PEACH & OATS SMOOTHIE

This has been a breakfast staple in my house over the last couple of months since I've discovered it.  My man who HATES peaches can't even get enough of it (once he finally tasted a sip of mine)!  Every morning......are you making that peach smoothie?

Peach & Oat Smoothie

Ingredients:

• 1 peach chopped up (I buy and freeze them with their skins on and everything!)
• 3/4 cup plain yogurt
• 3/4 cup almond milk (plain milk would be fine, but almond or cashew milk add an awesome flavour!)
• 1/4 cup oats 
• 1 heaping tbsp full of flax seed - optional
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 4 ice cubes (for froth)

Directions:

• Put all the ingredients in the blender and blend well.
• Enjoy!

Serves 1

Bon Appetit!

xo, Alysha

Take a Sip: CAN - TUCKY SMASH

I am Scottish, therefore I have a Scotch family.......until one of my cousins went to university in Kentucky, now I have a Scotch and Bourbon family (Hallelujah!)

She came up with this drink that combines 2 of my favourite things (Bourbon and maple syrup), and coined it the Can - Tucky Smash (Can for Canada, Tucky for Kentucky, Smash ,obviously cause your mixing them up) and it is fantastic!

Ingredients:

• 1.5 ounces bourbon
• 1 ounce good quality maple syrup
• 1 ounce lemon juice (just use the squeeze stuff here)
• sprig of rosemary

What to do:

• Shake the ingredients over ice in a shaker.
• Pour over a couple of ice cubes in a nice glass.
• Adorn with a sprig of rosemary (it adds a little savoury flavour to the kinda sweet drink, and a whole other sense to it when you are smelling it's loveliness when taking a sip)
• Enjoy!  ...and then enjoy some more!

Note:  When you buy the package of rosemary, and you are not going to use it all, simply freeze the rest in an airtight bag, and use when you need it!  Throughout the winter, my rosemary from this drink usually comes from the freezer.  If you haven't noticed yet, I FREEZE EVERYTHING!

xo, Alysha

EDAMAME AT HOME!

My cousin made me homemade edamame (soy beans) earlier this year and it was fantastic!  Why had I never thought I could make one of my favourite treats from the Japanese restaurants at home, I don't know.

Here is a bit of a gourmet recipe, but following it is a staple (my cousin's Ian's recipe) that lives in my fridge, and is a frequent late night snack (who wouldn't rather this healthy -ish snack at night instead of chips or junk food).

Blistered Bacon and Garlic Edamame:

What you are going to need:

• package of frozen edamame in shell
• 10ish whole cloves of garlic, smashed with the back of a knife
• 4ish tsp sesame oil
• 1/2 cup crumbled cooked bacon pieces (I bake it in large quantities on baking pans covered in aluminum foil in the oven, then freeze it for when you need little bits)
• 3 tsp Japanese 7 spice blend - Shichimi Togarashi (It's at Zehr's and it's President's Choice black label)
• 1/2 tsp sea salt (you really need it to kill the heat in the spice blend)
• juice of 1 lime

How to make it:

• Steam your edamame in the microwave according to package directions on the back of the edamame bag.  
• In a large frying pan, heat the sesame oil over medium heat, and add the smashed garlic and the steamed edamame and cook until blistered, about 20 minutes.
• Toss in crumbled bacon.
• Remove from heat and toss with the Japanese 7 spice, sea salt, and the lime juice.
• Enjoy!     (This microwaves well to reheat!)

Everyday Edamame:

What you are going to need:

• package of frozen edamame in shell
• 4 tsp sesame oil
• 3 tsp Japanese 7 spice blend - Shichimi Togarashi (It's at Zehr's at it's President's Choice black label)
• 1/2 tsp sea salt (you really need it to kill the heat in the spice blend)

How to make it:

• Steam your edamame in the microwave according to package directions on the back of the edamame bag.
• Toss with the sesame oil, Japanese 7 spice and salt.
• Enjoy!
• I reheat it for 1 minute in the microwave when I want to have some more!

They sell edamame in their shell in the freezer section of most high end grocery stores.  They also sell it already shelled which is great tossed in salad or as a roasted snack (I will highlight that recipe some other time).

P.S.  You are only supposed to eat the beans on the inside, and suck the good stuff off the outside.  Put the whole pod in your mouth while holding on to one end, bite down to pop it open so you can eat the beans, and suck the good stuff off the outside.

Bon Appetit!

xo, Alysha

BUTTERSCOTCH PEAR BREAD

It's the perfect time of to make this!  Pear's are at their peak right now and it's getting cooler, which is a great time to bake.

I have made a lot of these recently, and banana bread, and have been giving them out as gifts to everyone.

They taste sooo good, it's almost like dessert.

How to make it:

Butterscotch Sauce Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup butter
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 3 tbsp whipping cream 

Directions:

• Cook butter and brown sugar over medium heat in a saucepan, stirring, until butter is melted and sugar is dissolved.
• Remove from heat and stir in the cream.
• Let cool at room temperature for about 45 minutes.

Loaf Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs, whisked
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 3/4 cups flour (I used whole wheat, but feel free to use white!)
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 cups diced pears

Directions:

• In a large bowl, beat butter with both sugars until fluffy.
• Beat in eggs and vanilla until just combined.
• Beat in milk until just combined.
• In a separate bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients, then stir it into the wet bowl mixture.
• Stir in the pears and half the butterscotch sauce.
• Pour into greased loaf pan.
• Pour the remainder of the butterscotch sauce over the top and swirl gently.
• Bake about 1 hour in a 350 degree oven until a toothpick inserted in centre comes out clean.
• Let cool completely in pan on a rack.  

Bon Appetit!

xo, Alysha

Must eat here and things to do during grape and wine

You MUST eat here:  Frijoles in Niagara Falls located at 3465 Portage Road.  They hands down have the best fish tacos in Niagara.  The rest of their food is pretty great too.  Take a look at their menu. 

And it's Grape and Wine time of years again!!!

There are some great activities to take part of during this time.  

My favourite thing to do is partaking the Discovery Pass experience.  You get to pick 8 wineries from their list that you get to sample a wine paired with great food for just $40!  Niagara wineries do things like this lots throughout the year (I will share them!) and we make sure we do all of them!  A couple sample pairings are fresh ricotta fritters with bacon thyme jam paired with 2014 Private Reserve Baco Noir from Peller Estates in Niagara on the Lake and Twisted Kitchen Food Truck is serving sweet and savoury Moroccan braised beef stew paired with 2012 Red Twisted at Flat Rock Cellers in Jordan.

This is happening on Saturdays and Sundays of the next two weekends (September 19, 20, 26 and 27).

Find out more about the discovery pass experience and to view all the pairings click here, and enter code WC015 for $5 OFF at checkout.

The hub of Grape and Wine activities is at Montebello Park.  

There are lots of local chefs and restaurants providing food for sale and obviously wine samples too.  There is also live music there throughout the weekend:

Friday September 18th - Hotel California (Eagles cover band) at 7:20pm

Saturday, September 19th - All Ontario bands with the first starting at 1pm and the last at 7:45pm

Sunday, September 20th - Country Day with the first band starting at 12:30 and the last at 6:15pm

Friday, September 25th - Vinyl Flux at 6:30pm

and The Caverners Beattles Tribute at 8pm

Saturday, September 26th - first band starting at 1pm and the headliners Jonesy going on at 7:45pm

Sunday, September 27th - Country Day with the first band starting at 12:30 and the last at 6:40

Click here to find out more information about the band lineup.

And of course there is the parade which takes place on Saturday, September 26th between 9:30 am and 10:30am in downtown St. Catharines.

Most of the the wineries in Niagara also have events of their own going on during this time.  Check out your favourite wineries facebook page, as that usually holds the most information or check out wineries of Niagara on the Lake's website or wineries of Twenty Valley's website.

xo, Alysha