Calgary resident Catherine Caldwell won the Speciality Porridge Section of the 17th Annual Golden Spurtle world porridge making championship held on October 10th, 2010 in Carrbridge, Scotland. Catherine is a freelance food writer whose work appears in such publications as the Calgary Herald and Avenue magazine. Her speciality porridge recipe, using ingredients in addition to salt, water and oats, was called Canadian Cran-Apple Crunch.

Porridge in Scotland is traditionally stirred using a round wooden stick about 12” long called a spurtle. Following her prestigious win, in a CBC interview, Catherine talked about the competition, her award winning recipe and the spurtle that she purchased in Kelowna from artisan wood turner Errol Redman of a craft business called Wood Side Out.

In the CBC interview, Catherine explained that her spurtle, which she considers a magic wand to stir porridge, was purchased in Kelowna. It’s created from Beetle Pine wood, so it’s streaked with a denim color because of the Beetle Pine. When she returned to Canada, she wrote us to say how much she loves not only the color of the spurtle, but also the shape because it’s so comfortable to hold and use.

Catherine Caldwell - Spurtle Testimonial

These scorched fir and pine bark rim bowls are hand-crafted from the charred remains of trees that are the last evidence of that devastating wildfire. Redman turns death into beauty, by crafting the wood into works of art, stains and all.

Dorothy Brotherton, "Glenrosa Fire Wood Turned into Art", Westside Weekly, Sunday, April 25, 2010

Errol is a master craftsman with wood. While all his pieces are beautifully made, the salad bowls continue to be my most constant purchase. I think Errol's bowls make wonderful gifts because they are handmade in Kelowna from the wood of Canadian trees. Each one is an original.

Donna Rubadeau, Kelowna, British Columbia, April 2009

Looking at the (pine beetle) destruction of the forests and the talk of how this will affect our eco-system, it's encouraging to hear of something very useful that's being done with the wood. For wood artist Errol Redman, it's like taking lemons and turning them into lemonade.

Glenna Turnbull, Pulse, Kelowna Capital News, Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Westside (West Kelowna) Mayor Rosalind Neis displays the gavel presented to her by the Central Okanagan Regional District chairman Robert Hobson at the inaugural meeting of the new Westside (West Kelowna) council Thursday evening at the Westbank Lions Community Hall.

Kelowna Capital News, Friday, December 7, 2007
Gavel turning commissioned by Robert Hobson, chairman of the Central Okanagan Regional District

If you're visiting (Kelowna) during the summer, check out Kelowna Farmers' and Crafters' Market, featuring a rotating roster of local artisans that includes wood turner Errol Redman of Carman's Creations who makes elegant salad bowls and other decorative and functional wood crafts from his in-home studio.

Christina Symons, B.C Homes magazine, June 2008

Whether he's turning pieces for function or art, Errol Redman lets the natural beauty of the wood take centre stage.

Glenna Turnbull, Showcase, Kelowna Capital News, January 8, 2003

Crafter Errol Redman wears a hat of elm wood while showing off a chestnut vase at the Kelowna Farmers' and Crafters' Market.

Steve MacNaull, Business, The Okanagan Saturday, Kelowna Daily Courier, July 15, 2006.

It appears that part of the tree which so many had tried to save had been delivered to Errol Redman by the Canada Land Company, to be fashioned into bowls which would become corporate gifts for friends and associates of the company. Beautiful bowls from a beautiful tree. Were we to own one, we might be tempted to fill it with dried biloba leaves which, according to herbalists, have health giving properties. We would also be tempted to own one of the scorched rim pine bowls Errol made from the burnt forest of the Okanagan fire, as a memento of that horrible week. We are tempted by those, and other of his creations, like one of the pepper mills which have been turned on Errol's lathe from wood of different trees.

There is a studio full of beautiful and unique gifts made by this talented artisan working under the corporate name of Carman's Creations. Dead trees, like our Ginkgo, being reformed into works of art.

Rudy Loeser, The Seniors Choice, Vol 16 #8, January 2005

Wood Side Out

Errol C. Redman
985 Cascade Place
Kelowna, BC

Canada V1V 1H9
250.860.9965