I know what’s going on, you’re sitting there wondering where the heck you’re going to get anything halfway decent to eat in this burg now that Taste of Edmonton and the Heritage Festival have packed it in for another summer.

Thank goodness it’s Wednesday night in Edmonton.

If you’re in the downtown area, you can head over to 112 Street for some ice cream and chocolate, as Kerstin’s celebrates a new chocolate ice cream. You could even walk away with free ice cream. Plus, any night is a good one to check out one of the best placed in the city to get chocolates.

If you’re not downtown, don’t worry. Wednesday is a solid farmers’ market night in Edmonton (and area). Tonight is the night for the Callingwood, CastleDowns, Southwest Edmonton, and Sherwood Park markets.

Told you it was a good night for food.

Callingwood runs its market Wednesdays and Sundays, and is no rookie on the scene. Sherwood Park has had a market since almost before I was born. Southwest and CastleDowns are newcomers but adding to the booming market scene in Edmonton.

Farmers markets aren’t just for the weekend!

Fork Fest is back!

Local restaurants are offering up special menus and deals to get you out of the usual chains and into something just a little different. It’s a great way to try out a new restaurant you’ve been thinking about eating at, or have heard about recently. It’s also a nice way for me to pretend I’m fancy and eat somewhere like the Blue Pear. It’s also a reason to head back to old favourites like the Blue Plate Diner and Wild Tangerine.

All of the restaurants involved (most are downtown or in Old Strathcona) have their Fork Fest lunch and dinner menus online at the Live Local Alberta site.

Here are the restaurants (all links take you to the Fork Fest menus):

• d’Lish Urban Kitchen & Wine Bar
• Royal Coach Dining Room (at the Chateau Louis Hotel)
• Sabor Divino
• Leva Cappuccino Bar
• Red Ox Inn
• The Blue Plate Diner
• Wild Tangerine
• The Blue Pear Restaurant
• Accent European Lounge
• Moriarty’s Bistro and Wine Bar
• Jack’s Grill
• Von’s Steak House & Oyster Bar

Which ones do you want to hit up?

Summer 2011′s Fork Fest runs until this Thursday (July 21), then takes a few days off, and July 24-28.

Every location of 7-Eleven in Edmonton (and everywhere else) is giving away free (FREE!) 7.11 ounce Slurpees today.

Each store will give away 1,000 Slurpees. So get out there and get some icy fun.

It is a balmy Wednesday evening in YEG and despite the subtle threat of thundershowers off in the distance, shoppers are streaming in and out of the parking lot of Lillian Osborne High School. Some are laden with bulging cloth shopping bags while others have loaded their child’s stroller. The parking lot across the street is full and a line-up of cars inch their way along Leger Road seeking a spot. By all accounts, the new Southwest Farmers’ Market is a hit.

A crowd has gathered around Diana Neubauer’s booth, Mixes ‘R Us, eagerly listening to her hawk her line of mixes and tasting her vegetarian chili and channa masala. Diana’s bright blue eyes dance as she chats up each new customer. She laughs easily putting them at ease immediately. Her hands and arms are well-muscled suggesting a life of physical work. She moves with efficiency. Not a motion is wasted.

Photo: Pam Brierley

Diana first developed her line of mixes in 2008 after working for her uncle at his market booth selling inukshuks for a couple of seasons. She noticed that there was a real demand for healthy convenience food. “People are busy. They want something that is easy to make, but is also healthy.”

As a mom of four — three boys in hockey and a daughter who was a competitive gymnast — and someone who had to stretch her food budget, she understood the challenge parents face for food that was quick, but healthy.

“I hated feeding them McDonald’s. And I could see when they ate McDonald’s they would run out of gas on the rink in no time. They never ran out of gas when they ate my bean soups,” she jokes.

Her recipes come from her own kitchen research with her family. She needed to cook economically but the food had to satisfy hungry kids and taste good.

Her current line up took time to develop though. “My first few ideas fell flat.”

But that did not dissuade her. She watched what people bought, and did not buy, she took all customer feedback and refined the recipes over time.

She credits Dan Young and Jon Hall, board members of the City Market on 104 Street, with helping her find her feet.

“They really took me under their wing. I would have come out the other side on my own because I am who I am, but with their help, I came out the other side much faster.”

Diana notes that shoppers at farmer’s markets demand healthy products. Diana’s line is vegetarian and vegan friendly, gluten-free, and contains no sodium.

“What people do with the mixes when they get home is up to them. They can add whatever they want.”

In addition to her line of soup and dip mixes, she carries mixes for baked goods such as cookies, muffins and biscuits. All her baked goods mixes are made with whole wheat flour except her product “Nana’s banana bread.” She smiles wistfully, “That is my grandmother’s traditional banana bread recipe. I just didn’t feel like I could mess with it.”

She evens carries some products with hemp seed added. Hemp adds valuable fibre and is believed to have many health benefits.

At the Saturday City Market on 104 Street she also runs a concession called the Fork and Spoon Brigade (which some may now be familiar with after last Friday’s “What the Truck?!“). They specialize in stuffed crepes. “We source all our ingredients from the other vendors. Everything is fresh. That’s the key to our success.”

And the whole family pitches in to help with the operation — her husband, two of her sons and their girlfriends, Diana’s best friend and her mom.

“One thing about all of us working together, we sure learn how to get along,” she grins. Even her 14-year-old son agrees.

*****

You can find Diana and Mixes ‘R Us at the brand new Southwest Farmers’ Market in the parking lot of Lillian Osborne High School (2019 Leger Road) on Wednesday nights (5-8 pm), at the Salisbury Farmerss Market, Salisbury Greenhouses (52337 Range Road 232, Sherwood Park), Thursday evenings (4:30-8 pm), and on Saturdays at the City Market on 104 Street (9am-3pm) as both Mixes ‘R Us and the Fork and Spoon Brigade.

Pam Brierley is a freelance writer and editor and is fascinated by just about everything. She is mom to two strong, intelligent red-headed daughters and is fortunate to be married to a brilliantly creative man who continues to amaze her every day. They share their home with a cranky elderly cat named Tita. You can find her on Twitter @bonmotgirl.

Now I should tell you why.

You may have already heard about What the Truck?! – happening Friday in Beaver Hills House Park, 4-8pm. The Jasper Avenue park is going to be full of food trucks. This is the kind of street culture Edmonton needs. (Thanks to Mack and Sharon for putting this event on.)

As Eva Sweet Waffles proved last year, when waffles became a big deal in Edmonton, people are looking for something on the streets.

Street food is good for Edmonton for a number of reasons. It’s quick, it’s relatively cheap (when compared to a full meal at a restaurant), it’s fun (waffles, pizza, and pulled pork sammiches!), it gets you outside, you interact with more people (from those serving the food, to those waiting in line, to your jealous co-workers eating bagged lunches), and it’s one of those, seemingly small, intangibles that gives Edmonton a unique feel, a unique food culture, something to talk about when folks come to town.

Plus, it’s fun to say What the truck?!

*****

But, one food event a Food Friday does not make. No, you’re going to need something else that says Edmonton is serious about good, and local, food.

So, Old Strathcona grocery store Wild Earth Foods is my next stop. Wild Earth (next door to Wild Earth Bakery – operated by the same Bateman family that’s operated businesses in that location for generations) is holding an Open Air Market and BBQ this Friday – on 99 Street, at 89 Avenue, 2-8pm.

But, this isn’t just any grocery store parking lot BBQ. Vendors and farmers which you can now find stocked in the independent grocery store – including Progressive Foods, Steve & Dans Fresh BC Fruit, Cooks Corner, Uncle Bucks Beef Jerky, Sea & Seeds Organic Fertilizer, Purity Garlic, Ital-Canadian Sausages, Honey Spice, Earth Water, Sangudo Meats, and Pinocchio Ice Cream – will be selling their food and talking about what they do. It’s basically an impromptu farmers’ market.

I bet some of the construction workers tearing up 99 Street will pop over for a bite too.

The Wild Earth Foods Open Air Market BBQ will have free-range burgers from Sangudo Meats and gluten free Italian sausages from Ital-Canadian.

The goal, according to owner Joanne Bateman, is “to promote local food and offer a place for the community to come and hang out and talk to local producers.”

*****

Edmonton, embrace your Food Friday.

What the Truck?! is in Beaver Hills House Park – Jasper Avenue at 105 Street – 4-8pm.

Wild Earth Foods‘ Open Air Market and BBQ runs 2-8pm – Wild Earth is on 99 Street at 89 Avenue.

And, hey, I might as well plug our TV show, “the edmontonian presents,” because we cover a lot of these local food ideals in our fourth episode.