a peek inside the fishbowl

Some of you are already familiar with Ten Thousand Villages. They’re a former Fishbowl patron, and a fair trade retailer I’ve written about before. Did you also know that Ten Thousand Villages holds a major “Festival Sale” at the Ottawa Mennonite Church every weekend in November? The Ottawa sale is the largest fair trade sale in Canada.

There’s a special addition to the sale this year. “Foodie night” will be taking place on Friday, Nov. 7, and will showcase all of the wonderful edible items that Ten Thousand Villages offers. A foodie presentation will also take place alongside the Festival Sale at the church.

Catherine Beddall, a professional pastry chef and owner of Catherine’s Cakery, promises to be one of the big draws at the sale on Friday night. Although Catherine is known for her cakes, she also is a wonder with gingerbread. Behold:

Isn’t that amazing? I had the opportunity to ask her a few questions this week. Read on to find out more about her and what’s in store for visitors to the Ottawa Fair Trade Festival Sale.*

Hello Catherine! Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your history with baking and pastries?

Even though I’ve loved to bake ever since I was a little girl, I never considered it as a full-time career until recently. For a number of years I worked full time as a graphic designer while making cakes as a small side business, and I finally decided to “take the plunge” and make baking and pastry my full-time career. I now split my time between my cake business, teaching in the Baking and Pastry Arts program at Algonquin College, and working at an Ottawa bakery. So my days are busy, but I’m getting experience in a lot of different areas and loving it!

So apparently you have a thing with gingerbread… care to elaborate? (And what’s this about gingerbread furniture?) :)

I absolutely love making gingerbread houses! A few years ago, I entered and won Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation/Habitat for Humanity’s Annual Gingerbread House Competition. That was my first gingerbread house, and I was hooked… even though my entry took about 60 hours to create, I enjoyed every minute of it. I love designing little homes (complete with edible furniture), I’ve always loved miniature, and I love the fantasy of living inside an edible house, decorated with candy and icing. All that combined with the wonderful smell of baking gingerbread makes creating these houses irresistible to me.

A lot of parents love the idea of baking and making gingerbread houses with their kids, but it seems so overwhelming. Do you have any tips or recipes you can share that might help?

Definitely! Start with a cardboard template, and keep it simple the first time to avoid frustration. But it’s all in the recipes. I use a wonderful gingerbread recipe (see below!) that bakes up firmly enough to give houses the structural support they need, and tastes absolutely delicious. The right icing is also very important. Gingerbread houses are “glued” together with Royal Icing, which hardens as it dries. Any other type of icing may not hold the structure together properly.

Most importantly, have fun with it, and be sure to eat lots of gingerbread scraps along the way!

How did you get involved with the Ten Thousand Villages event?

I was very excited to be asked to be a part of the foodie event by organizer Sonia Mendes, and even more excited when we decided to make gingerbread the main focus of my contribution!

Can you tell people a little bit about what to expect on Foodie Friday?

It’s going to be a lot of fun! From 6:30-7:30 p.m I’ll be doing a gingerbread cookie demonstration, handing out samples, and answering any questions people might have about constructing a gingerbread house. We’ll also be raffling off a gingerbread showpiece. Equator fair-trade coffee will be on site offering samples, and a company called Zatoun will have a tasting station for guests to dip bread into olive oil and then into za’atar, a common starter for both lunch and dinner in Palestine and other countries in the Levant.

Thank you Catherine! That sounds awesome. And delicious. For directions and details about the Ottawa Fair Trade Festival Sale, visit www.alternativetrade.com/festival.htm.

And here’s a special bonus for you guys. Catherine is kindly sharing her gingerbread recipe with us. I’m actually inspired to try making my own this year!

Catherine Beddall’s Gingerbread Recipe

(Adapted from Devon Bakery’s recipe, formerly in Manotick)

Makes: Dough for 1 gingerbread house and approximately 24 cookies

• 1 cup shortening
• 1 cup sugar
• ½ cup molasses
• 3 tbsp water
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 ½ tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 ½ tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp each nutmeg and cinnamon (optional)

Using an electric mixer, beat shortening and sugar together until light and fluffy.

Add molasses and water; beat until incorporated.

Sift dry ingredients together and add all at once. Mix until smooth.

Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate, at least 2 hours or overnight.

Working on a hard surface, roll dough between two sheets of parchment paper, to a thickness of 4 mm.

Remove and dispose of the top piece of parchment paper. Working on the lower sheet of parchment paper, cut out the cookie shapes and remove excess.

Transfer shapes — still on the lower sheet of parchment paper — to an ungreased cookie sheet.

Place cookie sheet in the fridge and chill for 5 to 10 minutes before baking.

Bake at 375 F for approximately 10 minutes; gingerbread should be crisp but not burned.

Royal Icing

• 3 tbsp meringue powder (available at bulk stores)
• 4 cups icing sugar
• 4 tbsp warm water

Beat all ingredients together until icing stiffens and forms peaks, about 5-7 minutes. Keep covered at all times when not in use.

* I received a lovely basket of fair trade goodies from Ten Thousand Villages after uploading this post but my thoughts, as always, are my own.