Christmas Food Traditions

HOLIDAY TRADITIONS

Christmas traditions don't have to be the expected ones with family that some people look forward to and others dread each year.

For myself, I didn't grow up with Christmas traditions because we didn't celebrate Christmas or many other holidays either.  At Christmas time we just sat around the house and ate whatever there was and watched TV.  My family were never into the big holiday things but I kind of feel like I missed out on the magic and the creativity and the memories of the excitement of the things you only do during the Holiday times.

Since my parents have passed and I am estranged from my brother and don't celebrate holidays with any of my other remaining relatives my Holiday traditions are now spent with my friends.

I have a few different groups of friends so I do things differently with all of them.

For the past 3 years I have tried to organize a gift exchange and dinner with my Food Blogger friends.  This year was the most successful one yet.  With the weather being perfect and no snow storm to get in the way and a location that was central for everyone to get to, this year everyone I invited was able to make it out to the dinner.  Some were late but everyone was there to eat, drink and exchange fun gifts.  We met up at the Keg in North York because my friends come from Markham, Maple, Thornhill, downtown Toronto and the Scarborough Bluffs area.  It was a challenge to find a place that would be able to seat 7 of us and still be able to have it quiet enough to talk.  The Keg fit the bill for location and comfort.  Although it's a bit pricey and they had an even bigger party than ours so our food took a long time but we still had a great time catching up and doing our Secret/not so secret Santa exchange.

Another tradition that I spend with friends is actually hosted by one of my film festival friends who hosts an Open House at her home just before Christmas.  Some of my Tiff Entourage team meet up at her house and enjoy the usually Potluck kind of snacks while we mingle with her other friends.

And what I hope to be a new and long lasting tradition was started last year at my house with my friend Adam, his husband and at the time his 3 year old daughter and their friend also joined us for Ugly Sweater and Christmas cookie decorating.  His daughter has grown to love baking things and we thought it would be fun to decorate cookies.  This year some of his other friends wanted to join the party so we had to move it from my tiny apartment to his house and we invited a couple more of his friends and I invited my friend, her husband and her 3 year old son.

 

This time we added 2 Gingerbread Houses for decorating,  one bought by me was a traditional one and the other bought by Adam was a Hanukkah House which had blue and gold decorations.  It's a good thing we had 2 because we broke one of the pieces on my house so it wouldn't stay together.  Oh well.   We had lots to decorate.

I pre-made dough and some Ugly Sweater cookies.  We were going to have the kids and adults cut out cookies to bake but that didn't happen.  The kids were happily playing downstairs with lego and all kinds of other toys while the serious adult decorators proceeded to have an Ugly Sweater decorating contest.  Unfortunately I didn't win but we let the kids decide and there was a tie between 2 cookies.  I hope to make this a new annual tradition until the kids are sick of doing it and the adults don't have the energy to decorate cookies anymore.  It was a huge messy success and I hope it makes a lot of memories for the kids and the adults.

So you see you can choose whatever tradition you like and with whomever you wish to do it with.  It doesn't have to be opening presents with family on Christmas day or dreading the family dinner.

Create your own new traditions with the people you love doing the things you love to do with them.

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.

New Year's Eve wishes & resolutions

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

I planned on writing a post for New Year's Eve celebration tips but I was too busy planning what I wanted to do on New Year's Eve.  It's now a few hours away from the New Year and I wanted to wish all of my Blog readers a very Happy and Healthy Food Filled New Year and I hope all of your wishes for the New Year come true.

This holiday season I decided to
"Be the Change you want to see in the World" as they say in my own life.  In my case i wanted to celebrate the Holidays doing the things I wanted to do.

For Christmas Eve this year I went to a friend's party for a few hours and was amazed at how many people she had turn up on a Christmas Eve.  Since I don't celebrate the Holidays with family but I do enjoy the Turkey dinner's that I didn't get to have growing up so I decided to stay home and cook my own Turkey Roll from Whole Foods dinner and duck fat roasted potatoes, sauteed green beans and clementine glazed carrots.  I had a lot leftover and was planning on making Turkey Pot pie but I got lazy and turned it into Turkey Tettrazzini again.  You can probably find a previous post about this.  It's an easy way to turn Turkey leftovers into a whole new thing.

Anyway, for New Year's Eve for the past few year's I have stayed home to watch all the countown's on TV.  I just eat whatever I have usually but this year I thought it might be fun to invite a small group of my friends over to chill out with me.  I dug out my New Year's Eve box of noise makers from my storage locker and I made these clock and date cookies today.  I also picked up some Greek Honey balls from Athens bakery on the Danforth and added some gold spinkles to dress them up.  I really wanted Italian Struffoli but there isn't any around near me and I didn't have time to make some.  My neighbour used to have them every Christmas when I was a kid.  Nobody else I knew had them so it was a treat.

I still have a whole lot of sweets leftover from things my friends gave me as gifts and things I had from my party plus a whole lot of Skittles that I got at the Skittles Pawn shop for trading in the rest of the stuff I have been trying to get rid of.  

So that's about all the effort I have put into New Year's Eve this year because we are going to order Chinese Food.  Maybe this will become a new tradition if it works out.  I was invited to a party downtown but I wasn't in the mood to trek downtown by myself and squeeze into packed subways with drunk people.  I will stay in and avoid it this year.  Yeah a sign I am getting old but I was never one for going out and "clubbing" on New Year's Eve.  It's over priced and over-rated and not so much fun if you are single.  

I hope this year it's an easy breezy stress free start to a New Year.

This year was a year that I lost a couple of friends and gained a whole bunch of really great food blogging community friends.  I am hoping for bigger things in 2016.

Some of my Resolutions for the New Year include:

1. Work on my food styling and plating
2. Get better at decorating cookies... shaky messy hands.
3. Spend lot's of time meeting up with my blogger buddies and having great food.
4. Keep improving my photos and my blog posts.
5. Find some new and interesting events to attend this year.
6. Spend more stress free time entertaining and hopefully more tips for you.
7. I hope to do some travelling outside of the city and find some foodie adventures.
8. I want to have a balance of cooking at home and eating out.
9. Try and eat the best quality food I can get.
10. I want to waste less food and money.

That's what I have on my mind and I am sorry I didn't have a more interesting food post for you but I hope to do a follow up of my New Year's Eve adventures.   I skipped the Christmas one but if you want to see what I made you can find those photos on my Instagram feed @lindamatarasso.

I hope you all have a fabulous New Year filled with only the Best Things.

Please remember as I always say each year at this time to make sure you Don't Drink and Drive!

Stay safe people and go into the New Year with Bang but not the kind with a car..:) not funny but punny.

More foodie adventures in 2016.   

Thanks for reading all of my rambling blog posts.  I hope you are enjoying them as much as I am writing them.

XOXO  

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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President's Choice Holiday PopUp

President's Choice has created something really new and fun for a large grocery retailer.  They created a Holiday Environment Pop Up on King Street West at Blue Jays Way.The really great part is that it runs for a couple of weeks before Christmas and it's totally FREE to check out and to sample bites of their special holiday PC food items.It's closed on mondays but open until 7 most nights and there are also special events there in the evenings that you have to sign up for.  I stopped by after I attended another event to check it out.  When I got there I was immediately drawn to the Nutcracker's in the window display.  It's located on the corner of the block in a pretty large space.  There is a red carpet style entrance and when you walk in you are asked to sit on a large bench while they organize a certain amount of people for the tour.  It takes about 20 to 30 minutes to go through it in groups of about 8 I think.  The entrance is beautifully decorated in holiday decor and then when you walk in you are brought to 4 different rooms.  The first room we entered had a moving train set up that moved through the town space and had places of food samples as the cargo.  It was so cool and impressive.  We sampled the cherry chocolate cake and the waffles with cookie butter and bacon maple syrup. We were then let into the Mingle room where it was decorated in greens and lighted acrylic trees displaying the dishes.  The appetizers where from the Thai appetizer collection and we also sampled some Gochichang chicken wings, butter chicken poutine and 3 of the different Thai appetizers which were all very good.

The next room was the Dinner room where we sampled a beet pasta, a piece of country ham, brussel sprouts and a potato stack.  Then we had the vanilla bean cheesecake with raspberry sauce.  We were pretty full by this time.  The last room was the Gift Room.  I thought this room was really cute with wall to wall colored boxes and were given the choice of their chocolate covered popcorn in a little clear box and another sweet treat but I can't remember what it was unfortunately.

The space is gorgeous and the fact that they sample all of these products at one time to showcase how you can entertain for the season is a great idea.   You can't purchase the foods at the pop up space but they will tell you where you can get them near you if you ask.  

I would totally recommend checking it out while you can just to see how cool the space is even. You can get great decor tips from this space and I would love to see other big retailers do something like this for the holidays.  It's fun and I know it's all marketing and meant to drive sales but it's a fun thing to do.  Be prepared as I heard that there are lineups sometimes and I am sure there will be more as people hear about it being there.  Go hungry and enjoy.

This is not a sponsored post.  I went on my own and the opinions expressed are my own.