Blogmas | “Bring a Board” Easy Charcuterie idea!

I’ve noticed recently this cute party with friends idea which is a take on the classic potluck! 

Instead of having your friends bring a slow cooked or oven baked meal, have them bring a board. 

Some board ideas include:

  • S’mores 
  • Fries and dips (sweet potatoes, waffle fries, tater tots)
  • Donuts
  • Build your own tacos 
  • French toast, pancakes and waffle + toppings
  • Cheese fondue
  • Movie snacks (think popcorn, concession candy, pretzels)
  • Tea & biscuits

Sharing a beginner charcuterie board that I made for a get together recently.  Super easy to put together and the best part of finding a creatively aesthetic of putting it all together 🎀

Want more? Follow my Blogmas 2022 journey here!

Our Experience at Valarie in the X Hotel

A few weeks ago we had the opportunity to check out the fantastic roof top patio at the X Hotel.

Valarie is boasted as Toronto’s newest nightlife concept with an innovative Japanese menu, inspired cocktails amidst unparalleled views the six.

What we ate:
Cocktails: Single Malt on the rocks, Espresso and Cosmo Martinis
Food: Truffle Fries, Maitake Mushroom (bowl) & Truffle Teardrop (sushi roll)
Food Menu

The mushroom item was delicious.  Crispy and with a truffle flavour. 

And the martinis were perfect (flavourfull and strong!)

The entire rooftop is lined with a glass balcony – so you get views of the lake, Mississauga, the downtown core and the lake of course.

And of course I only got pictures of the CN Tower.

The views and cocktails really made it for me, although I wish they had more food items.

Over all it was a great experience (we tried to ignore the early 2000s clique vibes between patrons and the restaurant staff).

We got reservations through OpenTable, but I think a walk in is worth a try!

5 Ingredient Vegan Cookie Dough Bars

Vegan, Chocolate Chip, Cookie Bar, Healthy, Fitness, Sweet, Dessert

OMG!  This FIVE clean ingredient INDULGENCE is so good and addictive.  I’ve made this recipe several times, rounding measurements up and by half – each time it turned out equally good.  I’d even think it would taste amazing with a sprinkle of flaked sea salt!

Vegan, Chocolate Chip, Cookie Bar, Healthy, Fitness, Sweet, Dessert, Flatlay

The texture is so incredibly like raw cookie dough but without the butter, eggs or white sugar.  The coconut oil helps everything stick together perfectly.   But the real star is the almond flour (I used the Kirkland brand blanched almond flour from Costco).

Pinterest, Recipe

You could definitely make this for a potluck by swapping the 1/3 cups for 1 full cups, all other ingredients would be to taste.


Want more cookie recipes?  Check out this vegan, gluten & guilt free cookie, granola that tastes like cookies, 3 ingredient breakfast cookie or this chickpea chocolate chip cookie (ha! don’t knock till you try it!)

Reviving our vegetable garden

I’ve been day dreaming about writing this post of weeks!  But with the current state of affairs, it’s been impossible for me to find the time to complete it. I’ve started this draft, added to it, left it for days and then back to it over the last several weeks!

Backyard Garden, Vegetable Garden, Ontario

This actually sounds very similar to the relationship I’ve had with our garden this year.

Celery, Regrow, Start Your Own Garden, Backyard Garden

It’s been even harder to give our garden the same amount of attention it has received in previous years.

Celery, Regrow, Start Your Own Garden, Backyard Garden

(That being because most of my energy is divided between the family in my home and myself. #PandemicLife)


I had big plans for last year.  I wanted to have a new layout and really try NEW things.  But that unfortunately just didn’t happen.

 

 

 

Thankfully, the girls and mister have really pulled through and kept up with the harvesting, watering, pest watch and overall love that a backyard garden requires.

Ontario, Start Your Own Garden, Backyard Garden

Before the weed clean up!

Ontario, Start Your Own Garden, Backyard Garden

After cleaning out the weeds, turning the soil and adding fresh earth.

Ontario, Start Your Own Garden, Backyard Garden

You may already know that we had planted garlic last fall and then at the beginning of April we made an order for several plants from a local nursery, we picked them up mid May and planted them May 20th!

TLY_ReviveGardent7 TLY_ReviveGardent8

So initially we planted garlic in the fall.  Then in the spring, we planted: tomatoes (2), eggplant, cucumber, zucchini and sweet bell pepper in the garden bed.  Later in the summer we added long green beans and radish seeds!  In pots we have a celery, mint and green onion.  We received our plants from a nursery and planted them in our garden bed on May 20th.

The harvest was slow! We didn’t receive our first tomato until sometime in July (I think because we planted so early and because there was a few very cold days that happened between May and June.  But here we are and our garden is in full swing.

Garlic, Backyard Garden, Gardenbed Eggplant, Garden bed, Backyard Garden, Ontario Green Tomatoes, Green Thumb, Garden, Backyard Garden Cucumber, Zucchini, Sweet Pepper, Backyard Garden, Green Thumb


Read more about my gardening adventures! Starting tomatoes in pots, lessons learned and other herbs.

Our first ever garlic scapes

I am a HUGE fan of garlic.  The aroma and the smell and even how they look get me very excited.  I am definitely that person who sees a recipe asking for 2-3 cloves but add 8-10 instead LOL!

So last summer, after closing up the garden I realized that I wanted to expand into new herbs and veggies.  And on a whim, we received some backyard garden garlic from a co-worker and right before the 1st winter storm we planned 6 cloves!

So these cloves have been in the garden since NOVEMBER.  And we won’t actually know if the clove have turned into actual bulbs, but we’ve already reaped some harvest from the labour: scapes!

Now if you haven’t heard of scapes before it’s because they are very rare and hard to find at your regular garlic stores.  They are usually the first produce found at farmers market and aren’t in season for very long.

Garlic Scapes Backyard Garden Ontario

We only got 5 scapes at the first harvest, but they were ahamazing!  We grilled them with a little bit of EVOO and salt.  They tasted really fresh, consistency of asparagus and onion with a hint of garlic.

Garlic Scapes Ontario Backyard Garden

I will definitely plant more garlic next year just for the scapes!

Garlic Scapes Ontario Backyard Garden

Yet, another GUILT FREE Cookie Recipe (Vegan & Gluten Free)

I wish I could say that I didn’t let my cookie cravings get the better of me during the last 10 weeks – but I’ve been making cookies and eating them on… r  e  p  e  a  t!

Thankfully I have a few (here and here) that are on heavy rotation but I’ve also tried to make a regular butter/sugar cookie (which the girl gang prefer).

Delicious Cookies

I did come across another variation of a healthy cookie.  It’s vegan, gluten & refined sugar free.  Which by default makes it GUILT Free.

Cookie Recipe

Without further ado, here is the recipe/instructions.  Save the image or pin for later :)

Recipe Card