Let's face it, I'm not a huge make up gal and have had the same make up routine for years but I'm slowly branching out and experimenting with new make up products. The one I've been loving so far for contouring is Benefit's Hoola Bronzer powder. It gives me the infamous Kim Kardashian glow so to speak.


This matte bronzing powder brightens up even the palest of complexions for an all year round gorgeously glowing tan. Sweep over your chin, cheeks and forehead to achieve a natural looking kiss from the sun. It sounds intimidating, but it's seriously simple - if I can do it, so can you! Contouring is all about giving you subtle definition and enhancing your facial structure. I'm not one to cake on loads of make up but rather bring out my natural features especially with my tanned skin colour. Sorry ladies but I only allot 10 minutes or so in the morning for makeup and adding Benefit's Hoola Bronzer to my routine has done wonders. Also Benefit sure does have the cutest packaging!

Are you a Benefit gal?

Living in the city, you would think gardening an impossible task. Though, urban gardening is actually quite common and herbs are most easily grown. Basil is quite the aromatic herb and come summer, it can be used readily in the kitchen while cooking. After an evening of harvesting my basil plant, a simple yet filling recipe for a night in that popped into my mind was basil pesto pasta – with a twist of course, smoked garlic!

INGREDIENTS

Smoked Garlic Head

1 Head of Garlic

Pinch of Black Pepper

Pinch of Smoked Sea Salt (preferably The Salty Don)

Basil Pesto

3 Cups Fresh Basil

1 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2/3 Cup Freshly Grated Parmesan Reggiano Cheese

1/2 Teaspoon of Smoked Sea Salt (preferably The Salty Don)

1 Teaspoon of Black Pepper

Pasta

250 g of Tagliatelle 

INSTRUCTIONS

Smoked Garlic Head

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Slice the head of garlic off as so all cloves are exposed, set head in a piece of foil and drizzle oil olive and sprinkle a pinch of smoked sea salt over top. Secure garlic head in foil and cover so the olive oil does not leak out. Place on a tray and into the oven for 30 minutes or until cloves are nice and soft.

Basil Garlic Pesto

Place the 3 cups of basil and smooth garlic cloves in a blender. Pour in 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and pulse until basil is blended into a thick paste. Gradually add Parmesan Reggiano cheese, smoked sea salt and black pepper. Add remaining olive oil in a steady stream while the blender is running. Continue to blend until smooth and occasionally stop the blender to scrap the sides using a rubber spatula.

FINAL

Cook tagliatelle in a large saucepan of salted, boiling water until al dente and drain well. Toss the cooked pasta in a bowl with the desired amount of the basil garlic pesto. Taste and season again, if necessary. Serve with herbed focaccia bread.

Spontaneity in the kitchen is the one true element that makes getting together with friends or loved one so much more pleasurable and exciting. Having folks over for a fondue night is the perfect way to spend time together and enjoy an easy, fun meal.

With a cheese fondue, ask guests to bring delicious dipping foods, as the options are endless. Sweet and crispy slices of apples or seedless are great accompaniments. If you prefer something savoury, try broccoli florets, roasted mushrooms or cherry tomatoes. Fresh bread is also a wonderful choice. I picked up some Pulla, a mildly sweet Finnish bread from Bread & Butter – a local bakery in Kingston along with cured meats from a local Polish deli.

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 Cup (150 grams) of Gruyère Cheese - cubed

1 1/2 Cup (150 grams) of Emmenthaler Cheese - cubed

1/2 Garlic Clove

3/4 Cup of White Wine

2 Tablespoon of Flour

Pepper to taste

Nutmeg to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Coat the cheese with the flour. Set aside.

2. Rub the inside of the fondue pot with garlic - discard remaining garlic.

3. Pour white wine into the fondue pot. Cook on medium heat until it simmers - do not boil.

4. Gradually add pre-floured cheese and mix until texture is smooth. Season to taste with pepper and nutmeg.

5. With a wooden spoon, mix well and stir regularly.

6. Remove from heat and place on the fondue heater.

7. Enjoy dipping your favorite breads, cured or cooked meats, vegetables and fruits.

FINAL

The fondue becomes too thick? Add a little wine.

The fondue is too liquid? Add cornstarch mixed in the wine.

Preparation: 5 min

Cooking time: 10 minutes

The weekend of December 20 & 21, the Rogers Hometown Hockey tour stopped in the city of Kingston, Ontario for a fun packed outdoor hockey festival filled with free activities for all ages. This was a national campaign from Scotiabank proposing that Canada actually has five seasons – spring, summer, winter, fall and hockey season.

Fun right?! Oui oui!


Home to NHL Alumni Doug Gilmour - this was an event not to be missed as great prizes and giveaways were won from Xbox, Samsung, McDonald’s and the Toronto Maple Leafs, local bands were enjoyed and hockey fun was had all around.

With 25 different communities to be visited across Canada, the city of Kingston was joined by Sportsnet Central hosts Ken Reid and Evanka Osmak, NHL Alumni Doug Gilmour and Wendel Clark for autograph sessions, and of course Don Cherry. The highlight of the event was an outdoor viewing party watching Ron MacLean host a live broadcast of the Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Chicago Blackhawks NHL game from the Sportsnet Mobile Studio on Sunday night.

Perfect for families, couples and children - be sure to visit your local Rogers Hometown Hockey community event!

Day 1:

To learn more about Ten Thousand Villages, visit www.tenthousandvillages.ca

Thank you Ten Thousand Villages for the savoury items!

Holiday entertaining and gift giving during the holiday season can sometimes be quite the tedious task especially with a busy work schedule but this year it has been made easy by Gusto TV - Canada’s new food and lifestyle specialty channel.

Whether you are looking to treat someone but are in a pickle, bestselling food author Lorraine Pascale shares her last-minute gift ideas. Lorraine has a hamper of edible goodies - including these spicy cookies that also make beautiful Christmas decorations. 

You’ll need a 12cm/4½ inch star or snowflake-shaped cookie cutter and a 4cm/1½ inch star cutter.

INGREDIENTS

100g/3½oz butter, diced

100g/3½oz soft light brown sugar

2 tbsp golden syrup

1 tsp black treacle

1 tbsp ground ginger 

1 tbsp ground cinnamon

Large pinch ground cloves

Pinch chilli powder (optional)

250g/9oz plain flour 

½ tsp baking soda

6 hard candies (in different colours), each ground in a pestle and mortar or blended in a food processor

For the icing:

75g/3oz royal icing sugar

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6. Line two baking trays with greaseproof paper. Heat the butter, sugar, golden syrup, treacle, ginger, cinnamon, cloves and chilli powder in a saucepan until the butter melts and the sugar has dissolved.

Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the flour and baking soda. You should have a smooth, but fairly stiff dough. Chill for five minutes (it’s important to work with the dough while it is still a little warm as it becomes quite dry and crumbly upon cooling completely).

Roll the dough out to a 1cm/½in thickness on a large sheet of greaseproof paper. Using a 12cm/4½ inch star or snowflake shaped cookie cutter to cut out the cookies. Use a 4cm/1½ inch star cutter to stamp out the centre of each cookie. 

Use a palette knife to lift the large stars onto a baking sheet. To make ornament decorations, use a wooden skewer to make a hole in the top of each cookie.  Re-roll the remaining dough and the leftover smaller stars and continue to make the cookies in this way until all the dough is used up. 

Place a little of the ground hard candies in the centre of each star, using a separate colour for each cookie. Bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes, or until the cookie is crisp and beginning to darken and the candy has melted to fill the hole. Remove from the oven and use the wooden skewer to make sure the holes are in tact.

Leave to cool completely, then slide a palette knife under each cookie to release them from the paper.

Mix the royal icing sugar with a little water until you have a thick paste and pipe or drizzle onto the cookies.

More Holiday Recipes:
Nigel Slater's Hearty Party Hotpot
Rick Stein's Pear Soufflé With Pear Cider Ice Cream

Enjoy!

The holiday season as a foodie is all about indulging and what perfect way to do so than with Ferrero Rocher. I am beyond thrilled to be partnering with Ferrero Rocher on this holiday post showcasing such a small but gracious and decadent treat. Known for its unmistakable golden wrapping and unique taste, one bite and you are in chocolate heaven - surrounded by creamy filling, a crunchy wafer and a delicious hazelnut centre. Oh la la!



Ferrero Rocher chocolcates are perfect for a hostess to use as decor to style her dining table as they add just the right amount of sparkle to a home and can also be served to her guests after an elaborate savoury meal incorporated into a frozen mousse dessert. After all - chocolate is truly a girls best friend (along with glass of bubbly!).







What's your #FerreroMoment?

All images were taken with a Nikon D3100.

Enjoy!

Keep up with RG {Twitter} - {Facebook} - {Pinterest}

This week on the blog we are indulging in all things sweet and savoury with Gusto TV. They have delighted their viewers to celebrate the holidays with globally inspired festive dishes made simply, and deliciously. Today we are celebrating with a Cornish feast with charismatic restaurateur Rick Stein.

Stein creates a deceivingly sophisticated dessert that is so easy to make that will surely impress your dinner guests.

Pear Soufflé with Pear Cider Ice Cream

Preparation Time: Overnight

Cooking Time: Under 30 mins

Serves: 8 ppl

INGREDIENTS

For the pear cider ice cream:

500ml/1 pint 1fl oz milk

225g/8oz caster sugar

9 free-range egg yolks

250ml/8 ½ fl oz double cream

150ml/5fl oz pear cider, preferably Cornish

For the pear jam:

500g/1lb 1oz pears, peeled, core removed, chopped

50g/2oz sugar

25g/1oz cornflour

For the soufflé

Butter, for greasing

6 free-range egg whites

50g/2oz caster sugar

DIRECTIONS

For the pear cider ice cream, heat the milk and 115g/4oz of the sugar in a saucepan until just boiling. Remove the pan from the heat.

Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks and remaining sugar in a bowl, then slowly whisk in the hot milk mixture until well combined. Return the mixture to the saucepan and cook over a low heat until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.

Stir in the double cream and pear cider and set aside to cool completely. Pour the mixture into a plastic container and freeze for at least four hours, or until the ice cream has frozen. (Stir the mixture with a fork every hour or two to get rid of any lumps of ice.)

Meanwhile for the pear jam, cook the pears and three tablespoons of water in saucepan until the pears have softened. Blend the pears to a purée in a food processor.

Cook the pear purée and sugar in a saucepan until the volume of the mixture has reduced by half, then whisk in the corn flour until smooth.

For the soufflé, preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas 5. Grease eight ramekins with butter.

Whisk the egg whites in a bowl until soft peaks form when the whisk is removed, then slowly whisk in the sugar until stiff peaks form.

Stir one-third of the egg white mixture into the jam mixture, then gently fold in the remaining egg whites.

Spoon the soufflé mixture into the ramekins and bake in the oven for 7-8 minutes, or until risen and pale golden-brown.

Serve the soufflés with a scoop of pear cider ice cream.

Rick Stein Christmas Specials on Gusto TV: (All times in EST)

NEW – Far Eastern Odyssey: Christmas Special airs Dec. 10 @ 9:00pm; Dec. 22 @ 9:00pm & 

Dec. 25 @ 9:00pm

Cornish Christmas airs Dec. 18 @ 8:00pm & Dec. 25 @ 10:00am

NEW -- Spanish Christmas airs Dec. 16 @ 9:00pm & Dec. 25 @ 8:00pm

WATCH Gusto TV on Bell TV/Fibe Ch. 619/1619

Enjoy!

Keep up with RG {Twitter} - {Facebook} - {Pinterest}

As you may know, this past summer I was a guest blogger with Gusto TV - Canada’s new food and lifestyle specialty channel. It was quite the learning experience and I learnt all about recipe development and food photography.  With that being said, as a proud Canadian, food lover and the slight chill in the air, Gusto TV is inviting viewers to celebrate the holidays with globally inspired festive dishes made simply, and deliciously.

Recalling one of his favourite holiday dishes, Nigel Slater shares an easy one-pot dish packed with winter vegetables and mushrooms, but it’s equally as tasty with a few bits of turkey or ham thrown in too.

Preparation Time: Under 30 mins

Cooking Time: 30 mins to 1 hour

Serves: 4 ppl

2 onions

20g/1oz butter

Sprig of rosemary

1 carrot

4 tbsp Marsala wine

150g/5 ½ oz canned chestnuts

2 bay leaves

400ml/14fl oz vegetable stock

Freshly ground black pepper

4 chestnut mushrooms

Handful of dried porcini mushrooms

1 tbsp wholegrain mustard

Roughly chop the onions and slowly soften in a casserole with a little butter. Meanwhile pick a sprig of rosemary into a mortar and pestle with a pinch of salt and the juniper berries. Give them a good bashing then add to the onions.

Now chop the carrot, swede and parsnip into hearty sized chunks, and add to the onions.

To build the sauce, tip in a few glugs of whatever Christmas wines you have to hand, like Marsala. 

Add a spoonful of flour and stir in allowing it to cook through and thicken the sauce. Add the chestnuts, bay leaf and stock, season with freshly ground black pepper, then leave to simmer for 15 minutes.

Quarter the chestnut mushrooms; then add them to the pot along with a handful of dried porcini. This will give the stew a woody depth. 

 Now for the finishing touches to the sauce add a spoonful of wholegrain mustard and redcurrant jelly, and let simmer for a further 20 minutes.

Enjoy!

“For those who are lost, there will always be cities that feel like home.”
- Simon Van Booy, Everything Beautiful Began After

#YGK : Kingston, Ontario


Kingston, 2008 - Present
Queen's University, 2008 - 2012
Living Life, 2012 - Present

This is my (short and sweet) story and my adventures, how I fell in love with the city of Kingston and how I have made it my home away from home. It has brought out the best and the worst in me, having experienced my lowest moments with breakdowns at university to my highest points where I've realized who I am meant to be and do. The Kingston community allowed me to flourish as an individual, the support sparked my creative juices, finding true love gave me a newfound confidence and the culinary scene brought out the foodie in me.

It was summer of third year where I had a wake up call to get my act together school-wise and life changed hereafter. School was filled with no motivation and I truly lost interest in what I was learning. I felt out of place in university and especially my program. Living alone in a house, normally filled with the chaos of five girls took adjusting to. To rectify the situation, I immersed myself in my work at QueensU as an assistant online developer (loved it!), summer online classes, learned how to row and started to write. You could say I was a workaholic trying to escape reality.

It was shortly after a month that I met my other half, who completed me in every way possible. Together for three years now - this Kingston native, partner in crime and foodie accomplice has brought out the best in me one day at a time. Our passion for cooking, trying new things and positive thinking has cultivated and thrives.


Nestled on the shores of Lake Ontario, Kingston's waterfront also brought calmness to my life. The world of rowing taught me to take risks and push through barriers - on land and water. I started a lifestyle blog and continued further with no hesitation to include food. I embraced fear and took it head on. Blogging was my creative outlet and the city of Kingston was the backdrop.

Fourth year was a flash as I pulled my grades up drastically, took courses I actually enjoyed, blogged, started my contributing writing career and was also the turning point to where I learned all about personal branding and marketing thanks to Sidneyeve Matrix after attending a Queen's Student Alumni Association presentation. The rest is history as I found my calling to mesh my passions of writing, engineering and marketing together. With four years behind me and a Computer Engineering degree under my belt (yes I know it shocks everyone!), I was fortunate enough to work for the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science at QueensU - match made in heaven until my contract was done (insert sad face). I still had determination and blogging to keep me occupied and sane.


Kingston is finally where I got my first 'grown up' job that I dreamt of, a mix of marketing and tech, perfect! Though was also terminated three days shy of my probation period. Ouch that stings!  I'm not to going to lie, at first I was upset then realized it was a blessing. As I left the office, a co-worker who I admired and simply had a great joy for life hugged me and whispered, "when one door closes, another one opens." It is women like this that should be cherished in our hearts as her words have truly stuck with me - women should inspire one another. I gained inner strength after my fair share of breakdowns and feeling worthless - it opened my horizons, I focused on my blog solely and started a series highlighting entrepreneurs with a passion. This led to connecting with wonderful locals and learning about every nook and cranny of this city.


Attracted by the local food scene and farmer's market, I slowly learned the concept of farm to table and made it a mission to try a new restaurant each occasion I went out to taste the vast types of cuisines available. From local chefs to producers, the passion for food combined with love of their business clearly stood out. Becoming a culinary destination, this growing local food economy is a community in itself - inspiring and raising awareness. I am truly glad to be part of it and honoured to be sharing their stories through my writing.

This city has given me to opportunity to reflect on my life. Everything that I've accomplished is overwhelming, a blessing and despite my struggles in university, Kingston and its natives were my escape from the campus bubble and I am proud to call it my home. I am now a 'staycationer turned foodie' living in the city of Kingston while freelance writing, appreciating every opportunity given to me and blogging about what excites my curiosity but also working with the most amazing set of people in downtown Kingston.