The Yum Yum Factor

This month's Food Network Canada's Cooking Club Challenge was to use at least one of five featured PC products in a dish. Because I am on a bit of a popsicle kick AND it's Canada Day weekend coming up how could I not choose to make a popsicle with a nice Canadian theme. It doesn't get more Canadian than maple syrup, local strawberries and they are a very canuck red and white stripe. The cream/yogurt layer is a bit decadent but they can't all be healthy treats, can they and although I love the thickness of no fat greek yogurt, it can feeze with a grainy texture that I didn't want in this popsicle. I really had no choice but to mix it with some heavy cream - I might even try going the whole hog with whipping cream the next time to see how that turns out. Thankfully, the tartness of the pureed berries give a really nice break from that richness mid way through the pop and I am glad that I used the maple syrup instead of my standard honey as the sweetening agent...

I used to spend a lot of time in Mexico and one of my favourite things to drink was something they just called Jamaica, pronounced ha-my-ka. I knew it was just a steeped agua fresca type drink made from these Jamaica flowers and water. I was told it was a natural diuretic and so it was great for me because I might have consumed a little bit of alcohol back in those days and so it was the perfect thing to sip on all morning. I just assumed it was some exotic thing that I could only get in Mexico so imagine my embarrassment when I wandered into a Mexican dry goods store in Kensington Market only to discover that Jamaica is spelled like Jamaica and is simply the name given to Hibiscus flowers there. As soon as I realized what it was, I made sure to always have some on hand and I would often throw a handful in my pitcher of steeped cold berry tea that I like to keep in the fridge. I had some beautiful, local strawberries which were really ripe and threatening to go bad on me and I ...

We had our Father's Day manly meal on Saturday, complete with grilled skirt steak and all of Shack's favourites like grilled corn, asparagus and coleslaw so that we could go over to Jen's for some tacos and cocktails. My contribution to the festivities was ceviche and because I couldn't decide between the halibut and the scallops, I bought both. We scored these beautiful, huge local radishes at St Lawrence Market and I knew they would be perfect in a ceviche. Kind of peppery, crunchy, watery and crisp - since I never put fresh chili peppers in my ceviche so that Little Shack will be able to enjoy it, radishes will give it a nice spicy kick without making it hot. I have never met a ceviche I didn't like and I really liked this one a lot. Scallibut Ceviche 1/2 lb fresh halibut 1/3 lb fresh scallops juice of 4 or 5 limes 1 clove garlic 1 tomato , fine dice 1/2 small red onion or vidalia onion, fine dice big handful of cilantro, washed and chopped 3 l...

It's my last turn at snack day until the kid starts GRADE SEVEN FOR THE LOVE OF GOD WHERE HAS THE TIME GONE!!! Anyway, enough with the wholesome muffins and good for you whole grain breads. For the last snack these kids are getting crack. To make myself feel a week bit better I threw in a huge container of watermelon but let's not kid ourselves because it's going to be all about that sweet, salty goodness that is kettle corn. Little Shack discovered the whole salty sweet popcorn thing a few weeks ago when he has some Smart Food's version of kettle corn. I wanted to make my own and started poking around the internet and it seems that everyone on the planet uses the same method so I am not going to credit any one source. Oh, and no, I didn't cut out the kid's watermelon into hearts and flowers. What, do you think I am crazy or something? Kettle Corn 1/4 cup vegetable oil 1/2 cup popcorn kernels 1/4 cup sugar kosher salt to taste Heat the o...

We are very close with The Neighbours and spend most warm summer nights sitting together on the front porch, drinking wine and eating and enjoying each other's company. Sometimes we like to make girly drinks or a pitcher of sangria when it's too hot for wine so it makes sense to try to turn some of our favourite cocktails into frozen treats. The upside is that it doesn't look like all we do is sit out there and drink because people will walk by and think "look at all of those lovely wholesome people enjoying a fruit popsicle on this balmy summer evening!" As long as I make sure that I colour code the sticks so the kids don't grab a frozen bloody caesar by mistake, I think we are good to go.

 I feel much better now that I have a large stash of PC popsicle molds at last. I found a store that still had a whole shelf full of them so now I am ready for summer. I will have to designate a colour stick as the adult pops so I don't come home to find Little Shack and his buddies running around like maniacs, all hopped up on vodka pops . Today's popsicle had to utilize the yogurt/buttermilk mixture from the first batch because I really love the tanginess but I wanted to get a little fancier with my layers. I bought some PC Blueberry Pomegranate Juice ( I swear to god that I don't work for Loblaws and they don't give me anything for free, I just shop there a lot and I like their stuff. Don't get me started on Joe Fresh).

I woke up this morning determined to make popsicles. I dreamed of popsicles all night. Adult popsicles with boozey layers and exotic fruits. Yummy kid friendly popsicles using my new favourite PC Greek Yogurt and fruits. Maybe even trying some spicy popsicles at some point. It probably helped that we spent yesterday lolling about in the third ring of hell here in Toronto and I could barely stomach anything heartier than a chunk of watermelon all day.