I’ve been blogging about my favourite finds in Toronto and Southern Ontario for over three years now, and I’ve been Instagramming them for much longer than that! (At least seven years proper… but who’s counting?) Over that time, I’ve visited (literally) hundreds of local destinations – and if my ever-growing “to-do” list is any indication, that won’t be slowing down anytime soon. One of the most common questions I get about my blog/Instagram is… “where do you find all these places?” It’s a great question, and there are lots of great answers: blogs, social media, travel guides, newsletters, tourism websites, word of mouth… It feels like every time I log onto Instagram or receive a newsletter from a blog I follow, I find another interesting new restaurant, event or activity to add to my list. But sometimes, the very best gems are found when you aren’t even looking!
A couple of weeks ago, Tania and I were sitting on the couch at around 4:00 on a Saturday afternoon, and I was itching for something to do. We’d already been out and about that day – first celebrating our nephew at his third birthday party, then heading to downtown Burlington for their annual Falling for Downtown festival – but we weren’t quite ready to resign ourselves to sweats and Netflix just yet. So we (okay, mostly me) decided to get in the car and drive to our nearest casino – Elements Casino Flamboro in Hamilton – to play some slots. A little-known fact about me (or perhaps well-known, depending on who you ask) is that I love casinos! Now, just so y’all don’t think I’m some sort of gambling addict, I should clarify: I only go a few times a year, and I never bet more than $50 at the very most. Maybe it’s my inner senior citizen (who’s getting louder and louder these days) but I just have so much fun playing the slots!
My fellow casino enthusiasts know that “you win some, you lose some” isn’t just an old proverb. This particular day, Tania won $20 at the roulette table… and I lost $40. But while I may have lost at the slots, we were both about to win big on the way home! Because while we were driving through Dundas down Highway 5, I spotted the basic fall girl’s bat signal – a giant pile of pumpkins – so of course we had to pull over immediately.
The autumn wonderland that caught my eye? Taylor Farms, a.k.a. Farmer to You: a local farm market selling a harvest bounty of organic produce, home-baked goods, beautiful flowers, butter, cheeses, meats, honey, jams, farm-fresh eggs, and yes – pumpkins galore. I hadn’t heard of them before, but now they’re one of my new favourite stops for fresh local food!
If one of your goals this year was to eat more vegetables, here are my three best tips for making that really easy:
Cover them in breadcrumbs, cheese, and deep-fry them(kidding, kidding… although I never met a fried green tomato I didn’t like!)- Slow-roast them. A sheet pan of veggies roasted low and slow is one of my favourite dishes – they’re so delicious that you almost forget they’re healthy.
- Buy your veggies from a local farm market! Local produce is so fresh and flavourful; it tastes worlds different from anything you’d get at the grocery.
We stocked up on tons of fresh vegetables: green beans, sweet potatoes, acorn squash… Tania made the squash for Thanksgiving and it was SO good! I went back for seconds (and thirds.) Some other farm-fresh finds that caught my eye: flint corn…
Freshly picked apples…
Mennonite jam…
They even sell fresh chestnuts from Italy!
We also picked up a loaf of freshly baked bread, and because you can’t have bread without butter, we got some hand-rolled butter from Mr. Amish. At $10 a brick, this butter isn’t exactly cheap – but when you consider grocery store butter is now $6-$8, it’s a small difference to pay for a product of much higher quality.
And of course… there’s the pumpkins!
If you need something else to complete your fall decor, Taylor Farms has a beautiful selection of fresh flowers. I love a fall centerpiece with cheery chrysanthemums and bright yellow sunflowers. It’s impossible to be sad when you have sunflowers on your table!
I’ve always wanted to do a floral arrangement in a pumpkin “vase”, like this one from Les Fleurs. Check out their post here for a full tutorial. Mine probably won’t look this pretty, but I’ll try my best!
Image Source: Les Fleurs
Do you have a favourite farm stand or local market in Ontario? If you have any recommendations, please share them in the comments or send me an email – I’m always eager to add to “the list”!
Thanks for reading and have a wonderful rest of your week.
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