by Jennifer Bowles

August is upon us and our bountiful crops of juicy local corn are at their peak of sweetness and ready for your table! With each and every bite, soft kernels burst and pop into your mouth delivering that quintessential taste of pure summer.  Like a typewriter, you move from one side of the cob to the other and then back, savouring the rich, creamy, buttery taste that drips into your palm and down your wrist. You nearly forget about that steak on your plate and instead continue to relish the experience until your cob resembles an empty honey comb. Nothing says perfection better than that!

If you’re not already familiar with a publication called Island Farm Fresh, I would get familiar with it. It’s available at most local farmers markets. Island Farm Fresh is a publication that promotes and supports our incredible, hard working island farmers. This little magazine is a wealth of information about what’s in season, where to go, our local farmers, tips and guides, maps to the farms and so much more!

Visit www.islandfarmfresh.com and you will find a product list and list of farms that sell that product (i.e. farms that sell blueberries). Go to 
islandfarmfresh.com/product_front.htm and then click on your product of choice – that will take you to a list of farms that sell that product.

Island Farm Fresh also has a list of seasonal products available so you can plan ahead. Now, there is no excuse not to buy local and eat local: it’s so simple, and the product blows the imported goods out of the water!

Here are a few Tips and Tricks about our friend corn that everyone should follow to ensure they get the maximum flavour and most succulent, delectable cob yet! Now, lend me your ear; (I know, corny ... forgive me, I couldn’t resist).

1) DO NOT peel your corn until you are ready to eat it. This actually greatly reduces the sweetness of the kernel. You always see people in the grocery store whipping the husks off the cobs to check and see if the corn is ripe. You don’t have to do that. Simply puncture one of the kernels with your finger and look for a milky white sap that will ooze out … if it does that, you’re good to go. Imagine the husk to be like a long coat. Now imagine the corn to be your 15-year-old daughter on a date. The coat stays on … AT ALL TIMES.

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by Steve Sheppard

This month I delve into how the coffee you drink reflects your personality. This is far from palm-reading stuff: there’s a lot to be said based on what kind of coffee you drink. From astute observations and conversations over the decade I was a barista I developed the same insight as that of a bartender, who at the end of the day may be able to help you figure out life for less money than a counsellor.

Coffee drinks and personality … here we go:

White Mocha Drinkers – do a lot of Facebooking, are trying to look sophisticated and continually buy everything with too much sugar in it … my guess is they decorate their surroundings with frills.

Latte Drinkers – like to savour their coffee, taking time to ponder life’s complexities, and are often inspired by a past trip to Europe or Central America.

Cappuccino Drinkers – These folks can be complicated. Straight-down-the-middle “Cap” drinkers are fairly predictable and are texture people: the kind of person that will avoid a certain food because of how it feels in their mouth (no matter how good it tastes). Complication creeps into the cappuccino world when people get “specific” about how much foam they want – in millimetres! – and these ones typically dress the same as the people they’re with. Then there’s the cappuccino drinker who wants half the caffeine because they are convinced they have a “sensitivity” to it (amongst other things). These ones likely spend a lot of time in the refund line up at department stores and don’t cut the grass at home.

Carmel Macchiato Drinkers – This one is tough … these folks can be moody: sweet one moment and on the warpath the next. When I am with a caramel macchiato drinker I’m always ready to duck quickly.

Americano Drinkers – these people are value seekers. They aren’t looking for caffeine so much as taste. They can be very specific … anal retentive in fact. The ones who want a specific number of seconds on their shot likely have sex with their socks on … I’ve yet to verify this fact, but if I was a gamblin’ man!

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