Bacon Ranch Popcorn

Bacon can be added to many dishes to improve them. However, popcorn should forever be a bacon free zone. As I have discovered by tasting the All Natural Bacon Ranch Popcorn by the Popcorn Indiana company, adding the taste of bacon and ranch to popcorn makes it taste extremely chemically. Chemically tasting popcorn is not good tasting popcorn. This flavour of popcorn is most definitely not worth trying!

Play

Eating at a high quality restaurant is life changing. It truly is. After eating at a 5 star restaurant you will go in with very high expectations to all the other restaurants that you ever walk into. This is what has happened to me after eating at the restaurant Play in downtown Ottawa.

This restaurant has it all. The service is impeccable, the food is top-notch and the atmosphere is eloquent. The waiters and waitresses there always greet you with a smile. Always. I have yet to be served by a person who doesn’t smile. It’s almost as if they have to go through a friendliness test before they get the job. It really is quite lovely.

Three flavoured gelato

The food is spectacular every time. The menu changes daily based on what they have in the kitchen. It usually doesn’t change too significantly except for when the seasons change as then they begin to use different ingredients. What I especially love is that it’s a small plates restaurant, so you can get 2-3 plates for your meal, and then share with whoever else you are dining with. That way you get to taste more of there delicous food. Isn’t that just tasty? A good thing to keep in mind is that as you go down the menu, the plates get larger. So if you were to order one item from the top and one from the bottom, then you’ll be very content by the end of the meal. I have never walked away feeling overly stuffed after eating at Play. Now I don’t know about you, but that’s just how I like it.

Mushroom Gnocchi

Grilled Romaine Salad

The atmosphere is cozy yet elegant. The appropriate clothing to wear to this restaurant would be very smart casual. I would wear some dark denim jeans and a nice top. This restaurant is really all about the food.

If you would like to learn more about Play or even make a reservation, follow the site below.

http://www.playfood.ca/

Thanks for reading!

Buttered Rum

I know what your thinking. This girl drinks alcohol. However, you are most definitely incorrect. This girl drinks one of the most invigorating teas that has ever existed. Buttered Rum from DavidsTea is a delicious mixture of black tea, coconut flakes, vanilla beans and cornflower petals–no rum involved whatsoever!

This tea is the cat’s meow; if you ever need an extra boost to get you through some late night work, you need to sip this harmonious blend. Buttered Rum is sold exclusively at any DavidsTea store and it’s not a seasonal tea so you can purchase it year round. 50g of this Kosher and organic tea costs just $6.50. Let’s go get us some rum! 🙂

Thanks for reading!

Chocolatiest Crinkles

The chocolatiest cookies of all the chocolate cookies. These cookies look delicious and taste abosultely scrumptious! If you ever have to host a dinner party and you need to make a dessert, these are prime cookies to bake.

I got this recipe from The Chocolate Deck by Lori Longbottam. This woman really knows her chocolate–all of the recipe in this amazing deck of recipe cards are absolutely delicious.

The only tip that I can give is not to substitute the butter for vegetable oil. The cookies will not turn out the same. Also, you can just melt the chocolate in the microwave if that’s easier. Those are my only two tips though. These cookies are easy-peasy lemon squeasy.

Recipe

Ingredients

• 5 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar

Instructions

Melting the chocolate 

Melt chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of about 1 1/2 inches of nearly simmering water, whisking until smooth. 

Melt the chocolate according to the instructions above. Let cool.

Whisk flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl. Beat butter with an electric mixer on medium speed in a large bowl until fluffy. Add sugars and beat until smooth. Add chocolate and beat until blended. Add egg and vanilla and beat until blended. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture in 3 batches, beating just until blended. Transfer dough to a bowl, cover, and refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours.

Position racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat to 375 degrees Farhenheit. Butter 2 large baking sheets.

Shape dough into 1-inch balls, coat heavily with confectioners’ sugar and place on prepared baking sheets. Bake for 8 minutes, until tops spring back. Cool on wire racks for 2 minutes.

Makes about 4 dozen.

 

Water

We need to drink it at least every 3 days or we will die. Bu who would want to go 3 whole days without drinking this naturally refreshing drink? Water is a need, a want and a gift. Thank you Mother Nature. Without you, we would not be able to survive.

Yes, water is so amazing that we now have the ability to transport it with us wherever we want to go. What with these new fancy dancy water bottles and (in my opinion ugly) plastic water bottles, we can access a cooling drink any time, anywhere. Now people say that all water tastes the same, but let me tell you: it doesn’t. You have plastic tasting water,, chemical tasting water, ice water, distilled water and tap water. Plus now you can flavour your water with that Dasani flavouring  stuff. But that’s getting off topic. We’re just talking about the original water. The best kind of water. If you doubt me, go buy a plastic bottle of water. Then take a sip from a glass of water from your tap. What do you think?

Really what I’m trying to get across here is that water has been downgraded greatly ever since the arrival of sodas and juice. Water still has a place in our society: it is needed to refuel our water levels and sometimes even our energy levels. So instead of taking a sip of Gatorade after a run, go for a glass or bottle of water. Instead of having juice with breakfast have a glass of water.

Drink water.

Love water.

Thanks for reading!

Cinnamon Blueberry Muffins

A moist, sweet and aromatic muffin. Those are the most appropriate words that I can think of to describe this muffins. The first time that I made these muffins my entire family loved them- ever since they have been a favourite. The blueberries make the muffins taste refreshening while the cinnamon makes them taste perfectly homey.

I got this recipe from epicurious.com. If you ever have an excess of a certain ingredient, I strongly recommend heading to this site. They have a recipe for practically every ingredient. AMAZING!!!!!

So if you would like to get the recipe for these muffins follow the link below:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Cinnamon-Blueberry-Muffins-1222209

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoy making and eating these delicious muffins!

Big League Chew Gum

This gum has apparently been around for a long time, and I completely understand why. There is so much gum in this pack…it’s unbelievable. One pack of gum lasts me about a month-most packs only last about a week. Isn’t that just crazy?

You can buy this particular brand of gum at the Candy Store for$3.05. If you would like to find out where the Candy Store is and how wonderful it is, then you can check out the blog post for April 14th, 2011. Chewing gum never lasted so long!

Guacamole

Mashed up avocado with some lemon and pepper. I’m sure there are other things added to make a perfect guacamole, but those are the flavours that jumped out at me when I had the guacamole pictured below.

Most delicious guacamole ever with tomatoes on top

Guacamole is my all-time favourite thing to dip chip and vegetables in. Quite frankly, avocados are my favourite fruit. Are they a fruit? I just checked and they are indeed a fruit. The most decadent fruit around.

Now I had my favourite type of guacamole at a restaurant called Cafe Atlantico in Washington D.C. If you can’t get to Washington anytime soon, then you can always make your own. Or your mom can make you some. That’s always good too 🙂 Anywways here’s a recipe for guacamole that I haven’t tried but I’ve made many things from the site that have turned out well. It’s from finecooking.com. I hope it works out for you if you make it and as soon as we get 2 ripe avocados in the house I’ll make the guacamole and let you know how it turned out. 🙂

http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/cilantro-lime-guacamole.aspx

Thanks for reading!

Iced Tea

Let us make one thing clear right away shall we? This kind of iced tea is not the sugary/Nestea kind of tea. No no my friends, this is quite simply the thirst quenching kind of iced tea. The kind of iced tea that is so cold you get shivers down your back while you drink it. That’s right folks, it’s that cold.

So here’s the deal. Take any loose leaf tea you have. I suppose this could work with bagged tea as well, but according to DavidsTea (they’re who I got the recipe/instructions from) you need loose leaf tea. So you take your loose leaf tea, but in double the amount they recommend and steep it for double the time. In boiling water of course. While it’s steeping, fill a glass with ice cubes. And I mean fill it. You need this tea to be cold! Once the steeping is all done just pour your hot tea over the ice in your glass. Give it a couple seconds to become cold, and voila! You have a thirst quenching, heat removing drink. It’s tasty too and doesn’t taste at all like water. I was thoroughly pleased. 🙂 Thanks for reading!

My iced tea; I used the Long Life Oolong tea from DavidsTea

Mocha Muffins with Chocolate Chips

The caffeine of coffee and the sweet sugar rush of chocolate. If you are ever down in the dumps and need a good pick-me-up, grab yourself one of these muffins. They are really good at waking you up. They don’t taste too bad either.

Now the original recipe calls for pecans. I did not put pecans in my batch of muffins because a member in my family allergic to pecans and could therefore not indulge in their deliciousness. For that reason I cannot give my opinion on the muffins if they included pecans, since I have not tasted them. I’m sure they are very good though. The recipe is very easy to follow and I have no tricks to offer. It is simply a scrumptious muffin recipe. 🙂

I got this recipe from the fantastic and very utilitarian site epicurious.com. I fyou would like the recipe then just follow this link:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Mocha-Muffins-with-Chocolate-Chips-and-Pecans-405

Thanks for reading!