I recently spent a delightful Saturday in Meacham, Sask., a village east of Saskatoon. It was the annual meeting of the Association of Saskatchewan Home Economists. Those organizing the meeting enticed us to go by holding the meeting in this village filled with artists.
For years I have wanted to visit the Hand Wave Gallery and Craft Shop in Meacham. It was opened in 1982 by fellow home economist June Jacobs and almost every year since she has sent me her brochure.
While Meacham isn’t that far from where I live, it isn’t along the path I normally travel, so it was great to finally get there.
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The gallery and shop sell the works of 75 artisans. It included June’s own work as a fibre artist and that of her husband, ceramic artist Charley Farrero. Media represented includes clay, fibre, glass, wood, metal and paper.
For gallery hours phone 306-376-2221 or check the website at www3.sk.
sympatico.ca/handwave.
Meacham has six studios where artists live and sell their art. Farrero invited us to his studio to see how he creates his ceramic art.
Loretta Knutson demonstrated the techniques and processes involved in making silver jewelry. We sat back and enjoyed the music of composer and instrumentalist Ley Ward, who has a recording studio and music business in the village.
Our meeting and the home-style cooked lunch was held at the Dancing Sky Theatre/Good Company Harvest Hall. A former church building was moved into town and is now the home of live theatre, one of only three rural professional theatre groups in Canada. It offers dinner and theatre events, workshops and concerts.
Railing safety standards
Dear TEAM: I am remodeling our stairwell and redoing the railing. For safety reasons, how far apart can the rungs on the railing be and how high should it be? – J.T., Elrose, Sask.
Dear J.T.: Canadian safety regulations state that the spaces between rungs on a railing must be 10 centimetres or less. This applies to indoor and outdoor railings.
Railings inside a house, such as on a stairwell or balcony, must be at least 91 cm high.
For an outdoor railing, such as on a deck, measure from the ground to the top of the deck (the platform that you walk on). If it is under 61 cm, no railing is required.
Over that, a 91 cm railing is required, and over 1.8 metres, the railing must be one m high.
Cookbook wanted
Dear TEAM: I need information. Kay Spicer wrote several cookbooks and was also a food writer for Canadian Living during the 1980s. The cookbook that I’m particularly interested in is From Mom With Love. Was this cookbook just a personal one or was it published by a company? I have the May1976 Chatelaine magazine (three pages) of her mother’s recipes From Mom With Love. Her mother, Kay Bergman Spicer, grew up in Radisson and later Yorkton, Sask. Her mother and grandmother were written about along with the recipes. -K. N., Komarno, Man.
Dear K.N.: The cookbook From Mom With Love was published by Doubleday Canada in 1990. It is available in our public library so it may be in yours also.
The information on the book at the library said to direct inquiries regarding sales to Random House of Canada. When I did that, it e-mailed back to say that From Mom With Love is now out of print.
The publisher suggested checking with bookstores to see if they still have a copy. The bookstores I checked with did not. Second-hand bookstores and garage sales may be possibilities.
If any of our readers know where this cookbook can be obtained, please let us know.
Celebrity beef cookout
The Beef Information Centre is launching a new recipe booklet, Celebrity Beef Cookout. It features new barbecue recipes with a regional flair, developed by cookbook authors and experts from across Canada. Each recipe features beef combined with local ingredients – British Columbia prawns, prairie rolled oats, Ontario apple salsa, marinated garlic flowers (a Quebec specialty), goat cheese and Nova Scotia smoked salmon.
One of the contributing chefs is Marisa Curatolo. After training as a chef in Paris, New York and Vancouver, Curatolo opened the Cooking Studio in Winnipeg. Of all the recipes she has introduced to her students, the prairie burger is the most requested.
Moist and delicious, it comes loaded with rolled oats, mushrooms and sour cream.
The prairie burger
1 pound medium 500 g
ground beef
1/2 cup quick 125 mL
cooking rolled oats
1/4 cup each light 50 mL
sour cream and
finely minced mushrooms
1 medium onion, finely diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon each 15 mL
Dijon mustard and chopped fresh
parsley (or 1 teaspoon /5 mL dried)
1 teaspoon each dried 5 mL
oregano and thyme
1/4 teaspoon each salt 1 mL
and fresh cracked pepper
In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients. Mix thoroughly to blend. Shape into four to six patties 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick (one to two cm). Lightly oil grill.
Barbecue, broil or pan-fry using medium-high heat for six minutes per side (turning once) until instant-read thermometer inserted sideways into centre of patties reads at least 160 F (70 C).
When preparing burgers for the barbecue, Curatolo recommends chilling the patties, after forming, for at least 30 minutes.
Serve on toasted whole-wheat buns, topped with speedy cabbage coleslaw as a relish.
Speedy cabbage slaw
In a large bowl, whisk together 1/3 cup (75 mL) each white wine vinegar and sugar, 1/4 cup (50 mL) canola oil, 1 tablespoon (15 mL) Dijon mustard and 1 tablespoon (15 mL) chopped fresh parsley. Add 16 ounce (454 g) bagged coleslaw mix (or 4 cups/1 L shredded cabbage and carrots) and one finely sliced red onion; toss well.
Cover and let stand for two hours at room temperature or up to one week in refrigerator.
Celebrity Beef Cookout is free in grocery stores. If you can’t find a copy, call 888-248-2333 or visit www.beefinfo.org.
