- [Host] Tonight on "WPBS Weekly: Inside The Stories," Johnny Spezzano demonstrates just how versatile lavender is with a special dish prepared by Mary Rumble of Hopenhagen Farms.

And discover how the nearly 200 year old, family-run Trousdale's General Store in Kingston, Ontario, is captivating a fresh wave of patrons.

Your stories, your region, coming up right now on "WPBS Weekly: Inside The Stories."

(bright music) - [Announcer] "WPBS Weekly: Inside The Stories" is brought to you by.

(bright music) - [Announcer] When you're unable to see your primary care provider, the Carthage Walk-In Clinic is here for you.

Located off Route 26, across from Carthage Middle School.

Comfort and healing close to home when you need it most.

North Country Orthopedic Group is there for your urgent ortho or sports-related injuries.

With our onsite surgical center, and same or next day appointments, we're ready to provide care for patients of all ages.

Your health matters to us.

North Country Orthopedic Group, keeping healthcare local.

(gentle music) - [Narrator] We are the North Country, where protecting one another like family is who we are, and where our tomorrow will always be worth defending.

Find out how we keep the North Country strong at claxtonhepburn.org today.

- Good evening, everyone, and welcome to this edition of "WPBS Weekly: Inside The Stories."

I'm Michael Riecke.

With the Hopenhagen Lavender Festival right around the corner, why not dig into some lavender barbecue meatballs?

Johnny Spezzano of The Border teams up with Mary Rumble of Hopenhagen Farms to produce this colorful recipe.

And as Johnny learns, lavender has more applications than you may think.

(people chatting) (bright music) - Hey, come on.

(upbeat music) - Well hello, my friends.

Welcome to another "Johnny on Fire."

I'm Johnny Spezzano, welcome to my house.

This is the show where we take recipes, and we cook them with fire.

We've got great guests.

We've got Mary Rumble with us.

She's from Hopenhagen Farms.

And we're gonna make, what are we making?

- We're gonna do a lavender barbecue meatball.

- This is gonna be good.

So is there lavender in these ingredients?

- Definitely, we have culinary lavender for both the barbecue sauce and the meatballs.

We have the eggs, and then we're gonna mix the seasonings for the meatballs.

Which includes the lavender, some garlic, onion powder, and let's see, some paprika, smoked.

- What are we gonna do first?

- So we are going to take the eggs and we're going-- - Well I'll grab that.

- You got longer arms.

Then we're going to pour it in the red bowl.

And we're going to mix it up with the fork.

- [Johnny] Then what are we gonna add to that?

- And we're gonna take some of the Herb de Hopenhagen.

Our version, Herb de Hopenhagen.

So I'm gonna add a tablespoon of that right out of my packet.

And I make these at my shop.

- Look at this.

- Beautiful.

See the nice purple, the lavender?

- Wow.

That is so gorgeous.

Oh man.

These are gonna be the best meatballs ever.

- So you're gonna stir that up, and then by doing that, you get the herbs to kind of soak in and get that lavender and that combination in there.

So then we're going to take real lavender buds, more.

- More lavender.

- Yeah, and then we're gonna crunch them.

Like you say you do like your other herbs.

You kind of crunch it and what it does-- - Let me have a little of that.

We're putting it all in?

- Yeah.

It gets the flavor.

And the thing is is I have like your regular bundle, which is right here.

If you kind of smell it, you don't get much of a smell.

But what you do is.

- You give it a crunch and it wakes it up.

- And it really knocks your socks off, doesn't it?

- Oh my goodness.

- Yeah.

Yeah.

- Oh, this is great.

- So pinch that right in there.

- [Johnny] How much lavender is grown at Hopenhagen Farms?

- We have about 1,800 plants.

So I'm gonna add some onion, garlic powder, have to have that.

- [Johnny] I'm gonna start stirring a little more.

- Keep it going.

Yeah, yeah.

- [Johnny] So this is all gonna get absorbed into the egg.

- Exactly, before we start doing the ground meat mixture, we are going to let this kind of simmer in here.

A little paprika.

- That's some smoked paprika.

Very good.

- I'm loving this, Mary, already, I'm excited.

I can't wait to eat this meatball.

- So now we can start on the hamburger.

So we're gonna take the ground meat.

- Put that right in there for us.

- So I took some regular bread, soaked it in milk, and so I'm going to kind of-- - Mary has been an outstanding guest here.

She has got everything prepped and ready to go.

Even the little canisters all labeled and everything in her handwriting, which is amazing.

So thank you so much, we appreciate it.

- I don't like surprises.

- We appreciate it.

I wanna find out more about your love affair with lavender.

- [Mary] So we started growing hops and then I got reading-- - For the beverage industry?

- Actually, yes, for like all the new little popup breweries that are happening.

And I think we can add this in here.

- So we're gonna add our mix of egg and herbs.

Is this an herb, the lavender, is it an herb?

- Oh, definitely.

Lavender is actually an herb.

And when I first started doing my cooking interest with lavender, I had to dry it in a 20 seat kitchen because it is an herb to be used for food.

Where normally our other bigger bundles and those bundles we dry in the barn with big fans.

- Do you want to use your hands and scoop that out?

Because we don't wanna miss it, I don't wanna miss anything left behind.

- [Mary] I actually brought a little rubber scraper and we can... - Wow, guys, what she's putting in here is really smelling good.

- So I wanna try to get this mixed as quickly as we can without, without overmixing, because I don't want hard meatballs, so they won't taste very good.

I think that what we do need, I think we need to put a little of our salt and pepper in here.

Just that, I don't know, there's something about salt that brings out the flavors.

So take the little top off.

- These are so gorgeous.

Just the colors.

- Perfect.

Doing a good job with that.

- [Johnny] Tell me when.

- Whenever you feel like you have enough pepper.

- Is this salt or pepper?

- That's pepper.

It's lavender with peppercorns.

- I can't do too much.

- And then I read that pink sea salt is real good for you.

So I use pink sea salt.

- And these are available at your store?

Do you have an online store?

- I don't do online because shipping is just too crazy, if you know what I mean.

- I understand.

- So I'm gonna just, I'm gonna make these, is this a good size?

Is this what you normally do like in your fire?

Is that a good size?

- [Johnny] They'll shrink up a little.

But that's okay.

- [Mary] So we're gonna do like, probably get like four maybe?

- [Johnny] Yeah, four five.

- [Mary] Again, like you can use your specific meatball recipe and you just add the lavender to give it a little more pizazz there.

- So go ahead and make a few extras.

- I will.

- Don't be afraid.

- [Mary] All right.

- [Johnny] I'm gonna move this right here so it's right front and center for it.

- [Mary] Oh, awesome.

Reaching over you there.

- [Johnny] These are the star of the show right now.

- Yeah, and the sauce, the barbecue sauce is really very diverse.

You can put it on many things.

Anything like chicken wings, you could use the barbecue sauce for chicken wings.

So it'd be a lavender barbecue chicken wing.

- I've never used lavender in any cooking I've ever done.

I feel like from this day forward, I will be.

- I tell you.

- So we're gonna take these meatballs and we are going to put them to the fire.

We ready for that?

- I'm ready.

Fire it up.

(upbeat music) - All right.

Here come our meatballs.

They are fire-roasted lavender.

We're gonna set those to the side right now, and we're gonna make up, Mary, come on in here.

- We'll get this barbecue sauce going.

- So what are our ingredients?

What are we gonna put in here first?

- We're gonna start out with lavender-infused honey.

- What?

- Of course, yeah.

- I wanna try that.

- I do that too.

- Lavender-infused honey.

- We're gonna put that in there.

It's really good.

Do they let you lick the spoon after we get it out?

- I can smell that.

I want to, this is my kitchen.

I mean, we could do stuff like that.

Here, let me have just a little taste, I'm dying to taste that.

- What do you think?

- Oh my God.

- So then we're gonna add our apple cider vinegar.

Whoops, a little messy there.

- [Johnny] It's all right.

- [Mary] And we're gonna add tomato sauce.

- [Johnny] So we got a basic barbecue sauce with lavender honey.

- [Mary] It's gotta be lavender, it has to be.

- So I need to know about the Lavender Festival.

How many years have you been doing this in July?

- We always do it the second Saturday in July.

So we know the lavender's gonna be ready.

So a big thing of our festival is the you cut, and people cut their own bundles.

They take pictures, let the kids run.

- And what about keeping, you know, I mean, I always remember having like lavender, keeping it around, making the house smell nice.

- Oh sure.

- That's what a lot of people do, right?

- Yeah, a lot of people don't know that it's culinary.

You can cook with it, eat it, put it in your drinks.

Gray lavender tea, add Earl Grey, add some lavender.

There's just so much you can do with it.

So we're gonna put some more lavender in this.

- Do you wanna crunch it?

I didn't know if you, yeah.

You gotta activate it.

- I've got my soot-filled hands.

So we're gonna do that because when you have wood fire, you get that sometimes.

So you gotta crunch it and then add it?

- Yep, perfect.

So you can make so many things with, I'm gonna add the canned pepper.

So make things like body butters, lotions, I make homemade lotions, lip balms.

- And you have a complete store right there at the farm in Copenhagen.

- So Hopenhagen Farms is what you want to search for.

And definitely come to the Lavender Festival.

Ginger?

- Yes, a little ginger.

We get several people that come to the festival.

Not all at once, obviously, but we have people park in our hayfield.

And then, yeah, so we're gonna stir this up.

- Gonna add a little pepper.

- Yep, you're in charge of those.

- Some of these lavender rainbow pepper, which looks so good in the shaker, but it's not.

It's a grinder, I guess.

And you want a little salt?

- [Mary] Yes, please.

Yeah, we need to bring that.

- [Johnny] And again, lavender and sea salt together.

- Definitely.

- Ooh, lavender.

- Everything lavender.

At the festival, we have lavender cotton candy and everything.

- My kitchen's never smelled better.

So what we're gonna do is we're gonna take this now, if you're doing it at home, you're gonna boil it down on the stove a little bit.

Make it a little bit thicker.

We're gonna throw it in the wood fire a little bit and it'll cook right down.

- We wanna get those spices soaking.

(upbeat music) - I can't wait to try this.

Do we need to add any more lavender?

- Well actually we do.

We're gonna do, when you get the meatballs and the potatoes, we're going to sprinkle with some chives mixed with lavender.

I hope you don't get sick of all this lavender.

- Not yet.

I'm not sick of it.

So we're gonna just throw some potatoes on our plate.

- [Mary] Work your magic.

- And some on this one.

Just like that.

And then we're gonna add a meatball.

And these meatballs came out delicious.

Again, all fire-roasted.

Throw that one on there.

- That's what makes them so good is that fire.

- And then our homemade barbecue sauce.

- Yep, right there.

Beautiful.

I think it's a work of art.

- [Johnny] I think it is too.

I think it looks really good.

What do you think?

Is that good?

- [Mary] Yep, shall I sprinkle in a little bit of these chives?

Little lavender, just a little sprinkle.

How's that?

Okay?

- It's good, but there's something missing.

I feel like maybe we need to have a little cocktail with this.

- You came to the right place.

- I have several mocktails.

I'm really into mixology and I have a mocktail recipe.

It's a blueberry lavender fizz.

It's real good.

Do you wanna try one?

- Please.

- All right, so we're gonna take our little shaker.

- Make it right here if you can.

- I'm going to, I'm gonna put it right here.

- I'll move these over a little.

- So I'm gonna add blueberries.

And I kind of smushed them a little bit because I want that juice to come out too when we're shaking.

- [Johnny] A touch of muddle.

- [Mary] Ooh, lavender simple syrup.

Of course it's lavender.

It's lavender.

Lavender simple syrup.

- [Johnny] I love the shade of it.

- And then I'm just gonna put a dash of vanilla extract just to, there we go.

And then the best part here is we're going to get our lemons and I'm gonna move this over a little bit.

So I need a juice of one lemon, but I have two because I'm gonna garnish it with lemon also.

So let me just do this.

- Now this is kicking the meatballs up a notch.

- I'm gonna put that aside.

So now when I do this juice, beware.

- So I'm gonna put it face down.

These are big lemons.

- Wait, face down?

I've never seen it done like that before.

- You gotta squirt it out.

- Okay, all right.

Yeah, I guess it makes sense.

I've probably been making it wrong.

- I'm actually gonna go like this because that little hole is small.

So I'm gonna just squirt it down, squeeze it, squeeze it.

And when I did this with my granddaughter, I squirted up in her face.

So watch it.

So there's that.

- You did good.

- I'm gonna set that there.

I'm gonna take the other one face down.

I promise this is gonna be, it's always better with fresh instead of out of the container.

So there we go.

I got a little seed in there, but that won't hurt you.

- Smells so good.

- You'll get a prize, and then we're gonna do that.

We're gonna add that to this.

I just love that combination of lemon and blueberries.

And then we're gonna fill it with ice.

- Our shaker.

With all that lavender in there, there's no way that we have to worry about anything.

It's gonna keep us healthy forever.

- You bet.

Inside out, there, - Man, I can't wait for the Lavender Fest.

Everyone needs to be there and check it out and enjoy.

- I lost my cover.

- And of course, Hopenhagen Farms in Copenhagen, New York is the spot.

There's your cover.

- Where?

Oh geez.

- Right there.

- If it was a beer.

Okay, so we're gonna put the cover on.

Okay.

Did you wanna do the shaking or do I need to?

(Johnny humming) You got it.

So you shake until it feels like cold.

But you probably know that.

- I've done this a few times.

- And while you're shaking, I'm gonna put the ice in the glasses because we are going to, now these are wine glasses.

But I'll tell you, you know, the difference between the different wine, or glasses, not just wine is how much liquid it holds.

So this is like a ball, one of the shorter ones.

Same amount.

But I thought it looked nicer in this.

- It'll look nice.

- So we're going to pour equal amounts in each one.

- Okay.

Here we go.

- Looks good.

And if it's a little short, you just kind of, you got it.

All right, when you're doing that, I'm gonna get a lavender sprig too.

- Oh, I was wondering if you were gonna put some more lavender in there.

- Of course, of course.

- I love this.

Look at the color.

- So I'm gonna top it.

We're gonna top it and bring it up.

You can use soda water, seltzer, it doesn't matter.

Just the soda, if you didn't have it as a mocktail, it will make it fizz as much as the seltzer.

So then we're gonna take our lemons that we did, kind of garnish it.

And of course.

- Gotta have some lavender in there.

- Gotta put that sprig of lavender in there.

I'm gonna put a couple just tomake it pretty.

- Okay.

- Let's toast.

Now if you wanted to kick this up a notch, what do you think, a little gin or a little vodka with it or what?

- Oh, definitely, definitely.

Any of the mocktails that we make, you can substitute alcohol for.

- So cheers.

- Cheers.

And this is called?

- Lavender.

Well actually, Lola, blueberry lavender fizz.

- And by the way, this is available at wpbs.org.

Oh, that's delicious.

- Refreshing.

- Oh, so good.

Tastes like a summer day in Copenhagen, New York, up there where all the windmills are.

Okay, let's try our delicious dinners now.

Again, these are special meatballs, which we can't wait to try.

I want to thank you all for tuning in today, taking this recipe, cooking it on fire.

It has been an absolute joy.

Thank you so much for bringing this to us.

And now the best part, we get to eat.

- You ready?

- Yeah.

(upbeat music) - I'm gonna get, I like to mix the two.

I'm gonna get a little of each on there.

- And that barbecue sauce is very versatile.

- That's fabulous.

Hope you get the recipe.

Go to wpbstv.org for this and all the "Johnny on Fire" episodes and recipes.

Learn more about Hopenhagen Farms in Copenhagen, New York.

And make sure you check out the "Dinner at Johnny's" podcast as well as just all these episodes.

Thank you so much for tuning in.

We'll catch you next time and we'll have another great guest and we'll cook some stuff on fire.

- Wow.

- Delish.

- Real good.

Real good.

You know what, though, it doesn't have enough lavender.

- Are you serious?

Are you joking?

- If you're looking for more great fire-grilled recipes from Johnny, just visit wpbstv.org and scroll through our library.

Also, if you'd like to be a guest on the segment, just drop us an email at wpbsweekly@wpbstv.org.

Make sure you include your name and fire-grilled recipe idea.

Sydenham, Ontario is home to Canada's oldest general store, the Trousdale family legacy.

It began with brothers who worked as traveling bakers.

Nearly 200 years later, the timeless essence of Trousdale's General Store is captivating a fresh wave of customers.

(people chatting) (bright music) - [Gail] Trousdale's General Store is a quaint establishment, nestled in the heart of Sydenham, Ontario, embodying the charm of a bygone era.

Opened in the mid 1800s as a true general store, it has remained in the same family for seven generations.

- My grandfather was a baker.

My great-grandfather was a baker.

They all were into the baking.

The history of the general store came from the baking, because when you bake bread, you need flour, but you also need eggs and milk and other things, cream to bake your bread.

So they started to barter with the local farmers.

You bring in your eggs and we'll give you a keg of nails or this sort of thing.

And that's where the general store side of it came from.

That they were able to work with the, it wasn't so much the cash, it was sort of the barter system that they had going on at that time.

- [Gail] In rural areas especially, general stores were often the only source of goods for miles around.

But they served as social centers as well, where people could gathered to catch up on news, share stories, and exchange information.

They provided a sense of community and belonging, fostering relationships among neighbors.

- This is a good indicator what the general store looked like, but this is not what the general store would've had in it back in the turn of the century.

They sold everything from soup to nuts.

You've heard that phrase.

And they did have everything from cans of soup to bread, food, paint, wallpaper, anything you needed to survive because you didn't get in the car and drive to Kingston these days.

You stayed here in the village and you shopped locally.

And I can remember sitting in here on those steps over there on a Saturday morning.

And this place was packed with people shopping.

And there was a blue haze of smoke in here because they all rolled their own cigarettes.

And it was just a hive of activity.

And down here, we have the soda fountain.

The store would be open till 10:00 on a Saturday night because the farmers would come in after milking and it was a social time for them.

They'd get their groceries, but they'd have ice cream and things like that down at the soda fountain.

It was all social, it was all...

Going to shopping was getting out and meeting other families and other people and having a social time of it.

- [Gail] While many rural general stores have disappeared, Trousdale's has managed to adapt and survive by diversifying their offerings, focusing on niche markets, and emphasizing their role as a community gathering place.

- So you have to improvise.

Things change and it doesn't matter.

Back in the turn of the century, it was like a gold mine with these micro mines.

Well that's all gone.

Farming's all gone.

If you don't change with the times, you're gone.

So all we do is try to change with the times and move along and find different opportunities and different things.

- It's changed, but it's still the same.

So yeah, I think the buying has evolved since I've been here for sure.

People see a noticeable difference in what we carry.

I do try to focus as much as possible on getting good local goods and Canadian goods.

So of course we do have things that are not made here.

And we do even have some things from China that sell well.

But the game has changed in retail.

I've been in it for 40 years now and it's changed.

And you have to be on your toes, especially with your inventory.

And this has been here a long time.

They've weathered a couple of world wars, couple of pandemics now, so we'd like to still be here.

- [Gail] Today, Trousdale's General Store stands as a living tribute to its storied past, a beacon of tradition and continuity in an ever-changing world.

It continues to serve as a gathering place for residents old and new, a reminder of importance of community, connection, and the timeless appeal of small town charm.

- To me, this store is the cornerstone in this community.

It's right on the corner physically, but it's also everybody who comes in here has a story about being a child coming in with their grandparents, with their parents, or their grandparent worked in here, or their grandmother.

I met a 96-year-old woman who said when she first was married at 14 way back when that she got all her groceries here.

Everybody has a story and people love to come in and bring their kids or bring their grandchildren and say, "Here's the general store that we used to come to."

So that's a huge part.

- We moved to Sydenham in 2021.

I had actually grown up in Sydenham as a child.

And remember coming to the store when I was little.

I mean, it's fantastic because we bring our girls here, and the staff are genuinely so sweet and kind, and it's a great place that we can come and bring our girls.

And we know that they're always going to be interactive and really, really respectful.

So it's been a great opportunity for us to teach our children great lessons.

And they love coming here.

It means more than just a store.

- It's like having that blanket you wanted.

It's old and you're comfortable with it.

You come back, you're comfortable with it.

Sometimes you need something to the stability, something that's there you can come back to and say, "Yeah, something hasn't changed.

This is the way it was."

And there's nothing wrong with the way it was - [Gail] For "WPBS Weekly," I'm Gail Paquette.

- Before we head out for the evening, here's what's happening on both sides of the border for the month of June.

(people chatting) (bright music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) That does it for this Tuesday night.

Join us next time for a fresh look inside the stories.

We meet with Watertown Fire Chief Matt Timberman as he takes us through some tips on how you can be safe when lighting your fireworks.

And Charter Captain Elaine Supp shows you what you need to know for a fun day of kayak fishing.

Meantime, if you have a story idea you'd like us to explore, we'd love to learn more.

Drop us an email at wpbsweekly@wpbstv.org and let's share it with the region.

That's it for now, everyone.

We'll see you soon.

Have a great night.

(bright music) - [Announcer] "WPBS Weekly: Inside The Stories" is brought to you by.

(bright music) - [Announcer] When you're unable to see your primary care provider, the Carthage Walk-In Clinic is here for you.

Located off Route 26, across from Carthage Middle School.

Comfort and healing close to home when you need it most.

North Country Orthopedic Group is there for your urgent ortho or sports-related injuries.

With our onsite surgical center, and same or next day appointments, we're ready to provide care for patients of all ages.

Your health matters to us.

North Country Orthopedic Group, keeping healthcare local.

(gentle music) - [Narrator] We are the North Country, where protecting one another like family is who we are, and where our tomorrow will always be worth defending.

Find out how we keep the North Country strong at claxtonhepburn.org today.

- Wow.

- More.

- More lavender?

- Yeah, it's lavender with peppercorns.

- I can't do so much.

- That's why I use pink sea salt.

- These are available at your store?

- Lavender infused-honey.

- What?

- Of course, yeah.

(bright music)