The Regional 'n' Artisanal Food Market

I have been totally side tracked today by fantastic local find!

I was going to do a blog on Winter Farmers Markets in TO, and I will, just not today. In researching the topic, I have stumbled across a man named Gurth Pretty. Gurth has just started an indoor farmers market at the CBC building on Thursdays. He has been approved for four trial markets by the CBC. My plan it to head there this Thursday coming up, see you there?

Anyways, Gurth has a website called "Cheese of Canada" You've got to check it out! It is a cheese lovers dream!

Gurth wrote  The Definitive Guide to Canadian Artisanal and Fine Cheese and a cookbook with Tony Aspler, The Definitive Canadian Wine & Cheese Cookbook. I haven't read them, YET, but that is the plan. May I add, what a great gift idea!

I'm not sure what else he has going on but I'll keep you posted.


The possibilities are endless! I'm hungry, I gotta go!
Have a great weekend TO!
Shirley

100 mile finds found Skarce Handmade Designer Jewelry

Well within 100 miles of Toronto, located in Burlington is Skarce Hand Made Designer Jewelry. Rob Lardie is the talent behind the name. Website designer by day, jewelry designer by night, and probably weekends too!
Rob works with copper, brass and silver mixing them with beautiful semi-precious stones, leathers and fibres. The results are amazing!

This Botswana Agate Sterling Silver Ring is 13x15mm and set in sterling silver. It is $55.

Hand Hammered Copper Necklace

This necklace features a hand made wire chain and hand hammered and polished copper discs. It's $25.

Studded Copper Cuff: It is textured and Patinaed with 3 copper studs. $30.

Oh, I know what you're thinkin' These are beautiful and such a great price that I could get something for myself AND something for that special someone for Valentine's Day! I'm a mind reader, that's for sure!

Both the Purple Thumb in the Beaches and Periwinkle in Bloor West Village carry Rob's stuff or contact him thru his store at http://www.100milefinds.com/

Have a great day in the neighbourhood!

Pabrika at 100 mile finds

Engineer by day, pillow and jewelery designer by night! Cheryl Mendoza is the Toronto artist that creates the Pabrika Handmade line of pillows and jewellery. She has some amazing stuff to offer.


This can be your own little blue box from Tiffany's. You have to check out Cheryl's blog, if I could figure out how to follow it, I would!

This is Cheryl's 'Bird on a Wire' pillow, a big hit of hers.

And now my personal favorite! Her instant messenger pillows! They are soooo much fun! With a 9 year old, an 11 year old and a home office I won't be able to explain 'wtf', but maybe I could throw 'ttyl' at them when I'm trying to get some work done!

Cheryl also makes beautiful jewelery! Here is but one example

The Kathryn Necklace

This is truly a fun necklace, with five magenta Swarovski crystal beads (measuring 6mm) free to move about within the wrapped wire ball pendant. The materials are nickel-free silver plated, and the chain measures about 20". Beautiful!

Have a great day in TO! It's raining something fierce out there. I'm going to http://www.100milefinds.com/ and see if I can find anything to fend off this terrible weather...

Vintage Paper Parade at 100 mile finds

Another great Valentine's Day find! Local artist, Debra Norton of Vintage Paper Parade is trying something new. A printable Valentine's Day card, how cool is that?!

You get a high res PDF file that can be printed on 8.5x11 white cardstock! Nothing says 'I love you' more than something you've made yourself, and this guarentees it will look great too!

As always, let us know of your great 100 mile finds, have a great day!

www.100milefinds.com

Just a little bit about 100 miles...


As you may have figured out both Susan & I were pretty inspired by the 100 mile diet. The idea for 100 mile finds was already percolating in our heads when we were lucky enough to see Alisha Smith and James MacKinnon speak at Hart House in Toronto last year. They were young, really young, fun, informative and in no way preachy! The not preachy part was amazing, it’s really hard to believe in something, feel passionate about it AND not have everyone you know not feel like you are ramming it down their throats!

We wanted to take the idea of the diet and expand on it. As we may have mentioned before, there is amazing talent right here in our own backyard, why not buy from our neighbours? Our question has never been why buy local; it has always been why not? Never mind all the good reasons for buying local, it’s not like there is any kind of compromise involved. The local talent is fantastic, world class, we really believe that if people aren’t buying local, it’s just because they don’t know what is available and how close by it is. See what I mean about the ‘preachy’ part, it’s a fine line.

One year later, 100milefinds.com is up and running.

Why 100 miles you ask? I think the people at 100mile diet said it best. “It’s an easy way to start thinking local. A 100-mile radius is large enough to reach beyond a big city and small enough to feel truly local. And it rolls off the tongue more easily than the ‘160-Kilometre Diet.’” www.100milediet.org/book It’s as simple as that.

Check this out! Go to www.100milediet.org, click on Pledge, sign up if you want, but for now, humour me and click on ‘Find your 100 miles’. You can type in your postal code or you city depending on how specific you want to be.

Here is Toronto’s 100 mile radius

Weird, Kingston’s out but London is almost in! Who knew Orillia was closer than Kingston? well not me! I could be considered directionally challenged although I haven’t been officially diagnosed!!

Have a great day in your neighbourhood!

Muffymade & Whigby at 100 mile finds

Yes, you can even buy your cards from local designers! The talent never ends.

Muffymade. Meredith began with greeting cards and now has gift wrap, mugs, t-shirts and lip gloss!   She has some great designs to show the one you love, you love em!

Who wouldn't want to smooch you after getting this card? Not me!

Whigby is Todd & Frank, and they are “all about pattern and paper; eccentricity and authenticity; cheap cheeriness with a dash of cheekiness”

Need I say more? They are fantastic! Love them!

We are always looking for new talent to add to the site! If you know of anyone, or are someone, let us know, we would love to hear from you!

Have a great day!

Shilrey

Muttluks, Izzy & Bauer Couture, Northern Biscuit and more!

Valentine's Day isn't just for humans you know! Dogs need lots of love and attention too! But what to give? You can't give them chocolate, perfume just messes them up, it is a big question. Not to worry, we have the answer at 100 mile finds. Of course we do!

Muttluks offers Muttluks in two models, fleece lined muttluks and the all weather muttluk. There is the Hott Doggers, economy boots for dogs with non-skid soles and 'Muttluks Pawstik' a moisturising balm pad protection from salt, snow and dryness. Need more to show your pooch how much you love them why not a matching coat?!

Maybe your dog isn't a shoe person, it could happen. Well I bet they would love a sweater from Izzy & Bauer Couture, I mean who wouldn't? They are fantastic! They are handmade with acrylic wool and 100% pure love, there's a back pocket for baggies and treats, they are comfy, easy to put on and machine washine washable. Give someone you love something warm and fuzzy!

Still looking? What about a doggie buscuit? What dog doesn't like a biscuit? How about a treat from Northern Biscuit Bakery? Not only will your baby adore you but it's a healthy treat! Who can resist green beef tripe with atlantic kelp? or smoked trout with wild rice and blueberries? Honestly, I could! EeeGads! What dog? What dog could resist that?

If you are still looking for ideas to show your pooch that he is #1 in your life check out RUFHAUS K9-Couture? The Great Canadian Parka? What about the Joe Jacket? So much to choose from, so few dogs to wear them!

What about The Kennel Cafe, in Roncesvalles? They are sure to have something that your premier puppy will love!

Check out http://www.100milefinds/ to see all the pet related vendors we have! If there is a local delight you know of that we haven't stumbled across yet, LET US KNOW! We are always looking for great new finds!

Shirl

Delight, Soma chocolatemakers, Cocoa Mosaic

Ahhhh, chocolate! Nothing says 'I love you' like a big box of chocolates.

Delight is this amazing little chocolate store/cafe in the Junction. Their chocolate selection is off-beat, and fantastic! I recommend that you take a trip to Delight, once you are there you really should enjoy a coffee, and then it's only proper to test some chocolates. It's just so you know that your loved one will like them. It's really all about them and how much you love them!

Soma chocolatemaker is our Chocolate maker of choice in the Distillery District. They promise that there are secret experiments underway for Valentine's Day, but don't tell anyone! Not only can you enjoy some great coffee or hot chocolate but you can tour their micro-chocolate factory! Nibble on some Italian cookies while you think loving thoughts about those you love!

Cocoa Mosaic is an on-line retailer from Toronto that specializes in beautiful handmade chocolates and confections. They are offering a beautiful Valentines box of chocolates. It is 8 pieces of heart shaped truffles that are handmade and decroated with vibrant colours. They are filled with raspberry dark chocolate, vanilla bean, and semisweet chocolate. They are in a simmery ivory box and embellished with a hand tied sheer ribbon! Are you thinking perfect gift? Me too!

OMG! This is torture! I gotta go!
I feel like singing "Love is all around"! I'm giddy from all this chocolate talk!
Have a great day,
Shirl

100milefinds.com: Valentine's Day is one month away!

2010 is hurtling by! How is it that Valentine's Day is only one month away! Not to worry, 100 mile finds is here to help you with the perfect gift for your loved one(s).

I think this is the perfect gift for the woman in your life! Is she hard to buy for? Not anymore! Have we got the gift for you!

Aromachology is a Toronto based company that makes custom fine fragrance.Talk about an oh-so thoughtful gift!

1. There is a 10 question 'Scent Profile' that places you in one of 5 personality groupings.
2. Each 'personality' has a specific character profile. Are you Sophisticated & Sensual Floral? A Totally Edible Gourmand? An Exotic Spicy Oriental? Clean & Fresh? or Bold & Brisk Woodsy?
3. Then you choose 3 out of 15 different notes to 'top off' your one-of-kind creation.

How cool is that?! Kirsten Menkes and Ashlee Firsten came up with this amazing notion!

I can't decide if it would be more fun to create the perfume for your special lady and present it to her OR give her the oppurtunity to do it herself OR spend a romantic evening (pre-Valentine's Day) filling out the questionaire together. Hmmmm, that's a hard one!
I've got tons more Valentine's Day thoughts, so keep checking back. Toronto is a very romantic city!
Shirl

New Years Resolutions! Shop Local!

Happy New Year to you all from Susan and myself.

As you can imagine we are very excited with all that 2010 has to offer. We can't wait to to keep building  http://www.100milefinds.com/ . The oppurtunites in front of us seem endless at this point. We've got more vendors to get on the site, newlsetters to go out, PR strategies to start implementing, marketing schemes to set into motion, our diabolical plan to take over the world 100 miles at a time is slowly unfolding. It looks like it's going to be a wild and crazy ride!

New Years Resolutions? Hmmm... I've never been one to give serious thought to New Years resolutions, usually I make resolutions in the spring and fall. It feels like there is more change in the air as the seasons change...To me the New Year seems to fall right in the middle of the winter rather than at a key turning point.

What the heck, here goes. There is always the tried and true. Dieting always seems like a good idea this time of year, too much feasting has gone on lately! Stop spending, start saving, seems like a no brainer this time of the year too. Another old stand by, make exercise a priority, thank goodness it's ski season, at least that makes some of the exercise fun!

Now you've got to see this coming... My big resolution this year, drum roll please, I'm going to make an even greater effort to shop locally! I think Susan is too! How about you? Do it, shop local!

Happy New Year! All the best to you in 2010!
Shirley and Susan