CJ Katz, Publisher and Editor
The food scene in Saskatchewan has seen many dramatic changes in recent years. Reporting on these changes, every week for the past eight years has been Savour Life Magazine, Saskatchewan's only on-line weekly food and drink magazine. At its helm is its publisher and editor, CJ Katz. CJ has nearly twenty years of experience tracking trends in food consumption across Canada. Every week, she researches what is new and exciting in this prairie province. Her reports probe every domain in food and drink, and life beyond Saskatchewan. The focus of her articles is the trends, the chefs, the producers and their stories – their creativity and commitment to making a difference in your experience and to Saskatchewan.
Savour Life is an award-winning publication. It won the 2005 Regina Chamber of Commerce Paragon Award for Best New Business Venture, the Award of Merit at the 2006 Saskatchewan Awards for Creative Excellence (ACE), and placed third in the 2007 Progress 2 Capital Business Plan Competition.
You may also recognize CJ as the Host of The Wheatland Café, a cooking show which airs every Wednesday on the CTV News at Noon across Saskatchewan. CJ also has a monthly radio column on CBC Radio 1's Morning Edition with Sheila Coles where she is a commentator on cooking, dining and entertaining. You can get in touch with CJ at cj@savourlife.ca.
Rob Dobson and The Back Label
Are you looking to learn more about wine? Become a bit more daring when selecting your next bottle for a special dinner or for weeknight quaffing? Pop open a bottle of your favorite, sit back and read "The Back Label" in the first issue of each month. Penned by Rob Dobson, you'll discover great wines and gain enough knowledge to feel more confident selecting wine the next time you're shopping for wine. Like a fine Bordeaux, Rob's wine knowledge has aged and gained depth over many years. He has won the national Canadian Wine Taster of the Year competition, holds a Certified Wine Educator designation from the Society of Wine Educators, is a graduate of the German Wine Academ,y and is Past President of the Regina Chapter of the Society of American Wines. In his spare time, Rob likes to plug in an electric guitar and play loud and sloppy rock ‘n roll. Drop Rob a line at wine@savourlife.ca.
Read The Back Label
Bev Robertson and Brewed Barleycorn
Bev Robertson is the long-time Brewed Barleycorn columnist with Savour Life, writing about the world of beer from his own experience as Saskatchewan’s first certified beer judge who travels the world over tasting and evaluating beer. A retired university professor who created the Bushwakker Brewpub in Regina, he was involved in the development of the Freehouse restaurants in Regina and Saskatoon, and Canada’s most successful amateur brewing club, the ALES. ALES and the Bushwakker now host Canada’s senior amateur brewing competition. Bev is a certified barbecue judge with the Pacific Northwest BBQ Association and the Kansas City BBQ Society. He is a member or former member of many provincial, national and international scientific and policy organizations and he has been the president of some and is an honourary Lieutenant Colonel with the Canadian army. Bev has been instrumental in the creation of many Regina organizations and institutions. He and his wife Elaine have two children, four grandchildren and seven great grandchildren. They live part of the year in Arizona. You can write Bev at info@bushwakker.com
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Steve and Tracy Hurlburt and Yum and Yummer Wine Reviews
Steve and Tracy Hurlburt were lured into the world of fine wines and spirits in the mid 1980's by friends who belonged to the Society for American Wines. They attended their first Wine Educators Conference in Long Beach way back in 1989 and have been hooked on learning more about wine ever since. Tracy is a Registered Medical Laboratory Technologist and Steven is the Regina Branch Manager of Research Capital Corporation. Together they enjoy exploring new wines, spirits, and beers while sharing their experiences and knowledge with Savour Life's readers. Don't agree with Steve and Tracy's assessment, or maybe you do? E-mail them at yumyum@savourlife.ca.
Read Yum & Yummer Wine Reviews
John Russell and Food Matters
You’ve read his lengthy Letters to the Editor, and some of you liked his viewpoints so much you even wrote and asked how to vote for him! Now you’ll hear from John the third week of each month in his new column Food Matters. Some of you will know John as the former owner of Unipride Meats in Moose Jaw. But what some of you may not know is he’s also a passionate cook and professional baker. Over the years when he owned Russell’s Bakery in Reston, Canora Bakery Ltd, Canora, and managed Hansel and Gretal Bakery in Yorkton Saskatchewan, John won many Central Canadian Bakers Association Baking Competitions. John has also been chef for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers Training Camp in 1998, and at the 1999 PanAm Games Village when it was held in Portage, Manitoba. Send John feedback or questions to jwrmoose@shaw.ca.
Read Food Matters here
Dean Kreutzer and Green Foodprints
Growing up in the city, and having a successful 12 - year career in the IT industry did not prepare Dean Kreutzer very well for his future life as an organic fruit grower. After taking horticulture classes via the University of Saskatchewan to begin his education, he traveled throughout North America, visiting fruit growers and fruit breeders, giving him unique insights into the possibilities of growing fruit in Saskatchewan. He fought through drought, grasshoppers, hail, varmints, with a determination to succeed, which led him to create Over the Hill Orchards; the first certified organic orchard and processor in the prairies. Nine years after beginning his seemingly unlikely trek, his organic fruit products have been sent throughout the world, enjoyed by royalty, and his knowledge and unique experiences in growing fruit organically is in high demand. Over the Hill Orchards has expanded to create an organic growers group, where Dean is passing on his knowledge to other growers, creating a stable supply of organic fruit to meet the increasing consumer demand. His work with other fruit breeders will one day help usher in the next stage in evolution of growing fruit on the prairies. You can drop Dean a line at dean.kreutzer@gmail.com.
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Pamela Irving and The Spirit World
Lifestyle journalist Pamela Irving has an uncanny nose for upcoming trends - from agriculture to travel - Irving has put businesses on the map or boosted their presence with her articles and culinary book. Regular columns include The Rediscovered Country travels in western Canada www.countymarket.ca and Raising the Bar www.barnonedrinks.com. Irving's nose led her to New Orleans' Tales of the Cocktail and an inspired interest in the best of the spirit world, where culinary trends echo world ones. Irving relies on her nose, taste and the experts to reveal how they make their elixirs excellent. Pamela stirs up a new monthly column The Spirit World -exploring cocktail culture culinary trends-handmade, artisan, organic, seasonal and exceptional elixirs (the photo to the left is called Simply Saskatoon and is Pamela's signature cocktail). Exceptional is something she understands from the ground up. Their family farm ‘Caledonia Organic’ is renowned for old world quality hemp for hemp hearts and oil that are nutrient dense and delicious. Owner of Living Communications, Irving assists ethical businesses define and deliver their message and markets on time on target. Pamela is also Marketing Consultant to Savour Life Magazine. Get in touch with her at pamela@savourlife.ca
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