A Hot & Fun Blogger BBQ

HOT SUMMER IN THE CITY WITH FOODIE FRIENDS

Event -     Blogger BBQ
Date -      August 20, 2016
Reason -  Getting to know fellow foodie people

Shuang (The Teleporta) and I hosted our 1st Blogger BBQ this month. And true to my luck it was one of the hottest days of the summer but that didn't stop us.  

We wanted to have all the Toronto Food Bloggers and food industry people that I know get together to just chill and meet each other and find out who we are outside of our social media handles. 

I wanted to get a chance to see what everyone thinks and share info and connect.
Unfortunately I couldn't find a date that worked for so many of the busy bloggers so we just went with this date.  The good thing is that we were going to do it the week before and it turned out to be a crazy storm that day.  So our group was small but mighty.  As usual I made enough food for double the amount of people.  But you never know what people will like.  Some of the people that attended I have known for a few years and some not as long but they are all becoming really great friends.  Shuang is a fairly new food blogger and hasn't met most some of them so she now has a bunch of new friends that understand the love of food and the need to take a photo of your food before you eat.

Attendees were:
Denise - Petits Chefs Academy - http://petitschefsacademy.com/
Loren - Aroma Outreach Manager - https://aroma.ca/
Natalie - Cooking Quidnunc food blogger - http://www.cookingquidnunc.com/
Jenny - Ice Cream and Knishes food blogger - http://icecreamandknishes.com/
Niki - Niki S lifestyle blogger - http://www.nikisblogger.com/
Shuang - http://www.theteleporta.com/

and me of course but you know that because you are reading this. :)

 

The MENU:

• Gazpacho- I made this
• Artichoke and White Bean Dip with Beet Chips - I made this
• Carrot salad with harissa dressing - I made this
• Souvlaki Chicken and vegetable skewers - Shuang prepared this
• Fresh shucked corn - Shuang prepped this
• Pesto pasta salad - I made this
• Grilled Peaches with Vanilla gelato and Dulce De Leche - Shuang prepped this
• Cheesecake brownie cupcakes that Jenny made were fantastic.
• Niki brought potato and macaroni salads
• Denise brought some wine
• Natalie made a Greek Salad
• Loren brought the Tzaziki and pita for the skewers, Loren learned what Tzaziki was.

Everyone literally pitched in to make this BBQ happen.  We needed all hands on deck to bring things up to the rooftop bbq and back down.  We only stayed up there to plate all the food and eat the main things but we had the dip and gazpacho and the dessert at Shuang's place.  It was just too hot when the sun moved and a couple of people had to leave for other events.

The Bean dip which I just made without a recipe was a big hit.   A bit of this and that.  I will have to make this again and measure everything so I can have the recipe handy.

The peaches were so sweet and juicy, those of us that were still there for dessert loved the peaches.

I would love to organize another Potluck in October and have more bloggers who couldn't make the date we had it come out and see what they can do to impress everyone.  A little time to get to know each other without the mad rush to get a perfect shot for a blog post.

Thanks to all for coming and for contributing to a HOT and FUN afternoon.  Hope to see everyone again soon at another Blogger get together.

Great Canada Day BBQ tips

HAPPY CANADA DAY

You don't have to spend a fortune to have a great Canada Day BBQ with friends and family.

Here are my tips for a great BBQ.

I headed over to Walmart and picked up a few of Walmart's Our Finest BBQ staples and had a low cost BBQ with friends and their new baby.  Baby Kenzie was really excited to celebrate her first Canada Day BBQ and she was literally drooling over all of the food.

               

The MENU

From Walmart:

Our Finest Cheddar Cheese and Applewood Smoked Bacon Beef Burger    $10.99

Our Finest Chipotle BBQ sauce                                                                               $1.78

Our Finest Strawberry Lemonade                                                                          $2,00

Our Finest Thick Cut Grilled Onion and Balsalmic vinegar chips                      $2.00

Our Finest Tzatziki Yoghurt Dressing                                                                     $2.00

Our Finest Lemon Herb Shrimp                                                                             $10.00

Coleslaw                                                                                                                     $1.47

Fresh Corn                                                                                                              5 @ .57each

Also on the Menu:

Roasted Beets with goat cheese

Taco layered dip with red and white nacho chips

Jerusalem artichoke salad

Fingerling potato salad

Cucumber and Cherry Tomato salad with the Tzatziki dressing

Dessert:

My friend made Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

I picked up a Walmart brand Smore's kit

I also got a fresh pineapple from Walmart that I cut into slices and we grilled it with sugar cinnamon and topped it with vanilla ice cream and dulce de leche caramel sauce

I also got a little round watermelon that we cut up into slices and then cut out maple leafs with a cookie cutter.

My friend also picked up a Red Velvet Canadian Flag Cake.

To DRINK:

I brought over some Walter Caesar mix that I had and topped it off with celery and of course a Canadian Flag and a celery salt rim and ice.

And of course there was lot's of wine, perrier and water too along with the strawberry lemonade which tasted very refreshing.

I think we had as much dessert as we did dinner.

I spent just under $100 at Walmart and that fed 5 people and enough for 6.

We decked out the table family style so it wasn't fancy but very fun and festive.

Everything tasted fantastic and the weather was beautiful after 2 solid days of gloomy rain.  

We were really surprised on how much we enjoyed the Applewood Smoked Bacon and cheese Stuffed Burgers.  Because of the cheese inside they were moist and flavourful.  I would recommend them anytime.   I bought sliced cheese but skipped it because you could see the cheese oozing out so it really didn't need it.

We kind of had a Pot Luck style BBQ with some things I had made at home,  some things BBQ essentials that I picked up at Walmart and a few other things we either purchased or made.

You can really have a great BBQ on a Budget if you pick up a few great things like some great Burgers like the Our Finest ones we tried and get some great hamburger buns and some condiments.  We really liked the Our Finest Chipotle BBQ sauce.  Add some fresh coleslaw and some fresh corn on the cob and some cherry tomato and cucumber salad or you can even skewer them.  We also skewered some of the cherry tomatoes with some boconcini cheese that my friend had but we forgot about them until after we had everything.

Since you already have the BBQ going the grilled pineapple is also a great easy idea or just toast up some marshmallow after you finish grilling your meal.

We grilled the corn but you can also grill peppers, zucchini or even potatoes and asparagus.  These are some of my favourite things that grilling really enhances.

Get creative and find some great food and friends and spark up that grill whether you do it at home or on a campsite or at a local park.  It's always fun and the food is always better this way.

Don't forget the Canadian Flags, hats, and festive decorations.

Enjoy a safe and Happy Canada Day!

Disclaimer:  This post is sponsored by Walmart Canada, as part of the Our Finest program. In exchange this review, I have received special perks in the form of products and/or compensation. All opinions on this blog are my own.