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Blueberry Bran Muffins

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It’s spring cleaning time and, lo and behold, your freezer is in demand for some serious de-icing. I was scrounging through mine when I came across a bag of of frozen blueberries from last season: perfect for an afternoon snack… Or some afternoon baking. This modified recipe from Simply Recipes is quick and delicious. It was a definite hit in my household!

Ingredients (makes 18 regular sized muffins)

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup of butter, soft
3 tablespoons bran (optional)
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cup yogurt (for added flavour, I used vanilla
1 teaspoon lemon peel, grated
1 1/2 cup blueberries

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees fahrenheit.

2. In a medium bowl, mix all the dry ingredients except for the sugar together and set aside.

3. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar.

4. Add eggs and lemon peel and mix thoroughly.

5. Add half of the dry ingredients, then half of the
yogurt, then the rest of the dry ingredients and
the rest of the yogurt to the wet ingredients.

6. Add blueberries.

7. Spoon into greased muffin pan (or muffin cups, as I’ve done).

8. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. 

 

These muffins turn out light, moist and super flavourful. I could definitely taste the vanilla and lemon, adding a nice change up to traditional blueberry muffins. Enjoy your afternoon snack!

 

Udon Stir Fry

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I make this udon noodle dish every chance I get. What I love about this dish is that it’s fast, fuss-free and inexpensive and all the while being healthy. It usually takes me 15-20 minutes from start to finish, depending on how much I want to make (I always make extra for leftovers) and in total, my grocery bill came to less than $10 (I already had the bottles of sauce at home). You can get really creative and have fun with this meal by adding eggs, tofu or shrimp and all your favourite veggies. It’s like having your own U-Grill at home!

Ingredients

1 1/2 lb ground beef
4 packets of ready-made udon noodles
3 carrots
2 broccoli crowns
1 can of sliced water chestnuts
1/2 onion, chopped
4-5 tablespoons oyster sauce
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Makes 4-5 servings

Instructions

1. Your ingredients, washed, chopped and ready to go.

2. In a large wok, turn on high heat and add vegetable oil.

3. Add carrots, broccoli and water chestnuts.

4. Add in water and let simmer.

5. In a medium frying pan, cook the onion and beef until it is brown.

6. In a medium pot, bring water to a boil.

7. Add udon noodles and let simmer for 5 minutes.

8. Drain.

5. Add onion and beef to the wok and stir fry. Add in soy sauce and oyster sauce and mix well.

6. Add udon noodles and mix well.

7.  Serve hot.

 

You can add more or less sauce to taste (I usually add more oyster sauce to mine). The more you make this dish, the more you will be comfortable with the amounts you use. Have fun with this one!

Local Foodie Events

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Soon, my pretties.

Our 5th Annual Fundraiser is coming up fast on May 31st, but there are other great events happening in this next little while.It’s getting closer to summer and the sun has finally come, along with many local food events around the lower mainland. Try filling your lazy days with fun events learning about and eating all kinds of cuisines.

On June 1st, Eat! Vancouver Food and Cooking Festival, the largest food festival in Vancouver, kicks off for three days at BC Place Stadium, with a celebrity stage of food experts such as Annabelle Waugh, Food Director at Canadian Living Magazine, and David Rocco, the host of Food Network’s David Rocco’s  Dolce Vita. Learn how to cook up a storm from professionals like Ryan Gauthier and Jason Labahn from the Glowball Collection and simply eat your heart out at the many different vendors. Here are the schedules for June 1, June 2 and June 3 and check out their website for more information.

Similar to our Naramata on the River, another food and wine event taking place this month is Sip into Spring with BC VQA Wines on May 25 from 6:30pm to 9pm. Complete with hors d’oeuvres and oyster shooters, samples of fresh BC wines accompany a fine evening out in Vancouver. You will get to taste wines from all five of BC’s wine growing regions, the sub-regions of Kelown, Okanagan Falls, Golden Mile, Black Sage/Osoyoos, and what’s more, more Naramata. Start your weekend early and take in your fair share of anti-oxidants!

Ever wanted to grow fruit trees? Ever wanted to grow fruit trees and trim them into aesthetically appealing decorations on your front yard? Now you can learn how to at the Espalier: Pruning and Trimming Fruit Trees on June 15, hosted by UBC Botanical Garden. Brendan Fisher, UBC Botanical Garden Horticulturist, teaches how to care and maintain espalier fruit trees. Aside from that, growing your own fruit from your own yard makes eating them that much sweeter. Prune their website for more information on the event!

Even though our summer market runs every Thursday afternoon, don’t forget that other farmers markets are up and running for the season. Fresh, local food and unique, handmade arts and crafts make for a fun-filled outing with family, friends and pets. A couple of other markets in the area are the Artisan Farmers Market in Burnaby at Deer Lake Park that runs on Saturdays from 9am to 2pm and the Coquitlam Farmers Market at the Dogwood Pavillion that is on from 9am to 1pm every Sunday. It’s a great experience to show young and old alike that buying locally grown food helps support and sustain BC farmers.

 

Fundraiser Menu and Ticket Sponsors

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We couldn’t exist without the support of sponsors and donors to contribute to our annual fundraiser. Thanks must go to Wild Rice for generously letting us take over for the night on May 31st and going above and beyond to let us have things our way. If you have not yet been to Wild Rice, this is a perfect evening to go!

As we mentioned in our post announcing the details to the fundraiser, Head Chef Todd Bright is creating a special menu for ticketholders to choose from featuring local foods – which aligns with our overall market goals. To help offset the cost of the gourmet menu offerings without raising the ticket price for our loyal supporters, generous sponsors have stepped up to the plate and I wanted to point out their generosity and support. The menu includes:

  • Barbeque pork with steamed vegetables and jasmine rice – sponsored by the fine folks at Re-Up BBQ who are opening their brick and mortar store at River Market very soon and who have donated the pork for the dish.
  • Mushrooms with crispy tofu on jasmine rice (vegan) – sponsored by the New Veganminster Project, who promotes vegan food by putting on events and gatherings in New Westminster and specializes in food-that-doesn’t-taste-vegan-to-omnivores (trust me, I know!).
  • chicken with red peppers, snow peas, and bok choy on Shanghai noodles – sponsored by Rockweld Farm – a returning farmers market vendor who have generously donated the chicken to be used by the chef. They are BCSPCA certified and feed their chickens organic grain.

We are also thrilled to be able to produce our own tickets at a reduced printing cost because of local design firm Of Desks. Of Desks has donated the design for our tickets instead of us having to pay a ticket service with lots of hidden charges!

We are still seeking donations for our silent auction and would love to hear from you if you have something you can donate. Please get in touch with us at marketmanager@newwestfarmers.ca.

Update: Tickets are now sold out! 

There are still some tickets available although tickets are going fast! To buy online, you can check out the right sidebar and follow the link to Paypal. Get in touch with us at 778-928-7236 or info@newwestfarmers.ca to buy in person.

Sweet on Mom Market

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On Sunday May 13, RCFM is excited to be presenting a special bonus mini market at River Market from 11-3. With  focus on sweets, crafts, and other delectable goodies, consider bringing Mom down to the market to browse and wander after brunch. There are a number of restaurants in the area serving up special meals for mom and what better way to digest than to wander lazily in the beautiful setting of River Market?

It’s the only market until we return June 7  for our regular weekly summer spot at Tipperary Park on Thursdays, so don’t miss it!

Tickets for the fundraiser will also be on sale.

Sweet on Mom takes place May 13 from 11-3 and will feature a kids’ craft area as well. River Market is located at 810 Quayside Drive in New Westminster.

 

 

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Land Acknowledgement

Our market is grateful to operate on the unceded land of the Qayqayt, Kwikwetlem, and other Halkomelem speaking Peoples. We acknowledge that colonialism has made invisible their histories and connections to the land. We acknowledge the incredible gift this land is to our market and BC Agriculture. We commit to the ongoing work of decolonization and allyship.