With Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Solstice, and Festivus all around the corner, people have been asking me for some holiday food and gift ideas. This year, two new businesses have stepped up to provide some delicious options.
Kawartha Local will be opening a storefront sometime in the new year. In the meantime, they’re offering up Kawartha’s Best Gift Crate — available for delivery anywhere in Peterborough County.
Each order includes:
• A bespoke Gift Crate, custom made for Kawartha Local by Peterborough’s Sustain Furniture (16″x9″x9″, converts to a bookshelf or little side table)
• Soda Syrup, made with real cane sugar, fruits, spices and herbs by Sugar Daddy Fresh Sodas, Peterborough (1 375 ml bottle – just add to club soda or your favourite sparkling water and mix)
• Gourmet Chocolate, handcrafted in Lakefield by The Chocolate Rabbit. (1 solid chocolate canoe, 3 solid chocolate frogs)
• Delicious Columbian Coffee, imported and processed locally by Carolina’s Columbia of Peterborough (1 lb fresh ground medium roast)
• Porcelain Coffee Cup by renowned ceramic artist and potter Bill Reddick. Individually handmade by the artist in his Peterborough studio.
• 1 kg Jar of Liquid Clover Honey – exactly as the bees make it by OtonaBEE Apiary.
• Maple Syrup and Sugar Candy, a sweet maple treat produced by Sugar Valley Farm of Indian River. (1 250 ml bottle Ontario No. 1 Medium Maple Syrup, 1 box of maple sugar candy)
• Wood Fired Granola by Hard Winter Bread Company, Lakefield. Walnuts, almonds and dried fruit, wood fired to perfection. (1 520 g bag)
• Strawberry Jam by McLean Berry Farm, near Buckhorn in the heart of the Kawarthas.(1 250 jar strawberry jam)
Meanwhile, In Northumberland, the fine folks that brought us the Cultivate Food and Drink Festival in Port Hope are introducing fun new hampers of charcuterie, cheese, preserves, sweets and beer.
• Empire 4 Year Cheddar
• Cultivate Mustard
• Sprucewood Cookies
• Pate by The Mill
• Yellow Cake Bakery Squares
• Haute Goat Caramel Corn
• Kawartha Country Wine Preserves
• Cross Wind Farms Goat Cheese
• Mercury Chocolates Truffles
• Lindsay Bandaged Goat Cheddar
• Cultivate Trout Rillet
• Our Lucky Stars Apple Chutney
• Pitchers Place Pickles
• Puddleduck Farms Maple Syrup
Rob Howard of Kawartha Local stresses the importance of shopping locally. “These small operations create wonderful products and connect with local consumers in mostly traditional ways — farmgate sales, farmers markets, and pop up events and shows. This kind of local economy is more than buying and consuming, it’s a network of personal relationships between producers and customers that makes our area a far richer and more interesting place. When we make an effort to keep money in the local economy — support people who live and work here — the stronger and more resilient our community becomes.”
Many small businesses depend heavily on the holiday season, where large quantities of their annual sales are made. Christmas in a particularly important time of the year for shopping locally.
Please pop back to the Farm to Table blog over the coming weeks, and we’ll offer up some other fantastic local holiday options.