Well Preserved

* If you’re from outside of Toronto and you wish your city had this type of event, please scroll down to the  bottom of this post for more info.

The Avro and WellPreserved are pleased to announce the first Home Ec event of 2012:

Bring Your Own Bar Snacks – ideal for any social gathering and even more relevant for those of you looking for ideas on want to munch on Superbowl Sunday (the following weekend).

Here’s the simple idea:

Come to the bar with a snack to share (preferably something homemade).  There will  be no prep room or power at the Avro – keep it simple, keep it easy.  This is about having fun, sharing and meeting others.

Event Details

1. There is no cover (but we do hope you’ll support our friends at The Avro who are providing the space without a charge).  It’s at 750 Queen Street East (east of Broadview, North side)
2. This is a 19+ event as it’s at a bar.
3. The event starts at 8:00 and formally ends at 10:00 – this is a mix and mingle so you won’t get the boot if you’re having fun.
4. Try your hand at Making your own Bar snacks!*  We’ll include links and inspiration below. Feel free to bring a copy of your favourite recipe to share!
5. Keep it simple.  The Avro is a charming, tiny space. There will be no power available, or serving vessels…we will provide napkins. 
6. Enjoy our custom Cocktail!  A collaboration between WP and the Avro, It will be available in limited quantities, one night only!
7. *Earn your Bar Snacks Badge! If you bring a home-made snack we’ll give you a button to prove you’ve mastered this essential skill…collect them all, there will be one at each Home Ec event!  (’m planning on getting a vest at the Value Village to sport the badges of the events; any other freaks out there with me?)
8. Share your recipe/ingredients! You will be asked to complete a small info sheet on your snack so people know a bit about what’s in it.  Nothing complicated, it will just help people make informed decisions to try it (i.e. popcorn popped in bacon fat could be an unwanted surprise for our vegetarian friends).
9. The Avro is a cozy space.  We’d love to know if you’re coming in the comments (we’ll also be setting up an invite on our FaceBook group to track attendees so we can forecast any capacity issues.
10. The background on Home Ec is here.

Recipe Ideas:

We asked the FaceBook Community for their ideas on great bar snacks – here’s some recipes based on their suggestions:

• Elin Suggested “Dark sourdough rye bread cubes roasted/toasted/fried with butter and garlic. (Essentially super-garlicky croutons.) All the bars in Estonia have them these days – sooo tasty!”  There’s a recipe for croutons here that you could easily adapt to her suggestion (and now I want to go to Estonia!).
• It will be tough to find decent corn this time of year but The Root Cellar’s Garden suggested Homemade Corn Nuts (why haven’t I done this in the summer?) She also suggested, crackers, cheese and pickles – easy peasy!
• Kaela (of Local Kitchen Blog) made these Rosemary Roasted Cashews (from The Kitchen Sink Recipes) and said they were great.
• Mary Ann called for beer nuts.  Here’s a vegetarian recipe (I say that because the link is to ‘Bacon Magazine’) that’s super easy to make.
• Norm suggested The Union Square Cafe’s Bar Nuts saying they were easy to make and easy to find the recipe.  It looks great!
• Kelly, Chris (who oughtta know since he runs TorontoBeerBlog) and Auburn Medow Farm both shouted out for Pickled Eggs.  Since the Avro sells pickled eggs, I don’t feel right stealing their thunder (but if you really want to make them, know that the National Center For Home Food Preservation reccomends that they be stored in your fridge).
• Chris likes all pickled things, including pickled garlic (as well as eggplant, branson pickle or picalili).  Our recipe for pickled garlic is here – if you already have some, don’t miss out on our “Vampire Begone” free labels for your jars.
• Kelly also loves tomato jam.  Here’s an archive of Tomato Jam recipes by Marisa of Food In Jars.
• Shanelle suggested popcorn; we made Curried Popcorn in bacon fat that was just awesome.
• Audrey had a variation on popcorn called “Drunk Popcorn Balls” which sound sinister (in the best of ways): “Drunk popcorn balls. I make regular popcorn balls and add booze soaked dried fruits and other things. I really like rum soaked raisins with crystallized ginger. And I’ll dehydrate citrus peels through the year then soak them in tequila and when the balls are finished Ill roll them in salt for a Margarita ball. I make the balls half the normal size so they are 2 bites. “
• Leesie says caramel corn tickles her fancy.  Here’s a recipe for Caramel Corn without Corn Syrup.
• Leesie also liked peanut brittle - I turned to Kaela to find this great sounding recipe for ‘Pepita Brittle’.
• Kendra likes Spicy Rice Crackers.  These sound great!
• Shana (Folks Gotta Eat) suggested “Hot Tamari Almonds” from Bymark (a Toronto restaurant).  There’s a recipe for Tamari Almonds here that you could add your own heat too!
• These Sweet and Spicy Salted Roasted Nuts were also a big hit.
• Diana was being cheeky when she suggested that Cheetos could eliminate the need for homemade snacks – so I’ve decided to up the ante and found a link to low-carb, baked homemade cheetos just to stir the pot!
• Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It and Shanelle suggested pretzels.  There’s a recipe for homemade pretzel bites here.  If that sounds ambitous,  you could easily make Kaela’s homemade mustard that she shared on Food in Jars.
• Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It also expressed a desire to find a way to make homemade Goldfish Crackers.  The Root Cellar’s Garden provided two helpful links here and here (the last one even shows you how to make your own cookie cutter for them).

What would you make?  And who’s coming out on January 30th?

* For those of you from other cities wishing you had something like this: we are considering working with others to globalize the idea of “Home Ec” through a network of people with similar values and mission to inspire people to connect with their food and each other.  We have no idea how this will work though have been approached by several in the 3-days since announcing the event.  We will always encourage people to do their own thing and create their own events, however, if you’re interested in joining forces, send us an email and we’ll compile a list of other people interested in bringing Home Ec to their area and we’ll consider the possibilities of working with others to expand this idea once we get a few events under our belt.  Email is at: wearewellpreserved (a) elevenideas.ca