I was having a late brunch for a fairly large group of people…and feel that brunch truly is not brunch without French Toast and Bacon…One of my FAVE things on the planet. However I did not want to spend the entire time over the stove cooking, after all, there were Mimosa’s tp drink…And if you make them up ahead of time and just heat them, they are soggy and quite simply just gross.

So I came up with a really simple way of making this FABOOSH brunch staple into a single serve , help yourself item…PUT THEM ON A STICK!!

Here is how to make FABOOSH Bacon Wrapped French Toast…

Ingredients

1 loaf un-sliced FRESH Bread

1 pack good quality bacon (this recipe serves as are strips of bacon in your pack, 1 piece of bacon = 1 serving)

6 eggs

1 small carton table cream

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp real vanilla extract

1 bottle 100% Maple Syrup

icing sugar for garnish

Preparation

1) BAKE your bacon on cookie sheet in the oven at 375 degrees till it is about 80% cooked.. I add a piece of tim foil to my cookie sheet to make clean up easier and it also stops the bacon from crisping up to much. You need to be able to wrap the bacon around the french toast and not have it break.

2) Make your wet mix, add your eggs, cream, vanilla nd spices to a large bowl and mix well.

3) Cut your bread into thick slices, about twice the width of a normal slice of bread.

4) Let you bacon and french toast cool but not get cold. If the french toast gets too cold it will crack, if it’s too warm it will mush. Just so that it is warm to the touch but does not burn your fingers when you handle it.

5) This part is messy but so worth it…Cut your pieces of french toast into four finger type slices and simply roll them up, wrap them with a piece of bacon and insert a bamboo skewer.

6) Place all your wraps on a cookie sheet and bake in the oven at 400 degrees for about 5 minutes, or until you see the bacon crisping up a little…

AND VOILA !!!

Bacon Wrapped French Toast…

Drizzle with a generous portion of Pure Maple Syrup and sprinkle on some icing sugar…Your Guests will GO NUTS for these…

These are BEST served with a FABOOSH Mimosa…yoiu can find that recipe on Cocktaildeeva.com …

ENJOY…and remember…

FOOD IS FUN…

I firmly believe that Soup is the ultimate food…It dates as far back as 6000BC …it’s a classic!

There are entire cook books dedicated solely to SOUP…

There is an entire wellness series dedicated to Chicken Soup…

Soup is truly a culture…

Now add BACON to the Soup…

And you’re talking PERFECTION….

Here is my recipe for…

BACON CHEESE POTATO SOUP…with Chicken

I used a Large 10 quart soup pot for this…so the recipe severs approx 5679 people…

If your soup pot is 5 quarts simply half everything in the recipe…

Ingredients…

- Some sort of chicken product on the bone to make stock I used bone in breasts

- 2 cubes of chicken bouillon ( I used Low-Sodium)

- 1 cup of each…Chopped Carrots, Cauliflower, Celery , Green Peppers and Onion.

- 1 5 lb bag of potatoes chopped

- 1.5 cups bread crumbs

- 1/2 cup butter

- 500ml milk/creamer combo

- 1/2 lb double smoked bacon

- 1lb regular bacon

- 1/2 block of Apple smoked cheddar shredded

- 2 tbsp sea salt

- 2 tbsp fresh ground pepper

- 1 tbsp dried parsley

Cooking…

-In a large pot boil your chicken and add bouillon cubes  for a few hours until chicken is falling off the bone

- Fry up all your bacon while your waiting for your pot to boil..

- Now my least favourite part…Pick all the chicken off the bones…Not sure why but I never like this part…ICK

- Add the chicken back into your stock with all your veggies and potatoes.

- Add your salt, pepper and parsley

- Add you cream/milk combo… This is the product that I used…This is by NO means a low-cal soup, but I thought I would cut out some fat where I could. It is a lot lighter that cream , yet still made the soup rich and creamy.

- Add your bacon along with 2 tbsp of your bacon grease…yup grease…

- Add your bread crumbs and STIR…STIR and more STIRRING, STIRRING just keep STIRRING…

- Add the cheese and KEEP STIRRING…

Because it’s cream soup it can easily burn on the bottom…And because you want to cook it for a while on a low rolling boil to get all the flavors out and make sure your potatoes are cooked, you will want to keep stirring. The soup will also naturally thicken as it cooks.

and VOILA…

By far one of my FAVE soups…Total comfort food…

This soup is soooo much better the next day when the flavours really come out…It is also a fantastic soup to freeze…

I Paired this soup up with an ice cold glass of Kim Crawford’s Sauvignon Blanc..I ate 2 bowls and drank 3 glasses…

Cheers…

A while back I was asked to come out to Casino Rama

My initial thought….

Casino Rama??? Where pay cheques go to die and people leave their kids in their car to go gamble ??? No Thanks…

You see Casino Rama opened in July 1996 and I first became a mother in November of that year…And one of the first news stories I ever remember hearing about Rama, was that people were leaving their children in their cars to go gamble. This story has forever stuck with me and it is the only thing I used to think of when I thought of Rama. I was really not the ideal person for this little trip…Jaded…

However, as the details of the event came out, I became a little more intrigued…

Ok , ok , no bullshit…in the good faith of transparancy…I went for strictly selfish reasons…

1- A Night away in a hotel suit, no kids and no snoring husband

2- Opportunity to drink with two of my fave people on the planet… Eric and Kathy

3- Spa treatment…I am not much of a spa girl, but a facial sounded quite lovely

4- Free Food and Wine…

5- A concert …with some old guy…ok that was not a big seller…

6- Did I mention Free food and wine?

7 – I got paid to go…Yup cash money…

So off I went…a one night’er away, no cooking, cleaning or mommy’ing.

I had absolutely NO IDEA what the hell I was in for…I was honestly blown away.

I have to say that Rama kind of had me at hello when they left this in my room with a bottle of Wine… ** I will follow you anywhere**

Then it was question hour and tour time…Here is where I figured the wheels would fall off and I would want to leave post haste…

I was wrong…

The two Cansino Rama, VPs Jenna & Jeff  (Jeff had great shoes by the way…) were there to answer all our questions. They were upfront and held no punches…This was a good thing because the crew asking the questions were not going to let them off easy.  When they asked what we thought of when we thought Rama, I told them about my 1996 concerns, and the impression that it had left. They then went into great detail about all the measures they have put into place to make sure this does not happen. All the security they work with, etc…Long story short…I was impressed by what they had to say…

Then it was time for a tour of the Casino…to see how gambling really works…Not going to lie, this part bored the wine buzz right out of me. I don’t gamble, I don’t like it…it’s just not my thing…

However I did get to play Casino Dealer for a bit..and I have to say…I think I may have my next career…

AND…we got to check out the Concert Hall  and go up on stage…Oh ya..I hated that…

What I really wanted to do was get into the kitchens of the restaurants…Rama has FABOOSH places to eat…So I snuck off for a behind the scenes look into where all those amazing smells were coming from…

First it was into Lombardi’s …

I wish I could describe in detail the smells coming out of this kitchen…It was total nose porn…that sounds wrong, but if it’s wrong I don’t want to be right…The food coming and going was just to die for. These are not the cheesy cafeteria style restaurants that I think of when I think Rama…This is a high-end experience complete with its own pastry chef.

I was now in my happy place…

Then it was off to a place where no one is allowed to go…However I feel that it was the mutual love for shoes that Jeff and I shared that got me into the top-secret pastry Kitchen…Yes that is correct…a Kitchen dedicated solely to desserts… More like works of art…

This place had one of the most amazing smells I have ever smelled…I wanted to bottle it…

For dinner that night we headed off to St Germain’s Steakhouse …I WILL go back to Casino Rama JUST to eat here again…It was that good. The menu was a perfect size, filled with dishes sure to please everyone and anyone. The wine menu was FABOOSH…this may be why my pictures are a little fuzzy…Reffer back to reasons # 4 and #6 on why I went…

I had food envy for Duri’s meal…my go to dish next time for sure…LOBSTER! (they also have Lobster Mac & Cheese…MERCY!!!)

There were amazing flavours and foods and smells OH MY…

I had the opportunity to tour the kitchen before dinner and speak with the Executive Chef, and he explained how hard they were to ensure everything is fresh, season and as local as they can get it…

If you have not figured it out by now…I am only there for the Food…and maybe the wine…

But then I remembered we had to go see that Old Guy in Concert…

Turns out the Old Guy was Roger Hodgson… the legendary voice of Super Tramp..Well why didn’t someone just say Super Tramp…I know them…

I was not sure what to expect, and what I got…Just blew me away. It was easily one of the best concerts I have ever been to. The concert hall is intimate and no matter where you sit you feel like you are a part of the show. Roger ROCKED it…

I was dancing and signing and even shed a tear or two…The man can sing a sad song let me tall ya…

Thank You so much Lucy for this great pic…

one of my fave parts of the day was going back stage to meet Roger, not because I was a huge fan or was start struck…but because I wanted to say Thank You…Thank You for such a great show and giving me such a great memory…

Because I have no inner voice or filter (free wine does not help)…I ended up telling Roger Hodgson that I had no idea who he was and I had to Google him…I then proceeded to thank him, tell him how amazing his show was and that he now has a new fan …Best part of this story…Was when Roger turned to his assistant and said…”What the hell is Google” ….

Great way to cap off a great day…

The next day was Spa Day..I had my very first facial ever and it was FABOOSH…I would so do it again…only this time I would bring my own Spa Shoes…Imagine if someone had actually seen me in these…

The Spa, Pool and Fitness area in the Hotel are all amazing and top notch…well I wouldn’t know about the fitness area, but you can check it all out here…

Or Better Yet…Check it all out for yourself…

I am giving away a…. $ 750 .00 Gift Card to Casino Rama…!!!

This promotional card can be redeemed for exciting amenities like dining in the 10 fab restaurants, relaxing in the full service spa, hot concert tickets and or cutting edge sporting events and in the luxurious all suit hotel…

DISCLAIMER- to enter this giveaway you MUST be 19 years of age or older and you must not be self-excluded from other gaming facilities or from CasinoRama’s facilities.  This card is not valid at The Gathering Place or Biindigen shops and is not valid for alcohol, gaming, chips, tokens and/or slot tokens.

How to Enter…

Leave a comment and tell me what Concert you would like to see at Casino Rama… Here is the Event Line-up …

Then check out below for other fab ways to get Entries…Good Luck !!!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Huge thank you to Duri , Leanne and the Great team at Casino Rama for a wonderful visit…I truly had a great time.

The Fab Erin Blaskie also joined me on the trip…Read about her experience here on Ottawa Valley Mom’s… Cheers

However I was having a , shall we say, weee bit of an off day in the Kitchen..

For example at some point htis used to be Bacon… (moment of silence)

Also the ‘so called’ baker potatoes that I bought had the thinnest skin possible which meant digging them out, IMpossible…

So I improvised and created the most YUMMY Smashed potato skins EVA!

Here is what you will need.

1/2 lb Bacon fried cripsy and chopped

3 green onions chopped

1 tsp Truffle Olive Oil

6 large potatoes skin on

2 cups sour cream

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup milk

liquid smoke

Monteray Jack Cheese shredded

Medium Cheddar cheese shredded

Dash salt and pepper

How to prepare:

Wash and cut bakers in half, wrap in foil and bake at 400 for about 40 minutes or unitl soft. Then cut them up into a large pot with the skin on.

Then add the bacon, if you haven’t eatin it all by now and mash it all together.

Then add 1 cup sour cream, yes I used 14%…this is so not Low Cal..also add Jack cheese about a palm sized chuck and mix well.

Also add the Oil, milk, butter, slat and pepper, green onions and 2 dashes of liquid smoke and mix well.

This is the Truffle oil I use. I buy mine at Relish in Waterloo, but can be found at most specialty food shops.

To make the Crispy Cheese simply grate the cheddar on a cookie sheet, be sure the piles are not too big or it just gets oily. Put them under the broiler till melted and crispy at edges. I leave the oven door open and watch them as they can burn so quickly.

Scoop your Smashed Potato Skins into a glass, top with a dollop of sour cream and your Crispy Cheese and VOILA…TO DIE FOR!!!

This is a MUST with a nice cold beer…I went for the tall boy of course..Cheers

I love me a good bowl of Chili…and I have created THE BEST CHILI EVA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here is what you will need…

1 lb Lean Ground beef

1 lb Ground Pork

3 strips of bacon

1 lg can Kidney Beans

1 lg can Bean Medley

1 lg can Diced Tomatoes

1 can Tomato Sauce

1 can Corn beef Hash

1/2 medium-sized onion diced

3 cups Brewed Coffee

2 tbsp Chili powder ( I also add 1 pkg of premix chili spices)

1.5 tbs CoCo Powder

1 tsp Cinnamon

1/2 tsp Cumin

1 ounce Worcestershire Sauce

1 tsp Sriracha Sauce

1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper

1/2 tsp Sea Salt

1/2 tsp Garlic

(feel free to add fresh hot peppers if you like it HAWT!)

How to make the BEST CHILI EVA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1. In a Large pan or skillet cook 3 strips of bacon, your really

cooking this for the bacon fat

that we will be cooking the meat in.

2. Once the bacon is cooked, add the diced onions and the can of corn beef hash…I know it looks like Ass but it really adds a great flavor and texture to your Chile…

3. Then add your beef, pork, 1.5 cups of the brewed coffee and your Worcestershire sauce, cover and let it cook down.

4. While this is cooking down, in your pot, slow cooker or whatever vessel your making your chili in, add the following: All your beans, tomatoes and tomato sauce. Your coco powder, cumin, cinnamon, salt, pepper and garlic. Also add the other 1.5 cups of your brewed coffee and your Shriracha sauce.

5. Once your meat mixture is fully cooked, add it to your bean/tomato mixture, cover and let cook on high for about 3 hours, then on low for a couple more to really get the flavor going.

Serve it up with a generous dollop of Sour Cream, some sharp Cheddar and your fave corn chips..Also…a Nice Cold Beer is a MUST!!!

I often serves this as a dip with the nacho chips at parties in the place of salsa…Always a Huge Hit…

Cheers

They can be…I have put together my FAVOURITE must haves from Hamilton Beach…Sure to make your holiday shopping a breeze and get you out of the stores and into a Cocktail…

Be sure to check out Hamilton Beach Canada’s website for their full line of amazing products sure to make life…and the Holidays a little easier.

Silver Bells you can WIN it all from Hamilton Beach and Ghetto Foodie !!!! And because we are in the giving spirit you need to be to…

To enter please share in the comments section below…What your favourite thing to cook or eat is over the holidays. If you have a link with the recipe, even better, share it as well!!

Nothing like passing on great recipes to others. After all, great food is meant for sharing…

There are also ways to gain extra entries for the FABOOSH Holiday Giveaway…!!!

These FIVE amazing Hamilton Beach Canada products are up for grabs…!!!

1) Hamilton Beach® bébé Single-Serve Blender

51110

2) Hamilton Beach® bébé 3 Cup Food Chopper
72601

3) Open Ease™ Automatic Jar Opener

4) Stovetop Safe Insulated Slow cooker

5) Party Dipper™ Food Warmer

Due to unforeseen circumstances, the Hamilton Beach Canada Baby Food Maker product featured in the video is not available at this time. Therefore, it will be replaced with the Hamilton Beach® bébé Single-Serve Blender
51110 and the Hamilton Beach® bébé 3 Cup Food Chopper 72601 in the prize pack. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

Here is How to Enter….
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Good Luck and HAPPY HOLIDAYS….

Halloween is fast approaching and that means everyone is thinking about spooktacular decorations and devilishly good food!  I spend most of the time leading up to Halloween running cooking classes, making food for  television segments and developing recipes to show others how to bring the ghost and goblin to their table.  So when Halloween finally rolls around, I am mostly Halloweened out.     That’s not to say I don’t make an effort, it’s just that I go for an easy weeknight recipe that I present as a special Halloween meal.  It’s become a tradition in my house that we have goulash (must be said with a haunting Halloween voice) and quite frankly this is a perfectly healthy and warming dish to feed your kids before they hit the streets.

Traditional Hungarian goulash is cooked with little egg dumplings or as I like to call them – shrunken heads!  It also calls for a good amount of paprika, which in the end can make the stew look quite gory!  Even if you end upmaking your favourite beef stew or chili – calling it goulash can be a simple and fun way to kick off your Halloween night!

Serve with a nice Red Wine for the Adults and a Cranberry cocktail for the kids.

Mix ¼ cup corn syrup with 5 drops of red food colouring  to rim the class for a gory bloody look!

Traditional Hungarian Goulash

600 grams stewing beef *

6 cups beef broth

2 Tbsp. all purpose flour

2 Tbsp. canola oil

2 medium onions, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 carrots, peeled and chopped into coins

2 parsnips, peeled and chopped into coins

1 green pepper chopped

3 tomatoes, peeled and diced

2 Tbsp. Hungarian paprika

2 tsp. smoked Hungarian paprika

1 tsp. caraway seeds

Method

Place large pot over medium high heat and add oil.

Toss stewing beef cubes with flour.

Add to pot and sear until brown.

Add remainder of ingredients, except beef broth and cook for an additional 8-10 minutes.

Add beef broth to about 1” above ingredients.

Cook for 1 ½ -3 hours (*cut the beef smaller for shorter cooking time)

Alternatively just throw it all in the crock pot and call it a day!

Dumplings aka shrunken heads!

1 egg

1 cup all purpose flour (approximately)

½ tsp sea salt

Whisk egg and salt in a bowl.

Add flour 1/3 at a time until you have a smooth dough, you may need slightly less or more.

Pinch off small pieces into goulash and cook for approximately 5 minutes

Andrea Buckett enjoys a career that has embraced multiple arenas as a diversified food expert; her experience is rich in knowledge about all things food. Founder of Insatiable Food, Andrea has worked  on television, magazines and social media as a food writer, recipe developer, culinary instructor and food event producer.   Combined with a keen eye for food trends and a strong background in nutrition, her passion and strength is to inspire others to eat well.  You can find Andrea writing her Blog Insatiable Food,  and follow her on Twitter & Facebook.  Andrea resides in Toronto with her husband and two sons.

You can find Andrea’s fabulous Blog here… insatiablefood.blogspot.com … You can Like her on Facebook for more Bad Recipes…and be sure to follow her on Twitter here… @insatiablefoods

Good Slaw that is…Because if you love slaw…you know there is Good Slaw and REALLY bad slaw…This is by far one of my fave slaws…

Apple Bacon Coleslaw…

1/4 cup cider vinegar

1 cup mayonnaise

1/3 cup honey

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1/4 cup pulp free orange juice

 juice from 1/2 fresh lemon

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 sm Fennel shredded

1 medium cabbage, cored,  shredded

1/2 pack of bacon fried crispy then broken up into small pieces

1 bunch scallions, thinly slice1/2 cup finely minced parsley leaves, optional

4 firm apples, peeled, cored and shredded

Mix everything in a large bowl and let sit in the fridge over night…This is always better if you let it sit for a day or so…really lets the flavours out…

To me there is nothing better with slaw than a cold beer…and this is one of my summer faves…

1664 Blanc is a flavoured Wheat Beer…it has a light citrus taste…not too over powering.

This beer is best served in a glass …pour 1/4 of the beer into glass then give the bottle a good swirl…as too incorporate the sediment in the bottom of the bottle for the full flavour…

Why should kids get all the new Back to School gear???

We have to make them breakfast…pack lunches…How about some Fab appliances from Hamilton Beach Canada to make our mornings a little easier…?

Watch the short video below and check out my Fave New Items for Fall…and you could WIN ALL OF THEM !!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

GOOD LUCK !! CHEERS

*Approx. MSRP for the contest package is $225.00 CDN*

**Open to Canadian residents only**

***Please note: Some products may be delayed for shipment due to back order or retailer availability as all products featured in this blog are new to market. The winner will be contacted should a delay in shipment be an issue. At that time, the winner will be informed as to the earliest shipment date and will be kept up-to-date on expected delivery dates. We thank you for your understanding.**

And this is my new FAVE…

So..with any new alcoholic beverage that I fall in love with…I NEED to Cook with it!!

This fab Belgian Beer..is Unfiltered Goodness…meaning it keeps all the vitamins inside…Yes I said Vitamins…This Beer is high in B12…

So…what better place to use it than in a Salad…or at least a Salad Dressing…

I made this the other night and it is FABOOSH!! Perfect Summer Salad…Sure to impress your guests and you palette..

What you will need…

- Romain Lettuce

- Radish

- Green Peas

-Pecans ( I roasted them… 400 degree oven for about 10 minutes)

- Goat Cheese- I used Peppered Goat Cheese

- Cheery Tomatoes

- 1 bottle Fruli

- Balsamic Vinegar 

- Garlic Toast Crackers

Now for the tricky part…

Make the Salad…

Yup, that’s it..

Make the dressing…

3 parts Fruli to 1 part Balsamic Vinegar…

So simple…

VOILA!!!

Best Summer Salad EVER!!!

What is the Garlic toast for you ask…????

It’s Soooo good you won’t want to waste a drop…..