Last night, I was lucky to take one of my friends to the Rogers Cup in Toronto to watch the Bouchard vs Bencic match thanks to Bacardi Canada. It was awesome to watch these strong female athletes play (I’d already caught a bit of Serena Williams in the afternoon when I was at Rogers Cup with CND Canada and Revlon Canada Pro getting my hair and nails Rogers Cup-ready!) and I’m excited to try my very first tennis lesson ever this weekend.
Courtside, we got to enjoy some of the delicious cocktails Bacardi is serving up at the Rogers Cup. I couldn’t find where their mojitos were being served, so I settled for the Bacardi Cuba Libre, which wasn’t settling at all because it was refreshing and delicious (and is served in this chic metal cup that made people stop me to ask what I was drinking, true story). Definitely have one if you’re going to the Rogers Cup, or get into the game and quench your thirst from home by mixing up one yourself, here’s the recipe!
Bacardí Cuba Libre
Ingredients:
1oz BACARDÍ Gold rum
2oz cola (bottled)
2 lime wedges
Method:
To build this legendary cocktail, fill a highball glass with ice. Then squeeze 2 lime wedges over the ice and drop them into the glass. Pour in the BACARDÍ Gold rum, followed by chilled cola, and give it all a gentle stir.
So McDonald’s® has launched a new sandwich for their regular menu in Canada: the CBO® (which stands for Chicken, Bacon, Onion). The CBO is actually based on a similar McDonald’s sandwich in France, with a few tweaks to make it fit the Canadian market. The CBO is composed of a crispy seasoned chicken filet, black pepper and onion sauce, hickory-smoked bacon and crispy onions, all on an artisan-style sesame and onion bun.
(And if you’re wondering what a health writer and marathoner is doing eating McDonald’s, well, you can check out my blog bio — but in a nutshell, I’m all about balance, and I don’t pretend to eat only kale and quinoa day in and day out…I try to eat real, unprocessed food most of the time and a quick scan at my Instagram, I’m @healthandswellness, and you’ll see I eat what I love, and I love a lot of different foods).
When I do go to McDonald’s, I often order the McChicken sandwich (for breakfast, it’s Sausage McMuffin with Egg) so I was curious to see how the CBO would taste given my fondness for their classic chicken burger. I got a chance to attend an exclusive event and get an advance taste of the CBO (although it has rolled out on a low-key basis) in Toronto last week. McDonald’s cashier was my very first job ever so it was fun to take part in one of their launches now in the role of food lover. And, hey, I will never turn down McDonald’s French Fries. Here’s some footage from that evening (Eek! I am so not comfortable in front of a camera!)
First bite of the CBO and I found it quite enjoyable: the chicken is juicy and I like the savoury pepper and onion sauce. Also, the bacon is chopped up, which makes it easier to eat than strips or a round of bacon, and helps ensure you get some bacon with every bite (one of the reasons the CBO recipe was re-designed in Canada). I actually don’t recall seeing the crispy onion bits. Although I start eating the sandwich and find myself enjoying the onion bun, I find that as I eat more of the sandwich, the onion taste is a bit overwhelming (plus, it’s reminding me that I used to eat onion buns way too often in university). Perhaps it’s the combination of both crispy onion bits and the onion bun that’s onion overload for me…By the last few bites of the sandwich, I find myself eating just the insides of the sandwich.
All in all, I enjoyed the sandwich and could see myself ordering it when I’m feeling like something different than my usual. I’d say it’s a fancier version of a McChicken (McDonald’s even calls the CBO bun “artisanal,” how very hipster of them…). I wonder if I could get the CBO on a regular sesame bun? That might make my palate happier (but then I’d be one of those customers I used to dread with their convoluted custom orders…).
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