WHAT'S IN A LOGO

We are surrounded by logos. There are a bunch in front of you right now in an email, or website. Logos are irresistible. Even infants are drawn to certain shapes and contrasting colors even before they speak. Luckily..?? there are industries created to capitalize on the shapes, colors and forms to create logos. We are constantly being bombarded by subliminal messages that translate into an ipad, sorry, impulse buys from all types of books, magazines, billboards and our many electronic devises. There are no ways around it. There will always be certain objects such as a diamond necklace, or oven baked bread, can draw us in like a moth to a flame. All of these things are taken into consideration when designing a logo. Good ones are easily identifiable. Great ones translate the type of business the logo represents in a blink of on eye.

I thought it might be fun to look at the transition of our logo. A project we basically took on our own, with some grateful guidance from friends who are less design challenged. It was a slow transition between each one, as was the process of the crackers starting with dozens of bags a week now hundreds; and very much like how Evelyn has grown up and showing the strength and confidence of who she is now becoming.

We are creative people who enjoy being part of a growing process, especially the ones we can share. Like any recipe there still may be some evolving as the look of Evelyn's Crackers may change a little here and there. But if our new logo isn't quite the flame for your moth, hopefully you are drawn to the passion of supporting our farmers and our dedication to make the finest darn crackers (cookies and granola) we can.

Impulse Buy of the Week: Evelyn's Crackers Spicy Dal Spelt Sticks

(posted by Shelf Life, a monthly addition to the Canadian National Post Newspaper)

Lately Shelf Life has been on a hummus kick. This is a very good thing, not least because our newfound love of the chickpea has helped us bond with our vegan friends. Now we can bring something else to the vegan party – these Certified Organic crackers made from whole spelt flour and lentils. We like the fact that these are local products, and that Evelyn’s Crackers supports Ontario farmers. We’re charmed by their freshness, and by their healthy-yet-snazzy taste, not too spicy nor too timid. They’re sturdy enough to handle cheese, subtle enough to enhance the basics – say, peanut butter and green onions – and ready to crumble in soups or salads. Then too, as the package suggests, there’s a whole realm of hummus and dips to explore. Shelf Life would match these crackers with a creamy dill dip, or maybe a tzatziki – and then we’d race over to the hummus. Lately we’ve become enamored of Jerusalem/masala-type chickpea spreads; these turn out to be absolutely delectable with Evelyn’s crunchy snaps. Vegans, your planet is full of strange and wonderful taste sensations.

THREE AND A HALF STARS ***1/2

(Evelyn's Crackers can be found in three dozen fine food stores and cheese shops in and around Toronto. You can meet us in person and try all of our crackers at the Wychwood and Brickworks Farmers markets every Saturday morning from 8am to 1pm. Contact us (evelynscrackers@gmail.com) and view ourwebsite for more information about new locations and our creative holiday catering and cooking classes.)

I Think I Can

(http://www.lafromagerie.ca/ photo credit)

For over a year we have been dropping off samples and trying to get our crackers in one of the finest cheese shops on College. As a constant reminder, we walk by the store several times a week, often stopping for a wedge of cheese, baguette or croissant.

One day out for a walk with Evelyn, it started to rain. The sudden storm came from nowhere and started to flood the street in a matter of minutes. We were caught in it, big time! Running from one store front to another, trying to find shelter anywhere from the unexpected shower. There we were several blocks from home, each with a NOW magazine over our heads (a very important skill taught to me by my father) when...eureka! There is was, La Fromagerie and their beautiful wooden park bench and dark blue awning. There we sat, wringing out our make-shift umbrellas and watching the other pedestrians and bikers go by who were much less fortunate.

After that day I felt a little more secure knowing that close by there is a great little cheese shop offering some of the finest cheeses from Europe, Quebec and Ontario. Just close enough to for a guy and his little girl to share a moment in a rain storm, or for anyone to share a moment with a piece of cheese, and now with Evelyn's Crackers.

In A Little Town Called Aurora..

"Hi there,
I came down to Toronto this Saturday to the market with my sister-in-law. I bought your Spicy Dal crackers, and your lavender shortbread crackers (and your red fife flour) this weekend, and just wanted to tell you how much I LOVE the crackers, and cookies. I went right home and made fresh humus to have with your crackers, and they're awesome!!! I'm just in love with your cookies too. I would have never thought to pair the lavender with the shortbread, but WOW, I'm hooked! Can you tell me if you have any retail outlets near me, I'm from Aurora.

Oh by the way, my little guy is still talking about how sweet your daughter was to him, sharing her treats with him!!

Thank you so much for your delicious treats,

Er**"

Small Chive

Well, if we can't get out of town for the summer Evelyn's Crackers sure are. Their heading to Midland, Ontario. Ciboulette Cie (Small Chive and Company) is a great little food shop is now carrying our full line of crackers.

Apparently, they are flying off the shelves!

So much for have cracker; will travel.

Here is where they are located. And check out their blog for pictures and stories about this budding new food location.

Evelyn’s Crackers Partners with Monforte Dairy

Under the guidance of Ruth Klahsen, Evelyn’s Crackers has developed a custom line of (3)crackers specifically for Monforte’s cheese. Ingredients for the crackers are supplied from the same farmland that Monforte’s Dairy milk comes from, in and around Stratford, Ontario. You can find the crackers wherever you find Ruth’s cheeses at several farmers markets, and soon to be retail, within the Greater Toronto Area.

How Far Will You Go for a Fresh Egg?

Photo credit: Edmund Rek

If I had a buck for everytime Dawn is mentioned in an article..

"Dawn Woodward, owner of Evelyn's Crackers, an artisan baked-goods company in Toronto, will show up at the market at seven in the morning for farm-fresh eggs or drive an hour out of town to find them. When she's leaving the city, she phones ahead to place an order with one of the hundreds of small farms in the country that sell pastured eggs.

“The flavour is better,” she says. “They are fresher and richer. They're sweeter, a fuller flavour.” She prefers eggs laid by hens allowed to scratch and wander – when she can get them."

...I could buy a dozen eggs.

Link to full article by Sarah Elton for the Globe and Mail, Food and Wine Section: Here

What does Spicy Dal and Jian Ghomeshi have in Common?

They met at the CBC Artisan Market, of course. Jian purchased a package of spicy dal crackers in between his segments on CBC Radio Q, which he hosts. (It is great when two celebrities can get together.) We are big fans of the CBC and it is quite a treat to meet people behind the voices.

Here is a little more about the market from Sheryl Kirbey of Taste TO:

"Okay, so customers are not going to manage to get all of their grocery shopping done in one fell swoop, but people really did seem to appreciate the market and the artisanal food on offer. When I arrived at the official start time at last month's market, St. John's Bakery had already sold out about 50% of their stock (many vendors actually set up at around 8 or 8:30am to catch the on-the-way-to-work crowd). And Dawn Woodward of Evelyn's crackers remarked that most of her sales were for snack items such as her lavender shortbread cookies."

Here is a link to the full article: Here

Prince Charles Farmers Market

A list of gifts given to Prince Charles and Duchess of Cornwall on their visit to Canada and elseswhere last year. Check out page 15 for gifts from vendors from the Brickworks Farmers market last November.

We are still waiting for our thank you letter: Link here

Dawn's The Baker...And So Much More

Dawn had a wonderful mention in the Woman's Culinary Network's newsletter this past February written by Naomi Duguid:

"Dawnthebaker" is Dawn Woodward's hotmail account name, and that is how I often think of her, kneading a dough, shaping a cracker, slashing a baguette, setting and inventive and delicious tart out on a plate for a catered event.

Of course there is far more to Dawn than baking, but she did come into our lives with her baker's cap on. I first met her more than 10 years ago, at an artisanal baking conference at Greystone, the CIA's Napa campus. She was living in Toronto at the time, working as a consultant at Ace Bakery. They'd brought her up from the States because of her gleaming credintials and experience: 5 years and finalist in the competition for spots on the US Baking Team that ended up bring back the gold medal at the World Baking competition in Paris in 1997.

She left Ace that fall and came traveling me to India. We spent the millennium turnover together at Kovalam Beach near Trivandrum in sourthern Kerala, India. Dawn shared a room with my two kids, then boys of 9 and 12, played with us all on the beach, went running with me in the mornings, and danced with us late into the night as the clock turned us into the year 2000.

A few days later she put on her pack and headed north to travel through India, before flying to Thailand and traveling in northern Thailand, Laos, and China's Yunnan Province all on her own.

She's brave, is Dawn, and travels with her eyes and her palate open. I still have notes she sent me of foods she tasted in Gujarat on that trip, notes that were very helpful to me when I finally made it there four years later. After that long adventure she returned to the US. A second solo trip took her to Syria and Lebanon, as well as Turkey and the Republic of Georgia. In all those places she came accross interesting food; later she developed recipes drawing on all that travel experience. After she returned from that trip she spent a good chunk of the winter here in Toronto helping me with the recipe work for HomeBaking. She returned to the US and started working in Washington DC, finally settling at Obelisk, a fine Italian restaurant.

In 2003 she met Chef Ed Rek in DC. They moved to Philadelphia and married the following year. After restaurant and catering work, and developing a good reputation in Philly, they moved to Toronto in the fall of 2007. By then they were three; there daughter Evelyn was born in the Spring of 2006. In Toronto they settled near Dufferin Grove Park, and Dawn started to work on her business idea, a cracker business.

In the Spring of 2008 they launched Evelyn's Crackers, using local organic grains and other local ingredients, making the crackers by hand in the incubator kitchen, and selling them at farmer's markets. They've had rave reviews, and now have a solid following. Dawn continues to fine-tune the crackers, adding new ones and tweaking the originals. These days she also makes sweets, using the same organic grains (red Fife flour figures largely) to make shortbreads and cookies.

While getting the cracker business growing, Dawn and Ed have also been busy with the local food movement, promoting local grains and consumer awareness of the wealth of Ontario agriculture. Most recently Dawn was a speaker at a forum held by the ROM called "Canadian Sweet Treats". After her presentation on the hisory of maple syrup, Red Fife wheat, Mackintosh apples, and Amish and Mennonite settlements, the chair of the events said, "It took and American to give us a lesson in Ontario's food history!".

Naomi Duguid is a cook, cookbook author, food writer, photographer, and past recipient of the Women's Culinary Network Woman of the Year. Her website: http://www.immersethrough.com/