Food Mamma

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giveaway

win tickets to the rocky mountain wine and food festival!

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Back for it’s 16th year, the Calgary Rocky Mountain Wine & Food Festival is back for two days of indulgence at the Stampede Park BMO Centre!

Friday, October 18th, 5 to 10pm
Saturday, October 19, 12 to 4 pm
Sunday, October 19, 6 to 10pm

Over 200 exhibitors will be on hand allowing guests to find their favourite beverage while tasting delicious treats from local restaurants.  With an onsite Liquor Depot store, you can pick up your favourites on the spot!

Sunshine Village will be sponsoring the Grand Prize All-Inclusive Weekend Getaway for two, including two nights accommodation at Sunshine Mountain Lodge, VIP parking, a $100 gift certificate for food and beverages, a couple’s spa treatment and next day lift tickets.

Want to win a pair of tickets and check out this fabulous event? Entering is easy! Just leave a comment here, send me a tweet or leave a note on Facebook. Last day to enter is Thursday at noon.

The fine print: The giveaway tickets are for the Saturday, October 19, the afternoon session (12-4 pm).  When presented at the door, these tickets will allow for complimentary access into the Grand Tasting Hall.  Tickets are not transferable to another session.  Please note that all attendees will need to purchase sampling coupons (50 cents each) to use in exchange for samples of food, wine and other beverages.  This is an adult only event.  All attendees must be 18 years or older.   Minors (including infants) are not permitted to attend.

a month of sundays

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I’m so excited for my friend Cheryl’s new book, A Month of Sundays. It just came out last week and I was excited to receive my copy.

Cheryl’s first book, Sunday Morning Quilts, came out last year. A few months later, Cheryl was already photographing her next book and Q and I were very excited to be involved.  We went over one afternoon while the talented Kate Inglis worked her magic behind the camera. You can find my little guy’s picture in the book, sitting in a tree.

Even non-quilters like me can enjoy the book which has beautiful projects that Cheryl has completed as well as some fun things that her and her family enjoy on the weekend. The projects are a work of art and Cheryl is quite the artist with her gorgeous quilts.The book also has a chapter on Sunday dinner with mouth-watering recipes for roast chicken and lemon curd. There’s also a recipe for a very tasty appetizer of slow cooked tomatoes. I couldn’t get enough of these!

I’d love to support Cheryl’s book and what better way than to give away a copy to a reader. If you live in the Calgary area, feel free to enter. Cheryl has agreed to sign the book making it the perfect keepsake! Enter below. You can purchase Cheryl’s book on Amazon or Chapters and visit Cheryl’s website for more info.

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chocolate mint ice cream….and a vanilla giveaway!

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Did you know that July is Ice Cream Month in the United States? Not that I need an excuse to make or eat ice cream, but this is a good one!  I managed to convince hubby to make a little garden for me this year as well as an herb planter box. As much as I love having fresh veggies and herbs, I am no green thumb, so having hubby do this was quite the treat.  This year, we found a chocolate mint plant that we placed in our planter. The plant had a strong mint scent and flavour with a subtle hint of chocolate. It just seemed logical that this belonged in ice cream.  I let the leaves steep in the cream for a good while to get the perfect minty flavour.

Nielsen-Massey had sent me a bottle of their pure vanilla extract to try and this ice cream was the perfect vehicle for it. The vanilla, which was from Madagascar, was lovely! When smelling the vanilla and tasting it, there was no question that this was unlike any other.  The flavour was intense and provided the perfect addition to the ice cream.  Nielsen-Massey uses a cold extraction process which “gently extracts vanilla’s essential oils, preserving the
more than 300 distinctive flavor compounds present in the beans. By
protecting our vanilla from heat, we ensure that even its subtlest
flavors survive extraction.”

The folks at Nielsen-Massey are generously giving one of Food Mamma’s readers a chance to win a bottle of vanilla. Leave a comment below telling me what you like to use vanilla in. Facebook likes and Twitter follows will give you extra entries. Contest closes on July 25th.

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Chocolate Mint Ice Cream

4 cups heavy cream
1 large bunch of chocolate mint leaves
1 can condensed milk
1 TB vanilla

Place the heavy cream and the mint leaves in a pot and let it come to a boil. Turn down the heat and let the leaves steep in the cream for 30 – 45 minutes, until you get the flavour as strong as you would like. Place the mixture in the fridge until cooled. Once cooled, strain the leaves out and stir in the condensed milk and vanilla. Let the mixture cool again before placing in an ice cream machine.  Follow the directions of your machine. For a firmer ice cream, place in the freezer until set. Sprinkle with chocolate shavings if you prefer and serve.

food mamma is 3! we are celebrating with a few giveaways!

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Food Mamma is 3! Can’t believe it’s already been three years since the inception of my blog. It’s been a great outlet to share my love of food and all the pictures I seem to take of everything I eat. This blog has also helped in connecting me to some fabulous food loving people. Thanks to everyone who follow my blog and for all your support!

In honour of Food Mamma’s 3rd blogiversary, we are celebrating with 3 awesome giveaways from 3 great sponsors! Chocolate, cheese and kitchen gadgets…just a few of my favourite things!

Win a baking basket from Chocolaterie Bernard valued at $100. All the best baking products for you to make some amazing stuff. This prize is for those in Calgary and surrounding areas as it will have to be picked up at one of their stores.

Win a Castello cheese board and $20 in grocery vouchers. Use these vouchers to pick up some cheese to eat by itself or incorporate it into something delicious.

Win a Real Cream whisk and spatula set. These useful kitchen gadgets are perfect for baking or cooking!

Entering is easy! Just leave a comment below. Also, please let me know if you are local to Calgary, so I know which draws I can enter you for. Earn extra entries by liking on Facebook and following on Twitter.  Contest closes on April 3rd.  Good luck!

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win a fabulous home and garden show gift basket!

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There is more winning here with the Calgary Home and Garden Show! They have a fabulous gift basket containing items from a few of the businesses featured at the great event.  Along with two tickets to the home show, this basket contains some great items, from amazing food & snacks to discounts on services.

Items in this gift basket include:

Craft beer mug and gift certificate
Crave cupcakes gift card for cupcake pack
Trend Trunk gift card
$200-$2,600 discount off of Sunshine houseboat rentals depending on coupon #
Aspen Clean cleaning kit
Swimco sunglasses
Kienna coffee pods and adapter
Green kids crafts seed pod kit
Awake chocolate bar
Dominion Lending Centre Letter openers
Tums
Glad bags
15% off of Waite Woodbeck imagery and Design

Entering is easy!  Contest closes on Wednesday at 12pm. Click here for another chance to win tickets.

calgary home and garden show (win tickets!)

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Q is very excited. He just found out that he gets to see his favourite builder friend again at the Calgary Home and Garden Show taking place next weekend, February 28th to March 3rd.

Family Day at the Calgary Home and Garden show will take place on Friday, March 1st, 2013. Bob the Builder is back again and will be performing shows at 12:15pm and 3pm. Keep the kids entertained with interactive, animal-themed play sessions hosted by the Calgary Zoo, ambulance tours hosted by Calgary EMS and giant LEGO house-building.  You can have fun as well with cooking demos, discovering what’s new in design and filling your belly at food truck alley.

Enter below to win tickets to the show. Winners will be chosen on Wednesday, February 27th and tickets will be available at Will Call.  For readers who don’t win passes but are still interested in attending the show, enter the discount promo code “BLOG”. Click here for more information.

Click here for another chance to win tickets.

kashi and heart health month

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With Valentine’s Day being in February, it seems appropriate that it is Heart Health Month. 

Kashi has a new addition to its family of natural foods – Blueberry Oat Clusters and Flakes, just in time for Heart Health Month. Each cup of this cereal contains 6 grams of protein and offers 45
percent of the daily amount of fibre shown to help lower cholesterol. 

Q loved the blueberry taste and I liked having both the flakes and the clusters – you don’t have to choose!

Kashi wants you to try a box for yourself.  Enter below for your chance to win!

indian rice pudding…and a giveaway!

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Earlier this year, I participated in Anyday Magic’s Recipe Makeover. For the makeover, three food bloggers were asked to add a twist to a recipe. I participated in the dessert challenge and was given the task of transforming rice pudding.

Every time I think of rice pudding, I think about Kheer. It’s an Indian rice pudding with much more depth than just regular rice pudding. The cardamom powder provides a nice warmth to the dish and the saffron adds an exotic touch. I added another twist by adding berries, which provided a freshness to the rich comforting dessert.

Since my recipe won the dessert round (yay!), I get to reward my readers with a prize pack from the Dairy Farmers of Canada. Each pack contains a spatula and a whisk and there are a few to be given away.  Entering is easy! Just comment here, facebook me or send me a tweet and let me know how you would makeover rice pudding.  Be sure to leave contact info so that I can get a hold of the winners.  Contest closes on Sunday, December 2nd, 2012 at 11:59pm MST.

Indian Rice Pudding (Kheer)
Makes 4 servings

½ cup rice
1 cup water
2 cups milk
½ cup whipping cream
¾ cup sugar
½ can evaporated milk
½ teaspoon cardamom powder
pinch saffron
½ cup almonds
½ cup pistachios

1 cup sliced strawberries
1 cup whipping cream, whipped, not sweetened

Combine the rice and water and cook over medium high heat. When water is absorbed, add the milk and cream and cook on low heat for 20 minutes.

Mash the rice with a masher and then add sugar, evaporated milk, cardamom, saffron and half the nuts and simmer for a few minutes.

At this point, you can garnish with the remaining nuts and saffron or top it with sliced strawberries and the whipping cream with the nuts and saffron on top. Delicious both ways! 

shrimp buzara style…and a cookbook giveaway!

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Lidia Bastianich is a culinary icon. Writing best-selling cookbooks, having multiple restaurants as well as being a celebrated television personality, she is one of the most beloved Italian chefs.

I was excited to get her new cookbook, “Lidia’s Favorite Recipes” which she co-authored with her daughter Tanya Bastianich Manuali.  The book has some amazing recipes with full page coloured pictures.

Crafted from 100 of Lidia’s recipes, it was hard to decide what I was going to cook first. Eggplant Parmigiana, Ziti, Crepes…there was so much to choose from!  I decided to do something quick and easy, the Shrimp Buzara Style. It was a delicious dish with amazing flavour and it came together so quickly.  The shrimp was tasty and the sauce was so flavourful, perfect for sopping up with some bread. I’m definitely going to make this for my next dinner party.

Want to win your own copy of Lidia’s awesome book?  Comment here, leave a post on Facebook or send a tweet.  Contest closes on Black Friday at 11:59PM MST.  A winner will be chosen at random. Good luck!

Shrimp Buzara Style
Printed from Lidia’s Favorite Recipes

2 pounds super colossal shrimp
1 TB tomato paste
1 cup hot light fish stock
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, crushed and peeled
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup dry white wine
1 TB breadcrumbs
1 TB chopped fresh Italian parsley

Using poultry shears or a sharp paring knife, cut through the outer curve of the shrimp shells from end to end, but don’t remove the shells.  Rinse the shrimp under cold running water, and devein.

Dissolve the tomato paste in the hot stock.  Heat 2 TB of olive oil in a medium saucepan.  Add the onion and garlic, and saute over moderately high heat until golden.  Season with salt and pepper, add the win, and bring to a boil. Add the stock-and-tomato-paste mixture, reduce the heat, and simmer 20 minutes.

Meantime, heat the remaining oil in a large skillet, add the shrimp, and saute (in two batches) 1 minute on each side.  Drain off the oil, return all the shrimp to the skillet, and add the sauce.  Cover, and cook over high heat, stirring occasionally, until the shrimp pare just cooked through, about 2 or 3 minutes. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs and parsley, mix well, and cook a minute longer, uncovered. Serve immediately.

oliv tasting room…and a giveaway!

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A couple of weeks ago, we checked out the Rocky Mountain Wine and Food Festival.  Among all the tables sampling various wines and amazing food, there was the Oliv Tasting Room, giving tasters of balsamic vinegar and olive oil. The balsamic vinegar that I tried was thick and syrupy, like it had been reducing on the stove for a while.  It was amazing!

In the few minutes we spent with the owner, Isabeau, we learned all about their lovely oils made in South Africa on their farm and their amazing vinegars sourced directly from Italy.  She also told us about the various ways olive oil is made and how theirs is a true olive oil, not altered with any chemicals. This means a healthier oil.  The balsamic is also of high quality, and it was apparent with every taste.

In their two locations in Saskatchewan and one in Calgary (100-1130 Kensington Road N.W.) the Oliv Tasting Room has samplings, where you can go in and try out the 60+ flavours of oils and vinegars.

Since taking the balsamic vinegar home, we have tried it on everything – from sweet slow roasted tomatoes to crunchy kale chips.  We even tried it on ice cream!

Want to try some for yourself?  Write a comment either here or on Facebook, or send me a tweet.  Contest closes on Monday, October 29th (hubby’s birthday!) at noon.  The winner will have to pick up their prize directly from the store, so Calgary and area only please.  Good luck!