GET INTO THE MIX
Celebrate Pancake Day
What: Grainstorm Heritage Baking pancake mixes, just in time for Pancake Day (Tuesday, Feb. 17.) They’re made with grown-in-Canada organic, fresh, stone-ground spelt, kamut and oat kernels, as well as dried cane juice, non-GMO baking powder, baking soda and sea salt. Why: “Bake like it’s 1869,” the Grainstorm package says, and the company makes a persuasive argument (on its website, under “Our Rant”) about what’s wrong with modern wheat, why you shouldn’t eat “industrial white flour” and why much of what is labelled “gluten-free” is actually junk food.
“We like the products because of the philosophy of selling only fresh ground,” says Jennifer Heagle of the Red Apron. “The mixes are vacuum packed and there’s a best-before date on them.” Highly refined white flour doesn’t go bad — real whole grains do.
The fluffy, toothsome pancakes also taste wonderful — for a hearty breakfast or Pancake Day supper. Where: The Red Apron (564 Gladstone Ave.), Market Organics (126 York St.), Metro Glebe, Whole Foods, Natural Food Pantry at Billings Bridge, Westboro Pharmacy, Terra20 at Pinecrest, and several Farm Boy locations. How much: $7 to $8 for a packet that serves six (generously). What else: For a change from maple syrup, Heagle recommends Barkley’s pure apple syrup (made entirely from apples, grown near Morrisburg, less than 100 kilometres from Ottawa) and/or Barkley’s Old Fashioned Apple Butter, made with apples, cinnamon and allspice. The syrup is $11 a bottle and the butter $6 a jar at Red Apron. Mix it up: The Grainstorm website offers a lovely sounding recipe for Ricotta Lemon Pancakes, which also starts with a packet of the pancake mix. More: www.grainstorm.com