Usually I enjoy making soup, but with these types of temperatures…. soup is NOT on my mind. Instead, I was inspired to make frozen yogurt as a result of this tweet I saw on twitter:

@FamilyBites: I am totally making this tomorrow! RT @dinnerwithjulie: Liberté Lemon Fro-Yo y’all. http://t.co/4rqy1SSv

I clicked on the link and said to myself “I MUST TRY THIS. STAT”….so I did. (this doesnt suprise you does it?).

As you know, I bought a Cuisinart ice cream maker/frozen yogurt machine last year. It was in “hibernation mode” over the last 6 months so it was time to bring it out. Plus, I was having guests for dinner and thought this would make the perfect dessert.

I followed these smple instructions:

a) bought Liberte yoghurt  (that’s a step, right?)

Step One: Go to the Grocery Store!!

b) put the entire container into the Cuisinart ice cream/frozen yogurt machine.

Let the Frozen Yoghurt Machine do its magic!!

c) flicked the button on. (oh what effort) and waited 10 minutes while it did it’s magic

d) served it to my guests!!

How simple! How healthy! How Perfect.

Summer is going to be great AND summer is going to be TASTY too.

One final note: I am now very curious to compare different brands of yogurts and different flavors as well. Stay tuned for a report.

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The Perfect Sunday Breakfast

Temperatures have been skyrocketing and there is no better way to take advantage of these warm temperatures than to visit the Sugarbush Maple Syrup Festival. I have been going to a maple syrup festival since I was a kid and have continued the tradition. (I’m now just a big kid). This weekend, Toronto will see WARM temperatures once again…so why not take a drive out of the city.

I swear, in no time at all (i.e 20 minutes with no traffic) you can be at either Kortright Centre or Bruce’s Mills Conservation area to enjoy pancakes, a nature walk, bird watching, maple syrup, and wagon rides.

Things I have learned over the years:

a) go early to avoid line ups. Seriously.

b) wear rainboots. I can assure you that it will be muddy

c) visit with an empty stomach. You don’t want to miss the opportunity to eat pancakes at these festivals (see the photo of the pancakes on the top left? do I need to explain?)

d) take advantage of the wagon rides (like I said, I’m a big kid).

e) bring a camera and take pictures of the great outdoors.

What a great way to TAP into Spring !! (I stole this line from the Toronto Regional Conservation Authority – they should get the credit).

P.S the Sugarbush Maple Syrup Festival takes place this year from March 3 to April 9th.

Bruce’s Mill Conservation Area, 3291 Stouffville Rd, Stouffville ON (3 kms east of Highway 404)

Kortright Centre for Conservation, 9550 Pine Valley Drive, Vaughan ON (south of Major Mackenzie Drive)

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I found two apps recently that I would like to share with you. One is a food app and the other is a booze app – not a bad combo.

Seriously, I think both these apps are genius. Which is why I am blogging about them.

The first app is called Get Cracking which is brought to you by the Egg Farmers of Canada. Here is what I love about this app:

-the design of the app is clean. Super clean. There is NOTHING complicated about this app.

-they have thought of everything..even an egg timer!!

-the color and the font are user friendly i.e yellow and white with an easy to read font

-its SIMPLE to use. Click on the video below and you will see what I mean.

The next app that I discovered is the LCBO app. Even though LCBO is not on twitter…I will forgive them as this app is super easy to use and makes my life that much easier when I’m trying to locate a new beer!! There has been times (in the past), where I had to go to three stores in order to find a particular bottle of beer.

I simply enter the product I’m looking for – let’s say Great Lakes Orange Peel Ale – enter my postal code – and poof – the app will tell me what LCBO in my neighborhood is carrying this product and HOW MUCH INVENTORY they have of that particular product.  How brilliant is that?

As for the design of this app: the team did a great job. It’s simple to navigate without a lot of copy. Perfect!!

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Many years ago, my friend use to invite guests over on a Sunday afternoon for “tea”. It was a nice way to end a Sunday afternoon, and we always met new people without the formality of a sit down dinner.

I decided after writing my blog post about my china collection, that it was time for me to host my own tea party and to actually use my china and not just stare at it in the cupboard!!

Here’s some tips how to host a tea party:

1. I invited 10 woman from 3-5 p.m.

2. I set the table with china cups and saucers. (my favorite part)

Love Setting a Table

3. I served: orange almond scones (recipe to follow in another blog), fruit, a cheese platter, party sandwiches, and of course tea!! It was just the right amount of food.

4. As for the tea: I was SO lucky to have met a tea sommelier a year ago at a food show and she graciously brought her collection of tea and actually educated my guests about tea. My guests enjoyed her line of Tea and All its Splendour plus Sloane tea as well!! I brought out the new Perk Tetley Tea (with added cafferine) as well but no one seemed to want to try it. (sniff)  No question, my guests did not leave thirsty and they left inspired too.

Raelene with her line of Tea and All its Splendour

5. Raelene (Tea and All Its Splendour) even brought the right tea kettle so that the water could be boiled at the correct temperature!! I was so impressed.

I’m not kidding, my tea party would not have been the same without her presence. Full Disclosure; I did not know how to make loose leaf tea till this tea party…she saved me!!

It was a great afternoon and I’m sure I will do it again…now that I know how to make tea!!

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Thanks to Pinterest (and not twitter for a change) I bought a Belkin iPad Kitchen Mount Holder. I saw a picture of it on Pinterest- clicked to find out more and then went on Amazon to buy it.

It was THAT simple.

Here’s what motivated me to buy it:

a) no assembly required. That’s right – no screws, no bolts…Nothing!!

b) this gadget will ensure that my iPad wont get filthy when I cook/bake as it’s suspended in the air and not sitting on the counter.

c) I will now be able read recipes on my iPad while I cook/bake and not have to bring  my MacBook into the kitchen.

d) I now have my playlist right at my fingertips in the kitchen. I believe music and cooking go hand and hand.

Seriously… this was a good investment.

I now have 3 Belkin products…a Belkin cover for my iPhone, a Belkin cover for my iPad and now a Belkin Kitchen Mount for my Ipad. I guess you could say I am brand loyal.

I am happy.

What tech gadget have you bought lately? Do share.

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I never seem to get tired of going to food shows as I’m always looking for new products. It’s just the way I am wired …I guess!! In any case, this years CRFA show (Canadian Restaurant and Food Show) did not disappoint me. I found several products that were new and this blog entry will be dedicated to them.

The first product, is called Molton Ice Glasses and infact they were  launched at the show. GBS Food Service Equipment saw these creative glasses in Europe and scooped up the rights to bring it into North America. I thought it was a genius idea and if (operative word – IF) I was throwing a party I know that this is one product I would want to get.

Molton Ice Glass

The next item that caught my eye, is a fantastic example of taking an existing product (i.e Extreme Bean) and creating a new way to serve it!! I loved this idea – it’s a tempura battered Extreme Bean. Now, Extreme Bean has been around since 2000 however they recently partnered with Cavendish to create this delicious product. I am hoping that restaurant owners at the show discovered this product and will be putting it on their menus sometime soon!!

I also came across a new cheese (to be entered into my cheese diary, of course) called Albert’s Leap. Nothing beats a creamy cheese with mushroom-like flavors. Not to mention that it’s locally made in Ontario!!

Love the name of this cheese too! Im a sucker for marketing, can you tell?

I stopped at the David Rio booth as I loved the packaging of the product. David Rio, crafts a premium chai and loves animals so much that each product is named after an endangered species and they support animal welfare organizations as well. I sampled the Tiger Spice and loved it as it had just the right balance of spices and it wasn’t too sweet. Plus all of David Rios’ products are certified Kosher, gluten free and contains no hydrogenated oils or trans fat. (bonus).

Once again, the CRFA show did not disappoint me. I walked around for hours, shmoozed with vendors, sampled A LOT….and like a good foodie I went directly to GoodLife after the show to burn off a few calories on the treadmill.

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My visits to Buffalo are generally like a working day. ie I get to Buffalo at 9 a.m. and leave at 5 p.m. However this weekend was different…I finally stayed overnite and ate my way thru Buffalo.  I am now the proud owner of the phrase “I ate at 7 restaurants in less than 7 hours”.

It all started with a phone call to the Buffalo Convention and Visitors bureau, where they were all too eager to help suggest a few restaurants and bars. Then I made a second phone call and booked a room at my favorite hotel which is the Hampton Inn Walden Galleria. I was off to a good start!!

I did a bit more research on twitter with @BuffaloEats and @YelpBuffalo and then I was all set to go: I prepared a “master list” of restaurants and addresses and packed a few lactaid pills as well!!  What more did I need besides a great list of  restaurants and a great hotel? Oh yeah – I needed someone to eat with me…..so my boyfriend accepted to join me on this “foodie adventure”.

Here was the schedule:

3:00 p.m Louise’s Hot Dogs (470 Elmwood).

We loved the Elvis Milkshake (think – peanut butter, chocolate and banana). It was perfect.  We also inhaled the veggie dogs and sweet potato fries. The fries were hand cut and came with little containers of melted butter and honey. We loved this concept!!

Love these milkshake flavors

3:30 p.m. Chow Chocolate (715 Elmwood)

We were pacing ourselves so we only tried some chocolate and not the hot chocolate (which I’m sure is delicious).  I selected the  “hot lips” chocolate which had an insane about of heat in it. This means that I ate my chocolate on 3 separate occasions!!

champagne chocolate, hot lips, chocolate cherry

4:00 p.m Blue Monk Bar (727 Elmwood)

This bar had a wicked line up of beers and Steve (the manager) brought us a sample of the following beers: Kasteel Rouge, Ithaca Flower Power IPA, Stillwater, Gla Zen Toren Jan De Lichte, Beer Here Hox Fex, Harviestoun Ola Dubh 12 year old. He clearly understood that I wanted to try beers that were not available in Toronto.

We also tried their mac and cheese. OMG. Creamy, crunchy and perfect. That’s all I am going to say.

Perfect Mac and Cheese!!

5:00 p.m Sample Restaurant (242 Allen St).

We sampled a wonderful artisinal cheese plate and were happy campers. Specifically we were in love with the house made burrata.

Heaven!

6:00 p.m Chocolate Bar (114 W. Chippewa)

Can you say..chocolate pasta?  We didn’t order it (sniff). Instead, we ordered a chocolate martini (how could we not?) and a flatbread appetizer that was delicious. Just to let you know: it’s a franchise and there has been interest to open one in Toronto. Stay tuned for more details.

Cheers!!

7:00 p.m.Pearl St. Grill and Brewery (76  Pearl St)

What a happening place!! Joe the “amazing” bartender brought us samples of the following: Lighthouse, Wild Ox, Blueb oxed Blueberry Blong, Don Cherry Cherry Wheat, Choca Ras, Raspberry Fields, Billy Bonka, Black Pearl – Black IPA, Lake Affect, Sabres Edge, Powder Keg, Train Wreck and Street Bralwer. We were thrilled with this line up!!

Samples Galore!!

8:00 p.m Ted’s Hot Dogs

We started the day with milkshakes and ended our day with milkshakes too. We sampled their famous Loganberry milkshake and onion rings. It was a perfect way to end our epic food adventure.

A sample of onion rings and their famous loganberry milkshake

9:00 p.m. We finally check into the Hampton Inn. Our check-in was effortless, our room was spotless and we loved the white duvets.

DAY #2: Elmwood Tacos & Subs ( 937 Elmwood Avenue)…around 1 p.m (No Breakfast. Wonder why? LOL)

I ordered the “mexican pizza”  which was 12″ crust, topped with tomatoes, salsa, black olives, onions, cheese and beans. I ordered a mixture of black and brown beans. It was super cheesy. Infact, I actually took most of the cheese off in the effort to make it a bit healthier. They are famous for their Diabola sauce which I added in VERY small quantities to the pizza and it really did elevate the experience.

Mexican Pizza. Never had this before.

Next: Eating my Way Thru Detroit. Where oh where should I eat and drink? Suggestions are welcome.

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I was invited to an event at Loblaws, so I could learn more about their PC Blue  Menu Products and learn more about initiatives taking place to help consumers make healthier choices. I signed up right away – as I’m a big believer in eating fresh foods and cooking from scratch.

The evening started off really well. I snacked on PC greek yoghurt with some PC Blue Menu Granola. I was a happy camper.

Healthy Snacks!!

Then we went downstairs for a tour which was led by one of their in-house nutritionists (did you know they offer this service?) We walked through the a variety of aisles and learned about hidden sugars, hidden sodium,  and how to select food with more  fibre. It was all very interesting.

However…in the back of my mind I kept thinking about tweets I had read on twitter about the DONUTS  and the CUPCAKES that are served at this location. Seriously.  I am not joking. I was surrounded by nutritionists and dreaming about donuts and cupcakes!!! Could it get any worse? the answer is: YES.

I snuck away from the group (me. bad) and bought:  A RED VELVET INFUSED CUPCAKES:

That's Right...INFUSED. Could Life Get Any Better?

THEN I BOUGHT A CHILI CHOCOLATE DONUT!

I inhaled the donut. It was THAT good.

Let’s end this blog post about eating healthy!! Please check out the Loblaws website so you can learn more about their cooking school, their nutritionists, and their tours.

Here’s to a Healthy March!!

p.s. I ran on the treadmill 5 times this week so I felt like I could have a “treat”. Does that make sense?

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