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US: Florence, SC – Go Nuts for Pecans in Florence and Snag some Free Swag
April is National Pecan month so why not celebrate by following a culinary trail dedicated to the pecan.
Florence is home to the South Carolina Pecan Trail, showcasing 17 local restaurants and specialty shops offering pecan dishes or products, putting pecans in the spotlight. From pecan-encrusted grouper to pecan pie martinis, those venturing on the trail will experience a variety of originality.
Pick up a passport at the visitors center, 3290 W. Radio Drive, or any of the participating restaurants to start the journey. Earn a stamp in the passport by feasting on the featured pecan item at each establishment.
Return your passport to the Visitors Center in person or by mail for some sweet Pecan Trail swag. Show up with four stamps, and receive a charming metal nutcracker. Eight stamps will get you a drawstring bag and the nutcracker. Present a fully stamped passport and walk away with a T-shirt, drawstring bag and the nutcracker. 
Get your stamps and enjoy tasty pecan offerings at these restaurants and specialty shops:
Block and Vino: Seasonal praline pecan cheesecake; candied pecan brie-stuffed chicken
Clay Pot Coffee Shop: Signature BIG cookie: Southern Maple Pecan Oatmeal Cookie
Dolce Vita: Double chocolate chip pecan muffin
Freeman’s Bakery: Assortment of baked goods, including cakes, Danish pastries
Julian Belle’s: White Russian pecan pie
The Library: Bourbon pecan pie
Rebel Pie Wood-fired Pizza: Danish pizza
Red Bone Alley: Chicken salad with pecans; apple crisp; chocolate chip cookie pie
Seminar Brewing: Pecans Gone Wild smoked brown ale
Struttin’ Turkey: Turkey salad with cranberries and pecans
Top Hat Special-Teas: Top Hat Pecan Scones
Town Hall: Braised oxtail ravioli, local sweet potato puree, espelette-spiced pecans and sage oil
Tubb’s Shrimp and Fish Co.: Sweet potato cheesecake
Venus Restaurant and Catering: Pecan (Belgian) waffle, Southern pecan pancakes
Victors: Pecan pie martini
Wholly Smokin’: Goat cheese salad, features warm goat cheese patty encrusted with local pecans
Young Plantations: Variety of flavored pecans
Location: Visitor Information Center, 3290 W. Radio Drive, Florence Center Upper Level, Florence, SC 29501
Time: Daily 9am – 5pm
Tel: 800-325-9005
visitflo.com
US: Skippers, VA – Good Earth Peanuts are Virginia Peanuts at their Best
Virginia grows the largest variety of peanuts in the world. The Good Earth Peanut Company ships Virginia peanuts fresh in a variety of forms: raw and cooked, in and out of the shell. Sitting right on a 1650’s Tuscarora Indian trail which is now a railroad junction, in an old time (circa 1854) general store, this family business roasts and sells peanuts.
Lindsey and Scott Vincent go beyond the ordinary nut to sell cashew brittle, wasabi flavored peas, nut berry thrill, diet trail mix, cracked pepper and sea salt peanuts, chocolate covered peanut brittle (Sandra’s favorite) and maple covered nuts, as well as pecans like key lime ones (we’re addicted to the butter toasted pecans in our salads).
There are FREE tastes of the 36 or so salty and sweet treats. We’ll take the dark chocolate
covered cherries. Some groceries still line the walls, like McCutcheon’s preserves and Virginia hams.
You’ve gotta stop here, you won’t be disappointed, the quality and the assortment are amazing. You can even order them on-line and have them shipped to you. They will include information about the history of peanuts, also known as goobers and groundnuts, and how peanuts are grown. WARNING: These products are addictive!
Location: The Good Earth Peanut Company, 5334 Skippers Road, Skippers, Va 23879
Hours: Mon – Fri 8-6pm, Sat 9-4pm
Tel: 1-800-643-1695
goodearthpeanuts.com
Canada – Ontario Weekend Getaway: Low Fat Donuts, Fair Trade Coffee, Chainsaws and Friendly Alpacas
Why not get away with your family to Almonte, ON, just west of Ottawa . The very first reason is that Ed Atwell of Healthy Food Technologies (hft) has figured out how to make low-fat donuts that are scrumptious. He “tricks” the donuts by frying them (in zero trans fat oil) for 1/2 the time and then baking them at the same temperature. Watch the video to see him explain the process he invented.
Now take a walk around the corner and pick up your to-go-with coffee at fair trade high quality Equator Coffee Roasters. They roast the beans right there, having bought them from small-scale farming communities and paid the farmers well. Do not miss the Oh-so-Canadian maple-flavored latte. It’s worth driving there just for that! Kids can enjoy the hot chocolate.
Next you can pick up snacks for the car or yummies to take home at Dandelion Foods co-op before a 45 min. drive to Wheelers Pancake House and Maple Sugar Camp. D
andelion Foods co-op sells whole, local and organic foods and some for specialty diets. Here you can buy the famous Hummingbird chocolate bars favored by Prime Minister Trudeau. Note the PB & Joy (with peanut butter) and the spicy Mayan. Please bring back the Empire Cheese caramelized onion cheddar cheese for me.
For lunch and fun, at Wheelers Pancake House you can visit the Maple Museum and the Chainsaw & Logging museum and the kids can have fun in the playground. Handy men and women will be mesmerized by Mark Wheeler’s dad Vernon’s collection of hundreds of chainsaws. Everyone will enjoy his “largest collection of pure maple syrup artifacts” which help explain the history of the maple sugar industry. From First Nations wooden spigots to the plastic lines of today, syrup pour-ers, molds, pails, and everything else related to this sweet topic, it’s all here at this 38-year family business. Don’t forget to leave room for the freshly made pancakes and delicious syrup right from their trees.
For the grand finale, we visited Keith and Elizabeth Adam’s alpacas and llamas at their Serendipity Farm. For retirement they decided to raise alpacas for the fun of it. The couple exudes their enjoyment of spending their golden years with these elegant, fluffy friends. They’ll chatter about the little quirks of each of the animals as well as the work associated with raising them.
Alpacas produce fiber that is as fine as cashmere, soft, silky and much warmer than sheep’s wool, while also wicking moisture away from the body.
In their little shop you can buy scarves, gloves, purses, as well as fiber felted sheets, alpaca and fiber rovings and handspun yarn.
Leave some time too for the local shops which wind their way along the downtown streets. Yes there’s plenty to do in Lanark County for a low-key interesting getaway weekend. We are not sure how this area attracted so many hippie/free trade/entrepreneurial types who seem to care for the planet. You can feel virtuous spending time and money in this town.
Equator Coffee Roasters, 451-A Ottawa St, Almonte, ON K0A 1A0, Tel: 613-256-5960
www.equator.ca
Dandelion Foods, 541 Ottawa St, Almonte, ON K0A 1A0, Tel: 1-613-256-4545
www.dandelionfoods.ca
Healthy Food Technologies, 25 Industrial Rd., Almonte ON Tel: 613-256-9900
(HFT) https://www.facebook.com/HFTinc
Wheelers Pancake House and Maple Sugar Camp, 1001 Highland Line, McDonalds Corners(Lanark Highlands), ON K0G 1M0 Tel: 613-278-2090
www.wheelersmaple.com
Serendipity Farm Alpacas & Llamas, 929 South Lavant Rd, Lanark, ON K0G1K0 Tel: 613-259-3304 or 613-222-6303
www.serendipityalpacas.ca