Local Chefs touring Brooklands Farm having a great time!

Love love loved today! I don’t think I could have spent this day any better! I drove out to Brooklands Farm on Butter and Egg Road in Milford Bay, Ontario (just outside of Bracebridge, ON) and parked beside a row of delicious raspberries. I could smell the delicious food awaiting me and hurried to check-in.

Invitation to the event I've been looking forward to all year! It was a great way to meet chefs from the local venues and taste their food and guage their creativity.

The event was very well organized – a gathering of local chefs producing recipes for sampling using local ingredients. Savour Muskoka is an association of like minded individuals from the Muskoka area interested in the following vision:

Our Vision: To provide the consumer with a wide selection of regional culinary products, experiences and packages that are unique to Muskoka and that can be marketed successfully to the visitor market.

Mission: Our mission is to facilitate the successful development of the Muskoka region as a dynamic culinary tourism destination, by promoting all sectors of the economy with an interest in local food and drink.

The event was very organized for a food tour like this one complete with friendly plates and glassware. I didn't have to worry about where I'd set my wine glass, or if my plate would blow away.

What a great idea to bring people to Butter and Egg road, historically known the farmers who would supply Muskoka communities with food. Brooklands Farm is a 6th generation working, family farm owned by the wonderful, Ken and Katya Riley.

As a working farm, The Riley Family works hard to provide local chefs with the ingredients they need to create sustainable menus.

What a genuine couple! These two are passionate about what they do, and what they can do. Ken and Katya Riley have been wonderful hosts to me during visits to their property.

Many of the restaurants and resorts in the area design their menus around the ingredients they get from farms like theirs. Chefs from many of these places came today to show off their talent by using these local ingredients.

Mmmmm.... local food includes a lot of fish, and pork. This roasted pork sandwhich was very tasty using local honey, and greens.

Something for every kind of diet. There was a large display of locally grown organic greens complete with grass shooters!

Delightful desserts were displayed inside the restored barn served with Muskoka Roastery Coffee.

Live acoustic music that moved throughout the crowd, a warm breeze, and the chatter of cottagers, industry people, tourists, and vendors – great way to spend the day. Other than tasting the food, there was an opportunity to purchase “The Ontario Table – the best food from around the province” by Lynn Ogryzlo and we were invited to sign Ontario’s longest tablecloth as part of the Blue Boot Diaries project. If every household spent $10 a week on local food and wine, we would have a stronger, more sustainable economy. She wanted us to write how we contribute to the local food movment she writes about. She was especially interested in how I help as a Wedding Planner.

Once guests purchsed a copy of "The Ontario Table" we were invited to sign Ontario's longest table cloth. We were asked to write about how we are involved in the local food movement.

The leaders of the world have experienced menus created by local chefs using local ingredients and loved it! If it is good enough for them isn't it good enough for your family? $10 a week!

There are so many ways to showcase the food as well. Muskoka Chefs creatively display their menu items which help make great photos of your special event.

Loving the way these hors d'oeuvres are displayed for guests to walk up and help themselves.

Having been to Arowhon Pines, I expected nothing less than a handwritten description of what I was about to taste from their Chefs. Very nice.

I can’t wait until next year!!! Mmmmm…..