On a recent visit to the top of the CN Tower, I had to pass through some crazy new form of security. As I stood in a booth of sorts, sharp bursts of air hit my head–Hey, my hair!!!–my torso, my legs. When I emerged on the other side, curious and slightly disheveled, I asked the security guard what that was all in aid of. She told me that the blasts of air would dislodge any tiny particles from my hair, skin, or clothes, and should I have been either making a bomb earlier in the day, or carrying one with me to the top of the tower, the machine would have detected it. Huh! Cool.

On my visit to the Loblaw test kitchen today the security wasn’t quite as tight as that–no imminent threat of bombs, I trust–but pinching recipes and corporate secrets is a real concern.  Still, I was surprised they invite outsiders in. Though, two high-ranking PR people were never more than a foot away at any time, and often, whispers were exchanged between them, conferring over the level of secrecy of any given item or process.

So, it was after a wrong turn, followed by a long, scenic, and completely accidental detour to lovely Caledon–I must remember to come back in the summer!–I finally arrived, 45 minutes late. The President’s Choice test kitchen is located in the Loblaw corporate head offices in Mississauga, and quite the austere, imposing edifice it is; from the outside. The Madman-style lobby is sleek and spare with soaring ceilings, big art and uber-modern leather furniture. Once past the security desk, you enter what feels like a village unto itself. Staff mill about in the bright, open atrium, take lunch in the ‘food court’, or cluster around low tables in casual meetings. And somewhere, out of sight, is a fitness centre too. The folks I saw, looked genuinely happy to be there, in this covered village, in this industrial park, at the north end of Mississauga, Ontario…south of Caledon.

The immaculate test kitchen–all gleaming stainless steel and bright lights–is invisibly divided down the center, with product development
on one side, the test kitchen on the other, and the “round table”
smack dab in the middle. It’s here where a team of seven chefs, product developers, and food scientists, and assistants, dream up and escort each new PC product, every step of the way, from someone’s fertile imagination to the store shelf. It’s an incredibly involved process that can take about a year, with a new product going through as many as 100 trials before it’s deemed shelf-worthy. Bakery product developer, Karen Jull, walked me through the process, as one by one, other developers played show and tell with each other at “the round table”, in what’s called a group sensory panel.

Andrew Gugula, is the heartless dude responsible for developing all those tasty snacks and sweets–damn you!!!–and here, he’s performing a quality check on one of his newest products, tandoori almonds.

Part of this painstaking process is to check for breakage and splits. There is so much care and attention to detail put into every item PC develops. And it’s all about making sure you enjoy the product as much as possible.

Here, Sita Kacker, product developer for frozen grocery, puts three new proposed dishes for the PC Dine in Tonight line to the test. 

“My mandate is to create restaurant quality meals, with the convenience of staying at home, but with much less fat or salt than a typical restaurant meal.” Dine in Tonight’s portions are generous, and the quality is there, for about $10 for two. And, each box includes a suggested wine pairing.

Now, one of the things I noticed almost immediately, was just how skinny everyone here is! And yet, everyone is totally surrounded by food and eating constantly. I’m old enough to be resigned to the fact that life is rarely fair–my father always told me that fairness didn’t exist in nature, it was a human ideal, that we humans rarely achieved. Anyway, as I was saying, I’m cool with that, but this was just too much! If I worked here, I’d be a big as a house. What was going on here? What black magic, witchcraft perhaps, was afoot. And then she did it, and it kinda grossed me out. I watched as the skinniest woman among them, took a heaping forkful of General Tao Chicken, chewed it for a bit, then grabbed a paper cup, and lifting it right up to her mouth, genteelly spit it out. Ah, so that’s what’s going on here. My first thought was, anorexia, bulimia, but then, possibly catching the horror on my face, Karen explained that everyone here spits.

“You have to. At first you don’t, but by the end of the day, you feel sick from so many bites of so many different things.” 

Some days all they taste are cakes or ice cream, and that would not be easy on the system. But I was only visiting for a couple of hours, so I refused their kind offer of a spitting-cup of my own.

“We’re very serious about being green here” she went on, “all the cups are bio-degradable, and it all goes into the compost bins.” I was reassured by their commitment to the planet, but still, I decided to take my chances with the calories. 

Karen Jull gives a demonstration of the fine art of spitting out your food like a lady.

On the testing side, Chef Dana Speers is creating a line of recipes for their Superstore’s “Feed Your Family for Under $10″ promotion, but she pauses to explain how the two sides and groups of pros work together.

“The chefs create ideas for recipes, then we take it to the product development team, and they get to work on creating a grocery store version, then they bring it back to us, and on it goes, back and forth until it’s perfect.”

But if you think the kitchen sends their products to market, never to think of them again, you couldn’t be farther from the truth. Karen put it beautifully, “They’re like kids, you launch them, but you never really say goodbye to them.”

It’s also up to the kitchen to ensure the consistent quality of a product, and to monitor work of the manufacturer.

Here, Sita and assistant product developer, Jackie Hougham are testing several currently available frozen meals to make sure they still taste just as they were designed to, some time ago.

And since these dishes are meant to be re-heated in a microwave, the
team have a wall devoted to several common household models, just to
make sure that the timing on the box works in most, if not all brands
of oven.

And if the team ever find themselves at a loss for ideas, there are three more walls covered in cook books.

It’s the end of March, but Chef Dana Speers is lucky to be able to pick
fresh chives from the large herb garden just outside the kitchen.
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Now, on a really sad note, well, for me anyway, this is my last blog. I’ll still be appearing on CTV Kitchener, once a month and posting recipes, etc., and look for my Epicure page in the print edition, but this is the end of my ramblings here at Zoomer, anyway. From now on, please visit my website www.signelangford.com where I’ll still be yapping away about whatever moves me.

Thanks for listening!

Cheers,
Signe

Acid indigestion, plantar fasciitis, knees that suddenly seize on the stairs, fuzzy eyesight or shortening arms–I’m not sure, and well, I could go on and on. And you know what’s kind of funny? Each and every one of us, no matter how sure we are that we understand that we will get old, that our bodies will change on us–betray us, even–no matter what, we’re all still surprised, and rather offended by it all when it finally starts to happen…to US?! I know I am. Some days I’m shocked and horrified, some days a little sad by the passage of time, the loss of youth. I’m not ancient, just 45, but when I get a look at young skin, a fresh-faced 20-year-old, all taught and glowing and not a wrinkle in site, I feel OLD, worn-out, tired. That’s when I listen a little closer and with more willingness to believe the commercials for anti-wrinkle creams, that I know don’t really turn back the hands of time. I know that, but in those moments I want to believe. I also prick right up when Dr. Oz promises, upon his return from this commercial break, to show me the 5 foods that will take 10 years off my look.

I sleep alone, and on the part of the bed that I call the passenger side…should I ever offer a fellow a ride, as it were…I keep a tray. On it, everything this old lady needs to make it through the night: lip balm, assorted moisturizers, scar cream for last summer’s mosquito bites that won’t heal, Kleenex, Tums, dental floss and gum massagers, reading glasses, distance glasses, the book I’m reading at the moment, my itty bitty book light, some ear plugs, a couple of pens, my journal and in case the need of some late night existential comfort should arise, a copy of Oneness With All Life by Eckhart Tolle. Damn sexy! I know. But, like I said at the top, it happens to the best of us. And what I’ve found is, even if the $40 jar of cream doesn’t make the lines go away, if feels nice to treat yourself well, and that’s worth a buck or two. And hey, a gal can dream, can’t she?

But I do believe that what you eat and how you live does affect how well you age,and how good your skin looks. I don’t know about you, but I can spot a smoker a mile away, the deep lines around the lips, that crazy yellowish hue. It just ages you. So does heavy drinking, stressful living, too much sun, and hard, soul-destroying work. Happiness is important to good-looking skin too, if you ask me, but that’s just a hunch. Back to food. Here’s what I’ve learned from here and there, take it or leave it, but it can’t hurt.

Don’t eat junk or processed foods. That’s a no-brainer, we all know that already. Tuck into fresh fruit and veg, the bright, colourful ones. Go for foods high in vitamins A, B, C, and Omega 3s. And take your vitamin D. Mmmmmm…brown rice sushi with salmon and avocado. Sautéed kale drizzled with olive oil. Brown rice pasta tossed with fresh tomato, basil, roasted garlic, anchovy, and more olive oil. And I read a study that found pure, 100% rye bread to be more effective than laxatives in keeping a Zoomer regular. I love my rye bread with flax seeds every morning. Sometimes with all natural peanut butter, sometimes with butter and jam and a hunk of cheese. Or when I’m feeling extravagant and have no plans for kisses; goat cheese, lox, and thinly sliced purple onion.  

Bonus, if you live in the Golden Horseshoe area, you can visit the bakery that makes my favourite rye bread, Dimpflmeier, and the fantastic, German bakery cafe attached to it. While you’re stocking up on all that good-for-you rye, you might consider treating yourself to a nice strong coffee and hunk of something delicious and not-so-good-for-you. Just remember that thing I said about happiness.

And about that plantar fasciitis? Calf stretches, foot massages, and a trusty pair of Naots. I finally replaced…sort of…my ancient (15 year old) clogs with a pretty, new pair. I say sort of, because I just can not bare to throw them away, they have been soooo good to me. I shall relegate them to gardening. I also treated myself to a sexy pair of red sandals for summer and the cutest little granny boots for winter. I’m all set! And my feet feel fine!

Now, this isn’t the sandal I picked for myself, but, hey, pretty damn cute for a shoe that’s practically orthopedic, non?

Photo of these happy Guernsey girls is courtesy of Upper Canada Cheese Company.

And the winner is….well, let me back up a bit. I love cheese. I love strong cheese and mild cheese, soft and creamy or hard and dry. I like it from goats, cows, or sheep. Hell, I bed I’d like it from a camel or a deer or a yak. There was a time…a very long time…when I though because of my lactose intolerance that I couldn’t eat cheese. I spent years yearning for pizza, longing for brie, and pining for parmigiano. Then, just a few years back, I was reading It Must Have Been Something I ate, by Jeffrey Steingarten, wherein he recounts one of his more acerbic exchanges with a skinny socialite who picked every last shaving of cheese from her salad. Mr. Steingarten, concerned only for her happiness, asked why she was doing such a foolhardy thing. She told him she was lactose intolerant.

I’m not much of a sports fan. Sure, like almost every other warm-blooded Canadian with a pulse I was riveted by the final men’s hockey game…you know…the one against the Americans!!! For the GOLD!!! I am, however, a big wine fan, and I have to admit to some skepticism when I heard that The Great One was now in

Photo credit: www.irishoakforests.com

St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, is a bit of a mystery. Many myths and stories of his early life swirl about, including the tale of Patrick ridding the Emerald Isle of all its snakes. That myth has been debunked, put down to hundreds of years of, shall we say, overly colourful storytelling. Imagine that, the Irish, telling a colourful story! Well, personally, I’m glad the snake is not associated with the celebrations, ’cause it’s hard to find snake meat around these here parts.

It’s peak lobster season in P.E.I. From now until June, the little island that could will be fishing and shipping sweet, tender, live beauties all across the country. Once considered peasant food because of its abundance, the lobster has become a delicacy, most often associated with celebrations, special occasions, and romantic dinners for two. And, I’ll bet many of us landlubbers have only had lobster when we’ve been out to dinner. It can be intimidating business, killing a living thing with beady black eyes and wiggling legs…lots of ‘em. But try and console yourself with this: lobsters are more closely related to insects than animals, and they don’t possess well-developed nervous systems. But still, the debate rages on around the ethics of boiling live lobsters. Some suggest popping them into the freezer for about an hour prior to cooking. This almost shuts everything down completely. Others plunge the tip of a knife through the head, into the “brain”, such that it is. The Asian way is to simply and swiftly chop the live lobster in half. This is the way to go if you’re going to grill or wok cook it in seasonings and sauces. But for this blog, we’re talking boiled lobster dipped in butter.