Carol Au Courant: canada day

Monday, July 8, 2013

Food, Fun, Fireworks... Canadian Style

oh Canada! This year we celebrated Canada Day at our home with a BANG!
When my family celebrates holidays and special occasions, there is no denying we always do it big.
Go big or go home -- that is definitely my family's motto.

One of the things we tend to "go big" on is the food.
We are a family of foodies and if you leave one of our family parties on an empty stomach, there's something terribly wrong with that.
"Eat! Enjoy! Cheers! More wine?" Words echoed frequently around here.

As I had mentioned before, my home is where gatherings tend to gravitate towards. No complaints as I love entertaining and enjoy being surrounded by family and friends.

Thank goodness this year, our home was graced with our brand new Frigidaire!
Our new fridge came in extremely handy this past Canada Day Long Weekend.

It was so easy to find everything I needed in this jam-packed fridge with the LED lighting and pull-out shelves and most importantly it was able to hold everything we required for a successful Canada Day party!

No food or drink was left out!

The feature that was most helpful (aside from the space), was the Flip-Up and Slide-Under Shelf.
With this awesome feature, we were able to accommodate the tall drinks and awkward-shaped containers easily with just a flip and a slide. I really, really love this!

The biggest issue I had during hosting previous gatherings with my old fridge was the lack of space. Food (and especially leftovers) would spoil easily being left out because I couldn't get it to fit inside the fridge and getting all the drinks in there was near impossible. We'd have to leave them out and just keep them on ice buckets which would have to be filled frequently - what a nuisance!
This fridge was truly a life-saver! I don't know how I survived this long being the party hostess that I am without my Frigidaire.

It left us with nothing to stress or worry about during our Canada Day Party except for one thing...
What do I eat first?

I hope you all enjoyed your Canada Day Long Weekend!

To learn more about Frigidaire and keep in-the-know about sales and news, visit them on Facebook at Frigidaire Canada.
You can also follow the Frigidaire Test Drive Moms along on Twitter at #TestDriveMoms.

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Disclosure: I am part of the Frigidaire Canada Ambassador program with Mom Central Canada and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own.

Friday, June 28, 2013

Summer at the Lakehouse: Introducing Bath & Body Works' Lakeside Summer Candle Collection {Giveaway}

When you think of summer, what usually comes to mind?
For me, it's beautiful memories at the Lakehouse... the scent of evening bonfires and smores, the sounds of the birds, nature and rippling water, paddle-boating in complete serenity, fishing by the deck, the feeling of warm sand on my bare toes with a cold glass of freshly made lemonade in my hand.
There's nothing quite like summer days spent by the lake with loved ones.

Bath & Body Works' introduces their latest Lakeside Summer Candle Collection featuring scents that will have you living and breathing summer all year long, wherever you may be.
Transporting you back to those memorable summer moments with six new distinctive fragrances:

NEW LAKESIDE: An invigorating blend of fresh water, drift wood and lemon zest, this fragrance is refreshing like the water after a cannon ball.

NEW WATERMELON LEMONADE: Enjoy the coolest sip of summer with this mixture of sparkling watermelon, candied lemons, and sugared musk.

NEW BOATHOUSE ROW: Deep, blue water, green sage, and cedar wood, this fragrance is the essence a cool retreat in the shade.

NEW STRAWBERRY PICNIC: A slice of summer time sweetness, this fragrance is a blend of red, ripe strawberries, wild raspberries and sweet buttercream frosting.

NEW SUMMERTIME S’MORES: This blend of roasted marshmallow, crackling campfire and rich, creamy vanilla is a gooey & guilt free treat.

MAHOGANY TEAKWOOD: Like the warmth of a boat’s deck in the sun, bask in the luxurious scents of fine woods like mahogany, cedarwood and oak.

The Retail Value for each candle is: 14.5oz, $22.50; 4oz, $12.50: 1.3 oz. $4.50 (in select fragrances)
What I love about Bath & Body Works is that they are always having seriously awesome deals like 50% off or buy one, get one free, etc. at their retail locations.

This coming Monday is Canada Day which means a much-deserved long weekend ready to fill with new summer memories!

Courtesy of my friends at Bath & Body Works Canada, one of my readers gets a chance to win this very patriotic and sweet-smelling Canada Day Prize Pack.

To Enter:
1) Leave a comment telling me which Bath & Body Works' Lakeside Summer Candle you love most (This is mandatory)
2) Additional entries via rafflecopter

Open to Canadian Residents only.
Contest ends July 5th, 2013.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Bonne Fête du Canada!

This past Sunday we celebrated our country's 145th birthday!
Every year we like to make sure we wear our red & white loud and proud, eat lots of great food, enjoy the company of our loved ones and of course end the night with beautiful fireworks.

After having children, events and holidays such as this just get more and more exciting.
Ava absolutely loves celebrating us much as we do and is usually the loudest of us all! Usually you will hear her hollering, "Happy Birthday, Canada!" waving her little flag -- it is so adorable!
Love seeing her patriotism.

This year in particular was no different, even though I'm 7 months pregnant. I couldn't cook/bake as much and we were not able to head out and do a lot of walking at any local Canada Day festivities or head down to the cottage but we did as much as we can in our home, just the family. It was wonderful! Small but mighty (just like our family!)
Had a great meal, enjoyed some sparklers and fun in our backyard and then headed over to a local area where our neighborly farm gave a spectacular light show!
I can't think of a better way to ring in Canada's birthday than with those you love.

Hope you all enjoyed your Canada Day!

Oh... and congratulations to Spain for the big Euro Cup win too! Woohoo! (We were tuned in for sure!)

Monday, July 2, 2012

Canada Day Flag Cake

As I mentioned in my last post sharing the recipe for Canada Day themed Strawberry Cheesecake Bites,
I unfortunately did not get a chance to make those for Canada Day since I had very limited time on my hands and preferred to make the maple leaf graham crackers from scratch.

So, I decided to make this awesome Canadian Flag Cake recipe which I found from Kraft Canada's website.
What I love about this recipe was that not only was it super-duper easy with limited ingredients required, but also that it wasn't so heavy and truly perfect for the warm Canada Day weather.
Plus, who doesn't love jello, cake AND fresh strawberries? All favourites in my household, especially for my daughter.

Okay, aside from my pathetic excuse of a maple leaf, this cake was delish! And such a big hit with my family and my guests.

Ingredients:

1 pkg. (298 g) prepared pound cake, cut into 12 slices (I couldn't find a prepared pound cake so I went with a plain loaf cake and it tasted JUST as good - trust me!)
2 cups boiling water
2 pkg. (85 g each) Jell-O Strawberry Jelly Powder (I accidently grabbed 1 strawberry and 1 watermelon jello and what a pleasant surprise!)
3 cups ice cubes
3 cups sliced fresh strawberries, divided
2 cups thawed Cool Whip Whipped Topping (I used Nutriwhip - same taste)

Method:

1) COVER bottom of 13x9-inch dish with cake slices; set aside.

My little strawberry helper was devouring all the strawberries before I could even add them!

What strawberries, Mommy?

2) ADD boiling water to jelly powders in large bowl; stir 2 min. until completely dissolved. Add ice cubes; stir 3 to 5 min. or until ice is melted. Remove any unmelted ice. Stir in 1 cup strawberries; pour over cake. Refrigerate 15 min. Cover with Cool Whip.

3) REFRIGERATE 4 hours or until jelly is firm. Arrange remaining berries over dessert to resemble the Canadian flag.

How To Decorate Dessert

Using a toothpick, trace a maple leaf pattern on top of dessert. Place a strawberry slice on each leaf point, then fill in the leaf with remaining strawberries.

This cake was a great addition to my Canada Day menu and got rave reviews with everyone asking how to make it.
Try it for your next event.
You can always substitute the jello flavours and design on top to create whatever you like for any occasion. Enjoy!

Monday, June 25, 2012

Canada Day Treat: Strawberry Cheesecake Bites

If there's one thing aside from being a mother that I am tremendously proud of is the wonderful country that I live in, Canada.

This coming Sunday, Canada celebrates it's big Birthday with a bang! Literally!

Every Canada's Day, we have a big family BBQ, complete with delicious Canada Day themed treats, dressed in our Canada Day gear waving our flags and at the end of the day we make sure to catch the light show in the sky.

I always like to be creative when celebrating Canada Day in my home and usually will go to the food or dessert to allow my visionary juices to flow.

I came across this seriously adorable Canada Day treat on Oh She Glows' website and knew right away that this is what I'll be making this Canada Day!

Our local Farms are busy harvesting some delicious strawberries and for those that didn't know, I am a Strawberry fanatic.

Any excuse to grab more strawberries is good -- yes, I may have a problem.

And of course, Canada Day is all about the Red and White!

These delicious treats offer a freshness and coolness perfect for the weather and will be sure to get your guests happy and satisfied. Not to mention, build the great Canadian pride!

It's also a great treat to make with your children, just simply allow them to spread the cream cheese frosting and sprinkle the strawberries!

Strawberry Cheesecake Bites

Ingredients:

Homemade or store-bought graham crackers
1 tub non-dairy cream cheese (or regular if you prefer)
1/2 cup- 3/4 cup icing sugar (confectioner’s)
2 vanilla beans or 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 pint strawberries, hulled and diced
Sugar, for sprinkling

Directions:

1. Make your homemade graham crackers in advance or simply purchase graham crackers from the store.
Recipe for delicious Peanut Butter Graham Crackers here.

2. In a mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese until fluffy. Slowly add the icing sugar to taste. Add in a couple scraped vanilla beans and maple extract or a teaspoon of fresh lemon juice if you prefer. Store in fridge. You can also make this in advance!

3. Hull a pint of strawberries and dice.

4. Lay your graham crackers onto a large serving plate and spread with cream cheese frosting. Sprinkle on diced strawberries and sugar.

Notes: The homemade graham cracker recipe make about 13-15 maple leafs, so you may want to double the batch. 1 tub of cream cheese should cover about 25 maple leafs depending on how much you use.

Be sure to bake your graham crackers a couple minutes longer (abt 17-18 minutes) so they get extra crispy once cooled. That ensures that the cream cheese frosting won’t make the cracker get soggy (it will get a bit soft after 20-30 minutes, but not too much).

You can purchase your maple leaf cutter at Golda's or McCall's.

Enjoy!

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Happy Canada Day (a few days late...)

I completely forgot to write an entry on my country's special day, Canada Day! So here I am, 7 days late (wish I could be saying that about my upcoming period too. :p)

It was a great day with delicious grub on the grill with family, bouncy castle & live animals for Ava to enjoy at the Church Canada Day Festival, ice cream at DQ and we ended the night with fireworks which was hosted by a local farmer not too far from our neighborhood. Ava enjoyed it tons! She was knocked out for the night prior to heading out to watch the fireworks and as soon as we mentioned the word fireworks, she woke up in a ready and excited mood. :)