Win 2 free tickets to the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) from CookingNook.com!

TIFF is THE exciting place to be in Toronto in September and the Festival, in conjunction with California Strawberries, is giving CookingNook.com two tickets to a non-gala movie screening to give away to one of our visitors. I am so excited I wish I could enter myself!

What do you have to do? It’s simple – simply send an email telling me why you love strawberries and why you would love to go to the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). I will select a winner on Friday September 3, 2010, so you don’t have long. Enter today. Send an email to karen@cookingnook.com.

After you enter our contest why not make this fabulous Strawberry and Brie Bruschetta and serve it at your own movie screening (okay maybe girls movie night in). This recipe is going to be in your favorites box forever once you try it:

Strawberry and Brie Bruschetta

12 slices French bread, cut 2 cm. thick
1/4 (50 ml) cup butter, softened
1/4 (50 mL) cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon (5 mL) ground cinnamon
1 small brie cut into 6 wheels
2 cups (500 mL) of sliced stemmed California strawberries
1/2 cup (25 mL) sliced almonds, toasted

Heat the oven to 375ºF (190ºC).

Spread 1 side of each bread slice with butter. Arrange, butter side up, on a large baking sheet. In a small bowl, combine sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle approximately 1 teaspoon (5 mL) over each slice of bread. Reserve remaining sugar mixture.

Toast the bread in the oven. Top each piece of toasted bread with 1 wedge of cheese. Return the bread to the oven. Bake until the cheese is melted. Meanwhile, in large bowl, combine the strawberries and the remaining sugar mixture. Toss lightly. Spoon the strawberry mixture over each toasted slice of bread and sprinkle with almonds. Serve immediately.

Makes 2 servings but easily multiplies to serve as many as needed. This is a great any time party recipe.

Don’t forget to send me a quick email. You could easily be the winner of two free screening tickets to the Toronto International Film Festival!*

* Entrants must be 18 years of age or older and be able to get to the festival in Toronto on a day between September 9 to 19th 2010.

Haagan Dazs has another great Passion Profile for Canadian foodies, this one on Mark McEwen, owner of several wonderful Toronto restaurants and star of Food TV’s show “Heat”.

Mark’s passion for food and cooking is evident in each episode of Heat. He loves to stretch himself and those around him, creating delicious food experiences for all those who taste his food. And now he has ventured into a new area – his own high end grocery store!

Mark is an inspiration to all of us who love food and feeding people. Have a look at his Passion Profile:

Passion Profiles is brought to us by Nestlé Canada, which employs approximately 3,500 people at more than 20 manufacturing sites, sales offices and distribution centres across Canada.

Diabetes is a disease that is SO linked to the foods we eat that discussion of it really does belong on a food related blog or site.

We’ve recently added lots of information about diabetes to our main site, what it is, how to prevent it, and how to manage it with great recipes and menus. Have a look at the pages below, especially if you or someone you love has or may have this chronic disease.

What is Diabetes?
Types of Diabetes
The Symptoms of Diabetes
Reversing and Preventing Diabetes
Healthy Diabetic Recipes
About Diabetic Cooking
Sample Diabetic Menus

What’s your passion? At Häagen-Dazs it’s ice cream. Their philosophy is that everyone has a passion that feeds their creativity. A passion for style, for flavour, for life. (My passion is writing for CookingNook.com).

To celebrate our passions Häagen-Dazs is pleased to bring you new episodes of the Passion Profiles, an original online series featuring some of Canada’s most intriguing personalities.

Passion Profiles is an online talk-show that takes a rare glimpse at the authentic and demanding passions that define some of Canada’s finest Chefs, Designers and Musicians.

Hosted by ET Canada’s Cheryl Hickey, Passion Profiles will take you into the lives of such personalities as:
· Food Network TV hosts Anna and Michael Olsen, airing July 28, 2010
· Designer and HGTV star Sarah Richardson, airing August 11, 2010
· Renowned chef and TV personality Mark McEwan, airing August 25, 2010
· Award-winning singer/songwriter, Jann Arden, airing September 8, 2010

Cheryl Hickey brings out the best in each of these guests, with stories from their lives and insights to inspire us. Click here to watch now.

Passion Profiles is brought to us by Nestlé Canada, which employs approximately 3,500 people at more than 20 manufacturing sites, sales offices and distribution centres across Canada.

Hi

For those of you (and I know we are many) who love those cookbooks with tried and true recipes submitted by fans, I have another good one for you. It’s called Mary Engelbreit’s Fan Fare Cookbook: 120 Family Favorite Recipes and it is filled with really delightful recipes.

I love this kind of cookbook, with recipes submitted from all over the country. You just know that people submit recipes for their favorites, which usually means they are going to be good. This cookbook is filled with 120 of that kind of recipe. Good down home food that is sure to turn out every time. Everything from appetizers to dessert are covered with recipes like Buffalo Chicken Dip, Stuffed French Toast, Chocolate Crepes, Wild Rice Soup, Parmesan Meatballs, Chicken and Pasta Rustica, Stir Fry with Peanut Sauce, Dried Fruit Cobbler with Lemon-Cornmeal Dumplings and Cherry Bars.

I see lots that I want to try.

Another thing I like about this book is that is has one of those spiral bindings that allows it to lay flat on the table. Don’t you just hate having to try to flatten a book out so you can read the ingredients with messy cooking hands?

Anyway, just thought you may want to give it a look. Just click here
to get more information about this fun cookbook.

A little while ago I told you about a new contest from Ben and Jerry’s  Ice Cream to name a new flavor.

The flavor has been temporarily named We are Waffling and is a combination of vanilla ice cream, fudge covered waffle cone pieces and a fudge swirl. Entries to find a new permanent name for the flavor have been coming in from across Canada and the top finalists  have been chosen. Now is the time to vote on your favorite.

Click on the link to get to the Ben & Jerry’s Facebook page for voting. You can vote until July 16th.

Have fun!

Here is a great recipe for summer – sweet potato salad.

Sweet potatoes are so delicious and so full of nutrients, that making it into a cold potato salad just makes sense.

4 orange sweet potatoes
1 small red pepper, seeded and diced
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
4 ribs celery, thinly sliced
2 green onions, sliced
1 – 8 ounce can pineapple chunks, drained
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans, toasted

Wrap each sweet potato in foil and bake for 1 hour at 400ºF until tender, or poke with a knife, wrap each potato in a paper towel and cook in the microwave for 5-6 minutes until soft.

Peel the sweet potatoes, then cut into 3/4 inch chunks. Combine the mayonnaise and mustard in a large bowl and whisk until smooth. Add the sweet potatoes, celery, red pepper, pineapple and green onions. Toss gently. Season with salt and pepper to your taste.

Chill, covered, for 1 to 10 hours. Just before serving fold in the pecans. Can be sprinkled with chopped chives for presentation if desired.

Serves 6

Ben & Jerry’s, the famed ice cream makers known as much for their inspired ice cream names as their chunk-filled flavours, is looking to Canadians to name their newest creation.

The new flavor is a combination of vanilla ice cream, fudge covered waffle cone pieces and a fudge swirl. They have temporarily named it We are Waffling – but are waiting for you to give this flavor it’s official name.

Starting April 19th, Canadians can visit www.facebook.com and serve up their own name on a virtual pint on the “Ben & Jerry’s Canada” Fan Page. Ben & Jerry’s fans can view and vote on their favourites at a gallery of pre-selected pints on the “Ben & Jerry’s Canada” Fan Page between July 2nd to July 16th, 2010.

What will the winner get? A year’s supply of the soon to be re-named We are Waffling ice cream, the thrill of seeing their name on pints of Ben & Jerry’s across Canada and (eternal bragging right among friends and acquaintances).

Sounds like fun and Ben and Jerry’s ice cream is always good for a sweet treat.

Just go to www.facebook.com and enter to win. Don’t forget to vote while you are there. Good luck ice cream fans.

Are you, like me, becoming increasingly concerned about the fact that many of our children eat very little “real” food? There is more and more processed and ready to eat out of the package food available today, so much that some kids, and more than we want to believe I think, have little contact with real food, made with fresh ingredients.

Hellmann’s conducted a national survey and according to the results, Canadian families are eager to eat more real food. However, although 92 per cent of Canadians with kids feel that consuming real food is important, only six per cent are making all of their meals using only real food.* No matter what your age, that is a HUGE change from when any of us grew up. The concern is, how this is going to affect the future of our children in terms of their health and longevity.

Hellmann’s is committed to making it easier for Canadians and their families to enjoy the pleasure of real food. As a result, they are providing $100,000 in Real Food Grants to support initiatives that bring Canadian families and kids together with real food in their community.

The good news is that families and community organizations across Canada can take part in this initiative and help promote healthy eating for kids and you can get a grant from Hellmann’s to help do it. Here’s how -

Eligible Programs & Who Can Apply

Hellmann’s Real Food Grants will fund projects that take place in Canada in 2010. Their priority is to support programs or projects with tangible results that connect Canadians and their families to real food versus submissions without specific outcomes.

To be eligible, an initiative must achieve one of these goals:

• Educate Canadian families and kids about real food
• Connect Canadian families and kids with real food through an experience or event

The following groups* can apply:

• School based groups
• Community groups
• Families

*All groups must create a community event or experience that involves kids.

Hellmann’s Real Food Grants Ideas:

Grant ideas could be small initiatives such as:

• A Canadian family hosting a real food picnic
• Organizing a real food lunch week for a classroom or school
• A group / class trip to experience real food. For example: a farmer’s market, a bakery, cheese, meat, fish shop, etc.

Or larger initiatives such as:

• Starting a community based garden or greenhouse
• Organizing a community real food festival or event
• Starting an in-school real food lunch program

The Grant Application Process:

Hellmann’s Real Food Grants applications will be accepted between April 7, 2010 and June 30, 2010. Applications will be evaluated on an on-going basis. To apply, please fill out the submission form located online online at RealFoodMovement.ca.

So get going creative thinking families and take advantage of this wonderful opportunity to help people to start thinking of real food!

We can do this.

* Hellmann’s Real Food survey was conducted by Ipsos Canadian Online Omnibus for Hellmann’s. Data was collected via an online poll between February 11-14, 2010 from more than 1,000 Canadians ages 18 and older. For the purposes of the survey, and our Real Food Grants Program ‘real food’ is defined as authentic food that is made with simple, natural ingredients; and ‘Canadians with kids’ are defined as ‘Canadians with kids under 18 in the household.’ Survey data is statistically accurate +/- 3.1%, 19 times out of 20.

Who can resist the combination of chocolate and raspberries? This is an easy recipe to make and great for entertaining.

A perfect treat for any mom this Mother’s Day.

16 ounces white chocolate
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups whipping cream
2 cups fresh raspberries (or strawberries if you prefer)
finely chopped pistachios (optional)

In a heavy pot on very low heat, melt the chocolate and butter together, stirring occasionally.

Remove from the heat and stir in whipping cream. The mixture will still be very liquid. Place in a bowl and refrigerate, uncovered, until it is cool and until mixture thickens, about 2 hours.

Spoon a layer of mousse into a serving bowl (glass looks beautiful for this). Top with a few raspberries and another layer of mousse. Top with raspberries. Garnish with chopped pistachios if desired.

Simple, delicious and elegant. Can’t beat that.