Bubble and Squeak

This is an old English classic that can turn just about any leftovers into something awesome. You can use leftover meat and vegetables from last night’s meal or start from scratch with new ingredients. Make a pot of mashed potatoes. Add the leftovers or some sliced cabbage and onions. Season with salt and pepper and add a cup of grated cheese. Now spoon some of the mixture into a heated, oiled pan. Press down to make little patties. Serve hot.

Fish Cakes

This is a great recipe, especially for young kids. It’s easy peasy to make and you can make extra fish cakes for freezing. Cut a pound of potatoes into small squares and boil. Mash the potatoes and add a can of salmon. Be sure to remove any bones. Add salt and pepper to taste and form the mixture into eight separate cakes. Of course they don’t have to be round! You can make whales, dolphin, and krakens too! Fry in oil and serve with a drizzle of lemon juice.

Chilli

This is a great option when it’s cold outside or you’re preparing for Sunday afternoon football. Making extra means you can freeze it for convenient dinners or lunches. Use turkey or ground beef (about two pounds) which you can brown in a large pot over medium heat. Add a can of crushed tomatoes, a cup of chicken broth and a sliced onion. Get the heat from chilies, jalapeños, chilli sauce or cayenne pepper. Get fancy by serving with cream and cheddar cheese as a topping.

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The wife and I were on vacation with friends in Tofino, BC. First of all, I totally recommend Tofino if you haven’t been there. I tried and definitely failed at surfing, but the good food and the beauty of the surroundings was enough to sell me on the place for life. If you go in the off season, say Spring or Fall, or even Winter if you’re brave, you’ll also get great deals, as we did. It was chilly and Springtime, but the beach was still amazing, and the sun still shone most of our visit. Great stuff.

But most importantly, on the third day we visited a local restaurant whose name I forget—it’s a main one though, sorry guys!—and sampled my customary drink of choice, the Caesar. This time, though, when I ordered, the waitress asked me a life-changing question:

“Do you want it made with our infused vodka?”

Infused? What? Turns out, they house make and infuse vodka. I chose the cucumber infusion, but there are tons of choices out there. Cucumber flavour made my Caesar that much more refreshing, and when we got home I vowed to try it myself. After some researching and trial and error, here’s the recipe I settled on, courtesy of the awesome site Taste for Adventure:

1) Choose a Base

The first rule of home infusion? Avoid the cheap stuff. If you use a lower-level vodka, the spirit’s alcoholic bite won’t sit well with the flavors you are trying to create. Go with something mid-tier like Absolut or Stoli–the distillation process of these brands make for a smoother product that will let your flavors shine through. You can choose a higher-end brand like Grey Goose or Ketel, but unless you want to impress your guests with the brand name, there really is no reason to spend the extra money.

2) Get an Appropriate Vessel

Go with glass–you don’t want the taste of plastic to seep into your mix. The container should be airtight (if you think the taste of plastic is bad, then you really won’t like any bugs that wander into your drink if it’s not sealed). And it needs to be big enough to make a batch that’s the appropriate size. Since the process takes a few days, you might want to look for something on the larger end–if you like what you’ve done, you don’t want to go through it too quickly.

3) Add the Ingredients

You can use pretty much any fruit, herb or vegetable you can think of. Add a healthy amount of whatever it is you like, and keep in mind it’s all about surface area. Cutting a lemon into many small parts will go farther than plunking two halves into the mix. Lots of small berries work well, and if you’re going to go with spices (think vanilla), be sure to mash them up before dropping them in.

4) Wait

You should let the ingredients stew for at least three days, but you can keep them in there for a few weeks (thankfully, the alcohol keeps the grub from going bad). As it’s sitting there, open the vessel every couple days and give the ingredients a good stir. This will ensure the flavors are evenly distributed, and, more important, taking the cap off will provide an excellent excuse to sneak a taste of your concoction.

5) Strain and Serve

When you’re ready to serve your vodka, you’ll want to pour it through a fine wire strainer to eliminate any lasting bits of your ingredient. If you do want a little pulp to be present when you drink it, just use a strainer with larger holes. You can drink the infused vodka straight, or mix it into a cocktail. If you have anything extra, just pop it into an airtight jar or bottle and keep it in the fridge.

So far I’ve tried cucumber, blueberry and vanilla, and they’ve all been great. What flavours would you try? 

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Hot Toddy

The classic rum drink, this one will cure colds and make your night better at the same time. Magical! This version is made extra magical by (allegedly) being the same recipe that the author William Faulkner employed for sick family members (it’s relayed here by his granddaughter, who called him Pappy). Enjoy!

Take one heavy glass tumbler.
Fill approximately half full with Heaven Hill bourbon (the Jack Daniel’s was reserved for Pappy’s ailments).
Add one tablespoon of sugar.
Squeeze 1/2 lemon and drop into glass.
Stir until sugar dissolves.
Fill glass with boiling water.
Serve with potholder to protect patient’s hands from the hot glass.

His granddaughter adds: “Pappy always made a small ceremony out of serving his Hot Toddy, bringing it upstairs on a silver tray and admonishing his patient to drink it quickly, before it cooled off. It never failed.” I encourage you to do the same!

Stone Fence

The name origin of this one is a bit of a mystery, but the tastiness cannot be denied. This one has a British-y taste to it (it’s the bitters, I suspect) so I can’t help but imagine the stone fences separating the rolling hills of England while I sip.

In a large tumbler, beer mug or tall glass, add ice. Pour in the following:

2 oz Apple Jack or apple brandy
2 oz apple cider
Couple shakes bitters
Fill with a good, bottled hard cider (I like canned ones too) and stir

Dust with ground cinnamon, and garnish with an apple slice. This one will need a straw.

Irish Car Bomb

For beer drinkers, there’s nothing better than a little bit of kick to power your brew. This on requires a love of Guinness and of Irish whiskey, as well as drinking quickly, so be warned!

Half pint Guinness, in a pint glass

A shot of Irish whiskey

Drop the shot in the Guinness and…well, chug. Ta da!

Spiked Apple Pie Punch

This one’s for the parties. And make sure no one’s driving home (note the grain alcohol…yikes!).

This one works well both hot and cold. With one 750-milliliter bottle of grain alcohol, you can serve about 36 people and get them all feeling seasonal with the apple and cinnamon flavors.

Prep time: 5 minutes, Cook time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

1 gallon apple juice

1 gallon apple cider

3 cups white sugar

8 cinnamon sticks

1 bottle 190 proof grain alcohol (750 ml)

Directions

1. In a large pot, combine juice, cider, sugar and cinnamon sticks. Bring to a boil, then remove from heat and let cool completely.

2. When cool, stir in grain alcohol.

3. Transfer to large serving dish and let guests ladle into cups. Garnish with additional cinnamon sticks or apple slices, if desired.

Cranberry Lime Bellini

While bellinis are traditionally summer-y drinks, the cranberry in this one is both seasonal and seasonally appropriate, while also being incredibly simple and tasty. And who doesn’t love Prosecco? Mmm.

3 cups cranberry juice

750 ml Prosecco
1 lime

Easy peasy: Mix cranberry juice and Prosecco into a pitcher, add the juice of 1 lime, and drink! Repeat!

What are your favourite fall booze drinks? Tell us in the comments. 

The post Fall booze recipes appeared first on Mogo Blog.

Strawberries and yogurt

• 4 cups ripe strawberries
• 1 cup plain low-fat yogurt
• 1/2 cup fresh orange juice

Rinse strawberries and pop them into the blender. Use organic strawberries where possible as non-organic strawberries can contain pesticide residue. Opt for probiotic yogurt as this adds essential, good bacteria to your diet. Place all the ingredients in the blender and blender for 30 seconds.

Green smoothie

Kale and spinach are superfoods packed with vitamins and minerals essential to good health. Only trouble is; you hardly ever eat either of these! Now you can get handfuls of healthy greens in a delicious smoothie without even tasting them.

• 2 bananas, frozen
• 2 handfuls of kale or spinach
• 1 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Use soya or almond milk in this recipe if you don’t like dairy. Add ¼ teaspoon of cinnamon for added flavor (it also helps to speed up your metabolism). Wash the veggies well to ensure that they are clean and then place everything in the blender for about 30 seconds.

Brain booster

• 1 cup apple juice
• 1 banana
• 1 1/2 cups blueberries
• 1/2 cup raspberries
• 1/4 cup walnuts

Use organic fresh apple juice if possible and you can use frozen blueberries and raspberries if berries are not in season. Soak your walnuts prior to blending if you have the time. Place ingredients in your blender and blend for 50 seconds until smooth.

With all the recipes, you can add sugar or honey to taste.

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Last year, I decided to host some friends at my house, because I was at the time living in a house on a street that got a lot of trick or treaters. Most of my friends lived in apartments or areas where kids didn’t come, so the idea was that we would all hang out together, drink, eat, watch scary movies, and take turns answering the door and scaring kids. This was an awesome propect, for sure, but it also gave me a little bit of anxiety. Specifically, it made me get hostess anxiety—what does one make to eat on a Halloween night?

Well, I did some digging and came up with a few awesome ideas. Here they are, in no particular order:

Mummy Dogs

This is a fun and easy one. You’ll need some Pillsbury Crescent Rolls and small hot dogs (optional: cheese).

1. Unroll the crescent and cut the strips to resemble a mummy’s bandages.

2. Wrap the bandages around the hot dogs so they look like mummies (leaving room for a face is fun). If you want, you can put small slices of cheese inside the rolls, too.

3. Bake on slightly greased cookie sheet for approximately 15 minutes, or until bandages are golden.

4. Let cool, then add mustard eyes to mummies and serve with side of mustard. Delicious!

Witches fingers

A twist on the classic sugar cookie, with thanks to AllRecipes. A little more time intensive, though.

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
2 2/3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
¾ cup whole almonds (or ten “finger nails”)
1 tube red decorating gel

Directions:

1. Combine the butter, sugar, egg, almond extract, and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl. Beat together with an electric mixer; gradually add the flour, baking powder, and salt, continually beating; refrigerate 20 to 30 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Lightly grease baking sheets.
3. Remove dough from refrigerator in small amounts. Scoop 1 heaping teaspoon at a time onto a piece of waxed paper. Use the waxed paper to roll the dough into a thin finger-shaped cookie. Press one almond into one end of each cookie to give the appearance of a long fingernail. Squeeze cookie near the tip and again near the center of each to give the impression of knuckles. You can also cut into the dough with a sharp knife at the same points to help give a more finger-like appearance. Arrange the shaped cookies on the baking sheets.
4. Bake in the preheated oven until the cookies are slightly golden in color, 20 to 25 minutes.
5. Remove the almond from the end of each cookie; squeeze a small amount of red decorating gel into the cavity; replace the almond to cause the gel to ooze out around the tip of the cookie.

Makes 60 cookies.

Hand Punch

A fun one, with minimal effort! You will need a fruit punch recipe (your choice), and a rubber glove.

1. Make the punch in advance.
2. Turn a rubber glove inside out.
3. Fill the glove ¾ full with punch, and tie a twist tie or rubber band around the end.
4. Freeze overnight.
5. When it’s time to party, take out your punch bowl, and peel or cut away the rubber glove from the “hand.” Drop the hand in the bowl a la some ice, and serve! Spooky!

Pumpkin Seeds

The salty, tasty snack classic.

1. Once you’ve scooped your pumpkin out for carving purposes, take your pile of guts and separate out the seeds.
2. Wash the seeds in a spaghetti colander (or don’t wash them—sometimes I don’t), dry them with paper towel (they roast better) and spread them evenly on a cookie sheet.
3. Drizzle with olive oil, and add seasoning salt (you may wish to do add other seasonings, but I’m a purist).
4. Roast at 350-400 degrees for 30 minutes or until golden brown.
5. Allow to cool and enjoy!

If you’re a good planner, you can have all of these and more at your Halloween party. Sure beats candycorn, I say! What goodies do you serve at your Halloween shindigs?

The post Halloween Recipes for Spooktacular Good Times appeared first on Mogo Blog.

No, seriously. I’ve missed you. Why, you might ask? Well, because SOUP, that’s why! I’m a big fan of soup, and over the last few years I’ve realized that the canned stuff (or the carton stuff) is good but usually a) expensive, and b) chock-full-o-salt. Neither of these are good things (for your wallet or your body), so I went on a bit of a mission last year to become a master of stock.

Stock, you see, is the key to soup in the same way that Elvis Costello records are the key to happiness. These are both indisputable facts. And since my favorite food to eat while listening to Elvis Costello is—you guessed it—soup, my stock-mastering quest was very important. The two  major things to remember are to give yourself time to cook the stock, and to make room in your freezer for the extra.

After trying a few different recipes, I decided on one for chicken stock and one for vegetable stock that I use a lot. (Beef stock is also an option, but not as common for me, so I don’t have one to suggest. Sorry!)

Here are my fave recipes for each.

Chicken Stock (courtesy SparkPeople)

4. 5 lb of chicken, skin removed ( I prefer thighs or chicken quarters for richer broth.)

12 cups water

1- 10 oz. package frozen, butternut squash

2 large carrots, cut in half

2 large stalks celery

1 large onion, cut in half (about 1 cup’s worth)

4 cloves garlic, pressed, but not chopped

3 bay leaves

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp italian seasoning

1 tsp whole peppercorns (in a spice bag)

1 sprig rosemary

DIRECTIONS

If not reduced, this will make about 10 cups.

Note: never add salt, or ingredients with sodium until the end when making a broth. Otherwise, as you reduce, it will become too salty. Add salt near the end, or if freezing, add salt when you use it in a recipe.

1. Add all ingredients to a large pot and make sure it is just covered by fresh, cold water. Bring this to just a boil over med-high heat, then reduce to low heat and let cook for about an hour.

2. Don’t let this first cooking boil, this way you can skim the foam, which is fat, that will rise to the surface. After about an hour, remove the chicken from the pot and take off about half the meat, leaving a lot clinging to the bones. Set this aside to either be added back to finished soup, or in other recipes. Return the bones with plenty of meat attached back to the pot. Add water as needed to keep all ingredient fully submerged, with about 1/2″ water.

3. Cover and simmer for 1 to 2 hours, tasting and adding seasoning if needed (not salt). After all the flavor has been cooked out of the chicken and vegetables, remove them from the broth. You can puree the carrot, celery and onion with about a cup of broth and add this back to the soup for fiber or use in other recipes as a thickener. The meat will pretty much be flavorless; however, it will make your cats or dogs very happy!

5. At this point, depending on what you want the broth for, you can continue to reduce it to make it stronger in flavor. If you reduce it by about half, it makes a good base to freeze and then reconstitute with water for later use. If making soup or stew now, add you other ingredients and let cook, uncovered so it will reduce a little, until done.

Number of Servings: 10

And another great recipe:

Vegetable Scrap Stock (courtesy Poor Girl Eats Well, which is also one of my fave food blogs and very worth checking out!)

Makes about 3 quarts, cost per quart about $0.01.

Step 1 – Get Scrappy

I keep a one-gallon-size zip-top bag in my freezer, and add my vegetable trimmings anytime I cook.  Once the bag is full — which happens surprisingly quickly — it’s time to make stock!

Also, if I find veggies in my fridge that are “on their way out” but not actually spoiled yet, I may toss it into the freezer bag if it would end up going to waste otherwise.

The best scraps to use include:  Onions, garlic, carrots, celery, parsley, leeks, chard, mushrooms, scallions, potato peelings, lettuce, eggplant, zucchini, green beans, and bell peppers.

Other good scraps to include — but will impart more specific flavors, so be careful — include:  Asparagus, parsnips, squash, fennel, corn cobs, pea pods, and cilantro.

Scraps to avoid:  Turnips, cabbages, brussels sprouts (these all get bitter), and anything already rotting that you wouldn’t eat otherwise.

Step 2 – Boil ‘em!

Fill a large pot halfway with water, about 3-4 quarts, and bring to a boil.  Drop in all the vegetable scraps and bring back to boiling.

Step 3 – Simmer & Season

Once the pot returns to boiling, you may want to add some seasonings.  Good options include thyme, basil, and a bay leaf or two. I also add one or two teaspoons of kosher salt (remember, though — it’s easier to add more salt later than to take out too much!)

Simmer for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Simmering longer won’t extract any more flavor, unlike when making meat stocks. 

Step 4 – Strain

Allow to cool for a few minutes. Carefully scoop out the larger vegetable scraps with a slotted spoon, placing in a large bowl so they can cool.  Next, take a fine-meshed strainer or colander lined with cheesecloth, and carefully pour the remaining broth through the strainer into another pot.

Step 5 – Chill Out

Let everything cool to room temperature, which will take an hour or two. Give the broth a taste and add any additional salt or seasonings as desired.

Discard the vegetable scraps (compost, anyone?).  Then measure out the stock in 2- or 4-cup increments, and freeze in individual containers, being sure to leave a little bit of headroom for it to expand when it freezes.

So there you have it! Those are my stock options (bwa ha!). What’re yours?

The post It’s soup stock season! appeared first on Mogo Blog.

A few years ago, a friend of mine took me on a road trip up to the Okanagan Valley in BC for a U-pick experience. We got a short lesson from the orchard master (what an awesome title, hey? I will never forget that), and then we were sent to pick to our heart’s content. The nice thing about apples is it’s very easy to tell when they’re ripe, and it’s very hard to pick an apple “wrong.”

That being said, he did have some tips:

-       Apples grow from outside in, so the ripest ones will be on the outer branches.

-       Try to preserve the stem, as this makes your apple last longer

-       Keep apples cool after picking to make them last (we stored ours in the cool dark area under our stairs)

-       Keep apples humid but not wet to prevent shriveling (our orchard master suggested a wet towel placed nearby and changed frequently)

-       Don’t wash them until right before use as this will prevent spoilage (washing the skin weakens it)

After our picking we were able to take our apples with us back home, where we used them for a solid month and a half of baking, snacking, mashing and sharing. I am certain I ate my weight in apples and then some. My favourite, favourite thing I made in that time period was an apple/pear crumble (it’s also pear season). Here’s a link to the recipe.

And here’s a link to U-Pick places across Canada. Happy picking!

The post It’s Apple Picking Season! How to take advantage appeared first on Mogo Blog.

When you just want to sit back and relax, there are many warm, inviting spots where the atmosphere is amicable and the food is sublime. Book early or you won’t get a table at these popular Toronto eateries.

Casa Loma

Celebrating Thanksgiving in a castle is so much nicer than squeezing in around grandma’s dining table. The famous Casa Lomas buffet is piled high with traditional fare and the setting could not be more regal. You can walk off your substantial meal with a guided tour of the castle or take a turn in the estate gardens to see the autumn leaves.

Old Mill Inn

This is one of the most picturesque settings Toronto has to offer! The Old Mill is a darling stone building on the banks of the Humber River replete with weeping willows, rose gardens and rolling lawns. The Old Mill Inn is offering a special Thanksgiving buffet with all the trimmings.

Black Creek Pioneer Village

This traditional village restaurant will showcase local Ontario turkeys and produce. Enjoy Thanksgiving in this warm and pleasant atmosphere. The chefs will be preparing a traditional Thanksgiving Dinner. You can order your meal to go or enjoy it in the restaurant.

This Thanksgiving, spend less time in the kitchen and more time with family and friends. Get the professionals to do the work for you while sit back and enjoy the fall colours.

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Chicken Soup: An oldie and a goodie! A 2000 study by Dr. Stephen Rennard, confirmed that chicken soup really does help you heal. Soup is gentle on the digestive system and contains tons of valuable nutrients. Throw in some extra veggies to bolster the vitamin content and go easy on the salt.

Echinacea: This super plant has both antiviral and antibacterial properties. Take at least 3 grams of Echinacea when you’re under the weather to help speed your recovery. Buy Echinacea from your health food store and add a couple of drops to your water or juice for effective relief.

Garlic: The ingredient that gives garlic its signature taste is alliin. Alliin acts as a decongestant and an antibacterial and it’s the perfect thing to help relieve the symptoms of colds and flu. Alliin boosts your white blood cell count which helps to strengthen your immune system.

Ginger: Ginger is a super food that has a number of properties that makes it the perfect cure for a cold. Ginger relieves sore throats and has the same pain-reliving strength as many over-the-counter pain medications. Ginger’s expectorant properties relive decongestion. Ginger also combats nausea and has anti-inflammatory properties that help to sooth aching bodies. Cut fresh ginger into a pot and boil to make ginger tea.

Honey: Ever wondered why honey doesn’t go off even if it’s not in the fridge? It contains antimicrobials that combat bacteria. Honey also soothes sore throats and relives coughs.

The post 5 Foods that Fight the Flu appeared first on Mogo Blog.

For me, I think it’s safe to say that—as with most things—this feeling of specialness comes from food and drinks. In particular, fall is an awesome time for beer. Here are my top 5 favourite fall beers. Cheers!

Longboat Chocolate Porter – Phillips

Chocolate and beer may not seem like natural companions but they go together like nuts and gum (Simpsons joke? Anyone?). Seriously, though, a good dark porter with a chocolate finish can be like a meal in itself, and of the ones I’ve tried, the Longboat variety by Phillips is the best, hands down. It’s available year round, but it fits just right with a nice strong cheese around a fire on a crisp autumn night.

St-Ambroise Citrouille (Pumpkin Ale) – McAuslan Brewing

Those Quebecois really know their tasty beers, and this pumpkin ale is certainly no exception. You may be familiar with St-Ambroise, but this particular beer is their dark horse. It’s deserving of more attention though, as the balance of pumpkin flavour to beer-y goodness (technical term) is top notch.

Granville Island Nut Brown Ale – Granville Island Brewery

This Vancouver microbrewery has a lot going for it, not least of which is their selection of seasonal beers, which get better and more distinct with each passing year. The Nut Brown Ale is one of these—it uses the same fermentation and brewing process of nut browns from the UK. Kinda makes you want to put on your tweeds and hunt a fox, doesn’t it?

Brooklyn Oktoberfest Beer – Brooklyn Brewery

Okay, so this one’s an American beer, but the folks at Brooklyn Brewery really know their stuff. This one’s a special brew specifically for Oktoberfest—which should basically be called BeerParty—and it’s a nice balance between summer and fall. Tasty but not too dense, substantial and not light. Good stuff.

Whistler Chestnut Ale – Whistler Brewery

Another awesome entry from BC, this one from up the coast a bit in Whistler. This is a special brew that isn’t always available, and it’s a really nutty one. If you like nuts—this is for you. If not…well, there’s always a pumpkin ale.

What fall beers are you sampling? Let us know in the comments.

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