From her home in Invermere, British Columbia, chef/instructor Alison Bell says:

I was on a hiking trip in the Purcell Mountain range in South-Eastern BC the night of the BBQ with my husband and two friends. Unfortunately, there was a fire ban on so we weren’t able to cook over an open fire.

My original plan was to do Cedar Plank Sockeye Salmon, but my husband was a little concerned about the aroma attracting grizzlies. He is not usually nervous about bears in the back country so I thought I better heed his advice. I did BBQ some turkey breast, marinated in maple syrup, tamari and ginger, the day before we left and froze it. Then, I carried it, wrapped carefully in my pack, straight up from the valley floor for 4 kilometres to Brewer Basin and reheated it over our tiny cook stove. We ate it with a pilaf of home-dehydrated Manitoba wild rice, dehydrated organic vegetables, dried cranberries, local toasted hazelnuts and re-hydrated organic chicken stock. So, I am not sure if this actually counts, since technically we didn’t BBQ the meal that night, but it was a wonderful meal at the base of Mount Brewer beside a pristine mountain tarn. Oh, and a very decadent treat was our Township 7 Chardonnay, from Naramata, BC which we cooled in the icy tarn. Did I mention the ptarmigan family who adopted us? A mother and three chicks who sat and watched the festivities. It was a true Canadian meal.

Jud Simpson, the Executive Chef of the House of Commons in Ottawa has been at his grill since 2003. This year he says:

This summer has been so busy, we used this event to stop and relax. A small gathering of family sat around the picnic table in our sunny backyard and fired up the gas and charcoal bbq’s

It’s all about the Beef! What can possibly be better than a perfectly cooked Canadian triple A strip loin steak fired on charcoal. While that was cooking, we used the gas bbq to cook up some cauliflower, corn and sweet peppers. Simple fare during a busy summer with a great Shiraz and a relaxing evening with family. Fantastic - I can’t wait until next year.

We are fortunate in Ottawa to have a great new farmer’s market featuring locally grown products - berries, potatoes, beans, garlic, organic carrots and much more. Obtaining meats, great cheese and vegetables locally is not a problem, especially in the summer months.

Janet Boileau, a graduate student in the University of Adelaide’s Master of Arts (Gastronomy) programme came home for the long weekend. She writes from Quebec: says:

We were 5 family and 2 neighbours at our cottage in the Laurentians. We drove up from Washington DC and arrived on day 3 of a 5 day power outage. We had nothing to cook on BUT the bbq so we fired it up, ran bucket brigades from the lake for water and cooked with our 6 foot neighbour acting as a light pole with the Colman lamp.

We called our menu Le Gout des Laurentides in honour of our lovely region and its food. We started off with a fresh baguette, a wheel of Quebec brie topped with sun-dried tomato pesto, 5 wild game meats terrine (ostrich, boar, pheasant, venison & bison)and some cornichons, eaten on the deck with a view of sunset spangles on the lake. Main course was a smoked pork shoulder that spent 3 hours on the slow side of the grill while the hot side produced bbq’d corn in the husk with butter and jardiniere spice mix, grilled marinated farmstand veggies (eggplant, red peppers, courgette, red onions, with apple cider vinaigrette) and a potato salad made of grilled Mirabel new potatoes, lardons of Montreal smoked meat and a Maudite(local brewed-on-lees beer) mustard dressing .Plus a salad of romaine with Courieur des Bois Gouda, wild blueberries and a blueberry blossom honey vinaigrette. Dessert was supposed to be Rose des Bois sparkling cider gelee with blueberries, raspberries and whipped cream (!)but it didn’t set without the fridge so we ate it the next day and finished up the bbq with a too-sweet lemon meringue pie from the local depanneur. We dined in the Moosewood Tearoom(screen porch)with every candle stub we could find lined up and flickering on the window sills. “I’ve never given any thought to where my food came from before” someone at the table said as we raised our glasses. So I reckon our WLB was a fine success. We called our menu Le Gout des Laurentides in honour of our lovely region and its food. We started off with a fresh baguette, a wheel of Quebec brie topped with sun-dried tomato pesto, 5 wild game meats terrine (ostrich, boar, pheasant, venison & bison)and some cornichons, eaten on the deck with a view of sunset spangles on the lake. Main course was a smoked pork shoulder that spent 3 hours on the slow side of the grill while the hot side produced bbq’d corn in the husk with butter and jardiniere spice mix, grilled marinated farmstand veggies (eggplant, red peppers, courgette, red onions, with apple cider vinaigrette) and a potato salad made of grilled Mirabel new potatoes, lardons of Montreal smoked meat and a Maudite(local brewed-on-lees beer) mustard dressing.Plus a salad of romaine with Courieur des Bois Gouda, wild blueberries and a blueberry blossom honey vinaigrette. Dessert was supposed to be Rose des Bois sparkling cider gelee with blueberries, raspberries and whipped cream (!)but it didn’t set without the fridge so we ate it the next day and finished up the bbq with a too-sweet lemon meringue pie from the local depanneur. We dined in the Moosewood Tearoom(screen porch)with every candle stub we could find lined up and flickering on the window sills. “I’ve never given any thought to where my food came from before” someone at the table said as we raised our glasses. So I reckon our WLB was a fine success.

From Regina, Saskatchewan, Dawn Stanger recounted: says:

We had a wonderful evening of friends, food and fun! We invited friends from the neighbourhood (the Cathedral in Regina) so there were 6 adults and 5 children. We ate, enjoyed the warm summer evening, told stories and had a great time. For sure to be repeated next year!

The menu evolved as we thought and planned on being a part of the “Longest BBQ.” We eventually settled on buying local and seeing what was freshest. Isn’t August just the best?! Adults started with Ceasars, because it is THE Canadian cocktail, invented in Calgary in 1969 and only Canadians drink Caesars (for those in Ontario, see the summer issue of Flavours, the LCBO magazine for an article about the Ceasar). For dinner we had a mixed grill of lamb and pork shisliki, smoked bison sausage, hot dogs, Thai beef salad (good and spicy!) new potatos in dill and cream, fresh green and yellow beans, baby carrots, and my husband’s homemade focaccia. For dessert we had berry fool, with a twist, I added fresh BC peaches, along with blueberries and raspberries from my garden. With dinner we drank wines from BC and Ontario. We shopped at some of our favorite local places. First was the Ukranian Coop to get the lamb and pork shisliki(a Ukranian meat dish with special marinade) which is made in Canora, Sask. The bison sausage is made in the store (and is a big hit judging by the line up we stood in). The produce (potatos, green and yellow beans, carrots, peaches) all came from our farmers’ market. The dill and raspberries came from our garden. My husband made the focaccia.

From the Pacific coast, writer and broadcaster, Don Genova finally stayed close to home for a fabulous party in southern Vancouver Island says:

“It wasn’t my party,” he writes, “but an annual affair held at Deerholme Farm in Glenora in BC’s Cowichan Valley. Chef Bill Jones has this party every year, and since I’ve missed it the past three years in a row, I was dying to go.

This year Bill roasted a whole lamb on a motorized spit over a charcoal grill. He stuffed it with fresh rosemary and slathered the inside with a porcini mushroom concoction. Guests brought salads and desserts. Salads included my own Far Out Far East Asian Coleslaw, there was grilled asparagus topped with a bruschetta-like mixture and a classic potato salad. Urban Peasant James Barber manned a grill and pulled off naan-like hunks of grilled bread dough. My favourite dessert was a rhubarb-strawberry-blueberry-blackberry crumble! For some photos of the lamb and Bill and James at work, check out my blog at www.dongenova.com

The lamb was of course locally raised, there were lots of local berries, the bread came from dough made at True Grain Organic Bakery in Cowichan Bay. Most of the ingredients for my Asian coleslaw came from a couple of local farms.”

Judy Schultz, the Food Editor of the Edmonton Journal says:

I worked at the Heritage Days fest until 6:00 pm our time, so my barbecue started on BC time instead.

I gathered up some farmers market vendors, some football players, some other friends, threw some Alberta pork on the barbecue, used veggies from my own garden, poured some wine, and toasted the biggest barbecue!

It was a lovely night, and we all sat around until after midnight, talking about how lucky we all are to live where we do.

Cheers,

Judy

Saskatchewan fiddler, Anne Parker says:

I had a gathering of members of my fiddle class and other assorted friends who enjoy music. We all headed out to my cottage at Buena Vista in spite of the gusting winds. Following our bbq and bonfire we had to head inside because the wind still wasn’t letting up. We had what we called the first Buena Vista Fiddle jam in the middle of the living room. We had two guitars and five fiddles. We played traditional tunes from across Canada until we were fiddled out. Our menu was very basic but with a number of vegetarians in the group we had lots of tofu and veg alternatives. It was potluck for appetizers, salads, and desserts. We started with a cheese and cracker plate, savoury pastries, and tamari almonds. Hamburgers and hot dogs (meat and vegetarian) were next. Bean salad, oriental tossed and coleslaw rounded off our plates. To finish we had brownies and a fabulous meringue and chocolate mousse concoction.

Not tough to find our ingredients but a little more difficult to come up with five fiddlers

Margaret Weeks of U.P.E.I. went kayaking! says:

Thunderous applause for another successful World’s Longest BBQ from a PEI perspective! We planned a ‘double whammy’ for August 5th - a BBQ in honour of the WLB and a kayaking expedition for our church ladies group. We were blessed with perfect weather, sausages done to a turn, and a magical water wonderland on the south shore of PEI. We originally planned to kayak and then relax over our outdoor feast, but because the tide was high at 6 p.m., we went with an early BBQ potluck followed by our two hour meander down the West River Our menu was very simple - sausages provided by the hostess and salads or desserts brought by everyone else. In good PEI tradition, we could have fed another dozen people ! We meticulously took everyone’s order for the kind of sausage preferred, and the chief cook arranged the assorted varieties carefully in rows on the BBQ by flavour… Within 5 minutes, other keen BBQers had managed to mix up all the kinds so we literally got ‘potluck’ for the kind of sausage that ended up on our plates. We were laughing too much to care.

Our salads contained the finest and freshest PEI garden ingredients found in abundance in August. Dessert was terrific with bumbleberry pie and a lemon-whip cream concoction. We paddled steadily for two hours during our time on the water, so were thankful to have our substantial meal as the starting point. We had a great day. We took a snap shot of us all around the BBQ…everyone was shouting “ANITA” as the camera clicked. We all looked so joyful.

In Saskatchewan, Gerry Lenzen had a chicken barbecue for a guest list of 19 adults and one child. says:

The menu? Orange-ginger chicken breasts, barbequed corn on the cob, baked potatoes, lemon-chicken rice, lettuce salad, coleslaw, baked cauliflower with cheese sauce and for dessert ice cream with a raspberry-rhubarb sauce and raspberry crumb cake. Raspberries were fresh picked at a local berry farm.

From the Yukon, Barb Hood and Pat Arey are two nurse colleagues who often work summers together in Old Crow. This year they have been reunited for a brief two week assignment in their favourite northern outpost First Nation community. This is their story says:

We will use wood fire barbeque behind nursing station in Old Crow, fabulous village of 300 Vuntut Gwitchin (people of the Caribou)located on north slope of Yukon cheese from Vineland bought last week end at Brampton, Ont. farmer’s market bannock barbequed King salmon from Porcupine River with fresh wild blueberries, picked locally roasted Caribou baby carrots and new potatoes served on a bed of warmed radish and Swiss chard wild cranberry cheesecake with cranberry moss berry coulis served with tea mesquite(Labrador tea)or moss berry juice no alcohol allowed

Old Crow VGFN members often provide fish and game for the nurses. Nursing station and RCMP wood frame plastic hot houses grow vegetables in 24 hour daylight. Cheese was imported from Vineland Ontario to Yukon via Brampton farmer’s market, local berries; bannock made by us

In Guelph, agricultural communicator Owen Roberts had a great party: says:

It was a combination of celebrating my daughter Alicia’s 22nd birthday, and celebrating our freedom to live in one of the world’s greatest countries.

The Menu: Ontario produced BBQ steaks, sweet corn, Italian potato salad, peach sangria, ice cream and birthday cake! Local grocery stores — in Canada, the selection we have at our fingertips is truly amazing.

From British Columbia’s fruit-filled interior, Brenda Horner says:

We were at our recreational property located on the lake in Osoyoos, BC and invited 6 friends for dinner and wine tasting. Appys: a variety of cheeses pate and sausage served with an assortment of crackers, nacho chips and salsa for the kids Dinner: Chicken and Beef shish kabobs, Greek salad, Potato salad Dessert: homemade peach pie and apple pie, both with ice cream. Okanagan organic fruit and vegetable stands (the apples came from my parents’ orchard).

In Alberta, beef farmers Larry, Rita, Scott, and Steven Heeg says:

We had no party just a nice supper We had bbq hamburgers and carrots The meat is our own and the carrots came from the garden. (Ed. Note: Sounds pretty good to me!)

In Eastern Ontario Tim Gladwin writes reflectively. says:

It was a beautiful summer evening. Sunny sky, not too hot. Perfect for a barbeque. Our family of 4 had put in a full day on the farm. The kids had been working in their gardens and working with their 4H heifers. We had that staple of the grill: hamburgers. Because our meat is so flavourful, we normally do not add any other ingredients to the ground meat. Our butcher custom prepares the ground meat lean, but not so lean to lose all the flavour. We also had fresh tomatoes, lettuce, green pepper, dill and zucchini from the gardens. We grow all our vegetables and beef on our farm. We used to slaughter the beef animals here on their home farm until the government outlawed it. Now we must truck the animals to a “government inspected” facility. I don’t feel any safer. After all Walkerton’s water came from a “government inspected” facility. I fear that someday we will not even be able to grow and eat our own vegetables legally unless we send them to “government inspected facilities. When will it end?

Football Fan, Steve Komaransky plans a party for 2, says:

…cozying up and watching the Saskatchewan Riders play Calgary Barbeque Center Cut Pork Chops, seasoned with Montreal Steak Spice and Smothered with Bull’s Eye Barbeque Sauce, served with rice. Pork Chops from the Local Coop here in Lloydminster.

From Hamilton, Ontario, Patti Salmond says:

Four old friends; sitting around the pool having a few beers; catching up on the family news - enjoying the warm summer afternoon. Canadian grade A Beef steaks, baked potato, Caesar salad and lots of Canadian wine! Dessert - Angel Food Cake with fresh Ont. Blueberries Sources: M & M’s meat shop, President’s Choice meat marinade - Ont. Cauliflower and Broccoli and Romaine Lettuce YUM!!!

From Wellington County, Ontario Doug Turner says:

We are BBQ’s some Ontario Corn Fed beef….just 2 of us…very romantic, no? Fresh dug organic (our) garden potatoes corn fed beef green beans ours Ontario sliced tomatoes(not ours yet?) our very own farm…except for the beef.

My son, Brad Stewart always, always, always, throws a great party! says:

The party is my wife, some friends and our trusty dog, Foxter in scenic Wakefield, Quebec, just North of the Capital. We are having local Wild Boar Burgers, with steel cut oats, onions and cherry tomatoes on Wakefield Bakery sesame buns. Goats’ cheese and toasted pumpkin seeds with mixed greens and extra virgin olive oil vinaigrette. The only ingredient that is not from the farms and shops in the region is the Olive Oil. This is imported however by some of the nicest and most genuine Canadians around: A family in Prince Edward County, who also happen to be responsible for the incredible heirloom cherry tomatoes that we are having on the Burgers.

Chef Paul Stewart is cooking off Chowder for Canada. He writes from Nanaimo, B.C. says:

Today, I will be down at the Nanaimo harbour serving a seafood chowder as I compete for bragging rights in the annual chowder cook-off. After that, I will be returning the the Wesley Street restaurant and grilling British Columbian Sockeye Salmon as part of our weekend 4 course menu. The chowder will have fresh halibut, sockeye and butter clams, all fished in coastal waters. I have added roasted peaches and cream corn as well as local smoked slab bacon. I will finish it with fresh herbs and some basil pesto puff pastry croutons. The source of our ingredients? From local fishermen of course!!!

In Saskatoon, Mona Simmons writes about her family’s celebration: says:

My Mother and Father-in-Law’s (Doris and Mason Simmons)54th wedding anniversary. We also have my brother and sister-in-law (Garth and Darcia Simmons)from Regina with us to help us celebrate! We’re barbequing AAA Canadian ground beef burgers from Alberta, a variety of salads, apple pie and a few cool ones to quench our thirst. Costco, Saskatoon Co-op Association

The Skippen Family in Hamilton is gathering and cooking: says:

Bacon wrapped filet mignon, fresh Ontario corn on the cob, fresh Ontario tomatoes and cucumbers. Local made apple pie from Ontario apples. Fresh Ontario strawberries and blackberries. Ingredients come from Bennett’s Farm, Fortinos Supermarket, M&M Meat Shop

From Saskatoon, Carla Orosz is having says:

…just a few friends over to celebrate the long weekend. Kick up our feet and relax! Kabobs, Rice, and BBQ Veggies Kabobs - meat always straight from mt dad’s farm in Prud’homme, SK

Near Holland Landing in one of Ontario’s richest growing regions, Ken Strauss says:

Just having some friends in for BQ corn, eye of the round roast, cooked beets & potatoes. The meat is bought at Costco, corn and beets and potatoes at a road side stand

Catherine McGill in Southern Ontario says:

We are having a get together with friends and family for a BBQ. It is a great haying weekend and many will come to cool off in our pool after cutting. BBQ Ribs, Corn on the Cob, Grilled Red Peppers, Zucchini, Mapled Sweet Potato, Tossed Salad, Potato Salad, and Watermelon for dessert. The Pig was from a farmer friend who raises them and all my beef is home grown too. The Veg I picked up from the Farmers market in Hagersville and the zucchini is from a friends garden.

The Pettit Family says:

Nothing large here! My husband and are trying out a new recipe and have invited my step-cousin, her two daughters and her 1/2 sister (from the U.S.) to join us for dinner tonight. We are serving home grown beef (it’s ours born and raised in Ontario) Ontario corn Salad with home grown tomatoes Mashed Potatoes and wild bumble berry tarts for dessert. After much searching on my husband’s part we found the fish sauce and curry paste in the Dominion store in Newmarket.

Suz Dueck and Brent Petkau wrote collectively from the Northern Gulf Islands for a potluck: says:

The menu is pure coastal B.C. BBQ’d locally-fished Pink Salmon, variety of salads from Guld Island gardens, BBQ’d basil pesto / feta / oysters off of our beach lease. Friends call us to join them for an impromptu evening potluck at Shark Spit. When we pull up in our boat, most have already gathered and some one has started a fire below the high tide line. The aroma of roasting salmon wafts through the air. Greetings are exchanged and the kids run off to play. Our offering of oysters, still snug in their shells, is placed beside the fish on the grill. Once the oysters have reluctantly released their tight seal, they will be carefully pried open, generously slathered with sweet basil pesto, topped with goat feta and each perfect morsel left to simmer in its shell awhile longer. Away from the fire, the summer bounty from island gardens has already been spread on a faded sarong and as we settle in, wine and other bottles are opened, poured and shared. In the distance children shriek, in delight or perhaps in rage, but not incessant enough to draw adult concern. The evening is mellow with the ease of friends while we all await the feast to come.

Brent, who has dubbed himself The Oyster Man continues: I really don’t think a person has lived until they have at least tried a BBQ’d oyster. Live oysters are very easy to obtain almost anywhere in Canada these days. Wake up folks, the Oyster Revolution is happening. Once you source out a good fresh oyster, simply place them on to a medium to high heat, with the cup side of the oyster laid downside. Flat side of the oyster looking up at you. This keeps the “nectar or liquor” from leaking out. Though there are thousands of ways to dress up an oyster, (one recipe suggestion is that you leave them “undressed”) let me tell you about a simple recipe that always works for me. BBQ’d Oyster with DEVIL’S BUTTER. Take 1 cup of Butter 1 cup chopped Parsely (preferrably from your garden, damnit) 2 tbsp strong Dijon mustard (grainy) 4-6 tbsp Louisiana hot sauces or any other hot sauce for that matter 1 tbsp Lemon Juice Mix up the ingredients in the form of a BBQ sauce. After the oysters have been on the grill for a few minutes, pop off the top shell and put a teaspoon or two of the “DEVIL’s BUTTER” on to each oyster. Continue cooking until the oyster is…. ready to be placed into your mouth. 6 oysters is the recommended amount per person but hey, these little treats from the sea are so sinfully delicious….. they should be XXX-rated. If you are interested in summer time romance, plan for 12 oysters per person. Join the Oyster Revolution and be a part of a sustainable seafood SOLUTION.

Jo Anne Stoddart from her backyard in Burlington will be: says:

…under our awning enjoying the many colours in the garden. 3 generations at one table. BBQ steak Grilled veggies Cesar Salad with homemade dressing (lots of garlic) Dessert - fresh fruit (Peaches, berries) with ice cream Steaks from the local butcher and peaches from Ontario farmers markets

Richard Barbe is having a family BBQ in Wainwright, Alberta. says:

The menu? Hot dogs for the kids, chicken kabob’s for the wife and steak marinated in BBQ sauce topped with Montreal steak spice for me from great Alberta beef. Potatoes will also be prepared on the BBQ sliced and mixed with butter and onions. This will be washed down with ice cold beer.

Barbara Irwin from Eastern Ontario… says:

…is having Sirloin steak bbq grilled zucchini tomato, cucumber & feta salad. Baked potato salad; peaches over ice cream. The ingredients? Ontario beef raised on a farm near Aylmer Ontario. Zucchini grown in my daughters garden at Campbellford Ontario. Tomatoes, and cucumber are greenhouse grown in Ontario. Feta cheese is made in Ontario. PEI potatoes & Ontario eggs for the potato salad. Fresh Ontario peaches and the ice cream in made in Peterborough Ontario

In New Brunswick, Neal Mundle is having: says:

An immediate family get-together with Atlantic Choice T-bone steaks prepared by the local Co-op.

In the Lower Mainland of B.C., Vicky & Ernie Gall are having: says:

“Just a quiet dinner for the two of us. The menu? Nut encrusted warmed goat cheese over green with a blueberry dressing. Fraser Valley nugget potatoes; Chilliwack peaches and cream corn on the cob; Canadian pork spare ribs; Okanagan peaches and Pitt Meadows blueberry crisp; Burrowing Owl Cabernet Sauvignon. Sources? Some at roadside stands, the local butcher and local supermarket and Summerland Sweets for the blueberry syrup used in the salad dressing.”

Elora native but now Toronto resident, Robert Young loves to cook and barbecue! says:

We will be having a small gathering of close friends on Saturday Aug 6th in Toronto, nothing too elaborate, just an excuse to eat great food! The weather looks fantastic, so well be dinning out in the backyard. We’ve planned BBQ Duck with Blueberry sauce, chicken pepper-pot, grilled corn-on-the-cob, potato salad, Caesar salad, tomato/fennel/bocconcini salad with 12 yr balsamic & basil, mixed berry almond tart with orange mint and chocolate-mint pudding. Plus whatever our guests decide to bring! The duck and the chicken were purchased at an organic meat shop in Toronto, I didn’t buy the meat, so I don’t know the exact name of the shop but will provide that later. The corn and potatoes were purchased from a roadside Mennonite stand outside of Conestoga. I bought the bocconcini and balsamic from Vincenzo’s in Kitchener. The remainder of the ingredients we will purchase from a weekend farmers market in Toronto at Old Weston Rd and St.Clair. The herbs we use will come straight from our herb garden.

In Barrie, life is busy for Richard Beacroft. He says:

My party is small — just me and my wife. We’ve had a bunch of hectic week-ends, with more to come (indeed, even this one has us running around to a wedding!). We’re officially taking this Saturday for ourselves. BBQ’d elk loin with grilled peaches and grilled fresh Mozarini, a cheese described as being similar to the Italian produced buffalo-mozzarella, topped with toasted walnuts; grilled Swiss chard and new potatoes. The elk is from Glen Ewan Farms, the cheese is from Salerno Dairy (Hamilton), the peaches are from Niagara, and the walnuts are from Grimo Nut Farm (Niagara). The other ingredients are from my local farmer stand.

(Ed Note: BRAVO FOR USING ONTARIO WALNUTS!!!)

The Nixey Family, Port Franks, Ontario is strident in their support! says:

“My family and friends will paint the town (or at least the golf course) YELLOW at our family tournament on August5th. More than 50 golfers will sport Farmers Feed Cities! t-shirts and buttons, and each foursome will get yellow balls, golf t’s and a Farmers Feed Cities! sign for their cart. No Farmers Feed Cities! diving equipment has been planned, but it’s under consideration to help when my yellow ball goes wandering in the water. And I love the idea that the Farmers Feed Cities! theme gives us something to talk about for 18 holes besides my bad swing. After the tournament, were arranging for Ontario options at the golf course BBQ pit & at the banquet buffet (including a selection of Ontario wine), and yellow-themed prizes will be awarded. No word yet whether the golf course will fly Farmers Feed Cities! flag for the day but I’m working on it!”

From Tammi Robertson, Port Burwell,Ontario says:

“Port Burwell will be having a BBQ on August 5th in support of local farmers at Trinity Parish Hall. Not only that but we will be having a trial farmers market to show Port Burwell’s support for local farmers.”

Ken Alderman & friends are in Inwood,Ontario says:

“A group of 10 supporters will hit the road for a weekend bike trip wearing Farmers Feed Cities! t-shirts and handing out buttons. The group has committed to searching for the best locally-grown menu choices as they tour the Bruce. Stay on the right side of the yellow line∧ watch for yellow t-shirts!”

Kristi Versluif in Waterford,Ontario says:

“We will be grilling locally produced beefsteaks and pork back ribs and serving assorted Ontario fruits and vegetables at our place on Saturday. All of our wonderful BBQers will be sporting Farmers Feed Cities t-shirts and our backyard will be adorned with bright yellow balloons.”

The Woodstock Hospital Foundation in Woodstock,Ontario is joining the party! says:

“The Woodstock Hospital Foundation has included Farmers Feed Cities! in their plans for a fund-raising BBQ on Saturday, August 5th. The Worlds Longest BBQ will include Oxford Countys longest BBQ (stay tuned for photos) filled with the best of Norpaca local supplier known for its quality and flavour. Healthy communities depend on the agriculture industry for many reasons. What a great way to celebrate that common ground!”

From Angela Burgess, Renfrew KOA Campground, Renfrew, Ontario says:

“Our KOA holds a number of BBQ’s during the summer months. We have pancake and sausage breakfasts and spaghetti dinners with Canadian Beef of course. We definitely promote farmer’s markets in Cobden, Renfrew and surrounding areas. We invite a local farmer to bring in baking for sale and we support a number of farms that have product for sale in the growing season. Campers of all stripes should be aware of how desperate a situation Canadian farmers are in. We certainly will do our part.”

Vanessa Currie, potato promoter extraordinaire from the University of Guelph, also loves to cook. This is how she describes her party and its very unusual theme. says:

It will probably be just the family, unless some wayward appetites venture by.

The land, sea, and air of Canada is our theme.

Land will include sirloin kebabs with a trio of dipping sauces, from the English, French, and ethnic flavours.

Sea will be whatever fresh (or smoked) fish we can find in inland Guelph, so it might be Great Lake instead.

Air will be the wings of Canadian chickens, with maple syrup glaze.

Very special homemade fries will be made with Sapphire potatoes. Fresh vegetables will provide a salad, and fresh fruit, dessert.

Most items will be purchased from the Guelph farmer’s market through local suppliers. Sirloin beef comes from Paisley Choice in Guelph. Sapphire potatoes are from Elora Ontario

Sheila Bjarnason in Metro Toronto is holding an at home bar-b que with neighbours and friends. says:

A B.C. salmon appetizer is on the menu as is local farm corn and cauliflower (Ontario) Cherry tomatoes from my garden( grown from heritage seeds from New Brunswick) Ontario chicken with a Quebec maple syrup glaze, Ontario peaches and Matrimonial cake from the Icelandic Cookbook, Manitoba. The source? Local farmers and Kensington Market

Kristin Beard of Toronto is having a feast! says:

My husband and I are going to enjoy a wonderful week at my family’s cottage south of Algonquin Park. It’s going to be us, the loons and other critters lurking about.

We’re going to grill some Albertan Angus steak that has been marinating in a lemon-ginger-red miso sauce. With this, I’ll be serving a cold sesame soba noodle salad and grilled bok choy. For dessert, I’m going to grill Ontario peaches and serve them on homemade grilled pound cake and top it all off with some ice cream, pralines and cream, I think.

The beef comes from a butcher shop in Little Italy, Toronto. The soba noodles and bok choy come from shops within Kensington Market. The ice cream comes from the wonderful Kawartha Dairy, near the cottage.

U of Guelph’s Rob McLaughlin who now might be called venerable because of his advanced age is celebrating another birthday on August 5. says:

The menu is simple — BEER — Good Canadian Beer! And perfect Bruce County steaks from Burke’s IGA near Sauble Beach.

David Hatt and friends and neighbours near Oshawa are having says:

…an afternoon bbq cowboy chicken cowboy steaks grilled vegetables (zucchini, red and green pepper, red onion and sweet potatoes) The chicken is from White Feather Farm in Raglan, ON. The vegetables from Loblaws.

From Southwestern Ontario, Tim Bechards entry should begin — FIRST YOU CATCH THE FISH! says:

We are having a family BBQ as a send off before we go on vacation tomorrow. Bacon wrapped fish and grilled vegetables on skewers. Fruit salad for dessert. The fish is caught locally (Lake Erie). We use perch or pickerel but you could use any fish of your choice. The bacon and fruit are bought at our local Market (Market Square). The Diana sauce is bought in Leamington at Heinz.

Joy & Bryan from Charlottetown, P.E.I. says:

We had to cancel a BBQ earlier this summer with our good friends, so this is a perfect reason to gather again and celebrate friendship.

One of my favourite summer recipes is salmon with lavender and mustard. I’m not sure whose recipe I adapted, but it includes fresh lavender leaves, chopped and mixed with mustard, which is used to marinate the salmon. After BBQing, it’s topped with a ‘marmalade’ of red peppers, onion and balsamic. I serve this with a salad Caprese, using heirloom tomatoes and bococcini. And, no PEI BBQ is complete without potatoes - and my favourite dish is a warm salad with baby PEI potatoes, honey-mustard dressing, and grilled proscuitto. I like to toss blackberries into a mesclun salad, with a bit of blue cheese and fruit dressing for a complete meal.

Most ingredients are from the wonderful Charlottetown Farmers Market, or the local Superstore. We try as much as possible to buy local or at least Canadian. The heirloom tomatoes I just bought are from Hope Produce in Alymer, ON and my favourite potato suppliers are Raymond Loo and Susan/Sandra MacKinnon (if you’re lucky enough to get them), and of course FoodTrust growers!

Award-winning Documentary Producer, Toronto’s June Weber says:

For our famous Canadian BBQ Sat. Aug. 5th we will be in Huntsville celebrating the rebuilding of the Bigwin boat. For dinner we will have Blackened Canadian Flank Steak served on a blue cheese potato pave, grilled seasonal veggies wit Merlot reduction. ….. and perhaps a nice dry red wine!

In Saskatchewan Nadine is having a real kids party. She says:

With children in the mix I like to keep things casual (as that is what summer is all about!) We will start with appetizers: fresh veggies and dip for the kids and tapas for the adults. For supper we will keep it simple with fully loaded cheddar-stuffed burgers, a fresh salad and corn on the cob (barbecued of course!) For dessert, the kids will be having drumstick cake while the adults will be having a frozen chocolate cappuccino pie. For drinks the kids will be drinking triple berry smoothies. The adults have their choice of libation, but my featured drink is the strawberry-watermelon-banana chiller. Yummy!

I tend to find most of my ingredients as local as I can find them and will be driving to the nearest farmer’s market to pick up the veggies. As for the beef I get it from a local butcher whose quality is the best. The remainder of the ingredients I will pick up from our local Sobey’s store

An Elora neighbour and friend, Burna Wilton writes from South Wellington County: says:

Hi,

We are planning a family barbeque in the backyard with beef from the Hattles in Centre Wellington.

We will be doing beef on a bun probably using your recipe on the website. The rest of the menu will be potluck so it will be a surprise to see how creative our guests are with the wonderful produce that is available now within minutes from home.

I will have beef from the freezer from Neil and Rhonda Hattle, veggies from the farm market at the General Store in Elora and from Gerries’.

Wish the family from Nanaimo could be here but looking forward to all the clan members who are able to come joining in the fun to celebrate all things Canadian especially our food producers on this day. Thanks Anita.

Mark Vanroode is a one ingredient kinda guy –GOOD BEEF! says:

We celebrate our town’s heritage and history of being Ontario’s beef capital, here in the hub of Bruce County, Paisley. We have a really cool BBQ on the main street, and we have been doing it for 33 years now! We serve only the finest local roast beef, shaved thin , stacked on a fresh Big Dipper bun!

From Nova Scotia, Vivian Hanifan tells us& says:

I will be heading out to the cottage, located in Linwood, Antigonish Co., NS. I plan to have a few friends over and have a barbecue out on the deck, which overlooks Linwood Harbour. Plays some tunes, and enjoy some great barbecued food. Wonderful way to spend a holiday - good food and good friends!! Barbecued potatoes (potatoes sliced with Italian salad dressing over them, wrapped in tinfoil and placed on the barbecue) T-Bone steaks, fresh string beans green salad mushrooms frozen raspberry cheesecake

I buy my meat from Vasheress’s Meats, which is a local family-owned store which sells their own meat. Vegetables will come from my own small garden, grown right in my back yard!! Salad supplies as well as raspberries will be purchased from the local farmers market held every Saturday here in Antigonish.

Loretta & Jim White in Nova Scotia tell us: says:

Initially, this was to be a post-theatre party to celebrate one of our guests directing a play at our local theatre by Lorne Elliot, which was, unfortunately cancelled. However, the day we learned of the cancellation was also the day we heard about the B.B.Q., so we decided to celebrate that instead; you can’t keep a good party down!

Appetizers (3 dips)- Chunky Guacamole, Roasted Red Pepper & Quark, Roasted Smokey Baba Ghanoush, homemade flour tortilla chips. Main- Cedar-planked Wild Salmon with peppercorn & fennel seed crust, Warm Tomato-Gooseberry Tarragon Vinaigrette, Grilled Balsamic Asparagus & Garlic Scapes with Pecorino Shavings, Greek salad-sheep’s milk feta Bread Basket- Sweet Pepper & Cumin Cornmeal Fritters, Rosemary & Onion Focaccia Dessert- Homemade Ice Cream Sandwiches: Chocolate waffles filled with Espresso Gelato,& Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries Beverages- wine: L’Acadie Blanc, Seyval Blanc, Sparkling Blueberry Wine, beer: Pale Ale & Bitter

Our ingredients are special, too…there will be Half Island Harvest: Smoked Sea Salt, Balsamic Vinegar, Roasted Garlic Oil/ Speerville Mills (N.B.): Stone Ground Cornmeal/ Higbee’s Berry Farm: strawberries & gooseberries/ Dancing Lady Farm: Garlic Scapes & Purple Pearl Onions/ Selwood Greens: salad mix & herbs/ Fox Hill Cheese: Quark & Feta/ Domain de Grand Pre Winery:all wine above/ Propeller Brewery: Pale Ale & Bitter All products listed above, except cornmeal & beer are purchased at the Hubbard’s Barn Farmer’s Market

In Central Ontario Kyle Dearlove is having … says:

…a small, intimate affair with just my wife and I. By intimate I mean we will be cooking in the garage of our new home! I work very closely with the agricultural community and I think this is a wonderful idea to keep the producers of our nations food in our thoughts. We will start our day by purchasing our menu items at the local farmers market in St. Jacob’s Ontario. Today, my mind is leaning towards some grilled local sweet corn as a starter. Our main course will be BBQ’d chicken breasts with a maple syrup glaze. We love our potatoes sliced and mixed with onion and garlic and then grilled in a pan. For dessert I am thinking of some grilled peaches over some vanilla ice cream. Our Saturday morning tradition has been attending our local farmer’s market as we enjoy purchasing our products directly from Ontario producers.

From Saskatchewan, Sheri F. says:

We’ll be visiting my boyfriend’s parents in Esterhazy. They have a lovely back deck and the kitchen table is sh9owered with sunlight nearly all the day. If I know Cliffy, there’ll be something great coming off the BBQ for supper. It may be his wildly delicious and amazingly tender baby back ribs, or perhaps he’ll make a first attempt at a ‘beer-butt chicken! Of course, Marlene will compliment the BBQ offerings with a tasty potato salad and some fresh tomatoes.

B.C.’s Sherry Messenger is proud of her province! says:

Just my husband and I will be enjoying the flavours of Canada. We are newlyweds at the tender age of 50 neither of us had been married before so enjoying as many BBQ meals together is always exciting.

The menu? Not completely decided yet but probably wild salmon from the pacific marinated in a maple marinade, rice medley and freshly grown west coast veggies.

The ingredients? Hey its Vancouver we have it all.

From magnificent Temagami, Ontario Caryn Colman of Smoothwater Lodge shares her ultimately local menu: says:

Being in the tourism business, our guest list is always serendipitous. This year on August 5 we have a lively combination of vegetarians and meat eaters. All are united though by their love for the Temagami wilderness and organic, regional, and wild foods.

We shop at local farmers, fishers, gardeners; forage the forests, meadows and my own backyard.

The menu? Homemade pine beer; Baked dumplings with wild ginger, stinging nettle and peaches. Wild flower challa made with Temiskaming milled flours. Wild Lake Temiskaming whitefish grilled and glazed with Lorrain Valley maple syrup and homemade beer Wild mushroom risotto Slow-grilled lamb ribs (to die for) brushed with garlic and salt Grilled corn and carrots Garden salad with arugula, daisy leaf, french sorrel, and oak leaf lettuce and tarragon baby beets Dessert is homemade raspberry ripple ice cream stacked on a chocolate fudge brownie

Stephanie Diamant & Philip Collman will be at home on their sheep-dairy farm. says:

Several events will come together this weekend at Milky Way farm. My dad turns 70 on Friday and 2 of my three sisters are here, one from Brussels, the other with her family from Ottawa. It’s a rare family event for us to share some of the local foods we grow on the farm and can buy from our neighbours.

To celebrate For the BBQ we’ll use mostly local ingredients and adapt family recipes from my dad’s Greek roots. We grow our own lamb, so this will be featured. A favourite recipe we use is a boned shoulder, cubed into kebabs and marinated in sheep milk yogourt (from our co-op) and fresh mint then BBQ’d on skewers. Green and yellow beans and new potatoes from local farms, pie from my neighbour from local Ontario fruits, corn on the cob from Ontario (it’s not ready here yet), Greek salad of fresh local tomatoes and cucumbers and our homemade sheep milk feta; A selection of some of our own sheep cheeses with bread from the market. I love this time of year for all the bounty of Ontario produce unrivalled anywhere! I love to keep it simple too-no need gussing-up all this wonderful tasting produce.

Lamb-milk, grain and grass fed from our own farm and butchered locally (Metheral Meats); Sheep cheeses-made here from our own sheep milk; Tomatoes and mint from our own garden; Sheep milk Yogourt-Ewenity dairy co-operative, (a small Ontario sheep dairy co-op); Beans, new potatoes, cucumbers, raspberries and pie from our fellow local vendors at the Creemore Farmers’ Market (Saturday mornings); Corn on the cob-southern Ontario via Lennox Farms, Shelburne.

James and Lynda Daun will be at Caddy Lake, Manitoba says:

“where we will be celebrating Lynda and our daughter Meredith’s birthdays as well a our nephew Jared’s recent performance at a triathlon in Newfoundland. There will be 7 people at the party.

We will be barbequing Canadian beef, chicken and will fill out the meal with Manitoba grown corn, potatoes and salad. We will be drinking an Okanagan wine.

Mostly from Safeway and some from the St. Norbert Market in Winnipeg.”

In Manitoba Stacie Cardy has shared this story: says:

I come from a family of 7 children and every year some of us get together at Clear Lake in Riding Mountain National Park. So we will be camping and always BBQ and it’s always a party with this many people. This gives us an extra special reason to celebrate our farming backgrounds

Manitoba Beef Steaks will be on the BBQ All the fresh vegetables will be from my very own garden in Basswood MB. We’ll finish off with a Saskatoon Dessert (picked at Bri-Lo Farms just down the road from us). The buns are my very own Flax ones.

Summer time we pretty much eat our own produce, fruits and vegetables. My son is growing our own meat chickens and has laying hens for our eggs, which I’ll use in the cake.

Brent Hotham in Ontario writes that he is having a small gathering… says:

… for neighbours (16) with a progressive bbq theme. Slow cooked ribs, East Coast Lobster, chicken and grilled veggies and rum and beer. He shops at Toronto’s St. Lawrence Market

Randy Fletcher in Ottawa is hosting – says:

A deck party with friends and neighbours. He’s serving Ontario wine from LCBO, salmon, dill from the garden, new potatoes, Sun-Tec tomatoes, bean salads, tart from The Three Tarts bakery.

Bernadette Novak from Saskatchewan will harvest her garden for her party: says:

I will have about 9 guests over. The kids will have the swimming pool set up. We will play lawn darts have a fire later in the evening and enjoy the Canadian outdoors. BBQ Potatoes fresh from the garden with dill, butter and PC seasoning salt. Garden cucumbers with Miracle Whip and vinegar, salt, pepper and a touch of sugar. BBQ chicken with Catalina dressing. Peas fresh from my garden that I plant a garden every year.

In Manitoba, Ellen Pruden is having a family celebration at her parents home in Lockport. says:

The whole family will gather to eat, drink and have fun. My husband and brother BBQ, the kids are always in hot tub and my mom and I will be putting the finishing touches on all of the dishes. My husband Micheal caught the pickerel last weekend out in the Nopiming Park, MB, and all of the other delicious ingredients come from a great farmer - Doug Chorney in East Selkirk. He has the best picks of the season. The Menu: Fusion Pickerel, fresh garden grilled potatoes, roasted beets, corn on the cob, cucumbers, garden salad and blueberry pie with a cookie crust.

Calgarians Peggy & Grant Abbott, family & Friends will be camping… says:

“… in the beautiful Columbia Valley at Radium, a favourite spot. We will be joined by two of our adult children, my parents, and friends. After our day of hiking we will fire up the barbie, open some find Okanagan Wine, some local beers and re-live the great outdoors. Most likely wondering whose idea it was to hike so far and how we could get so lost.

Today is steak day, some nice Alberta Sirloins, new potatoes baked in foil with garden dill and butter, green beans baked in foil curtisy. A Greek salad of cucumber, tomatoes and peppers from a green house operation in Nanton where my parents live

Our Farmer’s Market, at Garrison Woods is the best in the city, and the Tomato Farm is in Nanton. We recently made a trip to the Okanagan and brought some delightful wines home to share with family and friends. Although not part of our Bbq, we will be enjoying Saskatoon muffins on our hike. The berries are picked by myself at the Saskatoon Farm just south of Calgary on Highway #2. An absolutely awesome place that serves up everything Saskatoon, including buffalo burgers!!! I know your mouth is watering already!! Well, we do hope to party on time but we have been known to underestimate the time it takes to hike the distance.”

In Campbell River, B.C. chef/Salmon fishing guide Mark Stewart and his Kyoto-born wife, Kaori are entertaining in true island style! says:

Our friends who were just married, Vince and Ali Morris are coming up from Vancouver for the weekend. We are having scallops, spot prawns, salmon and a couple bison steaks. The salmon, scallops and spot prawns all came from the south end of Quadra Island. The bison is from a farm about 15 km south of Campbell River. There will be raspberries from the garden and our own homemade wine.

Connie Hansen, a beef rancher near Red Deer, is really celebrating- she says:

On August 04 it will be my daughters 25th birthday. My husband and I always like to make a big deal about the milestone birthdays, the thing is she lives near Fairview, Alberta and we live near Red Deer, Alberta; a seven hour drive! We plan on surprising her and come up and visit her, only we cannot be there for her actual birthday, we will be there August 05. When I saw this party idea for August 05 I thought- of course I will plan a BBQ party. So with the help of her husband I have planned a local CANADIAN BBQ surprise party for her. She does not even know that we are coming!!!

We are beef farmers so our main dish would be nothing other than proud Alberta Beef. I am bringing up some lovely prime rib and sirloin tip steaks to BBQ. Veggies- my garden did not do so well this year so I am getting my daughter’s husband to do some farmer’s market shopping for me!! I have enlisted him with picking up the veggies and strawberries from the local farmers market. As well he knows a Hutterite colony that sells homemade bread where they grind their own flour! He has also bought some farm fresh eggs and cream from them for the angel food cake and whipping cream! I am using canola oil instead of olive oil for my salad dressing because not only is it Canadian did you know that contains less saturated fat and more Omega-3’s than olive oil?!! I was given a bottle of specialty canola oil grown in Canada at a trade show recently and I absolutely LOVE it!

Menu: *BBQ steaks; mouth watering prime rib and sirlion tip *BBQ Vegetables- melody of potatoes, carrots, onion brushed with canola oil and seasoned with fresh dill *BBQ fresh peaches and cream Corn on the cob *Salad- garden fresh lettuce, tomatoes, cucmbers, onions dressed with a Homemade Balsamic vinaigrette- substituting CANOLA OIL for olive oil *BBQ’ed Garlic bread- homemade bread brushed with canola oil and seasoned with fresh garlic *Dessert- whipped cream, fresh strawberries and angel food cake

Also from Saskatchewan, Sharon Staseson is preserving a family tradition. She recounts this story. says:

Our party will be a continuation of our “bay parties” since 1958 when my parents, Walter and Edna Erb, built their little waterfront cabin at Cowen’s beach - now a fully incorporated village known as Kannata Valley - 37 miles northwest of Regina, Saskatchewan. Our neighbours (5 cottages on the bay) then, are our neighbours now - only we have all grown up and there are grand and great-grandchildren, sons and daughters in law, and boyfriends and girlfriends. These have been cherished friendships and “opening up” for the short Sask. season is a big event. July 1st sees fireworks and the August long weekend when one of our farming family must pack up for the summer to begin a harvest. So this is a farewell weekend of sorts as well. My husband and I are hoping our middle daughter, Ali, from Vancouver will join us and maybe even a surprise visit from Heidi in Toronto. Victoria. An assortment of dogs and cats help with the leftovers

Angus beef is from Lakeshore IGA - the best in the province - and butter-flied lamb from a farming neighbour on the barbee. Grilled corn on the cob from the Lumsden Valley local gardeners and all coloured peppers will compliment the grill portion. I add coloured Swiss chard for variety and an extra bit of nutrition. A wild rice and dried cranberry salad will add to the carbo requirements and as per true Sask. fashion a many layered jellied salad - daughter from Toronto says “oh Mom that is so Saskatchewan and no one under 50 does those anymore!” Quite right - a fabulous layered jelly is becoming a lost art and so I continue to try to create what my mother did so beautifully for every big family event. Dessert - what else - fresh Saskatoon Berry Pie served with frozen yogurt or ice-cream. Our favourite beach wines are all of the Little Penguins - tasty and inexpensive. This menu does not come with appetizers - just a couple cool libations prior to - usually G&Ts and Ruby Reds - Vodka and Ruby Red juice with a touch of tonic and lime.

The meat - Lakeshore IGA - the lamb - from Mike the farmer at Silton. The veggies all from the summer local gardens in the Lumsden Valley including the Saskatoon berries picked fresh. The wines from Cameron Drugs in Lumsden.

From Saskatchewan Heidi Juorio says:

We have a brother and his family from Edmonton and a nephew and his partner from Edmonton coming to our cabin in Northern Sask. for the weekend. We are serving smoked Pork Chops, Spinach Salad, my mother’s traditional Onion Bread, and Brownies for dessert. Oh, and don’t forget the home brewed beer. The Smoked Pork Chops come from Parkland Meats in Shellbrook, SK. They are a wonderful butcher shop. They do their own smoking and have made a number of speciality sausages and heritage meat items for me. The bread we make from scratch, but the green onions in the onion butter we will take from our garden. We buy cocoa from Bernard Callebaut in Saskatoon for the brownies.

Nancy Hall, Allison and Dale Graham are REALLY partying in Owen Sound, Ontario. Dale says:

Nancy and I will serve our daughter Allison and her friend Stephen from nearby Kilsyth, along the Marg and Cal Gillis and their daughter Saila, who visit each summer. Cal and I have been friends 52 year- since we were 5 year olds. He runs a restaurant on Baffin Island where his family lives in a small community you may know if you are a fan of the best Inuit carvers and printers from Cape Dorset. He is a monster at the BBQ and for the last few years has been taunting me to help build a huge, competition style smoker and start touring! We’re geezers in training and it’s on the To-Do list! I’m head of a Lodge of 110 people. The word may go out today to invite the boys and families~ but give me a few hours to get that organized. If that happens I’ll let you know.

Owen Sound, Grey and Bruce Counties are in the real-deal when it comes to beef production. I will be visiting our butcher, Kevin Soady-Easton who has the amazing ability to provide just the right cut of beef for our BBQ’s. Steak! Steak appetizers; bits of beef, prepared in a marinade of soy sauce, PEI sea salt, farmers market small onions, red pepper; Q’d on skewers. Steaks! Thick n’ juicy for this special occasion prepared in red wine we produce in the cellar, brown sugar; tomatoes that we grow sliced and sautee’d in white wine, also from our cellar. Hmmm. A salad- spinach and lettuce, julienne’d carrots, raspberries from the bush in the front yard, maple syrup from Simcoe County- balsamic vinegar, first press olive oil, a sprinkle of sea salt and that’s it! Dessert- of course, BBQ’d bits of pineapple and banana on skewers, served with 3 year old Pine River cheddar made in Ripley, over on the Lake Huron shore. Creemore beer in buckets of ice~brewed in Creemore Ontario-next door to us in Simcoe County; U-Brew from the U-Brew here in Owen Sound and a selection of wines from our cellar, finished be icewine- Vidal 1996- Hernder Estate Wines- St.Catharines Ontario.

Bruce County beef from Empire Meats- Durham run by our friend Kevin Soady-Easton. Cheese from Pine River Cheese in Ripley Tomoatoes, raspberries, red and white wine, from the house and yard. Maple Syrup from Collingwood. Onions, peppers from the local Owen Sound Farmers Market Ice Wine- Hernder Estate Wines St. Catharines. U-Brew Beer from Twin-County Brew run by a great guy Lucien who was one of the first people to open when Ontario reg’s made it possible! Propane from the local Co-op outlet…

mMMMmmmmm — Dale

Meredith Robb writes from south-western Ontario: says:

Vanneck United Church is holding its Annual Beef BBQ on this date at Poplar Hill Park, just outside of London, Ont. We plan to feed 500 people. The menu consists of Ontario beef, Ontario brown beans, potato salad, cold slaw, and pies made from Ontario grown fruit.

Keith Boulter & Denise Housworth of Woodstock, Ontario are hosting: says:

“… just a small party 4 or so with beer can chicken, baby back ribs, grilled veggies all Canadian products!!!!!!!! Farmers feed Canadians, we rule!

Help the farmers Mr. HARPER !!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are!

Signed: KEITH&DENISE

Another party is happening in Saskatchewan. Scott Rider says:

On August 5th Lumsden Beach holds it’s annual Beef on a Bun on the Lumsden Beach at the Tennis Court. The supper feeds between 80 and 100 people and we cap off the night with a beer gardens that goes far into the night.

Beef on a Bun and Baked Potatoes — Right off the BBQ and Pot Luck Salads

One of the best stories so far comes from Saskatchewan’s Roxane Priddell says:

It’s my Uncle Butch’s 60th birthday party with 40 friends and family members in the backyard of their Saskatoon home. There will be home grown Saskatchewan Angus burgers, calico beans - cooked medley of beans in a homemade sauce, beet rolls - bread wrapped in beet leaves and simmered in cream, dill and onions, bean salad,,potato salad macaroni salad, Caesar salad, carrot cake and cream cheese frosting

The beef was raised in Qu’Appelle by my husband and his Dad. Nothing beats a true farm raised, no hormone added beef burger — except for the steak. The beet rolls were bought at the Farmers Market from a lady who drives in from Yorkton to sell her clay oven baked breads. Hands down some of the best available bread! Lots of garden fresh veggies are served in the salads. Raising it yourself or buying it in the farmer’s market makes sure you know it’s fresh and supports the local economy!

Dick Snyder the Toronto-based, Newfoundland-raised editor of food mag CityBites says:

It’ll be me, Trish and little Harry, who quite likes to eat everything in sight. And don’t tell the cops: He really likes Creemore; not a bad choice for a 1 1/2 year old….

Organic elk burgers and all manner of grilled farm-fresh vegetables. A very, very fine Niagara wine. Some local cheese. I shop at Matchbox, my neighbourhood organic garden, just up the street. Burgers from the Healthy Butcher. La Fromagerie for cheese. Thuet’s for bakery.

Peter Sandercock near Lloydminster posts this note: says:

Our farming community gathers once a summer for a neighbour hood bbq potluck. Everyone brings their own steak or burger and the salads. We play horse shoes and do old fashion sack races for the kids. We have almost every salad imaginable including that prairie specialty - jellied salad. My mother-in-law always brings her famous baked beans. There is plenty of fresh vegetables from everyones gardens. Most of what we serve is produced right on our farms — from good old Saskatchewan beef to new potatoes, carrots and lettuce. PARTY ON!

Another neighbour from Elora, Fred Gordon says his is going to be – says:

“A small gathering of two plus the pug dog, where we will savour the delights of the Canadian grill! -”Lemon-Balm” Gin Fizz - Grilled flank steak marinated in cumin and lime, served with grilled spring onions - Pasta salad with chickpeas, roasted asparagus and other summer vegetables, in a creamy parmesan dressing - The finest home-made cherry pie ever created. Or Peach. Or Apple. Or all 3 - you can’t have enough dessert!

The ingredients will likely come from Zehrs. Might make a trip to Niagara in search of the finest fruits, though!” 

(Ed.Note) Anyone else want the recipe for his lemon-balm gin fizz besides me?

Bruce Hagan of Guelph says:

We just love local foods when they are in season. There is nothing better tasting when it is home grown locally. There will just be the immediate family and a few close friends. Probably 6 in total.

We will be serving BBQ rib eyes steaks form Alberta, some East Coast scallop and Ontario bacon Kabobs with a gentle garlic and butter dip, some local Ontario corn on the cob, fresh green or yellow green beans from the garden, and local baked potatoes, with sour cream and chives. Appetizers will include some Caesar salad made with locally grown Romaine lettuce. Dinner will be served with some of the best Niagara On The Lake white wine. (We prefer white to red)

Lillian Gohn of Elora, Ontario is foraging her way to the Bruce Peninsula says:

“We are having our annual family gathering at our cottage in Tobermory. About 10 gather every year. The menu will be Fresh Georgian Bay White Fish and barbecued Bruce County steak; fresh vegetables from local farmers and also fresh raspberries grown just north of Arthur. The fish is from the fishermen in Tobermory; the vegetables from local farmers — raspberries just north of Arthur, veggies just south of Mount Forest, other produce just north of Wiarton at a farm called Elliott’s.”

Laelar Van Zuylen is heading to Kingston says:

” I’ll be taking my kids to my Mom’s in Kingston. My two sisters, my brother and their families will be joining us. We’ll light up the BBQ by the pool and enjoy each other’s company. We’ll be going to the Farmer’s market on Saturday morning to pick up everything we needs except the scallops which are PC brand and can be bought from any store under the Loblaws banner. We’re going to start out with some Nova Scotia Scallops, followed by a mixed greens salad with local produce and fruit, we’ll be having steaks from the local farmer for supper and end with a dessert of local berries. Mmmmmmm - Heaven”

Serge Simard, the Director of global Food and Beverage operations for Fairmont Hotels is going fishing! says:

“…in the Parc Mastigouche, NE of Trois Rivieres in Quebec, with my brother Jocelyn. The Simards have been fishing there for 35 years and we know all the spots! At sunset, Jocelyn will go frog hunting in the little lake close to our cottage. We are hoping catch enough for our appetizer of saut￩ed frog legs with garlic, parsley and white wine. For the main course, we expect to catch several truites rouges - 1 to 2lbs - no fixed recipe yet but will be delicious!!

Grace Lallemand of Fonthill, Ontario always throws a great party! says:

Not much to tell just yet but it will be here in Fonthill and a kitchen/patio/garden party.

All of the ingredients [except the Quebec cheeses] are locally grown - how great is that! The menu so far, - steamed heritage beets & greens with a blue cheese vinaigrette, heritage beans with shallots & hazelnuts -heritage tomatoes with a sprinkling of home-grown herbs -tossed greens -mini red potato & feta cheese salad -cold corn chowder -carrot salad on braised chard -Alsatian tarts [my heritage] with onions, bacon & cheese in puff pastry on the BBQ -peach & raspberry cobbler; -fresh blueberry tarts -baskets of fresh fruit & berries with an assortment of Quebec cheeses, homemade toasts and an assortment of Beetroot Delights condiments from www.beetrootdelights.com - round of Quebec brie spread with Sassy Beet & Horseradish jelly topped with fresh blueberries -Niagara wines, Fair Trade coffee. WE THINK WE’LL KEEP IT VEGETARIAN [except for the bacon in the Alsatian tarts]

Wanda Benjamin of Yew Tree Farm in Nova Scotia… says:

…is hosting a few family and friends. She is serving beef — locally raised, new potatoes — Annapolis Valley, toss salad greens  local beef in a special marinade, potato salad, toss salad, Jost White wine and Labbatts and Keiths on ice.

From Ontario, Sandra Bales writes that she is having says:

Just a family supper — I get the produce from Farm Boy. Ontario corn, PEI spuds and local raspberries.

Grilled chicken breasts brushed with some yummy Smoke’n Stampede barbeque sauce from Presidents Choice. Boiled corn on the cob and potatoes done in a foil packet on the que seasoned with onions, butter and a good sprinkle of Mrs. Dash, herb and garlic. Our Favourite! For dessert Raspberry Shortcake.

At the Chanterelle Inn in glorious Cape Breton, innkeeper Earlene Busch is the first participant to write about the concept of food miles: says:

The Chanterelle Inn will declare August 5 to be a part of the Great Canadian BBQ event. “Food miles” and names of farms from which the ingredients were purchased will be stated on the menu

Chickens-Glen-Ryan Farms -40kms Greens, veggies-Meadow Mtn Farm -2kms Red-runner beans - Reid Farm-3 kms. Blueberries, Chanterelles -foraged from the property Raspberries, potatoes -Hank’s Family Farm-40 kms Flour-Speerville Grains, NB

For 30 years, I have been trying to develop a BBQ sauce recipe and finally I think I have perhaps gotten it right. So, the Inn will serve local free-range chicken and ribs from locally-grown pork. It will be smoked over apple and cherry wood (no gas or briquets to prevent a petrochemical exposure).

Soups will be freshly made Cream of Chanterelle, tomato-basil, and lobster bisque–all made in our kitchen; crusty artisan breads made from Speerville organic grain, salad of local organic greens with vermouth dressing, roasted root vegetables, red- runner green beans in a herb butter. For dessert, we will feature fresh raspberries, cheesecake with Chanterelle topping, fresh blueberry pie. Featured wines will be from both Nova Scotia’s Jost and Grand Pre.

Rebecca LeHeup-Bucknell from Prince Edward County. Ontario says:

We are going to have a barbeque at the Sandbanks beach with friends - this has become a weekly summer tradition that shall carry on for years to come

The beef will come from Goodfellow Meats - they use 100% County beef. The organically grown vegetables will come from grower Vicki Emlaw of Vicki’s Veggies (I have a share in her CSA program). I’ll get bread from The Regent Cafe (who has pastry chef Christian Marchsteiner craft an olive and sundried tomato loaf for them). The 3 year-old cheddar is from the Black River Cheese Company. I’ll likely take along some of the Merrill Inn’s Tomato and Pear Chutney made by chef Michael Sullivan. Blueberries will more than likely come from Hughes Blueberries in Waupoos. I’ll pick up my ice cream straight from Slickers where it is crafted with local ingredient. The wine - well - can’t go to the Sandbanks and not enjoy a glass of Sandbanks Estate

The ingredients are 100% Prince Edward County beef burgers tweaked with some garlic and shallots from Vicki’s Veggies. A variety of organic salads, locally made bread and cheese and some Slicker’s Ice Cream served with local blueberries for dessert. We’ll also quaff some County wines while we watch the sun set

Another wedding feast is being prepared by Sandy Denny of Cambridge, Ontario. says:

She is harvesting her region and writes “I am a culinary student at Liaison College in Kitchener. I am preparing the food for a friends wedding on August 5th. It just happens to be a BBQ on their property out in the country near Fergus The meat is coming from Rowe Farm Meats in Guelph. The rest of the ingredients (what we can find anyway) will come from the farmers market in Guelph.

We will be starting with 2 girls serving appetizers on trays to the guests as they arrive. We will be using as many local ingredients as possible including goat cheese and vegetables that are obtained at the local farmers market in Guelph. We will be roasting local organically grown pork on a spit and serving it with salads prepared using the same ingredients that will be purchased at the farmers market. The finishing touch will be a dessert of a chocolate fountain using locally grown fresh fruit for dipping. I am also making the wedding cake adorned with gum paste flowers that I learned to make at a Sugar Craft school in Cambridge. It is also nice that local people are bringing and teaching these skills locally.”

In Manitoba Jim Beauchamp is grilling up a wedding. He says:

I am creating a BBQ meal for a wedding for 180 people near St.Leon. Everything is either grown or raised here in sunny Manitoba. — Manitoba pork and beef, with a couple of yard birds for the head table. Served with BBQ baked beans, potato salad, slaw, rolls and pickles.

Well known garden-writer Sonia Day shares her BBQ notes: says:

Old friends (couple with 14-year-old daughter) visit us every year from Montreal. We’re joined by our neighbour, Anne and her four kids, aged from 12 to 18. It’s a ritual now: we sit on the deck, gab and drink, kids swim and squabble in our pond (although the older ones now prefer to watch videos indoors). Normally, it’s plain stuff that kids like - ie hamburgers and potato salad - followed by desserts like pie, ice-cream and chocolate zucchini cake (but of course we don’t tell the kids there’s zucchini in it) I grow my own potatoes and onions and zucchini. I get locally-made ice-cream (from Mapletons) and beef raised without antibiotics from Rowe’s. Wine is always Canadian. Not enough people drink our wines, which are terrific.

Jeff Stewart in Niagara Falls, Ontario says:

Jeff Stewart is having a back-yard Pizza party with a few friends and family. The pizza is baked in our backyard Outdoor Clay Oven I built and Niagara Peach Cobbler with Praline Ice Cream. In ingredients? Pizza - wheat from the Prairies, Tomatoes and Veggies from Welland Farmer’s Market, Meat from Hommer’s in Stevensville, Cheese from Deluca’s Niagara-on-the-lake.

Pizza Oven - clay from Niagara-on-the-Lake, Straw from Wellandport, Sand from Lake Erie.

Cobbler - Peaches from Niagara and Ice Cream from Avondale Dairy…yum!!!!

From Dorothy Long in Lloydminster, Sask: says:

Our family will celebrate Canadian ingredients during our annual trip to the lake. Along with five other families we head to Kimbal Lake in Northern Saskatchewan to lay on the beach, swim, fish, water ski and just simply kick back with good friends. One of the highlights of the week is that each evening one family hosts the meal for everyone else. The fare is always outstanding and always based around great Canadian ingredients. The Cotes have a great grilled vegetable recipe with vegetables fresh from their garden that ar simply tossed with canola oil, fresh lemon juice and salt and pepper; Joan Heath is grilling salmon for the Heath-Loessin meal; Kelvin and Shelley Meadows joked about emu hot wings for their evening but I think Kelvin is too attached to his emu for that… instead beef kabobs and jerk chicken; Raths will be featuring wild game at their meal with a non-wild option for the faint of heart; Claytons did some great home made French fries last year and have chosen to surprise us this year and our meal will be good old Canadian beef burgers with all the fixings and a fabulous bean salad that I will send along for your recipe section. I almost forgot we, of course, wash all of this down with VQA wines and great Canadian beer. Happy BBQing everyone. We will toast Canada and think of you all!