New Year, New Site, and New [Blank] Book Giveaway!
This blog began a bit less than a year ago and in that time it has ebbed and flowed, much like the seasons around me. I began blogging shortly after moving to Kitchener, Ontario with my wife and two young boys. Prior to our move I was working full time as a teacher in Atlanta, Georgia. Upon arriving here I became the stay-at-home parent while my wife went to work full time.
As much as I enjoyed my job teaching I was eager for a chance to be home with my boys and have more time to develop some of my favorite hobbies, like cooking and gardening. I even added all sorts of new hobbies, the one that has absorbed most of my passion being homebrewing beer.
I have had a hard time pinning down just what I want this blog to be but have always focused on my main objective which is eating local food and making meal plans. If you browse through the site you’ll find meal plans for all times of the year, always emphasizing locally grown foods. That means that if you live in the Region of Waterloo, or Southern Ontario, or really most parts of North America you can follow along and hope to find most of the local foods that I’m using at roughly the same time of year.
Since moving the site from localkitchener.wordpress.com over here to localkitchener.ca I’ve been thinking a bit more about what I want to focus on. I will continue posting our meal plans anytime we make one, which should be almost every week, and will share locavore tips and skills as seems relevant.
In honor of the new site and the new year I’m giving away a homemade book that you can use for whatever you want! Maybe it would be a good place to put meal plans. Or keep track of kitchen experiments (which is what I use mine for). Or just as a journal. Or give it to a friend as a gift.  Or do something else, once it’s yours you decide what to do with it!
The catch: because I believe whole-heartedly in local living I’m not sending this book anywhere.  What???  Yeah, sorry, the contest is open to all but if you don’t live in Kitchener/Waterloo then you will need to be willing to come visit our awesome cities and meet me at a local cafe or restaurant sometime to claim your prize! Ultimately I’m more interested in local community than in giving away free items to people across the continent.  I think I will continue local giveaways like this in the future as I make new items like homebrew (coming soon), soap (which I plan to do next month once I catch a demo at the KPL !), bread, and anything else that seems like it would make a nice gift….
If you live in this area and want to boost your chances of winning the book you can enter more ways than one! And check out the photos of how the book was made if you want to make your own. The video I followed is also included below and is an excellent resource.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
January 14, 2014 @ 8:47 pm
Aw – I live clear across our continent in California – so I can’t win. 🙠That’s okay, because I believe like you do – eat local and support local businesses. However, looking through the tutorial on how to make a book is very interesting! I think I could do that – so thank you! For some reason I just now found out you were a Spanish Teacher! Buenos Dias!
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January 14, 2014 @ 9:03 pm
Hey Vickie, yeah, I know, sorry! But I’m glad you you understand and that we’re on the same page, and you can definitely make one. It’s one of my favorite gifts to make for friends and family. And buenas tardes to you 🙂
January 16, 2014 @ 2:20 am
I’ve had fun reading your blog ever since sitting in at your fermented pop, kombucha and beer workshop in August. The same time period had also seen me at home with my two kids, getting much more organized about meal planning than I ever thought possible. And loving the bits of time in the midst of baby and toddler care for kitchen adventures. Fermented pickles and fresh bread! So satisfying. This year, we’re planning adventures in the garden. My three year old’s new year’s resolution is to grow cabbages. And mine too! So, thanks for the local food coaching along the way. We’ve appreciated it.
January 16, 2014 @ 2:57 am
Hey Sarah, good to hear from you! It’s great you’ve had time to get more organized with meal planning and everything. I just finished ordering seeds for the growing season which always helps get me excited about the year to come, even in this bleakest of months….
January 16, 2014 @ 11:59 pm
Hey Jon! Love the new site and logo… glad that you guys managed to work out the programming bugs. I decided to comment/enter the giveaway even though I am entirely ineligible to win this prize (living, uh… overseas! No chance I can visit you for that coffee in the near future. Huge sad face) so I’m sorry if that confused things. Anyway, I do hope that you’re getting a bit of sunshine and that the family are keeping warm during the cold months. We had temps of 44 degrees C on the weekend (111 degrees f) so cold weather actually sounds pretty appealing right now! Anyway, love what you’re doing with the blog and in turn, your advocacy for locavore living. I feel entirely the same. Belated happy new year, can’t wait to keep reading your food adventures 🙂
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January 17, 2014 @ 12:32 am
Hey Laura, thanks so much! I love that you entered! And hey, maybe if you win I’ll change my mind and decide I’m willing to send a gift to a friend 😉
Anyhoo, I’m super jealous of your ridiculously hot weather, that sounds wonderful now, even if it’s a bit hot for y’all. And your blog has been lovely lately, your photos are gorgeous! Thanks for stopping by and hope to talk soon.
January 17, 2014 @ 3:22 pm
I’m really inspired by all your work to eat locally! My family has been in Waterloo Region for over 200 years and I am always so delighted to read about people who love it just as much as I do and want to see the best come of it. I especially loved your post about your ideal world of local foods and cities. I really think that we can make that world happen! Thank you for continuing to write and inspire your readers about the amazing food and farms and experiences that WR has to offer. I’m looking forward to reading more of your work in the future!
January 17, 2014 @ 7:53 pm
Thank you! I’m glad you enjoyed that post a while back. I can’t wait for the day when my dream is reality. Of course, then what will I blog about? Haha, just kidding, but thank you for the compliments and for stopping by. I’m jealous that you’re family has been here so long, it’s such a perfect place to live!
January 17, 2014 @ 7:39 pm
I subscribe via RSS so I hope you don’t mind if I don’t subscribe by email… I have a hard enough time getting through all of my other correspondence these days.
Anyway, I was really chuffed to see that I know both the other local commenters, so I think that even if you only have one winner you should meet up with everyone for coffee! My partner and I were also at the homesteading symposium, and really ought to get out and meet more parents who have similar local/DIY/food hobbies. And get some meal planning tips.. We have fairly spontaneous housemates right now, so my meal planning has gone out the window the last six months or so.
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January 17, 2014 @ 7:51 pm
Hey, that’s totally okay, sorry not to have included it as an option! And that’s great to know we’re all still staying in touch a bit after the symposium. Yes, that would be great to get some coffee, or have a meal together. Maybe a potluck would be good? And it’s okay to not meal plan. For me I found that once we had kids it was the only way we were eating more than just dutch babies every other night!
February 15, 2014 @ 2:14 pm
I have registered to receive updates. Good luck with your new site!
February 16, 2014 @ 7:45 am
Thanks, Liz! Hope to keep seeing you 🙂