Episodes
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Wrapping up the season
Hello Food Explorers! Today's episode I reflect on the holiday season, discussing shopping habits and the trends in holiday shopping. How important is supporting local businesses and I'll share some insights and experiences from being at holiday markets. I'm also so curious about the evolution of...
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We're back...but....
Hello Food Explorers! It's been a hot minute since we've been online and for good reason. We had a medical emergency to deal with, a long stay in the hospital, and now the long recovery process. But, I love this community so we're coming back but with a slower pace this time so that it can be...
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Episode 40 - Flex those eggs
Hey hey Food Explorers I've been noticing some trends and big things working in the food industry lately. From social media accounts posting about the egg-stitential crisis in the cost of food, to some big companies making big changes. I'm wondering how these things will start impacting food…
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Episode 39 - a few weeks of food musings all in one!
Hey hey Food Explorers! I t's been a crazy few weeks - Blue Monday has hit and it has hit some harder than others. I have some cool new labels for my baking supplies and am having fun labeling them. Plus, a new cookie baking book - Zoe Bakes Cookies. I visited a culinary innovation kitchen and a...
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Episode 38 Milk wars and coffee shop woes, my ranty rant!
Hey Hey Food Explorers! Look at me getting back into consistently posting episodes! Feels so good to be back and I'm making so much progress doing my annual clean up and yearly planning! Today, I get ranty about alternate milk pricing at coffee shops. Listen in to hear all the reasons why plus…
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Episode 37 New Year, Last Year, and where have I been?
Hey hey Food Explorers! I'm back with a new episode, a Happy New Year, an update, some thoughts on the future, and a few ramblings as well. Thanks to you all for being here and making our 2024 awesome! We've got lots more in store for this year, can't wait to share it with you! FIND US ON ALL OUR...
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Episode 36 Chocolate school is not a myth, an interview with Ecole Chocolat
Hey hey Food Explorers! In this episode, I am absolutely thrilled to interview Pam Williams and Alysha Kropf, two influential figures in the chocolate industry. Pam created Ecole Chocolat, an online chocolate school plus so much more! The school has trained some of the best chocolatiers and...
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Episode 35 - Truffula Tree Nut Creamery - the best plant based cheese
Hey hey Food Explorers In this episode, I have the absolute pleasure to interview Allison Landin, founder of Truffula, a company specializing in plant-based cheese. Seriously, the best plant based cheese out there! We discuss Allison's journey from a healing process involving food to creating a...
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Episode 34 - Farms to Jars Adventure, a conversation with The Herbal Mama
Hey hey Food Explorers! Today's conversation with Elaine Doucette, The Herbal Mama is a fascinating chat about all things farms, farmers, foraging, fermenting, and fun! All the F's are given here in this episode. I have had the pleasure of eating the ferments that Elaine creates and they are…
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Episode 33 - A foodie's dream in Nova Scotia: gardens, local eats, and Anthony Bourdain
Hey hey Food Explorers! I've got a super treat today, I reconnected with two of my favourite people from when I lived in the Bow Valley, Alberta, Canada. Chris and Shari-Lynn Williams, were the innkeepers at Mt. Engadine Lodge for many years and it was such a special place to go and spend time in...
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Episode 32 Why recipes fail and why it might not be your fault
Hey hey Food Explorers! I've been on the hunt this past week looking for a particular recipe which led me to going down the rabbit hole of recipe fails. Why these happen, why people follow viral TikTok nonsense videos, and how some recipe writers just don't know what they're doing. It's a bit of…
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Episode 31 Weekend getaways and foodie beginnings
Hey hey Food Explorers! We just got back from a short but wonderful trip to Canmore to visit our friends! I recorded an episode while I was there that I will edit and it will be up on just YouTube - super visual. I talk about that a bit in this episode, plus all the super fun things we've been...
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Episode 30 Student surprises, saskatoon tasting, and my new training regime
Hey hey Food Explorers! It's been quite the week! I finished teaching the Entrepreneurship course and was totally spoiled on my last day of teaching. One of my students even made my favourite pie - cherry pie! I'm not home right now, as usual but where' I'm dog sitting is walking distance away…
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Episode 29 Weekly update, saskatoon berry picking, weird foods, and more!
Hey hey Food Explorers! The heat wave has finally broken! Looking forward to a week of much more manageable summer temperatures! Which means I'll finally be heading out to visit our favourite bakery at their farm; Farmhouse Bakery! Last week I did some saskatoon picking and we wrote a great…
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Episode 28 - Buck up - it's time to celebrate! July's Buck Moon and Open Farm Days!
Hey hey Food Explorers! It's coming up to the most wonderful time of the year! Time to get ready to celebrate farms, farmers, the harvest, and all things long table culinary farm to fork events! Here in Alberta, we have Open Farm Days happening on August 17/18th. There's so many events that I...
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Episode 27: Burning in the heat wave! Why I have to postpone farm visits!
Hey hey Food Explorers! It's wild out there! We are in crazy heat wave here in Alberta, Canada and it's been a challenge to deal with! People are scrambling to get portable AC units, fans, ice packs - ice cream!! I was at the grocery store the other day and the frozen dessert section was CLEARED...
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Episode 26 Let's catch up on all the happenings - mid year update and more!
Hey hey Food Explorers! Let's do some catch up today - it's been a hot minute since I've done a solo-sode! I have some incredible interviews coming up - check out Fifth Gen Gardens: https://www.instagram.com/fifthgengardens/ Preorder her new cookbook: https://amzn.to/4cCCSQS I already pre-ordered...
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Book Review - Bite by Bite: Nourishments & Jamborees
Hey hey Food Explorers and Book Lovers! I've been wanting to get this started for a while - I love books! I read hundreds a year and food memoirs/cookbooks/writing make me so happy! I have a huge collection of beautiful books but sometimes a book just comes into your life that makes you extra...
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Episode 25 Making Bryan Johnson's Nutty Pudding
Hey hey Food Explorers! I love watching content on YouTube, no really I find so many channels fascinating. A few months ago I came across Bryan Johnson, the creator of Project Blueprint, Don't Die, and according to his profile he's the most measured human in the world. He gets a lot of hate but I...
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Episode 24 Brewing up winning beer with Greg Zeschuk of Blind Enthusiasm Brewery
Hey hey Food Explorers! This was a great week for learning all about Spontaneous fermentation and barrel aged beers with Greg Zeschuk, owner of Blind Enthusiasm Brewery in Edmonton, AB, Canada. Spontaneous brewing is something I knew nothing about except that I really loved the beers we sampled...
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Episode 23: Pouring Over Pages -a culinary conversation with Mary Bailey Editor in Chief The Tomato Food & Drink
Hey hey Food Explorers! I have been eagerly anticipating this conversation with Mary Bailey, the Editor in Chef of the Tomato Food & Drink magazine. It is one of my most favourite mags to pick up 6 times a year. The content is so wonderfully local and not just about restaurants (though we love...
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Episode 22 A Caffeinated Conversation with Dota Coffee
Hey hey Food Explorers! I've got a treat for you today! My friend Celeste of Dota Coffee joined me for an incredible conversation all about her family's coffee company, all the things I did not know about coffee, and her exciting news that soon there will be a Dota Coffee bar located inside my...
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Episode 21 Why these 31 cookbooks are leaving my house!
We're back to numbered episodes this week and more spring cleaning...cleaning out the cookbooks that is! Hey hey Food Explorers! If you're like me you've probably got a hefty collection of cookbooks. I have A LOT of them - well over 100. But, why are these 31 books leaving my house - they bring…
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Peas, love and microgreens - Product + Recipe 1
This was a blast to make! Taking a product I love from a farmer I love, yapping about it and making a great recipe! This is our first of the Product + Recipe videos and I was thinking of when the first time I ever ate microgreens? Still trying to figure that out - look for the Substack article...
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Should I Quit? A Chocolatiers Dilemma in 2024
Hey Food Explorers! It's getting wild out there if you're a chocolatier! Cocoa prices are at an all time high! And not just it went up a few percent, nope it's up 264%...meep! Jason and I wrote a Substack article (link below), and we write about what's happening but I wanted to do a personal...
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Technique 1 - Unleash the Power Within: Activating Nuts for Optimal Nutrition in 3 easy steps!
Yay! The first in our new series' that is all about a simple technique to activate your raw unprocessed nuts. Step 1 - soak for the right amount of time Step 2 - rinse well and get all the ick off Step 3 - dehydrate until dry I go through how to do this and why. Plus pro - tip: if you don't have…
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Trailer - New Series Coming
Hey Food Explorers! Happy Monday! I've got some fun new videos coming that will be part of different Series! We'll have: - techniques - recipes - product reviews - cookbook reviews The goal is to create some fun short videos for each of these because let's be honest I have a million ideas in my...
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Episode 20 Plateful of Surprises
Happy day everyone! So the other day I attended a fabulous dinner party hosted by a good friend. She served us 5 courses, nom nom! The most amazing thing is she has a laundry list of food allergies but I didn't feel like anything was missing - she's a pro! But, it's taken her a long time to…
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Episode 19 Olive my Love
Olive a sudden it's become clear that I have a problem hahah! I love puns and olive the puns should be used! This week we'll be diving into the world of olive oil. I actually had way more to say but the episode was becoming unruly - truly it was pitiful. Okay, I'm done! There's a store I've…
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Episode 18 Travel Food and More
I'm back and in a hotel room! I missed a few weeks - sorry everyone! I was suffering imposter syndrome, working wearing too many hats and so much more. But, now I'm here again and realizing that I love making these episodes. They won't be perfect but that doesn't mean I can't still record and...
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Episode 17 Texture Time
Ohhhh-eeee have I got a fun one for you all today! I figured last week was pretty sad so let's just jump right into something fun - texture! I love texture; crunchy, crispy, smooth, and all the ones in between! I'm trying some new techniques again this week - adding in some more music and...
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Episode 16 CEBA Loan Blues
Hello! Happy Wednesday night! Time management my friends is not my friend right now! But, I've been working on some cool things which I'll be announcing mid-year...gotta wait! Today I am on what might seem like a tangent but is related to food and the restaurant industry and a part of why so many...
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Episode 15 Radishes Galore
Heyyyyy! So, apologies as this episode is out way too late! I have been having massive issues with getting the videos uploaded - so next week I need to go back to filming on Sunday so I have a 2 day buffer to get the episode done - my apologies! Now, on to radishes! Yup - this week is the first…
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Episode 14 Welcome to 2024 and Cookbooks Revealed
Happy New Year everyone! So far I've been ringing in the New Year by sleeping - no really, I'm exhausted! LOL Coffee, books, puzzles, and sleep has been my motto while I recover from an insane holiday season. But, now for the fun part - planning out the new episodes, the cookbooks for the 2024...
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Episode 13 Recap 2023 and Look Ahead 2024
Hey all you lovely people! How is it almost Christmas?? Insanity! Today's episode is a little bit of a mix. I talk a bit about the messaging that some businesses are putting out at this time of year. From "help we aren't going to make it!" to "we didn't make it, last day of business is coming…
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Episode 12 Let’s Chat (end of year questions!)
Hey hey! How is it already almost the end of 2023? I mean c'mon! Today's episode is a fun one full of burning questions that I need to know the answers to. Such as: - favourite hot chocolate (recipe please!) - are you a farmer's market shopper, yay or nay? - advent calendar - day by day or no…
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Episode 11 Free Samples are not Free
Hey hey! Another quick episode this week as we are definitely in the holiday madness still! More markets, and tasting events to finish off the year but I still wanted to remain consistent in posting episodes. This one is the start of the conversation about "free samples" which are definitely NOT...
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Episode 10 In the Weeds
Hey hey all! This week is a short one! I want to make sure I'm consistently posting even though right now the chocolate business is definitely in the weeds! This is a saying that relates to being so busy and swamped that you can't see a way out - we're totally there right now between markets and...
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Episode 9 Holiday Madness
It's that time of year, the build up to the holidays! For me, being a chocolatier it is an entirely different ballgame. There's chocolates to make, orders to fill, events to host, markets to attend, and all while trying to hold on to a tiny bit of sanity. In this episode I share a bit about how…
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Episode 8 Beyond Chicken Fingers - A Kid Foodie
This week as promised I have a super guest on The Food Explorer Podcast - my niece Sloane! We talk about being a kid who loves food, and trying new foods, favourite things to eat, and her love of baking. Don't miss out on all her nuggets of wisdom! This episode is the audio interview we did…
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Episode 7.1 Harvest Tasting - the results audio recap
Something totally different this week! Please let me know what you think! I wanted to get some video of the process of creating the Harvest Tasting events and so there are a lot of new recording techniques that I used to make videos and from that I pulled out the audio that makes sense for an...
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Episode 7 A Harvest Themed tasting that supports local and seasonal
Hey hey everyone! This week is a solo-sode! I have so many ideas for episodes and this was a timely one to record for a few reasons. First, we are in the middle of hosting 2 Harvest Themed tasting events. This is with my chocolate company Colleen's Chocolates. (https://colleenschocolates.com/) I...
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Episode 6 Terroir Symposium Recap
Well this was a crazy few days at the Terroir Symposium in Calgary, Alberta, Canada! I wanted to do a recap episode of the event - going over some of the things I loved and some of the things that were not stellar. I actually have quite a few more thoughts on the symposium which I will put into…
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Episode 5 Malcolm Saunders of The Light Cellar
It's always exciting when you get to speak with amazing people right in your own community and someone that is truly a community builder! Today on The Food Explorer Podcast I'm speaking with my friend Malcolm Saunders, owner of The Light Cellar in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and fellow chocolate...
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Episode 4 with Crystal Bonnet of Crystal Dawn Culinary
Wow! This was a super fun and totally serendipitous recording for the episode! My good friend Crystal Bonnet of Crystal Dawn Culinary happened to come to Edmonton from Victoria, BC right when I was actually home! We have an inspiring chat all about her journey from learning about raw, vegan, and...
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Episode 2 - 4 Stories 4 You
We thought we'd try something fun and see what you all think! This episode is all about 4 things that have just happened or will happen very soon in the food industry. Let's dive in! 1. Alicia Kennedy just released a book called No Meat Required, Beacon Press, August 2023, 232 pages...
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Episode 1 with Fab Channer
Hello Food Explorers! We're heading into the world of Hospitality today as I introduce you to one of my favourite people to create with - Fab Channer! She's known by many names but since we've met that's how I know her. This episode is a short one all about training people for the Hospitality...
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The Food Explorer Podcast Episode Zero
We're jumping in and getting it done! Friends! This has been 2 years in the making and yup this first episode is going to tell you a bit more about what's coming up - and yes there's a lot! Things to know: - we launched a new Instagram account just for this podcast, here's the link...
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The Food Explorer Trailer
Coming this Fall, The Food Explorer Podcast with Colleen Heidecker! We'll be bringing you stories from the dynamic people behind our food! You'll love it, you'll hate it but once you know the stories, will it make your food taste better? Let's find out, let's go exploring! Want even more of The...