Snacktime: Apple Crostini with Whipped Ricotta

This is a sponsored post. While I was compensated monetarily, all opinions are my own. 

If your house is like my house, snacktime is important. Whether it’s a second breakfast around 11 am or a bedtime snack around 11 pm (I’m a nightowl), I like a little something to nibble on while I work or binge watch a current favourite show (lately, it’s Broadchurch). These crostini made with Cosmic Crisp Washington Apples fit the bill perfectly. Toasted slices of baguette are slathered with a whipped ricotta spread, then topped with crisp and sweet slices of Cosmic Crisps, drizzled with honey and garnished with toasted walnuts. 

Smokin' Hot: Grilled Corn & Black Bean Salad with Pepperoni

This is a sponsored post. All opinions are mine. And, as usual, I will only write about products that I really love! 

Those mid-August days are creeping up on us, and while it's easy to think that in a few weeks summer will be winding down, I'm firmly planted in the here and now. There are still so many things I want to do before the nights get cooler and the leaves start turning yellow. Road trips! Picnics! Backyard barbecue feasts! These are the days that need to be sucked of all their marrow. Go out there and live your best late-summer life! And bring snacks!

Summer Perfection: Pear & Prosciutto Flatbreads with Brie

This is a sponsored post. I was compensated financially by California Bartlett Pears. All thoughts and opinions about these pears are my own.

My love for pears runs deep. It always has and always will. Pears whisper their flavour, rather than shout it from the rooftops like the stone fruits currently having their moment. Pears are the underdogs of the fruit world, and I kind of love them for that. Their subtle sweetness is still something I crave in this season of peaches and cherries. The pear, to me, is the perfect fruit. I love the shape, the scent and the sweetness. In fact, if I were to ever get a tattoo, it would be that of a pear, somewhere. Pears are what I remember eating as a kid while riding with my mom in the grain truck, as my dad was combining the fields of wheat on our Saskatchewan farm. Pears are what a really cute boy I used to work with many, many years ago would bring me as a token of his fondness. Things didn't work out with the boy, but my fondness for pears lives on.  Funny thing how one sniff takes you back to when you were 5 or 25. 

Sweet and Spicy: Pepperoni Pizza with Basil and Honey

This is a sponsored post. All opinions are mine. And, as usual, I will only write about products that I really love! 

You guys. I just made the best pizza. I know, I know, we all think we make the best pizza, but this really is the tops. I mean, just look at it! The golden, chewy, whole wheat crust, saucy sauce, basil pesto, loads of mozzarella - fresh and shredded, thinly sliced jalapeno pepper, heaps of pepperoni, fresh basil leaves that I grew myself, and a good drizzle of honey. If you like your pizza with a bit of heat and sweet, then this recipe is for you. It's the second installment for my partnership with Grimm's Fine Foods this summer, and I'm so pleased I get to bring you the very best ideas on how to use their excellent products. They are always gluten, lactose and soy free, with no MSG added and contain no fillers or sketchy bi-products. And, they are made in Canada!

Pear and Goat Cheese Tartlets with Honey Drizzle

This is a sponsored post. I was compensated financially by California Bartlett Pears. All thoughts and opinions about these pears are my own.

My love for pears runs deep. It always has and always will. Pears whisper their flavour, rather than shout it from the rooftops like many of the fruits currently having their moment. Pears are the underdogs of the fruit world, and I kind of love them for that. Their subtle sweetness is still something I crave in this season of peaches and cherries. For a fruit lover like, me, I’m pretty much in heaven! That’s why when I saw baskets full of beautiful California Bartlett Pears at my local supermarket, my heart leapt a little. These sweet and juicy pears are only available for several weeks in July and August which means I can get my pear love in the summer and then in the fall with the pears from beautiful British Columbia. It’s a win win for me!

Rustic Fig & Honey Goat Cheese Tart

"The measure of your life is the amount of beauty and happiness 

of which you are aware." ~ Agnes Martin 

The earth is quietly opening up around here.  Today I looked at the teeny buds on the lilac bush in the front yard, and on the apple and plum trees behind the house.  Tentative first steps of the beauty that lies ahead.  It's been a warmer than usual spring.  Typically there should still be snow lingering, but it's been gone for a couple of weeks now.  Even the grass is beginning to turn green, and the cats couldn't be happier.  Their little mouths chomp down voraciously on the fresh chlorophyll until they eat too much and...we all know what happens when cats eat too much grass.  I too have the spring fever and can't wait to don a new pair of garden gloves and begin peeling back the layers of mulch in the flower beds.  I'm always pleased to see the fresh growth underneath.  I silently congratulate the perennials for surviving another bitter winter.  Like us locals, they too deserve a pat on the back for enduring another multi-month Saskatchewan deep freeze.  As the cats roamed the perimeter, I sat in one of the dusty patio chairs hauled out from the garage and turned my face towards the sun (I wasn't even wearing a jacket!) grateful for another season of fresh, happy starts. 

Saskatoon Berry Spelt & Honey Scones

 

Do you believe we are easing into Easter weekend...already?  Holy man, a quarter of the year done.  Just like that.  Easter is one of my favourite holidays.  Being a chef, the Christmas season is too stressful and chaotic to really enjoy.  Easter is more my style - the snow is (finally!) melting, the birds are singing and the earth is letting out a long sigh, preparing to begin again.  Winter's bulk and baggage is a distant memory.  Easter is about fresh starts and new beginnings and eating countless mini eggs because it's impossible to just stop at one or one handful.  It's about dipping eggs in dye and braiding bread and oh my, the hot cross buns.  Easter is about forging forward - eyes bright, gazing ahead, wondering where life's journey will lead to next.

Good For Ya: Peanut Butter Date Cookies with Cacao Nibs

I had second thoughts on telling you about these cookies, mainly because I didn't think they were super photogenic.  Silly me.  While they don't necessarily rack up the food porn points, they score a ten out of ten for their delicious healthy goodness.  I first spied these cookies over on Sprouted Kitchen (naturally) and knew right away I must make them.  I'm a fan of the date, especially the fat and juicy Medjool variety, and any time I can sneak dates into baked goods, I'm there.  Plus all you need for these cookies is a food processor, your hands and a fork.  Gotta love a low maintenance cookie.  Save the oven for another baking experience because these babies are raw, as in unbaked.  Did I mention they're vegan and gluten free too?  Well now you know. You know what else?  There is no butter in the recipe, and I don't even miss it.  That's a fact.  These cookies are good for ya!  So let's jump to it!  

Sweet Tidings! Brown Butter Ginger Cookies with Honey Mascarpone Cream

Two days before the big day, and I'm happy to report the unwinding has begun.  For the last several weeks the ol' nerves have been wound tighter than a Christmas Cracker.  No joke.  Just ask the handsome man.  But with the final catering gig out of the way, and an order from the boss not to return for two weeks, I'm able to finally feel merry about the season.  Yesterday I drove about town, not even bothered about the hideous road conditions in my city, and dropped off parcels of goodies to friends I haven't seen in so long.  Christmas hugs and wishes of good cheer felt so good.  I'm hoping the stress and anxiety of the last several weeks will wash away with a good dose of deep sleep, good food & drink and so much laughter my cheeks hurt.  And cookies.  This is really the only time of year when it's perfectly acceptable to have cookies at all meals.  Am I right or am I right?