Canada Day Eats Part 6: The Final Frontier

Hi Everyone. Such a big day today!! The last day of school for the summer a guest spot on a television show, and the Boy is having all 4 of his impacted wisdom teeth extracted today....not too sure if I will be able to top that for the rest of the summer. I just may need a vacation from my summer vacation!

I will post the link to the show when it is available!  And now the link is available!!! Just click on the link labeled "Canada Day Eats" on the right side of the screen.

All week I have been posting my test recipes for a Canada Day celebration to gear up for my spot on CTVmorning live Friday morning.  The Boy and Hubby have had the oh so difficult job of tasting all the food and everything has passed inspection. As I posted this week, I made sure to link it to this post so that everything was on one page to make it easy for people to find.

So here it is, after a week of brainstorming, writing, cooking, tweaking, and rewriting, here is the menu, with the links:

Planning ahead - Things to think about when planning a BBQ/outdoor party.

Bison Cheese sliders on bannock   Printable recipe here

Beer marinated steak skewers   Printable recipe

Grilled potato wedge poutine

Wild rice salad    Printable Recipe

Ketchup chips (because let's face it, these are truly Canadian!)

Maple Cream Cookies     Printable recipe

Bacon Maple Cheesecakes    Printable recipe

Red & White Vanilla cupcakes   Printable recipe

Various drinks to keep people quenched.  Go for a selction of Canadian, local beers, sodas, and juices.

There is one last recipe that I haven't posted yet so I am going to add it here. Keep in mind that this wild rice salad can really be anything you want. Use whatever veggies you have on hand and whatever vinagrette tickles your fancy. You are never bound directly to the recipe. If you want more feta or more dressing then you should do just that!

Wild Rice Salad  

For this salad, I used a wild and brown rice mix I found at the store but if you have straight wild rice and want to use just wild rice, go wild and do that.

1 cup rice/wild rice (that's the uncooked rice measurement)

Cook rice according to package directions then set it aside to cool.

While the rice is cooling chop up your favourite assortment of veggies.  Today I used:

½ red bell pepper

½ yellow bell pepper

¼  purple onion

A handful of bean sprouts

A handful cherry or grape tomatoes, cut in half

A small bunch of parsley or any herb you like

To this I added:

½ cup crumbled feta cheese

½ cup chopped sundried tomatoes

¼ cup balsamic dressing (Feel free to use whatever vinaigrette style dressing you like, it doesn’t have to be balsamic.  Greek, Italian, red wine vinegar....)

I hope you all enjoy your Canada day, no matter what you decide to do or cook up. Happy 145th to everyone!!

Until next time, stay warm and eat well!

Preparing For The Big Game

Helloooooo football fans and welcome to the Little Kitchen. I am so glad you dropped by today! I had the amazing opportunity this morning to be on CTV Morning Winnipeg this morning to talk about snacks for the Grey Cup.  For my readers South of the border, the Grey Cup is our Superbowl and this year the Winnipeg Blue Bombers are in the final game.  They will be playing the BC Lions this Sunday in the season finale game!

Here is the link to the segment from CTV Morning Live: Click here to get to the CTV Morning live website, then click on "Grey cup snack attack" to see the clip.

I promised the links to the recipes I used on the show this morning and here they are:

Pulled pork:  This you can assemble the day ahead and plug the slow cooker in the morning of the big game.  When it falls apart, it is done! If you don't want pork, use chicken thighs or a chuck roast in the slow cooker with your favourite BBQ sauce instead. For a printable version of this recipe, click here.

Pulled pork sammie with coleslaw!

Chicken Wings: Make these beauties the day before and heat them up before game time. provide hot sauce and bbq sauce on the side for dipping! For a printable version click here.

Hummus: The recipe ont his page is for the Hot Wing flavoured hummus. It is truly divine! Again, make it ahead of time and relax during the game! Serve with veggies and pita wedges. You can find a printable version of a hummus recipe here.  For a spicier version, called Buffalo Wing Hummus, click here.

Crispy wings baked in the oven

Jalapeno bundles: These are a favourite, easy to make ahead of time and bake just before the game. They are also wrapped in bacon....need I say more? You can find a prinatble version of this recipe by clicking here.

Jalapenos wrapped in bacon....

Brownies: This link has the basic brownie recipe on it. For the footballs shapes, I quadrupled the recipe, coole and iced the brownies (use store bought) then cut them out with a football shaped cookie cutter. The white lines were made with the store bought white icing that is already in the tube...just squeeze and draw! For a printable version of the full recipe, with icing, click here.

Some game day tips:

Plan ahead. Think about what you can make, when you can make it, and when to heat it up. You want to enjoy the game with family and friends, not spend the entire game in the kitchen!

Throw fancy out the window.  Keep it simple for the big game. Finger foods are essential. People want to eat, chat, and watch the game not fuss with cutlery.

Make use of the help...precut veggies, premade icing, shredded cheese. Who says you have to do it all yourself?

Make use of things such as tin foil and parchment paper to line your baking sheets. It makes clean up so much easier!

Two words: Paper plates.

Happy game day everyone!

Until next time, stay warm and eat well!