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www.celtic-connection.com
MAY 2005
Aran Spelt Bakery Launches New Hours and Cookbook
By CATHOLINE BUTLER
VANCOUVER - Janet Feirin owner of Aran Spelt Bakery on Venables Street in Vancouver, would sooner be baking and writing recipes for her cookbooks than anything else. That's why she recently hired a manager to take care of the day-today management and retail, so that she could do just that.
The Celtic Connection recently stopped into Aran Spelt Bakery to speak to Janet about her spelt bakery and her new cookbook. "Considering that we are doing production seven days a week, my business right now is about 60 percent wholesale and 40 percent retail."
Janet said, "with the wholesale, I deliver as far out as Coquitlam, Maple Ridge and Surrey. Our retail days are so busy and our record is serving 107 customers in a seven-hour period, which considering that you're slicing bread, talking and asking customers 'how many cookies do you want?' For 107 people, that's quite a lot."
Starting May 4, the retail end of the business will be open Wednesdays from 12 noon to 7 PM and Saturdays from 10 AM to 5 PM. "But," Janet said, "customers can also give us a call and place their orders for pickup at the store."
Janet explained that she has recently published the Basic Spelt Cookbook, and she is now working on a second cookbook which is all about cooking with spelt and it's also going to include some recipes for diabetics.
"I recently developed a cake for diabetics," she said, "which is called the Chocolate Marquise and it has no sugar in it. Most people have described the cake as a chocolate cloud in your mouth. It's so soft. It's somewhat of a cross between a mousse and a ganache, but it's sugar free and that's one of my most recent developments."
So what is spelt you say? Janet described it saying, "spelt is an ancient grain. It's the same genus as wheat but a different species .So, there's a lot of people who digest spelt a lot easier than wheat.
'Spelt has a higher protein content, a lower gluten content, it's got complex vitamin Bs, which you get a lot more vitamin B out of it than you do out of wheat.
"So, nutritionally you're getting a lot more out of spelt. It's also lower in carbs than wheat, so that's another thing about spelt that people kind of like. It's not hugely lower in carbs but it is lower than wheat, so it's a great alternative."
It is also grown organically, all Aran Spelt Bakery flour is certified organic, "so that's another issue that's important for people," said Janet. "We use very traditional ways of baking.
"For instance I have a white potato bread which is not like the traditional Irish potato bread - it's a pan loaf. What we do is peel, boil and mash B.C. grown organic russet potatoes, and we put them in the bread. A lot of people think we use potato flour and they are surprised when we tell them we actually use real potatoes."
Janet has created what she calls "the breakfast cookie." She explained, "Many people purchase the cookie for breakfast since it's packed with nutrients. The ingredients are cornflakes, oats,
JANET FEIRIN, owner of Aran Spelt Bakery, proudly holds a copy of her Basic Spelt Cookbook.
flax, millet, sesame, sunflower, raisin and apricots.
"We also use a dairy-free margarine called Earth Balance and that's a GMO free non-hydrogenated margarine. It's trans fat free...so that's another benefit to the margarine. It's the margarine that we use in all our baking."
Janet said one of the advantages of the breakfast cookie if you're a hiker or a camper or someone travelling, is that it can be a great source of energy. She said, "I recently went to the UK and I took a dozen breakfast cookies with me. On a number of occasions, it saved me from having to stop for a £10 lunch. Instead, I could eat my 02 Canadian breakfast cookie. Great difference in price."
Speaking about her stock, Janet said, "I am now making organic blueberry pies and they are just to die for. We also have quiches and chicken pot pie using organic meats. Our chicken pot pies are also made from scratch. I take a chicken, cook
it and roast it, and make the broth out of the chicken bones. We also have a lot of packaged mixes such as baking powder biscuit mix which is very similar to Bisquik only it's organic baking powder biscuit mix."
Janet Feirin is an Irish speaker and when not so busy has taught the Irish language. She is also a ceili dancer and said she sometimes talks to her eight-year-old daughter, Boedicea in Irish. Her daughter also takes Irish dancing lessons with the Scoil Rince de Danaan.
Janet's cookbook entitled Basic Spelt Cookbook is reasonably priced at 016.99 and she has a special offer for the month of May. If you buy 0100 dollars worth of product at Aran Foods, then you get the cookbook for 010. If you buy 0150, then you get the cookbook free.
Aran Spelt Bakery is located at 1692 Venables Street in Vancouver. For more information, call (604) 258-2726, or call toll free: 1 -888-551 -2726. Visit the website at: www.aranfoods.com.
FINOLA HACKETT WINS NATIONAL SPELLING BEE
By CATHOLINE BUTLER
Congratulations to 13-year-old Finola Hackett of Tofield, Alberta, who was the winner of the national spelling bee sponsored by CanWest Global Communications on April 16.
The CanWest CanSpell National Spelling Bee was held in Ottawa at the National Arts Centre. This was the first time ever for the competition and the winner received a cash prize in the amount of CDN01O,OOO issued as the Izzy Asper Scholarship Fund.
This new initiative provides Canadian children with an exciting opportunity to improve their spelling skills and expand their vocabularies. In addition to the cash prize, the CanWest CanSpell Cup is a perpetual award donated to the national winner's school for display until 2006. The winner also gets a CanWest CanSpell Winner's Trophy as a take home award.
While in Ottawa, Finola was kept busy with television interviews and meeting many dignitaries, such as Adrienne Clarkson, the Governor General of Canada and Canada's Prime Minister.
"The Prime Minister Paul Martin arrived in a motorcade with a full entourage," said Finola, "he was very nice and there was a group photo and cheerful conversation. He looked very energetic and smart, although we didn't ask him to spell any hard words because he has enough trouble in Question Period!"
Along with being the Canadian spelling champion, Finola is also a very talented musician and Irish dancer. Her father and mother, Dr. Dick and Sai Yah Hackett are active members of the Irish Sports and Social Society Edmonton. Dr. Hackett is originally from Dublin and has a medical practice in Tofield. Finola's mother is from the Phillipines.
Arriving back to a heroes' welcome at Edmonton International Arport, Finola was again met by the media and photographed, including interviews with her parents and at her school. She said that she couldn't wait to get back home to Tofield and tell her teacher Mrs.
Belik and classmates all about the awesome time she had in Ottawa.
But best of all Finola said, "I'm back in my home town where it is often dusty or windy, and I can hear the train go 'hoot' in the night from my bed. And sometimes, I can hear the coyotes yipping just on the edge of town."
But Finola will need to keep her bags packed for awhile because on May 29, she will be heading off to Washington, D.C., to take part in the American version spelling championships. And we wish her much luck and success.
For more information about how your school can participate in the CanWest CanSpell championships, check-out their website atwww.canspell.com.
[N.B. Thanks to Ken McManus, Treasurer of the Irish Sports and Social Society Edmonton, for suggesting this article on Finola Hackett.]
CANADA POST AND IRELAND'S AN POST TEAM UP TO DELIVER NEW STAMPS
On April 22, Canada Post celebrated Earth Day by jointly issuing a pair of postage stamps with Ireland's post office An Post.
The stamps are a showcase of the extraordinary, yet fragile beauty of Mother Nature as witnessed in Waterton Lakes National Park (Alberta) and Killarney National Park (Ireland).
Both parks are recognized as Biosphere Reserves by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
Biospheres are living laboratories that consist of areas of coastal and inland ecosystems. Biosphere Reserves are internationally recognized by UNESCO's Man and
the Biosphere program. Sites are chosen against a set criteria focusing on conservation, development and support for research, and education demonstrating a balanced relationship between people and nature.
The stamps, the first ever joint
issue between Canada and Ireland, will be joindy issued at the domestic rate (500) in Canada and for domestic use in Ireland.
The Canadian stamp was designed by Xerxes Irani and his design team at Calgary's nonfiction studios inc., while the Irish stamp was designed by Killarney artist Finbarr O 'Connor.
Waterton Biosphere Reserve and National Park is situated in the extreme south-west of the province of Alberta and covers an area of more than 52,000 hectares.
The park is primarily an early spring to late fall destination point for approximately 400,000 annual visitors.
Located just south-west of the city of Killarney in south-west Ireland, Killarney National Park comprises the mountains and woodlands surrounding Lough Leane Lake and
adjacent smaller lakes, moorlands, parks and gardens.
It was Ireland's first National Park and came into being in 1932 when the Muckross Estate (the core of the present day National Park) was donated to the country.
The park covers more than 10,000 hectares of mountain, moorland, woodland, waterways, parks and gardens.
Stamps and Official First Day covers will be available at participating post offices, and can be ordered online by following the links at Canada Post's website www.canadapost.ca, or by mail order from the National Philatelic Centre.
From Canada and the USA call toll-free: 1-800-565-4362 and from other countries call: (902) 863-6550.