Browsing: Food Shopping

Shopping at Sobey’s

December17

I love to entertain, but there are occaisions when time is at a premium and I want to look like I went to all kinds of trouble, even when I didn’t.  On this particular evening, I had invited three young families over so that they could enjoy some quiet adult only time, before the busy Christmas season.  D and I took the little ones downstairs for chicken fingers and fries while watching animated seasonal specials on the big screen.  Shopping at Sobey’s for an event like this is an absolute pleasure.  From the moment that I got out of the car, without having to fish for a coin for a cart, I know that I have come to the right place.

I went right to the deli section and was out of there in 20 minutes including the check out,  where there were enough staff on that I was in a line with only one person in front of me and they were just finishing up.  I could stand and chat with the cashier, instead of heading to the end of the conveyor belt to bag my own groceries.  In addition, she was free to visit with me as there was another person in charge of bagging  up my  purchases.   And the best part was that even though I had brought my own groceries bags, there is no charge for Sobey’s bags so if I had forgotten, I  would not have had to run back through a busy parking lot to retrieve them from the car.

Previously, in the deli, the helpful staff made suggestions of taste combinations and allowed me to sample items that I was considering purchasing.

As a result, I bought all kinds of goodies that I had never purchased before including this savoury sausage encrusted in Parmesan cheese.  So  everybody wins: my guests, the store but especially me!

I had the choice of a number of raw mozzarella brands and styles and in the end, selected the discs which means that the assembly of the caprese salad was virtually instantaneous.

Feta is one of my favourite nibbles and Sobey’s offers a number of light varieties.  This way a bevvy of olives can be indulged upon.  So too, they carry a light artichoke and asiago dip which I served up with veggie sticks and a gorgeous variety of crackers.

Bothwell cheese is a local brand that our family is crazy about.  My personal fav is  black truffle which is so deep and rich tasting that I simply put it out in little, pea size bites.  I also made a baked brie topped with apples, cranberries, pecans and lots of brown sugar and butter and then wrapped in phyllo.  That was the most timing consuming dish to make it took all of 4 minutes.

I know that the adults enjoyed themselves but not more so than D and I who were got to snuggle up with three adorable little guys and kick off the Christmas season.

Kath’s quote: “The art of keeping a good table, consists, not in loading on a variety at each meal, but rather in securing a successive variety, a table neatly and tastefully set, and everything that is on it, cooked in the best manner.” –Catharine E. Beecher

Love-that is all.

Chocolatier Constance Popp

December8

In my life, food and friendship are very intimately connected.  I love to celebrate my friendships with food but another characteristic is also true: my fascination with food has brought people into my life, whom I might not have encountered otherwise.  One such person is Constance Popp.  We met and have had occasion to reconnect through our mutual friendship with the Manitoba Canola Growers

I am absolutely fascinated by Constance’s story, the places she has travelled and the people she has met though her passion for chocolate.  She is a prolific story teller and I am not sure if it is my fascination with her craft or the samples of chocolate that she continually gifts me with, that continually draw me to her.

The first time that I spent time with Constance I tasted her newly invented Chocolate Birch Bar which was a luscious combination of white and milk chocolate that had been kissed with Manitoba birch syrup.  Some artisans pay lip service to utilizing the highest quality, local ingredients-Constance is the real deal, folks.  That same weekend when we made smores at a campfire, she added homemade marshmallows as her contribution.

More recently she brought along her luscious cream cheese frosted cupcakes to an event

and then just this week a little plate of macaroons, another cupcake and a spicy dark chocolate were set in front of me.  I have tasted macaroons at the world famous Laduree on the Champs Elysee in Paris and these raspberry and caramel confections were far, far superior!  In every single morsel I can taste the love and integrity that she puts into her art.

I have heard that her chocolate drink (Constance’s answer to hot chocolate) is worth the drive to her Portage Ave. (1853-at Ferry Rd.) shop and the little inauspicious cup did not disappoint.  Au contrare-with one sip, my eyes automatically closed so I could shut off the outside world and just concentrate on the taste on my tongue. 

The drink is not gussied up with whipped cream and syrups or shavings, as the elixir is exquisite on its own and any enhancement would be an insult to the pure and at the same time, exotic taste.   I placed the lid back on the cup and immediately drove home so that I could share the last sips with D.  Not surprizingly, Constance slipped a couple of little treats into a bag for me to also take home to him.

I would have pressed Constance for her secret but she didn’t require any coaxing.  She told another customer at the till, “if you like these (cocolate peanut butter cups) , shoot me an email and I will send you the recipe.”  My impression is that Constance so loves the world of chocolate that she wishes that as many people as possible can share in its pleasure.  Her chocolate drink recipe is one part almond milk to three parts regular milk combined with one part milk chocolate and three parts dark chocolate straight from her enrobing machne, for this drink could never be duplicated at home.  You would have to be a chocolatier, like my friend to make it.

Kath’s qute:“Carefully prepared chocolate is as healthful a food as it is pleasant; that it is nourishing and easily digested; that it does not cause the same harmful effects to feminine beauty which are blamed on coffee, but is on the contrary a remedy for them.”-Jean-Antheleme Brillat-Savarin

Love-that is all.

Guest Blogger: Sister #3- Île d’Orléans in Quebec City

August17

If you ever had to opportunity to visit Quebec City I would highly recommend a quick trip over to Île d’Orléans.  This picturesque island is made up of six communities and loads of farms, shops, churches and museums.  Known as the “Garden of Quebec” the island is a great place to purchase seasonal fruit and vegetables, the strawberries where ready when I was visiting, as well as awesome and maple and apple products.

We stopped at Cidrerie Verger Bilodeau, an apple orchard in St. Pierre where the hostess provided endless samples of apple liquors, dressings and spreads. I purchased apple dessert wine and some apple butter which I enjoyed with brie and baguette once I arrived in Montreal to visit my nieces.

Next was Les Fromages de l’isle d’Orléans in Ste-Famille, home of the first ever cheese made in the Americas. Le Paillasson cheese is first recorded to have been made in 1635 and is a firm cheese that you fry in a pan of butter, similar to the way the Greeks prepare Halloumi.

Our second stop in Ste-Famille, was at ferme au gout d’ autrefois, purveyors of duck and goose products.  My hostess, Chantal picked up a jar of goose thigh cooked in salt and goose fat.

Our final destination was Chocolaterie de l’île d’Orléans in Sainte-Pétronille to pick up a treat of Belgian style chocolate for the drive home.

The next morning we feasted on our lovely purchases as part of our breakfast.

Kath’s quote: “How can you govern a country which has 246 varieties of cheese?” –Charles de Gaulle

U Pick Strawberries-By Guest Blogger Shirley

July13

Shirley was one of the students in my blog writing class this spring.  She has written this beautiful piece.  Looks like one of those cases where the student could teach the teacher a thing or two…..

“Anyone who loves strawberries knows the sweet, juicy flavour of fresh-picked strawberries is second to none.  Not only are these delights of nature beautiful to look at with their crisp red appeal, they absolutely tantalize the taste buds.  Maybe part of the intense flavour explosion stems from picking them ourselves.

Just a few minutes outside Winnipeg and throughout Manitoba, there are various U-Pick Strawberry farms.  Many are operated as family businesses providing reliable quality and service.  I remember going strawberry picking with my Mom and Dad when I was a little girl.  It was so much fun to hear my Dad tell stories of how I would focus on the task at hand and pick strawberries right along with my parents.

I was taught how to respect the tender plants and pick cleanly, not eat while picking, and simply select the beautiful red berries.  Okay, don’t tell:  my Dad would let me try a berry or two near the end, and oh, the sweetest taste filled my mouth!  I still remember how wonderful those delightful excursions to the strawberry fields were.  Somehow it never seemed like work.

Today I still find the whole process from picking to eating the strawberries, in whatever form they end up, to be enjoyable.  Food is love.  Strawberries are love.

I froze these on cookie sheets before bagging them so that they do not go mushy.

After hulling and washing these delectable jewels bursting with flavour and nutritional goodness, they can be eaten fresh out of hand, added to cereal, and made into various delicious desserts such as strawberry trifle or strawberry shortcake.  They can also be frozen for use out of season when we yearn for the sweet taste of summer berries.

What memories do the smell of strawberries bring to you?”

Grandma Jean’s Strawberry Pie-Just picked, made and delivered to the cottage

Kath’s quote:   “The strawberry: “Doubtless God could have made a better berry, but doubtless God never did.”-Dr William Butler

Thank you Shirley!

Sweet Frites with garlic and sea salt

October28

Sweet Potatoes are plentiful in the produce section right now for holiday cooking but our family loves to have them all year long.  They are a wonderful alternative to traditional fries with a burger or fish. 

This recipe calls for an unpeeled potatoes so buy organic if you can.  The peel adds fibre but go ahead and peel them if you are concerned.  Ironically, they are are a great source of anti-oxidants.

2 lbs. orange-fleshed sweet potatoes

2 T olive oil

coarse sea salt

3 T grated parmesan

2 T chopped parsley leaves

1 clove minced garlic

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Rinse and dry potatoes and then cut them lengthwise into slices 1/2 inch thick, then cut each slice in batons about 1/4 inch wide and 3 inches long.  Arrange in a single layer on a large rimmed baking sheet and toss with olive oil and 1/4 t salt.  Roast, stirring with a spatula midway through baking time, until tender and browned on the edges, 20-25 minutes.

In a large bowl, mix parmesan, parsley and garlic.  Add warm oven fries and mix to gently coat.  Season to taste with additional salt and serve at once. 

Kath’s quote:  “With all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt.”-Moses as found in ‘Leviticus


Let love be multiplied.

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