Chef Demo and Pizza Make & Bake in our New Cob Oven

On Saturday we invited the whole community to come out and celebrate the Autumn Harvest with us at the Tahsis Community Garden.  We heated up our newly built cob oven as Chef Silvie Keen treated the audience of about 42 people of all ages to some delicious and informative recipe demonstrations.  After everyone enjoyed samples of local blackberry dumplings and green bean tomato salad, we all took turns constructing our individual pizzas to fire up in the oven. 

The lovely meal was rounded out with such favourite pot luck items as caramel apple cake, Roasted sesame kale chips, devoured not ten feet away from where they were grown, Mo's famous pickled beets (which we all learned how to make at last year's canning seminar), and all the communal garden produce (onions, basil, lettuce, carrots, broccoli, tomatoes, chard) in a giant vibrant salad.

The pizzas turned out great!  The dough made by Silvie puffed up beautifully and was a great vehicle for all the interesting toppings that everyone brought.  The standard pepperoni is always delicious, but many folks branched out with feta, herbs, zucchini, spinach, sundried tomatoes, and a rare treat, the chantrelles just picked that morning, thank you Roger!

Traci worked tirelessy stoking the fire in between pizza pans, watching that the new door didn't burn, brushing the coals to the side and helping everyone truly enjoy the experience.  Thank you Mike for making a door for our oven!  After chatting to everyone about the benefits of this kind of cooking and seeing a cob oven cook-out for the first time, it really hits home why sharing a meal of comfort food with friends and neighbours is such an important part of our culture.

Andrea passing out samples of the salad Chef Silvie prepared
(watch for the recipe on our blog soon!)



Journalist Bev L. walks behind a new garden wreath on our holly tree.



Catherine enjoying the party

  

Silvie demonstrating a good way to chop fresh herbs. 
Our communal herb garden is quite successful this year in our garden.

Traci talks about the practice of making and using cob ovens.

Some of our delicious meal, enjoyed in perfect weather yet again. 
Notice the lush basil plant in the background, what a clever, elegant "dish" to bring to a pizza party!

Our Tahsis Community Garden Society president, Kim, pleased with her pizza.

Ray and Janet tour the garden.

Em's pizza was one of the first out of the oven.



Sarah poses for a portrait



Vegetables and herbs from our garden for the salad



Now we're getting fancy, roasting our onions and garlic alongside the pizza



Locally harvested blackberries simmering with honey and butter for the dumpling sauce.
(watch for the recipe on our blog soon!)



Silvie's pretty green bean tomato salad.  Most of our garden beds had a row or two of beans this year; yellow. purple or green, broad, scarlet runner, even fava beans all were grown in Tahsis this season. 



Look at these beauties that Roger generously shared!