Retailer

 Today we sat down with
the lovably quirky Allison MacKenzie of Dark Side Chocolates. Allison discussed how she sort of 'fell into' the business, the merits of good dark chocolate
over mass produced cheaper chocolate, and finding new flavour combinations. We
also touched upon the ups and downs of being a small business in the Comox Valley
and all that comes with it.Dark Side Chocolates
P.O. Box 1119, 
2722 Dunsmuir Avenue
Cumberland, B.C. V0R 1S0
Phone: 250-336-0126
Website: http://darksidechocolates.com
Facebook:
Dark Side Chocolates

 Today, we got to sit down with Layne and Brenda of 40 Knots Winery. We had a wonderful time discussing not just their wine making, but what lead them down the road to wine making as a career. But beyond that, we talked about their impressive community involvement - the 40 knots social calendar is downright exhausting! And as you know, we love getting a chance to speak with community minded businesses!  
Web: http://www.40knotswinery.com
 
Email:  infoat40KnotsWinery@gmail.com
Phone: (250)
941-8810
 
Address is: 40 KNOTS WINERY
2400 Anderton Road,
Comox, BC V9M 4E5
Open Thursday - Sunday, 11:30 am - 5:30
pm (and most statutory holidays) 
 

Do you ever wonder where your food comes from? What makes it so special? This week with our first studio audience we got a chance to talk to Gillian Watt from the BC association of abattoirs about BC Meats for BC Markets. We learned first of all BC does have a beef industry and a new BC beef net will allow local chefs the ability to buy BC beef. The program allows chefs to buy whole or half carcasses and have them process to there liking as well as giving a price per portion. With the North Vancouver Island Chef Association as our guests in studio we learned about the future of where our beef industry is going and how we will soon see local BC beef in many of our restaurants in our amazing province.

Brian McCormick joins us for another visit, along with his wife Lia, to explore their new enterprise, Clever Crow Herbs, Spices and Sea Salt.

Much to the dismay of our former producer Drex, we finally had the coffee lady in! Dyan Spink of Royston Roasting Company was able to join us in the studio to talk about there new cafe, the business of coffee, fair trade and other interesting bits of the coffee trade. With her husband Gary they have built a hugely successful business supporting local charity and fundraisers, as well as giving locals their morning buzz! Thanks Dyan!
Thanks for listening to the Edible Valley podcast. We gratefully accept donations to help with our hosting, as well as contributions of food ingredients to the Edible Valley test kitchen. Please feel free to contact us by email ediblevalley@gmail.com, follow our twitter feed (@ediblevalley) and like our facebook page

It was a pleasure for Edible Valley to bring Vickey Brown, manager of the Comox Valley Farmers Market, into studio for this episode. The Farmers Market is a huge draw for folks interested in local food, community support, and socializing. Now it it's 20th year listen as Vickey gives the origin story of our great market, arguably the best in the province, one of the few that runs year round, and also maintains diligent rules for vendors selling locally sourced, grown, and produced products. They also keep craft items to a minimum and focus on the agricultural side of what a Farmers Market is. Thank you Vickey, it was an honour to have you in. Visit the Comox Valley Farmers Market from 9-12 Saturdays at the Native Sons Hall in downtown Courtenay.
This week in the Edible Valley Test Kitchen, Jon surprised Blayne with making shell-less quiche. Blayne is eating a diet where he avoids grains, so anytime a meal can be made without, it is a wonderful thing. The quiche Lorraine was fantastic and contained some of Blayne's homemade bacon. Jon also made yam pav with mustard sauce and a little garnish of butter lettuce and grape tomato's, dressed with bacon vinaigrette. A quick easy meal, especially for a chef of Jon's caliber.

This episode we welcome Sue Smith of Beyond the Kitchen Door to the studio. Beyone the Kitchen Door is an all encompassing kitchen store that "offers hundreds of kitchen and cookware items, speciality and hard to find cooking utensils. Everything for the serious cook" They also offer very popular cooking classes, a range of artisan quality herbs and spices, including sea salt harvested and prepared in Cobble Hill. Thanks so much for joining us in studio Sue. For you holiday shopping, visit BTKD for gifts for everyone in your family and support this anchor of our downtown merchants.