Rice Krispie Treats turn into Real Toys for Kids

It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year…

Toy-shaped Rice Krispies Treats Transform Into Real Toys 

For Canadian Children in Need This Holiday Season

Snowman Igloo with Rice Krispie treats

When you think about Christmas time you think about all the snow, treats, presents and family and friends.  It's supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year so they say.

Sadly, however, the holidays don’t shine as bright for everyone. Many children across Canada will go to sleep on Christmas Eve knowing that there may be nothing waiting for them under the tree the next morning.

To ensure no child goes without this holiday season, Kellogg’s Rice Krispies* has once again partnered with The Salvation Army for the Rice Krispies Treats for Toys program. This annual tradition, now in its fourth year, has raised more than $100,000 and makes giving back easy by transforming delicious Rice Krispies treats into real toys for less fortunate kids.

With the Kellogg’s Rice Krispies Treats for Toys program, holiday treat-making is a fun, delicious family activity and a tangible way to give back and create a new holiday tradition.”

I was asked to share this initiative by posting my Rice Krispie Treat Toy and posting to my social media channels and Kellogs will donate $20 for each photo posted.  I couldn't say no to this even though I have a bit of a gimp arm after falling in the subway... so excuse my messy version. I made the Snowman Igloo above with sprinkle trees.  I was also fighting the short daylight hours and a pre-made icing so this isn't perfect but that's ok, it looks like a 5 year old did it so you can let your kids go crazy trying to decorate and fabricate Kellogg’s Rice Krispies* into their favourite toys and they get to eat the treats while giving back to another child that might not have the opportunity to enjoy the treats and toys. See below for more inspiration from Kellogg's.

So you want to join in on the fun right?  Well here is what you can do too.

Make. Share. Give 

All it takes is three easy steps for parents and kids to make a big difference in the lives of other Canadian children. Here’s how:

1.       Make:  Choose a favourite Kellogg’s Rice Krispies cereal variety, like the festive multi-coloured Limited Edition Holiday Rice Krispies cereal, Rice Krispies Brown Rice Gluten-Free cereal, or even Rice Krispies with Vanilla Flavour for a bit of sweetness. Then, using the Kellogg’s Rice Krispies treats original recipe as the base to get started, create a toy-shaped treat using the recipes available on treatsfortoys.ca or get creative and design something new!

2.       Share: Take a picture of the treat and upload the photo to treatsfortoys.ca. Photos can also be shared on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest or Instagram using #TreatsForToys.

3.       Give: For every photo received on the website or shared on social media before December 21, 2016,Kellogg’s Rice Krispies will donate $20^† to The Salvation Army to buy a real toy for a child.

For all the need to know information on the Kellogg’s Rice Krispies Treats for Toys program, check out this fun 0:30 video: http://bit.ly/2esXjUQ.

                                                                                  

Need Inspiration? Follow Our Recipes or Let Your Imagination Run Wild!

With Kellogg’s Rice Krispies, there are endless DIY toy-shaped treat possibilities. And there’s no baking required. So grab some Rice Krispies cereal, decorative icing and colourful candies, and dive into creating a unique recipe or get inspired by these creations developed by beloved Kellogg’s Rice Krispies Treats for Toys Ambassadors:

	Christmas Morning Smilies Smiles, silly faces and giggles, oh my!  Check out how to DIY these smiley guys: http://bit.ly/2fC2nWK
	Good Tidings Teddy This cuddly toy is adorable and will warm the hearts of all who bring him to life! Bear in mind these how-to steps:http://bit.ly/2f0Hia8
	Little Toy Drum With every toy-shaped treat transforming into a $20 donation to The Salvation Army to buy a toy for a child in need – this festive drum can’t be beat! See how to go from drum to yum: http://bit.ly/2eBE7qP

ABOUT KELLOGG CANADA INC.

Kellogg Canada is the leading producer of ready-to-eat cereal in Canada. Every day, our beloved brands nourish families so they can flourish and thrive. These include All-Bran*, Kellogg’s Corn Flakes*, Corn Pops*, Eggo*, Froot Loops*, Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes*, Kashi*, Kellogg's* Two Scoops* Raisin Bran, Mini-Wheats*, Nutri-Grain*, Pop-Tarts*, Pringles*, Rice Krispies*, Special K* and Vector*. Through our Breakfasts for Better Days™ global hunger initiative, we’ve provided more than 1.4 billion servings of cereal and snacks to children and families in need around the world. To learn more about our responsible business leadership, foods that delight and how we strive to make a difference in our communities around the world, visit www.kelloggcompany.com. To learn more about Kellogg Canada’s efforts in these areas, please visit www.kelloggs.ca.

* © 2016, Trademark of Kellogg Company used under licence by Kellogg Canada Inc.

20 Foodie Gifts from the One of a Kind Show

The One of a Kind Show and Sale is back at the Enercare Centre at Exhibition Place and I went for the media preview on thursday morning to check it out.  

I picked out 20 Gifts you can buy for the FOODIES on your Christmas List.

Who doesn't love food gifts?

A one stop shop.  Most of these things are food but there are a couple of other fun things foodies would appreciate.  

Besides all the Artisan foods you can get all kinds of arts and crafts and there is lots of pottery to pick up for people to eat and drink all this food from.

Deck you foodie's halls with all of these goodies at the show.

   FOODIE GIFTS

1.  Fancy Jelly Tree

2.  Better Than Sex coated fruit and nuts

2.  Forbes Wild Foods Mustards and pickled vegetables

3.  Foie Gras Pate

4.  Hot sauces and marinades

5.  Crab and Lobster dip

6.  Macaroon soaps

7.  Monkey Butters - Dark Chocolate Cherry

8.  Distill Cocktail Kit

9.  Shut Ur Pie Hole - Apple Pie in a Jar

10. Chocolate and Caramel covered Apples

11. Hot Chocolate Dippers

12. Multi Flavour Nougat candy

13. Honey Pepper, Tandoori and other flavour Beef Jerky

14. Cheese shape Soap

15. Dehydrated vegetable Framed Art

Non Food - Foodie Gifts

16.  Retro cartoon printed Dish towels

17.  Chef and Cook ornaments

18.  Quotes and photo coasters

19.  Artisan hand made pottery - Not made in China

20.  Recycled Beer bottle glasses

 There are a whole lot of other food treats and really cool artwork that you can pick up as a special gift for those hard to buy for people in your life.  Get a One of a Kind Gift that they will remember.

One stop shop.

One of a Kind Show and Sale

Show runs from November 28 to December 6, 2015
Weekdays & Saturdays 10am to 9pm  Sundays 10am to 6pm  Late night shopping on Thursday Dec 3
#OOAKX15
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Holiday Entertaining Tips from Ricardo

RICARDO'S Entertaining Tips

Ricardo

I had the pleasure of spending a great couple of hours on a lovely sunny day in an office overlooking the Lake with the amazing Chef and Entrepreneur Ricardo Larivee a well known TV personality from Quebec.  A select few food bloggers, writers, food industry people were invited to chat with Ricardo about Holiday Entertaining in an informal sit down chat.  Ricardo was there to answer any questions we had and also discuss some of his tips and tricks and where he wants to go in the future.  He said he would like to be "the Celine Dion of food" meaning he wants to be a Canadian representative for food around the world.  Kind of a cool thing to aspire to.  He also wants to share the knowledge and collaborate with people like all of us bloggers to move toward the future and be ahead of the curve of where food is going and also the media industry with his magazine Ricardo, his online website and his products and any future TV or other kind of media.
Who knows what's next but he wants to know and wants to be ready for it.

We enjoyed a lovely spread of food that is featured in the Holiday edition of the Ricardo magazine. Appetizers that your guests can enjoy as the arrive at your party.  They could also be the kinds of things for drop in guests.

Some of the things we sampled were:

• Local Quebec cheese and cracker platters
• Fresh mixed crudite with from scratch mayonnaise
• A Pecan crusted cheese ball
• General Tao mini sausages
• Chocolate covered apricots and almonds
• Wine cocktail

I always struggle to with hosting parties even though my friends think it's easy for me.

I asked Ricardo what to do about guests that don't show up on time and have multiple food restrictions.  He said "I don't know I don't have friends like that".  Actually he said that he can get pretty tough on the start of his parties and how long he keeps the food out.

Some of Ricardo's tips for entertaining:

1. Have food that people can nibble on and serve themselves when they arrive at the party.
2. Only give people about a half an hour to arrive before you start serving the main dishes.
3. Don't put out all of the food at the same time.  Start with the nibbles and then remove them after an hour and put out the next course.  
4. Never leave a course out for more than an hour.  It's best for food safety and also for clean up and keeping the party moving.
5. Serve them wine or have some pre mixed drinks that they can serve themselves but limit it and make sure they have food before they start drinking.
6. If you know they are going to bring you wine ask them to bring specific wines that you want that will go with the food you are serving at the party.  
7. If they have so many restrictions you might suggest that they bring something that will be safe for them.
8. You decide on what you want to serve and you don't have to cater to everyone but he also takes notes on what people like and don't like and makes changes the following years.
9. He generally invites the same people so he knows what they like.
10. Put the food away after each course is done but let your guests know that there is some in the fridge if they would like some more.
11. Don't make too many things.  
12. Keep it simple.
13. Think about the kinds of appliances that you are going to need to make all the food.  
14. Use crockpots to keep things warm or free up on appliances.
15. Make as much stuff in advance as you can and you can freeze or make ahead a lot of the food.
16. Ricardo heats his plates in the oven to keep the food warm longer.
17. If you can't find unsalted pistachio's you can rinse salted ones and then roast in the oven to dry them out.  He recommends toasting all nights to bring out the flavours.
18. He doesn't do the dishes until after the party so that he can spend more time with guests.
19. He believes that the one job the guests have is to entertain themselves and bring the party.
20. He makes sure he has everything ready so that he can greet his guests and they can make themselves at home when he is greeting other guests.

I must say that I have tried to do a lot of these things but I am going to try a few other of his tips.  My challenge is that I have a small kitchen and no dishwasher so there is only so much space for the dishes but if I host a party this year I am going to consider some of these tips and make a few adjustments.  

I hope some of these tips help you enjoy your holiday gatherings with your friends and family.

Ricardo and I wish you a very happy holiday entertaining season.

Ricardo and me