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stoujfville suntribune thursday march 8 2007 5 blast from past alive and touring when i was a kid back in the senior fourth class at ss 19 in markham a quartet called the chuck wagon gang was considered the best in america my brother don and i would tune them in every night over radio station wsm from wheeling wv our deforest crosley had no problem picking up the sound in evening hours it was while doing night time chores in the barn or huddled for warmth around the kitchen stove in the house when we enjoyed their music the most thinking back i honestly believe the cows liked it too our parents enjoyed it also theyd always stop whatever they were doing to listen truth is the chuck wagon gang were just about everyones favourite every one appreciating southern gospel music that is a lot of water has flowed under the bridge since then the barns gone the farms gone my parents are gone and i assumed the chuck wagon gang was also gone how wrong i was last fall during a stay in simcoe ont wife jean and i dropped into a christian book store there to my surprise among dozens of gospel cds was a lone recording by guess who my favourite group ignoring the attached price tag i snapped it up quickly we played it all the way home however the biggest rev elation was yet to come on a hunch id stumbled onto something unique i went to their website and discovered the chuck wagon gang to be very much alive part of a second generation family working out of pigeon forge tenn included in the informa tion package was a schedule of appearances one in lebanon penn the very next day i was on the phone im calling from stouf- fville ontario canada i informed the receptionist id like to reserve two tick ets for aug 31 1 understand the chuck wagon gang is coming yes they are she responded like shed known me all my life and five other groups as well she said the concert is part of what is known as the blue mountain gospel music festival youll love it she contin ued and youll love the loca tion too ill send you a brochure four days later the pro gram arrived outlining everything shed said and more including available accommodation our tickets are ready and waiting and so are we well waiting but not ready we still have seven months to pack roaming around with jim thomas as ive said many times we love pennsylvania any where in pennsylvania the mountains the valleys the farms and the towns are to us a sort of heaven on earth not to speak of the peo ple the friendliest folk youll ever find except maybe in stouffville there are two ways to go crossing into the us at ft erie the distance is 700 kilo metres via gananoque its 80 kilometres further but thats our choice there is less hassle that way since we dont possess passports were trusting a drivers licence will do the fact neither of us look like terrorists whatever ter rorists look like the passage should be peaceful a lot depends on who is on border duty that day m all likelihood this will be our last trip south my wife jean much prefers sou venir shopping in small town ontario and im no longer a fan of 18wheelers on the 401 we expect to make it our last hurrah our first stopover will be wilkesbarre pa then lebanon the following night since jeans adverse to sleeping in the back seat reservations will be made in advance well pack a picnic lunch and eat out weather permit ting at a lookout rest area south of syracuse since our decision to take the trip ive emailed david emery of the chuck wagon gang so many times hes kindly agreed to provide autographs likely for no other reason than to get me off his back as partial payment ill probably buy more cds to those who for busi ness or pleasure travel over seas like i drive to ringwood a threeday 750kilometre jaunt is no big deal but it is for me a trip to which im looking forward with great anticipation as for jean i sense she would just as soon go win dow shopping on main street elmira jim thomas is a stouffville resident who has written for area newspapers for more tlian 50 years smoked pork as you know by now we have copious amounts of these beauties prior to the holidays because for every ham that we make theres a hock theyre meatier than usual slowsmoked over oak and delicious as can be while quantities last lb whats for our frozen entree feature of the week is our beef stroganoff we make it with julienne strips of sirloin which have been browned and simmered in the amazing gravy that makes this dish what to serve with it try some of the cipriani pasta its amazing too reg 1595 serves 34 h ummus i next to our spinach dip this is the most popular item in our dip counter its a bad day when hummus is sold out and its on feature this g tmjsjl q week so its a jb ez 0 good time to jts try it ihf fj week prime kloins prime is the highest grade of beef in canada and the united states only about 1 of the beef graded meets the criteria which signifies prime we have a limited supply of sirloins this week and a few ribeyes too since we pay extra to get these we normally charge extra but not this week incidentally i think that the meat grading system in canada requires a bit of explanation grade a beef has a number of variations grade al is the leanest and the minimum standard for grade a where grade aaa3 is the most marbled except for prime which is just a notch higher there is no grade in canada called select canada select is in fact an alberta grade unique to a particular meat packer youre allowed to do this in canada and this meat docs not meet the grade a standards its usually a much lower price and also lower quality in the united states there is a select grade which is also on the low end of the eating quality scale and usually cheaper as well this is made with fresh asparagus chicken stock which we make sweet spanish onions celery and dry white wine its yummy ms 0 reg 599 ea jp 5 serves 4 dmsd is w this m xsr week mrs ew at our store most of you know that weve been making some spiced almonds and pecans for a while but weve begun making some savoury pecans in two varieties one is a bit sweet and hot and the other is just a little warm all of these are good to eat just as you get them but if you want to perk up a salad use these in place of croutons also after so many years weve bought a silent cutter which is a meat processing machine capable of chopping meat very fine it enables us to make beautiful bologna pates and wieners all in an efficient and high quality manner be looking for our meaty bologna our ham sausage some european sausages of which weisswurst are the first and eventually a selection of paes and well have homemade hot cross buns theyll be available at the bakery counter starting later this week as well as some from ace bakery wh cookin atthe eli t well be making copious amounts of chicken cordon bleu these are made with bur airchilled chicken breasts which have been flattened seasoned stuffed with our black forest ham and swiss cheese breaded and then cooked till they are golden theyll be available at the prepared dinner counter well also be making a whole bunch of our broccoli and cauliflower salad if you havent had it yet youll find crunchy bite size pieces of broccoli and cauli hence the name with a mayobased dressing with our homemade bacon bits real good cajun sausa we make these with paul prudhommes spice as well as a few of our own the result is new orleans character with a p 0 delicious twist i fan 0 reg 399 lb off- this wfek the hospital many of you know that we are a supporter of the markham stouffville hospital gala this year the big party is at the hilton suites on april 13th if you dont have your tickets yet its time to get them call the foundation office at 9054727395 this year just like the last two years my pal kevin thistle of angus glen and i are cochairs of the auction committee what that means is that its our job to relieve you of as much money as possible on the said evening to do that well have our mystery bag event happening but rather than one huge overwhelming bag thats too big to handle well have three or four of a more manageable size each formulated around a particular theme if you have an item which youd like to put into this very worthwhile cause give either kevin or me a call your contribution can be either crazy or practical we can do either latebreaking news is that don valley north lexus toyota has very generously donated a 2007 toyota matrix very very special thanks to amin tijani and dave lalonde loaves many of you who know me would also know that i eat dessert first just in case thats also the reason that we only bake desserts in our bakery since space didnt allow us to bake everything we had to choose it will come as no surprise then that my favourite part of our lemon loaf is the icing in fact when i have a lemon loaf i have them split it horizontally and put in another layer of icing just to be sure well have these loaves on sale this week theyve become public for the third time fa 0 m this reg 599 ea m hjfweek whats baking this week lemon will be happening this week in our bakery well be making our lemon squares diere will be two types available one with an iced topping and the other with the soft and chewy toasted coconut regular jl ea lemon meringue pies this is like no other lemon pie unless you make them at home from scratch including juicing the lemons making the pastry separating the egg whites whipping the meringue without powder sounds like a lot of work tv 95 we make them in two sizes lemon drop cookies dunking back the idea for these came from the overflow drips that result when we make lemon loaves the litde toasted bits are delicious so we started to make these on their own they are melt-in-your- mouth good especially with the chocolate its all good regular container gingerbread cake with lemon this is a light and fluffy gingerbread coffee cake made in a bundt form and drizzled with a lemon glaze created specifically for this cake regular o 95 all these items will be featured this week at ea off this week village grocer qualityrodds ml specials in effect until closing sundat march 11 hours mon 1100700 tuesthurs 900700 fri 900800 dependent i sat 900600 sun 1000500 grocer 548 carlton road unionville m 9401770 x wwwthevillagegrocercom