Redpath Acts of Sweetness | Acts of Sweetness

Teddy Bears have picnics too, you know!

All Sunday long, I kept humming (I spared the ears of Janet, who I’m sure would have loved my singing…) the tune of “Teddy Bear’s Picnic”. You know, the old classic camp song?

“If you go out in the woods today, you’re sure of a big surprise…”

Why did I have that song stuck in my head? Because the Acts of Sweetness Team were lucky to be a part of the 16th Annual Mississauga Teddy Bear’s Picnic! The weather was perfect and people were out (with Teddies in hand) to celebrate this great event.

Awesome face painting!

Bouncing castles, rock-climbing walls AND cookies?! This was an event full of activity. They even had a giant game of chess. Naturally, I had to challenge Janet to a game. Just for once, we split the Acts of Sweetness team apart and faced each other in a game of tact and intellect.

Janet makes a move

Savannah retaliates

We couldn’t help but act like kids at the Teddy Bear Picnic! We had a great time meeting a lot of Teddy Bears and smiling faces. It reminded us of our childhood stuffed animal favourites (mine was a lamb, Janet had Weeeee!, the bear). The Acts of Sweetness team was happy to be a part of such a fun celebration. Thank you to the Benares House in Mississauga for hosting the event!

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Acts of Sweetness celebrate the August Long Weekend!

Hi guys!

I just thought I’d take the time to brag about the Acts of Sweetness Team’s AWESOME August long weekend.

Janet and I are lucky because we get to travel a lot and see things that normally we might not! This weekend was action packed and we enjoyed it all. From dreaming in High Park to stuffing our faces with ice cream in Rockton, we had a very sweet weekend. We hope that everyone else did too… but just check out what we got up to:

Has anyone ever been to Dream in High Park? It’s so fantastic! Each summer it’s a different Shakespeare play; this year it’s Romeo and Juliet. We actually drove the truck into High Park and got to drive down to where the stage is and where all the action is! It just happened to be Youth Night at Dream in High Park so there were a lot of people!

Everyone brought picnics with them (so our cookies were quite the sweet compliment!) and a blanket and cuddled up to watch Romeo & Juliet… so cute! (I cuddled with Janet).

We're dreaming in High Park...

On Saturday, we took the truck on an adventure out to Port Hope which is a cute little town just outside of Cobourg, Ontario! We got stuck in a bit of traffic along the way… but knowing Janet and I, we couldn’t keep still. We got people honking and smiling all along the way

Honk if you <3 Redpath!

That’s my beautiful artsmanship right there! It got people honking and taking pictures, definitely recommended if you’re stuck in traffic. We even got a truck driver to give us a blaring honk!

We got to Port Hope for their annual summer Estival (I didn’t forget the F! It’s derived from an old English word meaning Summery Things). It was a blast and lots of people came out to celebrate. We even met a juggler who juggled our Redpath Sugar Cookies! I guess his mother never told him not to play with his food…

He's juggling our Redpath cookies!

We were really looking forward to Sunday because it was our chance to stuff our faces with ice cream! We were invited to the Westfield Heritage Ice Cream Festival out in Rockton, Ontario (which, is by African Lion Safari… I was afraid I’d stumble upon a lion or elephant on our travels). We were so excited by all of the ice cream choices! Janet opted for the Maple Walnut with chocolate and caramel sauce. I’m more of a mint-chocolate chip girl or cookie dough girl myself.

Of course, we offered up some of our crumbled up chocolate chip cookies as ice cream toppers! It worked out pretty well. Who doesn’t like a little cookie crunch in their ice cream?

We got to meet lots of fellow ice cream and cookie enthusiasts. Including this little cookie monster that stopped by:

Cookie Monster got his cookies!

How cute is he?! I need to look into finding Janet and I some of those shirts, does anyone have any hot tips?

We definitely had a blast this weekend in our Redpath truck. We hope that everyone else did! Remember: if you ever want the Acts of Sweetness team and our Redpath Truck to visit you at an event please let us know! You can email us here.

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Sweetness at Any Age: Kids Cook to Care

Kids Cook to Care is the brilliant idea brought to us by Julie Levin and Jill Lewis, two moms who moved to Toronto and realized the volunteer opportunities for kids here were extremely limited, at best. Before the move they both had their children volunteer in soup kitchens as a way of teaching them empathy, kindness, and how much it means to give back.

Being unable to find similar opportunities here, they decided to start one themselves and Kids Cook to Care was born. Once a month they come together with a Chef and prepare and serve a meal to the homeless community in Toronto. We were happy to be welcomed in this past weekend while they made a traditional Lebanese meal.

Pictured above is the kids in action helping Chef Simon Kattar prepare the meal. Every child had a task to help with and an adult to show them how to prepare the food. It was truly a hands on learning experience, and you could see that the kids enjoyed helping out and being filled with such a strong sense of purpose.

Of course they also enjoyed hearing that we arrived in a 1947 DIVCO Milk Truck, and many of them came up to me directly and asked to see it. It was fun to hear their parents explain to them how milk used to be delivered back in the day. They jumped in the drivers seat and the back and enjoyed some of our cookies while they were at it.

When the Acts of Sweetness team first heard of this program we immediately knew Jill and Julie would be the first recipients of our Redpath Act of Sweetness Silver Spoon award. They brought this inspired program to Toronto, and there is no doubt they are teaching kids just what they are capable of. We were very happy to honor the work they do for our community.

If you know of anyone deserving of our collectible Redpath spoons please contact us with information about their act of sweetness and we will be in touch. If you would like to get involved with Kids Cook to Care you can contact them directly at kidscooktocare@hotmail.com.

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Introducing A Sweet New Addition to the Redpath Team!

Hi! My name is Savannah and I thought I’d take a moment to introduce myself. I am the newest Acts of Sweetness Ambassador for Redpath Sugar. I am so excited to be a part of this sweet initiative! I’m joining forces with my co-ambassador, Janet, for some serious acts of sweetness. I will be sharing my experiences, stories and photographs with you as I continue on this exciting journey performing acts of sweetness.

One of my favourite sweets -- cotton candy!

So far it has been a whirlwind of events! From Beaverton to Ancaster and many places in between; Janet and I have had the pleasure of attending some excellent events in the past few weeks.

A certain highlight for me was Tim Hortons Camp Day. One of my fondest memories growing up is time spent at camp. I had the great fortune of spending almost every summer up north. Memories of overnight camping trips with my cabin, long portages and the food – especially the food (s’mores, need I say more?) will always warm my heart. Helping kids create similar memories excited us to no end and counts as a total act of sweetness in our opinion!

When we arrived we were greeted by friendly Tim Hortons staff. We set up the Acts of Sweetness truck right next to the one and only Dunk Tank – a primo location in my books! Janet immediately took to the dunk tank to help raise money for Camp Day and I had the honour of tossing the first throw — that dunked Janet immediately! We were happy to be contributing to a great cause.

Janet took a dunk to help raise money for Tim Hortons Camp Day

Another interesting event we participated in was DoorsOpen Toronto. The Redpath Sugar Factory opened it’s doors for tours of sugar production, the Redpath museum and the raw sugar shack. As a newbie to the Redpath family, I just had to take the tour myself and learn about Redpath’s history (did you know that in one Redpath sugar cube there are 725,000 sugar crystals?!). Janet and I were on hand to say hello to the tour groups and provide a post-tour cookie break!

View of the Redpath Sugar Factory from the Raw Sugar Shack

In my short time here I have already seen communities gather to celebrate heritage days, community picnics, local artisans and much more. It’s inspiring to be involved in these celebrations. If you know of an event in your area and would like the Redpath Truck to visit please, let us know!

And we always like hearing from you! If you want to share a recipe, photographs or just talk baking or acts of sweetness join us on Twitter, Facebook, or Flickr.

I look forward to hearing from you and will continue to share my adventures.

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All Aboard! Acts of Sweetness does the Tall Ships Festival

Ahoy Matey’s! (Ok, that might be pirate talk getting the better of me…)

Janet and I had the nautical pleasure of participating in the Redpath Tall Ships Festival down at Toronto’s Waterfront over the Canada Day weekend.

Tallships, BBQ’s, HTO Park… and cookies! It was the perfect mixture of ingredients to make a joyous Canada Weekend.

The Tallships Festival kicked off with a grand opening ceremony down at HTO Park. We jigged away to the merry music provided by Poor Angus, a Hamilton based band.

Poor Angus sets the mood with songs from the sea!

The ceremonies went off with a bang! And the Tallships were open for business.

Janet and I were lucky enough to receive wristbands that let us walk around the ships and explore.

Land, ho!

Of course, we were down at the Waterfront greeting everyone that was out and about during the lovely weekend (and lovely it was! Janet and I are now the proud owners of tanned arms!). We had the truck with us and plenty of cookies to go around!

We had so many visitors over the weekend! It was great to meet so many smiling faces and share the holiday weekend with everyone. We even met a few people who used to deliver milk! They remembered the milk trucks fondly and shared their stories of delivery with us. Did you know that they used to drive the trucks standing up?! That’s skill.

On Sunday, we were invited to attend the Parade of Sails. We watched as the Tallships made their way from Toronto and on to their next port. We gathered to wave goodbye at the sailors and captains as we watched their amazing sails go!

We waved goodbye as the Tallships left the harbour

It was a great festival. We got to learn information about Tallships and meet interesting new friends! Thanks to everyone that came out and stopped by to chat with us.

Savannah and Janet make sweet looking sailors!

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Take Me Out to the Ball Game!

“Buy me some peanuts and cracker jack, I don’t care if I never come back!”

Janet and I were rootin’ for the home team (well actually, ALL the teams!) at the Sian Bradwell Softball Tournament in Mississauga this past weekend.

We were kindly invited to the softball tournament and could not pass up an opportunity to test out our batting skills (we’ve really been working on our BATTER skills a lot lately… whipping up all kinds of delicious in the kitchen!).

So we took the Redpath Acts of Sweetness truck for a roadie to check out all the action! We were delighted to see everyone getting in the game and cracking some great home runs.

Janet had to take a swing at baseball.

Of course, after all that running around, stealing bases and sliding into home we had to share our wealth of cookies. I think that for the seventh inning stretch, our Redpath cookies were the perfect treat.

All baseball players need a cookie now and then...

It was a great way to be outdoors, enjoying the sun and staying active on the weekend. We had a great time!

If you know of any events that might need a little sweetness feel free to email us if you know of anything coming to your community! We’d love to hear from you.

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To Market, To Market we go

One of Toronto’s gems exists right in the heart of the city. Kensington Market is home to vibrant culture, craft and food. Janet and I were happy as clams to be set up with the Redpath Acts of Sweetness truck right in the pulse of The Market.

We decided that it was such a beautiful and sunny day, we just had to join the wanderers of the market and hand out some cookies!

Janet is ready with the truck to hand out cookies to Kensington goers...

Kensington Market is such a great way to explore the city, take time to wander and enjoy the music and bakery smells that float through the air.

Of course, getting suprised with a cookie while you’re doing all that can make any day instantly memorable!

If you’re ever have a free day to explore — this is the place to do it. There’s definitely something for everyone! And of course, if you see a 1947 DIVCO Milk truck with Redpath Acts of Sweetness on the side and two girls handing out cookies make sure to stop by and say hello!

And just to let you guys know; we are always posting where we’re going with the truck on our Facebook site! Come and join us to see what’s up!

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Fun at The Cake Show

Last Sunday Janet and I had the chance to attend The Cake Show, an Annual event put on every year by the Bonnie Gordon School of Confectionery Arts. This was an exciting event for us as we are not professionally trained bakers, so being able to see such extraordinary work was really impressive.

The show was broken down into five sections: Cake Art Exhibition/Design Competition, Cupcake Challenge, Mystery Design Challenge, Cake Tasting Contest and Live Design Challenge.

Upon entering Wychwood Barns we were immediately greeted with rows of gorgeous cakes for the Art Exhibition. They were split into Wedding and Celebration Cake categories, and the audience was invited to write down the number of their favorite and that cake would go on to win the Peoples Choice award. It was nearly impossible for me to decide on just one as there were literally over a hundred cakes there, all of which looked worthy of a prize.

In addition to the People’s Choice Award there was also the Judge’s Choice for each category. Pictured above is Susan discussing the wedding cake that won her the Judge’s Wedding Cake Prize for the second year in a row. The use of sugar to create the bubbles was what put her over the edge in this stiff competition. It is a super cute and creative wedding cake that anyone would be proud to have on their big day.

This is the Celebration Cake category winner with his amazing creation. Making a tall building out of cake is impressive enough, never mind adding a fire truck with working headlights that light up. I can’t imagine the time and effort that would have went into making something like that work.

The Cupcake Challenge was an exciting live event where three professional bakers decorated their cupcakes in an hour right in front of the audience. All three participants came up with beautiful cupcakes but in the end there could only be one winner. All the cupcakes were put up for silent auction with proceeds benefiting the Stop Community Food Centre.

These are the cupcakes that won over the judges. They looked incredibly tasty and I absolutely love the cute design and theme they represent.

The Cake Tasting contest was a huge hit. For two dollars (all of which was donated to charity) you got to sample four different cakes and vote for your favorite, and the winners were all announced throughout the show. Categories included chocolate, fruit and nut, layer and home style baking.

Last but certainly not least was the Live Design Challenge. Two cake designers went head to head designing a cake around the theme A Wedding at Versailles, and it ran throughout the entirety of the show. Our friend Genevieve from Iron Cupcake was competing, and it was fun to watch her do what she does best. Read about her perspective on the competition here. Both of the cakes looked like something out of a Shakespeare film, and I think everyone watching gained a new respect for the effort that goes into these edible works of art.

If you missed out on the show this year be sure to look out for it next spring, as it is well worth the wait. We look forward to learning more from Bonnie Gordon and her amazing team in the future, and have plans to attend her school’s Designer Cookies and Minicakes class next month. To see the rest of the pictures from The Cake Show head over to our Flickr page.

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Finding Inspiration at the MS Walk

Sunday the Acts of Sweetness team brought our chocolate chip cookies to the MS Walk checkpoint in Sunnybrook Park. We arrived early and though it started slow, it picked up fairly fast and we actually ran out of cookies! Thousands of people showed up and it was great to see such a big crowd out early on a Sunday morning.

I think everyone was happy that it was a beautiful sunny day, and that April showers didn’t rain on our parade. It’s too be expected that some events will have more attendees than others, but this one was our biggest yet. The cookies were flying off the table and out of our hands. It was a really great crowd of young and old, friends and family, teams and individuals, kids and pets. No one was left out. The sweetest part of the day was noting the name of the person each participant was walking for, everyone had their own personal reason for being there.

True to his cookie loving nature, the cookie monster showed up! We couldn’t believe it. What a perfect team, we had the cookies and he wanted to eat them – all of them. The walk was a true success and we look forward to more busy events like this in the future.

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Last Saturday we Floated our Fannies down to Port Hope

The 29th Annual Float Your Fanny Down The Ganny race took place last weekend and we were more than happy to attend this exciting event. It was a gorgeous day outside and we loved having the opportunity to spend it in the sunshine by the water.

Float Your Fanny Down The Ganny began back in 1980 after a flood ripped through Port Hope’s downtown core, destroying a large part of the town. In honor of their recovery, the townspeople came together for an event that would celebrate it right on the water that caused it – and they’ve made this a tradition ever since. Every spring people from all around Ontario come out to float their fannies down the Ganaraska River in canoes, kayaks and even the crowd favorite – crazy crafts:

The crazy crafts – also known as hotrod dragsters, are custom built “boats” that allow participants to express themselves and have fun with the whole idea of something supporting their fanny on the water. Seeing as these are made by the participants and not professionals, they sometimes fall apart mid race leaving the owners to swim through to the finish line. Another fun note, water guns and water balloons are not off limits in the crazy crafts – onlookers beware! On a day like this, everyone enjoyed being splashed.

This race brings out a whole lot of spectators – around 15,000 on a good day – and this one is said to have beat that record. Everyone was out and about, and more than happy to have our cookies to snack on throughout the race. This was our first chance to try the truck out at an event in warmer weather, and I have to admit it has me very excited for future truck adventures this summer. I can only hope we can attend more amazing events on the water.

Janet and I are stocking up on sunscreen now, so if you know of anything we shouldn’t miss out on, get in touch! The rest of the pictures are up here on facebook if you want to see more crazy crafts and cookies.

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