It’s sour, sweet, cold – perfect on a hot day!

Smoothies are so fast and easy and you don’t really need a recipe. Just grab some fruit – frozen or fresh – add them to a blender with some yogurt, juice or coconut water and blend. Add veggies if you want, especially if you want to sneak in some extra goodness. This one was just made as a morning treat – no need to sneak it vegetables, protein or fiber.

What’s your favourite smoothie?

I took a trip to Greece after I graduated from university a long, long time ago. It was a memorable trip with a bunch of fresh out of school friends.  As you can imagine, it was pretty hot in June or July when we were there. While I enjoyed a lot of Tzatziki, Souvlaki and Moussaka, I really wanted a Café Frappé every chance I got. This simple coffee drink is readily available at every corner and on the ferry – you can order it with sugar and milk or just the coffee. What makes it typical is the use of NESCAFÉ instant coffee. This is not your fancy frozen, super sweet and overpriced drink at the coffee shop, this is a really fast, inexpensive and perfectly refreshing summer drink. I made this one for Style Me Pretty Living – give it at try!

Next up, I’ll try his morning biscuits with cheddar, dill and pumpkin seeds, the skagen salad, his fish pie and the world’s best cake. And I’m sure we’ll spend some time making the herb wreath,a clothes pin trivet and the ombre tablecloth – everything looks very pretty, fun and achievable. Congratulations Paul on this great achievement! Eat & Make is now available at all book retailers.

Book Cover Photos and Collage Photos © Alexandra Grablewski.
I was gifted one book from Paul’s publisher. I was not asked or compensated to write this post. All opinions are my own.

While it’s crazy to be baking Christmas cookies in October – it’s also fun and had the benefit of having a bunch of things in the freezer, ready for the holidays.

Once again, Thea did an amazing job with the design. I always look forward to how she interprets the photos and puts them together in a cohesive spread.

Head on over to the new issue of SisterMag to get the full spread of recipes on page 152. You’ll find recipes for plum cake, cranberry sauce, pomegranate champagne, baked brie, beet salad, sugar cookies and thumbprints as well as pages and pages of additional amazing content. SisterMag is published in both German and English. Congrats to Thea and Toni on this special holiday issue of SisterMag!

Disclaimer: I received a travel stipend and am paid for writing about Prince Edward County by The Great Waterway. This is one of five articles. The articles will also appear on The Great Waterway blog. I chose and organized my own itinerary and all opinions are my own. All photography is my own.

You might have heard that Prince Edward County competes with the Niagara region in the winery department. But there are a few other gems that come from that region. First up is 66 Gilead – a rather new distillery right in Bloomfield. Home on acres of land and using the historic Cooper-Norton house for their tasting room, the venue is spectacular. 66 Gilead produces hand-crafted spirits. You’ll find: gin, three types of vodka, shochu and rum. Opened in 2011 the venue is new and the owners are very friendly and eager to tell their story. A limited selection is available at the LCBO, others are only available for purchase at the Bloomfield location.Right next to 66 Gillead, leasing some of their buildings, are Pete & Marla Bradford. They do two things there – Pete runs his Carriage House Cooperage, where he makes barrels the ‘old-fashioned’ way. These barrels are used by the local wineries, distilleries and breweries. He also makes some furniture and small items for the home. He is very happy to show how things are made the old-fashioned way.In addition to barrel making, they also produce aged wine vinegars. Aging up to 7 years, these are tasty specialty vinegars perfect for your salad, bread dipping or gourmet cooking. The Cooper’s Choice vinegars are made exclusively with wines from the county and aged to perfection with imported “mother” from the legendary Modena region of Italy. We bought a bottle and have been using it regularly in the past couple of weeks.Last but not least – you can also get your local beer in Prince Edward County. Located between Bloomfield and Picton you’ll find Barley Days, a local craft brewer. Sourcing highest quality Canadian malts and hops, they produce beer in small batches. Prince Edward County used to be a large producer of hops in the past, but these days production is not viable for the area. I don’t have any pictures of the brewery because it was pouring rain. But if you get there on the weekend, they are happy to show you the facilities and explain their brewing process. You can buy some of their beer at the LCBO.

Disclaimer: I received a travel stipend and am paid for writing about Prince Edward County by The Great Waterway. This is one of five articles. The articles will also appear on The Great Waterway blog. I chose and organized my own itinerary and all opinions are my own. All photography is my own.

I had never been to Prince Edward County. I had heard the name and I knew it was in Ontario, not too far from my hometown Ottawa. I knew about the famous Sandbanks Provincial Park, but I only realized with time that Prince Edward county has wineries and a huge food scene.

We decided to spend the weekend in Prince Edward County with the kids. We wanted to see how family friendly the area is and wanted to discover a combination of wine, food and beautiful rural Ontario. Our first stops were the wineries.
Our first visit was The Grange. Caroline, the owner, took us on a private tour of her winery. The tour was very approachable, easy to follow and Caroline answered all our questions. We learned a lot about the history of her farm (it was a chicken canning farm back in the day!) and that the Grange is an Estate Winery – meaning that 100% of the grapes used in her wine are grown on her land.
Caroline and her staff were great with our kids. They were allowed to touch anything, run around the dirt and mud and were allowed to look at the large tanks, if they had dared they could have climbed in one as well. After the tour, she provided the kids with toys and colouring supplies while we tasted the wine and waited for our picnic lunch. We ate the wonderful lunch in the tasting room as the weather was wet, but you can take your basket right out into the winery and enjoy it along the creek or at one of the many picnic tables provided. The food was amazing and all locally sourced. The Grange is a lovely winery – the buildings are beautiful, the landscaping immaculate, the wine is subtle but very pleasant – it was a great first impression of The County.
Next up was Norman Hardie. A much more modern building in a rural setting. Norman Hardie produces his own grapes, but also uses Niagara region grapes for his wines. The reds were wonderful. We tasted a few wines and then sat down on his great patio next to the outdoor pizza oven. We had just finished lunch, but could not resist to try a Pizza. It was perfect. The atmosphere was relaxed and there was a hip crowd enjoying their wine and pizza -.

Our third winery visit was Waupoos Estates Winery on the opposite side of the county. This one uses 90% of self-grown grapes in their wine. They only import Niagara grapes to supplement when needed. This estate has an event feel to it. It’s wonderfully maintained, every little flower bed is thought out, music is playing in the gardens and lighting is strategically placed. There’s a gazebo restaurant and everything is set up to host large weddings and other events. What makes their location great is that they are right on the water and have a dock. There are two tasting areas in the main building and another tasting area in the gazebo restaurant. Again, they were very friendly with the kids and they have a small petting zoo next to the estate, which is great entertainment. Baby lambs and goats are just too cute to pass up.
So yes, wineries in Prince Edward County are great and you can visit them with kids! Everybody is very friendly and the atmosphere is nice and relaxed.

Disclaimer: I received a travel stipend and am paid for writing about Prince Edward County by The Great Waterway. This is one of five articles. The articles will also appear on The Great Waterway blog. I chose and organized my own itinerary and all opinions are my own. All photography is my own.

photo on left: Giulia Doyle, photo on right: Heidi Larsen

I am excited to share my second installment of Be My Guest . Today’s guest is Heidi from FoodieCrush. Heidi is incredibly talented – she doesn’t only keep up with an enormous amount of food posts each week, she also publishes FoodieCrush magazine, where she shares her love for food bloggers, their photos and their recipes. What I admire about Heidi is her talent and dedication to scour the web to find and highlight food bloggers all over the world. She does this every week and I’m not sure how she does all of that work and manages to cook and photograph all of her own food as well. Her own work is always bright, clean and cheerful – she makes the food her star – and if you like cheese, you should visit her blog regularly!

photo on left: Giulia Doyle, photo on right: Heidi Larsen

This week we’re venturing into beverage territory and Heidi suggested making this Bloody Beer, otherwise known as Michelada. Here’s her story:

One of my favorite times to enjoy a Bloody Beer is for brunch on a hot, sunny morning while house boating on the amazing Lake Powell.

Lake Powell is a cult favorite among Utahns. It’s like nature’s Disneyland and is a must do if you’re a water enthusiast, fisherman or simply crave water adventure. Straddling the borders of Utah and Arizona, Lake Powell has more coastline than the entire west coast, thanks to its meandering canyons and tributaries alongside the most amazing natural rock formations like Rainbow Bridge.

With temperatures that rise into the 100’s during the height of summer, ice-filled coolers loaded with beer are an essential ingredient for a successful trip. Nothing tastes better than a cold beer on the water to wet the whistle.

My friend Krista introduced me to the concept of a bloody beer after a few days of house boating in Lake Powell. While our lakeside versions were simply tomato juice and beer, the addition of the makings for a bloody mary makes for a tasty adaptation for breakfast or pre-lunch sipping for any summertime lazy day.

photo on left: Giulia Doyle, photo on right: Heidi Larsen

I find photographing drinks incredibly hard – I’m never quite sure what angle is best, how to treat the background, how far away to move…so this was the perfect challenge. This drink made me think of outdoors and summer, so I set up on the deck. We’ve had challenging weather lately, it was raining minutes before I took the photos. A little hard to get into the Michelada spirit, especially when referring to Heidi’s story above. But I think it all turned out OK. Did I like the drink? I thought it was quite pleasant. I really like tomato juice, but I’m not sure if I prefer a Bloody Mary, or if the proportions are a little too acidic for me. I think next time I’ll add more tomato, or switch to a V8 for less acidity. My husband liked it a lot though, but he made sure to add a little more spice. Both Heidi and I adapted the original recipe from Food52 and you can see our adaptations in the recipe below. Thank you Heidi for joining me today!

photo: Giulia Doyle

I’m not a big fan of beer, but my husband is. So when he started to figure out how to home brew, I wasn’t phased by it. It seemed to me that his new hobby included a lot of cleaning and sanitizing. But it also required patience. After the initial set-up he had to wait quite a while for the next step, then again, waiting was the game. Once the beer was ready to be bottled, hubby was very happy. He loved the light and flavourful beer he had created and I had to say that it didn’t taste bad at all.

It turned out that waiting some more resulted in even better beer, the longer he let the bottles sit the better he liked the beverage. It resulted in us hosting a small beer tasting gathering two weeks ago on a warm September afternoon. Makes me think that sometimes waiting for the good thing can be fun and fulfilling – a hard concept for an impatient person like me to grasp.

Cheers to you!