Food | Travel | Family | Life
Here are 5 homemade treats that are perfect for gifting to your favourite people. Chocolate is involved!
Is there anything more personal than a homemade gift? It’s easy to spend money and buy something from the store but if someone gives you something that they have made themselves, it’s so special.
Homemade gifts don’t have to be complicated. Here are 5 that are super easy and they involve chocolate.
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These Malteser Skor bars are heavenly. The addition of Maltesers to the already delicious Skor bars take it to a whole new level. A delicious upgrade.
One of our favourite treats for the holidays are Skor bars. I discovered the recipe a couple years ago when my cousin made it for our Christmas party. We have since included it in our treat boxes and at parties and it has always been a hit. It’s something that I didn’t think could be improved. I was wrong.
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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 was fun putting together a holiday gift guide this year. These are some of our favourites and sure to be a hit with the foodies in your life.
Robert Rose Cookbooks
Can anyone really have too many cookbooks? Robert Rose has so many great titles out there for the variety of people on your list. From the Best of Bridge to Spiralizer Recipes, there is definitely something for everyone. These books are also filled with so much inspiration for holiday entertaining. Check out their titles: http://www.robertrose.ca/books
Urban Bonfire
Around here, outdoor grilling is a year round activity. We don’t let the snow stop us from firing up the bbq to enjoy a juicy steak and some beef short ribs. Urban Bonfire has you covered for all your grilling needs. From grill accessories to spices, they have your grillmaster covered.
We loved their spices! We tried their Tico, which was amazing on salmon and and we tried the Montreal Steak Spice which was so delicious. Check them out online at http://www.urbanbonfire.com/.
Yonanas
Let’s face it, the holidays are a time of over indulgence. Yonanas helps you enjoy a sweet snack without the guilt. The machine makes ice cream out of frozen bananas! No sugar, no cream, just plain bananas and you have yourself a sweet treat. The resulting ice cream is creamy and sweet and the kids loved it! Hubby loved that the soft serve was lactose free. Find out more here: http://yonanas.com/
Cococo Chocolatiers
The holidays require chocolate and only the best will do. Cococo Chocolatiers, owners of Chocolaterie Bernard Callebaut® is a real treat for anyone on your gift list. With a wide variety of award-winning chocolate available, anyone would be happy to receive a box. My favourite are the salted caramels. So delicious! The company is opening a new storefront in the international terminal of the Calgary airport allowing people from everywhere to taste their deliciousness. You can order online at http://www.bernardcallebaut.com/.
Edo Japan
Life is busy and sometimes between all the kids’ activities, we need to grab a quick meal. Edo is a favourite for all of us. It’s tasty, healthy and quick and the kids love it! I think anyone would be thrilled to get a gift card from Edo Japan: http://www.edojapan.com
Want to win a gift card for yourself? Enter below. Let us know what’s on your wish list this year! Contest closes on Sunday, December 13th, 2015 at 11:59pm. Good luck!
Unlike most recipes made in the slow cooker where you can just walk away until it’s done, this recipe requires a little extra attention, but not much. Cooked on high, these almonds are stirred every 20 minutes, to ensure that the nuts don’t get burnt.
These were delicious! They were super easy and super tasty. Put them in a little jar, and they make the perfect homemade gift for the holidays!
Slow Cooker Cinnamon Almonds
From Crockpot 365
cooking spray
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 tablespoons cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
1 egg white
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 1/4 cups whole raw almonds
Use a 4-quart slow cooker. Spray the stoneware well with cooking spray. In a mixing bowl, combine sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Set this bowl aside
In a larger mixing bowl, whisk together the egg white and vanilla extract. Pour the almonds into this bowl and stir well to coat. Add your cinnamon mixture to the top of the nuts and toss with spoons to fully coat.
Put the almonds into the slow cooker and cover. Cook on high for 2 hours, stirring every 20 minutes. After 2 hours, take the nuts out of the slow cooker and spread them on foil or parchment paper.
It’s December! That means it’s time to get baking for all those cookie exchanges, holiday parties and homemade gifts for family and friends. Here’s a round up of some cookies perfect for the occasion!
Cherry Jam Palmiers
One of the easiest cookies to make, these palmiers are fast with only a handful of ingredients.
Peppercorn Shorbread
An odd combination, but these buttery peppery cookies are delicious!
Hazelnut Nutella Cookies
Soft and chunky, these are the perfect cookies to leave for the big man!
Lavender Shortbread
A little bit of lavender goes a long way in these buttery morsels.
Mint Chocolate Cookies
Mint and chocolate are a match made in heaven. These cookies are soft and rich and pair perfectly with a glass of cold milk.
Chocolate and Almond Whipped Shortbread
These are one of my favourites and always a fun one for the kids to decorate. They are whipped for ten minutes and are buttery and delicious!
Heart Sugar Cookies
Made with love, the glaze on these babies is so delicious!
Chocolate Dipped Walnut Shortbread
The humble shortbread is elevated by the addition of walnuts and dipped in chocolate.
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Everyone is happy for a classic at a cookie exchange. These chocolate chip cookies are decadent and delicious.
It’s always fun to see what President’s Choice comes up with every
holiday season. They always have fun products and tasty treats that
everyone seems to love. This year was no exception!
Focused on food creations from around the world, this year President’s Choice is marketing to foodies. Like the Harissa Hummus from Morrocco, designed for the lavour seeker, which hubby loved! For the sweet tooth, like me, the PC Mini Cheesecake Cupcakes with Coconut Icing were a winner. With items like Habanero Aioli from Chile and the Goose Fat from France, there’s something for everyone.
I’m especially loving President’s Choice right now with their Crave More campaign. The fact that they have no preservatives, artificial flavours or colours is a huge plus when shopping for my family.
We love Halloween around here! It’s a fun time of the month and it’s a day we all look forward to. We spent some time on the weekend carving our pumpkin. Q was reluctant to get his hands dirty but once we started pulling out the pumpkin guts, he had fun. The best part of pumpkin carving is of course the seeds! Roasted and salted, they are perfect for munching on.
There are so many variations on how people roast the seeds. This is how we do them at our house.
Once you pull out the seeds from the pumpkin, rinse them so that you get all the pumpkin off. I usually do this in a colander.
Once washed, place the seeds between paper towels, getting them as dry as you can.
Put the seeds on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 20 to 30 minutes. Take them seeds out when they get a little toasty and brown. Salt and enjoy!
Happy Friday! The long weekend is here and it’s time to celebrate the Canadian Thanksgiving! No turkey feast is complete without the dessert. No matter how much turkey or stuffing one has had, there is always room for dessert. According to Q, dessert goes into a separate compartment. Below are some great recipes to round out your meal.
Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
