BRANDY SLUSH

Take a sip:  You might want to enjoy this before summer is up!

Today is my man's Birthday, and we are having a bit of a shin dig tonight......and more of this will definitely be happening!

Simply thaw a container of orange juice concentrate and lemonade concentrate, and mix with 8 cups of water and 2 cups of brandy in a bowl, and put into your freezer.  Because of the alcohol, it wont freeze solid, and will be a slushy mixture that you can fluff nicely with a fork.

Fill a glass 3/4 with the mixture, and top with either Sprite or sparkling water and ENJOY!

You can keep the mixture in your freezer for future use, and just 'fork' before you are going to use it again!

This is sooooo good, and quite refreshing.

xo, Alysha

GRILLED CAESAR SALAD - AND EVERYTHING ELSE!

This has been a hit all summer, and boy, we have made it a lot!

My husband is loving this this summer.  He wants to spend lots of time on the Barbie (which I have NEVER touched), and I am more of a kitchen person, but I am loving everything on it, and every time he goes out, we keep trying more things to add!

Ingredients:

• Romaine hearts cut in halfs or quarters - your choice
• Lemons, cut in half (They are amazing and JUICY, believe me!)
• Prosciutto, toasted until crisp
• Sliced parmesan cheese
• Caesar salad dressing - use one of your choice - or use recipe below
• Olive oil
• Freshly ground pepper

On the side:

• Watermelon rounds cut into quarters, and topped with black pepper (grilled as well!)
• Honey drizzle
• Hot peppers (jalapeno, banana ,etc.) hollowed out with a vegetable peeler, and stuffed with smoked gouda cheese, asiago cheese, cooked sausage.....anything you have around or can think of!

Directions:

• Heat your BBQ grill to medium.
• Brush your lettuce with olive oil
• Place all of your items on the grill, and remove when they have nice grill marks / cheese is melted.
• Layer lettuce with drizzled caesar salad dressing, prosciutto (or bacon), and parmesan shards.  Drizzle honey over watermelon (It's even better when the salad dressing and honey mix in the middle!).
• Squeeze lemon over salad.

Fresh Caesar Salad Dressing:

Combine:

• 4 cloves garlic, peeled, and smashed into a paste
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• ground black pepper to taste
• 2 - 4 smashed to a paste anchovy fillets (or just use paste)
• 2 large fresh eggs

Whisk well together.

In a slow steady stream, whisk in 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil.

Voila!

We have also grilled radicchio, it is a bit tougher, so you might want to marinate it in olive oil, balsamic vinegar and some favourite herbs for 1/2 and hour to an hour.

Bon Appetit!

xo, Alysha

MAPLE GLAZED DONUT BUNDT CAKE

I LOVE Maple anything and everything.......so you're going to be seeing a lot of maple around here.  I made this a couple of weeks back, and everyone was drooling over it.

What you're going to need to get this made:

• a bundt pan (obviously)

Cake:

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 4 eggs, separated
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 3 tsp maple extract (Zehrs carries it)
• 3 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 cup buttermilk (If you don't have buttermilk, simply combine 1 cup of milk and stir in 1 tbsp white vinegar or lemon juice to make it.  Let the mixture stand for 10 minutes, and when it is all curdled looking, stir again, and you are ready to go!)
• 6 tbsp maple syrup
• 1 tbsp warm water

Maple Glaze:

• 6 tbsp maple syrup
• 2 tsp maple extract
• 1 cup icing sugar

Instructions:

Cake

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• In a large bowl, beat butter with 1 cup of the sugar until fluffy. Beat in egg yolks, 1 at a time.  Beat in sour cream and maple extract.
• In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda.  Stir into butter mixture, alternating with buttermilk, making 3 additions of flour mixture and 2 of buttermilk, to make a stiff batter.
• In a separate bowl, using clean beaters, beat egg whites util soft peaks form.  Beat in remaining 1/2 cup sugar, until firm glossy peaks form. 
• Fold 1/3 of the egg mixture into batter with a spatula, then fold remaining egg white mixture in as well.  
• Scrape into greased and floured bundt pan, smoothing top.
• Bake cake 40 to 50 minutes until toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.
• Let cool in pan for approximately 20 minutes.  Using a knife, loosen edge of cake from pan.  Invert onto a drying rack, that has a sheet of wax paper under to keep your counter clean.  
• Mix maple syrup with warm water, then brush all over the cake.  Let cool completely

Maple Glaze

• Mix maple syrup with maple extract.  Stir in icing sugar to make a thick pourable glaze.  You can add a drop of water or two to reach desired consistency.
• Pour over cake and let stand until set

Makes 14 servings (or far fewer if you want to cut yourself some giant slices).

Enjoy!

xo, Alysha

CHOCOLATE BEER FLOAT

Great in the summer, great in the winter, even my friends who don't like beer have loved this!

Simply pour 1/2 cup (or more) chocolate beer over a scoop of chocolate ice cream in a glass, and add about 1 tbsp maple syrup.

Garnish with sliced almonds, and some cacao nibs if you have them around.

Enjoy!

xo, Alysha

CRAFT BEER FEST AND A FAVOURITE COOK BOOK

This coming weekend (Saturday, August 22nd, and Sunday, August 23rd) is the Niagara Craft Beer Festival.  I went to last years that was held at Montebello Park.  If you are a craft beer fan (and gourmet food truck fan), this is a can't miss event!  How can you beat the opportunity to sample around 100 craft beers?!

Plus, there is a groupon to buy your ticket and some beer tokens until Thursday night at a highly discounted rate!

https://www.groupon.com/deals/niagara-craft-beer-festival

Last Sunday I got to go hang gliding for the first time with my dad.  It was pretty AWESOME!

Much less exhilarating then the sky diving that we did a couple of years ago, but you got to enjoy the ride a lot more.  The best part was landing when you feel like you are nose diving towards the ground full speed ahead.  I would definitely recommend this for those of you who would like a little thrill.  I will definitely be doing it again, but likely somewhere on vacation where you get to jump off a cliff in lieu of being pulled up by a winch.  It was very comfortable and your could see all of Toronto.

We went in Pickering at High Perspective.

!!!  COOK BOOK RECOMMENDATION   !!!

My best friend introduced me to the cookbook 'The Forest Feast' this past winter, and it is absolutely amazing.  The author has developed the recipes herself, takes all the photographs, paints the watercolour pictures throughout the cook book, and has done the beautiful hand lettering.  It is a beautiful experience from start to finish!  I love nothing more than sitting on the couch late at night with a great cookbook and plan what I am going to eat.

Disclosure - it is vegetarian.....but who cares.

Here is a sample of how beautiful and simple the pages are throughout.

I have tried about 15 recipes out of it, and all have been fantastic. Her salads are simply beautiful creations, and are very seasonally inspired.  Below are a few pictures of the one I have made that I have actually thought to photograph.

'Green Salad'

'Strawberry Cucumber Salad'

'Black Radish and Citrus Salad'

Pssst....  I will be posting the recipe for the above Chocolate Beer Float with my own little twist on it later this week.

Bon Appetit!

xo, Alysha

MEDITERRANEAN TURKEY BURGERS

These have been a staple in my house for many years now.  They are particularly excellent during the summer.  Feel free to put a bun around it, but I like it without (don't worry, I am a big bread eater, I just for some reason love a fantastic burger    as is!).

Ingredients:

• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup pitted kalamata olives, chopped
• 1/4 cup dry bread crumbs
• 1 tsp
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 lb ground turkey

Toppings:

• Sliced mozzarella cheese, be it from the block, or fresh buffalo mozzerella
• Tomato slices
• Fresh basil leaves
• Olive oil, balsamic vinegar and freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

• Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl, and divide into four patties.
• Cook 'em
• Top with toppings, and enjoy!

Makes 4 burger patties

Do yourself a favour, and double, triple, quadruple this recipe!  They freeze great, simply wrap each individual patty with wax paper, and freeze in an airtight bag.

Bon Appetit!

xo, Alysha

COLD BREW COFFEE

I love cold brew coffee.  They sell concentrates for it all over, and boy is it expensive!  I have been making it at home all year for a fraction of the cost.  It lasts in your fridge for up to 2 weeks......but it definitely wont last 2 weeks!

Cold brew coffee is much less acidic because it never comes in contact with heated water.  There is also high levels of caffeine in comparison to conventional brewing methods.  My girlfriend who doesn't drink coffee because it gives her instant heartburn loves this stuff!

To Make:

• Soak 1 1/2 cups coarsely ground coffee grinds (any normal cheap coffee brand) in 7 cups of cold water, covered, in a pitcher for 15 hours (or round about) overnight.  Make sure you stir it well so that all of the grinds are saturated.

• Strain the brew through a coffee filter, and then strain it again through a fresh coffee filter (believe me, it makes a difference).  Other recipes say you can use cheese cloth or a french press, but this is my method of choice.

• To make a coffee, simply add some ice cubes to a glass, and fill halfway with cold brew and top off with milk.  I use about 1/2 tsp agave nectar as a sweetener in it and drink it with a straw. You can also drink it as is, use vanilla, or any other sweetener you may like.

I had also seen some recipes for a cold brew tonic around.  It is a lot closer to a black coffee in taste (I am not a black coffee drinker, so not really up my ally to judge).  I made it for my cousin who is a black coffee drinker, and she loved it!

Cold Brew Tonic:

• Simply pour 1 part cold brew coffee and 2 parts tonic water, soda water, or sparkling water (we used sparkling water......we like to keep our sweets for actual sweet stuff) over ice and adorn with a sprig of rosemary for essence.

I also heard it's great with gin in it!

Enjoy!

xo, Alysha

PEACH PROSCIUTTO DIP

We had this dip this past weekend while my cousins were over for dinner.  It was     TO DIE FOR.

I should have taken a picture during the eating process to show you just how delectable the inside was.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups ricotta cheese
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3oz sliced prosciutto, ripped into pieces (or whatever amount you have around)
• 3 very ripe peaches, diced
• handful of small basil leaves, ripped
• a drizzle of store bought balsamic syrup
• coarsely ground black pepper to taste

Directions:

• Combine ricotta and salt in a food processor and blend until mixture is very smooth.
• Spread evenly into a wide shallow bowl or glass pie plate.
• Sprinkle prosciutto over top evenly.
• Top with peaches.
• Cover and chill to refrigerate at least 1 hour.  (I wouldn't leave it overnight, it starts to break down.
• When ready to serve, scatter with basil leaves, drizzle with balsamic syrup, and grind black pepper overtop.
• ENJOY!!!!

Makes approximately 3 cups.

I served it on toasted pita points, but you could serve on just about anything (make sure it is strong enough, the dip was quite heavy) you can come up with....or even just eat it by the spoonful, it was that good!  I slice my pita's, brush with olive oil, and scatter either black pepper and an herb mix over top, or use Herbamare zesty sea salt mix, and bake for about 5 minutes at a 350 degree oven, or until your desired crispness is reached.

Because it is peach season, and they are sooo good right now, I have been stocking up and flash freezing them to put in my freezer for future use.

I will use them to make this dip, maybe a crumble, and mostly for in my morning smoothies until they run out.

I also buy the large cartons of ricotta cheese, and freeze the remainder for future use, because it turns so quickly after opening.

Bon Appetit!

xo, Alysha

WHY HELLO THERE......

Hi Y'all,

I'm pretty shy, so getting started here is kinda awkward for me.

I've been told a ton of times that I should write a blog, have a restaurant, have a B&B, be an interior decorator, be a party planner, cater, start a small craft brewery and bistro combo, and the list goes on.  I also get asked all the time how I know about all the events (especially free or fantastically priced ones) going on in the Niagara Region and its surroundings.  So here it goes....

I am going to attempt to dish out some fun and fantastic recipes that I am making for dinner parties (I love food and to entertain) and my attempts to stock my freezer for the busier times in life (I freeze EVERYTHING!), drink recipes, kitchen products I can't live without, events going on in the area (We live in such a great area, there is sooo much going on), exciting places to eat, and snippets around my house while I am decorating.

This past weekend I went to see a Bob Marley cover band called Lazo at a fantastic venue on the water in Welland called Concerts on the Canal at Merritt Park Amphitheatre.  They offer free concerts throughout the summer.

They have a couple of other concerts on the go still this summer.  On Friday, August 21st there is a tribute to the music of Fleetwood Mac and Stevie Nicks, as well as Tom Petty.  On Friday, September 4th there is an Elvis Tribute.  We have seen two so far this summer, and the music has been fantastic (my husband is extremely picky and critical when it come to live bands, and if he loves it, it should be great!)

Later on in the weekend we hosted a dinner party with a couple of my cousins, one of which gave me the go - ahead to host her baby shower (sooo excited!)

We preceded this with some pretty exciting appetizers.  We had Peach Prosciutto Dip with toasted pita points, Caviar Dip with a medley of root vegetable chips, and raw oysters on the half shell, and BBQ'd oysters with a spicy herbed butter compote blobbed on top.  I will be showcasing the Peach Prosciutto Dip later this week.

xo, Alysha