Creating a Viking Appetite with Highland Park

Did you ever wonder if you had any Viking ancestry in you? Well if you just so happen to be living and reading this from Orkney, Scotland you very likely could be part Viking! In fact 1 in 3 people living on Orkney today have Viking ancestry, and the Highland Park 12 Years Old Viking Honour Single Malt Scotch Whisky perfectly reflects the unique culture of the remote island home.

Highland Park is a premium and unique singe malt Scotch Whisky that honours the spirit of the Viking ancestors. It shares the pride, integrity and fierce independence of the Vikings and is distilled with the same rigorous standards introduced in 1798 by the founder, Magnus Eunson who was a descendant of the early Viking settlers.

There are five keystones that separate Highland Park from other distilleries: hand turned floor malting, aromatic peat from Hobbister Moor, sherry oak casks, cool maturation, and cask harmonization. No other distillery uses all 5 of these benchmarks, so it's safe to say there is no other whisky out there that tastes like Highland Park.

Viking Honour features the perfect harmony of aromatic smoky peat, sweet heather honey, and rich fruit cake. The full Highland Park 12 Years Old Viking Honour Tasting Notes (43% abv/750 mL) are below:

Colour: Natural, glowing amber
Nose: Heather-honey sweetness, gently peaty smokiness
Palate: Rounded smoke and honey sweetness, full malt delivery, oak, alongside equal amounts of dried fruits and spice
Finish: Sweet and lingering with heathery notes and subtle smoke right at the end

With a recent update to its aesthetics (box & bottle design) and name, Highland Park has teamed up with The Healthy Butcher, a local Greater Toronto Area butcher, to create some unique infusion and pairing recipes that will no doubt stir up our Viking Appetites. The Healthy Butcher is focused on craftsmanship, providing only the best quality 100% grass fed and Certified Organic meat to their consumers. This partnership brings the smokey and sweet notes from the Highland Park Whisky to rustic and or gamey meats from The Healthy Butcher, so today I am going to share with you all a delicious Meatball recipe that will surely be the show stopper at your next family meal.

These meatballs can be eaten two ways. You can incorporate them in any classic pasta dish or better yet pair it off with the Highland Park Scotch Whisky Sauce (the recommended way of eating it)!

Below you will find all the ingredients you need for the Meatballs and Highland Park Scotch Whisky Sauce. Simply combine all the ingredients together.

Meatballs

• 2 1/2 ounces breadcrumbs

• 2 pounds ground beef

• 1 1/2 pounds ground pork

• 1 large egg

• 1 1/2 tbsp salt

• 2/3 tbsp pepper

• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

• 1/2 tbsp coriander

• parsley

• 1/2 diced onion

Highland Park Scotch Whisky Sauce

• 1 diced onion

• 1/4 cup Highland Park Scotch Whisky

• 1/2 cup beef broth

• salt to taste

• pepper to taste

• 1 oz roux (butter/flour)

• 2 sprigs rosemary

• 2 cloves garlic

There are also select products that are already infused with the Highland Park Single Malt Scotch Whisky that can be bought at any of The Healthy Butcher store locations in Toronto and Kitchener. So the next time you want to fire up your grill or have some mad cravings for some delicious meats, don't forget to bring out the Viking in you and pair it off with some Highland Park, The Orkney single malt with a Viking soul!

Toronto Catering Showcase Season Two!

One of my favourite foodie events and experiences is coming back (thankfully) for a second season and it's all going down in just over a month's time on October 15th, 2017 from 12PM to 4PM. The Toronto Catering Showcase was such a huge success in its inaugural event last fall that it's no surprise the demand to have it again this year was buzzing.

In case you missed attending last year, The Toronto Catering Showcase is held at The Bram & Bluma Appel Salon inside the Toronto Reference Library bringing together twelve of Toronto's most notable and talented culinary masters in the catering world. The setting is elegant and luxurious, an ambiance of a live band playing on stage sets a relaxing and casual mood, and the best part of it all is of course the all-access pass to an afternoon of pure epicurean indulgence.

What sets this event apart from the other food festivals and events in this city is just how organized and simple they make it for us attendees. Once you show them your pre-paid ticket at the front door the world inside is basically your oyster. There are no drink or food tickets you need to buy. In fact there is no need to even bring cash or a credit card. Once you get in it's an all-you-can-eat and drink affair and you can basically hop from one vendor to the next at your discretion eating and drinking to your heart's content. You can even go back to the same vendor time and time again to grab the same dish if you choose to do so, but my suggestion is to save room in your stomach to try a dish from each vendor first before going back for seconds!

Below are the twelve caterers this year that have dedicated their careers to the art of fine food and exceptional presentation in which you will experience first hand while attending.

1) 10tation Event Catering

2) The Food Dudes

3) Drake Catering

4) Encore Catering

5) Treeline Catering

6) Presidential Gourmet

7) en Ville Event Design and Catering

8) MaRo Catering

9) Toben Food By Design

10) Kiss The Cook Catering

11) Daniel et Daniel

12) Elle Cuisine

As there is an all-you-can-drink element in this (and yes I'm talking about alcohol), this is indeed a 19+ event. General admission tickets start at $65 if you purchase them now online by clicking HERE, and a limited number of tickets will be sold at the door for $80.

New to this year is if you do plan to drive down to the event, complimentary valet parking will be provided by Adagio Valet Service, and every ticket purchased this year will also automatically enter you in a draw to win a prize! This is an event you do not want to miss out on so grab the tickets before they are sold out! Hope to see you all there!

Summer Fresh Perfect Pairings - Grilled Portobello with Pesto Chicken Topped with Bruschetta & Italian Sausage Stuffed Peppers Topped with an Artichoke Dip

Summer is slowly fleeting away as another month has come and gone. It seemed just like yesterday where we shared our Canada Day long weekend recipes featuring some of our favourite Summer Fresh dips and salads that could easily be grilled and assembled with less than 10 minutes to prep. In case you need a refresher the Canada 150 celebrations were kicked off with our Greek Burger topped with Tzatziki Feta & Cucumber sauce, and also a Roasted Red Pepper BBQ Pizza on Naan. If you haven't tried these recipes it's not too late to do so!

With another long weekend looming just around the corner, we've developed two new recipes perfect for another summer barbecue for this Civic long weekend using more of our favourite Summer Fresh products. They craft healthy, preservative-free gourmet salads, hummus, and dips using real and simple ingredients you can find in your own kitchen. They are a Canadian based, family run company with a manufacturing facility based in Woodbridge, Ontario. It's there where all the magic happens to package their products in their iconic containers with the bright green lids you'll find in your local grocery store.

Below you will find two of our original recipes that are easy to prepare, fun to grill, and even sweeter to eat. Both of these recipes can be deliciously paired off with the Summer Fresh Greek Couscous Salad.

Grilled Portobello with Pesto Chicken Topped with Bruschetta

Recipe:

1) Marinate some chicken breast and place it on the grill
2) Grill the portobello mushrooms whole on the grill
3) Once chicken breast is fully cooked, cut into small pieces and mix in 1/3 cup of prepared pesto
4) Place the pesto chicken on top of the portobello mushrooms, sprinkle Mozzarella cheese on top, and grill again for 2 more minutes or until cheese has melted
5) Top it off with Summer Fresh Brushetta

Italian Sausage Stuffed Peppers Topped with an Artichoke Dip

Recipe:

1) Place some Italian sausage on the grill
2) Cut the peppers in halves, take out the seeds, and place it on the grill
3) Chop up the grilled Italian sausage in cubes and stuff it inside the grilled peppers
4) Sprinkle Mozzarella cheese on top, and grill again for 2 more minutes or until cheese has melted
5) Top it off with Summer Fresh Artichoke & Asiago Dip

For even more recipe ideas with Summer Fresh, visit HERE to check out Summer Fresh's current Perfect Pairings guide to get even more grilling inspiration. This is real food you can feel good about everyday. Let us know how you like these recipes by sounding off below. Have a great long weekend everyone!

Limited Edition McDonald's Boombox

We've all been there before. We're out with a group of friends at the beach ready to have a good time and everything seems to be going right. Except for one thing. There's no music because no one brought the speakers! I think we can all agree that a party without music is really no party at all. McDonald's gets it and wants to make sure that problem never happens again by introducing something truly unique yet practical at the same time. Canadians will have a fun way to enjoy the summer tunes thanks to the limited edition McDonald's Boombox - an innovation on the recyclable drink tray that enables it to double as a portable speaker! Yes you read that right. McDonald's just went all Transformers on us and I'm lovin' it!

The McDonald's Boombox was developed in partnership with the University of Waterloo's Audio Research Group and also the industrial design group Stacklab. It may seem low tech but the McDonald's Boombox incorporates plenty of high tech thinking including foil-embossed double cone speakers that help raise sound volume and quality while minimizing sound leakage to effectively double your phone's built-in maximum volume.

Check out a behind the scenes video of how the McDonald's Boombox came to life!

So how do you use this 100% recyclable McDonald's Boombox? You simply just flip your drink tray over and pop out the two metallic red speakers on each side with your fingers. You then just insert your phone in a special slot in the middle designed for phone stability and easy menu control. Turn up the music on your phone and listen as the beats from your tunes get amplified to everyone around you!

The McDonald's Boombox will be produced in extremely limited quantities and only available while supplies last as part of a one-time promotion for McFlurry desserts at Woodbine Beach in Toronto on July 28th from 2pm to 7pm. They will be handed out at no cost in conjunction with celebrating the McFlurry dessert's 22nd birthday in Canada, (which is another made in Canada innovation proudly made with milk and cream from Canadian dairy farms). You can trust me that this is one collector's item you are going to want to get your hands on!

Canadian Cheese - Crafted with Creativity

Canada is known for many things. Cold winters, ketchup chips, our politeness, milk from bags, poutine, hockey, the 'Biebs', and the list goes on and on and on. However, one of our hidden treasures that not many people may be aware about is our rich history in cheese making! Canadian cheese is creative, expressive, and as diverse as the Canadians who make it, so as we are about to celebrate our nation's 150th birthday I have partnered with the Dairy Farmers of Canada (DFC) to highlight three distinct Canadian cheeses from our country's cheese makers.

I am personally a huge fan of cheese and is probably one of the few food items I could not live without. Cheese is used in so many aspects of my favourite dishes such as on pastas, dips, dessert, and of course pizza! As it's become so intertwined into my daily life and consumption, it's also good to know a little bit more about its history and how Canadian cheese making came to be.

Historically speaking, Canadian cheese making is woven from our country's rich French and English heritage. Cheese making in Canada can be traced back to the early 1600s when French explorer and founder of the Quebec settlements, Samuel de Champlain first introduced cattle to the region. However, it wasn't until 1864 when American immigrant Harvey Farrington employed new technology to set up the very first Canadian cheese factory, "The Pioneer" in Norwich, Ontario. By the year of Confederation in 1867, over 200 cheese factories were now established in Ontario alone and the foundation for crafting distinctly Canadian cheese was set.

Fast forward to 2017, Canada's cheese industry is as vibrant as ever from coast to coast. Our great Canadian cheeses start with 100% Canadian quality milk that are produced by passionate Canadian dairy farmers in a sustainable way. To commemorate Canada's 150th birthday, I celebrated with a custom designed Canada cheese board with the best of the best in Canadian cheese that are highly-awarded varieties. Pair them off with some crackers and cherry tomatoes and you have the perfect snack ready to serve in minutes. Below you can learn some more on the three types of Canadian cheeses I had on my cheese board.

Avonlea Clothbound Cheddar, Cows Creamery, Prince Edward Island

Aged for 14 months in a carefully monitored temperature and humidity conditions, this cheddar is firm in texture and has a rich full-bodied flavour. Made by Cows Creamery in Prince Edward Island, this cheese is made with milk from local Prince Edward Island farms. Since no point on the island is more than 20 miles or so from the ocean, the salt air and iron-rich red soil add to the flavour and quality of this cheddar cheese which has received accolades since 2008.

Devil's Rock, Thornloe Cheese Inc, Ontario

Devil's Rock is a creamy blue cheese in a uniquely shaped pyramid and encased in black wax. Devil's Rock itself is an iconic rock surface overlooking Lake Temiskaming and onward into Quebec. This award winning cheese represents the rugged Canadian terrain of the Canadian Shield. Thornloe Cheese Inc. is farmer owned, sourcing daily from the region of Northern Ontario where the air is fresh, the waters are clean, and pastures are green. You can taste the difference in their hand making cheese practices here.

Comox Brie, Natural Pastures, British Columbia

Comox Brie is a soft bloomy rind cheese. It has a thin and moist downy white rind, a traditional, gentle yet slightly buttery taste, pungent mushroom aromas and a delightful, creamy texture that becomes runny over time as the cheese ripens from outside in. It's named after Comox, a small town near Courtenay, Vancouver Island, where Natural Pastures, the cheese maker is located. Natural Pastures is committed to making sustainable farming a priority every step of the way, including choosing milk suppliers on the island.

As Canada celebrates it's 150th birthday this weekend, there is no better time to support our Canadian dairy farmers. Canadian cheese is the perfect complement to celebrate this momentous occasion, so whether you may be hosting a backyard barbecue, going out on the town and dining at your favourite restaurant, or just staying home and watching a movie, make sure you put some Canadian cheese on the table. It's going to be the most delicously Canadian thing you can do.

Happy Birthday Canada!! EH!