Gazpacho in a Glass with Dungeness Crab and Avocado Salsa from Whitewater Cooks with Friends

Gazpacho in a Glass with Dungeness Crab and Avocado Salsa

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" Food, for me, is all about sharing.
 Sharing ambiance, flavours, ingredients,
 conversation, wine, laughter and of course, recipes."

- Shelly Adams
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My favourite cookbooks reside in the kitchen cupboard, splattered with food stains and filled with memories. As I flip through them, I marvel at all the dishes I have prepared and all the recipes that have landed in my prized, "best-of-the-best" personal collection. When I open them up, they speak to me!!! I can hear laughter and animated conversations from wedding showers, wedding receptions, graduations and L'il Burnt Toast's recitals where many dishes from their pages shone.  They have inspired me to become a better cook and to continue a life long love affair with cookbooks. 

October is National Cookie Month So Let's Celebrate and Win!!!

Have you ever wanted to try something so much that it became an obsession? Last year, just before Christmas, when I heard about Tate's Chocolate Chip Cookies in magazines, newspapers and on television I had to try them. A rich, buttery, crispy chocolate chip cookie is one of my ultimate comfort foods. 

Imagine my excitement when I was once again contacted by Tate's Bake Shop and given the opportunity to share their latest world class award winning cookies with one lucky reader. Even though Tate's celebrates cookies all year long October is Cookie Month so what better to celebrate than to have one lucky winner have 3 bags of Tate's Bake Shop's latest award winning Whole Wheat Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies as well as your very own signed copy of Kathleen King’s cookbook, The Tate’s Bake Shop Cookbook. delivered right to your door.

Infused Bread Dip made with Camelina Oil from the Prairies

Infused Bread Dip

Throughout the history of agriculture and food consumption, many foods have come and gone. In recent years, we have "rediscovered" certain grains that were once a primary part of our ancestors' diets. The term Ancient Grains has been used to describe those seeds that are "new" in the sense that they are not recognizable to the current generation and yet have been around for centuries and remain untouched and unmodified over time. Camelina is one such seed. They are the same seeds that grew wild centuries before us and were harvested by our foraging ancestors. It is an ancient grain that has retained its natural flavour and nutritional properties. The nutty oil that is extracted from the seed is rich in omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids and has an abundance of Vitamin E. It is a shelf stable and heat tolerant oil which adds to its versatility for use in the kitchen. I was lucky enough to receive some camelina oil to try and here is what I have discovered.

Summer Fresh Red Pepper Hummus Sushi

Red Pepper Hummus Sushi

 This year not only will we be wearing red and white T-shirts and sun hats at the MTBT household (the colours of the Canadian flag), but, we will also be enjoying red and white dishes... from appetizers to dessert. I have dreamed up a red and white menu that would make our ancestors proud and one that celebrates the Canadian spirit. After all what is a celebration without food!!! And what is Canada Day without red and white somewhere in the picture, or as in this case the star of the show!! Last years patriotic menu consisted of a Tomato Salad with Pickled Shallots and Goat Cheese Crouton , Spanish-inspired tapas of Romesco with Grilled Bread and Shrimp, Baby Scallops Ceviche in Radicchio Cups,  Red and White Potato and Radish Salad,  Halibut with Grilled Red Pepper Harissa and a finale of Raspberry Tiramisu.

 Of course you don't have to be Canadian to enjoy these summertime favourites. You just have to have a love of good food which as bloggers I know you do!!!Each recipe uses fresh local ingredients and celebrates our local producers and farmers. Every day we should be excited about what we are eating even if it just means making use of a wonderful find at our local farmers market. I can't think of a better way to celebrate Canada or any country in the world than to take pride in what we have to offer from coast to coast.

On a Stick a Book by Matt Armendariz

Deep Fried Ravioli (On a Stick)

In Matt Armendariz new cookbook On a Stick he takes it all one step further and implores us to release our "inner child" and creativity by presenting just about everything on a stick. Dishes like Bratwursts with Sauerkraut Relish, Cheese Fondue, Deep Fried Mac and Cheese, Fried Mushrooms with Roasted Onion Dip, Potato Chips on a Stick with Spicy Ketchup, Cake Pops, Chocolate Covered Cheesecake, Frozen Elvis and Margarita Jello-O Shots take us to a whole new level of enjoyment. Thanks to the ingenuity of creative cooks like Matt, who make our food appealing and fun, meals can be healthy as well as having that WOW factor. In his cookbook he offers almost 300 recipes each with a stunning photo from this talented professional food photographer.

Harvest Pumpkin Butter Grown Close to Home

As we speak I am attending the Food and Wine Writers Workshop south of here. Modern technology allows me to be in 2 places at once and tell you about what I was up to last Sunday and inform you about my latest foray into canning as well as have wine tastings, market tours and gourmet dinners all at the same time. I will tell you all about the workshop when I get back.  

In the meantime a few weeks ago I received an e-mail from the Loblaw's Corporation to participate in their Grown Close to Home campaign. They asked me if I would like to receive a Bernardin Canning kit to highlight our local Canadian produce. Let me think about that for a nano-second. YES was my unequivocal reply!!!!What arrived was a rather large package with President's Choice measuring cups, organic sugar, white vinegar, a Bernadin Home Canning Kit featuring a 21-quart canner, an instructional DVD and a gift card to purchase local produce. I hesitate to tell you how many years it has been since I canned from my own home grown produce but I was more than ready to get started again. Thanks Loblaws and Bernadin!!

Medjool Date and Spiced Ricotta Strudel

Medjool Date and Spiced Ricotta Strudel

As a member of BloggerAid-Changing the Face of Famine's project View and Review I was excited when I had the opportunity to receive a cookbook from Random House. View and Review is a fun and exciting aspect of BloggerAid-CFF where our members have the opportunity to review cookbooks and products from the world over. We all get together and have a little fun while continuing to raise awareness for world hunger.  After all, most of our members are food bloggers and what's more important than food!!!! Browsing through a new cookbook is something we all love to do, but choosing just one recipe, especially when sent a baking cookbook is pretty mind boggling!!!

I was lucky enough to review In the Sweet Kitchen, The Definitive Baker's Companion by Regan Daley. Regan shows us that anyone, from complete culinary virgins to accomplished dessert-makers can make fantastic desserts with a little instruction and know-how. The secret is in the ingredients. The first half of the book is a guide for the seasoned baker and the inexperienced alike. Don't have the right sized pan? Plus tons of baking techniques and improvements. Her more that 140 original recipes are straightforward enough for any home baker to prepare and focus on simple techniques with an emphasis on high-quality ingredients. They range from the awfully impressive , "Brioche Bread Pudding with Dried Sour Cherries" to "Really, REALLY, Fudgey Brownies."

Sliders with Tomato Aioli for President's Choice Review

Sliders with Tomato Aioli

As a member of BloggerAid-Changing the Face of Famine's project View and Review I was excited when I had the opportunity to receive products from Presidents Choice, Loblaw's and it's partners. View and Review is a fun and exciting aspect of BloggerAid-CFF where our members have the opportunity to review cookbooks and products from the world over. We all get together and have a little fun while continuing to raise awareness for world hunger.  After all, most of our members are food bloggers and what's more important than food!!!!


It is also fitting that today as food bloggers we should raise awareness in our own communities especially for our local food banks. Today is Hunger Awareness Day here in Canada  which you can read all about over at Ruth's fabulous blog Once Upon a Feast.

What I love about President's Choice is their involvement in another charitable organization with their role as President's Choice® Children’s Charity . They have increased their support to Breakfast for Learning to $7.2 million. Breakfast for Learning provides nutrition programs to help children and youth across the country receive healthy breakfasts, lunches and snacks to help fuel a better learning environment.

A Holiday Package from President's Choice and Loblaw's

As a member of BloggerAid-Changing the Face of Famine's project View and Review I was excited when I had the opportunity to receive products from the Loblaw's corporation. View and Review is a fun aspect of BloggerAid-CFF where our members have the opportunity to review cookbooks and products from the world over. All work and no play makes us all a little dull so we all get together and have a little fun while continuing to raise awareness for world famine.  After all, most of our members are food bloggers and what's more important than food!!!!

While food is at the heart of their offerings, Loblaws's stores offer a continually growing and successful wide range of products and services to meet your everyday household needs. Here in the West they are under the banner of Canadian Superstore and various other banners Canadawide such as Zehr's, Fortino's, Dominion or No Frills. They are committed to providing a one-stop shopping destination to meet your food and household needs through their quality food and general merchandise products, drugstore and financial products and services, along with their control brand program including the unique President's Choice, No Name and Joe Fresh Style brands.

The President's Choice concept was developed by a talented group of food-inspired people who knew back in the mid-80s that Canadians deserved better quality food choices for their hard-earned dollars. The premise was simple which was to develop unique or superior products that offered better value to their shoppers. The idea may have been simple, but few could have anticipated how Canadian consumers would come to embrace the President's Choice brand to make it one of Canada's best-known trademarks then and now. They just celebrated their 25th Anniversary of their President's Choice® brand.

The holidays are a very busy time and it is not over yet!!!!! We cook, we bake, we clean all to make the holiday season perfect for our loved ones, so,  it is wonderful to have your cupboard or pantry filled with some holiday survival products from President's Choice. Products that will enhance the flavours of your party dishes or premade foods that make your entertaining a stress-free reality. As part of my package I received some PC Double Chocolate Covered Almonds with Peppermint. I had some friends over for lunch with their granddaughter just before Christmas and what I heard from them is that they loved these crunchy almonds which are covered in a layer of rich dark chocolate under a minty white chocolate coating. They are the perfect sweet holiday treat and they said they loved them more than the regular chocolate covered almonds you buy at the grocers. I think Presidents Choice has a winner!!!!!We couldn't get their granddaughter to stop eating them they were so addictive!!!!

I also received some Truffles dusted with cocoa powder and some Maple Butter Fudge, a crumbly, old-fashioned delight made with real butter and Quebec maple syrup. I was proud to include both of these treats with my tray of sweet offerings over the holidays. The fudge especially is an all-time favourite!!!They look perfect with the other goodies on the cookie tray!!!

I also received a jar of Pad Thai Sauce which made cooking inbetween holiday meals a breeze. Here is their recipe from their website for some Pad Thai using their delicious sauce. The making of a good Pad Thai is quite easy with a pre-made sauce. There are some alternative recipes for salmon and veggies… but Pad Thai is so quick and good, you must try it. Stir fry some chicken chunks in a wok after boiling some rice noodles and putting the noodles to the side. When the chicken is cooked through, add the noodles and sauce. Stir ingredients together and crack an egg into the wok while stirring. Once cooked through, plate with some chopped green onions, fresh bean sprouts and a squeeze of lime. Sit back and enjoy with a nice Reisling or Gewürztraminer…. It will certainly become one of your food routines as well!

With my Pad Thai Sauce I started out by using ingredients I already had on hand by making:

** Ginger-Lime Marinated Chicken Skewers**

 Combine Pad Thai Sauce, juice of 2 limes, 1 tablespoon sugar and 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger. Add 1- 1/2 pounds diced chicken breast (scallops or peeled and deveined shrimp) in a medium bowl, and marinate for up to 2 hours in the refrigerator.

Drain marinade into a saucepan; thread chicken or seafood on skewers. Grill or broil using medium heat, turning shrimp in 1 to 2 minutes (when it turns pink), scallops in 2 to 3 minutes and chicken in 5 - 6 minutes. Meanwhile, bring marinade to a boil over medium heat, reduce heat and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes or until the sauce begins to thicken. Serve as a dipping sauce for the skewers. Garnish with chopped peanuts, basil or cilantro if desired.

They are also a company with a heart and work hard with their President's Choice Children's Charity® (PC Children's Charity) which is dedicated to helping children who are physically or developmentally challenged. According to their web site their aim is to remove some of the obstacles that make everyday living extremely difficult and to provide young people with a renewed sense of dignity, independence and freedom.

You are reading this post on More Than Burnt Toast at http://morethanburnttoast.blogspot.com. If not the content has been stolen without permission.

Mediterranean Pasta Salad Made with Love, Enter to Win & Last Week's Winners

When at our local Choices market a few weeks ago I came across a local British Columbian company that was marketing their 100% natural products. Occasionally I review products on this blog that have a focus on either sustainability or are a healthy choice and a bonus would be if they are environmentally friendly as well. This is in keeping with my life style choices to create as little carbon imprint on this planet as possible.

Made with Love is a family run business with a back to basics focus on integrity, insight and simplicity. At Made with Love they choose their packaging consciously with our planet’s health in mind, opting for materials which are natural, reusable, recyclable or biodegradable.

Their Spice Blends are hand-crafted, 100% natural blends of spices, herbs and vegetables designed to make everyday cooking and eating simple, healthy and tasty. All of their Spice Blends combine Whole Super Food Nutrition with a focus on antioxidant properties in flavours that are deliciously addictive!!! The bonus is we get super yummy healthy food we really want to eat with nothing to feel guilty about! Every Spice Blend can be used to make dips, spreads, dressings, marinades, sauces, pasta, stirfry, meats, eggs, tofu, beans, soups, chili, veggies, breads, appetizers ...the possibilities are endless to make EVERYTHING taste great!!!!! I tried their Prima Vera Spice Blend in my favourite Primavera Alfredo and was hooked!!!! Since then I have been experimenting with their Spice Blends in many of my dishes.

I contacted Alex and Colin and an idea was born!!!

For the last 2 weeks Shelby of The Life and Loves of Grumpy's Honeybunch and I have been alternately cooking up some recipes using our collection of Made with Love Eco-friendly Spice Blends. Each week we have been giving away a different couplet or trio of Spice Blends Gift Sets to you our readers generously supplied by Made with Love. Simply find the weeks chosen "search and find image" and enter to win!!!

To win:

1) Visit their web site http://www.madewithlove.ca/ and find the image/photo "The Fire" for this weeks entry and enter to win.

2) Leave a comment at madewithlovecontest(AT)gmail(DOT)com where you found the image/photo"The Fire". Please let us know your blog URL so that we can post the names of the winners on our sites with a link back to you!!!

3) You will be automatically entered to win a Made With Love Eco-friendly Spice Blends Gift Set worth $40!!! This weeks winners will receive one of two Earth-Friendly Gift Set Trios of Jalapeno Roots, Red Pepper and Aztec Chocolate Medi-Size Spice Blends.

4) Visit either Shelby at The Life and Loves of Grumpy's Honeybunch or here at More Than Burnt Toast at the beginning of each week for a delicious recipe and a new chance to win!!!

5) The lucky winners who receive their Trio of Spice Blends will create a recipe using their products, blog about it with a link to http://www.madewithlove.ca/ . All of the recipe creations will be posted as a roundup on The Life and Loves of Grumpy's Honeybunch and here on More Than Burnt Toast. Your recipe may even be on the Made with Love website!!!!

Their flavour combinations are somewhat unusual and take flavours to new heights.

Prima Vera Spice Blend is a wonderful blend of sun-dried tomato, sweet pepper and Italian spices. Try this blend for creamy, red or clear pasta sauces, in cream cheese on a bagel it is heavenly and as a Spanish-style rice side dish.

Crimson Love Spice Blend is a garlic lover’s blend with a strong essence of rosemary in a dried beet base with hints of nori and fresh greens. Wonderful for dips, dressings or pretty pink pasta!

Jalapeno Roots Spice Blend is a rich blend of jalapeno with garlic, onions, sweet peppers and lime in a dried carrot base. Creamy dips & pasta are gorgeous. Spice up your guacamole, veggies, meats or salsa.

Garden Curry Spice Blend is a mild curry blend with a mix of garden vegetables. Blended in cream cheese, pasta or yogurt dip it creates a mild, rich and flavourful sunshine cream!

Country Onion Spice Blend is a traditional mix of fresh garden herbs, caramelized onions and chives. An extremely versatile blend, great on poultry, meats or eggs, fabulous for potatoes and herbed rice.

Pesto Garlic Spice Blend is their dried rendition of its namesake. Not fresh pesto but an easy instant version that is extremely versatile. No pinenuts or cheese here so safe for vegans or nut’free, just a beautiful blend of the herb flavours traditionally recognised as pesto. Great for pasta, meats or salad.

Daring Dill Spice Blend is truly their most sophisticated blend full of great dill flavour followed by a hint of fresh tomato and a hot mustard finish. Lovely on veggies, chicken or fish. Excellent for vinaigrette dressings and creamy sauces. Delightful!

Aztec Chocolate Spice Blend is a complex blend of Real Cacao, Coffee and Vanilla Beans with pungent sweet and spicy peppers. Aztec Chocolate is a traditional savoury flavour mix for Mexican and Latin American cuisine, led by the ancient Aztec and Mayan peoples of the region. Try it on meat dishes, beans, tofu or salad dressings this amazing sweet and spicy combo is great for everyday cooking. Also decadently fabulous for our desert dip.

Red Pepper Spice Blend is sweet with a mild spicy flavour similar to a pepper jelly. A blend of turbinado sugar with a mix of sweet and hot chilies. Amazing on veggies of any kind and a wonder to sprinkle on chicken, pork or fish. Great in mashed potatoes or melted in your popcorn butter it is absolutely addictive.

This week I used the Pesto Garlic Spice Blend to make a delicious pasta salad perfect for these hot weather days. Check back next week to see what Shelby is cooking up!!!!!!

Now for the 2 winners of last weeks giveaway.......drum roll please..........

Congratulations to Joey at Joe's Place and Brittany of Deckled Edges who are each the winners of the Earth-Friendly Gift Set Trio of Red Pepper, Daring Dill & Country Onion.

Please reply to our e-mail with your address which we will forward on to the company.

**Mediterranean Pasta Salad with Ricotta & Feta**

Dressing:

1/2 large red onion, (about 5 ounces), finely chopped

1/4 cup + 2 T fresh lemon juice (about 2 lemons)

2 tablespoons Made with Love Pesto Garlic Spice Blend

2 tablespoons wine vinegar

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

For the salad:

1 pound fusilli (corkscrew) or penne pasta

1/2 pint cherry tomatoes (or approximately two dozen), halved

1 English cucumber (about 12 ounces) quartered lengthwise,then sliced crosswise

1/4 inch thick (alternatively, use 2 medium cucumbers, peel and seed them, cut as directed)

1 cup kalamata olives, (about 4 ounces) pitted and halved

Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

3/4 cup (6 ounces) ricotta cheese

3/4 cup (4 ounces) crumbled Feta cheese

1 ounce crumbled Feta cheese, for garnish

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Combine all dressing ingredients except for the oil, salt and pepper. Slowly whisk in the oil until it is thoroughly combined with the other ingredients. Let stand for at least 30 minutes to blend the flavours. (Can be made the day before and refrigerated.)

Bring 3 quarts of water and 1 tablespoon of kosher salt to a boil. Add the pasta and cook for 10 minutes, or until the pasta is tender but still slightly firm to the bite. Drain (do not rinse) and let cool to room temperature, mixing occasionally. When cool, place in a large bowl and add the dressing. Using a wooden spoon, gently mix until the dressing is well distributed. Add the remaining ingredients except salt and pepper and 1 ounce of Feta for garnish. Let stand for 1/2 hour. Mix well and season with salt and pepper. Top with remaining crumbled Feta and serve.

Serves 8

TIP: You may omit the salt depending on the saltiness of your feta

Creamy Asparagus Soup Made With Love & Your Chance to Win!!!!!!!

When at our local Choices Market the other day I came across a local British Columbian company that was marketing their 100% natural products. Occasionally I review products on this blog that have a focus on either sustainability or are a healthy choice and a bonus would be if they are environmentaly friendly as well. This is in keeping with my life style choices to create as little carbon imprint on this planet as possible.

Made with Love is a family run business with a back to basics focus on integrity, insight and simplicity. At Made with Love they choose their packaging consciously with our planet’s health in mind, opting for materials which are natural, reusable, recyclable or biodegradable.