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Okanagan-Taste

Cooking will keep us together

Valentine's food date ideas

To paraphrase a classic hit from Captain and Tennille, “food” will keep us together. And love does enter through the nose, to paraphrase Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour’s Lost and at the same time steal a line from TV’s Frasier.

But enough with clichés. You’re probably wondering what to do with your beloved or your BFF(s) as Valentine’s Day approaches. If V-Day is already booked (see the events list below for ideas if not), consider a food-themed learning experience for sometime in 2020.

How about the gift that keeps on giving, the whole year – a garden?

Okanagan Seed Savers recently launched its regional Seedy Saturday and Sundays, with events planned from Cawston to Enderby and many points between. Make a day of it to:

  • buy, donate, or trade heirloom seeds; 
  • participate in the garden tool swap table for unwanted but useable implements;
  • browse and buy handcrafted crafts, food, snacks, and beverages;
  • learn about gardening, seed saving, permaculture, fermented food, and food security from local experts.

It might not be the most romantic idea, but it’s interactive, will make you feel like you’re doing something good for the world, and when your veggies pop up later this year you can reminisce while cooking up a fresh, hand-harvested dinner together.

No garden? Take in a class at The Okanagan Table in Kelowna. Better yet, Thursday Suppers have just begun: three-course interactive dinners with Chef Rod Butters. You watch while he cooks, and you leave with a signed copy of his cookbook. The Demo and Dine series is an option to learn everything from knife skills to gnocchi and more, with a partner or some pals, or on your own for a future date night surprise.

The Chef Instead will come to you for a cooking class. Heading up a ski hill? Book Chef Martin Laprise for an après-ski dinner. 

Speaking of winter… if you’d rather wait until warmer weather for a night out, a couple of recommendations to book now and present in a suitably romantic card this weekend.

Hester Creek’s cooking classes are already sold out until May, and they aren’t so much a class, but rather a gathering of a dozen new friends having a good time while watching a chef in action. 

You’ll find Chef Chris Van Hooydonk and his team from Backyard Farm at a number of winery events, but also at his own Chef’s Table for multi-course demos and workshops.

Plenty of options to show you care at anytime in 2020.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Feb. 13, Penticton: The BC VQA shop hosts For the Love of Food and Wine, a sensory experience with food pairings from The Chef Instead. 

Feb. 14, Kaleden: Flambe Catering and Oliver’s Covert Farms Family Estate team up for a gourmet Valentine’s dinner at the historic 1912. 

Feb. 14 – 17, Oliver: Road 13 features a “Sweetheart Flight” of five wines paired with cheese and chocolates.

Feb. 14 – 16, Oliver: VinAmité has special Valentine’s pairings with a selection of six cheese crostinis to indulge the senses. Reservations required, call at 250-498-2234 or 250-535-1323.

Feb. 13 – 16, Penticton: Take your beloved or your BFF to Love, Wine & Chocolate at Township 7, featuring Maison Mulnati treats. 

Feb. 15 and 16, Okanagan Falls: See Ya Later Ranch hosts Family Day, with tasting fees donated to the SPCA and homemade stew for purchase.

Feb. 21, Kelowna: Join the Icewine Celebration at Summerhill Pyramid Winery.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.



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About the Author

A creative thinker with more than two decades of experience in communications, Allison is an early adopter of social and digital media, bringing years of work in traditional media to the new frontier of digital engagement marketing through her company, All She Wrote.

She is the winner of the Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association's 2011 and 2012 awards for Social Media Initiative, an International LERN award for marketing, and the 2014 Penticton Chamber of Commerce Business Excellence Award for Hospitality/Tourism.

Allison has amassed a following on multiple social networks of more than 30,000, frequently writes and about social media, food and libations as well as travel and events, and through her networks, she led a successful bid to bring the Wine Bloggers Conference to Penticton in June 2013, one of the largest social media wine events in the world, generating 31 million social media impressions, $1 million in earned media, and an estimated ongoing economic impact of $2 million.

In 2014, she held the first Canadian Wine Tourism Summit to spark conversation about the potential for wine tourism in Canada as a year-round economic driver.

Allison contributes epicurean content to several publications, has been a judge for several wine and food competitions, and has earned her advanced certificate from the Wine and Spirit Education Trust.

In her spare time, she has deep, meaningful conversations with her cats.

She can be reached at [email protected]



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The views expressed are strictly those of the author and not necessarily those of Castanet. Castanet does not warrant the contents.

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