Category Archives: contests

California Walnut challenge: Time for dessert

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The contest ends tomorrow and today was as good a day as ever to create the dessert that’s been on my mind for days: A parfait made with raw banana maple walnut ice cream.

The ice cream idea’s been in my mind since September’s Vegetarian Food Festival, where Lisa Pitman demonstrated a healthier, vegan alternative to Dairy Queen Blizzards using banana “soft serve”. A lot of fruits could serve as the base. At it’s most basic, and the way that Lisa did it: Put frozen bananas in a food processor and let it run until bananas are creamy, like soft serve ice cream. For her demo, Lisa created mix-ins such as her take on mint sandwich cookies, raw “cookie dough”, and raw strawberry “cheesecake”.

I was inspired by banana soft serve, walnuts, maple and spice.

Mine made one portion that I couldn’t finish. I suggest making one and sharing it with a special friend. The contest rules say that the dish should be suitable for holiday gatherings/ winter entertaining. Well, You could always made smaller versions, I suppose, and make more. Use different types of glassware, as long as it’s transparent. I used a beer glass. And it’s always the right season for ice cream. This one is kind of comforting, and it’s got the spice in there. Spice is good for winter.

Raw banana whisky maple walnut ice cream

Ingredients

  • 3 frozen bananas
  • 1 tbsp maple syrup
  • 2 tbsp Spicebox Canadian Whisky (I considered Jack Daniels Honey, which might also work. Try it and see.)
  • 1/2 tsp each cinnamon,
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla powder
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (I make my own extract, you could use almond extract but for contest purposes I was only allowed to use one type of nut).
  • Maple California walnuts, reserved (see recipe in previous post)

Directions:

Put it all in a food processor (multipurpose blade) & let machine run until the banana mixture is smooth. Remove blade, fold in maple walnuts. (You can leave them whole, or crumble them in like I did.)

Lisa advised that a Vitamix/Blendec won’t work. If you try it in a Vitamix, use the plunger and add some liquid such a coconut milk. I don’t know Blendtec.

When it’s creamy, if it looks too melted. you might want to put it in the freezer for a little bit to solidify a bit. I had no room in my freezer.

Mostly-raw parfait layers

(Suggestions only. Create your own. Ideas: Crumbled cookies, candied ginger, dried or frozen fruit, cacao nibs. My layers were not all raw.)

Layer 1 (from bottom):

Sliced bananas

Layer 2:

Ice cream

Layer 3:

Jam/fruit preserves

I used cherry peach, made locally by Sausage Partners, acquired at the  preserve tasting party that I attended at the end of September, hosted by Joel and Dana of Well Preserved. Jam is not raw.

Layer 4:
More ice cream

Layer 5:

Maple California walnuts

I added California walnuts because I’d forgotten (until a few days later) that I’d been thinking of using Mum’s Original coconut cacao nibs. It’s another not raw layer.

Layer 6:
More ice cream!

Layer 7:

Pomegranate seeds

The tartness helped balance out the sweetness of the entire thing.

Layer 8:
More ice cream! But now we’re getting near the end.

Layer 9:

Raw, vegan chocolate sauce

(recipe below)

..and..

coconut

Raw vegan chocolate sauce recipe

I think that I read a recipe like this on Meghan Telpner’s website awhile ago, though I felt like completely winging it when I made this one and went on instinct rather than looking at other recipes for guidance. She inspired it.

Mix together:
2 tbsp cacao powder
1 tbsp agave or maple syrup (I used agave, which I rarely use due to its highly processed nature) because I didn’t want the maple to overpower the chocolate)
1 tbsp coconut oil
1/2 tsp each of cayenne pepper & cinnamon*
(It probably could have used 1/4 or 1/2 tsp of coffee powder to bump the chocolate flavour. I’ll try it with the remaining sauce.)

And that, my friends, is my 9-layer raw banana whisky maple walnut ice cream superfood parfait inspired by two very cool women I know, Lisa and Meghan.

P.S. Dinner was raw too. I spiralized (yes, it’s a word, it means to use a spiralizer) Japanese turnip and celeriac – and, unsuccessfully, apple – added kelp noodles and tossed with the California Walnut pesto that I made earlier this week.

Full photo set:

Essential Pepin: Composed Salad

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If you don’t know who Jacques Pépin is, here’s a little primer:

Chef Pépin has been cooking since he dropped out of school at age 13 to apprentice at a restaurant. In the 63 years since, he’s been chef, author and TV host. One of the original “celebrity chefs”, he was hosting cooking shows and writing cookbooks long before the Food Network. His 1976 book, La Technique (left), is still used in culinary schools. The success of La Technique prompted him to launch a televised version of the book, resulting in an acclaimed 1997 PBS series, The Complete Pépin. Pépin co-starred in award-winning 1999 PBS series Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home with Julia Child. Together they won a Daytime Emmy in 2001.

Jacques Pépin has earned a reputation as a champion of simplicity. His recipes are classics. They find the shortest, surest route to flavour, avoiding complicated techniques.

Now: Pépin serves as Dean of Special Programs at the French Culinary Institute, part of the International Culinary Center, in New York City. He is also an active contributor to the Gastronomy department at Boston University. Pépin also writes a quarterly column for Food & Wine magazine.

This is Jacques Pépin’s website.


In his new book, Essential Pépin, Jacques Pépin shares a lifetime of food and techniques. For the first time ever, the legendary chef collects and updates the best recipes from his six-decade career.

Publisher Thomas Allen & Sons is holding a contest for home chefs and bloggers. As a contest participant I was able to choose from three recipes:

  • Composed Salad of Greens, Goat Cheese, and Caramelized Pecans
  • Chicken in Tarragon Sauce
  • Chocolate Mousse

See? Simple classics. I made the salad. Of course I made the salad. Salads are what I do and I don’t make meat at home (though I must might also make the mousse before the contest closes on Sunday).

Of the composed salad, Pépin says,

A composed salad consists of greens and any of an almost endless variety of other ingredients, from cooked vegetables to fruits, nuts, poultry, lamb, beef, fish, or shellfish, arranged on a plate or platter, rather than tossed. In this one, I add cheese, apple, and caramelized pecans to tender greens. The combination makes an ideal summer supper or lunch main course or elegant dinner first course

Sounds pretty much like what I do almost daily, except that I usually toss mine rather than “compose”. Another thing I do is modify recipes. Here’s what I changed:

  • I had to replace the pecans. I’d thought I had some so I didn’t buy more. I did, however, have almonds, cashews, walnuts (from my California Walnut contest – but they’ve been assigned to another dish), pistachios, and hazelnuts. I chose almonds.
  • I don’t think that the apple I used was a Golden Delicious or a russet, as called for in the recipe. I don’t know what kind it was, but it was grown at Everdale Farm (about an hour from here) and I picked it up from the CSA.
  • Since I’m on a walnut kick with the California Walnut contest, I used La Tournagelle‘s roasted walnut oil (recipe dictates “1 1/2 tablespoons oil, preferably a mixture of walnut, hazelnut, and/or canola”)
  • Instead of sherry vinegar I used coconut vinegar from Upaya Naturals.
  • For the salad, Pépin directs, “salad greens, preferably mesclun”. I used Earthbound Farms‘ “Half & Half” spinach & spring mix.
  • Also to the salad I added pomegranate seeds and two types of Everdale Farm’s beets, candy stripe and golden, that I’d roasted with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, birch syrup from Forbes Wild Foods, and salt.

My version of the salad wasn’t only simple, but pretty local. I’d have used local greens if they were available but Everdale is down to mustard greens. If this is what it’s like to cook like Pépin, I want an entire collection of Pépin cookbooks. It’s great for a lazy cook such as myself.

I’m already feeling an allergic reaction to something in it (goat cheese? Vinegar? The sugar I used for the caramelized almonds?). I’ve been yeast-free all week. Oh, the things a food writer does for a story and, in this case, a chance to win a KitchenAid Artisan Series Stand Mixer. Every food writer needs one.

I was going to make a California walnut dessert this evening but I was too full. Same thing happened last night. I think that tomorrow I should just have dessert for dinner.

Check out Everything Pépin offered by Amazon. (I want my affiliate code to work for me, darn it. Food blogging doesn’t pay).

Seriously, Pépin could change your life.

Blogger challenge: California walnuts, squash course

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See my previous post about the California walnuts blogger challenge.

Next up: Baked spaghetti squash with California walnut watercress pesto

Spaghetti squash has a high water content and is not as dense in vitamins and minerals as other winter squash, such as acorn or butternut, but does provide 3 percent of the Daily Value for calcium, 5 percent of the DV for Vitamin A, 9 percent of the DV for Vitamin C and 8 percent of the DV for dietary fiber. Spaghetti squash supplies modest amounts of carotenoids, plant substances that the body turns into Vitamin A and that may help protect against some diseases. (Source: Livestrong, which got their information from the USDA).

Squash is abundant this time of year so it seems like a seasonal dish. I baked the squash the day before. It really would be better baked same day and served warm. 1 squash serves 2-4 people, depending on size. (Or in my case, 2-4 meals.) Double the squash if you’d like. The sauce easily makes enough for 4.

Squash

Ingredients

  • 1 spaghetti squash, halved lengthwise
  • 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
  • Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Brush cut sides of squash with oil, and sprinkle with sugar and salt and pepper to taste. Place squash, cut sides down, on a rimmed baking sheet. Roast until tender, about 45 minutes. Let cool slightly on sheet on a wire rack, about 10 minutes. This will give you time to make the pesto.

California walnut & watercress pesto

Ingredients

1 small clove garlic , peeled
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup California walnuts, toasted*
2 cups packed fresh watercress leaves (can also use arugula or spinach or any combination)
1/2 cup packed fresh basil leaves
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese & more for sprinkling on top.
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Directions
In a food processor or blender,  add about 1/2 of the walnuts, watercress, basil, and olive oil. Blend until paste forms.

Stir in Parmesan and lemon juice.

*Toast nuts in toaster oven or oven at 400°F. Watch carefully because they burn easily.

Makes 1 cup

To put the dish together:

Scrape squash with a fork to remove flesh in long strands. Place in a large bowl. Top with pesto. Sprinkle with remaining walnuts and one tablespoon of cheese.

Leftover pesto should be transferred to an airtight container. It can be refrigerated up to 3 days.

…I have one more walnut recipe to try and 2 more cups of walnuts (1 in shells).

Update: A few days later I put the pesto on Japanese turnip and celeriac “noodles” that I made with my spiralizer along with kelp noodles.

Final recipe here.

Blogger challenge: California walnuts, salad course

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Last month I was invited to participate in a California Walnuts Holiday Blogger Challenge.

A nutrition lesson about walnuts

  • Walnuts are rich in anti-inflammatory nutrients, including omega-3 fatty acids and ellagic acid. Research has shown that the regular consumption of walnuts appears to improve cardiovascular function following high-fat meals.
  • The form of vitamin E found in walnuts has been found to provide significant protection from heart problems.
  • Studies suggest that the addition of walnuts to one’s diet may be a useful adjunct in lowering elevated LDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels.
  • Walnuts contain antioxidant nutrients, with approximately 90% of the phenols in walnuts found in the skin. Research shows measurable anti-cancer benefits to walnuts. Similarly, research has found measurable anti-cancer benefits.
  • Walnut oil is an excellent source of omega-3

 Some of the contest rules:

  • All recipes must be original creations.
  • Recipes must use at least one cup of California Walnuts, no other nuts can be used.
  • California Walnuts must be listed in the ingredient list.

Also: Entries will be judged on originality, creativity, flavour profile, ease of preparation and the use of at least one cup of California Walnuts.  The recipes should be suitable for holiday gatherings/ winter entertaining.

“Why not?” Said I.

“Why not”? Because I’m not much of a cook. I mean, I do like to cook and I’m good at it, but I’m kind of lazy when it comes to cooking for just myself. But, most of my recipes are original. Often they’re based on other people’s recipes but sometimes they’d indistinguishable from the original(s). They’re all easy to make (like I said, I’m lazy). I trust my judgement of flavour profile. I think I’m fairly creative. So, I started brainstorming on paper, with pen. Diagrams. Arrows.

I settled on a few ideas. I’m making them over a course of a few evenings.

The first one, which I made last night, was a salad with maple walnuts. As this is a walnut challenge, I could consider maple walnuts the recipe with salad as one of their uses, but you can’t eat a meal of maple walnuts. You’ll be tempted to, but you can’t.

I’ve been making a version of this for holiday gatherings for years and each time I’ve been asked for the recipe. The original recipe called for cashews. In the past I’ve used toasted pecans. For dried fruit, I’ve used a combination of cranberries & dried cherries in the past. I think that dried currents and Saskatoon berries would work too. It’s the tartness you want. Last year I added pancetta to a version and it worked. If you’re making this for a crowd you might want to do dressing on the side.

Salad with lemon poppy vinaigrette

Vinaigrette

  • 1/4 cup maple sugar
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice
  • 1 shallot
  • 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard (I used Kozlik’s regular Dijon this time but considered using the tarragon variety).
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt or to taste
  • 1/3 cup La Tournagelle roasted walnut oil (handcrated in California )
  • anchovy paste to taste
  • 1/2 tablespoon poppy seeds

Salad

  • Romaine lettuce and spinach (original recipe calls for a head of romaine)
  • 4 ounces shredded emmental, blue or old white cheddar cheese*
  • 1 cup candied maple California Walnuts (see recipe below)
  • 1/4 cup or more dried cranberries*
  • 1 apple, diced
  • 1 pear, diced

*I used emmental this time, sliced, because it was on sale at the supermarket & I didn’t have time to buy cheddar from the farmer yesterday. Had I used cheddar it would have come from Monforte Dairy, bought at a farmers’ market.

Directions:

  1. In a blender or food processor or with an immersion blender, combine sugar, lemon juice, shallot, mustard and salt. Process until well blended. With machine still running add oil in a slow steady stream until mixture is thick and smooth.* Add poppy seeds and process just a few seconds more to mix.

2. In a large bowl combine the romaine lettuce, shredded Swiss cheese, cashews, dried cranberries, cubed apple and cubed pear. Toss to mix then pour dressing over salad just before serving and toss to coat.

* I used my new food processor, which came with a 3-piece food pusher. Each pusher is a different size and are nested together. Small holes in the bottom of the narrow pusher are for drizzling oil into ingredients. You just fill the pusher with the amount of oil needed. It worked, unlike the egg whip attachment which does not whip egg whites into a useable form as promised.

Maple walnuts

1 cup California Walnuts
2 tbsp maple syrup (I use Forbes Wild Foods #3 dark).
1 tsp cayenne pepper, or to taste

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment. Combine walnuts, maple syrup & spice in medium bowl. Spread out nuts on sheet. Bake until brown and dry, stirring often, about 20 minutes. Cool. Coarsely chop nuts if you want, crumble them into  salad with your hands, or leave whole.
Store airtight at room temperature.

I didn’t get a good photo of the end result. Instead, I offer you photos of the lovely package of California walnuts, cutting board, pot holder and nut cracker that I got, as well as the salad-making in progress.

Up next: Tonight’s meal of spaghetti squash with watercress California walnut pesto.

Introducing Hockley Valley’s Summer Giveaway

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Remember that time I went to Hockley Valley Resort with a bunch of bloggers last November? Open the post in another tab and read it when you’re done this one.

The golf course in the fall.

Hockley Valley is running a contest to people who ‘Like’ the page on Facebook. Introducing Hockley Valley’s Summer Getaway promotion:

At 500 fans – Pasta Sociale dinner gift certificate
At 750 fans – Round of golf for two
At 1,000 fans – Round of golf and dinner for two in Babbo

They’re currently at 493 fans.
(Update: 7 more likes in 11 hours. I like to hope that some are due to this post. :) )

There are also some exciting things happening at the Resort in the coming months. I’ll keep you posted.

Eat well, be well.

WIN THIS: Forks Over Knives double pass

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Forks Over Knives examines the profound claim that most, if not all, of the degenerative diseases that afflict us can be controlled, or even reversed, by rejecting our present menu of animal-based and processed foods.

The major storyline traces the personal journeys of Dr. T. Colin Campbell, a nutritional biochemist from Cornell University, and Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, a former top surgeon at the world renowned Cleveland Clinic. Inspired by remarkable discoveries in their young careers, these men conducted several groundbreaking studies. Their separate research led them to the same startling conclusion: degenerative diseases like heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and even several forms of cancer, could almost always be prevented—and in many cases reversed—by adopting a whole foods, plant-based diet. Despite the profound implications of their findings, their work has remained relatively unknown to the public.

Bringing these scientific concepts to life, cameras follow “reality patients” who have chronic conditions from heart disease to diabetes, and are taught by their doctors to adopt a whole foods plant-based diet as the primary approach to treat their ailments.

The film features leading experts on health and tackles the issue of diet and disease in a way that will have people talking for years.

…I’ve been looking forward to this movie. I became a fan on their Facebook page months ago. Recently I entered to win a double pass to an advanced screening. I won. GREAT, but it’s tomorrow evening and unfortunately can’t go because I’ve got 2 consecutive appointments.*  Instaed, I’m paying it forward.

You can win my double pass to the free advance screening! All you need to do is visit the film website, then come back here and tell me the name of one of the filmmakers.

Contest closes tomorrow (Wednesday May 18) at 3pm EST.

Details:

Wednesday, May 18 at 7 PM
Cumberland Cinemas
159 Cumberland Avenue, Toronto

Maybe the Forks Over Knives people will see this and either send me a screener or get me tickets for another screening?

Related articles

(The 5 articles are just the first 5 of 13 that appear in the “related articles” plugin that appears in my WordPress post page.)

*Don’t feel too bad for me – the second one is a massage that I paid for 2 months ago and they want to get it off the books.

Tickets won by Rebecca S.,

86d and lavender

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(Will update this with images & more tomorrow. Too tired to be as thorough as I’d like but determined to blog tonight.)

Get 86′d

If you go for dinner at The Drake Hotel on any Monday you may find yourself snacking for free. The bakers and cooks could be chefs from prestigious Toronto restaurants, or they could be bloggers.

Tonight was another round of friendly competition at 86′d at the Drake Hotel. The theme this week: Chili. The competitors: Bloggers. It was my second time as an 86′d competitor, my second visit to the Drake’s kitchen. I’m always amazed at how gracious they are then we’re there. Helpful, too. They heated up our chili, watching it and stirring it, while doing regular dinner service. I try not to get in the way and to minimize the photography. My co-competitors: Ben Ratcliffe, Joel Solish and David Ort. When one of the chefs asked us what restaurants we’re from, David responded that we’re bloggers. It was a peculiar feeling being asked. Naturally we’re in restaurant kitchen competing, we must be right? But we’re bloggers, not chefs or line cooks.

One of the cool things about 86′d is that even though I often refer to it as a “food industry” evening for chefs, food writers and other food fanatics, everyone who stops by can get in on it. Earlier I overheard a girl in line for chili exclaim to her friend, “I’m glad you suggested coming here!” If I hadn’t been about to head back to the kitchen for the last of my chili I’d have given an 86d pitch.

There’s also a special “86′d” menu with a selection of items off their regular menu at a discounted price. It includes (I’m going from memory here) around 5 varieties of sushi, calamari, their tasty poutine, a prosciutto flat bread and a few other things. I bet that if you have a nibble off the 86′d menu you’ll be tempted to order off the regular menu. Once a month they have “bin end” night during which glasses of wine are cheap.

At 10pm the house band, Bootknives, start performing. Last week they performed in boxer shorts. Around Christmas time they were dressed as wisemen and Mary (it was like a toga party). One week they were in pajamas. Some weeks I stay just to see what they’ll be wearing or not wearing. I like the cover songs they play.

Watch Ivy Knight’s website or Twitter feed (more up-to-date than her website) or see The Drake’s website to see what’s coming up.

The result of the chili competition: It was a tie between Joel and Ben. The voting was so close that it was almost a four way tie. Ballots were counted 3 times and Ivy and one other person. All 4 were so different. I really liked getting the fat on David’s meat, made sous vide in a beer cooler (see his teaser post).

What I made: Spicy peanut chili. It certainly wasn’t a classic chili but recently when I was considering entering two recipes came through my RSS feed via Serious Eats; This Black Bean and Sweet Potato Chili, posted January 18, won that writer a cook-off two years ago. The peanut butter one intrigued me more. I used half a bottle of Guinness in there, cocoa powder, coffee and mushrooms. I find that mushrooms often provide a meaty texture. I think I added a bit more peanut butter than called for because while I seemed to have exactly the right amount in the bulk container that I bought, I likely scraped out another 1/4 cup. With the deep freeze going on in the city I didn’t buy the toppings (the day I bought the rest of the ingredients I was tired and just wanted to be home and on cook-off day I wanted to stay inside the office for as long as possible). Sour cream would have been perfect though. My own bowl the night before was topped with a dollop of goat sour cream.

Next Monday is Martini theme.

You can eat it, but I prefer not to…

Lavender, that is. One of the things I like about Restorative Yoga is the lavender & buckwheat scented eye pillows. They make the relaxation so much easier. Marni Wasserman is doing a contest on her website, the prize of which is Pillow and Eye Mask from Mette Vangso San Francisco. Although I don’t always enter contests because I don’t need more “stuff”, I’d like to win this. I could use all the help I can get to relax and quiet my mind. Check it out.

Eat well, be well.

The Food Photography Awards 2010: 5 days left

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A potential entry

I have this bad tendency to think of things while I’m out but then forget and neglect to do them. Mostly it’s returning phone calls and emails, but in this case it was highlighting the Food Photography Awards on my blog. Now the deadline approaches.

Here’s my original post about it.

Deadline to enter is midnight, Friday January 7.

Now, go through your photos and enter!

Call for submissions: The Food Photography Awards 2010

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This is actually Tom's Restaurant, NYC. Famous...

Image via Wikipedia

Calling people with cameras who like food!

(Text lifted from Ivy Knight’s website, with tweaks to formatting.)

January 17th will be the Pictures and Popcorn event and we want you to enter your photos.

During the evening we will have a Popcorn Battle going on with different chefs offering up their best flavoured popcorn for everyone to try while they look at a slideshow of all the entered pictures on our big screens.

The competition opens today, December 15th, with the deadline for submissions being January 7th. This competition is open to everyone on earth.

Judges:

Kirsten Hanson – Cookbook Editor, HarperCollins Canada
Stephen Bulger – Stephen Bulger Gallery
Jacob Richler – journalist
David Leyes – photographer

Categories:

Food
Raw, cooked, vegetable, animal – living in a meadow or sliced and on a plate.
This category is all about food itself.

People
Chefs, farmers, recipe testers, fishermen, winemakers, restaurant reviewers.
This category includes any and all people who deal with food.

Places
restaurants, barns, gardens, vineyards, fishing boats, home kitchens.
This category is all about where food comes from and is cooked and eaten.

Things
tea cup knife, wire whisk, a cutting board, stockpots, wine glasses.
This category is all about the tools and utensils we use every day with food.

Fun
Have you taken a picture of every single thing you’ve ever ordered in a restaurant? Please enter your best bad photo of a restaurant dish just for fun.

Rules:

  1. All submitted photos must have been taken in 2010
  2. Professional and amateur photographers are eligible to enter
  3. Each photo must be submitted by email to Ivy Knight. JPEG only, 1 MB max. Winning photos need to available at high resolution and able to print at 10×15.
  4. Each photo must have a name, even if it is just a description. Please no untitled photos and, even worse, photos titled “untitled” – that will get you immediately disqualified.
  5. Photographers may only enter 1 photo per category
  6. We will accept submissions until midnight on January 7th, 2011
  7. Photographers retain ownership of their copyright. Ivy Knight reserves the right to display photos/images at the Awards event and the right to use winning photos in conjunction with post-promotion and PR of any future Food Photography Awards.
Pass it on!

Eat well, be well.

Do you know Buster Rhino? He might give you stuff

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There’s not really a “Buster Rhino”, though I sometimes think of a rhinoceros named Buster, which I would guess is part of the point. The name is an anagram of one of their products. (I’ll let you work on that.)

Buster Rhino’s is a group of Southern BBQ Restaurants located in Whitby, Oshawa and Uxbridge (cities near Toronto). The company also produces a complementary product line that includes meats, sauces, spices and rubs made from award-winning secret family recipes that use the freshest ingredients with no preservatives, additives or fillers. With three restaurants and a range of products it’s no surprise that they have a big following from across Ontario. Although Whitby is approximately a 40 minute drive (regular traffic flow) from Toronto, the store has regular customers who drive in from the city. Their food is outstanding. I’ve tried half of their sides and most of their meat. I’ve also had their habanaro salt used a few different ways. I used some in scrambled eggs once and the first time I tried it was with roasted pumpkin seeds.

-Read the history of Buster Rhino’s.-

Buster Rhino’s is currently running a daily contest on Facebook called “The BBQ Days Of Christmas”. December 9 was week 1, day 4. Here are the prizes so far:

  • Day 1: A certificate good for a Full Rack of ribs and two sides (good at any location)
  • Day 2: A Buster Rhino’s T-Shirt, rib dinner and a pack of BBQ Sauces
  • Day 3: 1 of each of the meats, and a 3 pack of BBQ Sauce
  • Day 4: 1 Caplansky’s T-shirt, 1 Buster Rhino’s T-shirt, 1 Sandwich Meal, 1 Sauce Pack

Want a chance to win? Visit their Facebook page. The wall is being updated daily with contest details and instructions. Follow the easy instructions, get a chance to win. Winners are chosen randomly.

This isn’t one of those “blog this for extra entries!” posts that I occasionally do – though usually that’s also about the blogger, a win-win situation. This one is out of the goodness of my heart. I seem to want to do stuff for business owners – such as promote and encourage – when I respect them and like their product. Buster Rhino’s owner Darryl Koster is a good guy, and his adorable wife is also really cool, and they’ve got a couple of kids. Go in, say hi, and if you see Darryl tell him that I sent you. At the very least, “like” their Facebook page and tag the wall saying that you heard about it from me. You never know, he might give you stuff.

Eat well, be well.