Category: Food and drink

Posted on in entertainment, Food and drink, lifestyle, travel

Six winter cures to get you through the rest of January and February

My friend looking at a shark

It’s deep in the heart of January. I look out my window and see dullish grey skies, and a heavy blanket of melting snow and ice from a week of ice storms and rain. It’s the very definition of blah.

If you’re one of the lucky ones, you have a trip booked south to some spectacular warm destination with sandy white beaches, crystal azure waters and breathtaking blue skies.

If you’re one of the unlucky ones staring down another two solid months of cold and grey, I offer you these winter cures guaranteed to lift your spirts.

  1. Grab your swimsuit and the kids, and spend the afternoon at your local indoor pool. If you have some money to splurge, find one with an indoor waterpark or slides—we used to take the kids to Great Wolf Lodge and always found an afternoon inside the warm, balmy swim park as the snow gently fell on the domed glass the ultimate cure for the winter blahs
  2. Have a hot toddy or specialty coffee, the perfect COVID cure. Our “go to” in the winter months is an Irish coffee with Bushmills and Baileys—the perfect combo
  3. Channel your inner Scandinavian and have a spa or sauna day. Check out Nordik spa in Gatineau or Stoked Sauna Co., a new sauna experience in Kingston on the patio of the Frontenac Club that offers sauna and outdoor firepits for cooling off
  4. Plan a day at an indoor garden, conservatory or aquarium. The Butterfly Conservatory in Niagara, Ripley’s Aquarium in Toronto or Aquatarium in Brockville are all excellent options (read my blog posts Discover an undersea world and Play tourist in your own town for more)
  5. Get creative and sign up for a local arts workshop. We are very fortunate to have a world-class arts facility right in the heart of Kingston, the Tett Centre for Creativity and Learning. Check out their line-up of winter workshops with offerings like this one “Make a live edge charcuterie board” with local wood artist Nick Allinson
  6. Splurge on a scrumptious night out. Kingstonlicious is on now and features signature and tableau d’hote meals at some of Kingston finest restaurants. Check out the $60 tableau d’hote menu at Chez PIggy featuring roasted dry-brined chicken with peasant salad or the three-course meal for two for $60 at Harper’s Burger Bar featuring nan’za, lamb curry, and coconut alfajores. 

This week’s #HappyAct is to choose your ultimate winter cure. Be sure to check in next week for #7 on the list!

Girls looking at fish from a porthole

Clare and her friends looking at fish from the porthole at the Aquatarium in Brockville

Posted on in arts, Food and drink, holidays

Enjoy a homemade Christmas

homemade Christmas wrap

I’ve decided each year I’m going to try to resist the trappings and wrappings of the commercial side of Christmas and embrace a homemade yuletide celebration. Here are some easy, simple ideas to bring Christmas home:

  • Make your own egg nog. If you’ve ever had homemade egg nog, you’ll know it’s the BOMB! Check out Jaime Oliver’s egg nog recipe.
  • Try making a gingerbread log cabin or house from scratch instead of buying a store-bought kit.
  • A great craft to do with kids is making glass Christmas ornaments. Buy a dozen basic plain glass balls and a selection of paints. Pour the paint in the balls and swirl it around so it covers the whole surface, then turn them upside down to drain in egg cartons. If you choose any colour mixed with white, you get a beautiful hand-blown glass look.
  • Go for a hike and cut down some grapevine and cedar to make your own wreaths and garland.
  • If you’re not a great baker or cook, you can still make some simple yummy homemade treats to give as gifts. Check out this recipe for Spicy coated nuts and my recipe below for homemade caramel corn that Dave and I make every year
  • Be environmentally friendly and make your own holiday wrap using up that stack of plain brown paper bags sitting in your back closet. Make them festive by gluing pretty pictures from a magazine or old Christmas cards on them or spruce them up using sprigs of pine, ribbon or candy canes.

I’m not very crafty, but here are some of the treasured things I’ve made over the years for Christmas that bring me joy. Happy holidays!

Homemade Caramel Corn

2 cups popped corn (to make 30 cups of popcorn)
1 cup butter or margarine
2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Pop the corn and place in two large roasting pans. In heavy saucepan, combine the rest of the ingredients. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves about 5 minutes. The butter won’t look like it’s blended in, but don’t worry about it. Remove from heat and stir in baking so it foams a bit. Pour over popcorn, stirring constantly, then place in a 250 degree oven for 45-60 minutes. Stir every 15 minutes.

glass ornament
homemade cedar garland
Christmas tree made out of willow
Posted on in Food and drink

Liquid sunshine

Bottles of scotch

Tis the season of obscenely priced beverages at our favourite retailer, the LCBO.

Yesterday, I was in the liquor store shopping for wine, and a lovely sales representative asked if I wanted a sample of single malt scotch as part of Whiskey Month. I immediately said yes, abiding by the Swinton golden rule: never turn down free stuff, especially alcohol or food.

It was purely medicinal of course. I was just getting over the worst cold I’ve had in over a year. There’s nothing like a good shot of whiskey to clear the head and chest.

They were serving two options: an Irish whiskey called Roe & Company at the bargain price of $55 a bottle and a $109 bottle of Lagavulin 8 Year Old Single Malt Scotch. I naturally went for the $109 bottle.

It was warm, smooth and surprising, with a strong campfire taste, smoky, infused with hints of nut and oak like no other whiskey I’ve tasted before.

My love of Irish whiskey goes back to my twenties when Dave and I went to Ireland for a friend’s wedding. Just about every night, after we left the bars, we’d end up in someone’s kitchen until three in the morning with a bottle of Bushmills on the table.

I’m always surprised how smooth a straight shot of whiskey is and the wonderful warm feeling you get as it swirls around your nose, throat and chest. It’s like drinking a warm blanket.

But even though I’m Scottish, I have to confess I’ve always been partial to Irish whiskey and now I know why. I learned as I was taste testing that while both spirits are distilled liquors, Scotch is distilled twice while Irish whiskey is distilled three times. This extra distillation gives it a smoother finish and some say make it the best in the world.

Johnny Carson once said, “Happiness is having a rare steak, a bottle of whiskey, and a dog to eat the rare steak.”

This week’s #HappyAct is to enjoy a wee dram of your favourite scotch or whiskey. If you buy a bottle at the LCBO before November 8 and are an Aeroplan member, you can be entered in a contest to win a round-trip ticket for two to anywhere Air Canada flies.

While you’re there, check out the Kurayoshi 18 Year Old Malt Whiskey, named Japanese Whiskey of the Year for a mere $654 a bottle or an $845 bottle of Macallan Sherry Oak Old Highland Single Malt Scotch Whiskey.

Happy imbibing!

Posted on in Food and drink, holidays

Who you should really be thankful for this Thanksgiving

turkeys on a farm

A few weeks ago, I attended a “Meet a Farmer” night hosted by South Frontenac Township as part of the Open Farm Days events.

It was a lively, informal and highly illuminating discussion of the trials, tribulations and joys of small-scale farming in eastern Ontario.

I learned I have a lot to learn about the food that goes on my table.

One of the panelists was Sarah Winney from The Rise Farm in Godfrey. Sarah and her partner Rob sell farm fresh ducks, chickens, turkeys, rabbits, and eggs along with bread and kitchen pantry staples, such as seasoning salt, farm fresh garlic, and marinades.

You would think it would be a relatively simple process for small-scale farmers like Sarah and Rob to get meat butchered and prepared, but it’s not. Sarah and Rob have to take their meat to five different abbatoirs, some as far as 300 kms away. That’s because there isn’t enough abbatoirs to meet the demand, and the big ones are dominated by the large meat producers.

They could prepare their birds and rabbits themselves, but they aren’t allowed to. Regulations stipulate the meat needs to be taken to a licensed abbatoir (they can kill their own birds, but only for their own consumption, not for retail).  

As a result, it’s very expensive to get their ducks, turkeys and chickens prepped—it can cost them as much as $9 a bird, which leaves very little profit margin.

The cost is even higher if they have the abbatoir label the packages with weight and other information which is a requirement if they want to sell their meat at farmer’s market (which is why it’s rare to see meat farmers in local farmers markets by the way).

Another thing I didn’t know is when you buy a pound of beef, it can actually be parts of 20 different cows in the package, as opposed to just a single cow when you buy beef directly from a farmer.

A few years ago, a local farmer looked into building a new abbatoir to serve small-scale farmers in our area. There was huge interest and he even had the support of local officials, but the costs ballooned past the $5 million mark and they just couldn’t make it work.  

I walked away that night with a new, deep-founded respect for farmers and the obstacles they need to overcome to put food on the table for their own families and other families.

Before you pass around the mashed potatoes, turkey, ham and squash this weekend, be sure to thank a farmer.

Posted on in dogs, family, Food and drink, travel

Visit a Farm

water buffalo in a big puddle

Last one in is a smelly Buffalo!

Yesterday, Dave and I visited the Ontario Water Buffalo Company farm and store in Stirling, Ontario.

We were greeted in the farm store by a young girl, who handed us a self-guided map and invited us to take a tour of this working farm.

Our tour guide was an Australian shepherd who led the way from paddock to pen to the various barns and milking stations.

dog in calf barn

The farm has a massive herd of 800 water buffalo and the paddocks are organized by age, with the adults, tweens and babies separated in the calf barn.

I was very taken by these interesting creatures. The babies in the calf barn were either very curious and friendly, eager for a pet or very shy, backing away from the stall when you went to touch them.

The adults were HUGE with massive teats, broad girths and some with devil horns that twisted around their head.

baby water buffalo

The farm operation was very modernized, with robotics in the milking barn that steered the cows into their stalls and automatic milkers that disconnected immediately as soon as the cows gave their 8-10 litres per day of milk.

We learned 15% of the world’s milk comes from water buffalo and an adult water buffalo can reach weights up to 2600 pounds.

milking stalls on farm

After our tour, we shopped in the farm’s Buff Stuff Store which carries every type of buffalo meat you can imagine from testicles (limit one per customer!), to liver, to beef patties and steaks and cheeses made from the buffalo milk, their most popular being their mozzarella di bufala, as well as jewelry and steins made out of buffalo horns.

After buying some buffalo burgers for the barbecue, we chatted with owners Martin Littkemanna and Lori Smith, whose young daughter was selling lemonade and homemade cookies to raise money for a friend whose mother was fighting cancer.

adult water buffalo

Dave asked about the different species of water buffalo, since when we were in Tanzania we had been warned that they could be aggressive. Martin explained there are two main types of water buffalo, river buffalo and swamp buffalo and the ones found on their farm are domesticated with a much more docile personality than the ones we saw in Africa.

Fall is a great time to tour a farm and many local communities host farm events. If you live in eastern Ontario, Open Farm Days in Frontenac County run from September 1 to October 15 and offer a huge array of back-to-the-farm experiences, some free for the whole family. For more information, see openfarms.ca.

water buffalo in pond
author kissing a water buffalo
Posted on in Food and drink, humour

Dear Kettlemans

Kettlemans bagel counter

For two weekends in a row, I’ve driven two hours each way to our nation’s capital for a dozen of your bagels.

Well, technically, the reason why I drove two hours to Ottawa was to take Dave to the airport for a fishing trip, but really that was just a convenient excuse for making the pilgrimage to your fine establishment.

You see I am batty for bagels, and not just any bagels, your bagels. Your bagels are, by far, the best.

I’ve tried others. Costco bagels are doughy and devoid of flavour. Dempsters bagels are bland and boring. Tim Horton’s bagels are trite and tasteless. None of them can hold a candle to your perfect blend of salty, toasted, melt in the mouth buttery bagel.

To quote Sinead O’Connor, nothing compares to you. You are my everything bagel. I knead you.

But two hours is a bit far to drive every weekend, so I’m writing to you to invite you to set up shop on the beautiful shores of the St. Lawrence in the limestone city.

Kingston has wonderful outdoor patios, award-winning restaurants, eclectic bars and trendy coffee shops. We are, however, devoid of bagels.

The sign at your Woodroffe location says, “Open 24/7, 365 days of the year”.

Come to Kingston. We’re not that demanding. Heck, you could be open three hours a day, 100 days of the year, and that would be enough for us to get our weekly fix and be happy campers.

I hope I’m not spreading it on too thick, and thanks for hearing me out but let’s put a ring on it right now. I can’t wait for the day I wake up to you every morning.

Lots of love and lox,

Laurie

Kettlemans bagel dough
Warm bagels out of the oven
Posted on in Food and drink, health and wellness

Swipe right to the fridge: having a healthy relationship with food

Dear friends. This week, I’m asking for your advice.

All my life, I’ve struggled with my weight. The reason? I love food and I’m not willing to give it up.

Until now, it hasn’t been a problem. I’ve always been fairly active and healthy, and it was an easy choice to keep eating what I want and not worry about my body size or image to be happy. We also tend to eat relatively healthy: no processed foods or fast food.

But as the years have gone by, I’m finding it harder to feel good about my weight. Breaking my ankle this winter was also a breaking point. All of a sudden, I couldn’t walk to keep the pounds off. 

Maybe I need to do something drastic or crazy like Kevin Maginnis. The 57-year old Nashville man was a TikTok and talk show sensation after eating at McDonalds three times a day for 100 days. He lost 58 pounds and says he’s never felt healthier (and his blood work proved it). He said the key was eating less—in contrast to the famous SuperSized documentary, he ordered whatever he wanted, but downsized all his meals.

When he was asked by the Today Show hosts how he was going to sustain his weight loss, he said, “Half a plate to lose the weight, three quarters of a plate to maintain your weight.”

Actress Jamie Lee Curtis once said in an interview, the key to being healthy and fit as you age is simple: eat less, move more.

Sounds simple, right? But if it’s that simple, then why do so many of us struggle with losing weight, especially as we age? At least I know I’m not alone. It’s the only thing Oprah and I have in common.

This week’s #HappyAct is to weigh in and lay it on me thick, like butter: what is your best advice for keeping your weight in check?

Posted on in entertainment, Food and drink

Hail to the Shamrock Shake

They’re back. Nothing says green and spring than sipping a minty, delicious McDonald’s Shamrock Shake®.

The Shamrock Shake was created in 1967 by Hal Rosen, a Connecticut McDonald’s owner and operator who made the delicious, minty shake to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. It became a staple in the McDonald’s menu in March when it rolled out across the nation in 1970. Here are six fun, interesting tidbits you may not know about the Shamrock Shake that will make you want to zip into your local McDonald’s drive through faster than a leaping leprachaun.  

  1. The Shamrock Shake helped build the very first Ronald McDonald House in Philadelphia and has strong ties to the Philadelphia Eagles. The daughter of Philadelphia Eagles tight end Fred Hill was being treated for leukemia in 1974. The Hill family were camping out in waiting rooms in hospitals and saw other families doing the same. They contacted their local McDonalds owner to see if they could come up with a promotion to help raise money for a place to stay for out-of-town families visiting a sick child in a hospital. The campaign raised enough to buy a four-story house in Philadelphia, the first Ronald McDonalds House. (Ronald McDonalds’ houses are now in 70 countries around the world).
  2. Some of the marketing campaigns for the famous green St. Paddy’s Day beverage have been “a bit of Irish luck in every sip”, “tis the first green of spring” and my favourite, “They won’t be around for long, and that’s no blarney” from this 1983 TV commercial.
  3. McDonald’s introduced the “Shamrock Sundae” for a limited time in 1980, a version of their classic soft serve sundae with a minty green topping, but it wasn’t successful and lasted only a year.
  4. On March 17, 2010, the world’s largest Shamrock Shake was poured into the Chicago River in honor of a donation to develop a new RMHC house. The shake was 24 feet tall.
  5. In 2017, McDonalds added chocolate to the iconic shake and called it the “McLeprechaun”. For the launch, it introduced a revolutionary limited-edition straw designed by a team of aerospace and robotic engineers. The straw was optimally designed to suck 50% chocolate and 50% mint in each sip.
  6. The Shamrock Shake is offered in Ireland, but with mixed reception, mainly due to McDonald’s marketing efforts. In 2017, McDonald’s had to apologize to the entire country for one commercial that featured a man with red hair wearing a tartan (which is Scottish) playing the milkshake like a set of bagpipes (which are also Scottish) in front of Stonehenge (which is in England), while sheep roam around in the background. 

This week’s #HappyAct is to pay homage to the frosty green of spring and make your way to McDonalds today. Here’s another classic commercial from the 80’s showing the short-lived Shamrock Sundae and one of the child actors wearing a t-shirt saying, “Kiss me I’m Irish”.

Posted on in Food and drink, health and wellness, lifestyle, mental health

Tea for Two

tea setting

Special guest post by Jill Yokoyama

Sharing a pot of tea is a ritual in many cultures. My family has a British-Australian background so I learned how to make a decent cup of tea early on, and our family often made a pot of tea after dinner. My husband’s family is Japanese and my late mother-in-law’s green tea set is a cherished possession in our house, a connection to someone very dear to us.

Morning tea in Australia and New Zealand is a daily tradition at 10:30 or 11:00 am. It is a break at school or work when everyone pauses for a cup of tea (or coffee) and a biscuit or small snack. It is a time to make announcements, welcome new employees, give a shout-out to someone who deserves it, or have a friendly chat with colleagues. Even on a road trip Australians will have a morning tea break with a thermos of tea at a roadside picnic table. No Tim Hortons drive-thru for the Aussies! 

Tea is a beverage used to comfort others, a way of saying “everything will be alright”. The acts of boiling the kettle, warming the teapot, letting the tea steep, stirring the tea in the cup are comforting. Teatime reminds us of civility and of the late Queen Elizabeth II who many people viewed in a grandmotherly way. Problems big and small can be shared and solved over a cup of tea and a biscuit.

I have a friend who suffered a loss over the holidays. I wanted to offer her some comfort and a chance to sit and relax for a bit. It was fun for me to assemble a plate of sweet treats, get out all my finest teacups, saucers and spoons, and open up the tin of English tea that was a holiday gift.

We whiled away the afternoon with warm tea and conversation while the cold winter snow piled up outside the door. In a busy, chaotic world the tradition of sharing tea is just one way to maintain connections with friends. Consider it part of the shared effort that one puts into relationships that makes them cherished and lasting, and a way of showing that we care. 

Japanese green tea set
Posted on in Food and drink, mental health

The Happy Baker

Special guest post by Alison Taylor

On these grey, dreary wintry days, I find I have to really work hard to keep smiling. 

As I hunker down for the long wait for spring, I bake! Sure, the calorie count exceeds the daily recommended limit, but I try to offset it with morning winter walks. 

I love trying new recipes and my husband is happy to be the test taster. I search the internet for yummy recipes or go to my recipe box for the old faithfuls from my childhood. 

Cookies, squares, cakes. All good!  Sometimes that little hit of sugar gives you the boost you need to make it through the winter blues. 

So preheat your oven to 350F, grease the cookie tray, and start mixing up some yummy goodness for you and your family to enjoy and get you through those long winter days. 

Light as a Feather Gingerbread Cake

½ cup boiling water
½ cup shortening
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup light molasses
1 egg
1 ½ cup flour
½ tsp salt
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
¾ tsp ginger
¾ tsp cinnamon

Directions: Pour hot water over shortening. Add sugar, molasses, egg and beat well. Add sifted dry ingredients. Beat well until smooth. Bake in a 8” square pan at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. Serve with whipped cream and fresh strawberries (optional).

Cookies on a tray
biscotti