MORSELS

Farmers' market to open in Archbold

5/29/2011

It's that time of the year that food-lovers wait for all winter: The beginning of farmers' market season.

No licenses are required, no need to go to a check station. Just hop in your car or walk on over to the nearest farmers' market, if you can find one that is open already. (Toledoans are in luck: the Toledo Farmers' Market is open year-round.)

And if you're near Archbold, you're in luck, too. The Archbold Area Farmers' Market opens Thursday, with strawberries, annual flowers, and early vegetables now available, along with an assortment of baked goods. Of course, as the seasons progress, a wider variety of produce will fill the stalls. And if you're looking for the freshest and most local goods, produce that has been grown within a 50-mile radius will be identifiable by a 100 Percent Home-Grown Certificate.

The market is open on Depot Street in downtown Archbold from 3-6 p.m. Thursdays through September.

For more information, call the Archbold Chamber of Commerce at 419-445-2222.

Go nuts for doughnuts

As you may already know, it has been scientifically proven that doughnuts are the best-tasting food ever. It must be true, I… uh… saw it on the Internet somewhere.

And they're not only delicious, they can be good for charity, too.

Wednesday is Tim Hortons Camp Day, the day of the year on which all the money from coffee sales at Tim Hortons restaurants will go to help send children to camp.

Some 12,000 children, ages 9-12, will get to experience either a 10-day summer camp or a seven-day winter camp at one of six camps run by the Tim Horton Children's Foundation. Included in this number are seven children from the Toledo area, and a total of 200 from Ohio.

And have you ever wondered who Tim Horton was? You've come to the right column.

Horton was a Hall-of-Fame hockey player for 24 seasons, most notably for the Toronto Maple Leafs. A great defensive player, he was considered one of the strongest men in the game. He founded his chain of doughnut shops in 1964 -- it's now the largest restaurant chain in Canada. He was still playing for the Buffalo Sabres when he died in 1974 in a 100 mph car wreck while driving a De Tomaso Pantera, one of the coolest cars ever. He was 44, had played in a game the night before, and was being pursued by the police.

Wine time

Sometimes, you want something a little light, crisp, and fruity. That's when it's time to pop the cork on a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc.

The white wine is often overlooked as not being serious enough, sort of like chablis, but its time has come, at least at the Walt Churchill's market in Maumee. Saturday afternoon's wine-tasting event will cover the great Sauvignon Blancs of the world, showing the grassy flavors of the New Zealand wines (though many seem more grapefruity to me), the mineral flavors of the French wines, and the oak flavor of the California wines.

The June 11 tasting switches from the grape to the grain, with an overview of the beers of the world led by Dave Robison. On June 18, the wine comes with dinner. Foods from the Basque region of Spain will be paired with wines from the same area for a grand five-course meal. The price, menu, and time are still to be determined.

And on June 25, the store will pour the deep, rich, big-flavored Cabernet Sauvignons from Napa Valley.

The wine tastings (but not the dinner) are held from noon to 5 p.m. The cost varies with the wines. For more information, call 419-794-4000.

More wine time

And speaking of wine tastings, Stella's restaurant in Perrysburg has begun a monthly wine tasting of its own. The tastings are held the first Monday of each month, with a couple of exceptions noted below. The wines are paired with the specially selected food served at a buffet, all for $20.

The next tasting will be June 6, and will feature Italian wines chosen by Jim Krusinski at Vintner Select.

And now for those exceptions to the first-Monday rule: Because of the Fourth of July and Labor Day, respectively, the tastings in July and September will be held on the first Tuesday of the month.

For reservations or more information, call 419-873-8360.

Apronics

Classmates of Annette Anderson (University of Toledo, Class of '77) or former colleagues at Dictaphone and Ohio Bell may be wondering what she has been up to.

And well they should wonder. The former marketer has begun a new career as a designer of high-end aprons that are fashionable as well as practical.

Some of them, we note with alarm, are even kind of sexy.

Now based in Florida, Ms. Anderson is the proprietor of Kitchen Threadz, which she describes as "a bevy of dazzling couture aprons designed especially for women who love to cook and love fashion."

They're hand-crafted, custom-designed, washable -- and they start at $125. The high-priced models begin at $150 and go up from there.

But these are aprons the likes of which you have not seen before, with tulle petticoats, organza ruffles, antique beaded lace cummerbunds, rhinestone studded skirts, and more. "Kitchen Confidential" has a multilayered, ruffled skirt with a beaded cummerbund. "Beauty and the Beast" has a leopard-skin pattern on vinyl. Growl.

For more information and a view of the lines of aprons for sale, visit kitchenthreadz.com.

Items for Morsels may be submitted up to two weeks in advance of an event to food@theblade.com.