Cracker Partners

Here is the newest list if locations throughout Toronto and a few places outside of town, where you can find Evelyn's Crackers:

1. About Cheese, Church St.
2. Healthy Butcher, Queen St West
3. Healthy Butcher, Eglinton Ave.
4. Big Carrot, Danforth Ave
5. Cheese Boutique, Ripley St.
6. Scheffler’s Deli and Cheese at St Lawrence Markek
7. McEwan’s, Don Mills Shopping Center
8. Pusateris, Avenue Rd, Yorkville & Bayview Village
9. Thin Blue Line, Roncesvalles Ave
10. Creemore 100 Mile Store, Creemore, Ontario
11. Urban Harvest on Sarauen St
12. Mabel’s Bakery Roncesvalles Ave
13. Ravine Vineyard & Estate Winery St. David, Ontario
14. Cheese Shoppe On Locke, Hamilton, On
15. Grain Bean and Curd, Dundas St.
16. Leslieville Cheese Market, Queen St East & Queen St West
17. Fiesta Farms on Christy St
18. Whole Foods, Yorkville
19. Village Cheese Monger, Liberty Vliiage
20. Noah’s on Bloor St & Yonge St
21. The Spice Trader on Queen St West
22. Organic Boutique Queen St West
23. Alex Farms Beaches Queen St East
24. Culinariun, Mt Pleasant Ave
25. Provenance Regional Cuisine on Palmerston, Ave
26. LPK’s Culinary Groove, Queen St. Easy
27. Fromagerie on College St.
28. Chabichou Fine Foods on Harbord St.
29. Junction Fromagerie on Dundas West
30. Dags and Willow Collingwood, Ontario
31. The Friendly Butcher Danforth Ave and Yonge Ave
32. Black Dog Village Pub Bayfield, Ontario
33. Art of Cheese on Kingston Rd.
34. Fifth Town Artisan Cheese Co. Picton, Ontario
35. Monforte Dairy Ltd. Stratford, Ontario
36. Ciboulette et Cie Midland, Ontario

A wonderful list of merchants! Thank you for your support and helping us build a local community, one cracker at a time.

Red Fife Graham Cracker, Sinful

As noted in Wikapedia:

"The graham cracker (pronounced /ˈɡræm/ or /ˈɡreɪm/ or /ˈɡreɪ.əm/) was developed in 1829 in Bound Brook, New Jersey, by Presbyterian minister Rev. Sylvester Graham. Though called a cracker, it is sweet rather than salty and so bears some resemblance to a cookie—digestive biscuits are the closest approximation. The true graham cracker is made with graham flour, a combination of fine-ground white flour and coarse-ground wheat bran and germ. Graham crackers are often used for making s'mores and pie crusts.

Graham crackers were originally marketed as "Dr. Graham's Honey Biskets" and were conceived of as a health food as part of the Graham Diet, a regimen to suppress what he considered unhealthy carnal urges, the source of many maladies according to Graham. Reverend Graham would often lecture about the adverse effects of masturbation or "self-abuse" as it was commonly called. One of his many theories was that one could curb one's sexual appetite by eating bland foods. Another man who held this belief was Dr. John Harvey Kellogg, the inventor of the corn flakes cereal.

Many modern "graham crackers" are made of the refined, bleached white flour to which the Rev. Graham was implacably opposed. Some modern commercial graham crackers are no longer considered health food, but have remained popular as a snack food and breakfast cereal with greater amounts of sugar and other sweeteners than in the original recipe, and far less graham flour, often with no whole-wheat flour whatsoever. Cinnamon or chocolate may be added to enhance the flavor of the crackers. Technically, crackers are not really graham crackers unless they are made with graham flour, which is a hard whole-wheat flour in which the constituent bran, germ, and endosperm have been ground separately, the first two coarsely and the third finely. Cinnamon, not considered a true ingredient of graham crackers, was added for those who did not enjoy the bland taste of graham crackers."

Red Fife whole wheat was a natural choice for us to use and we find it has the opposite effect to Graham's original intention. Especially when dipped into melted chocolate and added to toasted marshmallows.

Why Red Fife? Well, this heritage wheat represents traditional methods of farming that involve human elements in its growing and harvesting, almost in artisan ways. These heritage grains naturally go against all methods of modern farming by growing at uneven hights (virtually making large scale harvesting impossible), having the ability to plant seeds from this year's harvest for next year (no need to buy seeds) and because the entire grain is ground where natural proteins and vitamins are present, (which are often added to sifted grain). Not to mention whole milled grains are more perishable therefore ground in smaller batches and as a result are fresher. All great reasons to source heritage grains, even better to find local and organic ones.

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.