The Macallan Whisky Tasting

Scotch? Whisky? Scotch? Whisky? *
What on earth is this amber coloured liquid that leaves a warm trail down your throat?

Well, my friend Heather and I were lucky to investigate this on November 23rd at the Macallan whisky tasting held at 99Sudbury in Toronto.  Macallan and Matchstick partnered up to host a fabulous 2 night, (4 round) event (we were in the first tasting on the first night) in which we had the opportunity to taste 5 of the Macallan's scotches.

The 10 year old, the 12, the 15, the 18 yr old Sherry oak and finally cask strength.
The whiskies were also paired with some fantastic cheeses, olives, nuts, meats and breads...it really was quite the spread.  The venue itself was quite swanky and fit the association one tends to make with what a scotch tasting should entail.  I have to say the entire evening was just a really well run and organised event.
Each sample was accompanied by an extremely informative powerpoint, including a very funny montage of what was happening during those specific years.


The Macallan Distillery has been around since 1824 (which likely means it was operating much longer before that, but not legally..which is why most scotch distilleries were ran up in the highlands of Scotland...to avoid the taxman we were told with a cheeky wink by the Canadian Macallan representative) and has quickly become not only a premium whisky, but a premium luxury whiskey with a 64 yr old whisky in a Lalique decanter recently auctioned at Sotheby's for $460,000 US (with proceeds going to charity:water too!).

As someone who lived in Scotland for two years, I definitely appreciated the variety of years presented & the flavours present in each whisky. The Canadian spokesperson for Macallan, Marc Laverdiere, was a great speaker and Heather and I had a chat with him after the presentation about female scotch drinkers.  He told us that 30% of scotch drinkers are women, which came as a surprise.

My favourite was the 18 yr old..smooth, clean and not a hard burn as I sipped it...the cool thing about the 18 yr old  is that it has been matured in sherry oak casks from Spain (most oak casks generally come from North America) and has hints of dried fruits, ginger, toffee and vanilla.  The terrific thing about Macallan whisky is that there is no artificial caramel colouring involved (most scotches colour their whiskies..which mean they must stay out of sunlight in order to keep well). Those lovely amber tones in the Macallans are completely natural and are a result of their unique casks and fabulous ingredients.

All in all, Heather and I had a fun night out in the city and some great scotch and treats!  The next time you are looking for a great gift for that single malt lover in your life, definitely pick up a bottle of the Macallan.

*only whisky made in Scotland can be called scotch ;)

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Hello?? Is This Thing On?

I am so sorry to have neglected you over the spring/summer/fall.

Ugh.

You know when life just gets in the way of doing the things you've been meaning or wanting to do?

Yeah, that's kinda what happened.  But, I'm back now and next week I have a whiskey tasting to go to with Macallen Whiskey courtesy of Matchstick.com...so that will be my first 'official' post back!

Until then....these are the things I meant to tell you about...

I drank a lot of tea (David's Tea & ironically enough Gretzky's Green Tea (which I originally bought as a joke because of the ridiculous packaging and it actually turned out to be pretty good!))

Soda bread with currants (which I hate, but made anyway thinking I might have some sort of revelation that I like currants. I still don't)

Had a first date at the Black Bull in Toronto and consequent dates around the neighbourhood... 

Drank coffees at the Dark Horse Cafe in Toronto

Found a little chocolate shop and tried out some unique chocolate

Drank nearly a gallon of apple cider

Made hazelnut cupcakes for my *gasp* 36th birthday

Celebrated the World Cup by taste testing a bunch of Walker's World Cup flavoured crisps

Convinced my cousin Kim to eat Vietnamese food

Made curd (seriously people...I made curd!! Keylime curd to be exact and black raspberry curd..black raspberries that I had painstakingly collected myself)...the curd then became swirly tartlets.

Made tons of pasta with very simple toppings (lots of fresh tomatoes, garlic, basil, olive oil and feta..divine!)

• Tried out a few new sushi places
• Consumed Irish Stew made with Guinness out on a chilly, albeit summery patio at the Waterfront Pub
• Drank various kinds of ciders and ales at C'est What
• Planted spaghetti squash...fried up and ate some of the blossoms
• Had drinks with friends and dates at various locales in the city..and they were great!
• Planted heirloom tomatoes, basil, cilantro, lime basil, sugar snap peas
• Drank lots of peach-basil sangria and still did not manage to photograph it

.....and managed to lose 30 pounds doing it all!

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Don't Mind the Crumbs...

Hey all!
Don't mind the crumbs all over this place..I will get it sorted shortly. *ack*
In the meantime...if you have a blog...please please send it along and I can add you to the site.

Also, I actually have a lot to talk about! (I'm sorry, I went through a bit of a dryspell for a while)
So you'll be seeing cupcakes, asparagus, chocolate, 100 mile diet eating, tea, a couple of guest bloggers and so much more. *Whew* 

I'm working on some pretty cool features on the site...so you may get little dribs and drabs of updates here and there, but there will be progress! :)

xoxo

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Sushi Fail...but yet looked fabulous

Really, the sushi failed for one reason and one reason only.  Nope, I am lying. Two reasons...1.  I couldn't find everything I needed at the grocery store to make what I wanted to showcase the fanastic pieces I received from CSN Stores to review and 2. hunger.  I was hungry.  Hunger does not bode well when making sushi. I did pick up the nori and wasabi and some vinegar, but until I have everything else...it's gotta wait and instead picked up a packaged dealio from the supermarket...which I generally do not recommend.

I will be making sushi at some point on this blog, because I love it and I think I have learned some tricks and tips that I'm looking forward to sharing.  I think I will also my friend The Asian Pear to write a little something about sushi making as she's a genius in this area and can whip them up MUCH faster than I! (Not to mention, I'll be able to score some of her tips and tricks too!)

For now though, I'm going to talk a little bit about my experience with CSN Stores.

When I was contacted by CSN Stores about doing a review of items from their stores..and I chose a medium sized sushi plate made of bamboo and an Alessi Lily Bird soy sauce container. (Yep, that little gorgeous bird is a soy sauce container!!!  Awesomesauce, no?)

I was pretty skeptical about the items doe to their pretty affordable pricing, but after getting and using both of these, I am blown away.  The bamboo tray is absolutely gorgeous (and cleans like a dream!) and the soy sauce container definitely is a statement piece.
I do live in Canada, so shipping is often takes quite a while, but the pretty great service that CSN offers is that they have tracking numbers and update you via email along the way, so I knew at any given point in time (up until it reached the border) as to where my package was.  Pretty impressive.

Both parcels were extremely well packaged and even if it had been jostled around in transit, you would never know.  With over 200+ CSN Stores (the majority of them even shipping to Canada), I would certainly revisit and check out their items..everything from seasonal decor to shoes to La Cruset cookware.  Sweeet!

I am very happy with these items, their customer service system and their shipping and will definitely be checking them out again. :)  Thanks Jamie!

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Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Icing

Maybe you are like me...I have a tendency to start doing things late at night. Not because I've procrastinated doing them (although that is often the case), but usually because I get these grandious ideas late at night. So when most people are debating what time to set their alarms for the next morning or flossing, I am scouring the cupboards for the makings of...whatever I might be able to make. 

Company was coming to visit in the form of relatives the following day and my mom had requested that I might  'make something'. Ever since I ate red velvet cupcakes in London from the Hummingbird Bakery and consequently bought the cookbook this past winter, I knew more of these were in my future...in some form, any form!

 Which is why when I was asked to 'make something', I knew what I needed/wanted to do and I set about making this cake....at around midnight.  The crumb of the cake is deliciously moist and the cake is not sweet at all (the icing is a bit sweet, but suits the cake perfectly)  I made the cakes the night before and made the icing the following morning.  It all came together rather well and I would definitely suggest taking this cake to any sort of party.  Very impressive and not all that hard to make!

Red Velvet Cake 

(Adapted from The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook)

• 8 tbsp of unsalted, room temperature butter
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 tbsp of unsweetened cocoa powder
• 4 tbsp red food colouring (yep, it'll take about 2 bottles!)
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 cups (plus 4 tbsp) of all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 tsp of white vinegar
• 1 tsp baking soda

1. Preheat oven to 325deg F
2. In one bowl, mix the food colouring, vanilla and cocoa powder in a bowl to make a thick paste.
3. In a bigger bowl (you can use an electric mixer..although I didn't and it turned out fine) mix the butter and sugar together until fluffy.  Add the eggs and beat until well blended.
4. Add the coloured paste to the butter mixture and combine..taking care to scrape the sides of the bowl so it mixes evenly.
5. Slowly pour in half the amount of buttermilk and half the amount of flour.  Beat until well blended and then repeat the same process of adding the rest of the buttermilk and the flour and beat.
6. Batter should be smooth and even...the add the salt, baking soda and vinegar.
7. Beat again to combine.
8. Meanwhile, grease and flour 3 8-inch pans
9. Pour the batter into the 3 pans (1/2 way up the side of the pan) and bake for approximately 25 minutes (checking to see if a knife inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean)
10. Let cakes cool and make the icing.

Cream Cheese Icing

• 4 2/3rd cups of icing sugar (confectioner's sugar)
• 6 tbsps of room temperature, unsalted butter
• 8 oz (1 block) of cold cream cheese

1. This time I did use a freehand mixer!  Beat the icing sugar and the butter together until it is well mixed.
2. Add the cold cream cheese (I cut in cubes to make it faster and easier to mix) and beat until it is all mixed in,well blended and the icing is light and fluffy.
3. Taking care not to overbeat as the icing will melt slightly with too much work.

11.  Ice between each layer and stack the layers.

12.  Then finish icing the sides of the cake.

13.  If you are making cupcakes, this recipe will make 24...otherwise, divide all ingredients (including icing) by half for 12 cupcakes.

Serve to family and know that when you sneak into the kitchen later that night to cut a tiny slice to have with tea...it will have already been devoured by someone else with the exact same idea.  :(

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South St. Burger Company

I occassionally do reviews of items for BzzAgent.com...and my most recent assignment was to check out the South St. Burger company.

Now I know this franchise has been around for a while, but I've never actually been in! Crazy, I know. I don't know what preconceived notions I had or maybe it's because I was always under the impression that it was pretty expensive...but there is a great reason for that which I am about to explain.

BzzAgent sent me a bunch of buy one, get one free coupons which I dispersed among the families that come into my workplace which is great because there is a South St. Burget Company just down the street from my job.

They also sent me a $10 coupon so I could try it myself first hand.

I never knew before, but what puts South St. Burger apart from the other burger joints is that the patties are made fresh and contain absolutely no hormones, antibiotics, filler or preservatives from cows that are raised on small co-op farms that practice natural and conscientious farming.

Seriously, for someone who is trying to eat better (or at least more consciously) and really pay attention to businesses who are trying at least to save/protect the environment, South St. Burger is really doing a great job as they use local ingredients & support local farms, use LED bulbs in their stores, environmentally friendly cleaning products and recycled paper products and 100% Bullfrog power(green electricity). Pretty impressive.

Not only that...but they have 25 different types of toppings! Everything from wasabi mayo to guacamole. Not to mention that they are partnered up with New York Fries. Delicious!

All the great environmental friendliness aside, I really did enjoy the burger. Sure it was a little more expensive than the local burger place...but the quality definitely was of primary importance.

Simply put..I would certainly recommend South St. Burger for the healthier burger choice!

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Longo's 'The Loft' Cooking Demonstrations

Have you ever had the experience of signing up for a class/lessons/demonstration of anything and being slightly anxious albeit excited about going?

What to wear, what to bring, who will be there?
I think that's a pretty normal occurance for most people and I definitely get a bit nervous walking into a room full of people that I have never met before..which is certainly what was about to transpire as I climbed the stair's to 'The Loft'.

The Loft, based in Longo's grocery store is a self-contained kitchen set above the shop floor complete with a fully functioning demonstration kitchen (video screens for you to see what is happening on the counters and a giant mirror above the stovetop) and large seating area.

I opened the doors and entered the area and was welcomed by host (Nicol Mentis) for the evening, the chef (Chef Robert) and two other 'students'. So far, everyone was pleasantly chatting and I got myself settled to join in.

~Chef Robert & the view of the stove from the mirror above the table~

I was fortunate to sit next to Mac, who talked to me about the other Loft classes her & her husband had taken. She also mentioned that they were the host's inlaws! It definitely says something about your relationship with your inlaws when they come to support your classes...they clearly know a good thing when they taste it!

I enjoyed chatting with them immensely and they definitely made me feel more relaxed and welcome. I was very ready to enjoy the evening and some other people came in who also knew Nicol. It made for a very cozy and relaxed first time.

You may recall that I made Canadian Maple Mousse a little while ago, well this recipe was featured in the same Longo's Experience magazine as the recipes that we enjoyed in the demonstration. (And with MUCH less ease than me cooking it up myself!)

Timing has always been my problem with preparing a meal, and Chef Robert made everything look so much easier and pretty freeform, which is always great! He spoke about timing and proper techniques of cooking and when to add certain ingredients, all the while, the kitchen filled up with delicious aromas that seriously made me wish I had remembered to eat lunch!

~Scallops & Shrimp in Pernod Cream Sauce~

Soon we were eating, and all the questions fell by the wayside as we devoured everything...it was all so delicious and fresh and so very unlike anything I would even attempt at home, but it was great to see how easy it would be to do!

~Rack of Lamb with Curry Sauce on a bed of Saffron Rice and Cumin Scented Chickpeas~

I have to say that my experience at the Longo's Loft was both fun and educational.I learned a lot of little tips and tricks and ate a fantastically gourmet meal that would cost you an arm and a leg in a fancy restaurant.

The host, Nicol was incredibly helpful and threw out questions and brought around the spices being used for everyone to smell and examine, helped tidy up and in general pull everything together so it was easy for both the Chef and us to gel. Chef Robert was great with answering any questions and spoke about everything from the restaurant industry in general to the best way to wash herbs, cook rice and french your rack of lamb..lots and lots of useful tips!

It seems to me that the Loft classes would be a terrific date night or get together with your foodie friends or a great gift to give!

~Dessert: Bread Pudding with dried cranberries in a Jack Daniel's sauce~

I am definitely signing up for a couple more in April, so if anyone wants to come along, please let me know!

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