Sirop d’érable, le trésor de Saint-Pierre-Jolys

L’incontournable Festival du Temps des sucres se prépare à revenir au village de Saint-Pierre-Jolys les 5 et 6 avril. Prenant place dans la Cabane à sucre, une extension du musée, les visiteurs pourront festoyer et célébrer ce fameux sirop local aux teintes ambrées.

Le temps se fait plus doux dans le village de Saint-Pierre-Jolys où les récoltes de sirop d’érable ont doucement commencé depuis la semaine du 17 mars.

En effet, des gelées la nuit combinées à des températures plus élevées le jour créent les conditions propices à la saison des récoltes. Ce type de météo permet d’exercer une pression à l’intérieur de l’arbre favorisant ensuite l’écoulement de “l’eau sucrée” comme aime l’appeler Roland Gagné, le gérant de la Cabane à sucre du village.

“Grâce à Mère Nature, l’eau remonte des racines jusqu’en haut de l’arbre. Ça permet de nettoyer les veines de l’érable et ensuite le liquide s’écoule.”

Red River course focuses on Indigenous cooking techniques, ingredients

With the lunch rush over, the kitchen takes a collective sigh of relief. Jokes are cracked while the flattop is scraped clean and smiles float around the room as prep stations are tidied for the next day’s service.

Gabriel Nanacowop, who had some nerves about overseeing Wiisinin Diner as chef-of-the-day, is feeling particularly satisfied.

“It was good, fast-paced,” says Nanacowop, one of 11 students enrolled in Red River College Polytechnic’s Indigenous Culinary Skills program.

Red River has been offering the yearlong certificate program for nearly a decade. In it, Indigenous students are given a crash course on food preparation, kitchen safety and business basics, with a focus on cultural ingredients and cooking techniques.

Employees aim for the stars at Magellan Aerospace

When making a major career course correction, Julie Robichaud did the math. She calculated that a job at Magellan Aerospace, Winnipeg would give her wings to soar to new and higher professional goals.

“I had just come out of 10 years in hospitality and decided to switch gears, so I started at Magellan at three days a week and they quickly moved me to five days,” says Robichaud.

“It’s been great. The company is very good about giving me the educational and other supports I need to succeed and to grow.”

Magellan Aerospace is a global company that designs, engineers and manufactures aeroengine and aerostructure components for the aerospace and space markets. Located in Winnipeg, the company’s employees build everything from complex aircraft assemblies to satellite buses.

Quand le froid gèle la collecte de sang

Les intempéries hivernales ont parfois des impacts insoupçonnés. Alors que les déplacements ont été rendus difficiles à travers le pays, la Société canadienne du sang doit combler les pertes causées pour répondre à un besoin toujours plus important.

Le temps hivernal s’est montré quelque peu extrême le mois dernier. S’il n’est pas nécessairement évident de faire le lien entre les deux, et bien les aléas météorologiques ont un impact direct sur la collecte de sang au Manitoba et plus largement dans tout le pays.

Aujourd’hui, il faut savoir que, la branche manitobaine de la Société canadienne du sang (SCS), ne compte pas moins de 30 cliniques mobiles. Ces dernières se déplacent trois fois par semaine dans les communautés rurales de la province. Entre autres, Brandon, Portage la Prairie ou bien Selkirk.

Or les intempéries ont provoqué l’annulation de plusieurs centaines de rendez-vous, comme l’explique Rayna Porter, responsable du développement communautaire pour la SCS ici, à Winnipeg.

Muslim student association serving thousands of meals during Ramadan at U of M

The University of Manitoba Muslim Students’ Association is serving more than 7,000 free meals during the month of Ramadan.

Le logo d’un francophile de cœur

Originaire du quartier Tyndall Park à Winnipeg, c’est pourtant à Saint-Boniface que l’anglophone Jonato Dalayoan a choisi de s’installer il y a 22 ans. “C’était mon premier domicile, et depuis je suis toujours resté ici avec ma femme et mes enfants.”

Lui-même d’origine philippine, et sa femme germano-philippine, ils ont pleinement embrassé Saint-Boniface, sa culture francophone, et bien sûr son Festival du Voyageur. “Mes enfants vont à l’école d’immersion française et parlent couramment le français, affirme-t-il avec fierté. Je les appelle mes francopinos! En fait, ils parlent très bien le français mais pas du tout le filipino.”

Le Festival du Voyageur, la famille Dalayoan y a donc passé de nombreuses journées à travers les années. Jonato Dalayoan raconte: “Je vis proche du parc Provencher et je me souviens que dans mes premières années à Saint-Boniface, il y avait des sculptures de neige du Festival dans le parc Provencher. C’était toujours quelque chose que j’avais très hâte d’aller voir.

“Aujourd’hui, on va souvent au parc du Voyageur avec les enfants. Le Festival a beaucoup changé dans les cinq à dix dernières années, il y a beaucoup de nouvelles activités, de nouveaux spectacles, de nouvelles musiques, c’était vraiment cool pour toute la famille!”

Manitoba surpasses goal of hiring 1,000 health-care workers, says health minister

WINNIPEG - Manitoba's NDP government has surpassed its goal of hiring 1,000 health-care workers since taking office more than a year ago, but the news is receiving mixed responses from some groups who represent health-care staff.

The province announced on Friday that from last April to the end of December it hired 1,255 net-new health-care workers, including nurses, physicians and midwives, to work within the public system.

"Each and every one of these 1,255 frontline health-care workers have joined our system because they want to care for their neighbours, their fellow citizens (and) their community members," Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara told news reporters.

The NDP government committed to hiring 100 doctors, 210 nurses and 600 health-care aides as part of its 2024 budget.

Le rêve sucré de Linh Tran

Avec Rêverie, une boulangerie sans gluten, Linh Tran voit un projet qu’elle a en tête depuis plusieurs années se concrétiser. Si elle s’est lancée dans le sans gluten, c’est avant tout pour des raisons personnelles. Mais, elle observe une demande en hausse année après année.

Tartes, cookies, beignets, gâteaux, desserts et biscuits, en parcourant la page Instagram et le site web de Rêverie, difficile de résister à la tentation face à toutes ces douceurs. Mais pour en arriver là, il a fallu des années d’essais et de pratique à Linh Tran.

Alors qu’elle a quitté son emploi au Centre de santé Saint-Boniface il y a quelques mois, la pâtissière est maintenant totalement concentrée sur Rêverie.

Une passion dès l’enfance

Province invests $17M in Magellan Aerospace to create additional jobs, training

The NDP government is continuing its aggressive support of Manitoba’s aerospace industry, announcing Thursday a significant investment in Magellan Aerospace.

The province is providing Magellan with an $8 million grant and a $9 million loan (to be repaid over 12 years). The investment expects to lead to the creation of more than 60 positions at Magellan. (Its current workforce is about 650.)

The financial assistance will leverage additional capital investment from the company. It is a global player in the aerospace industry, with head offices in the Greater Toronto Area. In addition to its Winnipeg plant, Magellan has three manufacturing operations in Ontario, six in the U.S, six in Europe and two in India.

The Winnipeg plant has been around for close to 100 years. In addition to being a centre of excellence for the company when it comes to machining aero-engine parts, it is also Magellan’s space centre, having manufactured five satellites currently orbiting the Earth.

Slow fashion houses embrace made-to-order to reduce waste

TORONTO - On occasion, fashion designer and clothier Katelyn Woodburn is accused of running a scam.

When a customer makes a purchase without reading the "about" section on her website or following her on social media, they might send an email a week or two later saying something like: "Where's my order? It hasn't even shipped yet? What's going on?" Woodburn recounted from her Vancouver studio.

"Which is a totally reasonable response," she added. Consumers are conditioned to expect instant gratification when it comes to clothes shopping, but that's not really how Woodburn does things.

"I'll say, 'Oh, your shirt is being cut out. We're going to sew it tomorrow.' I tell them the whole process of what's happening. And 100 per cent of the time, I get a response going, 'Oh my gosh, I didn't even realize. This is so cool, no rush at all.'"

Les Petits Amis seront plus nombreux

La garderie Les Petits Amis de Sainte-Anne connaît un agrandissement qui va lui permettre d’accueillir jusqu’à 48 nouveaux enfants. Une bonne nouvelle malgré la liste d’attente encore très longue.

Depuis le 2 décembre, de nouveaux locaux de la garderie Les Petits Amis de Sainte-Anne accueillent 48 bambins pour le plus grand plaisir de la communauté qui avait besoin de cet agrandissement.

Syvelie Mesidor Vaneus, directrice de la garderie, rappelle que “c’est la seule garderie francophone qui existe à Sainte-Anne et c’est aussi la seule qui accueille des bébés. Nous manquions d’espace alors que la liste d’attente ne faisait que grandir.”

En date de son entrevue avec La Liberté, il y avait 84 bébés inscrits sur la liste d’attente et 102 enfants d’âge préscolaire.

Gabrielle Roy, une saison 3 pour aller encore plus loin

C’est à partir du 5 décembre que la saison 3 de la série Le monde de Gabrielle Roy sera diffusée sur ICI TOU.TV. Cette saison raconte le départ de l’écrivaine du Manitoba pour l’Europe, notamment Paris et Londres. Une période essentielle pour sa construction professionnelle et personnelle.

Alors que le public s’apprête à découvrir déjà cette troisième saison, pour Renée Blanchar, réalisatrice et scénariste, c’est toujours la même excitation avant un lancement. “La durée de cette série apporte une réelle profondeur que ce soit devant et derrière la caméra. Ça fait donc trois rendez-vous qu’on se donne avec le Manitoba pour raconter cette histoire-là, et au lieu de s’essouffler, elle se bonifie.”

Renée Blanchar définit cette troisième saison, toujours co-produite par Les Productions Rivard et Zone 3, comme un vrai “tour de force.” Pourquoi? Car les équipes de production ont réussi à tourner toutes les scènes de cette série qui a lieu à Paris et à Londres… au Manitoba. “Cette saison raconte donc le voyage en Europe de Gabrielle Roy entre 1937 et 1939, à l’aube de la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Et tout a été tourné ici, au Manitoba. C’était un beau casse-tête. Sur ça, je tiens à féliciter l’équipe de Réjean Labrie, concepteur artistique, pour son travail. Donc l’architecture ici nous a permis de recréer un théâtre, un appartement parisien, on a pu aussi donner l’illusion d’être à Londres. Et tout ça a été complété avec des archives de l’époque.”

Un vrai défi de production

Husband-and-wife food bloggers show how two chefs can navigate the home kitchen and stay happy

NEW YORK (AP) — Husband-and-wife food bloggers and podcasters Sonja and Alex Overhiser have a new cookbook that uses a simple step to keep the kitchen a less heated place for two chefs: clear, alternating roles.

“A Couple Cooks: 100 Recipes to Cook Together” lays out ingredients and directions for a wide array of dishes, like any other cookbook, but also divides the cooking tasks — one home chef is designated a square, the other a triangle — so neither is overwhelmed or resentful.

“Everything is more fun together, we think. And so we found that about cooking,” says Sonja Overhiser from their home in Indianapolis. “You’ll stay doing it if you’re doing it with someone else.”

So to make their Meatballs with Fire-Roasted Marinara, one chef preheats the oven and then starts to make the marinara sauce, while the other prepares the meatballs. They come together at the end to coat the cooked meatballs with the sauce and add Parmesan cheese and basil.

New Jenna Rae cookbook focuses on bakers’ favourite home recipes

There’s a sweet new edition on the way.

Sisters Jenna Hutchinson and Ashley Kosowan are expanding their successful local bakery business with a new cookbook venture. Jenna Rae Cakes at Home: Our Favourite Recipes to Enjoy with Family and Friends hits bookstores Oct. 8 and features more than 100 colourful, family-friendly recipes.

The cookbook is a followup to their first release, Jenna Rae Cakes and Sweet Treats, and is a labour of love that brings together the twins’ individual interests.

“Ash was meant to make cookbooks,” says Hutchinson, whose passion for cake design prompted the entrepreneurial siblings to open their first Jenna Rae Cakes shop in 2014.

Almond Nail Bar digs into expansion mode

Winnipeg’s newest export is packing its polish.

The first out-of-province Almond Nail Bar has quietly opened in Burnaby, B.C. Chinh La, the franchise owner, is preparing for a big unveiling in September.

His shop’s opening will be followed by one in Ontario and two more in British Columbia. Back in Manitoba, locations in Niverville and Steinbach are brewing.

In Winnipeg — where La and his wife own two locations — things are “very busy.”

Bringing dental care to kids in schools is helping take care of teeth neglected in the pandemic

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Tucked away inside the teachers lounge at a New Hampshire elementary school, Amber Warner was having her teeth checked out for the first time.

The 5-year-old sat back on what looked like a beach chair and wore a pair of dark sunglasses as certified public health dental hygienist Mary Davis surveyed Amber's teeth and then with a tiny syringe applied traditional dental sealants, which had the consistency of nail gel.

“Close down and bite your teeth together, bite down like you are biting down on a hot dog or a cheeseburger," Davis told Amber, to ensure the sealants were done properly. After that, Davis flossed all of the “popcorn and the chicken, pizza between your teeth.” The whole visit took 15 minutes.

“Look at you. You are a pro on your first dental visit. I am so proud of you,” Davis said to the kindergartener, who got up from the chair and was hugged by a teacher's assistant.

Pride and passion stitched right in

Surrounded by vibrant textiles, Oluwayemisi Josephine Ogunwale, or Yemz, as she likes to be referred to, sits at her sewing machine, brow furrowed in concentration as she stitches the hem of a dress.

The tools of her trade within easy reach — fabric scissors, measuring tapes, cottons of various shades — Ogunwale is in her happy place: creating beautiful and wearable works of art for her loyal clientele.

The dressmaker has always been interested in fashion. As a child she would sew doll clothing from scraps of material her mother discarded. This progressed to altering her own clothes: modifying hems, adjusting frills, loosening or tightening waistlines.

“Sometimes I would destroy the clothes because of how many changes I made to it,” she laughs.

Leaving auto repair life in the rear-view

For decades, Cadillacs, Mustangs and Audis have overnighted in the Exchange District for repairs and transformations.

Now, a Winnipeg mechanic envisions a new use for his shop — one that sees it filled with milk and produce instead of wrenches and tires.

“There’s no groceries down here,” said Andy Baranowski, owner of J.W. McDonald Auto Service. “Where are you going to get your milk?”

The 189 Bannatyne Ave. building has been an auto repair garage for almost a century — since 1923, according to the Manitoba Historical Society.

Black History Manitoba's block party opportunity for chefs to share their passion

As a little girl growing up in Jamaica, Patrice Gilman dreamed that one day, she would cook just like Gladys, her grandmother. Everyone around downtown Kingston knew Gladys, and the little restaurant she owned in the area called Southside. Her dish of tripe and beans was famous, and fed famous athletes and hungry kids alike.

Gilman was fascinated by watching her grandmother manage the little kitchen, cooking all on her own, darting between pots of goat or chicken or fish bubbling on any of a dozen wood-fired stoves. Every morning, Gladys rose before the sun to start making lunch, and every day she was sold out of food not long after noon.

Still, she always had a little something for the kids who hung around, the ones who didn’t have enough.

“She was a one-woman show,” Gilman says. “She would feed the whole community. She had nine children, and raised many more children that weren’t her own. She passed away about 13 years ago, but her spirit lives on so strongly in our family’s heart.”

I meme, you meme: internet language brings us together

Sometimes, a public health campaign gets it right.

The Baltimore City Health Department has been earning praise for a new initiative that spreads accurate information about COVID-19 and vaccines online by using an internet-native language: memes.

“Ginger ale can’t cure COVID, Derrick!” reads one. “Mimosas with the girls? You’re still not vaxxed, Debra!” reads another. “What the FAQ is Delta? It’s new. It’s scary. But we’re here to break it down.”

Done wrong, a public health department using the language of the internet can smack a bit of, to evoke a popular meme, actor Steve Buscemi dressed up unconvincingly as a teenager and asking, “How do you do, fellow kids?” (To be fair, so does describing memes in print.)

Prominent fact-checker Snopes apologizes for plagiarism

A collection of breaking news briefs filed on August 19, 2021

• Trudeau, O’Toole to make campaign stops here Friday

• Twelve arrested, two at large after Norway House woman held against her will and sexually assaulted

• River East Transcona school board mandates masks for K-12 students, staff

• Missing teenage girl found in Portage la Prairie

• LRSD, teachers' association one step closer to implementing staff vaccine mandate

• Winnipeg police investigate 28th homicide of the year

• Twenty-seven new COVID infections, one death reported Thursday

• U of M, U of W, Red River announce vaccine mandates

• Two arrests made following June homicide

Tree-felling display home transport generates online buzz

A Winnipeg display home that recently smashed into trees and street signs as it was transported via truck has now been to British Columbia, the Panama Canal and Oz — via the internet.

An online Manitoba starlet, Photoshopped images of the house in the city and beyond have gone viral.

The home’s transport Saturday led to the destruction of nearly two dozen trees in the Charleswood neighbourhood along Roblin Boulevard, between Scotswood Drive and the Perimeter Highway. The house was too wide to fit on the road. It also hit several street signs.

The Winnipeg Police Service said officers arrested the driver, who’s facing a charge of mischief over $5,000. The incident is now subject to a provincial investigation.

Chef wants to keep on trucking while she puts down permanent restaurant roots

Tara Hall is just getting started.

The 40-year-old chef is the owner of Winnipeg’s Aboriginal Fusion food truck and she has her sights set on opening a restaurant — sans wheels — focused on the foods she grew up eating.

The elevator pitch is “traditional Aboriginal foods with a fine-dining twist,” Hall says. “We don’t have enough of that here.”

She was born in Vancouver and grew up with her great-grandparents and grandpa on Pinaymootang First Nation in the Interlake. Hall watched her elders and aunties closely in the kitchen and learned to make staples, such as bannock, fried pickerel and saskatoon berry jam, at a young age.