Community Corner

Leucadia Woman to Launch Encinitas Food Swap

The free event is a chance for neighbors to barter with homemade food.

If you spot someone cruising down South Coast Highway 101 in what appears to be a powdery blue ice cream truck, that’s .

The Leucadia resident is known by locals for her funky ride—a vintage camper dubbed the "baby beluga"—which doubles as a kitchen when she’s cooking dinner down at Cardiff Reef several times a week. 

But you won’t find this mom of three young boys making mac-and-cheese. Not from a box, anyway. Baril-Ortley is a bona fide foodie, and she wants to share her love cooking with our community via the Encinitas Food Swap, a public meet-up that functions somewhat like a potluck — only everyone uses their homemade food to barter.

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“We have the perfect community for a food swap,” Baril-Ortley says. “So many people here are about food, I see it at the beach all the time.”

The concept of bartering is nothing new, and still alive and well in rural parts of the world. But food swaps have recently been on the upsurge in urban areas, mushrooming in cities like London, New York and Los Angeles. Part of the allure, Baril-Ortley says, is that food swaps are a one-stop-shop for homemade food you can’t get at the store and most people don’t have the time to make.

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“I recommend people bring meal starters, like a hearty curry sauce that people can freeze. Then they can thaw that out, pour it over some rice, and you have a simple dinner.” 

For this food swap, everyone will bring pre-made portions of their dish. They’ll put out one sample, and then everyone will mingle, tasting as they go. If you sample something you like, you can offer to make a trade. The exact terms of the trade can be negotiated on the spot.  If you bake cookies, for example, a dozen might get you a jar of homemade jam, or a chicken casserole. The idea is that you come with one dish and leave with a variety.

The Encinitas Food Swap is also a chance for neighbors to talk face-to-face, something Baril-Ortley hopes will foster a sense of community. 

“I grew up in a small town, and Encinitas is the closest thing to a small town that I’ve been able to find in Southern California,” she said. “I know my butcher by name, and he knows me. That’s part of why I love this community.”

And she hopes after this food swap, a few more people in Encinitas will know her by name, too. Any novice chefs would also be wise to pick her brain. Baril-Ortley grew up in the food industry: Her father had a national cooking show in her homeland of Canada, and she helped her family run a catering and restaurant business for years.

Chat her up a few more minutes and you’ll also learn Baril-Ortley is an artist, award-winning cultivator of heirloom roses, and hardcore crafter who was featured on the Martha Stewart Show several times after she dressed up as the TV hostess for Halloween, a costume that included her baby son dressed up as a roasted turkey on a silver platter —something the show’s producers found hilarious and later asked her to create an entire Thanksgiving feast out of babies dressed as food.

Baril-Ortley is aiming to launch the Encinitas Food Swap at on Saturday, Nov. 5, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. For this first event, Baril-Ortely is planning to make rose water truffles — yes, using those heirloom roses she grew. But that shouldn’t intimidate anyone, she stressed.

“It doesn’t have to be anything fancy. If you have a citrus tree in your back yard, bring a few bags of fresh lemons. That’s lovely. Make whatever you can. Simple is great.”

She's also going to bring canned fresh pears, something she hopes will spark an interest among some of the attendees. 

"I think it's time for old school canning to have a renaissance," she says. "We live in a climate that allows us to grow so much, and we have such a great farmers market with beautiful produce. I think it only makes sense to preserve some of this fresh produce."

All sorts of homegrown produce and homemade food is encouraged at the Encinitas Food Swap, though everyone is asked to avoid common allergens, like nuts. All the ingredients must be listed on a card — but the exact recipe doesn’t have to be revealed, so you can still protect grandma’s secret for perfect pot-roast. 

The event is free, but everyone is asked to bring a non-perishable donation for the . If you’d like more information about the event, you can email Baril-Ortley at ortley@cox.net. If would like to RSVP for the event, please visit the Encinitas Food Swap Facebook page

Baril-Ortley will also be sharing her tips for cooking, gardening, canning, crafting and entertaining as , so be sure to check back for her regular posts. 

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