Last time on The Hot Chocolate Adventure Tamara Green explained why she has taken to the streets of Port Perry to find the number one hot chocolate! And made her first stop at the Durham Homestyle Gourmet. Now we find our hero awing at... a dusting of fresh snow glittered off all the trees in Palmer Park as I passed, on my way to my next Hot Chocolate destination, The Pantry Shelf. This cute little shop on Water Street, has relaxing jazz music streaming outside there doors so you can sit out front sipping your Hot Chocolate while listening to the jazz. Inside it's equal as tranquil, with beautiful decorum. While I waited for the waitress to serve the one other early morning customer before me, I stood at the country "drinking in" the home style feel and studying there menu. Two dollars for a hot chocolate it said. Yet when I received my warm hot chocolate topped with the optional whip cream I was in for a surprise. It didn't cost $2 but $1.75! Now that's the kind of price shock I like! I thanked the waitress, turned around and took a few steps toward the door and then she asked me "You don't want a lid for that?" Oops! I hadn't received a lid so I assumed maybe they had run out. She kindly directed me to the table set up beside the cooler that had the lids, straws, napkins, and sweeteners. Terrific! Now I had my lid snapped on and was ready to try out this promising hot chocolate. Are you ready to come along for the ride as I share with you my findings, cup by cup!?! Just keep coming back to find out what happens next or subscribe via the comments page or the RSS feed. In any case I hope to continue to share my adventures with you! This post was merrily brought you by, Tamara Green
Last time on The Hot Chocolate Adventure Tamara Green explained why she has taken to the streets of Port Perry to find the number one hot chocolate! Now we find our hero... rosie cheeked and thirsty for my first hot chocolate adventure, I head south down Water Street to the newly established Durham Homestyle Gourmet. The none fastuous little shop boasts an ever increasingly diverse menu as it buds into the world of ethnic dishes. However, right now my main concern is the self-serve beverage and breakfast bar to my right, where I find a surprising selection of the delightful drink, hot chocolate. Original, White, Mint, and Coffee Crisp. My choice is mint. Although, this hot chocolate is at a self-serve bar the owner/chef generously offers to mix it up for me with a fresh pot of hot water. Despite the water being freshly boiled the suggested addition of cream, for a smooth texture, cools the drink back down to a pleasant casual sipping temperature. Are you ready to come along for the ride as I share with you my findings, cup by cup!?! Just keep coming back to find out what happens next or subscribe via the comments page or the RSS feed. In any case I hope to continue to share my adventures with you! This post was merrily brought you by, Tamara Green
A few weeks ago I was walking to work and I felt like picking up a Hot Chocolate on the way. However, I was in for a dilemma as I couldn't figure out where to buy it. There was to many place to get a hot chocolate! I counted nine of them. There is the: Durham Homestyle Gourmet, The Pantry Shelf, Cafe Mocha, Millar's Market, Queen Bean's, The Piano Cafe Hanks Pastries, Country Corner Coffee, and last but not least the Community Living/Library Cafe. So yesterday I decided to scope one the establishment a day every day I'm in town until I've found which place has the best hot chocolate! Are you ready to come along for the ride as I share with you my findings, cup by cup!?! This post was merrily brought you by, Tamara GreenRelated Posts
The thanks go to God for using Becca (regular commentator) and Bolthouse Farms to inspire me with these smoothie recipes. A Funny Thing Happened to me Along the WayOriginally speaking I had intended to post 4 smoothies recipes but as the heading says "A funny thing happened to me along the way." Continue reading to find out what happened to the fourth recipe.
Well pitaya it was then. That was it; I had decided to put my eyes aside and go with my taste buds. Pitaya would be the fruit base for smoothie number four. So what happened you ask? I'll tell ya. It was the evening of Thursday, June the 4th, we, my family and I that is, were in the grocery store doing what else but grocery shopping. This was my perfect chance to get all the ingredients I needed for the smoothies. Well to make a short story long and then short again, I found what I thought was a beaten up pitaya. We bought it and I brought it home. It was 11 am, Friday, June the 5th, I was ready to make smoothie number four. I grabbed the first "pitaya" and began digging through it's feather like leaves. "What in the world?" I queried. I didn't see any fruit. I convinced myself that is was my ignorance in this particular fruit that led me to believe the fruit was close to the surface, so I kept digging, and digging through leaves, and more leaves, and more leaves, until I found out there was nothing but leaves!!! It's now the morning of Saturday, June the 6th, I have Mr. Duck handy but he's closed his beak. It think this mystery fruit/veggie may indeed be a iguana made paper airplane in disguise designed to spy out my smoothie recipes. The End... or is it? Check the comments to find out! Tips & TricksChill Your Ingredients Chill all your ingredients ahead of time; if you don't, then I recommend chilling the prepared smoothie. If you really can't wait then add a moderate portion of ice. The Age of Your Fruit The ripper the fruit the softer it is thus the easier it is to blend. Don't use rotting fruit but the ripped the better! P.S. this mean that this is a great way use up leftover/aging fruit/vegetables. Caution on Blending Veggies Vegetables tend to be stringy make them very hard to puree :P (P.S. does anyone find it confusing to use proper punctuation after using an emoticon? Or it that just me?). As a general rule: vegetables should be juiced and not blended in a blender. For this reason veggies which contain a higher water content are a better choice for smoothies. What veggies contain more water you ask? I'm glad you asked! Click here to find out. Golden Hour Cut into chunks the following: 1/2 Papaya, skinned 1/2 Pineapple, skinned 6 medium Strawberries Add the fruit chunks to your blender with the following: 1/2 cup Greek Yoghurt 2 tbsp Whey/Soy Protein (optional) "Get your engines started. Get ready. Get set. GO!" Blend for 1 minute, stir and repeat. If you blender is to small blend half at a time. Green's Own This is based on the Green Goodness smoothie I mentioned in my earlier post "Barley Grass Is It Gluten Free?" As I mentioned the Tips & Tricks above veggies are much better juiced than pureed (unless you have a very high powered blender, with multiple blades), that being said this smoothie is juiced and not blended. First you will need to chilled: 1 cup Stepped Green Tea Meanwhile loosely chop the following ingredients: 1/2 cup Spinach, loosely packed 1 long Celery rib (12 inches), with leaves 1 Banana, without peel 1/4 Papaya or 1 Mango (1 cup), skinned 1/4 Pineapple (1 cup), loosely skinned 3 large Green Apples, with skin 1/4 cup Artichoke or Leafy Green Vegetable (optional) You are now ready to juice everything but the green tea. So rev up your juicers engine and GO! I double juiced mine, meaning, after juicing all the ingredients I took the pieces that the juicer discarded and ran them through the machine again. By doing so I got about another 1/2 cup of juice. Now to clean the juicer out a little while harnessing even a little more flavour/juices, SLOWLY pour the chilled green tea through the running machine (if your juicer has multiple speeds run it on the slowest setting for this). The Golly Green Giant! Skin and cut into chunks the following: 3 Kiwi 1/4 Honeydew Melon 1 Banana 2 tbsp Hemp Protein/Super Green Protein Powder (optional) "Get your engines started. Get ready. Get set. GO!" Blend for 1 minute, stir and repeat. If you blender is to small blend half at a time. Banana Substitutes / Creamy Fruit Bases to Give the Smooth to Your Smoothie1. Papaya/Mango 2. Pitaya (e.g. Dragon Fruit) 3. Avocado 4. Jackfruit (tastes like Banana can be found fresh or canned in Asian markets) 5. Monstera (tastes and textures like Banana) 6. Pawpaw (tastes and textures like Banana) Top 15 Veggies For Juicing This chart is purely based on the water content of each veggie and how that will make it easier to get more juice out of the veggie NOT flavour. The percentages pictured represent what percent of the vegetables total weight is from water. Thanks for taking the time to view/read this post. I hope you enjoy all these recipes. God bless your whole day!
Tamara Green |
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If you are that person with a million and one allergies and intolerance I am there to say you are not alone! Life After Gluten can be better than life with wheat. Living lactose-free since 2007 and gluten-free since 2013. Also intolerant and/or allergic to mushrooms, soy, and yeast. Categories
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