Hot Shots - July 7, 2023
Hot Shots - July 7, 2023
Severin R-B Danieli
Hello all,
Welcome to July! Summer has arrived on our coast in full force, with days and days of sun and hot weather forecasted. I've said it before, but Vancouver comes alive in the summer. Everywhere you look there are people walking, jogging, biking, hiking, swimming, having picnics, sun bathing, gardening, you name it - Vancouver has it!
This past weekend was my husband and aunts birthday, so we had events Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I did manage to have a nap or two, this pregnant lady gets tired a lot quicker these days, and the weekend was filled with family, friends and celebrations.
On Friday evening, along with my sister and her family, my parents, Jono's parents and his sister, we went to a restaurant in North Vancouver called Orto Artisan Pasta that makes homemade pasta and shares space with Bad Dog Bakery (their bread is so so so delicious). First off, the ambience was breathtaking, as their patio is lovely, but down a few steps off the patio there is a thriving urban garden, and there are tables in between the rows of vines and flowers and herbs and trees. Secondly, the food. So fresh, so fragrant, the olive tapenade, garlic butter, olive oil with the Bad Dog bread we had for an appetizer is reason enough to go back.
Saturday was filled with friends and the new Wes Anderson movie, and then Sunday we had a four birthday celebration (mine, Jonathan's, my aunts and my cousins) and as per usual, my aunt cooked up a scrumptious meal. There were two huge vegetarian nicoise salads, two different types of bbq'd baguettes, a type of flatbread that had a flakey crust, tomatoes, pesto and cheese drizzled on it, shrimp, steak and a few other items as well. For dessert, my mom baked an Italian cream cake.
This weekend we are heading to Victoria to see the interactive Van Gogh exhibit, and then gearing up to move at the end of this month. Busy busy bees!
Bell peppers.
Origin Organic Farms (more commonly known as OriginO), is an entirely indoor organic farm located in Delta. They became the first organically-certified greenhouse in 2005, with a unique irrigation and drainage system. Their soil is fortified with the stems and leaves of the plants that grow in their greenhouse every year.
Their three main crops are bell peppers, long english cucumbers and tomatoes on the vine. Their quality is superb, and taste - divine.
I'm sure most of you readers are familiar with a bell peppers and how to cook with them, but here are a few recipe ideas:
- Stuffed bell peppers - either stuffed with rice, orzo, ground beef/chicken or turkey
- Sliced and sautéed, maybe added to tacos or burritos
- Cubed and added into a salad
- Roasted on a BBQ
- Sliced or cubed and added into a stir fry
The photos above are of the OriginO greenhouse and their pepper line up.
Black seedless watermelon bins.
Coming up from California and Charlies Produce, the Yumi watermelon originated in Hokkaido, Japan, was then cultivated in Eastern Washington, and now has its home in Central California. At Disco, we've got these watermelons in 700# bins, at 50ct sizing.
The Japanese meaning of the name Yumi is abundant beauty, and this unique watermelon was given that name because of its dark green, almost black, rind.
Taste wise, I find them richer and juicier than a regular seedless watermelon, and the colour just simply pops more on a plate.
The marketing of Yumi watermelons is top tier at Charlies Produce, and here are a few photos of these beautifies in the field.
Cotton candy grapes.
Have you tried these? If not, you have to. They legitimately taste like cotton candy, and are only available for a short time each season.
These grapes come to us from Divine Flavor down in sunny Mexico, and we've also got green seedless from Divine, red and green seedless from Masters Touch and red seedless from Melo.
Created by David Cain, a fruit geneticist, located in Bakersfield California, these grapes were available to the public since 2011, and have been growing in popularity ever since. Cotton candy grapes are a cross between a concord grape variety and the princess grape.
Divine Flavor is a family run farm, and was started in 1989 with just 10 hectares of table grapes in Sonora, Mexico. Fast forward to 2006, and Divine Flavor begins to sell an organic brand of golden peaches. In 2009, Divine is certified as a Fair Trade distributor.
Recipes for these cotton candy grapes are pretty simple, besides just munching them right off the vine, cut them in half and add to a summer salad, you can also freeze them or roast them (they get deliciously caramelized when roasted).
The legend himself, Mr. David Cain! If you want to watch a few videos about cotton candy grapes growing at Divine Flavor, head over to their Instagram and watch the first few videos.
Patty pan squash.
The bright bursts of light came through our doors Wednesday morning, straight from Secrest Organic Farm in Oliver, BC.
Secrest and Covert farms work in tandem, and boast a thriving fourth generation regenerative farm and winery on 650 acres of land. Their in-season produce lines the walls of our coolers throughout the summer, currently we have patty pan squash, zucchini, garlic scapes and field cucumbers. Check in with our Sales team on what we have from Secrest when you call in your next order.
Patty pan squash are exceedingly delicate, and their name comes from their shape resembling a pan in which to cook a patty. Following in the footsteps of the name, I would recommend frying these in a, wait for it, yes you guessed it, a pan! And dressing it up with some olive oil, fresh herbs, salt and pepper.
New product alert!
In stock here at Discovery, we have Moonshine mamas! Now, if you have never heard of this company and their product, here is a little intro to this unique and delicious elixir.
Back during my undergrad, I worked at an organic market called Sprout Organic Market in North Vancouver. It was there that we first received Moonshine Mama, and it soon became one of our best selling products. Curious to know what the fuss was about, my boss and I split a bottle, and immediately we were Moonshine Mama's top customers.
I'll link their website here, but in short, back in 2011, the founder Mel was diagnosed with stage 3 cancer. On her quest for natural ways to reduce inflammation and boost her immune system, Mel stumbled into creating the product available to you today, Moonshine Mama's. With the star ingredients of each variety being turmeric, ginger and white pepper (this activates the turmeric), which increases the body's absorption of turmeric by two thousand percent (they link an article here about this very topic).
At Disco, we have their original turmeric elixir (top left), spiced elderberry (top right, this one is great for cold and wet months), sour cherry (bottom left) and original lime (bottom right). Along with that, we've got strawberry and supergreen elixirs. Cases of moonshine mama's come in 6x500ml glass bottles, and are safe in the fridge for up to 6 months. Their recommendation for consumption is a 1oz shot every day.
Bottoms up!
Big love,
Severin R-B Danieli