Culinary Nirvana

For those of you who know Ruth from Once Upon a Feast and the never tiring Presto Pasta Nights , you may have read on her blog that she was visiting Toronto, or should I say ... eating her way through Toronto. It was a rare treat for me to meet up with Ruth and share an evening of ... yup....even more food and wine at a local culinary event. There's just something about food - looking at it, going to shop for it, touching it, preparing it and ultimately sharing it that brings people together. We talked, we laughed, we ate, we drank, we drank some more and then we ate some more. I'd say it was a night made in heaven, wouldn't you.

We attended a pot luck event sponsored by a ladies' group comprised of uber foodies, the culinary who's who of Toronto. Here's just a small sampling of some of the interesting combos. Needless to say, we waddled out of the event having met some incredible people and sampling some wonderful food and wine.










It's really hard not to love food wouldn't you say? We wish our American neighbours a fun filled Memorial Day Weekend. Can't wait to see what everybody cooked up.

Tried, Tested and True...Take Two

This is going to be a long(ish) post so grab your coffee or tea and spend some time with us. I promise it'll be interesting.

When the first Tried Tested and True event was created, we wanted to provide a forum for recipe sharing that people could go to when they needed something that was already proven, that wouldn’t fail and would shamelessly make them look great. We were truly blown away by the response we received for the event.

With the great success of the first event, we’re launching a second Tried Tested and True event. This time, we're attaching a cause of importance to us, organ donation.

Over the next little while, we'll be blogging about our experience with organ donation. We want this event to be both fun and a way of raising awareness about organ donation. So, if you have a story to share, whether it be your own or someone who is close to you, please feel free to do so!

For today, we're going to give you the VERY EXCITING (well, at least we're excited) details about this event:



We are asking you to submit your health-promoting tried, tested and true recipes. This can be any sort of dish - appetizer/soup/bread/main/dessert - your choice. But, it should be a low calorie dish, one that you've adapted from a higher fat to be a healthier choice, a vegetarian option, just to give you a few suggestions. Please don't feel restricted. Just think about a submission that's healthy and tastes good - that you would feed to someone you love knowing that you were promoting good, healthy eating.

The challenge is officially open at the moment of this posting and will close at midnight on Monday, July 21th (EST).

BUT...an exciting twist is: THERE WILL BE PRIZES! The top three submissions will each receive a prize package. How will we choose the winners, you ask? We are THRILLED to be announcing a guest celebrity judge!

It's CHRISTINE CUSHING!!!!

Christine Cushing is one of the trailblazers of the Food Network in Canada. For those of you who aren't familiar with Christine's work, not to worry, we'll be posting more information about her (including her recipes) over the next little while. You can also check out her website here.

Since Christine will be judging the recipes, we've asked her for her judging criteria. Here are her 5 criteria and the breakdown of her judging, out of 100 points:

1) Taste - It must taste great! ( 40 points)

2) Inventive use of wholesome ingredients - how interesting /unique is the process and or ingredients (20 points)

3) Reducing saturated fat content ( 20 points )

4) Ease of preparation and clarity of recipe - how accessible is the dish to make and are the directions clear and concise? ( 10 points)

5) Visual appeal ( 10 points)

Once all of the submission are in, we will be sending your recipe, along with a picture of your choosing to Christine after which time, she will pick the top three submissions.

A few more details...

Here are the rules

Post a dish that is heath promoting and a sure-fire hit in your home anytime from now (June 7) until the deadline, July 21th. The recipe must appear in full in your foodblog some time between today (June 7) and July 21th (the deadline). Links to previous posts will not be accepted (sorry guys). In your submission, link to this post (feel free to use the Tried, Tested and True Two banner, above), send us the details once you’ve posted your dish with "tried, tested and true two" in the subject line to: triedtestedandtrue(at)live(dot)ca by July 21th with the following information:

Your name:
The name of your blog and its url:
The name of your dish and a link to the relevant post:
The photo you would like to submit.

*Note* If you don't have a blog but would like to participate, send us your recipe and a picture along with your name.

A roundup of the recipe and announcement of the winners will follow shortly after the deadline.

LAST BUT NOT LEAST ....THE PRIZES

Below are some of the prizes up for grab. Christine Cushing has generously donated a selection of her products. There is also a variety of careware jewellery included as prizes. This is donated by Blue Marigold. Blue Marigold is a line of jewellery that Giz produces, where 50% of the profits go to a selected charity.






First Prize: A signed copy of Christine Cushing's newest cookbook called Pure
1 Bottle of Christine Cushing's line of olive oil
2 Jars of Christine Cushing's new look tomato sauce
1 Awareness bracelet and matching earrings**

Second Prize: 2 Jars of Christine Cushing's new look tomato sauce
1 Awareness bracelet of your choice and matching earrings


Third Prize: 1 Jar of Christine Cushing's new look tomato sauce
1 Awareness bracelet of your choice

** Note: The treasure chest you see with the bling contains a collection of awareness jewellery. If you win one of the top three prize packages, you get to pick any design displayed on the website. To view the whole line of available bracelets please follow the link below:



Prize winners can look through all of the jewellery pages, no matter which charity it represents and select their choice. Prizes will be shipped anywhere in the world (please don't be from Antarctica).

We'll have more to share but I think we've said enough for one day.

ARE YOU EXCITED? We are! Looking forward to your entries!

New Reality T.V. Show

When I read the headline of this new reality t.v. show, I just knew I couldn't let this one go by the boards. I usually don't get "crazy" until something really offends my sensibilities. This one just really and truly made me cringe. I just don't "get" what t.v. stations consider good viewing. Isn't there already enough evidence that society needs to have better eating habits? Do we not see enough people in the world without enough food to get through a day without focusing on gluttony? What is the message here? I'd love to see the medical association get all over this one to put pressure on and make sure this show NEVER airs for our children to see.

The title said:

"A NEW REALITY T.V. SHOW TESTS GAG REFLEX"

followed by



Takeru Kobayashi winning the world record for eating the most hot dogs

‘Hurl’ looks for the Iron Stomach champion

By Stephanie Zolis

2008-04-30

New series not for those with a weak stomach – literally

Not many TV shows try to make viewers sick, but that’s exactly what new game show Hurl! is setting out to do.

The series, which "combines speed-eating with intense physical challenges," will launch this summer on G4.

Expect to see contestants consuming excessive amounts of all-American food –which TV Guide reports may include hot dogs, blueberry pie, fish sticks and chicken pot pie – and trying not to hurl.

Only this series isn’t just about competitive eating and who can down the most wieners. The half-hour episodes will feature contestants who will be subjected to carnival rides, high-dives, mechanical bull-riding and other nauseating activities right after they scarf down their first of two courses.

Whoever makes it through the physical challenges without hurling makes it through to the next round, which is really just more of the same, while viewers “laugh and cringe.”

The contestant who is able to keep his or her food down through all of that wins the Iron Stomach award and a cash prize. Viewers who are able to keep their last meal down – if there are any – get to see what regurgitated hot dogs look like.

I mean....really!!!!

Okay, so I've had my rant and there's still steam coming out of my ears. The first thing I did was go to the kitchen and make something healthy to eat. I wanted a salad, something light, something that would make me feel like I hadn't abused my body.

Although I didn't want to associate the show "Hurl" with healthy eating, I did feel it was important to go to the polar opposite and make a statement. I also remembered that our Scottish lassie Holler at Tinned Tomatoes was sponsoring the May No Croutons Required roundup. If you haven't visited Holler's blog - take the time to check it out. The April challenge was mushrooms and the winning mushroom recipe, which Psychgrad replicated here, looks amazing. This month's challenge is about cheese.





Salad:

Leaf lettuce red and green
carrot matchsticks
chickpeas
sliced red onion
cherry tomatoes
crumbled feta chees

I intentionally didn't write quantities - best to just bulk it up dependent on how many people you're serving.

Salad dressing

Very simple:

Olive Oil
Balsamic Vinegar

Eat healthy - Keep it real!!!