Perfect Valentine's Day Gifts for Foodies

You have no clue what to get for your significant other or someone you fancy for Valentine's Day?

If they are Food Lovers or Cooks or Bakers then here are some suggestions for things besides the usual standbys of Flowers and Chocolates.   

Don't get me wrong, some people love flowers and chocolates but if you want to look like you have put some thought into a gift for the one you love then try one of these ideas.   If they are on a diet or hate to cook then there are still a few things on the list that they might like.



1. Le Creuset Red Dutch Oven -  with a cooked meal in it.  They get to enjoy the meal and any future meals cooked in this oven for many years.

2. Fancy French Macarons from Nadege or Sweet Escapes or a Class to learn how to make French Macarons with my friend Mardi Michaels from Eat, Live, Write - http://www.eatlivetravelwrite.com/classes/

3. House Cleaning or a Professional Organizer -  http://organizinglives.com/about-us 

I used this company when I had to sell my house and downsize to an apartment.  They also helped me organize my kitchen in my apartment after I moved in to maximize the limited space.

4. Dinner at a high quality intimate restaurant where the service is impeccable like RUBY WATCHCO  (Chef Lynn Crawford) or ICI BISTRO (Chef JP Chalet)  or FABBRICA (Owned by Chef Mark McEwan)

5. Cheese Club Membership http://leslievillecheese.com/cheeseclub/ or a Gift Basket from Cheese Boutique or a Class or Fondue at Cheesewerks.

6. Organic Food Delivery - http://www.mamaearth.ca/ or http://www.freshcityfarms.com/ or Front Door Organics

7. Private Chef to cook an in home meal. - http://www.cdnpca.ca/hire.htm or take a Knife Skills Class at a Community College or a private Academy like Cirillos or Aphrodite Cooks or take the family to Petits Chefs Academy

8. A great cookbook and some basic ingredients from their favourite Chef's cookbook, pick up some rare cookbooks at The Cookbook Store.
   

9. A beautiful tea set with samples of different kinds of GOURMET TEAS like great french tea KUSMI or Canadian Tea Company DAVIDS TEA, TEA EMPORIUM or another Fav is NUMI Teas.

10. Instead of Flowers get a Fresh Herb Planter that will last at least a whole season and will be used to freshen a space and add flavour to lots of meals.

                                      

The Key is to put some thought and effort to whatever you do and make it as special as you can for that special person in your life.   If you don't have a special person you can even share some of these ideas with a group of friends.

Spread the Love and Share the Food -  HAPPY VALENTINE"S DAY

Culinary Showdown - Chef Lynn Crawford and more Celebrity Chefs compete

COOK FOR THE CURE
CULINARY SHOWDOWN

This week I was invited to go to Chef Lynn Crawford's restaurant Ruby Watchco in downtown Toronto for a Fundraiser for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation's fundraiser the Culinary Showdown which takes place on December 7, 2013.

At this special event we got to nibble on some of Lynn's partner Chef Lora Kirk's great appetizers and sip some wine.   The food was great as I knew it would be because I have been to the restaurant in the past.  It's a great restaurant that I wish I lived closer to and could afford to go to all the time.

Here are some photos of some of the nibbles that were served.


We were all encouraged to sign up for the Culinary Showdown which I had already done at a previous event but now it's time for me to try and build my fundraising goal to reach the required $2500 to be able to join Lynn Crawford's team or one of the other Celebrity Chefs like Chuck Hughes ( another one of my favourite chefs)  or the West Coast Rockstar Vikram Vij or Top Chef Canada Judge Mark McEwan or Restaurant Makeover/Takeover chef Corbin Tomaczeski and Dean McDermott (Tori Spelling''s husband) and the great Tyler Florence will be on hand to host the event.

I need to raise $2500 to join one of their teams to compete, but if I raise $1000 I get to go to the event and watch the battle.

I need lot's of to reach the $2500 goal and every little bit helps.   

Click here to donate if you are able to and you will receive a tax receipt.  

If I am able to raise enough money to participate I will blog about my experience after the event.

If you are able to help sponsor me I want to thank you very much for helping me to do something good for a lot of people and help me sharpen my culinary skills.

Pinknic Flash Mob for Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation

June 25, 2012  was the First Ever PINKNIC flash Mob event for Cook for the Cure and the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation and by Kitchen Aid Canada. It was held at David Pecaut Square.

There aren't many people these days that don't know someone that is affected by Breast Cancer or some other form of Cancer.  Everyone knows about Cancer and everyone needs to raise money to fund research and other cancer related initiatives.

This Event was a little different than most of the events I have been to because you didn't know where you were going until 2 hours before the event started and you had to bring your own food.   With a $20 donation for the registration fee you got to have a pinknic Urban Style with chic white place settings and Pink accents symbolizing the Breast Cancer Foundation.  They provided wine and lemonade and at the end of the dinner there were cupcakes and pink cake pops.   Other than your own containers there was no mess to clean up afterwards and you didn't have to eat your picnic meal on the grass which is a good thing since they told everyone to wear white.   White with grass stains or dirt isn't a pretty sight.   Unfortunately the people at our table didn't even bring any food so I think they missed out on the whole purpose of it and it made us feel a bit uncomfortable to be eating when they weren't.  We did offer them some food but they declined.

There were about 400 people in attendance.  An impressive number considering this was the first year.  It was a pretty well organized event.  I only had one thing that I would have like to see them do would have been to have one of the organizers do announcements once everyone had entered to welcome everyone and let them know what was happening.

There was a photo booth where they took some instant photos that they gave you a printout and had available on facebook.   This was our pic.

Chef Lynn Crawford who represents Kitchen Aid and has a food network show called "Pitchin In" and a local restaurant called "Ruby Watchco" was in attendance to inspire people to host their own cook for the cure events.  I have seen Lynn at a few events and she is always gracious in meeting people.

If you are interested in this event you can either attend next year or you can host your own event but if you want more information contact the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.

So what did we bring to this Pinknic?  Well we had a bit of a collaboration of things.    My friend who graduated from George Brown College Culinary program brought a mixed vegetable salad and I had made Quinoa and together we made a spinach, kale, asparagus and feta frittata, which turned out great.