This and that: Canada
Showing posts with label Canada. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Canada. Show all posts

Saturday, October 11, 2014

Happy Thanksgiving Canada



This weekend is Canadian Thanksgiving and I am sure all my Canadian family and friends are gathering together and enjoying a turkey meal or two.  As we enjoy food, family,friends and fun do we remember what Thanksgiving is all about?

Monday, July 1, 2013

Canada Day and an Iced Capp

♪  It's Canada Day, Up Canada Way
On this first day of July  

This is one of my favorite Canadian songs and sung by Stompin' Tom Connors.  This song makes me proud to be Canadian.  Canada is and will always be my first love no matter where I call home or what nationality at that time I will be (I am now an American Citizen).  I will always be Canadian in my heart.

Canada also has Tim Hortons one of my favorite coffee/doughnut shops.  If the police like it, it is good for me.  I love their Iced Cappuccinos or as the Canadians would say "give me an Ice Capp".   This is one thing that I miss and is usually the first thing that I buy when I get over the border.  Driving home Estevan, Saskatchewan is my first Canadian town and they have ~ you guessed it right a Tim Horton's.  My first and always my last stop as I leave.  Over the years I have just about perfected my Iced Capps... not quite the same but they work, especially if I have Tim Horton's Coffee and English Toffee Cappuccino mix. 
 Eastern United States also has Timmie's and to my great surprise and luck there was one close to where my husband is staying in Lansing.  That shop got to knew me by name (well not quite) as I went for my Timmie's fix everyday.



Timmie's Iced Capp

Ingredients:
4 cups Cold Brewed Tim Horton's Coffee *
4 cups coffee ice cubes **
2/3 cup Tim Horton's English Toffee Cappuccino
1/3 cup condensed milk - if you would like it sweeter use more
optional ice cream ( 1 -2 cups)

Instructions:
Place all in blender and blend until smooth.  You can do this in a couple batches.  I then place it in the freezer until it is starting to freeze - about 1-1/2 hours.  Bring out and re-blend until smooth.
I refreeze the leftovers and bring out and thaw slightly and enjoy.
*To make cold brewed coffee, place 1/2 cup coffee grounds and 4 cups of water in French Press or you could use your coffee pot.  Place in Fridge over night.  If you use a french press, Press down to bring ground to bottom.  If you don't have a fresh press, filter out ground through your coffee pot filter.
** Freeze leftover coffee into ice cube trays so that when you make cold coffee you don't water down your coffee with the ice cubes.




So the next time you see a Tim Horton's go in and ask for a Iced Capp or a Double-Double with a doughnut.  A Double-Double is double cream, double sugar.

I wrote an article in the Daily Dish Magazine that I write for with some facts and myths of Canada, a free printable and a quick and easy Canada Day Parfait.  Head over to Happy Canada Day for more information about Canada.

Canada Day Free Printable


Canada Day Parfait


Happy Canada Day, my Canadian Friends! 


 




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Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Individual Tourtière Pie

                              You would think that being Canadian I would have tried Tourtière
but no not never. But then I am not French Canadian.
I have to tell you a little secret.... I didn't even know really what it was.
I had to look it up and after I did I thought that it was something that I would enjoy.
Here in Upper Michigan we have something similar called pasties but without all the spices.
I went to allrecipes.com for the basis of my recipe.
I wrote down a few combinations of spices from a few of the recipes and as I was making them I decided what I wanted in my Tourtière.
Although the real Tourtière, I don't think anyways, doesn't have potatoes or carrots, I had some that were cooked and that I needed to use up.   I also used leftover ground chuck roast and ground pork tenderloin tips.
So these are a combination of the pasties and Tourtière.


Tourtière made as individual pie.  

Individual Tourtière Pie

1 lb ground chuck roast (approx 2 cups)
1 lb ground  pork tenderloin tips (approx 2 cups)
1 1/2 cup diced carrots (cooked)
1 cup diced potatoes (cooked)
3/4 cup onions diced
1 cup mushrooms diced
1 1/2 cup water mixed with 2 maggi beef cubes
2 tsp garlic
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp clove
1/4 tsp sage
1/2 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt
pie crust - enough for one double crust pie (either homemade or bought) ~ I cheated and used bought this time
2 tsp whipping cream


Place all ingredients except pie crust and whipping cream in large pan.  Cook on medium heat until sauce thickens about 1 hour.
During this time you can prepare your pie crust, as if you make your own, it need time to chill before rolling out.  Here is a recipe for homemade pie crust.
Once the mixture is thickened, I set mine aside while I rolled out my pie crust.  Roll out pie crust and cut them into 6 inch diameter circles.  I place 6 circles into my large muffin tins and the left overs I made individual pies.
I rolled out my pie crust really thin, as I don't like lots of crust.  Place the crust in the muffin tins and fill with meat mixture.  I topped the meat mixture with a small piece of pie crust cut in the shape of a flower.  For the individual ones I cut my 6 inch diameter circles, place maybe a 1/4 cup of meat. to one side and flipped the other side over  top.  I used a fork to seal the edges.  Brush tops with whip cream.  Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 45 minutes until crust is brown.  If edges gets brown to fast, cover edges with tinfoil.

* the individual meat pies that I made in the muffin tins were very hard to come out, I am thinking that it was because the crust was too thin.  If you use a thicker crust it would be perfect.
* my husband loved the individual ones that were little pies as he could eat them anywhere
* I used one store bought pie crust that has 2 crust in the package to make 6 muffin pies and 3 small pies.  I would reroll the leftovers.
* you could make this into one big pie, but as there is only 2 of us, I thought that I could freeze the left overs... The individual mini pies would be easier to freeze.


pie crust in large muffin tins, filled with meat mixture


tops brushed with whip cream
and
ready to go into the oven

Tourtière made in muffin tin... Enjoy


  
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Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Maple Leaf Creme Cookies

A while back I had found some Dare Maple Leaf Creme Cookies in the local store
They brought memories of my childhood.
As I was eating them, my mind went to making my own.


First I had to find a recipes... so onto the web to search.
I found a recipe from Food shed that looked good as they said that they were imported to New England,
 I knew that the author knew how they tasted...
Great a recipe, now onto finding maple leaf cookie cutters...
I searched high and low in our area but couldn't find any, found every other kind of leaf but not maple leaf.
So I ended up making flower cookies instead of maple leaf...




Maple Leaf Cream Cookies
adapted from  Food Shed
3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla

In bowl mix flour, salt, baking powder and nutmeg.  Set aside.  In separate bowl mix butter and brown sugar until fluffy, scraping sides down.  Mix in maple syrup, once mixed well add egg and vanilla and continue to mix, scraping sides.  Mix in dry ingredients on low until everything just comes together.  Form into a ball and chill in fridge for at least 2 hours or over night.
 Once chilled, preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Roll out dough to 1/4 inch thick and using cookie cutter, cut out shapes.  Place parchment paper or liner on cookie sheet and place cut out cookies on the cookie sheet, 1 inch apart.  Bake in 375 degree oven for 7-9 minutes, or until golden brown colour.  Cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes and then transfer to cooling rack.  Once cooled arrange cookies according to size and frost the bottom cookie, lying the other cookie on top.

Frosting:
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp maple syrup
2 cups icing (powdered) sugar
1/4 cup milk

Whip butter until soft, add about 1/2 cup icing sugar and continue to whip.  Add maple syrup and milk.  Add icing sugar until the frosting becomes stiff but spreadable.  You may have to add more icing sugar or milk to make it spreadable without being watery.