Molson in the Community

From Left: Bob Jenkins, James DiFore, Court Bethune

Yesterday was the day we crowned the first ever Rickard’s Griller of Glory at Dundas Square in Toronto. It was where beer met the grill –barbecuing with Rickard’s White and Red.

Three challengers, a.k.a ‘the Grillers of Glory’ entered into a competition where they were asked to BBQ their best recipes using both Rickard’s Red and White beers. The challengers, James DiFore, Bob Jenkins and Court Bethune, were given 30 minutes, ingredients (steak, shrimp, spices, veggies, etc), and a whole lotta beer in order to create the tastiest and more inventive recipes possible.

From Left: Mirella Amato, Alexa Clark, Kyle Rae, Phil Nyman

Once the 30 min were up, our expert panel of judges scrutinized and tasted the BBQ plates and decided on the winner. Our judges:

• Phil Nyman: BBQ Chef and Owner, Phil’s Original BBQ restaurant
• Mirella Amato: Proprietor of Beerology.ca and Certified Beer Judge
• Alexa Clark: Editor and Publisher, CheapEats Toronto
• Kyle Rae: Toronto City Councillor, Ward 27, Toronto Centre-Rosedale

This year’s Griller of Glory was griller #2 (below), Bob Jenkins, an accountant from Toronto — Way to go Bob! The lovely Rickard’s ladies presented Bob with a massive trophy and his own Napoleon BBQ.

There was also a second, special cook-off to benefit the Ontario Food Bank Association. Three Toronto firefighters battled it out on the grill for the glory of their fire stations! Again, the competitors had 30 min and were then judged immediately after. Captain Paul Beams took the top spot and was crowned Griller of Glory. Congrats to Paul, and thanks to Jim Morache and Damien Walsh for taking the time to BBQ for a great cause.

We also had a guest firefighter judge the boys…Peter Cooper from Station 134.

It was a great day of grilling despite a few rain drops, and a very entertaining day with many thanks to our fabulous emcee and chef, Michael Clive (below).

Some clips of the grillers, judges and Michael in action!

Adam Spence (below left) Executive Director, Ontario Association of Food Banks joined in the fun and accepted a donation of $1000.

As a final note, I’ll post some of Phil Nyman’s Rickard’s Red and White BBQing recipes soon. I plan to try a few out this weekend….would love to hear about your fav. Rickard’s recipes!

Check out more Rickard’s Griller of Glory info and pics:

Neighbourhood knowledge blog

Alexa Clark, Cheap Eats Toronto

Rannie Turrigan Photography

Flickr Photos

Have a safe and happy long weekend. Cheers!

Pipes and Drums at Creemore Copper Kettle Festival

To wrap up the tremendous Creemore Springs Brewery Copper Kettle Festival…the skirling of the pipes could be heard throughout the streets of this wonderful community. Cheers !

Kettle Corn

What a tremendous event that our friends and colleagues at Creemore Springs Brewery hosted this past Saturday. The street was full of entertainment and hospitality as families and friends celebrated a perfect summer day in Creemore Ontario. After parking the car we proceeded to the brewery alongside a horse drawn carriage full of fun seekers. The Creemore Pilsner and Lager were particularly refreshing given the terrific weather.  I was particularly struck to hear the familiar voice of non other than George Kash who was hosting the event as emcee and introducing the various talented folks that were entertaining throughout the day. I first met George at Ontario Place in the Eidelweiss restaurant in 1984, my gosh how the time has flown, and he still performs with his band at KW Oktoberfest every year. It was also quite a highlight to see the pipes and drums and our old pal Mark skirling away. A very special treat was the Kettle Corn (check out the link video) produced by Ella Marie and Dale, their daughter Jodie and her companion Brett. What a tasty treat and quite nicely matched with either Creemore Pilsner or Lager.  We were also impressed by the environmental message that was being conveyed and just one hour before closing Karen at Creemore advised me that they had only generated 2 bags of waste and that everything else would be going to recycling or reuse. Hopefully Karen will write a comment and tell us more about this terrific program. If you missed this special festival in Creemore this past weekend you should watch for the notice on next year’s Copper Kettle Festival, a great afternoon with friends and family. Cheers !

Molson Team from L - R  First Row - Carl Vajda, Chris Evans, Ian Starkman, Josh Smith, Graydon, Steve Fridulin. Second Row - Rod Monkman, Joel Apostolon, Andy Gervais, John Anderson, Frank Ivankovic join North York Harvest Food Bank’s Lisa Anderson, Volunteer Services Manager and Gloria Baldwin, Development Officer.

Smart Serve Ontario has issued their most recent newsletter and I thought I’d post it here to potentially connect you with the great work being conducted by Smart Serve. Here’s to Responsible Choices !