So for the past while, I’ve been looking for a ready-made alcoholic bevvie that doesn’t taste like cough syrup (I find so many of the berry flavoured ones taste like so) and that’s easy to drink (too many harsh tasting vodka-based coolers).
I’m not a beer drinker (once in awhile at an event or, you know, back in my sorority days…) but I have come around to being a fan of ciders, but I only recently discovered Mad Jack. And to its original apple lager, the brand has just added two new flavours, which kinda fill the “need” for when you just want a pop, but alcoholic. I love all things ginger lately and so the Mad Jack Ginger Flavoured Lager is yummy and not too overly ginger-y (I’ve had ginger beers that burn because of the strong ginger flavour), and the Hard Root Beer? It’s actually made me like root beer (which is a soft drink I have never been too fond of).
I’m all for drinks that you can just pop open and enjoy (I’ll leave the muddling and shaking to the bartender to do!) and I know I will be picking up this trio this summer.
Stay tuned for more of my favourite summer drinks and cocktails on the blog!
May 23, 2016
I’ve been meaning to go check out Oats & Ivy for awhile now — it’s a takeout kitchen and juice bar in Liberty Village — and finally made it in there yesterday to a cooking class I was invited to.
The focus was holiday baking and we made an oh-so-creamy hot chocolate, a walnut spice milk, and my favourite recipe from yesterday, ginger molasses cookies. These cookies are egg-free, grain-free, and dairy-free, and they come out (and stay) deliciously chewy. I”ll definitely be making more of these at home. Here’s the Oats & Ivy recipe for these cookies, which I think will become a favourite year-round, not just for the holidays!
Ginger Molasses Cookies
1 cup almond butter
3 Tbsp blackstrap molasses
2 chia eggs (see step 1 in recipe)
1 Tbsp freshly grated ginger
3/4 coconut sugar
1/4 cup almond flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp sea salt
pinch of cloves
pinch of black pepper
1. Mix 2 Tbsp of chia seeeds with 6 Tbsp of water. Let sit and stir occasionally until texture if gooey and gel-like.
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
3. In a bowl, mix together almond butter, molasses, chia eggs and grated ginger, until smooth.
4. In a separate bowl, mix together all dry ingredients.
5. Using a spoon, drop the dough 2 inches apart on a baking sheet.
6. Bake cookies for about 8 minutes. The cookies will puff up during baking but will flatten and crackle as they cool.
7. Cool on baking sheets as this will allow the cookies to firm up.
Enjoy!
I’m also looking forward to making th is walnut spice milk at home, as well! Let me know if you’d like that recipe, too!
Oats & Ivy, 127A -171 East Liberty St., Toronto
November 26, 2015
Week before last, I went out for happy hour. Which is not so unusual, I enjoy a cocktail after work now and again, don’t you? Only difference this time was that this happy hour took place on a helicopter.
Thanks to my host, Bombay Sapphire, I got to see my city of Toronto from a whole different vantage point. We were only allowed to board the heli, though, after a very necessary tutorial on how to hold one’s cocktail so as to not spill all over the very luxe copter (in case you’re wondering–you need to cup the bottom of the glass, rather than hold it by its stem, and use the other hand to cover the top of the glass).
Bombay Sapphire is looking to bring back the sophistication of a proper cocktail hour, and to do so, asked their Global Brand Ambassador Raj Nagra to create four gin cocktail recipes. I’ve shared two of my favourites here: the Sapphire Pineapple Ginger Collins and the East Gin and Tonic (which caught me by surprise, as I have never been a fan of a classic G&T). Cheers!
SAPPHIRE PINEAPPLE GINGER COLLINS
- 1 ½ oz BOMBAY SAPHHIRE EAST
- 2/3 oz St. Germain
- 1 oz fresh lemon juice of juice of a small lemon
- four small pineapple cubes
- 2 slivers of ginger
- 2 oz soda water
- Candied ginger and pineapple cubes for garnish
Build and stir into an ice filled glass. Garnish with pineapple leaf, candied ginger or pineapple chunk.
THE EAST GIN AND TONIC
- 1 ½ oz BOMBAY SAPHHIRE EAST
- Fever Tree tonic
- Lemongrass stem
- Cracked peppercorn
- Lime wedge
- Peppercorn sprinkle and lemongrass stem for garnish
Press 3 small bulbs of lemongrass and lime wedge into the base of glass. Build other ingredients. Serve in a stemless red wine glass
July 10, 2014
