Category Beverage

Some simple moments in life call for extra-special celebration, like waking up to a fresh, white blanket of snow on a chilly morning: a new canvas to make footprints across, a harbinger of the season to come. How about building a snow fort with your kids, romping through a snow-covered field with your dog then gasping at the beautiful silence of a snow-covered forest, or the rush of that one thrilling ride down the toboggan hill that YOU took just to remember what it felt like? Winter is upon us. I prefer to embrace it like a true Canadian. Tilt your head back (Charlie Brown-style) and marvel at the beauty of nature as snowflakes dance down from the dark night sky all around you.

An extra special cup of hot chocolate is a wonderful way to celebrate moments like this. But instead of tasteless, overly-processed, overly-sweetened mixes, treat yourself to something very special (and healthier), at least this once:

Amedei Cioccolata in Tazza (Hot Chocolate) has just enough sweetness to balance the deep, rich chocolate flavour. Containing a minimum of 63% cocoa, this gourmet drinking chocolate is made by Amedei, a Tuscan chocolatier that produces what Food & Wine magazine called “the world’s best chocolate”. Just heat a cup of milk until hot and steamy, and then slowly whisk in the small grains of cocoa, stirring until completely dissolved.

I think it’s worth every penny as a thank you for someone special or to send a university student back to school with, just to remind them how much they are loved back home. Available at The Shop For All Reasons in Streetsville, Ontario. Check my Grocery Store Directory for details.

I love to drink mine in my favourite cup, given to me by a special friend as a thank you for picking him up from school every day. He wrote a little message on the cup to thank me. It warms my heart every time I drink from it.

Headline News:

Did you hear the details of the latest high-risk health hazard food recall or allergy alert issued by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency? If your answer is no, consider subscribing to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s email notification services and receive prompt, detailed, and accurate information directly in your in-box. Subscribe here: www.inspection.gc.ca. Or follow on twitter @CFIA_Food. For a list of the most recent public advisories on allergy alerts and high-risk food recalls click here: www.inspection.gc.ca/about-the-cfia/newsroom/food-recall-warnings

Grocery Store Find:

Unearthed: Mycryo powdered cocoa butter, a new form of healthier cooking, at Cousin’s Gourmet Market in Port Credit and on-line at www.goldaskitchen.com

Farm Market Find:

Spirit Tree Estate Cidery’s sparkling apple cider is ready now! Perfect for holiday entertaining. Try some out in their bistro and enjoy a delicious lunch too. Read more info here: www.olivetoeat.com

Restaurant News:

Paramount Fine Foods at Erin Mills Town Centre is opening at 8:00 a.m. on Friday November 15, 2013. Read about my visit to Paramount’s Crestlawn Drive location here:  www.olivetoeat.com

Port Credit’s newly renovated Snug Harbour looks modern, spacious, and beautiful. The Roasted Beet Salad with arugula, chèvre, and a well-balanced sweet honey vinaigrette is delicious.

Even if you are not a fan of cider, don’t miss an opportunity to enjoy a scenic drive to Spirit Tree Estate Cidery, an artisan cider mill gracing the Niagara Escarpment, in the picturesque hills of Caledon. While farm-fresh apples and carefully crafted cider are at the root of the Spirit Tree experience, there is much more to this story.

Of course, there are delicious sweet and hard ciders to sample in Spirit Tree’s tasting room or purchase in their farm store, as well as apples already-picked from the estate’s orchards.

I look forward to a glass of sweet apple cider in the fall, but I am a novice when it comes to hard ciders. To learn more about Spirit Tree Estate Cidery’s award-winning, artisanal ciders, click the Our Ciders tab and the Press tab on their website link at the end of this post.

What I find exceptional about Spirit Tree Estate Cidery is the attention to detail and high-quality standards that owners and founders Thomas Wilson and Nicole Judge have poured into their business, starting with their cider but apparent throughout their operations.

Nestled in the heart of their award-winning straw bale building is a specially designed wood-fired oven with thick stone masonry that retains heat for hours, even after the fire burns down and is cleaned out of the oven. From that oven, come some wonderful things.

Artisanal bread is handcrafted using old European techniques and preservative-free, natural ingredients, then baked fresh daily, directly on the clean oven hearth. There are several beautiful varieties of bread to choose from, including Caledon Sourdough, Red Fife Whole Wheat, Boston Mills Multigrain, and Epi (gorgeous French-inspired baguettes styled after wheat stalks).

I brought home a Tartine loaf – a Spirit Tree favourite, with a chewy crust and delicious interior.

Spirit Tree’s Maple Walnut Granola is roasted in the wood-fired oven. It has a crisp texture with a pleasing maple flavour that is not too rich or too sweet. It’s made from rolled oats, brown sugar, maple, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, flax seeds, almonds, pecans, vegetable oil, and vanilla. Healthy never tasted so good!

Whole pies and quiches (filled with a variety of delicious ingredients) are baked fresh on the premises and available ready-to-eat or frozen. I picked up a frozen Quiche Lorraine filled with bacon, potato, thyme and swiss cheese. I have it stored in my freezer, ready for an easy brunch. For Thanksgiving, consider pumpkin pie or gluten-free Applicious pumpkin pie, but be sure to call in advance to pre-order. Cheese buns, cinnamon buns, tarts, cookies, and scones (which are delicious, according to my sister) are offered daily.

Spirit Tree Estate Cidery even makes a couple of enticing gourmet pâtés. I picked up Pâté with Ice Cider & Shallots – the ingredients sound delectable: chicken livers, clarified butter, shallots, port, brandy, ice cider, Calvados, apple syrup, eggs, spices. It’s frozen in adorable little 165g ceramic pots – I am storing it in my freezer for Christmas entertaining.

The owners’ insistence on quality, natural ingredients is evident again in the gourmet food they bring in from local artisans. Spirit Tree’s farm store is filled with fine quality, artisanal gourmet food – a gourmet gal’s dream.

Meredith’s Ginger Syrup is a fusion of fresh ginger root extracts and natural honey raised on Meredith’s organic farm in Meaford, Ontario. My favourite way to add this healthy elixir to my diet it is to add the juice of half a lemon and a dash of cayenne powder to 1 cup of hot or cold water, then stir in two tablespoons of Meredith’s Ginger Syrup for a rejuvenating morning habit that my friend Angela has got me started on. Of course, you can omit the cayenne and the lemon and enjoy a lovely, soothing drink of spicy ginger that will warm you from the inside out.

Handcrafted in small batches at the Deerhurst resort in Muskoka by chef Shelley Westgarth, Belly Ice Cream is served in some of the finest restaurants (such as the Ritz Carlton’s TOCA) and sold in several of the finest gourmet food stores throughout Ontario (including Spirit Tree Estate Cidery). Shelley uses locally-sourced, all natural, preservative-free ingredients and dreams up a variety of creative, gourmet flavours like these.

I bought Dulce de Leche with Spiced Chocolate ice cream – did they know I was coming? This flavour was made for me: dulce de leche caramel ice cream, toffee bits and thin wafers of Belgian dark chocolate that melt on your tongue and leave you with a little kick of heat. A variety of amazing flavours, sold in 500 mL containers or individual serving sizes, are available at Spirit Tree Estate Cidery.

You will also find Sheldon Creek Dairy products (such as traditional unhomogenized milk with cream on the top), Wicked Shortbread, Roothman’s Gourmet Preserves, and a bounty of other gourmet goodies.

My sister and I enjoyed a light lunch in the tasting room. The high ceilings, rustic decor, and touches of elegant black or white calligraphy scrolled on the walls and blackboards made us feel like we were eating in a charming French mas (farmhouse). You can also eat on the outdoor porch or the picnic tables scattered on the lawn, if the weather permits. Brunch and lunch are served from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. daily. Daily sandwiches and a farmhouse charcuterie platter are also on the menu.

The atmosphere is casual but the quality of the food is superb. The daily quiche was filled with wood-oven-dried tomatoes, sautéed spinach, thyme and chèvre, all suspended in a lovely egg custard. It came with a healthy side salad of barley, red quinoa, baby arugula, and diced vegetables.

Our gracious and knowledgeable server, Alyssa, informed us that the daily soup (mushroom) was made with homemade vegetable stock, fresh rosemary from the garden, and a just a hint of cream. It was chock-full of mushrooms and had a full mushroom flavour – the best mushroom soup I have had in a long time.  Soup is served with slices of Spirit Tree’s delicious Country French bread.

I couldn’t resist and ordered both a well-prepared café latté and a freshly-pressed sweet cider that tasted like apple in a glass – so much fresher tasting than mass-produced, grocery store apple juice that has been processed, filtered, treated, sweetened, and watered down.

Friday night is pizza night. Though I haven’t had the opportunity to try Spirit Tree’s hand-tossed, wood-fired oven pizza yet, I am told that it is a real treat. Pizza toppings range from traditional to creative, quality ingredients. To an adventurous eater like me, the Cider House Blues pizza sounds heavenly: caramelized onions, wood-oven roasted potatoes, sliced apples, mozzarella, blue cheese, rosemary, and walnuts drizzled with honey. Oh my! Pizzas are served from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. and are baked to order, so call ahead. You can either take your pizza to go or enjoy it on Spirit Tree’s picnic tables, when weather permits.

Visit Spirit Tree Estate Cidery on Saturdays or Sundays at 2:00 p.m. for a drop-in, guided tour ($5 includes free-tasting) or check the website for details on pre-booked group tours. Sparkling sweet apple cider will be available in October, when Mother Nature dictates.

Fall is the perfect time of year to take a scenic drive through Caledon to Spirit Tree Estate Cidery. When I went with my sister last week, the leaves were just beginning to be tinged with colour. I’ll be back at Thanksgiving for more cider and again closer to Christmas to stock up on gourmet goodies for easy entertaining. I’d love to make it to the wassailing ceremony on Family Day in February, to sing to the apple trees. Stay tuned to my blog for more information, closer to the date. Whenever you go, bring a cooler to safely transport any frozen goodies home.

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Belly Ice Cream Company: www.bellyicecreamcompany.ca

Meredith’s Ginger Syrup: www.meredithsginger.ca

Roothmans Gourmet Preserves: www.roothamsgourmet.com

Sheldon Creek Dairy: www.sheldoncreekdairy.ca

Wicked Shortbread: https://www.facebook.com/wickedshortbread

I shared a spot of tea with my friend Christine recently, whose amiable British charm instantly wins over everyone. With the birth of several royal babies in my extended family (and oh yes, in the Royal Family too), we had a lot to talk about. Like a couple of birds, we perched ourselves in her enchanting backyard garden cottage.

Her garden cottage is so pretty and so tiny, it’s the perfect spot for a cup of tea or a midsummer night’s dream.

Her cottage is as dreamy as her delightful shop, Three Wishes, which Christine fills to the brim with the prettiest one-of-a-kind finds for home and garden.

I love Christine’s collection of shabby chic and antique furniture and accessories, all white and whimsical.

Look at this door that Christine turned into a chalkboard. The petticoat chandelier on the left would be darling in a little girl’s room.

In celebration of the royal babies, Christine and I enjoyed Ginger Tea Punch. My best friend’s mom, Mary, first served it to me at the baby shower she and her daughter hosted to celebrate the birth of my son. Olive it so much, it is now the only punch recipe I keep in my recipe files. It is light and refreshing and not too sweet, unlike most punches. Mary and her daughter are both talented cooks and lifelong friends. Mary and my mom shared a room in the hospital where Mary’s daughter and I were born, three days apart. We’ve been best friends ever since.

Mary’s Ginger Tea Punch

Makes about 12 cups

A light and refreshing punch. This recipe makes enough for a party. You can easily cut the recipe in half  but I am unable to find 1L ginger ale bottles. Be sure to make the lemonade ice cubes or ice ring (if you are serving it in a punch bowl). When the ice melts, it adds to the flavour of the punch.  The ice ring will stay frozen longer than the cubes.

Ingredients:

4 cups water

6 tablespoons white granulated sugar

1 teaspoon ground ginger

8 tea bags

1 2L bottle ginger ale, well-chilled

Lemonade to make lemonade ice cubes or ice ring

Directions:

1. The day before serving, pour lemonade into desired shaped mold (ice cube tray or Bundt pan) and freeze overnight, until ready to serve punch.
2. Several hours before serving, bring the water, sugar, and ground ginger to a rolling boil. Stir with a whisk. Add the teabags (do not stir), remove from heat, and steep for eight minutes. Gently remove teabags (without squeezing them) and refrigerate brewed tea until well chilled.
3. Just before serving, place brewed tea and ginger ale in a large container such as a punch bowl. Stir. Add lemonade ice. Serve immediately.

Here are my three wishes for you:

1) A few free moments to yourself to enjoy these beautiful, fleeting summer days.

2) A dreamy, enchanted space to steal away to (drop by Christine’s shop for some inspiration and a lovely chat).

3) Good friends, old and new, to treasure for a lifetime.

‘The best of British to you’ (good luck)!

Love,

Olive

Three Wishes

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