Ginger Rose

Simply Asia's® Soy Ginger Shrimp & Noodles

2012-01-25T17:43:00.009-05:00

Simply Asia® - Real Asian. Real Fast.

The Chinese New Year is upon us and rather than heading out to a Chinese restaurant to celebrate like I have in previous years, this year I'm taking the wok into my own hands and cooking up some delicious authentic Asian recipes right at home thanks to Thai Kitchen® and Simply Asia®! I always used to look forward to braving the cold with my family and friends to trek down to Spadina to stuff our faces at our favourite Chinese restaurant (Kom Jug Yuen anyone? A total dive, but it's tasty and super cheap!), but over the years I have come to realize just how awful the meal makes me feel after consumption. Time and time again I would always end up curled up on the couch, arms clutching my stomach, regretting every piece of barbecued pork I just downed. So this year when I received an email from Thai Kitchen® and Simply Asia® offering to send me some of their products to check out for the new year, I decided to nix the greasy restaurants and create my own Asian meals at home all week long.

Although I absolutely love exotic foods and flavours, in the past I have always been intimidated about preparing foreign dishes because I was simply unfamiliar with a lot of flavours and techniques found in different cuisines such as Asian, not to mention the array of different dishes within each country in the continent. Thai Kitchen® and Simply Asia® offers a fantastic introduction to Asian cuisine as all of their products feature authentic Asian flavours using premium ingredients (no artificial flavours/colours/preservatives). I began my foray into Asian cooking with Simply Asia's® recipe for Soy Ginger Shrimp and Noodles using their Soy Ginger Noodles and Sauce pack. This was the perfect starting point for me as the product is basically a meal in a box (and I ain't talkin' about no Kraft Dinner!), with each box including a carb (noodles or jasmine rice), a sauce, and a topping, with vegetable and protein suggestions listed on the back. Simply Asia's® dinner packs are awesome because they allow you to get a sense of the different flavours and ingredients that go into each Asian dish, while still giving you the freedom of adding your own veggies and protein, and best of all they are wildly easy and quick to prepare! My mom and I both loved and devoured the tasty and flavourful dish, going back for not seconds, but thirds! I can't tell you how many times my mom proclaimed "this is so GREAT!" between bites, even jotting the name down on her grocery list to pick up more to give to my sister! Despite how much of the meal I ate that evening, my stomach felt totally fine all night, which came as no surprise to me because I was able to actually control what was going into my meal. Now that I've given one of Simply Asia's® 10-minute dinner packs a try, I feel ready to take the next step and try out Thai Kitchen's® recipe for Easy Chicken Pad Thai using their brand of Stir-Fry Noodles and Original Pad Thai Sauce. My mouth is watering just thinking about it, so it's time to sign off and get cooking! Review to come!

Why I Love Simply Asia's® Soy Ginger Noodles & Sauce:

It allows you to gain the confidence to create your own asian meals from scratch, and gives you a wonderful and delicious time-saving option for busy mid-week evenings!

Tip: Heighten the flavours even more by using Asian Cooking Oil (I used Spectrum's Organic Asian Cooking Oil) and grating in extra ginger!

Ingredients:

1 package Simply Asia® Soy Ginger Noodles & Sauce

1 tbsp oil (see tip!)

2 cups assorted vegetables, such as snow peas and red bell pepper strips

1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

pinch ground white pepper (I didn't have white pepper so I used black)

1 tsp sugar

Directions:

1. Cook noodles as directed on package, omitting salt. Drain and rinse with cold water.

2. Heat oil in large nonstick skillet or wok on high heat. Add vegetables; stir-fry 2 minutes. Add shrimp and white pepper; stir fry 1 minute.

3. Stir in sauce and sugar. Reduce heat to medium. Add noodles; toss to coat well and cook until heated through. Sprinkle with topping and serve immediately.

Listening To:

Hanukkah: Basic Kasha Recipe

2012-01-21T10:00:00.000-05:00

It's both amazing and frightening how many people seem to be diagnosed with being Celiac these days. The list of people I know who are now restricted to following the gluten-free diet has grown immensely over the past two years. Years ago, before I even knew what the word "gluten" meant, my grandfather was diagnosed with Celiac disease. At the time there was very little public information about the disease, which left my family worried, confused, and frustrated about how my grandfather would be able to follow the restrictive diet, as well as how we would conduct our holiday dinners. We fretted about what we would serve at the many Jewish high holidays that we celebrate, concerned about my grandfather feeling left out of enjoying the dishes containing wheat, and concerned about the labour of preparing two separate meals. It was certainly a struggle at first, but as more information on Celiac disease became public and as more products were brought on the market, we finally got the hang of it.

Now after many years of my grandfather following the diet, I can actually appreciate how it has positively impacted not only my grandfathers health, but our entire family! Take a look at our Hanukkah dinner this year. Abundant and delicious, at first view our Hanukkah dinner looks just like any other holiday feast, but upon further inspection you can see the difference. Roast chicken, quinoa, spinach salad, fresh veggies, gluten free agave nectar honey cake, and a favourite of my sister's, Kasha. Kasha was our saviour in those early days of struggling with Celiac as it was a familiar dish that we had already been serving up and enjoying for years, and being gluten free, quickly became a staple at all of our family gatherings. Kasha is a type of whole roasted buckwheat with a natural nutty flavour, that when cooked with flavourful broth, onions, veggies, and herbs becomes a hearty and comforting side dish for everyone in the family! Even as children, my parents were thrilled that my sister and I enjoyed the simple side dish, happy that we were so enthusiastic about eating something so healthy. We grew to love kasha so much that it even started to make an appearance at our Christmas dinners as well! If you're familiar with Kasha you may be rolling your eyes that I'm even featuring a recipe for it, because it is truly so unbelievably easy to prepare. In fact, I don't do or add anything special to my kasha, I simply follow the box. That's all it takes. I simply wanted to feature Kasha on my blog so that those who are unfamiliar with the grain can begin cooking with it and have another gluten free alternative rather than everyones favourite go-to at the moment quinoa (which don't get me wrong, I love!). I hope that introducing kasha into your diet will help to ease the pressure of eating healthy and following a restrictive diet. Let me know if you come up with any other interesting ways of preparing Kasha!

Tip: Experiment! Play around with what veggies, herbs, and other ingredients you have around your kitchen to see what type of kasha you can come up with! And please share your findings in the comments section!

Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil

1 small-medium onion, chopped

1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced

1/2 cup carrots, chopped

2 cups chicken-or-vegetable-or-beef broth

2 tbsp butter

1 cup kasha

1/2 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped (optional)

Directions:

1. In a medium sauce pan heat the olive oil at medium heat. Add the onion and sauté, stirring occasionally, until they begin to get soft. Add the mushrooms and carrots and continue to cook for another 4-5 minutes.

2. Add the broth and butter to the sauce pan and increase heat to bring to a boil. Add the kasha, salt, and pepper and stir.

3. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 10 minutes, or until most of the water is absorbed.

4. Lightly fluff the kasha with a fork and stir in the fresh parsley. Serve warm.

Listening To:

Etta James - I'd Rather Go Blind

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Cookin' Greens Sautéed Kale with Lemon & Chickpeas

2012-01-10T17:00:00.003-05:00

I know I'm not alone when I say that I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with New Years Resolutions. I love the idea of starting fresh and becoming aware of and making a conscious effort to achieve your goals, but at the same time, it's easy to bring yourself down when you inevitably give up on those resolutions within a month or so. When sitting down to write out my resolutions this year (I'm convinced writing them down makes them more likely to happen) I made sure to set goals that, yes, pushed my boundaries and challenged me a little bit, but were still reasonable to incorporate into my life and daily routine. I got a little carried away this year, and ended up with quite a long list of goals, but one of the ones that I have remained the most aware of is to try and follow the alkaline diet. The alkaline diet is different from many of the popular diets you hear about because it is not very strict and is very forgiving. As I have mentioned in previous posts, I have an extremely acidic body, which has resulted in me dealing with lots of skin and stomach problems, so taking care to reduce the amount of acid I consume and increase the amount of alkaline-rich foods on a daily basis could potentially eliminate any health problems I have encountered in my life to date. With so many delicious natural foods rich in alkaline, there's really no excuse to not be able to follow the alkaline diet, even if your just upping your alkaline intake and keeping your acid as is. The real trick to following any diet is to educate yourself and be open to trying new flavours.

Not long ago I received an email from Cookin' Greens, a company setting out to make extremely healthy dark leafy greens more convenient to cook with for the average North American. Their line of frozen greens featuring spinach, kale, rapini, and more stands out among other frozen vegetable products on the market due to their commitment to health. Cookin' Greens takes great care in retaining as much vitamins and minerals from their vegetables as possible by taking it straight from the farm (from the moment it gets picked) to the freezer in less than 6 hours! Cookin' Greens had immediately caught my attention! Although I was looking forward to trying all of their greens, the one that stood out for me was their frozen kale. I had heard a lot about kale, and knew it as one of those fantastic super foods that everyone should eat, but had never actually tasted the green myself, nor did I even know what the flavour was like. To be honest with you, I just assumed that I wouldn't like kale, so I never gave it the shot it truly deserved. Now was my chance! I took advantage of the sample they offered me and went to my local grocery store (I had no trouble locating Cookin' Greens at all!) and picked up a bag.

For my first ever kale recipe, I wanted to keep it simple so I could get an idea of the flavour and texture of kale for future recipes. Because I had never eaten kale before, I decided to begin with a recipe and taste and adjust the ingredients to my own taste from there. After just attending the Best Recipes Ever Set, which features all Canadian Living recipes, I was inspired to give one of their kale recipes a try, Lemon Kale with Chickpeas. This recipe was super easy to execute, especially with the help of Cookin' Greens frozen kale, which allowed me to save a huge amount of time and prep work. In next to no time my side was ready...but not quite complete just yet. After tasting the final dish, I felt that it was missing something, I wanted to add another bit of texture to the dish and perhaps a little spice. For texture and fantastic nutty flavour, I lightly toasted some pine nuts to stir in, along with some paprika to give the dish that little kick I was looking for, and alas my dish was complete! I couldn't have been more happy with how the dish turned out. Tangy, comforting, and delicious, who would have thought I would enjoy something so incredibly healthy! It's one thing to like the first bite of a healthy dish, but I have a tendency to get sick of most super healthy foods part way through eating my portion, I was extra nervous of this when I saw how much I had accidentally made, a ton! Thankfully I adored this dish all through the week as I snacked on it and brought it into work each and every day until it was done...which surprisingly didn't take long! I now feel confident that I can make kale part of my weekly routine all year long thanks to the incredible convenience and health benefits to Cookin' Greens! Go me!

Click here to see a chart on restoring the pH balance in your body and following the alkaline diet!

Adapted from Canadian Living

Ingredients:

3 tbsp olive oil

1 small onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/2 cup water

2 cups Cookin' Greens Frozen Kale

zest of half a lemon

1 cup cooked chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1/4 cup pine nuts, lightly toasted

1/4 tsp paprika

3 tbsp lemon juice

Directions:

1. In a pot, heat 2 tbsp of the oil over medium heat. Cook the onion, garlic, salt and pepper for about 4 minutes or until softened.

2. Add 1/2 cup water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat back down to medium and add kale and lemon zest and cook for 5 minutes.

3. Stir in the chickpeas, pine nuts, paprika and lemon juice and cook over medium-high heat for about 2 minutes or until no liquid remains. Drizzle with remaining oil and serve.

Listening To:

Dents De Lait, Dents De Loup - Serge Gainsbourg et France Gal

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Mixed Greens with Pomegranate Seeds, Brie & Balsamic Candied Pecans

2012-01-08T13:00:00.005-05:00

As I mentioned in my previous post, for the past few holidays, my family has been making a conscious effort to shake up our usual holiday menu, which we had come to expect to be the exact same at every single major holiday. With Christmas hosted at my house every year, my mom has a lot on her plate, setting everything up and doing double duty...er make that at least triple duty, making several dishes to contribute to the massive pot luck holiday feast. Because she already has so much to worry about on Christmas, she kept some of her dishes the same (mmm no problem there, we would all miss her scalloped potatoes if they got switched up!) and had me help out a little with her switched up dish. My mom loves brainstorming new recipes, playing around with different flavours and textures in her mind to come up with the perfect balance. She always begins her brainstorming with one or two ingredients as her inspiration, and then lets her imagination and taste buds take over from there. Weeks and weeks ago, as my mom and I sat on the couch popping pomegranate seeds into our mouth like they were going out of style, inspiration struck as she pointed out the stunning ruby red colour of the seeds. Immediately she knew she wanted to create the perfect Christmas salad starring the beautiful pomegranate seed. She started listing the other ingredients as it came into her head; brie, candied pecans, balsamic, etc. and a star...I mean a salad was born!

To save time come Christmas eve, the day before I removed all of the pomegranate seeds and stored them in a tupperware container in the fridge so my mom could just sprinkle them into the salad when it came time for serving. The day before I also took care of candying the pecans using an awesome and easy recipe that my mom showed me from Bon Appétit on Epicurious. She was drawn to this recipe as it mimicked one of the major flavours she had planned on putting in the dressing, balsamic vinegar. The pecans are coated and lightly toasted in a sticky and sweet balsamic vinegar mixture that leaves your pecans so tasty, you may have to lock them up until serving time to make sure you don't eat them all on their own! I was happy I didn't eat them all (of course I had to sneak a few!) when I finally tasted the completed salad, as the pecans were one of my favourite parts of the salad, adding texture and a great rich flavour to each bite. The pecans were contrasted by the smooth and creamy double cream brie, zesty red onions, and the juicy pomegranate seeds bursting as your teeth break the surface, adding a tangy sweetness to the balsamic dressing. Christmas dinner was amazing, and there were so many fantastic dishes, but I've gotta say, my hands-down favourites for the evening were my Wild Mushroom Baked Brie and my moms Mixed Greens with Pomegranate Seeds, Brie and Balsamic Candied Pecans! After going up for seconds, and maybe even thirds of the salad on Christmas, I was still so excited to see that there were leftovers the next day. Can you believe, even hours later, after the dressing had slightly wilted the mixed greens, the salad was still so freaking delicious my mom and I devoured it in a matter of moments, only stopping to comment on how delicious it was and...ummm...remind me to write about it on my blog...haha no need for a reminder mummy, I still can't get your amazing salad out of my mind! You did good!

Ingredients:

about 10 ounces mixed greens, washed and dried

about 100 g double cream brie, cut into medium-sized chunks

1/4 small red onion, sliced

1 pomegranate, seeds removed

Balsamic Candied Pecans (see recipe below)

Your favourite balsamic vinaigrette, to dress

Directions:

1. In a large salad bowl, toss the mixed greens with the brie, red onion, pomegranate seeds, and Balsamic Candied Pecans. Drizzle in just enough balsamic vinaigrette to coat greens. Serve immediately.

Balsamic Candied Pecans

Recipe by Bon Appétit

Ingredients:

Nonstick vegetable oil spray

1/4 cup (packed) brown sugar

6 tbsp olive oil

3 tbsp

balsamic vinegar

1 cup pecan halves, coarsely chopped

Directions:

1. Spray sheet of foil with nonstick spray. Stir sugar, 1 tablespoon oil and 1 tablespoon vinegar in heavy medium skillet over medium heat until sugar melts and syrup bubbles, about 3 minutes. Mix in Pecans. Stir until nuts are toasted and syrup coats nuts evenly, about 7 minutes. Turn nuts out onto prepared foil. Using fork, separate nuts and cool completely. Sprinkle into salad.

Listening To:

Fiona Apple - Criminal

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Wild Mushroom Baked Brie

2012-01-02T17:27:00.004-05:00

The holidays: a time for love, giving, family...and...repetition. I'm not quite sure how many years it's been going on for, but for as long as I can remember my family has been serving up the exact same meal at Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. For years I loved that tradition, knowing that I only had a few months to wait before I could enjoy that same delicious meal again, but as more and more years have passed, and at a much more alarming pace, both myself and some other family members have grown a little tired with our staple holiday meal. The first time my sister and I suggested switching up our holiday meal, we were returned with either a grimace or a confused deer-in-headlights expression. No one was the slightest bit interested in shaking up the familiar meal. I understood where everyone was coming from, seeing as the meal...actually, make that feast is so damn delicious, but at the same time, I felt it would be more special if we had it less frequently. Another year of the same meal passed and we began to see family members taking our side one at a time. Slowly people began switching up their signature dish (our meal is always a pot luck so that everyone is contributing), either making a variation on their old standby, or sticking to their same theme of either vegetable, starch, protein, salad, dessert etc. but turn it into a completely new dish. By slowly introducing new flavours and menu items, both the family members that were itching for something new and the ones who loved the old meal would walk away with a full belly and a smiling face.

For about three years now, I have been on appetizer duty for our Christmas dinner, a role that I absolutely love to take on! Despite the incredible wide range of delicious appetizer options there are, especially for the holidays, I always crave a good baked brie come Christmas time. Baked brie can be as easy as wrapping a wheel of brie in tin foil and popping it in the oven, but I enjoy playing with different flavours, both savory and sweet, when it comes to my homemade baked brie. In the past I've made everything from caramelized onion brie, cranberry brie, pecan brie, the list goes on, so that no matter if I am making baked brie again, I can still surprise people by turning it into something new and interesting. This year I wanted to use an ingredient I have never cooked with before, dried mushrooms. When it comes to wild mushrooms, many people choose dried as opposed to fresh for the wonderful convenience and concentrated mushroom flavour, so I was curious to finally give them a try myself and see how the flavour measured up. Using a bag of mixed wild mushrooms including shiitake, oyster, and porcini, as well as some caramelized onions, fresh thyme, and balsamic vinegar, I made an insanely quick and easy brie topper and had my yummy appetizer ready to go into the oven before I knew it. Because there is so much cooking and baking being done last minute on Christmas, I made my brie and wild mushroom topper ahead of time so that 20 minutes before our guests arrived all I had to do was simply pop my little brie baker in the oven! Bubbling, oozing, and perfectly melted through, the creamy brie arrived at the table hugging the mushroom mixture layered on top, a dangerously tempting sight! There's no question that I have a tendency to toot my own horn when I'm really happy with how a dish turned out, but there was simply no need to when I served my Wild Mushroom Baked Brie, because the brie baker, which was empty within a matter of minutes, spoke for itself. Easy, convenient, attractive, and incredibly delicious, my Wild Mushroom Brie may have to make another appearance at our next Christmas dinner...or is Easter too soon?

Tip: Make your wild mushroom mixture brie topper ahead of time to save time before your guests arrive. Simply top your brie and bake 20 minutes before guests arrive.

Ingredients:

1/2 medium-large onion, sliced

2 tbsp butter

1 small package dried mixed wild mushrooms (equalling about 1/2 cup dried)

4 tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 tsp fresh thyme leaves

salt and pepper

1 wheel of brie, about 5 inches in diameter

Directions:

1. Rehydrate the dried mushrooms following the package instructions, or place dried mushrooms in a bowl and add just enough boiling water to cover the mushrooms, let soak for about 20 minutes or until mushrooms have softened.

2. In the meantime, heat butter in a medium skillet at medium heat. When butter is hot, add the onions and stir. Place a lid over the onions in the skillet to allow them to steam, stir occasionally. Continue to cook onions in the lid, stirring occasionally, until they are softened and beginning to colour.

3. Strain out the soaked dried mushrooms (you may reserve the soaking liquid for a soup, stew, or sauce!), and squeeze them to remove any remaining water. Roughly chop the mushrooms and stir them into the softened onions on the stove. Cook for about 3 minutes.

4. Turn up heat to medium-high and add the balsamic vinegar, stirring to combine. Continue cooking until mushrooms are almost dry. Turn off the heat and stir in thyme. Season with salt and pepper.

5. Using a serrated knife, cut off the top rind of the brie wheel and place inside a brie baker (or on a large piece of tin foil). Mound the wild mushroom mixture on top of the brie and close the lid of the baker (if using tin foil, wrap the foil around the brie and mushrooms securely). Bake in a 350º oven for about 20 minutes. Serve immediately with fresh baguette and crackers.

Listening To:

TV on the Radio - Ambulance

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CBC Daytime Holiday Set Tour

2011-12-31T13:00:00.003-05:00

Time never flies like it does in December. I can't believe today is already December 31st and in just a few short hours I will be ringing in 2012 with my friends! With so many fun activities taking place in December, it's no wonder time can slip through your fingers so easily and leave you scrambling at months end to catch up on your responsibilities. This is where I'm at now, with a list of 10 blog posts yet to be written in front of me, I seem to be in catch-up mode, scrambling to recount all of the great experiences and recipes I have come across this month! One of those great experiences that I have wanted to share with you, was being invited to CBC Daytime's Holiday Set Tour and Lunch.

A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to be able to head downtown to the CBC to partake in their Holiday-themed tour, which not only allowed guests to view the sets of three CBC Daytime shows, Best Recipes Ever, In The Kitchen With Stefano Faita, and Steven and Chris, but actually meet the hosts and producers of the shows, and have an opportunity to learn about how each episode gets put together. I knew it would be an enjoyable day, but I had no idea how eye-opening and inspiring the experience would be, this was largely due to the amazing people I got to meet that day, from the other writers taking part in the tour with me who were so friendly and eager to learn about each others work, to the hosts and producers who so kindly and thoughtfully answered our questions and welcomed us into their sets, to every single other person who made the day possible (with an extra special thank you to Erin Richards for making the day such a smooth success). I had a wonderful time that day and on top of all the fun and laughter I got to walk away with some great recipes, tips, and DIY's that I can now share with you!

The first set we visited was the Best Recipes Ever Set, where we got to meet our first host of the day, Kary Osmond, as well as the shows producers. After watching a few episodes of the show at home, my first thought was how incredibly expansive the set was, in fact I might even say massive. The perfect kitchen in my opinion, allowing the chef a kitchen space and a dance floor all in one! The lunch we were promised was set out in a number of courses, presented in parts to us at each set. I almost felt like I was walking into Kary's very own kitchen as she served us the vibrant Sparkling Tangerine Punch that left me wanting more and more, and the cute and petit appetizers Walnut, Brie and Grape Salsa Tartlets. I have to admit, I was a bit in awe of Kary as she told us all about what led to her be in the position she is today hosting Best Recipes Ever. I saw so much of myself in her as she told us about her passion for cooking and how she had dreamt of hosting a cooking show, putting aside her other job to try and concentrate on making her dream a reality. I was riveted by her every word, and felt my own drive and passion coming to the surface again (where I want it to stay!) bringing that crystal clear image of my own goals firmly back into my head and heart.

Sparkling Tangerine Punch

By The Canadian Living Test Kitchen

As questions were answered, we learned that Best Recipes Ever is in partnership with the incredibly well respected Canadian Living, meaning that all of the Best Recipes Ever recipes come straight from Canadian Living's massive database of recipes, that have been tested to perfection by The Canadian Living Test Kitchen. This allows Kary the luxury of pulling from Canadian Living's repertoire as she pleases to come up with each episode. Hearing this, I couldn't help but think that Kary's got it pretty easy, simply pulling from Canadian Living's recipes...that is until I heard that they film three episodes each day, with three recipes in each episode, equaling nine recipes that Kary must memorize and be 100% comfortable with each day! Woah, now that's pressure! And the woman pulls it all off looking adorable with that fantastic welcoming and warm smile! Click the link above to get the recipe for the delicious Sparkling Tangerine Punch By The Canadian Living Test Kitchen that I will definitely be making soon!

Next up was In The Kitchen With Stefano Faita, a live audience show hosted by Montreal-based cookbook author and cooking show host Stefano Faita. I loved the rustic look this set had with exposed brick, chalkboard walls, old family photos and unfinished wood, totally up my alley! The set reflects Stefano and the show itself, allowing his own personal life to shine through, with the family photos coming straight from Stefano himself, and his family members names scribbled across the chalkboard. Once again, I felt as though I was stepping into Stefano's actual home kitchen as he eagerly served us sparkling beverages, appetizers, and a knockout dessert, his Layered Blueberry Pie (see recipe below). He told us all about how personal the show really is to him, featuring his own family recipes, some of which have been brought down through many generations, and all of which he serves up to his wife and daughter. With wild energy and a dangerously charming smile, Stefano reflected back on his life in Montreal, his family's kitchenware shop, and his grandmothers cooking. Being a live audience show, Stefano also emphasized the important role the audience plays in his show, encouraging audience members to come right up on stage with him to actually take part in the cooking themselves as well as helping to build on his fantastic energy. To get tickets to In The Kitchen With Stefano Faita and become an audience member yourself, click here!

Layered Blueberry Pie

By Stefano Faita

Ingredients:

Pastry

2 cups flour

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp salt

2/4 cup butter, room temperature cut into small cubes

1/4 cup milk, room temperature

1 egg yolk

Layered Filling

8 cups fresh blueberries

2 1/2 cup sugar

1 cup cream cheese

2 cups whipping cream

1 tsp vanilla

lemon zest, for garnish (optional)

Directions:

Pastry

1. In a large mixing bowl, mix the flour, sugar, and salt. Cut the butter into the flour mixture with your finger tips or a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse meal.

2. Combine the milk and egg yolk. Stir it into the flour and butter mixture until pastry dough comes together. Form dough into a ball and flatten into a round disc. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour

3. Preheat oven to 375º. Lightly flour your work surface. Roll the dough 1/4-inch thick. Transfer the pastry to a 9-inch tart pan and trim off the excess around the edges. Dock the bottom of the pastry all over with a fork. Line with parchment paper or foil. Fill pie with pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove weights and parchment and continue to bake until pastry is cooked through, lightly golden and crisp, about 5-10 minutes.

Layered Filling

1. Add 7 cups blueberries and 2 cups sugar to a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until mixture reaches a jam-like consistency, stirring occasionally, about 20-25 minutes. Set aside to cool. Once the blueberry mixture has cooled, combine the remaining 1 cup of fresh blueberries. Set aside.

2. Soften the cream cheese at room temperature or heat in microwave until soft peaks form.

3. To later the filling into the pie: Spread cream cheese over the pastry. Then spread blueberry filling mixture on top of the cream cheese later. Finish pie with whipped cream. Let set in refrigerator for at least 1 hour before serving. Garnish with lemon zest, if desired.

Yield: 6-8 servings

Last but certainly not least was the Steven and Chris Set, all decked out in different shades of purple and silver for their big holiday special. The entire set sparkled and looked absolutely magical covered in garlands, presents, ornaments, trees, and, of course, lots of spectacular food! Right as you walked in there was a large table set up with Steven and Chris' own brand of wine, as well as lots of liquor and mixers to make your own cocktails. As you continued into the space, your eye is immediately drawn to the stunning centerpiece of the whole room, the dining room and buffet tables, which featured many of the DIY holiday projects that Steven and Chris had put together for the show. They had so many wonderful ideas that they were so excited to share with us about how they made this extraordinary holiday set come together, such as putting the centerpiece, which was numerous gifts wrapped up beautifully, on a tray so you can easily remove it to place the turkey, and putting guests name tags on their chairs as opposed to the table to allow for more space. I almost hurt my neck from looking around everywhere to see all of the many DIY projects that they had created, which was literally everywhere you looked! My favourite of all of the DIY's was the

DIY Charcuterie and Cheese Platter that looked so amazingly striking on the long buffet table. Playing with different levels, colours, and textures all along the table, the spread looked positively seductive, leaving me super excited to recreate for myself at home! See below to learn how to make your own successful Charcuterie and Cheese platter using Steven and Chris' easy guide.

An extra special treat for myself and some of the other ladies I was chatting with at the set, was talking with Joanne Lusted, Steven and Chris' Food Producer, who I can happily say I have had the pleasure of meeting before. Joanne is one of those people that leaves you with your cheeks hurting from smiling so much. As I stated before, her energy is infectious, making you feel immediately welcome like you've been best friends for years, and making you say to yourself "now there's a woman who is doing what she loves!". Joanne heartily told us all about the food that was prepared that day such as a super easy, tender and delicious Beef Wellington and Coconut Shortbread and

Sugar Plums (email me if you'd like all of the recipes from the tour!), and when we began asking about the process in which the recipes are created, she lit up and led us straight into their exclusive test kitchen, an absolute privilege! It was so cool to be right in the midst of the action, as they worked on creating their next recipe a savory lobster mashed potato dish!

DIY Charcuterie and Cheese Platter
This is the perfect appetizer when you're pressed for time! No cooking allows you to relax while your guests arrive at their leisure. Let them graze and nibble happily while you sip a festive beverage and mingle.

The more kinds of meat and cheese you have, the more people will eat. So, for a cocktail party, if you set out only one choice of meat, an ounce per person will suffice. With two or three different meats, two ounces total per person. More than three, three ounces. For a party that goes on longer than a couple of hours, or for a dinner party, double these amounts.

Pick 3 Cheeses:
A Soft Cheese
A Blue Cheese
A Hard/Sharp Cheese

Pick 3 Meats:
A Dry-Cured Meat
A Cooked Sausage
A Dry-Cured Sausage

Add Complimentary Items
When laying out your meat and cheese selection, you can intermingle the meat and cheese, or arrange them on two separate platters...It's up to you!

When adding garnishes, try and place sweet items such as dried pineapple, apricots, and honey next to the salty cheeses. Acidic items such as pickles, cornichons, or olives should be placed next to the meats. Nuts are especially good with the cheeses as well, and can be drizzled with honey to make them a perfect pairing to salty cheeses especially.

Garnish Ideas
Fresh or dried figs, dried apricots, almonds or pecans candied or original, dried cranberries, honey, fig jam, aged balsamic, grapes, cornichons, olives, walnuts, honeycomb, dried pineapple.

For all the recipes from the tour, email me at thisisgingerrose@hotmail.com!

Listening To:

The Weeknd - Echoes Of Silence by The_Weeknd

Cavena

2011-12-15T17:40:00.002-05:00

One of the things that I love about having a food blog is getting to hear about and try new products that I've never had the opportunity to experience before. I get a lot of offers these days to sample and review new products, so I've had to become a little selective in which one's I choose to try. But the ones that always seem to grab my attention are innovative health and wellness products. If you've been reading my blog for the past year, you'll know that for years now I have been battling with skin and stomach problems, both of which I can now say are because of my diet. I have eaten very healthy my whole life, always following the philosophy of "everything in moderation", but every body is different and mine requires a little extra care...care that I often neglect merely because I'm not familiar with other options or, let's be honest, the other options just aren't that tasty. So each time I hear about a new product that may help me to improve my diet, I jump right on it!

The most recent health and wellness product that I was given the opportunity to try was Cavena, the rice of the Prairies. Cavena sparked my interest for numerous reasons, it is:

Naturally high in protein
Wheat free
Low in saturated fatty acids and sodium
Free of cholesterol and trans fatty acids
High source of fibre
Good source of iron
Grown in the Prairies, Cavena is proudly Canadian!

With so many positive benefits to this new grain, I couldn't imagine not giving Cavena a try! I decided to try out Cavena rather than using my usual brown rice in a stir fry. Cavena was very simple to cook and the 40-minute cooking time allowed me plenty of time to chop up all of my vegetables and chicken. Before tossing the Cavena in with the stir fry I had to do a taste test. Right off the bat I loved Cavena's standout nutty flavour and thought that flavour would be a great addition to my stir fry. What also caught my attention was Cavena's wonderful chewy texture. I absolutely loved the texture, although I didn't think that Cavena on its own would be right for the stir fry. I quickly made up some brown minute rice to mix in with the Cavena in the stir fry with the ratio of Cavena to rice 3:1. This turned out to be the perfect solution! The stir fry was delicious with that awesome nutty flavour from Cavena shining through in each bite, as well as the wonderful chewy texture (not too chewy thanks to the addition of brown rice!). It was so simple for me to substitute Cavena into my meal and it really took the dish to a whole other level in terms of flavour. I loved how Cavena worked out in my stir fry but I can see Cavena also tasting fantastic in salads especially grain salads with wild rice or quinoa! If you're looking for a healthy new grain to add to your diet, I would definitely recommend giving Cavena a try! Let me know what you think!

Listening To:

Joy Divison - Love Will Tear Us Apart

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Pusateri's 25th Anniversary

2011-12-15T13:10:00.010-05:00

Last Tuesday on a windy night in Toronto, I headed out to Pusateri's Avenue and Lawrence location to celebrate their big 25th Anniversary! After their recent infestation scandal only two months ago, all eyes were on the gourmet food store to see how they would rise above the unfortunate turn of events. With their reputation at stake, Pusateri's truly had no other choice but to go all out for the occasion of their quarter-of-a-century anniversary, so my expectations walking into the event were already quite high.

As my mom and I drove up to the store to park, a wave of disappointment came over me as I saw the sea of cars and people attempting to find their own way into the free-of-charge event. I couldn't help but imagine the swarms of greedy people that must be inside, vying for whatever food was available. Luckily we quickly found a parking space close by and found ourselves in a short line outside the store, blocked off with curtains, with guests kept toasty warm thanks to space heaters and servers handing out piping hot cider. In next to no time at all, we were inside the event, thrust into the busy crowd weaving their way around the aisles. Despite the bumper-to-bumper crowd of people with slow-moving, shuffling footsteps, there was no obstacles in getting to the food. Everywhere I looked I would find a server or two carrying trays of warm and delicious food samplings, in addition to food stations often preparing fresh samples right in front of you!

With a glass of Prosecco in one hand and a food sample in the other at all times, the ear-to-ear smile I was donning literally never left my face! I was in foodie glory tasting everything from angus sliders, avocado and lobster grilled cheese, prosciutto, lobster tempura, smoked salmon, mini pizzas, fine cheeses, pasta, sushi...oh my goodness, this list could go on FOREVER! I couldn't believe how much food there was! There was almost as much food as there was plastic surgery, and if you know Pusateri's, that's a hell of a lot! But out of all the food I tasted, my hands-down favourites were the creamy wild mushroom risotto scooped fresh out of a giant wheel of parmigiano reggiano, and the oh-so-decadent mini chocolate-filled icing sugar-dusted doughnuts and mini cannoli's. I savored each and every bite of the extremely generous serving of the risotto and couldn't help but go back for seconds of both the doughnuts and cannoli's.

Before the crowd even began to thin, both my mom and I were stuffed to the brim, (with myself a little tipsy) and ready to get into our pj's and hit the hay. I have to say that I was truly blown away by the wonderful hospitality and generosity from Pusateri's by throwing such an incredible event. They 110% exceeded my already-high expectations and certainly succeeded in maintaining their reputation for quality and excellence!

Nice move Pusateri's!

Listening To:

Notorious BIG - Party And Bullshit

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Buttermilk Cornbread

2011-12-15T11:00:00.003-05:00

If you work with me you'll know that not a day has gone by in months that I haven't talked about cornbread. The obsession started a few months ago when a friend suggested I check out Memphis Smokehouse, raving about their delicious barbeque. I definitely enjoyed their flavourful, fall-off-the-bone ribs, and their other barbeque was alright, but what I really couldn't get enough of was their cornbread! Before trying out Memphis' cornbread my only other cornbread experience that I could recall was tasting a jalapeno cornbread that a friend, who is also a fantastic cook had made a few years ago that I can unfortunately remember like it was yesterday. I swear I can still taste that dry and crumbly cornbread that I had to immediately and as gracefully as possible deposit into the nearest napkin. It was at that moment that I decided that I was no fan of cornbread. I turned my nose up at cornbread ever since, assuming that that must be what cornbread always tastes like because my friend is such an incredible cook and baker. It was only when I went to Memphis Smokehouse, where cornbread is served with their mains that I thankfully gave cornbread another chance. Hot out of the oven, soft, and moist, their cornbread was absolutely delicious! Of course my first thought after tasting something so yummy is always "Ok, so how can I make this at home?" The recipe research began!

I found a very basic recipe that I thought would be a good start, and adjusted a few ingredients along the way to suit my own taste. I was serving up pulled pork that same night and wanted my cornbread to act as a dipper to sop up all that delicious slow-cooked sauce that the pork was enveloped in, so I knew that I absolutely did not want to make a sweet cornbread. Because I had never made cornbread before, I ended up following the recipe pretty closely, choosing to only adjust the sugar this time around. I cut the sugar down to 1/3 cup, (as opposed to the suggested 3/4 cups EEK!) which resulted in a just-sweet-enough cornbread rather than what would have been more of a sweet breakfast cornbread. With my sugar adjustment, I ended up with a great basic cornbread. More dense in texture than the one at Memphis, this cornbread could definitely handle the dipping duties that I had hoped it would, keeping it's form and not crumbling everywhere when topped with the very saucy pork. As I stated in my entry on Pumpkin Spice Cookies, I don't feel comfortable writing out recipes that I have found online, and playing them off as though they are my own. Despite my adjustment on this Buttermilk Cornbread recipe, I would certainly not consider this recipe my own, but that doesn't mean that I don't want to share a simple and successful recipe with you! So follow the link below and adjust the sugar amount to achieve what I believe to be a great basic cornbread recipe to serve up as a side with your next dinner! I can't wait to start playing around with more cornbread recipes to come up with one that I can truly call my own!

AllRecipes.com - Grandmother's Buttermilk Cornbread

Listening To:

I saw Lana Del Rey perform at the MOD Club a few weeks ago and man, that voice is awesome live!

Sloppy Joes

2011-11-19T11:36:00.010-05:00

Damn, when I was little I sure had it good! Of course I was sadly unaware of it at the time, but I was so incredibly fortunate growing up to have two parents that were awesome cooks! I suppose I just figured that all parents cooked like that and I never quite put two and two together and realized why all my friends wanted to come over to my house for dinner. My parents are often at their best in the kitchen, moving around the space as though they are performing a choreographed dance, tasting, mixing, and searching out ingredients instinctively knowing each others tastes and wants. They didn't just cook out of necessity, they cooked because of their passion for good food, good flavours, and the feeling you get when you enjoy a great dish. This lead them to discover new dishes to serve to my sister and I all the time. You would have thought we would have been in our absolute glory having meals like that all the time, but naturally the grass is always greener on the other side. I remember watching commercials for Hamburger Helper and longing to try that cheesy meaty dinner from a box, totally baffled that my mom had never wanted to buy it. The same went for frozen dinners, I thought it was just so cute and cool that each dish had its own little compartment in the plastic like your plate was made for meal. I swooned over the scene in It Takes Two with the Olsen twins when the character Alyssa ate her first Sloppy Joe, wishing that I could take my first bite of that messy concoction along with her! Alas, we never had meals like that in the Rose house.

Now into my twenties, often having to come up with something on my own before running out the door, or picking up the slack with the cooking when the parentals are busy, I certainly appreciate those regular home cooked meals from my past. You will never find one of those classic frozen dinners in my fridge, and I will never serve them to my own family. Although I'm still mildly curious about Hamburger Helper, the appeal is gone and I have still never tasted it. Now Sloppy Joes, on the other hand, are a totally different story. My interest in Sloppy Joes has remained just as strong over the years, despite the fact that up until a few months ago when I made this dish (jeeze another overdue blog post!) I had never even tasted a Sloppy Joe before. I think it had something to do with all that messiness and sauciness that just had me hooked! The time had come for me to fulfill my lifelong dream of having a Sloppy Joe for dinner! Just as I had imagined and heard, I whipped up the Sloppy Joes so incredibly quickly, using a recipe as a guideline and tasting and adding ingredients as I went. Just as I had always imagined, the Sloppy Joes were delicious! Served on a soft bun, the fresh bread soaked up the delicious sweet and spicy sauce that enveloped the savory ground beef, with texture in every bite from crunchy sweet yellow bell peppers. My parents both loved their Sloppy Joes and wondered aloud why they had never made them for my sister and I growing up. My future children (NOT ANY TIME SOON!) are definitely in for a treat!

Ingredients:

1/2 yellow onion

1 lb ground beef (lean)

1/2 yellow pepper, diced

1/2 cup chili sauce

1/2 cup barbeque sauce

1 tsp prepared yellow mustard

1 tsp garlic powder

2 tsp brown sugar

chili powder, to taste

salt and pepper, to taste

soft buns for serving

Directions:

1. In a medium skillet set to medium heat, sauté the onion until translucent. Add the ground beef and yellow pepper and continue cooking, while breaking up the meat with a spatula, until meat has browned. Drain off any liquids.

2. Stir in the chili sauce, barbecue sauce, prepared yellow mustard, garlic powder, and brown sugar. Taste and season with chili powder and salt and pepper according to taste. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Serve hot on fresh soft buns.

Listening To:

Gourmet Food & Wine Expo

2011-11-19T11:34:00.004-05:00

In a city filled to the brim with food events taking place just about every other day, it's difficult to decide which ones you would be willing to spend your hard-earned money on. Having attended food and beverage events in Toronto for quite a number of years now, I have a much better understanding of what to look for ahead of time to gage whether or not the event is worth my time and money. Years ago I vowed that I was no longer willing to shell out what little money I had for tickets to the many food and beverage expos that take place in Toronto. I was irritated by having to pay generally a minimum of $20 just to enter a building jam-packed with a hungry crowd, only to pay more money for anything I was interested in sampling. Don't get me wrong, I am ALL for sampling a variety of products, allowing me to experience new flavours and brands, but at the same time, I am a woman with a lot of pride and I won't be very pleased unless I have been given my money's worth, which I had found to be a rarity. Despite my dislike for expos, I am still one hell of a food lover and couldn't imagine turning down tickets to the VIP night of the Gourmet Food and Wine Expo kindly offered to me by Mott's Clamato, one of the exhibitors and show features at the expo. So off I went on Thursday night, with my mom in tow, to experience what the Gourmet Food and Wine Expo had to offer.

Immediately I was taken aback by the crowds, which were still pouring in as I arrived 2 hours into the event. I quickly remembered why I always like to bring a small purse and take advantage of coat check as I tried to maneuver my big bowling ball of a purse and Fall coat through the chaos, all the while being aware not to knock any glasses over! With stomach's growling, we quickly made our way over to the food section of the event to sample some gourmet food offerings. Sample tickets are purchased upon entry, which act as the show's currency. You may only buy sheets of at least 20 sample tickets at a time, with each ticket representing $1. The booths offer samples that can cost anywhere from 1 to 7 tickets (on average from what I observed). We promptly scanned the selection and decided which dishes we felt were the biggest bang for the buck. I'm sorry to say that I was quite disappointed by the selection. I was hoping to be impressed by the assortment of gourmet food the expo would offer, but was saddened to see just how little "gourmet" food there truly was, as well as realizing how fast we were going to blow through our sample tickets, as most samples cost around 4 tickets. My general rule of thumb at these types of events is to observe where the line ups are which will tell you what samples people are enjoying the most. Despite the crowds, lines were short and fast moving, so we decided to line up for the longest one at Milagro, serving up tacos, margaritas, and tequila shots. We each got a pulled pork taco at only 3 sample tickets each and devoured it in next to no time. I'm taco spoiled thanks to my amazing experience at La Carnita at Food Truck Eats, but Milagro's tacos were nothing to turn my nose up at. Tender, juicy, with great acidity and toppings I thoroughly enjoyed Milagro's taco and could have gone back for more! We then went to Highway 61's booth, a barbeque restaurant both my mom and I were familiar with. We have enjoyed their barbeque platters in the the past along with their onion rings, baked beans, and fries, but have never ordered their crab cakes, one of my food weaknesses. For another 3 sample tickets each we both got a bite sized crab cake that didn't exactly leave me weak at the knees due to its fishy flavour. Of course I had to check out the Mott's Clamato booth and get my hands on a spicy caesar, which I knew could do no wrong.

Never one to disappoint, Mott's not only impressed me with their caesar, which was right on point, but also with their Caesar School, which unfortunately was all full by the time we went over. The Mott's Clamato booth is a wonderful example of the benefits of attending an expo like this. It's learning experiences like this that allow attendees to truly take advantage of what the expo has to offer, and leave with new knowledge on the product, brand, and how they can replicate what they have tasted at home. For no additional charge or sample tickets, you could sign up to sit in on Mott's Clamato's Caesar School where their charming drink master teaches you how to make and perfect different types of unique caesars. Although I was unable to sit in on this, it appeared to be very similar to the types of mixing that took place at the Coast to Coast Caesar Toast in the summer, which I learned so much from.

I couldn't believe how fast the time flew by the time we had finished our caesars. At 8:45 anxiety kicked in as I realized I had only 15 minutes to head over to the Food Network stage and find a prime spot to plant myself, to get the best view of their celebrity chef Chuck Hugh's from one of my favourite Food Network show's Chuck's Day Off. Off to the side, but with a perfect view of the stage, my mom and I waited for the man of the hour to walk out. A laid back Chuck came out with that same charm, charisma, and black T-shirt we all know and love from his show, happily answering questions from the audience and telling us all about what Chuck's Day Off has in store for the future, a new special he worked on Chuck's Week Off in Mexico, and his incredible experience with The Next Iron Chef. I was lucky enough to get to ask Chuck a question myself, while keeping my nerves in check as he stood less than a foot away from me and stared into my bewildered eyes. With much of the audience frustrating me asking non-food related questions such as "do you have a girlfriend?" and "what do you think of the occupy movement?", I asked Chuck if he were stranded on a deserted island, what five ingredients would he want with him? He gladly answered 1) Water 2) Butter 3) Hot Sauce 4) Bacon 5)....honestly, I couldn't catch what he said here but I believe it was Wu Tang? Can anyone confirm this? I know it was a music artist, but I can't remember who. Help a sister out if you were in attendance and remember! The highlight of my night, I walked away with a big stupid grin on my face and a new hunger for another food sample!

We finished off the expo by grabbing the pulled pork sliders from Lou Dawgs at 5 sample tickets for 2 sliders. The sliders were tasty with the tender pork and sweet and smokey Lou Dawgs barbeque sauce that our server recommended. No better way to end the evening than barbeque sauce dripping down your chin right? We left with extremely lame GFWE gift bags on our arms and that same stupid "omg I just talked to Chuck Hugh's" grin on my face. It's clear to see that my feelings on food and beverage expos has not changed much but I do have some positive things to note. No I would not recommend anyone to attend the expo if you are just looking to try some interesting food. But if you are looking to get the opportunity to sample all different types of wine from all around the world, learn some new tips and tricks on mixing cocktails, and meet your favourite celebrity chef, then yes, by all means brave the cold and head down to the convention centre, but not before scouring the web for a promotional code to get you cheaper entry fee. I suppose one of the biggest reasons why I was so disappointed in the expo was that I have been very lucky to have attended so many other incredible food and beverage events in Toronto in the past that I not only enjoyed more, but felt I got more value for the time and money I had spent. Consider sip & Savour Ontario with an entry fee of $65. Sure this sounds like a lot of money to spend on one evening, but that entry fee is your only cost for the night as you are able to sample as much wine as you like once inside, as well as sample gourmet food from some of the province's top restaurants and chefs. At the expo you are paying $18 entry fee plus service charges, around $40 on average on sampling tickets to get a full experience of the event, plus $20 parking, and this doesn't get you even near the quality of food that sip & Savour offered. You can make the same comparison with the expo and Food Truck Eats, an event that I was extremely impressed with. I found the food from Food Truck Eats to be of a higher quality and far more unique than the food served at the expo, and with each dish costing no more than $5, you can't compare the value. I don't like writing negative reviews on my blog, but in this instance I felt the need to express my constructive criticism. Before you purchase tickets to any food and beverage event in Toronto make sure to do your research. Look up promotional codes to cut the cost of entry, read up on what features the show has to offer and which brands and products the show will be exhibiting, find people who have attended the event in previous years and ask them questions about the value and quality, and remember that just because an event is highly advertised doesn't mean it will be a great event. I by no means wrote this to offend anyone taking part in the GFWE, I just want my blog to reflect my honest opinion and perhaps allow my readers to walk away having learnt something new. Please continue to show your support for Toronto's incredible food and beverage scene!

Listening To:

Frank Ocean - Thinking About You

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Pumpkin Spice Cookies

2011-11-12T11:08:00.003-05:00

Last week, when reading over my entry on my Pumpkin Ravioli with Sage Butter Sauce, I couldn't help but wonder why I chose to go the savory route when I was hit with pumpkin inspiration due to the constant flow of comments on the now extremely popular Pumpkin Spice Latte. I know I didn't want to make a drink (I retract my statement in that last entry about me being horrible at making coffee, I used to work at a café and pastry shop and I can make one mean cappuccino, latte, and macchiato using an espresso machine) but how come I didn't choose to make a pumpkin spice dessert to go along with a warm drink? The truth is, my taste buds like to go back and forth between craving sweet and savory all the time. Just a few weeks ago all I could think about was herbs, spices, meats, etc. choosing chips and dip as my after-dinner snack as opposed to a baked good. And yet here I am now, finding myself scouring the cupboards, fridge, and freezer for any hint of a dessert after each and every meal, choosing pancakes and waffles for breakfast rather than my old standby toast and a fried egg. So sure enough, being in my sugar and spice and everything nice mode while reading the pumpkin ravioli entry, I was struck again with seasonal pumpkin inspiration. I imagined the perfect little dessert that I could take with me to work to snack on that would epitomize all of my favourite things about Fall, just as I had with my Pumpkin Ravioli entree.

After spending more time than necessary looking at an abundance of pumpkin spice food porn, searching all the many pumpkin spice recipes that are available on the internet, I decided to make Pumpkin Spice Cookies. I found a simple recipe for Pumpkin Spice cookies on allrecipes.com that sounded promising, so out came the leftover pumpkin in the fridge, the sugar, flour, KitchenAid, and even a mortar and pestle for hand grinding my spices! I was all set and ready for pumpkin spice heaven! Other than grinding my own spices, this recipe was incredibly fast and quick to follow, and truly the only reason why I hand-ground some of my spices was because I only had whole cloves and nutmeg in my cupboard, so I had to make due. The cookies turned out really yummy, but of course I always have my revisions. This brings up a whole new topic that I feel the need to discuss.

It's tricky when you still consider yourself to still be a fairly new cook (I know I've been cooking for as long as I can remember, but I still have SO much to learn!) and want to try out all the fantastic sounding recipes that you come across online, in magazines and books, etc. You want to share a delicious recipe with everyone, but do you really have the right to when the recipe is not your own? I consider my blog a resource that people can use to obtain tasty and simple recipes that they can feel confident has been tested in a home kitchen. And true, I always cite where I have gotten the recipes that are not my own, but I still feel strange about publishing a recipe that people, if they do not read the entry in full, may assume to be my own. After much thought, I decided that the only way that i can feel confident delivering these recipes to you is if I offer something valuable that the recipe and website is not already offering such as special tips, tricks, and revisions that I feel allow you to take the recipe a little bit closer to perfection. So although allrecipes.com's recipe for Pumpkin Spice Cookies was great, I feel that my recipe, complete with my own revisions, will be your new Fall favourite! With a texture soft like cake with a crunch and nuttiness from chopped walnuts, the sweetness of the pumpkin, and the kick from the spice, these cookies truly succeed in epitomizing Fall!

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/2 tsp allspice

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup white sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 cup canned pumpkin puree

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/3 cup lightly toasted walnuts, chopped

1/3 cup golden raisins (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350º. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, allspice, and salt, and set aside.

2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter with the white and brown sugar. Add the pumpkin, egg, and 1 tsp vanilla and beat until creamy. Mix in the dry ingredients, walnuts, and raisins, making sure to not over-mix.

3. Drop onto a lined cookie sheet by tablespoonfuls, flattening slightly. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Best eaten warm out of the oven, but cookies can be stored in an airtight container for 1 week.

Listening To:

	M83 - Midnight City .mp3

	Found at bee mp3 search engine

Pumpkin Ravioli in a Sage Butter Sauce

2011-11-02T11:41:00.006-04:00

Click on just about any girls Twitter or Facebook timeline within the past month, and you're sure to find a post about the beloved Pumpkin Spice Latte. I've never been one to get too excited about handing over a five-dollar bill for one calorie-filled drink that I will slowly sip until the last few gulps inevitably turns cold, I personally would rather save my toonies for the bar and cab rides home. No, the expensive seasonal drink craze isn't for me, but I absolutely understand the appeal of indulging in a comforting cup of well...Fall. What I think people love about that special latte is the memories it conjures up, the feelings you can't help but come over you with each warming sip, reminding you about all the beautiful things that come with this chilly yet spectacular season. Visits to the pumpkin patch, hay rides, carving out Halloween pumpkins, pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving, the Pumpkin Spice Latte symbolizes all of these wonderful special occasions and memories, allowing you to experience the joys of Fall any ordinary day of the week! I am notorious for making pretty terrible coffee and breaking just about any coffee maker I've come into contact with, so there wasn't a chance in hell that I was going to try and replicate the seasonal drink. With pumpkin ravioli on the brain thanks to both new issues of Food & Drink and Food & Wine magazines featuring the recipe, I knew I had found my Fall-inspired dish!

After a bit of research and recipe comparison, I came up with my own recipe for the ravioli that was as simple as possible, but still had great flavour. I thought back on a dinner I had last year at Parts and Labour in Toronto where I was served an absolutely delicious pumpkin ravioli, that shouted FALL with each bite. What made that ravioli stand out so much was the simplicity of the dish and the extra little bit of texture they added with the addition of toasted pumpkin seeds. Because I know how incredibly labour-intensive it is to make your own pasta from scratch, I nixed that and opted to use purchased wonton wrappers instead, cutting down a huge chunk of prep time. The delicately flavoured final product was fantastic, taking my taste buds back to that delicious memory from Parts and Labour and of course all the other exciting Fall milestones. This is a great dish to transport you to your favourite Fall memory any day of the week!

Tip: Take this dish to new heights by drizzling a bit of truffle oil on top before serving.

Ingredients:

1 cup pure pumpkin puree (from a can)

1/2 cup ricotta cheese

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp nutmeg

3 tbsp parmesan cheese, grated + more for garnish

2-3 tbsp unseasoned breadcrumbs

1 package wonton wrappers

1/4 cup unsalted butter

about 6-8 sage leaves

a handful of pumpkin seeds (lightly toasted)

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl mix together the pumpkin puree, ricotta cheese, salt, nutmeg, and parmesan cheese. Add the breadcrumbs one tablespoon at a time until mixture begins to come together and isn't as moist.

2. Set up an assembly station, laying out the wonton wrappers, the pumpkin mixture, a small bowl of water, and a baking sheet to lay the ravioli on. Spoon a heaping teaspoon of the pumpkin mixture into the centre of the wrappers. Dip a clean finger into the bowl of water and moisten the edges of the wrappers. Fold over the wrappers to create a triangle bundle filled with the pumpkin mixture, pinch the edges to seal and squeeze out any air pockets. Lay out on the baking sheet.

3. Once raviolis have all been filled (you will have about 40-50 raviolis) boil a large pot of well-salted water. Reduce heat to a gentle boil and carefully drop in the raviolis (they will be delicate). Gently stir and boil for 3-4 minutes. Carefully drain water.

4. In a large pan melt the butter at medium heat. Immediately add the sage leaves. Once butter begins to foam, use a spoon to scoop out the white milk solids, working quickly so the butter doesn't burn. When the butter begins to brown, turn off heat immediately. Transfer raviolis to a serving dish and top with the sage butter. Sprinkle with toasted pumpkin seeds and parmesan cheese. Serve immediately!

Listening To:

Beyoncé - Countdown

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sip & Savour Ontario Wrap Up

2011-10-29T10:39:00.017-04:00

That's it folks! After months of preparation, sip & Savour Ontario 2011 has come to an end. It's amazing how something that you can put so much time and energy into can fly by in a wink! After a week of recuperation and me time, I now owe you a little sip & Savour Ontario wrap up to fill you in on all of the excitement that took place from our Exclusive Blogger Preview Event, to the big event sip & Savour Ontario, and lastly the Ontario Wine Awards Niagara winery tour that was organized as a thank you for the Ontario Wine Awards (sip & Savour Ontario's partner) sponsors.

Prior to sip & Savour Ontario, an Exclusive Blogger Preview Event was held at Longo's stunning new Maple Leaf Square location in their beautiful Corks Beer and Wine Bar test kitchen and lounge. This preview event was set up exclusively for some of Ontario's influential food and wine bloggers to give them an opportunity to learn more about sip & Savour Ontario and learn firsthand from our talented hosts, renowned wine writer and Order of Canada recipient Tony Aspler and Longo's Chef David Ashlee, how to pair Ontario's VQA wines with local Ontario produce. The event began with a sparkling wine reception in the lounge where our bloggers got to greet and mingle with one another while sipping on Peller Estates NV Ice Cuvée Rosé, the Sparkling Wine Award gold medal-winner at the 2011 Ontario Wine Awards. Guests were then ushered into the fully equipped test kitchen where Tony took over to talk a little about the history of sip & Savour Ontario and it's new partnership with Houselink Community Homes, an organization that provides a home, community, and opportunity for people living with mental illness. Houselink representative Brain Davis then took the stage to elaborate on Houselink, while Luke Bowden from Houselinke delivered a candid and moving speech about his own personal experience with mental illness and the significant role that Houselink played in helping to guide him to be in the place he is today. With mouths watering, David Ashlee eagerly began preparing the three dishes that he was pairing with our Ontario VQA wines that day, while providing the guests with helpful tips and tricks and Tony interjecting with notes on the wine. The menu and wine pairings were as follows:

First Course

Salmon Ceviche Green Tea Crepes Stuffed with Avocado Jicama and Wasabi

OWA Gold Medal Winner White Wine of the Year Château de Charmes 2008 'Old Vines' Riesling Estate Bottled

Second Course

Frenched Lambchops with Stuffed Grape Leaves in a Red Wine, Shallot Reduction

OWA Gold Medal Winner Cabernet Franc Award Kacaba 2007 Cabernet Franc Reserve

Third Course

Chilled Cucumber Soup with Icewine Mascarpone Whip and Blue Cheese Shortbread Cookie

Konzelmann 2008 Vidal Special Select Late Harvest

Sure, I was expecting to taste some yummy food that day, but Chef Ashlee went above and beyond "yummy" with his absolutely delicious and expertly paired menu of unique, skillful, and local dishes. As each dish was served you could hear a chorus of satisfied "mmm's" around the room as the guests took their first bites. Coming from someone who was involved in making the Preview Event happen, I have to say that I was totally blown away by the execution and attention to detail that both Chef Ashlee and the Longo's team brought to the table that day. What a pleasant experience that was. I expect this won't be the last time we'll collaborate with them. We ended the event by sending off our guests with a bottle of Ontario VQA icewine and Ontario goat cheese provided by Longo's, and hopes that our bloggers would spread the word about sip & Savour Ontario and the importance of Houselink. For more photos of the Exclusive Blogger Preview Event click here!

Only a few weeks after our Exclusive Blogger Preview Event, the big event, sip & Savour Ontario was held at the unique space at Steam Whistle Brewery. The event featured 29 Ontario VQA award-winning wineries, with representatives each pouring numerous wines to give guests a true feel of the winery, terroir, and people behind the wine. Scattered about the space were stations set up by six of Ontario's top chefs who had created delectable local food pairings to go along with the wines being served. Click here to see the entire menu from the evening. An exciting addition to the event were two gourmet food trucks El Gastronomo Vagabundo and Cupcake Diner (the much anticipated Gorilla Cheese was sadly a mysterious no-show) to draw attention to and support Ontario's growing food truck movement. Throughout the evening guests were invited upstairs to take part in four live cooking demos presented by Maria Carino from Houselink, Chef Keith Bundock from As You Wish Catering, Chef Adam Hynam-Smith from El Gastronomo Vagabundo, and Chef David Ashlee from Longo's, with each demo paired with a specific wine being poured. With Houselink as our charitable partner, there was also a silent auction that was held throughout the event, giving guests the opportunity to bid on an array of exciting items, packages, and tours that were kindly donated to raise funds for Houselink. All in all the event was a wonderful success, drawing in a great crowd and raising awareness of Ontario's food and wine excellence and Houselink Community Homes. Click here to see more photos of the event!

To wrap up all of the excitement, a private Niagara winery tour, tasting, and luncheon was held for the Ontario Wine Award sponsors as a thank you for helping to make the awards possible, and, in turn, allowing sip & Savour Ontario to be possible. The informative tour began at Niagara Teaching Winery in Niagara-on-the-Lake where we were taken into one of the beautiful tutorial rooms and got to taste the OWA Sparkling Wine Award gold medal-winner Peller Estates NV Ice Cuvée Rosé, a sparkling wine that is topped up with a dosage of Ontario icewine, giving the sweet drink a distinct and unique strawberry flavour. As we were taken into the vineyard, we learned all about the teaching program and just how hands-on the students are able to get in producing the wine. It was great to hear that the winery takes advantage of the unique opportunity that Ontario has to produce icewine, by allowing their students to take part in picking and producing icewine as well. Right in the midst of the harvest, it was so cool to be right in the action watching this years Cabernet Franc grapes get picked. To warm ourselves up from the vineyard, we headed back inside to taste a selection of Niagara Teaching College wines and then proceeded to the wineries Benchmark Restaurant to enjoy a delicious and comforting meal prepared and served by the students at the college. The menu and pairings were as follows:

Hand Cut Bitter Greens Salad with Scallion-Ginger Vinaigrette, Toasted Hazelnuts, Crumbled Smoked Bacon, and Caramelized Niagara Pears

NC Semi Dry Reisling 2009

Good Earth Rose 2009

Spinach and Goat Cheese Stuffed Chicken Supreme with Sweet Potato Galette, Seasonal Vegetables, Caramelized Onions, and Red Wine Jus

NC Sauvignon Blanc 2009

Fielding Pinot Gris 2010

NC Cabernet Franc 2008

Les Clos Jordanne Pinot Noir 2008

From there, we hopped back onto the Niagara Air Bus and headed over to the stunning Tawse Estate Winery, where winemaker Paul Pender received the OWA 2011 Winemaker of the Year award for his hard work and creativity. We were taken inside to see the process in which the wine is aged in the steel vats and learned about the natural approach they take to their winemaking, utilizing the topography of the vineyard and estate to allow gravity to guide the wine within the facility. We then went down into the cellar where more wine was tasted and we were lucky enough to get to meet the man himself, Moray Tawse.

Tired, tipsy, and in need of a cozy blanket, the tour had come to an end, and proved to be a great treat and learning experience to top off this whole sip & Savour Ontario adventure! Thank you to everyone who helped to support sip & Savour Ontario! Your participation is helping to support the continued education and funding for Ontario's talented and passionate winemakers, farmers, and chefs as well as Houselink, an organization that I have come to have a great deal of respect for. This was such a wonderful learning experience for me and I can't wait to do it all again next year!

Listening To:

The Rolling Stones - Gimme Shelter.MP3

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Leftover Lovin': Pulled Pork Shepherds Pie

2011-10-23T11:58:00.005-04:00

I honestly don't know how I could get through a workweek without a fridge full of leftovers. I rely on leftovers almost every day to give me the fuel I need on my quickie 15-min lunch break at work to get me through the rest of the day. Yeah, a sandwich will do in a pinch, but you can't compare a cold (and often soggy) sandwich that you have to rush around to prepare in the morning before flying out of the house to catch the bus, to warm and comforting leftovers that you simply transferred to a travel container. But what happens when leftovers extend beyond two days? This year for my 24th birthday fiesta at my house I accidentally made enough pulled pork to feed an army! My army of drunk friends just wasn't enough to tackle that immense batch of sweet, smokey, and tender pork. In fact a family dinner with my pulled-pork loving aunt, uncle, and cousins STILL wasn't enough to tackle all that pork the next night. By the third night my parents and I were all pulled porked out. We didn't want that delicious pork to go to waste, but there was no way we could bring ourselves to have pulled pork tacos for yet another night. I needed to transform the pork so that we could still enjoy it, but it could be disguised in such a way that we wouldn't even think about the fact that we were eating the same thing for the third night in a row.

I've been wanting to make a really good shepherds pie for a while now, and with the meat already prepared and a bag full of potatoes on the counter I knew I had found our solution to the pulled pork leftover blues. Following my instincts, I quickly boiled some potatoes, sauteed some onion for extra flavour, pulled out the leftover fiesta salad (two birds one stone!) to add even more flavour and texture, thawed some green peas from the fridge, and pulled out some already shredded cheese. In hardly any time at all I had prepared my family's new favourite comfort food! Warm and fluffy mashed potatoes are topped with salty melted cheddar cheese, resting on a bed of sweet, smokey, and tender pulled pork, with a layer of sweet vegetables in between. What a winner! It's worth it to make a giant batch of pulled pork all over again just to be able to make this fantastic quick dish!

Click here for Pulled Pork and Fiesta Salad recipe!

Ingredients:

4 large potatoes, chopped

1/2 onion, sliced

olive oil for sauteing

2 tbsp butter + more for sauteing

1/4-1/2 cup hot milk

2-3 cups leftover pulled pork

1/2 cup leftover fiesta salad (or a mixture corn and black beans)

1/2 cup frozen green peas, thawed (add more if not adding corn and beans)

1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

Directions:

1. Add potatoes to a medium pot filled with cold water. Bring to a boil. When water has boiled reduce to a gentle boil. Continue to boil until potatoes are tender, about 15-20 min.

2. While potatoes are boiling, add a dab off butter and a bit of olive oil to a medium pan set at medium heat. When butter and oil are hot and bubbling add the onions and saute until golden brown.

3. When potatoes are tender, drain water and let potatoes sit in the covered pot for another 5 minutes to dry them out slightly. Add the butter and hot milk and mash using a potato masher until potatoes are fluffy and smooth.

4. Grease a medium-sized glass baking dish. Spread the leftover pulled pork evenly into the bottom of the dish. Top with the sauteed onions, leftover fiesta salad, and green peas.

5. Layer the mashed potatoes evenly overtop and top with shredded cheddar cheese. Broil for about 20-25 minutes to allow pork to reheat and cheddar to melt. If topping begins to burn, cover with tin foil. Serve hot.

Listening To:

Rihanna feat. Calvin Harris - We Found Love

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Guest Post: Rose Reisman - Quinoa with Charred Corn, Bell Pepper & Spinach

2011-10-21T10:50:00.007-04:00

Quinoa with Charred Corn, Bell Pepper & Spinach

(Serves 4)

Quinoa is a "super" food - low glycemic, with an abundance of nutrients. Containing eight essential amino acids, it's the only grain that's considered a complete protein, making this recipe a vegetarian's delight. Instead of fresh spinach you can use half a 10-ounce package of frozen spinach - cooked and squeezed dry.

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Make Ahead: Prepare early in the day and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature before serving.

Ingredients:

1 cup quinoa

2 cups vegetable or chicken stock

1 cup canned corn kernels, drained

1 tsp vegetable oil

1 cup diced onion

1/2 cup diced red bell pepper

2 tsp crushed fresh garlic

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp seeded minced jalapeno pepper(or 1 tsp hot chili sauce or paste)

4 cups chopped fresh spinach

1 Tbsp water

1/3 cup chopped green onion

1/3 cup chopped cilantro or parsley

2 oz. crumbled light feta cheese

2 Tbsp olive oil

2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

Directions:

1. Bring the quinoa and stock to a boil. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes, just until the stock is absorbed and the quinoa tender. Remove from the heat and place in a serving bowl.

2. Spray a small non-stick skillet with cooking oil and place over medium heat. Saute the corn for approximately 8 minutes, just until browned, stirring constantly. Set aside.

3. Spray a medium non-stick skillet with cooking oil, add the vegetable oil and place over medium heat. Add the diced onion, bell pepper, garlic, cumin and jalapeno pepper and saute until the onion begins to brown, about 5 minutes.

4. Add the spinach and water. Cook until the spinach wilts, approximately 2 minutes.

5. Remove from the heat. Stir in the green onion, cilantro, cheese, olive oil, lemon juice and sauteed corn. Add the mixture to the quinoa and mix well.

Nutritional Analysis per Serving:

Calories 379

Protein 14 g

Fat 13 g

Saturated Fat 2.4 g

Carbohydrates 53 g

Cholesterol 5 mg

Sodium 436 mg

Fibre 7.0 g

More About Quinoa:

Quinoa is a gluten free whole grain; a very versatile ingredient for salads and sides and high in protein, magnesium, iron and fibre. It is also an excellent source of folate which prevents neural tube defects in the fetus and also high in vitamin E - a powerful antioxidant. 1/2 cup of cooked quinoa has 127 calories, 2 g fibre, and 4.5 g protein. Quinoa boosts your immune system, keeps you healthy, is delicious tasting, has great texture and can be substituted for another whole grain as well as any white grain recipe.

-- By Rose Reisman - Renowned caterer, cookbook author, and entrepreneur - Art of Living Well

Rose Reisman on Ginger Rose!

2011-10-17T15:34:00.005-04:00

I am very proud of the fact that I write, create, edit, produce, etc. all of the content on Ginger Rose, but when I received an email from Rose Reisman herself asking if I would be interested in having her write a guest post on my blog, I jumped at the chance to have someone I admire so much be apart of my site. Rose Reisman is an inspiration to me, having found so much success as a caterer, cookbook author, entrepreneur and most importantly shining a light on healthy living in an accessible (and delicious) way! This Friday I will be publishing Rose's guest post featuring my readers most buzzed about ingredient of the moment, quinoa! Rose's Quinoa with Charred Corn Bell Peppers and Spinach sounds and looks so incredibly delicious, I can hardly wait for you to check it out! Stay tuned!

Check out Rose Reisman's site Art of Living Well to learn more about her work and try her mouth-watering recipes for yourself!

Listening To:

Noel Gallagher - If I Had A Gun

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sip & Savour Ontario 2011 Menu

2011-10-13T14:28:00.012-04:00

Chef Adam Hynam-Smith from El Gastronomo Vagabundo who will be hosting one of four Live Culinary Demonstrations

As you know now from my Save the Date blast about sip & Savour Ontario coming up THIS Wednesday October 19th, I am right in the midst of all the action helping to organize this exciting event. Being up close and personal with such a great event certainly has its advantages, and of course for me food is always at the top! Advantage numero uno: Obtaining the menu for the food pairings for sip & Savour Ontario allows for me to day dream and salivate about all the delicious dishes that I will be able to feast on in less than a week! Lucky for you, I'm generous and willing to share this just released menu with you all so you can get as excited for this event as I am! If you haven't ordered your tickets yet...ummm we can't be friends! So what the heck are you waiting for?! Get your tickets to the hottest local wine and food event that Ontario has to offer!

Chef Tim Dunnill

The Old Mill & Spa

Heirloom Tomato Tart Tatin with Braised Ontario Beef Cheeks

Wine Pairing: Cabernet Sauvignon

Chef Anne Yarymowich

FRANK Restaurant / AGO

Lamb and Rosemary Meatballs on Potato Parsnip Puree

Wine Pairing: Syrah

Chef Anthony Rose

The Drake Hotel

Smoked Pastrami Salmon with Cranberry Bean Toast and Hot Mustard Pickles

Wine Pairing: Chardonnay

Chef Kevin McKenna

Globe Bistro

TBA

Wine Pairing: Riesling

Chef Andre Walker

The Boiler House Restaurant

Smoked King Cole Duck Breast, Ontario Black Plum Chutney, Crostini

Wine Pairing: Sauvignon Blanc

Chef David Ashlee

Longo's

Spicy Pulled Pork with Braised Red Cabbage and Double Smoked Bacon

Wine Pairing: Pinot Gris

Chef Adam Hynam-Smith

El Gastronomo Vagabundo

Rendang Curry, Chicken Thigh, Thai Basil, Kaffir Lime, and Coriander

Wine Pairing: Sauvignon Blanc

Gorilla Cheese

An Assortment of Sandwich Samples

Wine Pairing: Riesling

Cupcake Diner

Variety of Mini Cupcakes

Wine Pairing: Sparkling

Like sip & Savour Ontario on Facebook!

Follow sip & Savour Ontario on Twitter!

Get your tickets today!

Check out pics from sip & Savour Ontario 2009

Listening To:

Modest Mouse - Float On

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Gluten Free Sponge Cake

2011-10-13T12:26:00.012-04:00

This year has been an absolute whirlwind for my family, taking us to both soaring highs and epic lows. Yeah, it's been tough, and it's easy to get caught up in the negative, but it's important to look at the situation from every perspective in order to see the good. One of the most significant stresses that has forced a dark cloud over my family is the health of my grandfather, or who I call my Zhada. My Zhada has always been one of the strongest members of my family, never one to get too caught up in his emotions, always one to set our values straight making sure our focus remains on education and setting goals for ourselves, and, being a former pharmacist, making sure that physical activity and health play a significant role in his day-to-day life. So it was shocking to see and hear just how quickly his physical and mental health could take such a decline in such a short period of time. I could hardly believe the stories my dad would tell me about how his behavior had changed so dramatically. It sounded as though he had become a completely different person, and it scared me. I watched as my dad devoted almost all of his time to Zhada and my grandmother, my Baba, trying to make sure they were as healthy and well taken care of as possible. There were numerous times when my dad would sit me down and tell me that this was it, and I better start getting ready to say my goodbyes, just to hear only a few days later that he was back on track and things were looking good. It felt like a game of tug-of-war with my family on the one side, tugging to have him pull through, and his illness on the other, trying with all its might to take him down.

It's exhausting flip flopping your emotions like that, but experiencing that taught me just how much I've taken him, and my other three grandparents for granted. These are some of the most important figures I will ever meet in my life, the people who love me for who I am, and I know would go to the other end of the world and back for me. It's hard to imagine that someone who plays such a large role in your life could leave it so quickly, especially when you have been fortunate enough to have all of your grandparents still living. Going through this experience has made me reevaluate the issues that I can stress myself over everyday, and look at what's really important in my life. Yes, it's not an easy thing to see someone you love come to the end of their life, but it will do nothing for anyone to dwell on the negative and fear the future. I can only look at how lucky I am to have these four unbelievable individuals in my life, and take advantage of every moment that I can still share with them.

After a year of ups and downs and almost goodbyes, I can't tell you how special it was to get to celebrate my Zhada's 93rd birthday on September 12th. Now living in the beautiful Sunnybrook Veterans Ward, my grandfather is happier and more fulfilled than he has felt in years, getting to meet new friends, learn new skills (the centre offers an incredibly wide range of activities such as pottery and photography classes), have medical support on hand if needed, and have piece of mind knowing that each day he has the ability to experience something new and exciting!

We would have given Zhada anything he could have asked for for his big 93rd birthday, but his only request was to have a gluten free sponge cake as his birthday cake. My Baba used to always make a delicious light and fluffy sponge cake, speckled with her own personal touch, chocolate shavings. It was what we would look forward to enjoying for every Jewish holiday, but after Zhada was diagnosed with being Celiac, we no longer saw our favourite sponge cake. I knew it was up to me to try and replicate Baba's sponge cake in gluten free form for Zhada. With very little experience baking gluten free I found a very simple recipe that I thought would do the trick, adding my own little touches to attempt to mimic the flavours from my Baba's. The sponge cake turned out to be a huge hit! Zhada had the biggest smile on his face and devoured 3 pieces of cake himself, in a matter of minutes, and taking very few bites! Watching him eat that cake was better than any compliment on my baking! You could tell from a mile away that the man was loving it! I did enjoy the cake but I would change some things for next time. Because I wanted to replicate my Baba's sponge cake as much as possible I left it as just a cake and dusted it with some cocoa powder for visual appeal. When I make this cake again, I will nix the cocoa powder and instead make a chocolate mousse to layer inside the cake. This would add moisture to the slightly dry cake as well as a contrast in texture. I hope that next year I can serve Zhada the perfected layered gluten free sponge cake at his 94th birthday celebration! Even though I don't express it nearly enough, I love you so much Zhada and I hope you never question that!

Recipe adapted from www.food.com

Ingredients:

3/4 cup corn flour

1 tsp baking powder

3 eggs, separated

1 pinch salt

1/2 cup sugar

1 ounce semi-sweet chocolate, grated

1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Sift corn flour, baking powder, and salt together. Set aside.

2. Beat egg whites until stiff but not dry.

3. Beat in the egg yolks and vanilla extract.

4. Gradually beat in sugar until mixture forms a figure 8.

5. Fold in the dry ingredients and chocolate shavings.

6. Pour into two 8" square pans and bake at 350º for about 20 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Let cool.

7. When cakes have cooled top one with chocolate mousse and layer the other on top. If desired, dust with cocoa powder.

Listening To:

Coldplay - Strawberry Swing

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My Mexican Birthday Fiesta

2011-10-12T10:15:00.009-04:00

Me (Danielle Rose), making my birthday wish

Birthdays were the worst days. I always used to agree with Biggie on that statement, that is until this year. When I was younger I used to love celebrating my birthday, coming up with a fun theme, bringing all my friends together, eating my favourite foods, and, of course, unwrapping all of my birthday presents. But as I got older and birthdays turned into just getting smashed at a club with whichever friends you could drag out with you (which always felt like pulling teeth!) I fell out of love with birthdays. It always felt like too much trouble to try and plan something myself and get everyone together in one place...and let's be honest, clubs are THE WORST. I would always end up stressing about it till the very last minute, ultimately being left with no plans at all, and merely sharing a drink and perhaps some mediocre food with whoever would show up. Each year my birthday felt less and less like a celebration and more of a reminder of what I felt I lacked in my life and just how quickly time flies. This year, with a new positive attitude, I wanted to prove myself and Biggie wrong and make my birthday fantastic! With Mexican being one of my favourite cuisines, and a beautiful house begging to have a party in it, I decided to hose a Mexican Birthday Fiesta at home!

All I have ever really wanted for my birthday is to be surrounded by good food and drinks, good friends, and most of all, feel loved. Simple requests, I know, but I haven't been able to experience a birthday like that since I was 16 years old (I'll always remember how loved and accepted you made me feel that night when you surprised me for karaoke and Tiffany's Robyn, Leigh, Sari, Haley, and Robby!). My Mexican Fiesta at home proved to be exactly what I needed to make my dream birthday a reality. With almost all of my favourite people in attendance, a delicious Mexican feast (if I do say so myself), lots of alcohol, and a killer playlist prepared by moi, I couldn't have asked for a better birthday! I felt so loved having all of these incredible people that I think the world of showing up to celebrate with me! Despite one hell of a hangover and a few regrets (yeah, I blacked out after blowing out my birthday candles), I woke up the next day with a smile on my face, feeling exhilarated about what my 24th year will bring! Thank you so much to all of my beautiful friends for making me feel so special and always being there for me! I couldn't ask for a better bunch of hooligans to call my friends! I can't end this post without also thanking my amazing parents for not only helping with the preparation of the party and cleaning up everything (seriously that was incredible!), but for also being so cool (I'm gonna regret saying that) with my friends and getting the tequila flowing! I love you!

Birthday Menu

No party of mine is complete without delicious food! For my Mexican Birthday Fiesta I wanted to make sure I had enough food for all my guests to enjoy all night long, so I used both my own homemade dishes and purchased dishes and sides to complete my menu so that I wouldn't be stuck in the kitchen all day stressing. The highlight of the Mexican feast was of course my Pulled Pork Tacos with Salsa Verde and Corn and Black Bean Salad. I doubled up my usual pulled pork recipe to make sure I had enough to go around (boy did I ever!), and just tossed in a few extra ingredients to add a little more heat than usual. I set up a topping bar next to the pulled pork to allow my guests to top their tacos with their favourites such as freshly squeezed lime, onions, a selection of salsas, and fresh cilantro. Although I had initially thought of serving my Corn and Black Bean Salad as a side, I loved seeing my friends use the salad to top their tacos with! The salad turned out to be my favourite topping out of them all, adding texture, acidity, and a bit of sweetness to the already mouthwatering taco.

Pulled Pork Tacos

(if serving pork for a party, double the recipe)

Ingredients:

3 1/2 pound pork shoulder

2 tbsp vegetable oil

2 large onions, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 tbsp chili powder

1/4 cup beef broth (may substitute with other type of broth or just splash in a little cider vinegar to loosen the brown bits on the bottom of the pot)

2 tbsp brown sugar

2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

2 chipotle peppers + 2 tbsp adobo sauce (purchase chipotles in adobo sauce in a can)

1 cup chili sauce

1 cup your favourite barbeque sauce

1 can of Coca Cola

Directions:

1. Season pork with salt and pepper on all sides. In a large, heavy-bottomed pot heat the oil over medium-high heat. Brown pork on all sides and transfer to slow cooker.

2. In the heavy-bottomed pot cook the onions, garlic, and chili powder until onions have softened. Pour in the beef broth and, using a wooden spoon, scrape off all the browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Transfer mixture to slow cooker.

3. Add the brown sugar,Worcestershire sauce, chipotle peppers, adobo sauce, chili sauce, barbeque sauce, and Coca Cola to the slow cooker and stir to combine.

4. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or until pork is tender. Remove pork and transfer to a large baking dish and shred using two forks. While shredding pork, increase heat to high. Add shredded pork back into the slow cooker, reduce heat back to low, and cook for another hour. Serve with corn tortillas and your favourite toppings!

Salsa Verde

Ingredients:
1 lb tomatillos (about 12-15), husks removed, washed, and cut in half
1/2 cup white onion, chopped
2-3 jalapeno peppers, stems removed
olive oil
1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves
1/2 - 1 tsp salt
2 cloves garlic
juice from 1/2 of a lime

Directions:
1. Place tomatillos, onions, and peppers in a baking dish. Lightly drizzle with olive oil and toss to coat.

2. Bake in a 350º oven for 15-20 minutes. The tomatillos should be nice and soft at this point. Set aside to cool.

3. In the bowl of a food processor, combine the tomatillos, onions, jalapenos, garlic, cilantro, lime juice and salt. Process to form a smooth textured puree as necessary for the desired consistency.

4. Transfer to a serving bowl. The salsa can be kept for 1 week in the refrigerator in an airtight container or jar.

Corn and Black Bean Salad

Ingredients:

3 fresh cobs of corn, husks and silks removed

1/2 can black beans, strained and rinsed

1 red bell pepper, diced

1/2 cup red onion, diced

4-5 large basil leaves, chopped into small pieces

the juice of 1 1/2 limes

1/2 cup olive oil

1 garlic clove, minced

1 tsp salt

a pinch of cayenne pepper

Directions:

1. Using a serrated knife (I found that easier) cut the corn kernels off of the cob trying to cut as close to the cob as possible. Place in a medium mixing bowl.

2. Stir in the black beans, red pepper, red onion, and basil.

3. In a small mixing bowl whisk together the lime juice, olive oil, garlic, salt and cayenne pepper. Drizzle over corn mixture and stir to combine. Let chill in fridge until ready to serve. May make day ahead.

Listening To:

Pink Floyd-Speak to Me-Breathe

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Happy Thanksgiving

2011-10-08T10:23:00.003-04:00

Happy Thanksgiving! This year I feel thankful for so much, way too much to list in fact! But I would like to take the opportunity to thank all my readers for sticking by me, expressing your interest in my work, all your incredible words of encouragement, and sharing my blog with your own friends and family! Without you, I don't know where I'd be! So a great big thank you to you! You all deserve multiple helpings of pecan pie this weekend!

Still working out your Thanksgiving menu? Here are a few Thanksgiving recipes of my own that would make a great addition to your Thanksgiving table!

Cheaters Handbook: Popeyes Biscuits

Baked Caramelized Onion Brie in Puff Pastry

Balsamic Glazed Green Beens and Shallots

Butternut Squash and Cranberry Quinoa Salad

Baked Sweet Potato Mash

Ginger Ale Glazed Ham

Roasted Turkey with Cranberry Sauce

Maple Pecan Squares

Listening To:

The Beatles - Rain

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SAVE THE DATE: sip & Savour Ontario

2011-10-04T09:59:00.004-04:00

I know my posts have been few and far between lately, and I am very happy to say that that is absolutely not from hopping off the productivity train, but actually from hopping on it! For the past few months I have been helping to work on Toronto's ultimate local wine and food experience, sip & Savour Ontario, an event dedicated to Ontario VQA wines and regional cuisine in support of Houselink. This is an event that I have had the pleasure of helping out with for several years now, and my love for this event has only grown over the years! If you have never been to sip & Savour Ontario before, you've been missing out on one of the most exciting, informative, and social food and wine events that Toronto has to offer. If you have been to sip & Savour Ontario before, you'll want to be grabbing tickets again as this year as we're switching things up with a new date (right in the midst of Harvest season), venue, and were even amping up the excitement by bringing in three gourmet food trucks! The event is fast approaching so pick up your tickets now before it sells out!

sip & Savour Ontario

WHEN

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

7:30-10:00 PM

WHERE

Steam Whistle Brewing, The Roundhouse

WHAT

Ontario Wine Award medal-winning VQA wines from more than 30 Ontario wineries will be joining forces with top Toronto area chefs who will be creating samples of regionally prepared cuisine to tantalize your taste buds.

Get up close and personal during our live culinary demonstrations featuring a selection of Toronto's elite chefs. An experience you won't want to miss!

Our event will give you a taste of Ontario's home-grown excellence and inspire you to help fund the continued enjoyment of Ontario's finest foods and VQA wines for years to come!

SILENT AUCTION

Proceeds to benefit Houselink, which provides housing solutions for people living with mental health challenges and at risk of being homeless. Visit www.houselink.on.ca for more information about their cause.

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Listening To:

	The Sheepdogs - I Don't Know .mp3

	Found at bee mp3 search engine

Blueberry Streusel Scones

2011-09-24T10:34:00.008-04:00

You feel that? There's that chill in the air. No matter how much I enjoy baking, feeling that incredible calm that comes with mixing batter, rolling dough, and measuring out ingredients juuust so, the thought of heating up the kitchen when the sun is blazing outside seems absolutely cruel to me. There's no doubt about it, my poor oven ( my best friend come the winter time) gets neglected, alienated, abandoned during the balmy summer months. It's right when that first chilly September day hits that I feel the itch. Like some invisible force pulling me to my oven, I can't help but start daydreaming about all the delicious baked goods I can begin to create come the chilly Fall and Winter months. So when that first cool day arrived a few weeks ago (oh man this post is overdue!) I couldn't help but bring out the flour, sugar, measuring cups and so on, to make a late afternoon treat, Blueberry Streusel Scones.

I have tried making scones years ago and other than my yummy Berry Scones, they have always been a failure as I seemed to enjoy mixing the dough so much, I would always be left with dry and crumbly scones once I removed them from the oven. The trick is to handle the dough as little as possible. With this trick in mind, I adjusted the Blueberry Streusel Scone recipe I found from JoyofBaking.com ever so slightly, merely changing the directions and not the ingredients. To my delight, my scones ended up having the perfect texture! Light, moist, with a slight crumble, enough sweetness to eat on their own, but only just enough so that they wouldn't be too sweet if anyone wanted to spread their with jam. They were exactly the type of baked treat I needed on that chilly day to put a mile on my face despite the weather making me feel blue.

Recipe from joyofcooking.com.

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

1/3 cup sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp salt

6 tbsp cold butter, cut into pieces

1 cup fresh blueberries

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup milk or cream + more for brushing

Streusel Topping

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp cinnamon

2 tbsp cold butter, cut into pieces

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut the butter into small pieces and blend into the flour mixture with a pastry cutter or two knives. The mixture should look like coarse crumbs. Gently fold in the blueberries. Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture.

2. In a small bowl combine the cream, beaten egg, and vanilla. Add this mixture to the well in the flour mixture and, using a spoon, stir just until dough comes together. Using clean hands, knead the dough 4 or 5 times right inside the bowl, scraping up any leftover flour mixture at the bottom of the bowl.

3. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and pat dough into a circle that is about 7-inches round and about 1 1/2-inches thick. Divide the circle into 8 triangles. Place scones on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a Silpat mat. Brush the tops with milk or cream.

4. In a small bowl prepare the streusel topping. Whisk together the sugar, flour, and cinnamon. Using clean hands add the butter and begin mixing together until mixture is crumbly. Top each scone with streusel mixture and bake for about 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre of a scone comes out clean.

Listening To:

LANA DEL REY-BLUE JEANS

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LCBO GoLocal Niagara Wine Tour

2011-09-21T16:00:00.002-04:00

Harvest time is known to be the best time to visit wine country, so as soon as I felt that first chill in the air, I joined my fellow Ontario food and wine bloggers on the LCBO GoLocal Niagara Wine Tour, a day dedicated to learning and experiencing what makes Ontario VQA wine and Ontario wine country so special.

We began our wine country experience by hopping on the exclusive LCBO GoLocal VIA train (that's right, we got our very own train for the tour! SWAG!) where we got to mingle and catch up with the other bloggers in attendance, while munching on our VIA first class breakfast. During the speedy train ride into Niagara, we were introduced to three guest speakers who educated us on the significance and advantages of producing cool climate wines, understanding terroir in Ontario, and the importance of creating a deeper connection to the wine through visiting wine country.

Although we often associate warmer climate regions with successful wine making, Ontario, as a cool climate wine producing region, is actually at an advantage. An obvious advantage is the length of the growing season, as a cool climate allows for our grape growing season to be extended. A cool climate also allows for the natural sweetness and acidity of the grapes to be released, resulting in a more natural flavour and no need for modification. This leads into Terroir, which, as you have learned from my previous entries on Bordeaux wine, "refers to the vineyard-specific environmental differences (such as soil types, drainage, local micro-climates, and sun exposure). Terroir is the biggest difference as to why the same varietals all taste differently from around the world and even from back to back vineyards." (wines-france.ca). Climate is one aspect of Terroir, but one that, in turn, affects all of the other factors of Terroir, such as soil. Ontario's cool climate results in a fantastic soil for grape growing. Ontario wine makers are now paying close attention to their vineyards terroir, and even the environmental differences from one side of their vineyard compared to the other. Consider the many environmental differences within the Niagara region where you will see all different types of soil from sandy gravel to heavy clay. It's through touring these wineries, and getting to speak directly with the winemakers that you get a much better sense of the wine, as you can experience first-hand all the many environmental factors each winery is working with, as well as get to know the characters and stories that helped create the wine. This will not only give you a better sense of the wine and why it tastes that way, but also helps to build a personal relationship with that winery and specific wine and help to develop a story, because let's face it, wine drinking is about so much more than just tasting the wine. And let's not forget the many fantastic restaurants that our Ontario wineries have created. Many Ontario wineries today are known just as much for their culinary achievements as they are for their wine.

When we arrived in St. Catharines we were split up into two groups, with each group visiting a different winery and tasting a different selection of wines that reflected the theme they were given. The group themes reflect the way in which Ontario wines are going to be organized in the LCBO to help people track down their favourite Ontario VQA wine with ease. My group headed to Coyote's Run Estate Winery with the theme Crisp and Zesty, where we got to meet representatives from not only Coyote's Run, but also Peninsula Ridge Estate Winery and Jackson Triggs Vintners. As we tasted each of the seven wines, the representatives elaborated on the terroir that helped to create the wines we were drinking, as well as told us helpful (especially so for a newbie like me!) tasting notes for each one. The wines from this tasting that stood out the most for me were:

Peninsula Ridge Estate Winery - 2009 Sauvignon Blanc

Peninsula Ridge is known for their Sauvignon Blanc wines.
This particular one was cold fermented in stainless steel with a wide variety of yeast, with the lees contact for almost a year.
Flavours of greenery, gooseberry, pineapple, and passionfruit.

Coyote's Run Estate Winery - 2009 Red Paw Vineyard Pinot Noir

Red Paw vs. Black Paw refers to the two different types of clay found on the vineyard.
Traditional maceration and fermentation in small open-top fermentors and aged 14 months in French oak barriques.
Bouquet of violets, strawberry jam and cedar. Flavours of strawberry, cranberry with a velvety texture and sweet oak tannin.

After all that wine tasting, we had definitely worked up an appetite. I was thrilled to learn that the surprise lunch that was kept secret from us all morning was supplied by two food trucks! Both El Gastronomo Vagabundo and Gorilla Cheese were parked outside Creekside Estate Winery, ready to serve! I could not wipe the smile off my face! After just missing out on El Gastronomo's tacos that I had heard so much about at Food Truck Eats, I was one of the first in line to get my hands on them this time around. I placed an order for their Fish Tacos with local corn salsa, Bajan hot sauce, and sour cream, as well as their Local Heirloom Tomato Salad with watermelon, jalapenos, Upper Canada Cheese, basil pesto, and sumac. Both dishes were off the charts delicious! The fish in the tacos was perfectly flakey with a light and crisp batter, complimented by the contrast of the sweet corn and spicy hot sauce, all wrapped up in a warm and soft homemade tortilla. The tacos were great, but WOAH that salad was one of the best and most unique salads I have had the pleasure of tasting. A flavour explosion in my mouth, I couldn't get enough of this gorgeous salad, jam packed with bold flavours, once again contrasting both sweet and spicy. Of course lunch wouldn't be complete without more wine! Creekside set up a little tasting bar for us where they had a selection of wine pairings based on what we had ordered at the trucks. El Gastronomo 's menu was paired with:

Creekside 2010 Sauvignon Blanc

Sauvignon Blanc is the varietal that made Creekside famous!
This wine is classically fresh and zesty with grassy gooseberry aromas with a touch of citrus.
Bright acidity makes this wine truly refreshing.

Creekside 2008 Shiraz

Medium bodied with ripe plum and black pepper spice.
An intriguing mix of elegant and robust.
Displays the vintage's bright acidity and intense structure, making it cellar worthy for years to come!

The wine tasting continued after lunch where we were once again split up into two groups, with new wineries and new themes! This time my group headed to Malivoire Winery with the theme Ripe and Smooth. Just like at Coyote's Run, we were again greeted by representatives from Malivoire, Strewn Winery, and Cave Spring Cellars. I enjoyed a number of the wines I tasted at the final tasting of the day, but my standout pick for not only the final tasting, but out of all the wines I tasted throughout the day was:

Cave Spring Cellars - 2009 Pinot Noir Niagara Peninsula

Lighter colour, which tend to be more light in flavour and harmonious when they're young.
Silky textures on the palate, with light and delicate tannins.
More angular than the other wines tasted.
Flavours of strawberry, sweet cherry, and rose.

I can honestly say that I gained more knowledge on Ontario wine in that one day than I have in all the years I have been learning about Ontario wine combined. Sure, this is largely due to my maturation since first visiting Ontario wine country years ago, but our fantastic hosts, representatives, wine makers, and bloggers that were so kind and generous in sharing their experience and knowledge on the subject throughout the day, were absolutely essential in enriching the whole experience. I can give you no better advice than to go and visit Ontario wine country yourself and experience the excellence our province has to offer!

Listening To:

Beastie Boys - Intergalactic

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Tomato Bruschetta

2011-09-06T06:33:00.001-04:00

My dad's office is conveniently located next to a wonderful flower shop. It's easy to see from taking a quick glance around our house that my dad has developed a great relationship with the florists over the years, as they send him home with flowers, herbs, plants, fruits and veggies, sometimes as much as several times a week. So when my dad brought home a big box filled with pounds and pounds of Ontario tomatoes, the pressure was on to quickly think up some delicious summer tomato dishes to use up the fruit before it went bad. With a thriving basil plant in my garden, there was no question in my mind what I was going to make.

Bruschetta is one of my favourite appetizers to order at a restaurant. Just like sushi, bruschetta is one of those dishes that I could be in the mood to eat any time of day, any time of year. Just put a plate of it in front of me and it will surely be devoured in a matter of moments. I remember a few years ago my family fell in love with a packaged tomato bruschetta mix that we used to pick up at Costco all the time. When I say all the time, I absolutely mean that. We loved that bruschetta mix so much we not only topped our toasted bread with it, but added it to omelettes, pastas, quiches, pizzas, you name it! So as soon as I saw all those beautiful ripe tomatoes just waiting to be cooked with, I immediately thought back on those lovely bruschetta memories. I couldn't believe that I had never made bruschetta from scratch before. With only a few simple ingredients, bruschetta is so super simple to make. In fact, you can even prepare the tomato topping in advance, and toast and assemble the bread when it's time for dinner, or, if entertaining, when your guests arrive. I whipped up the bruschetta in no time, and proudly served it to my family, knowing damn well that my fresh tomato bruschetta would blow Costco's out of the water. Sure enough my family went nuts over my bruschetta, proclaiming that we would never again buy bought bruschetta mix ever again!

Note: You may be wondering why I keep specifying that this is a tomato bruschetta. The reason is that bruschetta actually just means toasted bread. Sure we are most familiar to the juicy tomato topping most found in restaurants, but in fact you can top bruschetta with just about anything! I love to get ideas on what to top my bruschetta with from Pizzeria Libretto's menu or twitter feed. They change their homemade bruschetta all the time, always coming up with unique flavour combinations utilizing what's in season. Play around with your bruschetta! You'll be amazed by how versatile it can be!

Ingredients:

2 tomatoes, chopped into about 1/2-inch pieces, with as much seeds removed as possible

6 basil leaves, chopped

1 tsp balsamic vinegar

1 baguette or country loaf cut into about 1/2-inch or 3/4-inch slices

olive oil

fresh garlic

salt and pepper to season

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, stir together the chopped tomatoes with the basil and balsamic vinegar. Set aside.

2. Lay out the slices of bread on a baking sheet and brush the tops with olive oil. Toast in a 350-400º oven until bread is toasted, golden-brown and crisp.

3. Remove from oven and immediately rub the top of each slice with fresh garlic. Top with tomato mixture and season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

Listening To:

lykke li - knocked up

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Quinoa Stuffed Eggplant

2011-09-03T10:00:00.005-04:00

Although I've cooked with it numerous times now, quinoa remains a bit of a foreign ingredient to me. Having only made it into a salad, I was itching to utilize it in one of the interesting ways I had heard about. Quinoa burgers, quinoa onion rings, quinoa meatloaf, they all sounded so intriguing to me! So when my mom brought a beautiful purple eggplant home from the grocery store and suggested making some sort of stuffed eggplant, the lightbulb in my brain instantly lit up. Quinoa stuffed eggplant was the answer! My mom seemed skeptical. She had heard of stuffing eggplant with rice, but quinoa? Just like me, quinoa is still very much a foreign ingredient for my mom. She began enacting the tell tale signs that she wasn't on board with the idea. Her voice softens, her eyes shift, she pauses after every word or so "well...sure...I've never heard of that...but...ya, try it...". It's easy to get a little nervous at this point, worried that your diners won't like the dish that you're about to prepare, but I felt confident that I could win her over!

Part way through the cooking process I began to become a little skeptical myself. The roasted veggies weren't becoming as soft as I had liked and the dish wasn't looking as aesthetically pleasing as I had hoped. Maybe this wasn't a winner afterall? Nope, that wasn't gonna stop me! I continued cooking, tasting as I went. I stuffed my filling back into the eggplant shells (nervous that the softened skins would collapse when filled and baked again), and topped it with a generous sprinkling of parmesan cheese at my moms suggestion. Sure enough, just as I had initially thought, my quinoa stuffed eggplant turned out absolutely delicious! The flavours were all right on point, the eggplant shells had indeed held up during the second bake, and the presentation looked fantastic! This is exactly the type of dish I'm most proud to call my own. I created it all on instinct by following my gut and tasting every step of the way, and not once did I refer to any other recipe. This baby was all my own! Healthy, delicious, unique, and striking, this dish is definitely getting a "Danielle's Favourites" tag!

Tip: You can easily turn this into a vegan dish by cutting out the parmesan cheese.

Ingredients:

1 medium/large eggplant, cut in half lengthwise

1 red bell pepper (may substitute with any colour of bell pepper), chopped

1/2 red onion, chopped

about 2-3 tbsp olive oil

1/2 cup quinoa

1 cup water

1/2 - 3/4 cup tomato sauce

2 tbsp fresh basil, chopped

1 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp garlic

about 2-3 tbsp parmesan cheese

salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Using a sharp knife cut through the inside of the eggplant to cut a sort of grid, making sure to not cut through the skin of the eggplant and leaving about a quarter-inch border all around. Using a spoon, scoop out the inside of the eggplant, once again leaving about a quarter-inch border around.

2. In a medium baking dish, toss in the scooped out eggplant. Set aside the hollowed eggplant shells. Add the chopped red pepper and onion to the baking dish and drizzle over half of the olive oil. Add in the oregano and garlic, season with salt and pepper and toss to coat. Pour the remaining olive oil inside the eggplant shell, rub to coat and place in baking dish cut side down. Bake in a 400º oven for 35-40 minutes, or until vegetables have softened, stirring occasionally.

3. In the meantime, cook the quinoa. In a small pot stir together the quinoa and water, set on the stove, uncovered, at high heat until it comes to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Once cooked, allow quinoa to rest in pot for 5 minutes. Then fluff with a fork.

4. Once chopped vegetables have cooked, toss them into the quinoa with the tomato sauce and basil and season with salt and pepper. Scoop quinoa mixture evenly into the roasted eggplant shells and top with the parmesan cheese. Bake for another 10-15 minutes. Serve hot.

Listening To:

Lana Del Rey- Video Games

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Grilled Peaches with Burrata & Prosciutto

2011-09-01T18:00:00.006-04:00

Where did the summer go? This seems to be the question on everyones mind for the last few weeks...although when I ask that question it sounds a lot more hostile! I've spent the last few weeks totally in denial that Summer was about to come to an end. With this being my last Summer in my home's beautiful backyard (my family is selling the home that I've lived in my whole life this Fall) I've been scared out of my mind about this chapter of my life coming to an end (and now the tears begin). With this and other factors weighing on my mind for the Summer, I'm sad to say that I've pushed away a lot of responsibilities, commitments, and opportunities. It's one thing to focus on the positive, but it's a whole other ball game when you completely neglect anything that might be a little difficult, stressful, or challenging. It's funny that when you think you are pushing away all the negative, in turn you actually push out a whole lot of positive as well. And that's just what I did. When you don't force yourself to truck through those challenging situations you don't gain anything in the end.

My blog was one of the many things that I pushed away this Summer. I felt paralyzed by all of the stress in my life, and felt like keeping up my blog, cooking, writing, and networking would just add to my stress. Now I look back on my Summer, my few recipes that I've posted, the wonderful opportunities that I failed to act on, and my gorgeous herb garden that will begin to die in only a few weeks, and feel such deep regret that I didn't take advantage of it all. I forgot how incredibly happy it makes me to serve a meal that I'm proud of; to share a recipe with friends, family, acquaintances, and strangers; to feel inspired by a new ingredient; to go outside of my boundaries and take a chance; to have someone tell me how great my dish looked or tasted; to get recognition from an unlikely source. Without trucking through the hard work I was never able to gain any of those wonderful and fulfilling benefits. Refusing to let myself slump back into that paralyzed state with this newfound regret, I'm choosing to look at my Summer as a lesson. Nothing of any value can come about without hard work. Those people that seem to get handed everything? Forget about them! That's not reality and that's not how you're going to feel fulfilled at the end of the day. Do what you love, and don't let anything (I mean ANYTHING) get in the way of that.

So I guess you're wondering what the hell this has to do with grilled peaches? The truth is, I've actually written this very entry about five times in the past two weeks, each time finding myself going off topic and getting lost on a tangent about personal issues that don't have a damn thing to do with peaches! So instead of fighting all those feelings that were dying to be put into words and published for everyone to see, I decided to just give in and get it all out so I can move on...and talk about peaches!

After feeling down and out and overwhelmed, it can be difficult to throw yourself back into the game. When you find yourself in this position, the best advice I can give you is to start simple. My Grilled Peaches with Burrata and Prosciutto recipe reflects this idea. This simple yet elegant dish was the perfect recipe for me to create to get myself feeling motivated again. With it's minimal ingredients, incredibly easy and quick assembly, and the stunning final result, my Grilled Peaches with Burrata and Prosciutto was neither intimidating nor overwhelming. It reminded me how simple it can be to gain all of those amazing and fulfilling benefits that comes from applying yourself. I felt so proud to serve this gorgeous dish to my family and taste how wonderful it turned out, and now I am so excited to be sharing it with you all! I promise you, this recipe will bring you as much joy as it did for me with the wonderful contrast of textures, with the silky, creamy burrata cheese and juicy Ontario peaches, and flavours, from the sweet peaches and salty prosciutto. It's amazing what a mere four ingredients can create! With food this simple and tasty, you really can't help but smile once again!

Tip: Pick up your burrata cheese in Kensington market (if you live in Toronto), they sell it around half the cost of other cheese retailers. And if burrata is still out of your budget, substitute with buffalo mozzarella or even ricotta cheese.

Ingredients:

3 peaches, cut in half with pits removed

1 ball of burrata cheese

4-6 prosciutto slices

about 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Place peaches, cut side down, on an oiled grill or grill pan set to medium-high heat. Allow peaches to grill for about 6-8 minutes or until peach is warm to the touch and grill marks are visible.

2. While peaches are grilling, slice burrata into six slices. Set aside.

3. Once peaches are grilled, lay them out on a serving tray and top each peach halve with a slice of burrata. Tear the prosciutto slices and place them around the dish. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar and season with salt and pepper.

Listening To:

Amy Winehouse - Love is a Losing Game

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Food Truck Eats: Part 2

2011-08-21T10:50:00.010-04:00

If you're anything like me and have been watching episodes of Eat St. religiously, salivating over each and every delicious creation being produced within the teeny confines of a truck, then you will love Toronto's very own Food Truck Eats just as much as I did! With the food truck trend thriving all over America, and even in some Canadian cities, it was about time that Toronto, a hub for food culture in Canada, jump on board as well. Easier said than done, the biggest issue in getting Toronto's food truck scene up and running is due to licensing problems. All I can say is thank goodness for the passionate foodies we have in Toronto, refusing to take "no" for an answer. Thanks to Suresh Doss of Spotlight Toronto, Toronto's Distillery District has been taken over by a Food Truck rally twice already, with two more rallies to go, to get people supporting what will surely be one hell of a food truck culture right here in our home.

After missing the first Food Truck Eats rally in July, I couldn't wait to get my butt down to the distillery to finally check out what all the buzz was about. As high as my expectations were for the food, I have to admit that I was a little nervous about the lines...ok, maybe more than a little. After seeing pictures on my twitter feed of the swarms and swarms of people that gathered for the first Food Truck Eats, I was put off by the idea of standing in line for lord knows how long, in the sweltering Toronto heat for a small dish that I would no doubt devour in a matter of seconds. It's an understatement to say that I was pleasantly surprised to find that despite how intimidating some of the lines may appear, they do in fact move quickly, allowing me to hit up quite a number of trucks and vendors. Although I got to taste so many delicious food truck eats (with each item $5 and under it's easy to attempt to try them all!), of course I have my favourites. Hands down my all-time favourite food truck eat of the day, that I have not stopped day dreaming about since first tasting it, is the Voltron Fish Taco from La Carnita.

GOD

I'm not one for sappy love songs, but that taco deserves a lil Whitney. "And IIIIIII will alwaaaays loooove youuuuuuuu" just kept ringing in my ears with every bite. La Carnita's fresh homemade tortillas (I know, it's won over your heart already) are stuffed with a generous piece of fresh cod, battered in a light and crisp beer batter, and topped with a crunchy slaw and their signature Voltron sauce, handheld perfection. Not just master taco makers, La Carnita also promotes local artists, handing out beautiful La Carnita prints drawn by their featured artist of the day for free. No matter how bad I wanted to try every truck and vendor, I could only fit so many eats in this belly of mine. The dishes that i was able to try were:

La Carnita

Voltron Fish Tacos

Marben

Fresh Watermelon Lemonade

El Gastronoma Vagabundo

Chili Corn Fritters

Simple. Fish and Chips

Wasabi Lobster Wrap

Cava

Churros with Dark Chocolate Dipping Sauce

Augies Ice Pops

Homemade Grapefruit Ginger Lime Popsicle

Homemade Strawberry Basil Balsamic Popsicle

Baker Street Bakery

Peach Pie

Food Truck Eats was a wild success gathering thousands of Toronto's foodies to celebrate tasty cheap eats, and raising over $3000 for Second Harvest, providing over 7000 of Toronto's hungry with a healthy meal. I had such a fun and delicious time at the event, I'm practically counting down the days till Food Truck Eats Part 3, which just so happens to be October 1st, the day after my birthday...hangover food truck eats anyone?

Listening To:

The Weeknd - The Birds (Pt. 1)

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Tomato and Cucumber Quinoa

2011-08-15T14:28:00.002-04:00

In my last post I talked about the woes of being in a dinner routine rut and suggested some ways to get yourself the heck out of it. A great way to get out of the dinner routine rut is to pick up an unfamiliar ingredient from the grocery store, as I had done with my Tangy Lemon Halibut, but what do you do if you can't make it to the grocery store? Do not fret my friends, because this actually gives you a wonderful advantage at getting out of that rut! We've all been there, you know, when you come home starving and declare, often with a dramatic groan, "there's nothing to eat!", but really what you mean is "I can't think of anything to eat." It's at that moment that you can either become grumpy, give up and order in, or take the high road and allow your creativity to be ignited!

I needed to serve something alongside my Tangy Lemon Halibut but unfortunately I was faced with a near-empty fridge. Hmmm halibut and pickles? That won't work. Halibut and cheese? Not a chance! Halibut and dip? Ok, time to hit the pantry! I turned to a great pantry standby, the healthy super grain quinoa to beef up the meal. I looked at the few veggies we had on hand, as well as some dried fruits and nuts and began to jot down which flavours go together, always keeping in mind the saying "what grows together goes together". I finally settled on something super simple but still tasty and healthy and worthy of going back for seconds for. My Tomato and Cucumber Quinoa features ingredients that my family and I have grown in our own garden, juicy tomatoes, crisp cucumber, and of course my favourite addition, fresh herbs to brighten up all those summer flavours. Stir in a simple dressing and you've got one yummy side that you've whipped up in no time at all!

Tip: Because this recipe is so simple you can easily switch it up to add whichever veggies and herbs you happen to have on hand. Play around with different flavour combinations and ways of preparing the dish. Why not roast your vegetables before adding them into the quinoa for a more complex flavour? Play!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup uncooked quinoa

1 cup water

1/4 tsp salt

1 small tomato, diced (or about 1 cup of halved cherry tomatoes)

1/3 of a cucumber, diced

1 1/2 tbsp fresh cilantro or basil, finely chopped

2 tbsp chives, finely chopped

about 3 tbsp red wine vinegar

about 2 tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. In a small pot stir together the quinoa, water, and salt. Set to high heat and bring to a boil, then cover and simmer at low heat for 10 minutes. Let sit for 5 minutes then fluff with a fork.

2. Transfer quinoa to a bowl and allow to cool to reach room temperature. Stir in the tomato, cucumber, cilantro, and chives. Add the red wine vinegar and olive oil a tablespoon at a time and taste after each addition. Add as much as you feel necessary. Season with salt and pepper and serve. May be refrigerated and served the next day.

Listening To:

Jay-Z and Kanye West - Murder to Excellence

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Tangy Lemon Halibut

2011-08-08T14:38:00.009-04:00

Lately, as you may have noticed from my lack of recipe posting, I've fallen into a bit of a dinner routine rut. The dinner routine rut is when you find yourself going through a rotation of the same or very similar meals each week. You rotate between beef, chicken, fish, pork, pasta, repeat, reaching for the same rubs, spices, seasonings, preparing everything in such a familiar way that you could very well make the entire meal with your eyes closed. It's at this point that the total lack of inspiration kicks in and you are officially deep within the dinner routine rut, and once you're in, it's mighty hard to fight your way back out again. Because food plays such a significant role in my life, when I find myself in the dinner routine rut everything else in my life seems to suffer along with it. Thankfully I am now aware of the role that food plays in my life, and in an effort to better my life and personal well being, I can now use food and the motivation that arrises from being inspired and excited about food to direct other aspects of my life in a positive direction.

It's easy to pull yourself out of the dinner routine rut once you know you're in it, all it takes is a step in an unfamiliar direction. Try a preparation you're unfamiliar with. Pull out a spice you've never used before. Close your eyes, open your fridge and touch three things, now turn those three things into a meal. The point is to challenge yourself, even if it's just a little bit. This week, to pull myself out of the dinner routine rut, I went outside of my own familiar repertoire of dinner recipes and picked up halibut steaks (something I have only cooked once before) instead of the salmon that always seems to be in my grocery cart. Sure it's a little step, but it one that completely pulled me out of the rut! I got excited about working with this new ingredient that I had hardly played with before, and in turn, I've been feeling that same excitement in everything that I've cooked with all week long, pushing me to go outside of my boundaries. Instead of looking up a recipe for halibut I followed my instincts, choosing simple, fresh flavours to simply enhance the natural flavours of the fish. A citrus marinade and sauce with just a touch of fresh dill was all the halibut needed to reach spectacular heights. I absolutely loved how the halibut turned down, as did my family! With such a simple preparation and such wonderful flavours, there's no doubt I will be making my Tangy Lemon Halibut again and again...I just hope its recurrence doesn't lead to yet another dinner routine rut!

Ingredients:

2 halibut steaks

zest from 1 1/2 lemons

juice from 2 lemons

1/2 cup olive oil

2 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp paprika

1 tsp cold butter

salt and pepper, to season

1 tbsp dill, chopped

Directions:

1. Place the halibut steaks in a shallow dish. Set aside.

2. In a small bowl mix together the zest from 1 lemon, juice from 1 lemon, 1 tsp sugar, 1/4 cup olive oil, paprika, and a bit of salt to season. Pour over the halibut steaks and marinate for 15 minutes to an hour in the fridge.

3. While halibut is marinating, make the sauce. In a small saucepan, mix together the remaining lemon zest, lemon juice, sugar, and a bit of salt. Turn heat to low and cook until mixture starts to bubble around the edges of the pan. Add the butter and stir. Remove from heat and set aside.

4. Barbecue halibut on an oiled grill for about 5 minutes on each side, or until fish flakes easily with a fork. Do not overcook. Serve with pan sauce overtop, season with salt and pepper, and garnish with dill.

Listening To:

Kanye West & Jay-z - No Church in the Wild (feat. Frank Ocean)

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Mott's Clamato Borracho Caesar

2011-08-07T12:36:00.004-04:00

Here it is folks, my Caesar with a kick, the Borracho Caesar. Featuring a hot and flavourful homemade jalapeno infused vodka. I've had so much fun this summer playing around with all sorts of Mott's Clamato Caesars, from the one's inspired by Canada that I learned how to make at the Coast to Coast Caesar Toast, to recreating ones that I've tasted at restaurants and bars around the city. Who knew that Canada's Cocktail could be so versatile?

When creating my own signature caesar, I knew that I wanted to feature a jalapeno infused vodka. After experimenting with making all sorts of different vodka infusions, I was itching to make a spicy one, infused with the hot pepper I find myself cooking with most, jalapeno peppers! Because the Caesar is already a spicy drink, I didn't want my jalapeno infused vodka to be too wildly spicy. I'm all about spice, but what is most important for me is flavour. If something is too spicy, it can overwhelm the other flavours in your drink or dish, and that heat will become the only thing your taste buds will be able to recognize. So instead of making a hit-you-in-the-face spicy jalapeno vodka, I wanted to make one that truly allows the flavour of the jalapeno to shine, while still adding an extra little hit of heat. You may not know that the jalapeno flesh actually holds little to no heat. Where the heat lies is all in the membrane and seeds of the pepper, allowing you to control how much heat you'd like to add to your vodka infusion. I left in a few seeds from each pepper as well as the membrane for a little bit of heat, but if you want to see smoke come out of your ears, go ahead and leave all the seeds in. I decided to roll with the Mexican theme that the Jalapeno peppers had introduced, so I muddled in some fresh cilantro from my garden and topped the drink off with a little bit of chili pepper. To mimic the look of the cilantro, I chose to garnish my Caesar with a leafy celery stick and of course Mott's Clamato Rimmer Salt and a slice of lime. I named my signature caesar the Borracho Caesar because "borracho" means "drunk" in Spanish, fitting with a drink that you're bound to go back for seconds and thirds for and keeping with the Mexican theme. Check out my Borracho Caesar and all of the other fantastic caesar recipes on the Mott's Clamato My Caesar Recipe Finder.

Don't forget to serve your Borracho Caesar with my mouth-watering Baked Jalapeno Poppers!

Listening To:

Mark Ronson - Somebody To Love Me (feat. Boy George)

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Lomography Analogue Style Skippers Salad and Wraps from the Wharf

2011-07-30T11:25:00.006-04:00

Happy long weekend! With a jam packed long weekend ahead of me (and already a little bit behind me with a triple-booked evening last night!) I don't have much time to tell you guys all about how great the Lomography cooking demo turned out on Thursday just yet (I will post the entry very soon!). But I did promise many of you that I would have the recipes up for the weekend. So here you are. My recipe for the Skippers Salad and Wraps from the Wharf. Enjoy! More to come soon!

The Skippers Salad

AKA Corn and Bean Salad

Ingredients:

3 fresh cobs of corn, husks and silks removed

1/2 can black beans, strained and rinsed

1 red bell pepper, diced

1/2 cup red onion, diced

4-5 large basil leaves, chopped into small pieces

the juice of 1 1/2 limes

1/2 cup olive oil

1 garlic clove, minced

1 tsp salt

a pinch of cayenne pepper

Directions:

1. Using a serrated knife (I found that easier) cut the corn kernels off of the cob trying to cut as close to the cob as possible. Place in a medium mixing bowl.

2. Stir in the black beans, red pepper, red onion, and basil.

Wraps from the Wharf

AKA Chicken Wraps

Ingredients:

guacamole (recipe here and below)

shredded cheddar cheese

sautéed onion sliced with jalapenos (if you want to keep this no cook add chopped green onions instead)

pre-cooked chicken slices

greener selection lettuce blend (pre-washed and chopped bag of lettuce, look for fresh crisp greens)

salsa

different coloured tortillas

Directions:

1. Lay out tortillas and spread a layer of guacamole over one side, keeping a bit of a border around the edges. Top with some cheddar cheese, onions, chicken, lettuce, and salsa and carefully wrap. Skewer with toothpicks to keep in place and cut each wrap in half.

Guacamole

Ingredients:

2 ripe avocados, seeded and cut into chunks

juice from 1/2 a lime

1 tbsp cilantro, chopped (or less depending on your preference)

1 tsp garlic

1 tbsp jalapeno peppers, chopped (I use jarred jalapeno peppers in brine)

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Place chunks of avocado in a medium bowl and mash with a fork until guacamole has reached desired consistency. Immediately pour lime juice over avocado.

2. Add cilantro, garlic, and jalapenos and stir to combine. Taste and season with salt and pepper.

Listening To:

Beach House - Silver Soul

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Lomography Cooking Demo Analogue Style

2011-07-27T17:17:00.007-04:00

Tomorrow is the big day! Join me tomorrow (Thursday July 28th) as I embark on my first ever live cooking demo at at the Lomography gallery store on Queen Street West in Toronto. Last month I was lucky enough to be asked by Lomography to take part in their LomoAmigo program, and of course I jumped at the chance to be involved! For the past month I've been rocking their super cool La Sardina El Capitan camera taking pics of myself, my friends, and of course my food all over Ontario! Tomorrow I will be taking part in their Blue Hour, hosting a live cooking demo at the store showcasing some fun and tasty no-cook (AKA analogue style) recipes that are perfect for Summer entertaining and this crazy heat Toronto has been hit with. Check out the Facebook event for it here! I hope to see you there!

WHEN

Thursday July 28th

3 - 5 PM

WHERE

Lomography Toronto Gallery Store

536 Queen Street West

WHY

Learn how to make 3 simple and tasty no cook dishes

Sip and savour free refreshments and samples of each dish

Meet me! I'd love to get the chance to meet some of my readers in person...FINALLY!

Listening To:

The Weeknd - Wicked Games

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Bordeaux After Work at Marben

2011-07-26T18:03:00.015-04:00

Last Tuesday was the second Bordeaux After Work party presented by the Bordeaux Wine Council in partnership with the iYellow Wine Club, and let me tell you, after having such an incredible time at the first party celebrating Bordeaux wines, my expectations were sky high. With such high expectations it would have been really easy for Bordeaux After Work at Marben to pail in comparison, but to my delight the second party was just as lovely as the first!

(Some friends (new and old) and myself, Danielle Rose)

Unlike at the first party where I attended alone, I brought some back up with me this time, two friends who, like me, did not know much about Bordeaux wine prior to the event. I always get a little nervous bringing new friends to the events that I get invited to, scared that I may be dragging them out to a dud event. So after keeping my friends waiting for me for 15 minutes in the blistering Toronto heat, I started to feel that pressure. After no more than a minute from arriving at Marben, I knew that this event was far from a dud! No more than 20 minutes after the event had begun, the patio was already packed with a smiling, well dressed crowd, happily sipping on the different wines that were being showcased that evening. We promptly grabbed some glasses and filled them up with a light and refreshing Bordeaux white. We then began doing the rounds, saying hello to the wonderful new friends I had met at the previous Bordeaux After Work Party at Origin, and checked out the venue, looking for a prime place to plant ourselves so that we would be able to try all three of the appetizers that Marben was pairing with the wines. We found the best spot the whole patio had to offer, right smack in the middle between a wine station and a food station! Bingo! Although my friends and I all loved the Crab Cakes (almost like little soft shell crab nuggets!) and Pulled Beef on Crostini that were being paired with the wines, I think we can all admit that Rodney's Oysters were definitely the highlight for us in terms of food. But the real highlight of the whole night was undoubtedly the fantastic Bordeaux wine.

With four wines being poured it was easy to take the time with each wine and follow iYellows 5 steps to wine tasting:

These five steps help to breakdown exactly what you should be looking for when tasting each wine. This time around I was lucky enough to get my hands on the list of Bordeaux wines served that evening, and better yet, the list was accompanied by tasting notes, essential for a newbie wine drinker! The 4 wines being served were as follows:

Mouton Cadet 2008 AOC Bordeaux Sauvignon Blanc

Château Fayau Blanc 2009 AOC Bordeaux Sauvignon and Semillon

Calvet Reserve 2008 AOC Bordeaux Merlot/Cabernet Sauvignon

Chateau de Courteillac 2009 AOC Bordeaux Merlot/Cabernet

I enjoyed every single wine, but of course, we all have our favourites. The two standout wines for both myself, my friends, and many of the guests that we spoke to (you can't go to a wine tasting without making new friends) were:

First Place:

Château Fayau Blanc

This wine was awarded a Gold Medal at the esteemed 2010 Concours Général Agricole in Paris. A refreshing, floral nose welcomes you to lovely notes of melon, grapefruit, gooseberry and citrus with a bit of grassiness. Lots of ripe fruit in this nicely balanced, crisp white. Perfect for poached salmon in a lemongrass/citrus sauce, or pesto pasta with asparagus and artichokes.

Second Place:

Chateau de Courteillac

Mostly made of merlot with a bit of cabernet, this medium-bodied, easy-going red is fresh and fruity, with hints of raspberries and tart cherries. Also rustic, robust red with a touch of vanilla and spice. Dry, light body, well balanced with a smokey-oak finish.

(Me, Danielle Rose and Project Manager at Premier Productions, Rita Choi)

All in all, I'd say the second Bordeaux After Work party was a wild success. I had a wonderful time, the wine and food were both fantastic, and I truly feel like I am building on my knowledge of not only Bordeaux/French wine, but wine in general. I can't tell you how wonderful that is to say after feeling so shy about my lack of knowledge in the past. I can't stress it enough how helpful these Bordeaux After Work parties really are for those who may be new to wine tasting or just don't know much about French wine. I don't want this Summer to end, but at least I have two awesome parties to look forward to this Fall for parts 3 and 4 of Bordeaux After Work! I hope to see you there!

Listening To:

Arcade Fire - The Suburbs

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Gazpacho Soup

2011-07-24T18:00:00.005-04:00

With the heat flying off the charts in Toronto this past week, it's easy to neglect any type of cooking altogether and rely solely on restaurants, takeout, fast food, and even excessive snacking for your meals. Before you decide to break your summer diet and budget (let's face it, with the AC jacked up to make your home livable, your budget is likely already broken) consider the many delicious cook-free meal options that you can quickly and easily make in the comfort of your own air conditioned home.

Last week when it was just too excruciatingly hot to have a heavy meal and heat up the kitchen, my mom and I decided to collaborate on a gazpacho soup recipe. Jam packed with fresh and vibrant vegetables and bright and flavourful fresh herbs right from our garden, our gazpacho soup was the most perfect option for a scorching summer day. I've always been one to turn my nose up at the raw food movement, but with a no-cook soup as delicious as this, perhaps I've become a new convert!

Tip: Have any other veggies on hand that you'd like to use up? Toss those babies in as well!

Tip: This soup would be perfect for your next party when served in glass shooters for your guests to walk around and sip on.

Ingredients:

1 green pepper, cubed

1 yellow pepper, cubed

1 large cucumber, peeled and cubed

1 small onion

1 (28 oz.) can diced tomatoes

juice of 1/2 lemon

3 cloves garlic

1/4 cup olive oil

2 tbsp red wine vinegar (or to taste)

about 2 tbsp fresh parsley

about 1 tbsp fresh dill

about 1/2 tbsp fresh chives

19 ounces tomato juice

1/2 tsp chili powder

salt and pepper to season

Directions:

1. In the bowl of a food processor or a blender, process the peppers until finely chopped (I like to leave the peppers a slightly chunkier than the other veggies to add a bit of texture), transfer to a large bowl. Repeat with the cucumber, onion, and canned diced tomatoes, adding each in turn to the large mixing bowl.

2. Add the lemon juice, garlic, olive oil, red wine vinegar, parsley, dill, and chives to the bowl of the food processor and pulse until smooth (you may add some tomato juice if the blade is unable to catch the ingredients in the bowl). Add to the large mixing bowl.

3. Add the tomato juice and chili powder to the large mixing bowl and stir. Taste and season with salt and pepper and, if needed, any additional red wine vinegar. Chill for several hours. Serve with fresh chopped dill as a garnish.

Listening To: Wash - Bon Iver

Looking for more no-cook recipes? Come on down to Lomography this Thursday July 28th from 3-5 for a live summer entertaining cooking demo analogue style from yours truly! Click here for more details!

Bordeaux After Work at Marben is Just Around the Corner...

2011-07-14T10:28:00.020-04:00

Bordeaux After Work Party #2

Presented by the Bordeaux Wine Council in partnership with the iYellow Wine Club

July 19th

6-8PM

Marben

488 Wellington Street West

Fantastic Bordeaux Wines, great food, killer music, and always a lively hip crowd! With free entry and a free drink ticket for the first 75 guests ($9 a glass after that) why wouldn't you check out this spectacular event?

Tickets are free! Just become a member of the iYellow Wine Club for free, then RSVP to the event on Facebook.

Alright folks, the second of four Bordeaux After Work Parties is coming up this Tuesday July 19th at Marben, so this means it's time to brush up on some of your Bordeaux wine knowledge! If you remember from my entry on the first Bordeaux After Work Party, I walked into my first experience with Bordeaux wine having done some research on the basics of Bordeaux wine (I call this my homework), a step that I am now learning is crucial when attending a wine tasting. With that basic knowledge I was able to walk into the first Bordeaux After Work party confident and extraordinarily excited to actually get to taste some wines from this world renowned wine region. I had originally planned on taking notes all throughout the party, expanding on what I already knew, but with the music pumping, wine sipping, hands shaking, and lots of new friend to meet, my note taking got side tracked. I realized that taking notes isn't what a wine tasting should be about. The actual event should be about tasting the wine, enjoying each and every sip, and using the wine as an opportunity to socialize and meet new people, which inevitably leads to discussing the wine. And truly, from experience I can tell you that as long as you have done your "homework", the only "work" that needs to be done at a wine tasting is simply:

Reading the labels. Know what wines you are drinking.
Jotting down no more than a few words on the wines you have tasted to trigger your memory after the event. Include what you liked/disliked, the price, and perhaps some flavours that you picked up.
Putting yourself out there and introducing yourself to strangers. No this isn't exactly work, but it is a valuable step that many feel uncomfortable taking, but is crucial if you want to make the most of the event.
Discussing the wine with others in as much detail as you like or see fit. What do other people think of the wine you are tasting? What do they like/dislike about it?

Because you have done your homework, the event will allow you to subtly apply what you have learned, and act as a test for yourself to see what areas you are still unfamiliar with. I've been out of school for just over a year now, but I haven't forgotten just how awful homework can really be. So I decided to take on the role of tutor for you guys, giving you a little cheat sheet on what you should know about Bordeaux before attending Bordeaux After Work at Marben...you're welcome!

First learn some basic points on Bordeaux here in the "What I Learned" section of the post. Below I will be expanding on some of those basic points.

"Terroir refers to the vineyard-specific environmental differences (such as soil types, drainage, local micro-climates, and sun exposure). Terroir is the biggest difference as to why the same varietals all taste differently from around the world and even from back to back vineyards." (wines-france.ca)

So how do I know do I know if a vineyard has a particularly good terroir?

The French term Cru, which is often mentioned on Bordeaux wine labels (Cru bourgeois, Cru classé), is an indication of the quality of the particular estates terroirs and grape varietals, and of the producers talent and know how.

Bordeaux is very fortunate be in a prime location which has a climate and various different soil types within both the left bank and right bank, which encourage vine growth and has resulted in making Bordeaux the worlds major wine industry capital.

Bordeaux wine is known for blending various different types of grapes and amounts of each grape to create their unique and distinct wines. Because of the complexity of the process of blending the varietals, the blended wine is of a distinctly better quality than the individual qualities of the original single variety wines.

What varietals are commonly found in Bordeaux wine?

Red

Merlot - the most widely grown variety

Cabernet Sauvignon

Cabernet Franc

White

Sémillon - one of the most popular and well established out of the white varietals

Sauvignon Blanc

Muscadelle

(and their percentage of surface areain Bordeaux vineyards as of 2008)

Bordeaux and Bordeaux Supérieur 47.2%

Médoc and Graves 17.2%

Saint Emilion / Pomeral / Fronsac 10.5%

Red Côtes 14.1%

Dry White 7.9%

Sweet White 3.1%

What years were particularly spectacular for Bordeaux wine?

2009 - magnificent vintage

2008 - high quality vintage

2007 - good quality vintage

2006 - high quality vintage

2005 - exceptional vintage

2004 - high to very high quality vintage

What should you be pairing with your Bordeaux wine?

Bordeaux Dry Whites

Chicken, fish, seafood, and salad.

Red Bordeaux

Red meat (beef, lamb), grilled veal, game, poultry such as grilled turk pastas, and cheeses such as Camembert, Brie, and Roquefort.

Sweet Wines

Dessert, foie gras, and blue cheese.

Listening To: Wash - Bon Iver

Nutella and Apricot Panini

2011-07-11T07:00:00.002-04:00

We all deserve a little something extra special once and again. Something to lift our spirits just a bit, to put a smile on our face, and let us forget about the days worries for just a few moments. I'm sure it comes as no surprise when I say that when I feel like I need a touch of something out of the ordinary to perk up my day, I always treat myself in the form of food...and well, oftentimes a drink as well!

This week when both my mom and I needed a pick me up after a stressful week I offered to make us sandwiches, but not just any type of sandwiches, I'm talking about Nutella and Apricot Paninis (insert applause here). My mom sounded a little skeptical of the combination at first, but when I brought out a plate full of warm and toasty sandwiches, oozing with melted chocolate hazelnut spread, and the smell of chocolate, apricots, and toasted bread wafting off of the plate, she knew, just as I had, that this one was a winner. Give this one a try, I promise you'll be thanking me after.

Tip: I don't have a panini press so I use a grill pan weighed down with a heavy pan on top. I'll toast one side of the sandwich with the pan weighing the bread down on top (and pressing with my hands to help), then flip and do the same with the other side.

Ingredients:

2 slices Challah bread (or other bread of your choice)

about 2 tbsp Nutella chocolate hazelnut spread

1 fresh apricot, quartered

a few toasted hazelnuts, chopped

about 1-2 tbsp butter

Directions:

1. Spread Nutella on one side of both slices of bread. Top one slice evenly with apricot slices. Sprinkle evenly with hazelnuts. Top with other slice of bread and butter both sides. Toast in a panini press until bread is toasted and slightly crunchy and chocolate has melted. If you don't have a panini press see tip above.

Listening To: I Feel You - Sam Roberts

Barbecued Garlic Shrimp

2011-07-06T16:00:00.001-04:00

There are two types of people in this world, those that have the strength to deny cravings and those that give into them with abandon. I, my friends am the latter. No matter if it's bad for my health, expensive, or I have no easy way of accessing what I want, I will do everything within my power to satisfy that craving. So when that crazy brain of mine started chanting "Garlic shrimp! Garlic shrimp! Garlic shrimp" over and over again, I knew I had no choice but to submit to my craving. Luckily this time around I had my mind set on something that was not only healthy, but quick, easy, and ohhh sooo good!

Within only a matter of minutes after telling my dad last Tuesday that all I wanted in the whole wide world at that very moment was some delicious garlic shrimp, he had the grill fired up, and I was whisking away at my garlic marinade. In no time at all we had delicious garlic shrimp, hot off the grill, and ready to devour al fresco on our back porch. My barbecued garlic shrimp was so delicious, I made them again only three days later for our big family Canada Day barbecue! What a hit!

Ingredients:

1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined

4 tbsp olive oil

4 garlic cloves, minced or pureed

1 tbsp red pepper flakes

1 tsp paprika

2 tbsp lemon juice

salt and pepper

1 tbsp parsley, chopped

Directions:

1. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the olive oil, garlic, red pepper flakes, paprika, lemon juice, and salt and pepper.

2. Skewer the shrimp onto shish kabob skewers that have been soaked in water for about 1 hour. I like to place a skewer on each end of the shrimp for the most control when grilling.

3. In a shallow dish, lay out the shrimp on skewers and pour over the marinade. Let stand in the fridge for 10-15 minutes. Do not marinade shrimp any longer or else the marinade will begin to cook the shrimp.

4. Lay out shrimp onto grill set at medium-high heat. Grill shrimp for about 2-3 minutes on one side, then another 1-2 minutes on the other, or until shrimp are opaque. Do not overcook! Transfer to a serving dish and sprinkle with parsley. Serve with lemon slices.

Listening To:

Arcade Fire - Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)

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Summer Fresh Recipe: Mediterranean Roasted Vegetable Hummus

2011-07-05T13:00:00.001-04:00

I'm always looking for new, quick, and easy recipes and tips for entertaining, so when Summer Fresh Salads (one of my favourite prepared salad and dip brands!) asked me to create an affordable and easy recipe for entertaining using their Summer Fresh Hummus, my foodie wheels began turning at a remarkable speed. I started filling up my notebook pages with all sorts of wild ideas using Summer Fresh's delicious hummus. Despite how many ideas I had come up with, none of them seemed right to me. Although I've never thrown a party on my own, I've helped out at numerous parties thrown by my friends and family, so I know just how hectic preparing a party menu can be. Luckily I've picked up a few tips after helping out with all those parties. One of the most beneficial tips being to come up with a party menu that you can prepare in advance, allowing you to have fun with your friends and not be trapped in the kitchen all night long. It was this crucial tip that led me to come up with my Mediterranean Roasted Vegetable Hummus.

I wanted to create a recipe that was big on flavour, could be served at any temperature, and could be snacked on all party long. My Mediterranean Roasted Vegetable Hummus fit the criteria perfectly. With the prep as simple as a quick chop and toss, this recipe is crazy easy to prepare, and because it can be served at any temperature, you can easily make this dip a day or two before, and simply scoop it into a serving dish and garnish when it's time to serve. Another tip that I've picked up for entertaining, is to take advantage of store bought food. No this doesn't mean your whole menu should come right out of the prepared foods section, it just means you should look to prepared foods as your aids, and build your own dishes from there. Using Summer Fresh Original Hummus as my one prepared food aid and my inspiration, I brainstormed which flavours make hummus sing. I thought of a falafel and all the delicious toppings they serve along with it, roasted eggplant being one of my favourites! As soon as eggplant entered the equation, I immediately knew what I wanted to prepare. The slightly chunky, herbaceous, roasted vegetable mixture complete with smokey eggplant, sweet bell peppers, and zesty red onion is the perfect contrast against the smooth, creamy, and garlicky hummus. Serve with fresh or toasted pita chips to scoop both dips into every bite for the ultimate summer dip! Check out my recipe, along with 9 other Canadian Food Bloggers recipes, on the Summer Fresh Facebook page and "like" your favourite recipe (ahem...perhaps a certain Mediterranean dip...hint hint, nudge nudge) to receive a Buy 1 Get 1 Free coupon from Summer Fresh and a chance to win a party for 20! What are you waiting for? Check out all the recipes here!

Listening To:

The Smiths - Unloveable

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What's Up?

2011-07-03T11:00:00.001-04:00

You know those times when life picks up all of a sudden and makes you feel like your running around like a chicken without a head at 100 miles/hour? I am right smack in the middle of one of those times, and as overwhelming as it may be, I'm loving every minute of it! The past few weeks have felt like one big foodie roller coaster for me, with so many incredible events taking place in Toronto, exciting opportunities coming my way, and love coming at me and my blog from every direction! I can't tell you how grateful I am to each and every person that has reached out to me over the past month or so. I feel the love and I'm sending it right back at all of you!

I can feel your curiosity at what I've been up to and let me tell you, I've got a ton of updates for you all, but far too much for one day in the blogosphere. So for now I'll fill you in on what's on my mind today:

I am so incredibly honored to be featured on sweetspot.ca in their Top 10 Canadian Food Blog Round-up! I can't even put into words how much it means to me to know that I have an audience out there who enjoy reading my blog just as much as I enjoy creating it. BIG thanks to sweetspot.ca for taking an interest in me!

In The Kitchen with Stefano Faita is a live studio cooking show that will air on CBC this Fall, hosted by Stefano Faita, one of Quebec's most popular food personalities (move over Ricardo...Chuck, I love you, you can stay!). The show, which is taped in front of a live studio audience will feature two or more simple recipes that viewers can use as a guide to expand on and experiment with in their own kitchens. This show sounds like a real hit, not to mention a great show to be apart of as an audience member with the charming Stefano encouraging audience interaction. In The Kitchen with Stefano Faita is being filmed right now! So what are you waiting for? Go reserve your free audience tickets today! Click here to get started!

Did you know I used to be a theatre kid? Support my fellow talented Yorkie theatre grads and go check out Bordeaux presented by the Pathos Theatre Company and part of the Toronto Fringe Festival. The play, which takes place in, you guessed it, Bordeaux will run from July 7th - July 17th, with tickets a steal at only $10 at the door ($11 in advance). There are some seriously talented men and women involved in this show, so I highly recommend you come check it out! Get all the info you need here!

Working on a little side project with Lomography Canada, taking part in their LomoAmigo Program. For the next month I'll be rocking their La Sardina El Capitan camera, which is equipped with a wide-angle lens (perfect for capturing every dish on the table!), multiple exposures (a trick I still need to play around with), a rewind dial, and a Fritz the Blitz Flash, Lomography's most powerful flash ever. It's only been a few days and I'm already loving this cute and compact analogue camera! Can't wait to share all my photos with you when they're up on the Lomography site!

Listening To:

The Black Keys - The Go Getter

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Healthy Blueberry Muffins

2011-06-25T11:00:00.011-04:00

Summer is upon us, and that means the abundance of fresh Ontario produce is upon us as well! You can always tell what's in season by just taking a quick glance around my kitchen. My mom is always aware of what produce is in season and makes sure to take advantage by stocking up each time she makes a trip to the grocery store. Looking around my kitchen now I can see beets, strawberries, broccoli, cherries, and of course blueberries! Blueberries are one of my favourite fruits simply because I associate blueberries with so many delicious foods. Blueberry pie, blueberry pancakes, blueberry crumb cake, blueberry danish...oh my lord I could keep going and going! Yesterday, when I found my fridge stocked with massive bulk-sized containers of blueberries, I knew it was time to preheat the oven and come up with a new baked blueberry recipe!

Because I've been exercising daily for the past month or so, I wanted to make something on the healthier side so I wouldn't feel so bad when I went back for seconds...or thirds...or hey who's counting? I'll take one more! I decided to make a healthy version of blueberry muffins with whole wheat flour, applesauce, and rolled oats, which not only made my muffins healthier but also amped up the flavour. Whole wheat flour gave my muffins a nuttier flavour as well as a bit of texture, the applesauce made the muffins moist and gave an underlying apple flavour, and the oats gave my crumble topping a bit of a crunch. I was surprised by just how delicious these muffins turned out! Moist, flavourful, with that crunch from the topping, I can't imagine ever going back to plain old white batter muffins. With healthy muffins that taste this good, I promise you, you'll forget all about your old blueberry muffin recipe!

Note: This is a great recipe to bring up to the cottage because it doesn't require any special mixers or blenders, just a spoon, bowl, and muffin tin!

Tip: Tossing your blueberries in a couple tablespoons of flour will help prevent them from sinking to the bottom of your muffins as they bake.

Tip: If you want to make this recipe even more healthy, use all whole wheat flour and cut the white sugar in the muffin batter down to 2/3 cup. The muffins are pretty sweet, so cutting back won't hurt the flavour.

Makes 8 large muffins
Ingredients:

Muffin Batter

3/4 cup whole wheat all-purpose flour

3/4 cup white all-purpose flour + 2 tbsp

3/4 cup white sugar

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

1/3 cup applesauce

1 egg

1/3 milk (1% cuts back on the fat but delivers the same results as higher fat milk)

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup fresh blueberries (do not increase amount)

Topping:

1/4 cup brown sugar

3 tbsp white all-purpose flour

2 tbsp cold butter

1/2 tsp cinnamon

2 tbsp rolled oats

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400º and line muffin tin with paper liners.

2. In a medium-large mixing bowl, stir together the whole wheat flour, white flour, sugar, salt and baking powder for the muffin batter.

3. In a 1-cup measuring cup pour in the applesauce. Crack the egg into the applesauce and top with enough milk to fill the cup. Add this into the dry ingredients along with the vanilla extract. Stir until almost just combined. Toss the blueberries with a couple tablespoons of flour to coat and gently stir them into the batter until just combined. Do not over mix!

4. Using an ice cream scoop, scoop muffin batter into paper liners in muffin tin with the batter just reaching the top.

4. In a small bowl make the crumble topping. Using your hands, mix together the brown sugar, flour, butter, cinnamon, and rolled oats. Evenly sprinkle the topping over each muffin and bake for 20-25 minutes.

Listening To:

Arcade Fire - Ocean of Noise

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Respect the Caesar: Caesar Toast 2011

2011-06-24T12:00:00.003-04:00

If you read my entry on my Baked Jalapeno Poppers you'll know just how excited I was to hear from Mott's Clamato a few months ago asking me if I would like to come up with a special signature Caesar recipe for them. Being a massive fan of what is known as Canada's Cocktail, I literally jumped at the chance to be involved. As excited as I was to get started on my recipe, I found myself in a bit of a pickle (no I'm not talking about a pickled caesar, although they are delish!), my issue was that I loved the classic caesar so much, I didn't want to stray too much from the original. I personally have a belief that one should respect the caesar, a belief that unfortunately not all bars in Ontario seem to agree with. After having been served numerous undrinkable caesars at various bars and pubs across the province, I became extremely frustrated with how many Canadian bartenders were absolutely butchering Canada's signature cocktail (I'm talking about you York University hockey rink bar! Worst caesar EVER!). I'm talking about watered down, too spicy, too sweet, "ew what the hell did they put in here?" kinda caesars, that could very well leave me in a grumpy mood for the rest of my day. I didn't understand how so many people could get something normally so delicious, so very, very wrong. I mean a caesar has only 5 easy steps:

Rim glass with lime.

Season with Clamato Rimmer salt, fill with ice and add vodka.

Spice the ice with Worcestershire sauce and Franks Redhot Caesar Spicer.

Pour Mott's Clamato into the glass.

Garnish and enjoy with friends.

Even though I knew the basic steps, I was nervous that my signature caesar would go down in the books with the rest of the undrinkable lot. Luckily an outside vodka infusion project inspired me to come up with a delicious Mexican-themed caesar that I like to call my Borracho Caesar, which I will be posting for you very soon! I was so happy with how my caesar had turned out, believing that I had truly done my favourite cocktail justice...that is until I attended the Coast to Coast Caesar Toast this past Tuesday at the Spoke Club. Little did I know that I, myself was one of those Canadians that was disrespecting the caesar. Despite the fact that my friends, family, and I all loved my Borracho Caesar, I felt like there was a little somthin' missing. No it wasn't in the ingredients I put into my caesar, it was all in the preparation. I learned from the Caesar Toast that there are a few caesar rules that are crucial to follow if you want to make a killer caesar. I'm not one for following rules but these simple steps truly make a world of a difference when preparing a caesar. They are as follows:

(The Caesar Canada's National Cocktail)

Garnish your glass with what's in the drink, this gives people a visual cue as to what's they will be drinking, as well as activating all of your senses as you drink.
When mixing your caesar use the roll method. After all of your ingredients are in the glass, pour the drink back and forth a few times between 2 glasses for a perfectly mixed caesar. This also creates the signature sound of the caesar.
Fill your glass with ice 3-cubes over, meaning get as much as as possible into your glass. This tells you how much Mott's Clamato cocktial to pour into the glass.
Unless making a variation on the classic caesar, use the 2 finger method for measuring your vodka. Place your forefinger and your middle finger together at the bottom of the glass, pour vodka so that it hits the top of your forefinger. I like to be a little flexible with this rule. I like a nice free pour.
Use Mott's Clamato Cocktail for the best tasting caesar!

So now I bet you're wondering what exactly is the Coast to Coast Caesar Toast? The Coast to Coast Caesar Toast is an annual celebration of Canada's cocktail, the caesar, featuring a selection of specially created caesars that represent what makes us Canadians proud. Guests were invited to watch live demos on how to make the four Canadian-themed caesars, and of course taste them all!

I've certainly had my share of caesars over the years, but never before have I had such unique and inventive ones! We began the 11:30AM tasting (yup you got it, drinking before noon! You know I'm ALL for that!) with a punch bowl filled with the Social Caesar, a great variation on the classic that is perfect for entertaining. Like I said, I love the classic, so the Social Caesar, with it's kicked up citrus flavour was right up my alley! We then moved onto the Royal Caesar, which was created in honor of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's upcoming Canada Day visit. This elegant caesar was a far cry from the classic, but delicious nonetheless. Served in a sea-salt rimmed champagne flute, the Royal Caesar was light and refreshing with the fresh taste of freshly muddled cucumbers mixed in. To wake up our taste buds once again, we moved onto the Sounds of Canada Caesar, a zesty, spicy, punch of flavour caesar that is surely not for the timid caesar drinker. I liked the big punch of flavour this caesar delivered, but would have preferred if they had strained out the jalapeno, garlic, and green onion pieces. To finish off the tasting, we were served the most daring and unique caesar of the bunch, the True North Caesar. The True North Caesar was inspired by many caesar drinkers in Calgary who like to mix the classic caesar with...wait for it...a margarita! I know, I know, it sounds absolutely crazy! I was definitely skeptical to try this wild-sounding caesar, but let me tell you, it was one of my favourite in the bunch. I couldn't believe how well the two drinks combined to create such a beautiful and tasty caesar.

I walked out of the tasting with a belly full of tasty caesars (and awesome hors d'oeuvres from the Spoke Club!) and a fresh new perspective on the caesar. Who would have thought that I my love for the caesar could grow even more! I now appreciate it more than ever, knowing how limitless the possibilities for invention truly are. Thank you to Mott's Clamato for inviting me to take part in such a nice event and being such great hosts! I look forward to toasting the caesar once again next year! Cheers!

(The Caesar Canada's National Cocktail)

Glass: Punch Bowl and rocks glasses rimmed with Mott's Clamato Rimmer

Ingredients

500 ml Canadian vodka

1 bottle Mott's Clamato The Works cocktail

2 limes

2 lemons

Preparation

Pour Mott's Clamato The Works cocktail and vodka into a large punch bowl without ice. Slice lemons and limes into thin wheels and float for extra citrus flavour. Allow friends to add ice to their own pre-rimmed rocks glasses so as not to water-down the punch.

Garnish: Lime wedge and celery stalk

Glass: Champagne

Ingredients

1 oz. gin

1 oz. Pimm's

2 dashes Angostura bitters

4 oz. Mott's Clamato Original Cocktail

4 cucumber sticks (skinned, 4" long)

4 dashes Worcestershire sauce

3 dashes freshly ground salt and pepper

Preparation

Muddle cucumber, Pimm's, gin, bitters, Worcestershire and salt and pepper together in a mixing glass. Add ice and Mott's Clamato Original Cocktail. Stir well and strain into fresh ice into a champagne glass rimmed with freshly ground salt.

Garnish: Cucumber crown

Glass: Pilsner

Ingredients

1.5 oz. silver tequila

5 oz. Mott's Clamato Original Cocktail

1 dash hot sauce

1/2 minced fresh clove of garlic

1/2 minced fresh green onion (hollow stem portion)

1/2 minced jalapeno pepper

2 dashes freshly ground salt and pepper

Preparation

Rim glass with freshly ground salt and pepper. Gently muddle garlic, green onion, jalapeno, hot sauce, salt and pepper in the bottom of the glass. Fill glass with ice, add all ingredients and mix well.

Garnish: Jalapeno wrapped chili pepper and chives

Glass: Margarita

Ingredients

1 oz. Polar ice vodka

4 oz. Mr and Mrs T Margarita mix

4 oz. Mott's Clamato Extra Spicy Cocktail

4 dashes Worcestershire sauce

2 dashes freshly ground salt and pepper

Preparation

In a blender, combine 4 oz. of Mr and Mrs T's Margarita Mix with 3 cups ice. Blend until smooth. In a separate glass, mix Mott's Clamato Extra Spicy Cocktail, vodka, Worcestershire sauce, and salt and pepper over ice. Place an "iceberg" of margarita slush in the middle of the glass and carefully pour Clamato mixture around it.

Garnish: Lime wheel

The caesar is actually a punch
The caesar was invented in Calgary in 1969 by Walter Chell
Canadians consume approximately 355 million caesars per year!
The caesar is known as canadas cocktail, so be warned if you order a caesar in the US they will bring you a Bloody Mary

Listening To:

Modest Mouse - Gravity Rides Everything

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Cheaters Handbook: Rice Stir Fry

2011-06-23T10:26:00.006-04:00

The rushed mid-week meal, the bane of my existence. Why is that whenever I'm the most rushed, tired, and stressed I'm also the most hungry? I mean really, give me a break here! Luckily I have a few quickie meals up my sleeve that I know I can turn to when my schedule goes out of whack. One of my favourite quickie meals is a little cheaters stir fry dish that I picked up from my parents. My Cheaters Handbook Rice Stir Fry is super quick to put together, uses up leftovers hanging around your fridge, it is healthy, and of course it tastes so good you'll be happy to eat up the leftovers for lunch the next day! How's this for a quickie weeknight meal: Warm and nutty brown rice enveloped in sweet and savory honey garlic sauce, tossed with crunchy vegetables, crisp toasted almonds, and leftover meat, with bursts of sweet green peas throughout. I may as well call this dish Stress Be Gone Stir Fry!

Tip: If you know you're going to be rushed later in the week, prepare some of your stir fry in advance. Wash and chop all your veggies, pickup a roast chicken from your local grocery store to shred up later, and toast your almonds. When you're rushed and stressed later in the week, you'll be happy you did the prep work in advance.

Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, chopped

1 can green peas, juice drained (if you have fresh green peas use them!)

any other veggies you have on hand (ex. mushrooms, broccoli, bell peppers, etc.), chopped

about 1 cup shredded or sliced leftover chicken, turkey, pork, or steak

4 servings of quick cook brown rice

about 1/4 cup of your favourite bottled honey garlic sauce (I like VH Honey Garlic Cooking Sauce)

a handful of sliced almonds, toasted

Directions:

1. In a large skillet or stir fry dish, heat olive oil at medium heat. Add the onions and sauté until soft and translucent. While onions are sautéing, make rice, following the directions on the box.

2. Add the green peas, and any additional veggies to the onions and continue cooking until veggies are tender but still crisp. Add the leftover meat part way through cooking to heat.

3. Mix the cooked rice into the skillet and stir to combine. Add the Honey Garlic sauce and almonds, stir together and cook for another 3-4 minutes. Serve hot.

Listening To: Sam Roberts - Bridge To Nowhere

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Bordeaux After Work at Origin

2011-06-15T10:00:00.007-04:00

Last Tuesday on a beautiful sunny, scorcher of a day in Toronto, I rushed home from work, threw on the most comfortable and lightweight dress I could find, bypassed the heels (as if I would subject myself to heels with the humidity flying off the charts like that), filmed a quick little intro on Bordeaux wines, and ran onto the TTC to make my way downtown to Origin on King East for the very first of four Bordeaux After Work parties. As you'll know from my previous entry introducing these exciting events, Bordeaux After Work is a series of events held by the Bordeaux Wine Council in Partnership with the iYellow Wine Club that will take place this Summer and Fall in Toronto (although other cities around Canada are holding their own Bordeaux After Work events as well) to help educate people on one of the most widely recognizable wine regions in the world.

(Some new friends and myself, Danielle Rose)

I have said it many times, and here I go saying it again, that although I've attended countless wine tastings, I still do not feel comfortable with my knowledge of wine, so when I heard about the structure of Bordeaux After Work, my ears perked up. Unlike many other wine tastings where you are tasting 50+ wines in one night that you somehow have to distinguish between, and are often struggling to get the attention of your pourer to learn a little more about what you're drinking, before they rush on to the next person in line, Bordeaux After Work is much smaller and specialized allowing you to mingle with a smaller group of 100 people, concentrate on tasting only 5 wines each night, with repeated Bordeaux events with a new selection of wines every few months. This caught my attention because lately I've been reading a lot about productivity, how we learn, and how to make ideas happen. One article on productivity that has stood out the most for me is entitled Thirty Minutes A Day by Jack Cheng, a New York based writer and designer. The article talks about the benefits of short, repeated learning over time, suggesting that we do not cram information into our heads all at once, but rather take thirty minutes out of each day to commit ourselves to learning. This approach allows us to first off, retain the information, as well as have a better understanding of it to be able to apply it to our own work. Although no, I am not taking thirty minutes of each day to learn about Bordeaux, Bordeaux After Work follows similar principals. Because I have had so much trouble retaining wine knowledge in the past, I felt that Bordeaux After Work, with their repeated events, small guest list, and only a select few wines would be the perfect opportunity for me to really put my energy into learning about wine...finally! And where better to start than the world renowned Bordeaux region.

So off I was, ready to conquer one of the first steps on my mission to become confident in my knowledge of wine. I felt prepared, having studied a little bit on the basics of Bordeaux wine and French wine in general, and I walked into the event with a game plan to film throughout the event, picking up additional tidbits and info on Bordeaux from the pourers and other attendees, and of course, jot down my own tasting notes as I went. Shortly after arriving at Origin I spotted someone I knew and parked myself and my glass of Bordeaux Rosé down next to them. I have to admit that until I spotted that familiar face, I was pretty nervous to be attending the event on my own. All my old high school social anxieties came to the surface again, and I feared that I would be wandering around the venue alone, unable to gain the courage to pull out my brand spanking new camera and film, or ask questions about the five wines being showcased. Although it seemed the opposite happened to me, I was meeting so many wonderful, warm, and interesting people, having such a spectacular time, I still came across the same problem that I had feared, there was no filming happening and my little notepad had nothing more than the date and "Bordeaux After Work" jotted across the top. I felt the stress building as I feared I would have no content for my article, but being the master procrastinator that I was, I figured later in the evening I would break away and follow through with my game plan. More introductions, more glasses of Bordeaux, more business cards, and no more info for my article...I was officially screwing myself over. It wasn't until I stepped aside to text a friend to say what an incredible time I was having that I realized that things weren't going wrong at all. In fact, the event and my article had taken a whole new direction, and one that I felt far more comfortable with.

(Wendy Co-founder and Chief Marketer of Hip Urban Girl and myself, Danielle Rose)

I realized that although wine tastings are about being exposed to new wines, new regions, and new cultures, it is more importantly providing an opportunity to socialize and network with a new group of people in an exciting and unique atmosphere. Although we all come from different backgrounds, professions, interests, and hobbies, we can all come together and break bread in a sense, through sharing this love of wine. Ironically this actually mirrors the principals of French wine. French wine is different than other wine regions of the world because they do not place the focus of their wine on the varietal (or single type of grape being used), instead they look at the entire region or what the French call terroir, the type of soil being used, farming practices, winemakers, climate, etc. It's all those factors that make French wine so diverse and so intriguing. Similarly we can look at a wine tasting and see how all the factors that go into it such as the people, food, venue, music, etc. can make up your whole wine tasting experience. Just because I wasn't placing all of my attention on studying the wine while at the event, certainly didn't mean I was missing out on a valuable experience. I did my Bordeaux research beforehand, I picked up all of the brochures that were provided, I made sure that I recorded each wine that I drank, I thoughtfully tasted each one and took note, and shared some thoughts on the wine with the company I was with. Doing those few simple things was all I needed to begin gaining confidence on Bordeaux wine. I now understand why Bordeaux wine is so well known as well as understand the basics and have the tools to be able to walk into the next Bordeaux After Work party with confidence. And better yet, I now have a new group of friends with whom I can share this knowledge and interest with!

My Favourite: Domaine de Chevalier Rose de Chevalier (2009)

Chateau Puyfromage

Chateau Boyrein (2009)

Chateau Pey La Tour

Lurton Chateau Bonnet

Bordeaux is the worlds major wine industry capital.
Bordeaux has been produced since the 1st Century AD.
Bordeaux is all about the blend. You will notice that Bordeaux wines are made from a blend of a few different types of grapes. This results in some very unique and distinct tasting wines.
The most commonly found grape varieties in Bordeaux wines are Merlot, Cab Sauv, and Cab Franc.
One of the reasons why Bordeaux produces such excellent wine is due to their calcium rich soil.
French wine is known to have a lot of character because each wine represents the region (soil, farming practices, climate, grapes, people, etc.) rather than the varietal.
Terroir refers to the vineyard-specific environmental differences (such as soil types, drainage, local micro-climate and sun exposure). Terroir is the biggest difference as to why the same varietals all taste differently from around the world and even from back to back vineyards. (www.wines-france.ca)
When buying Bordeaux, look for the AOC label (Appellation d'Origine Crotôlée) which guarantees a wine's authenticity and quality.
Serve young wines before old wines, and dry wines before sweet wines.
Try to decant young wines to allow the aromas to naturally come through and round out the tannins.

See you at the next Bordeaux After Work party on July 19th!

Photos from Bordeaux Wine on Facebook.

Listening To:

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Californication

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Never been to a wine tasting? Check out my article on a Beginners Guide to a Wine Tasting Experience.

Mushrooms Canada: Canadian Food Bloggers We Love

2011-06-14T12:16:00.004-04:00

Happy Tuesday! I hope you're all able to enjoy the sun for at least a little bit today. I've got my work cut out for me, catching up on articles, emails, and recipes all day day long. I just hope this Monday aftermath headache will vacate so that I can actually get a move on! In other news, I am very excited to announce that I have been featured on the Mushrooms Canada Blog in their series Canadian Food Bloggers We Love! How perfect, I love mushrooms and they love me right back! Check it out!

Listening To:

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Give It Away

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Greek Style Lemon Potatoes

2011-06-11T15:25:00.006-04:00

A Greek-themed dinner is one of the things my family does best. We find the best tzatziki at a nearby Mediterranean gourmet food shop (or make it ourselves), pick up the freshest pitas we can get our hands on, have perfected barbecuing pork tenderloin, pull out all the fixings for a killer Greek salad, and even have cheese on hand to fry up my favourite Greek dish Saganaki. The only thing that had never been given a 5-star rating at our big fat Greek dinners was our Greek potatoes. For some reason they would always turn out flavourless or dry, and sometimes even both.

We're big on teamwork for our big show stopping dinners, so for the big fat Greek dinner that we held last week, I was put in charge of the Greek potatoes. Because I knew that every other element of the meal would turn out extraordinary, I left no room for failure, looking up the top rated recipes for Greek style potatoes I could find. This led me to allrecipes.com recipe for Greek Style Potatoes. With 312 user ratings averaging 4.5 stars, I had hope that I had finally found my perfect Greek potatoes! In only a few minutes I had the potatoes prepped, in the baking dish, swimming in a sea of Mediterranean flavours. After an hour in the oven my potatoes were tender, and now resting in a reduced, thickened sauce, with thyme, rosemary, and lemon slices bobbing about. Sure enough, the potatoes turned out just I had dreamt they would! Just like the potatoes that my favourite Greek restaurants on the Danforth serve, the potatoes were tender, lemony, garlicky, and herbaceous, and tasted just as wonderful as every other 5-star dish at the table. Because this recipe is so super easy, with common ingredients, and such delicious results, I will definitely be making these potatoes again, and not just for big fat Greek dinners.

Ingredients:

1/3 cup olive oil

1 1/2 cups water

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

2-3 lemon slices, for garnish (optional)

1 tsp dried thyme

1 tsp dried rosemary

2 cubes chicken or vegetable bouillon

freshly ground pepper to taste

6 potatoes, peeled and quartered

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350º. In a small bowl mix together the olive oil, water, garlic, lemon juice, thyme, rosemary, and bouillon cubes. Season with pepper.

2. Arrange the potatoes evenly in the bottom of a medium baking dish. Pour the olive oil mixture over the potatoes, and top with the lemon slices. Bake for 1 hour, turning once or twice thorough cooking. Serve hot.

Listening To:

Pink Floyd - Time

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Pistachio Cranberry Biscotti

2011-06-03T09:30:00.004-04:00

Whether you're a beginner cook or a seasoned pro, everybody seems to have their old standbys. You know what I'm talking about, the ol' faithfuls, the meatloaf, spaghetti, chocolate chip cookies, chicken parmesan, whatever it may be, you've got that recipe down pat so you could very well make it in your sleep. It's hard to stray from a recipe that you have become so comfortable with, especially when you know how delicious the results are! For me one of my most frequently made baked goods is biscotti. I have been making Williams Sonoma's recipe for Almond Cranberry Biscotti for years now, and it has become such a staple in my home that my sister has started baking them regularly as well. Ever since making our first batch years ago we've been telling everybody that they are simply "the best". So when my mom began hinting (pretty much with a sledgehammer with "hints" such as "we haven't had that biscotti in a while" or "I sure miss your biscotti" and even "my coffee would be better if I had biscotti on the side", all classic lines that she undoubtedly picked up from my aunt Angie) I knew it was time to whip up another batch.

With a half full (feelin' positive these days) bag of pistachios in the house that were just about to near their end, I decided to switch up my regular biscotti recipe and try Giada DeLaurentis' recipe for Holiday Biscotti. There's nothing particularly festive about these biscotti other than their colour. The combination of green pistachios, ruby red cranberries, and white chocolate drizzled on top give the biscotti their holiday name. Because it's only the beginning of Spring and I'm not much of a fan of chocolate drizzled or dipped with my biscotti, I decided to skip the white chocolate drizzle. The biscotti turned out better than I could have anticipated! I loved the flavour of the pistachios, and, just as always, I loved the chewy tart bites that the dried cranberries added to the cookies. What also stood out for me was that great brightness that was introduced into the cookie thanks to adding lemon zest. But above all, I was impressed by the texture of the biscotti. Perfectly crumbly, with a great mouth feel, these Pistachio Cranberry Biscotti make it into my top ranking due to their perfect texture!

As soon as the biscotti were all eaten up, I found myself already brainstorming other biscotti flavour combinations. Whenever I find a recipe that knocks my socks off, I try and break down the recipe and turn it into a guide so that I can use the guide next time to create my very own recipe. An obvious update to the biscotti recipe would be switching up the pistachios for other nut varieties, as well as switching the dried cranberries for other dried fruits, or even types of chips like chocolate, white chocolate, toffee, peanut butter, etc. From here think about the background flavours. In this particular biscotti, the lemon zest acted as a great base flavour for the other additions, but there are so many more possibilities to try! Other citrus fruits like orange would be a great addition, add in some of the zest and even the juice. Or think of different extracts like vanilla and almond. This is where you can really get creative and make your signature old standby your own!

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

1 tsp grated lemon zest

1/4 tsp salt

2 large eggs

3/4 cup pistachios, coarsely chopped

2/3 cup dried cranberries

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350º. Line a heavy baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat mat. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour and baking powder. Set aside.

2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the sugar, butter, lemon zest, and salt at high speed until mixture becomes pale yellow in colour. Beat in the eggs one at a time at medium speed.

3. At low speed add in the flour in 3 stages, mix until just combined. Stir in the pistachios and cranberries.

4. Turn dough out onto the parchment or silpat mat. Form dough into a 13-inch wide log. Bake for 40 minutes, or until golden. Let cool for 5-10 minutes.

5. Place the log on a cutting board and, using a serrated knife, cut the log on a diagonal into 1/2 to 3/4-inch slices. Arrange the biscotti, cut side down, on the baking sheet. Bake for another 15 minutes, or until pale golden. Let cool and serve with your favourite hot beverage.

Listening To:

Beyonce - Run The World (Girls)

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Bordeaux After Work

2011-05-29T11:00:00.004-04:00

As the weather slowly begins to warm up, I find myself eagerly filling in my social calendar, plotting out all of the most interesting and exciting events taking place in Toronto this summer. The Bordeaux Wine Council in partnership with the iYellow Wine Club are hosting 4 Bordeaux After Work Parties (June, July, September, and August). With a much more intimate atmosphere than a typical iYellow event, the Bordeaux After Work Parties aim to educate attendees on the mythical Bordeaux region through a fun social event with great food, music, venue, people, and of course fantastic Bordeaux wines! Each event will feature about five different Bordeaux wines (with entry and the first glass free of charge!) being poured by educated wine stewards ready to offer tasting tips and knowledge on the wine and region. The first event, being held on June 7th at Origin, filled up in no time at all, so keep your eyes peeled for an invite for their second event being held on July 19th at Marben.

Being someone who knows very little about Bordeaux wines, and wines of France in general, these events offer the perfect opportunity for me to brush up on my knowledge. Through blogs and the introduction of video blogs, I will take you through my journey of understanding Bordeaux wines step by step. So before I delve into my own understanding of Bordeaux, there are a few steps that you need to take to get caught up to where I am!

Needless to say, step one is signing up for the iYellow Wine Club. The first 100 members of iYellow who RSVP to the Bordeaux After Work Parties will gain free entry as well as a free first glass of wine, and remember, membership to iYellow is FREE! Being a member of iYellow for several years now, I know how well they treat each and every person that comes on board with them. This event is really more of a Wine Clubber Appreciation event, allowing their members to discover this exciting region in an inexpensive, fun, and social way. Sign up for your free membership to the iYellow Wine Club here!

Before you learn the basics of Bordeaux, it's important to have an understanding of the wines of France in general. Brush up on your knowledge of the wines of France with Angela Aiello herself! Follow Ange's Wines of France blogs and video blogs to get a clear and in depth understanding of French wines. Click here to get started!

This is a step I'm sure many of you are familiar with...Wikipedia! Wikipedia, although not always the most reliable source, is a great starting place to get a feel of what you are going to be learning more about. I also suggest jotting down some questions you may have about Bordeaux and their wines so you can walk into your first Bordeaux After Work Party not only confident in the basics, but prepared to learn more!

I would love for this to be a journey that we can go on together, so I 100% encourage discussion in the comment section here! Tell me what you already know about Bordeaux wines and what you would like to learn, and please feel free to ask questions!

Listening To: Rolling Stone - The Weeknd

Premier Life: Get Caught Up!

2011-05-24T10:00:00.001-04:00

Hey all you beginner cooks out there! Did ya know that I also write specialized articles catering to the beginner chef for the lifestyle blog Premier Life? Get caught up on all of my articles here:

Baked Chicken Strips

The Perfect Baked Potato

Kitchen Essentials: Stock Your Cupboards

A Beginners Guide to a Wine Tasting Experience

Listening To: