Making Cupcake Bouquets

I took a cupcake bouquet class at Le Dolci, as I was curious how cupcake bouquets are made. I found the experience fun, as the instructor explained us how to pipe three different flowers. She taught us how to make roses, carnation and daisies using the tear drop shaped tip. I have experience piping so I found it easy to follow the instructor, and had fun making these flowers.

After practicing for an hour on parchment paper, we got to decorate 12 mini-cupcakes that were pre-made for us. The buttercream icing was made with only butter and not shortening, so I found it was too quick to melt for my warm hands when I was piping :) 

I like that the icing only had butter and not shortening. Here is the recipe for the butter cream icing from Le Dolci, which I am looking forward to make at home to decorate cakes and cupcakes.
1 cup butter 

2 cups icing sugar 

Use room temperature butter and whip it for 2 minutes. Add the icing sugar slowly. 
It is optional to add a few drops of vanilla. For thinner consistency we can add water or milk a tsp at a time.

To make the cupcake bouquets, we need 

bamboo skewers 

clay pot 

craft flower arranging foam* 

knife and scissor 

*found in the dollar store and craft shops 

We cut up a piece of craft foam to fit into a clay pot so the cupcakes will have more balance when placed. The skewers were cut into 3 and placed in different heights. I pierced the cupcakes with a skewer lightly, but not all the way so it could be easily placed on the skewers.

I really liked how the bouquet looked after it was complete. I am glad that Le Dolci packs the goodies we make there to take home. My family thought it looked really pretty and enjoyed the bouquet of cupcakes. 
I usually think icing is just for the looks and not encourage my children to have a lot on their cakes, so I removed most of the pretty icing before they enjoyed the cupcakes.

I think it is always better and fun to learn a skill by having hands on experience. Le Dolci offers many different classes so we can learn to make cake pops, croissant, macaroons, cookie decorating truffles and more. Check out their website to take a look at the upcoming classes.

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Saha Thai marinades and sauces

It is nice to have delicious tasting marinades and sauces on hand for quick meals. I think, it allows us to impress our loved ones and make tasty meals with very less effort. Saha has a variety of sauces and marinades we can use to make Middle Eastern and Thai food. All the ingredients used by Saha are natural so we can use these preservative free sauces guilt free :)

I used the Saha Thai sauces; red curry, green curry and massaman curry to make a variety of curries, which all had a unique delicious taste.  The curries also had authentic flavour, as I used coconut milk to get the intended flavours.

Thai red curry paste is a staple in many classic Thai dishes.  The spices and exotic flavours from lemongrass and galangal is in the sauce, so there is no need to look for these exotic ingredients or prepare the base at home. I used this container of Thai red curry in a variety of dishes such as in this shrimp curry and also to make a mixed vegetable dish.

For the shrimp curry

2 cups cleaned shrimp without peel

1 tbsp oil

2 shallots or green onion chopped keep the green and white part separate

1 green chillie

1 garlic clove

1/3 cup Saha Thai red curry sauce

1/2 tsp salt to taste

1 cup of coconut milk

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup red pepper

2 tbsp coriander leaves

Heat oil and sauté the white part of the shallots then add the garlic, green chillie and shrimp.  When the shrimp is changing colour add the sauce, salt, water, coconut milk and cook covered in low heat till the shrimp is cooked. Add red pepper and cook for about 2 to 3 minutes.  Remove from heat add the green parts of the shallot and coriander leaves.  Serve as a side dish with rice, flatbread or bread.  

All Saha products are flavourful and have a unique taste.  These sauces and marinades help us make traditional Thai or Middle Eastern food within a few minutes.  I wish these sauces are available everywhere as I am addicted to it :)  It is sold in these places and online.

Massaman meat curry

I made this meat curry in the pressure cooker within minutes by mixing this massaman curry sauce.  The delicious aroma of the sauce, blended with coconut milk tasted fabulous.  My family and I enjoyed the flavours. The sauce had the secret ingredients that reminded me of my grandma's meat curry.  The sauce had oil and salt in it so I didn't add either. 

For this Massaman meat curry I added 1/2 tbsp oil to sauté onions, curry leaves, ginger, garlic and then the meat. I let the meat brown a little, before adding about 4 tbsp of sauces and 1 tbsp coconut milk powder with 1 cup of water. Then I cooked the meat in pressure cooker for about 10 minutes in medium heat and served it hot as a side dish.

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Herbal remedies that we can make at home

I am very curious about herbs and enjoy planting a variety at home. However, I don't feel I take full advantage of the herb crops as much as I should so I referred to this home herbal book, which gave me some tips on how to use the herbs. 

This book has a wealth of knowledge on how to grow herbs, harvest, how to safely use and cautions about using it. It is easy to refer to this book, as the content is separated by either the herbs used to heal from the inside through food we can make or herb used to heal from the outside such as skin treatments. Herbal remedies have helped many generations, but this knowledge was almost lost. Now, as people recognize the benefits of this holistic natural approach, treating the body with herbs in coming back.

Here are some of the things I learned from this book.

• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder dissolved in 1 cup of water, juice or milk to help with arthritic problems and eczema.
• 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper in half a tumbler of warm water for sore throats.

Sharpening the knives at home®

Sharpening knives at home is convenient and easy if we have a good sharpener. We put one of our dullest knives, to test this Chef's Choice Pronto Pro manual diamond hone® knife sharpener and were happy with the results. 

This extremely fast manual sharpener can be used on European, American and Asian style knives such as straight edge, santouku, sports, serrated and pocket knives. This sharpener has a crisscross technology that allows a precise bevel angle control that creates ultra sharp 15-degree and 20-degree edges. The wheels hold shape, and do not load up, so it is durable and easy to clean. The edge to hold the sharpener is "soft touch" and allows us to have secure grip while sharpening. 

To use this sharpener just slide the blade back and forth in a sawing-like motion by applying a downward force. Using this 100% diamond abrasive wheels in stages 1, 2, and 3 helps the knives to have a razor sharp edge. 

Stage 1: Apply a 15-degree edge for fishing, light, hunting knives, and Asian style knives.

Stage 2: Apply a 20-degree edge for fishing heavier hunting knives, and European and western style knives.

Stage 3: Honing and polishing, sharpens serrated knives, and Asian style knives.

This lightweight Chef's Choice Pronto Pro manual diamond hone® knife sharpener 4643 is made in USA and is safe to use for all knives. This is a wonderful tool to have in the kitchen that can be bought from cookware stores, sports, and hardware stores, as well as through mail-order catalogs and online retailers for $60 Canada and $50 US.

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Easy way to prepare a hearty meal with Neal brothers foods

If you are planning a party soon, especially for the upcoming mother's day or victoria day then these delicious products from Neal brothers would make it easy for us to throw a whole meal with minimal work. Their products are made with organic natural ingredients, which are gluten free and have no trans fat, preservatives, artificial flavour or colour. 

The extremely tasty organic tortillas are available in organic blue, organic blue with flax, low fat oven baked and multigrain, which taste fabulous with their salsa. The colourful tortillas chips along with the salsa would make a wonderful appetizer and snack for any gathering or to enjoy anytime. My children and I enjoyed the medium spicy flavourful salsa and my husband enjoyed the extremely spicy habanero salsa. Both these salsas had a different unique kick of spices, which we really enjoy. We haven't had blue corn tortillas before, so we enjoyed the rich colour and flavour of the tortillas.

For my family and I, including a hearty salad is must to complete a meal. I think tossing our salad with the perfectly flavoured salad dressing is very important. We enjoyed the flavour of the toasted sesame salad dressing that is made with all natural ingredients. The flavour in this creamy salad dressing had a delicious taste, it didn't have any overly sharp flavours so everyone in my family enjoyed it. I usually don't like the flavour of rice vinegar in salad dressings, however in this salad dressing I couldn't smell or taste the sharpness of the vinegar because all the flavours in it was well blended. Neal brothers also have delicious flavours of croutons to toss into our salad.

The range of their flavourful pasta sauces such as tomato basil, roasted garlic, and roasted red pepper allows us to easily prepare a meal by just tossing the sauce with our cooked pasta. These pasta sauces are made with natural ingredients. I like having flavourful sauces in my pantry, which allows us to have guilt-free meals even on busy days. 

We also enjoyed their classic BBQ sauce, which we enjoyed with this fried chicken. The balanced delicious flavour in this sauce would become a crowd-pleaser. It would be perfect to include in all BBQs.

1 chicken cleaned and cut

1/2 tbsp chillie powder to preference

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp lemon juice

1/2 cup yogurt

1 1/2 cups water

oil to fry about 2" to 3" high or grill in the BBQ

Marinate the chicken with salt, chillie powder, lemon juice and yogurt overnight or for about 2 hours. Let the chicken cook with about 1 cup of water until the chicken is cooked and the water has evaporated. 
Fry the cooked chicken until it is golden in all sides, then remove it out of the oil and toss the chicken with the BBQ sauce. 
OR 
Barbecue the marinated, cooked chicken by applying the sauce all over the chicken and grilling it on the BBQ. Make sure all the sides of the chicken has become golden. Serve it hot.

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Rice flakes sweet treats made with organic coconut sugar

This delicious sweet treat would be a wonderful quick snack to have anytime especially in the evening for tea time.

1/2 cup Rice flakes (flattened rice or beaten rice or poha or aval)
2 tbsp coconut sugar* (jaggery) to taste
2 tbsp grated fresh coconut to taste
warm water

Put the rice flakes into warm water and leave for about 5 minutes. Squeeze the rice flakes and put in a bowl, discard the water. 
Mix the rice flakes with the coconut sugar or jaggery and grated fresh coconut. Make it into bite-sized round shapes or serve it in individual dishes.

*Organic coconut sugar is a rich unrefined natural sweetener that is similar to brown sugar with a slight hint of butterscotch and caramel flavour. I have grown up with this delicious flavour has many  traditional preparations of dishes are made with coconut sugar that is well known as jaggery. 

The coconut sugar comes from the fresh nutrient-rich sap that is collected from tender coconut flower buds. The sap is gently heated in an open pan and boiled until it turns into granular form. This gluten free, healthy tropical favourite has no cholesterol and tastes delicious when included in beverages, cooking and baking. 

As it is made with natural ingredients there are no preservatives or artificial flavour or colour. The low glycemic qualities and high nutrient profile of the coconut sugar puts less stress on our blood sugar levels compared to highly refined white sugar. This Grace Coconut Sugar 500g jars are priced at $6.99 and is available in the international aisle at Loblaw’s, No Frills, Metro, Food Basics, Sobeys, Freshco, Walmart, Longo’s, Highland Farm and local ethnic store.

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Beet Salad

2 to 3 beet root grated about 1 1/2 cups

2 tbsp onion chopped

2 tbsp tomatoes cubed

1 green chillie chopped optional

lemon juice to taste

salt to taste

pepper to taste

Mix the grated beet root with the onion, tomatoes, chillie, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Leave the mixed salad for about 10 minutes before serving it as a side salad. 
This flavourful salad is made in celebration of the National Salad Day on May 1st.

All rights reserved on photographs and written content Torviewtoronto © 2010 - 2013 unless mentioned. Please Ask First

Vegetable Savoury Quinoa and Delicious Dishes Made at the CUTCO Event

Savoury Qunioa, Kale orange salad and Fruit salad

I have been a fan of CUTCO for several years, so I had a wonderful time learning more about CUTCO knives at the #foodiesforever event in Toronto. I learned about different types of knives, its specific uses and knife skills at the event, while preparing and enjoying a healthy delicious meal.

Some of the things I learned about kitchen knives are that dull knives can be dangerous as it makes us put pressure when cutting, which is more likely to get us hurt. Also, wooden knife handles are porous and are prone to splintering. 
These things are not a problem with CUTCO, as their knives are sharp and have a forever guarantee to keep them always sharp. The comfortable thermo-resin CUTCO knife handles are dishwasher-safe, which keeps them clean and good as new.

We made this delicious Savoury Quinoa at the event, which I tried at home as well. This easy to make healthy meal was also enjoyed by everyone in my family.

1 cup quinoa

2 cups water

1 vegetable cube

1 carrot

1 zucchini

1 tbsp coconut oil

salt and pepper optional

Cut the carrot and zucchini into cubes and leave it aside. Heat the oil in medium heat and sauté the carrots and zucchini for 1 to 2 minutes. Then add the quinoa with the water and vegetable cubes. Let the quinoa cook in low heat covered for about 20 to 25 minutes. Let the cooked quinoa sit for about 5 minutes and serve it warm.

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Canada's Only National Digital Media Conference Will Be Held In May

Connect, Collaborate and Commercialize at Canada's Only National Digital Media Conference (CDMN Canada 3.0 Digital Media Conference) that will be held at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre on May 14th and 15th. The conference is expected to draw more than 2,000 attendees from industry, government and academia to advance Canadian innovation. The conference will feature speakers, Canadian entrepreneurship, and a wide-range of programs.

Orange Endive Salad

Olive oil is known to have lots of benefits because of its healthy fats and antioxidants, such as improving our cardiovascular function. These health benefits make extra virgin olive oil a wonderful addition to our meals. The stability of the oil when it is in storage and while cooking allows us to include it in all types of meal preparations.

It is also important to know more about the quality and origin of this oil we use everyday. Learn more on how to Flavour Your Life with this healthy delicious oil.

Here is an easy to make delicious Orange endive salad adapted from Fresh Italian cooking book by Academia Barilla.

 

2 medium oranges

2 tbsp lemon juice

1 head endive thinly sliced (about 1 1/2 cups)

2 tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Cut the peel and white membrane from the oranges, then slice the fruit into segments. In a bowl, whisk the juice that dripped from the oranges with the lemon juice, salt, pepper and olive oil. Toss the sliced endive with the dressing and serve.

All rights reserved on photographs and written content Torviewtoronto © 2010 - 2013 unless mentioned. Please Ask First