Food | Travel | Family | Life
The year has just flown by. It’s been a great year and I’m so grateful for all the blessings in my life. Thanks to all my readers for your time and for your feedback. I truly appreciate you!
Here’s a look at my best nine pics on Instagram for 2015. See you next year!
Q’s favourite cheese would have to be brie. So, when I made him responsible for a couple of appetizers at our Christmas Eve appetizer party, naturally, he wanted to make something with brie.
This brie in puff pastry is so easy to make and so delicious to eat. It is perfect for a party – the cheese oozing out of the pastry was a sight to see. It definitely was a winner!
Brie in Puff Pastry
1 sheet puff pastry
1 small round brie
1 egg, beaten
Place the brie in the middle of the puff pastry. Bring the edges of the pastry up so that the cheese is nicely wrapped. Brush the egg on top off the pastry.
Bake on parchment at 425 degrees until golden, approximately 25 minutes.
The year just flew by! How is it already Christmas Eve? What are your plans for Christmas? What exciting things are you cooking up?
It’s been a fun couple of weeks baking for the season. From shortbread
to palmiers to Christmas crack, we have been busy in the kitchen.
GLAD sent me some of their seasonal items which are perfect for holiday
baking! The practical containers and bags made festive with snowmen and
mittens are great for wrapping up goodies, either for yourself or as gifts.
With only two days until Christmas, these 2 ingredient cookies paired with GLAD holiday-themed products are a sanity saver! These limited edition designs are perfect for carrying these chocolate
chip peanut butter cup cookies. These cookies are super easy and perfect for last minute baking!
This post has been sponsored by GLAD. All opinions are my own
Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cup Cookies
1 tube chocolate chip cookie dough
1 bag mini Reese peanut butter cups
Put little chunks of dough into a mini cupcake tin and bake as per
instructions. When the cookies are done, make a small indentation in the
middle. After cooling for five minutes, add a peanut butter cup in the
middle.
It’s always fun to have a party that stands out from the crowd. For me, it’s not about being over the top, just the small touches that engage guests and leave a lasting impression. Nouwee sent me a couple products which I fell in love with and so did our friends.
Nouwee is a Canadian company based in Quebec. Their mission is to create unique and magical moments to share with your friends and family.
One of the products that we loved were the Luminous Balloons. As seen on The Dragon’s Den, these balloons have little LED lights which stay illuminated for 20 hours. We turned out the lights and let the kids play with the balloons, with the lights from the Christmas tree as a backdrop. The colours are vibrant and the balloons created a really fun atmosphere.
We also loved the Santa Lantern! The kids wrote a note to Santa and attached it to the mini hot air balloon. We all headed outside and watched the lantern fill with hot air and then float away into the distance. It was definitely a memorable night!
There is still time to get these for your Christmas or New Year’s party. Check out where you can get them at www.nouwee.com.
Nouwee sent me these great products for review. Opinions are my own.
It’s my favourite time of year! Christmas is not a religious holiday for us but we love to celebrate it! I love putting up the tree and sitting in the dark watching the lights reflect off the ornaments. I love driving around and seeing how people have decorated their houses. Most of all, I love spending time with family and friends. These gatherings ALWAYS include delicious, comforting food.
I recently partnered with Del Monte (the makers of premium canned vegetables and so much more) to share some fun stats on what people love to eat during the holidays. They just published their Del Monte Comfort Food Index, which ranked the Top 10 Holiday Comfort Foods.
Potatoes (mashed or scalloped): 84% (percent who feel “comfort” by eating the food)
Pie: 82%
Baked goods (cookies & muffins): 81%
Macaroni & cheese: 75%
Cake: 71%
Casserole: 69%
Stews and hearty soups: 68%
Meatballs (with or without pasta: 65%
Sweet potatoes (mashed or cut): 61%
Cornbread: 60%
It is definitely not surprising that potatoes, pies and baked goods are on the top of the list. All of our faves!
Going through the Del Monte America’s Recipe site, I was inspired by the recipes that are available. A few stand out, which I’m hoping to make in the next couple of weeks. I recently tried my hand at scalloped potatoes and loved them. I’m looking forward to trying out the skinny version on the Del Monte site. I also want to try out the Green Bean Casserole. I love the idea of putting fried onions on top!
Check out the site and comment below on which Del Monte holiday comfort recipes you’d like to try!
Although this post has been sponsored by Del Monte, all opinions are my own.
One of hubby’s favourite sides is scalloped potatoes. For some reason, I always thought it would be more time consuming than mashed potatoes so it was never a priority for me to make. This year, I thought I’d give it a whirl with this recipe from Canadian Living. I didn’t realize how easy this was! I used lactose free milk which was cooked with garlic and thyme and poured onto thinly sliced potatoes. It didn’t take long to prepare and the resulting potatoes were creamy and perfect for our Sunday Supper.
Scalloped Potatoes
Adapted from Canadian Living
1.5 pounds potatoes, sliced
1/4 cup butter
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup flour
1 tsp thyme, chopped
salt
pepper
2 1/2 cups milk
In saucepan, melt butter over medium heat; cook garlic, stirring, for 1 minute. Add flour, thyme, salt and pepper; cook, stirring, for 1 minute.
Gradually whisk in milk; cook, whisking constantly, until boiling and thickened, about 8 minutes.
Arrange the potatoes in a baking dish. Pour sauce over top, allowing the sauce to completely cover the potatoes.
Cover and bake in 350 degree oven for 1 hour. Uncover and bake until lightly browned and potatoes are tender, about 30 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.
We love Edo Japan around here, so much so that they were included in this year’s Holiday Gift Guide. Not only do they have great food (we love their Sukiyaki Beef and Salmon Rolls), they are committed to ‘Simply Better Giving’
and support of local Canadian food banks. Last year, Edo raised
over $75,000 for food banks across the country and with 850,000
Canadians using food banks each month, it’s never been more important to
give back! Edo is hoping to top their donation from 2014 – the Edo Elves will be making multiple appearances to
spread holiday cheer and remind Edo fans that Edo will be donating 25
cents to local food banks for every spring roll sold from now until
early January 2016. Eat a spring roll, help the food bank – sounds like a win win to me.
Want to win a $50 gift card to Edo Japan. Let me know how you are giving back to the community. Are you donating to the food bank, volunteering your time, buying a spring roll? I’d love to know!
See how to enter below. Entries must be received by January 1st at midnight. The winner has 48 hours to respond to my email before another winner is selected. Good luck!