The Stop Community Food Centre — Italian Cooking Workshop

On August 11, I attended The Stop Community Food Centre's Italian Cooking Workshop. Held at the Green Barn on a beautiful summer day, we prepared Caprese Salad, Pasta e Fagioli, Roasted Veg, Fresh Pizza and Biscotti. Making our own personal-sized pizzas was the DOPEST though.

Made with 25% whole wheat flour + 75% white flour, the fresh pizza dough was prepared from scratch. Among other dishes, I helped make the tomato-based pizza sauce. The Stop's wood-burning oven baked our pizzas to crispy, crusty, burnt & blistery perfection. I topped my pizza with pesto, artichokes, sun-dried tomatoes, mushrooms, black olives, onions and goat cheese [scroll up to see pics above]. Was THIS close to throwin' sliced pears onto that sucker, but refrained from it last min.

The Stop Community Food Centre — Low Sugar Baking Workshop

One of the perks of being a volunteer at The Stop is the opportunity to participate in free cooking classes. Part of the Healthy Cooking Workshop Series, today's class we learned aout low sugar baking. Instead of using refined white sugar in baking, why not consider healthier alternatives, such as agave, applesauce, puréed fruits or maple syrup?

Here's what was on the menu: Applesauce Oat Bran Muffins, Fruit & Nut Bars and Cherry Crisp. Freshly picked from Hillcrest Park Community Garden, the cherries were of a variety I had never tried before — they were tart, semi-sour and yellow-ish pink in colour. Don't mistake them for grapes! In the video above, I've captured the ladies putting our Cherry Crisp together, just prior to throwing 'em in the oven. By the way, that rolled oat topping tasted just as fantabulous raw as it did in its crispy, cooked state. Much love to the ladies who coordinated the highly anticipated, community cooking workshop. I j'adored it.

The Stop Community Food Centre — Do the Math!

photo | March 23, 2010 | The Stop's Do the Math Community Dinner | my veggie plate

The Stop's Do the Math campaign has come and gone, but its effect will no doubt reverberate well into Toronto's future. As a volunteer at The Stop, I had the opportunity to attend the Do the Math Community Dinner last month. On March 23, a wholesome, colourful meal was served to the Torontonians who had agreed to participate in the campaign. Not long after this dinner, the participants were challenged to eat only from the contents of a food hamper for as long as they could, though a hamper typically lasts a person only 3-4 days. This phase of the campaign was entitled Eat the Math.

A number of Eat the Math participants have written about their experiences of living on a food hamper. Corey Mintz shares his experience of living on a food hamper in the Toronto Star. Lauren Wilson questions how we can "better feed Toronto families in need" on BlogTO. To understand how those on social assistance receive an inadequate amount of provincial funding to live healthily and with dignity, you, too, can Do the Math. Ultimately, doing this survey and following this campaign has made me realize how thankful I am, what with never having to worry about getting enough food, let alone enough nutritious food, into my diet. I'm considering conducting my own Eat the Math experiment, if nothing but to gain personal perspective. The Stop advocates good food for all; Do the Math strives to make this a reality.