongrass Chicken. She didn't take any of our tickets, but she certainly made a fan out of my hubby. He really enjoyed that food, and went back to tell her how good it was.  She pointed out the dishes he had tasted on her menu, and I suspect we will be visiting that establishment in the near future.  I notice, from the menu that they have several meals that are vegetarian (not vegan) and gluten free.  I know of people who are always on the lookout for such things.

Another booth had fish and other things from The Landing. That's a take out place known for it's fish and chips. I saw a bin off to the side and I asked what was in there. They had cut big cinnamon buns into quarters and she gave us each one of those. I asked how many tickets she wanted, and she just waved her hand at me and said, "We're good."  I sometimes find that I have trouble with cinnamon buns these days as there is often too much cinnamon in them. I like them but they give me heartburn. But these were perfect. I asked if they always have them, and was assured that they do. We have never been there for a meal as we usually go to sit down restaurants,  but we do now have a reason to stop by and bring home a treat.

The Kemptville Chamber of Commerce has worked a long time to get this show up and running and ran into various problems along the way. Though the show was small and I was initially disappointed, I think they did succeed in bringing more interest to the various businesses that took part.  Several of them now will now have us as new customers, and I'm sure others who attended can say the same.  Next year promises to be even better.

Unusual Lucky Streak

I'm having a real lucky streak lately. Nothing big mind you, but normally I don't tend to win much more than a bit of makeup or the odd book anyway, no matter how many draws I enter.  While it's true that I've won a good number of books over the years, the key word there is Years.  Here are just some of the books I've won, pictured at the left. 

Something has changed since 2012 has begun however, as I've already won 3 this year, plus a necklace, and a $10 gift card for Sears.
 One day in particular was so lucky I couldn't believe it.  First some friends had passes for 2 free buffet dinners at Rideau Carleton that they couldn't use before the expiry date. They knew we liked to go there, so they gave them to us.  The day we went we stopped into Shoppers Drug Mart on the way.  I happened to spot something that I use all the time and it was on sale so I decided to buy it.  They rang it in at full price, and when I pointed out that it was on sale, they told me that if I was right, I'd get it for free. They did a price check, and verified that it was indeed on sale. It's their policy that if anything scans incorrectly the customer doesn't have to pay.  This was news to me, but I came out $10 ahead of the game and quite happy to have learned about this. 
When we got to Rideau Carleton, there were several tables set up outside the dining room area. I asked one lady what that was all about, and she said it was Spanish Night, and would I care to sample some wine. I looked up in time to see my hubby being led off to our table, so I said I had to go.  Moments later someone arrived at our table with two glasses of wine, and said they had heard "the hubby was in a hurry."  That kind of service was certainly unexpected.  Oh, and they came back with more later on.  Free dinner, free wine, things were going great. Normally they charge you extra for coffee and tea, but that night they told us to forget that too!

Now, we are not gamblers, but we like to pick a horse and bet $2 to show, just so we have one to cheer for.  By the end of the night we generally break even, or only be up or down by a buck or two.  During this particular evening I picked a horse that came in 3rd.  While many of our horses that come in first only pay $2.10 for the $2 bet, this one, even though it was third, paid $18.50.  The stars must have been really lined up right that night!

My most recent win was yesterday, when a letter arrived from Reader's Digest. It seems I've won a Swap and Drop Kit, worth about $40.  I've been entering Reader's Digest contests regularly for so many years I can't remember, but I've never won anything from them before.  I don't know what's going on, but maybe I should buy a lottery ticket, just to see if I can win something worth a bit more.  What do you think?

Active Weekend

Once upon a time I always had my camera with me. These days I never seem to have it, but I had better change my ways as I know you would all love to see pictures of the weekend I just had.

The local United Church was holding a fund raiser they call Divine Diva Days. They rented tables to people who wanted to sell of some of the still decent clothing, handbags, shoes and jewelry they no longer wanted. In another part of the church they held a fashion show and tea with delectable goodies. The clothing for the fashion show came from a local store called Doree’s Habit and somehow I got to be one of the models even though I’m not a member of that church.

I got to choose the outfits I was comfortable wearing and really enjoyed the experience. There was a professional photographer who took group shots of all the models outside, in various locations, and then he was up front during the show catching us there too. The fashion show was Friday night. It didn’t last very long as we each only had two outfits to wear. Both of mine came with a hat. One was so big I stuffed a plastic bag into the crown to make it fit better. I may go down to the shop sometime this week and pick up the smaller one though. It was cute and would go with several things I own. I also discovered that I’d really like to own a nice wide belt. I’ve never worn one before, but I really liked the effect.

After the fashion show I was treated to the tea at no charge. There were lots of really nice desserts available, and I chose a piece of triple layer cake, and later a butter tart square. I was prepared to weigh more the next morning, but some sort of magic happened as I actually went down an additional pound, putting me at a weight I have not seen since I first became a Weight Watchers Life Time Member many years ago. I even had to get another hole made in my belt.

Saturday we went to the 1000 Islands Wine and Food Festival with another couple. I’ve never been to one of these before but it was an interesting experience too. You had to pay $8 to get in the door and they gave you a plastic tray with a handle at one end and a slot for a wine glass to fit nicely into at the other. They also gave you a nice heavy wine glass. You got to keep the wine glass when you went home, but you had to turn the tray back in.

There were demonstrations by celebrity chefs such as Pam Collacott of the Trilliam Cooking School, The Brockberry’s Chef Seth O’Hara and Merrickville’s Thomas Riding. If you sat for the demonstration, you got served a portion of whatever food had been prepared. You also got some wine that had been paired to go well with that food. They were cleaver in that they didn’t run the demonstrations back to back, so people didn’t just sit in those seats all day. We got up to explore the rest of the tables.

Various food establishments and wine makers had booths all around the edges of the arena and mostly at one end. You bought tickets, 10 for $5, and traded a number of tickets for anything you wanted to sample. Most places were happy with 2 tickets. For some little things they just wanted one ticket, while more elaborate things like cheese cake or shrimp in a bowl with flavoured rice was more like 4 or 5 tickets. There were a large number of wines to sample also.....which is why they gave you the glass. Many of them were from Prince Edward County but there was one from Oxford Mills, and another from Kanata, that definitely got my attention. They make summer wines, with fruits. The Oxford Mills vendor didn’t manage to get his licence in time for this show, due to the postal strike (I believe) but he said he would be open in August and we could come and sample all 8 varieties then. That’s the Blue Gypsy Wines. I got a good serving of a Strawberry and Watermelon wine from Colio Estate Wines from Kanata.. It was so nice I hope to be able to locate and purchase a bottle of that as soon as possible. I may want to try the blackberry one too.
Not everyone wanted a ticket in exchange for their samples. There was a place with several varieties of cheese where I tried one that had salsa in it. Now, that will definitely make a nice addition to my cheese platters in the future. I might just have to think up an excuse to have company now!

The other end of the hall was filled with art work. I think there were about 23 artists represented there. Some of it gave me confidence, and some of it gave me something to aim for. I had a nice chat with a couple of the artists, and came home with a few art cards to remember them by.

Between the wine glasses, the art cards, a copy of Zoomer Magazine and all the wonderful goodies, I think I got very good value for my money and had a very enjoyable afternoon.