A few weeks ago I received an invite to lunch from Catharine Bangel who handles public relations for the Alberta Canola Producers. The second sentence caught my eye, specifically the part about Chef Blair Lebsack of Edmonton’s RGE RD (restaurant and rural dinners) being the one behind preparation of this lunch. A few sentences down was the clincher: the actual lunch was to be served on a big yellow bus.
Lunch on a bus, in a field, on a farm, and served up by one of Alberta’s best chefs. How could I possibly say no?
The Rge Rd crew
Blair has never shied away from cooking in unconventional locations (Rge Rd dinners at Nature’s Green Acres, Prairie Gardens), and this invitation to have lunch as part of Alberta Open Farm Days was a pretty sweet deal for us blogger/writers.
The farm belonging to Jack and Sharon Moser is located almost two hours east of Edmonton, near Killam, AB.
It’s usually Sharon serving up meals on the bus, not Blair Lebsack. Sharon has been feeding the field hands who come to work the Moser’s farm every harvest season for the past four years. It might be the reason why they get the same workers coming back year after year. Sharon believes that workers deserve an honest-to-goodness hot meal—served at a table so that they can enjoy a well-deserved break. Sitting for a meal gives everyone time to gear down, relax, and catch up on the days events. The whole situation took me back to when I, as a little kid, took meals out to dad in the field. I would sit with him and talk while he’d balance the plate on his knees, or rest it on the grass, or on the tailgate of the truck. It was the highlight of my day. Here, on the Moser’s bus, the men sit at tables. They wash their hands under running water in the sink at the back of the bus, and if they want to stretch out they can do so on one of the two mini sofas behind the last row of benches. The bus provides shelter from the wind, warmth if it’s chilly outside, and respite from flies and mosquitos.
Today’s meal was a treat for Sharon because, for once, she finally had someone cook for her and serve her food instead of it being the other way around.
Foreground: The Edible Farm – beet antipasto, marinated cucumber, tomatoes, terrine; Background – maple verrine with oat streusel and whiskey gelée
Wood-fired root vegetables and squash; beef compression; potato pavé
On the days when Blair Lebsack and his crew aren’t out driving around Alberta cooking haute cuisine for hungry farm hands, it’s Sharon Moser who cooks for the workers. Lasagne, pot roasts, casseroles, stews, homemade treats; Sharon cooks meals for her family and then doubles or triples the recipes to make enough for the men. Sharon’s poignant statement stayed with me as I drove home: “It’s important to take time just to be, rather than always moving, always going.”
It made me realize how we focus on fast; how we always go, always do, always talk, always move. Sometimes—most times—we forget just “to be”. Sitting on this school bus, looking out at combines and canola fields, and with a belly full of home-cooked food made me feel content. It was a very good feeling.
An added bonus was getting up close and personal with canola seeds. Canola is very low in saturated fats making it a heart healthy oil.
What’s inside canola seeds? 46% oil.
Fresh air and farm fields—ain’t nothing much like it.
Alberta Open Farm Days gives people the opportunity to meet the farmers who work so hard to feed us. If you missed the event this year, please put this on your radar for 2015.
