Garden Party Fundraiser Fun & Delicious

The children gorged on the Ontario asparagus sushi as their parents admonished them for eating so fast, got a kick out of the mocktails blender, dug holes in the garden beds and looked at worms. Adults milled about the platters of  delicious food, listened to the live bands, hovered around the silent auction table and plant displays, conversed with one another and sipped thirst quenching iced sun tea and fruity mocktails. The musicians entertained those that sat outside in the sunny weather which was perfect for a garden party. The silent auction(see donors below!) got competitive as people outbid one another — tons of fun and sighs of disappointment (I wanted to win the oyster mushroom growing kit from Mycosource so badly but lost to Brook! I did win a Chocosol gift basket filled with chocolate, coffee and other goodies, so yay!)

A big, big thank you to those that attended the GTGK Garden Party and Flower Tasting Fundraiser on Sunday! Also a giant thank you to board members, staff, volunteers, and attendees who helped make this event happen. A special thank you to Anne who kept the tasty food coming, Lawrence for playing bartender and Guille for making alfajores with candied flowers that Sunday had prepared, our musicians Fado Blues, featuring Catarina Cardeal and Mike Siracusa; Blake Howard, Michael-Owen Liston and Doug Tielli; Watershed – Andres Descalzi, Keli Bellaire, Anna Eidt; our emcee Mary-Margaret and of course Allan Gardens Children’s Conservatory for letting us use their wonderful space.

This is what Anne served, by the way:

1. Flower Petal and Organic Blue Corn Quesadillas with fresh Salsa and Montforte Goat Cheddar

2. Wild Mushroom Tart with Montforte Goat Cheddar

3. Herb Flower Pesto and Chevre with Crispy Leeks on Crostini

4. Herbed Scones with Old Cheddar and Hot Pepper Jelly

5. Tea Sandwiches with flower and herb infused cream cheese and other fillings

6. Lemon glazed tea cakes

7. Nasturtium Lemon Butter glazed Salmon on a Chive and Thyme Potato Cake

8. Lavender Shortbread

9. Sushi with Grilled Ontario Asparagus

10. Grilled Asparagus Glazed with Nasturtium Lemon Butter

11. Tulip Petals with Herbed Cream Cheese

12. Local Rhubarb and Candied Ginger Compote with Double Cream

For more photos, please go to our Flickr page here.

We wouldn’t also be as successful if it weren’t for our generous silent auction donors below:

1. Margaret Atwood

2. Patrick Lima

3. Michael Sacco from Chocosol

4. Epicure Shop on 473 Parliament St.

5. Paula and Bruno from MycoSource

6. Gayla Trail

7. Ginger Restaurant

8. Tim Grant and Gail Littlejohn from Green Teacher magazine

9. Hot House Cafe

10. Anne Sorrenti

11. Justin from Karma Food Co-Op

12. Laura Berman

13. Maria Nunes

14. Nick Hirons from Merchant Vintner

15. Lennie’s Health Foods at 489 Parliament St.

16. Anne Sorrenti

17. Susan Butler

18. Beehive Collective

19. Menagerie Pet Shop

20. Catherine Tammaro

21. Learnxs Foundation

22. St. James Town Steak and Chop

23. House on Parliament

24. Colette Murphy and Pablo from Urban Harvest