easter Archives - Womens Post

Living March 29, 2018

Perfect Pairings: Enliven your food with the right choice of wine & spirits

Food is most certainly at the centre of any holiday get-together in my household, and runner up to a delectable meal, are the delicious beverages to complement. Wines and spirits are the perfect option when pairing with that Easter spread. So when determining what will go on guests’ plates, take some time to consider the wine pairings that best bring out the flavours of the foods you’ve taken such care to prepare (or simply plate-if you’re anything like me and are not exactly a top chef in the kitchen.)

Fiona Buchan, Director of Marketing at Lakeview Wine Co., shares how the right pairings can bring your dinner party to new heights.

“Wine and food pairings are not just for the elite and the wealthy. Anybody can pair a wine with their food to build new flavour profiles and enhance the dinner. The key is understanding the wines that pair best with the foods you are cooking.”

Read Buchan’s tips on the subject of the perfect pairings, below:

The Aperitif — Welcome your guests properly. Before dinner is served and people are arriving, serve a nice sparkling wine. The bubbles help stimulate the palate to get people ready for the meal to come. If you (or your guests) are not a fan of the bubbly, pour a light white that stands well on its own, such as a Pinot Grigio.

Honey Glazed Ham – The staple of the Easter dinner is the glazed ham, in all of its sweet and salty deliciousness. The ham calls for a lighter, somewhat sweeter, white wine. FRESH Beginnings Moscato has peach and citrus notes on the nose, with pear, honey and fruit salad flavours on the palate — ideal for the sweet glaze and salty meat of the ham.

Turkey – While not a traditional Easter main course, the turkey is growing in popularity as a catch all dish for big family dinners. Key to pairing wine with turkey is to find a wine that is rich and flavourful without overpowering the seasoning of the bird and its stuffing. For red wine drinkers, the soft tannins of a Pinot Noir are ideal. For fans of white wines, go with a Gewurztraminer.

Cheesy Potatoes – Some sort of cheesy potato dish is a must, whether they are simmering scalloped potatoes smothered in cheddar or a creamy mashed potatoes with the cheese whipped inside. The gooey, salty goodness of the potatoes and cheese calls for a sweeter wine, like an off-dry Riesling.

Asparagus — Easter is a sure sign of spring and if the calendar cooperates (this year is not likely one of those years) the early crops of local Ontario asparagus are in market to bring some of that spring freshness to the dinner table. Fresh, crisp asparagus needs a fresh crisp wine. The mineral and grassy nots of a light, refreshing 20 Bees Sauvignon Blanc is ideal for this side dish.

Milk Chocolate — If nothing else, religious symbolism aside, Easter is associated with chocolate. Little chocolate eggs. Bigger chocolate eggs (with rich fillings inside), chocolate rabbits, and chocolate shaped into the characters of whatever movie is hot at the time. Key to pairing chocolate with wine is ensuring your wine is sweeter than the sweet dessert. For the milk chocolate that is most common in Easter confectionaries, pair with a sweet Riesling or a dessert wine.

For more information, please visit lakeviewwineco.com. Stay engaged on Facebook at /LakeviewWineCo, follow it on Twitter @LakeviewWineCo and on Instagram @lakeviewwineco.

Living April 15, 2017

My harrowing journey trying to find vegan Easter eggs

There is no way around it. Finding affordable vegan Easter eggs for kids is a challenge.

First of all, it’s a miracle in itself that there are vegan Easter eggs in stores. It is fairly easy to find a chocolate bunny, vegan cream eggs, and even little dark chocolate bunnies at health food stores, but impossible to find anything affordable for kids! One cream egg is around five to six dollars. Imagine buying dozens for an Easter egg hunt?

I was unprepared for this dilemma when I committed to host a vegan Easter egg hunt for my daughter’s Girl Guide group. Lo and behold, I found myself panicking at some non-descript health food centre trying to price crunch seven dollar chocolate bars for 20 children. As a vegan mom though, it is necessary to think quickly in such situations and I opted for the plastic eggs filled with skittles and jujubes (both surprisingly vegan) and non-dairy chocolate chips. The problem was solved, but there was an unexpected twist that forced me to pull out my vegan mommy powers again.

When I hid the eggs outside for the scavenger hunt and nature walk, the slugs took over. I quite literally mean the little slimy bugs that manifested and decided to make their new homes on the cheerful looking plastic eggs. It was ironic that the vegan eggs I’d worked so hard to make were very nearly ruined by an animal. Did the slugs not know I was trying to save them?

When my daughter and the other little girls noticed the slugs, pandemonium erupted with shrill screams and a flurry of little ladies running around panicking. I quickly took the egg with the biggest slug and scooped him onto my finger. I began talking about how amazing he was, how slugs function in the forest and joked about how much they loved Easter eggs. The girls took this in and stopped being afraid of the interesting critter. The vegan eggs turned the nature walk into a very interesting learning experience.

For future egg hunts, I will decidedly abandon buying the eggs all together. Instead, making vegan Easter eggs at home with a mould. Vegan chocolate will be a much cheaper and yummier alternative. Simply takes cocoa, sugar, and other select ingredients depending on what type of eggs you would like and a mould. It is also healthier to make your own eggs because it won’t contain the additives found in mass-produced chocolate.

Be sure to use the weekend to get outside, soak in some rays, and smile because the days of seasonal depression are finally behind us. Just watch out for the slugs!

Happy Easter from everyone at Women’s Post!

Living March 29, 2016

5 things to do with leftover ham

Your Sunday Easter dinner turned out perfectly — the scalloped potatoes were cheesy and creamy, the vegetables were crisp, and the ham was cooked to utter perfection. But, your guests didn’t eat as much as you expected. Instead of having enough leftover ham for a day or so as planned, you have enough for a few weeks! What to do?

If you’re like me, you can only eat ham and potatoes for so many days before starting to feel sick. Here are five alternatives for those who don’t want to waste all of those fantastic leftovers:

hash-brown-eggs-nests-with-avocado-1 — thecookingjar.com

Eggs: Nothing goes better with ham than some good old eggs and cheese. Put some of the ham in an omelette or make little hashbrown nests with some shredded potatoes. After spraying some muffin tins, line it with the potato, crack an egg, and top with diced ham, cheese, and some spinach if you’re feeling healthy. Cook in the oven for 30 minutes at a temperature of 350 degrees.

Casserole: What’s the easiest way to use leftovers? Throw them all in a casserole dish and let it warm up in the oven. Personally, I like to combine some cooked pasta, peas, corn, onions, ham, and cheese with some mushroom sauce. If you want some more vegetables, feel free to add some carrots or broccoli. This is comfort food at its best.

Soup: One of my favourite meals on a rainy day is split-pea soup, with yellow peas, onions, ham, and bacon. Put all of these ingredients into a pot with vegetable stock, pepper, and garlic, and let simmer for a few hours. I like to puree the soup slightly so that it’s not as thick.

Stirfry: Most of the time I use chicken or beef in my stirfry, but it’s easy to substitute that with ham. Put some cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, bok choy, and pineapple in a skillet with your leftover ham. Cook in some water until the vegetables are mostly cooked and then add some soy sauce, honey, brown sugar, and sesame seeds. Serve on top of rice.

Pizza: Pineapple, ham, and cheese (extra cheese!). Those are my absolute favourite things to put on a pizza. If you want to make this at home, try it on some large flatbread or on a tortilla wrap. If you aren’t a pineapple fan, try substituting some tomatoes or green peppers. Top with olives, chilli flakes, and onions. Enjoy!

What do you plan to do with your Easter leftovers? Let us know in the comments

Home & Garden January 24, 2016

5 Easter crafts made of recycled materials

Easter is a great time to make crafts and enjoy spring festivities. Many Easter crafts can be quite wasteful so why not enjoy the festivities by recycling products and having fun at the same time?

Here are great recycled Easter crafts for ages young and old.

Recycled Juice Carton Easter Basket

Have you polished off that OJ and are now left with an empty juice carton? Why not turn it into an Easter basket? Make sure the carton has been rinsed out and dried. Remove the spout from the carton and wrap it in colourful paper that is either glued or taped. Use another piece of paper and cut it into a strip and then attach it to the box. If desired, use extra decorations such as flowers or sparkles to make characterize the basket. This is a great option for children and is an opportunity to teach them about re-using items for craft projects.

Taken from http://planetforward.ca/blog/recycled-juice-carton-easter-basket-eco-friendly-craft-for-kids/

A Watering Can Centerpiece

Instead of buying fresh decorations for a weekend celebration, why not use items you already have to make your house more festive? Find an old watering can, preferably tin, and put in a variety of flowers and branches to celebrate the spring season. If you use sage and rosemary, it also adds a festive spring scent to the dinner table.

Inspired by http://www.commonground-do.com/2011/04/vintage-inspiration-friday-32-magazine.html

Egg carton flowers

Egg carton flowers are a great craft for kids and are a lot of fun to make. Cut up an egg carton into individual containers and paint each one any colour you prefer. Glue a pompom into the center to give it some texture. Next, poke a hole in the bottom of the carton piece and feed a green pipe cleaner through the hole. To add an additional flare, fan out the green pipe cleaners to make it look more like leaves.

Taken from http://www.skiptomylou.org/welcoming-spring-with-egg-carton-flowers/

Cardboard Tube Chicks

What to do with the dozens of toilet paper rolls you’re left with at the end of the week? Make little chicks of course! Take a toilet paper roll and cut it in half, then paint it yellow on the outside and inside. Take three yellow pipe cleaners and trim it to just over the size of the roll, and glue it in so it goes over the top edge of the roll to make three fuzzy hairs. Attach two orange pipe cleaners on the bottom for feet and two more orange cleaners in the sides for arms. Paint a face and a beak and enjoy your new recycled chick.

Taken from http://craftsbyamanda.com/cardboard-tube-chicks/

Easter Garland

A colourful and easy Easter garland can be created by cutting out paint swatches into egg shapes and attaching them in a chain using string or ribbon. They can then be hung to create a festive and fun Easter decoration that has no cost and re-uses the paint chips.

Taken from http://ittybittygreenie.com.au/blog/820/5-easy-eco-friendly-easter-crafts/

Do you have any favourite Easter crafts? Let us know in the comments below!