It is a honeyed life on CBC's Weekend Morning Show

 This morning on CBC's Weekend Morning Show with interim host Nadia Kidwai, I presented dishes that featured honey.  Please support both the bees in our Manitoba environment, when considering the impact of cosmetic pesticides on human and environmental health, and consider the bee keepers and their hard work to produce excellent honey for our enjoyment.

The gorgeous cutting board is made locally by Silverbirch Designs. 

1.Honey Miso Grilled Chicken Thighs

1 inch fresh ginger, minced
3 tbs miso
1 green onion, finely chopped
3 tbs honey
3 tbs Mirin
a drizzle of chili oil
4-8 skinned and boned chicken thighs

Combine first 6 ingredients until well blended. Mix with the chicken pieces and let marinade for at least one hour. Grill, broil or saut� until done, about 4-8 minutes per side, depending on the thickness of the chicken. Serve immediately or enjoy cold.

Enjoy!

2. Tuscan Squash Salad

1 lb squash (butternut, hubbard, or any small firm variety except spaghetti), peeled, seeded and cut in 5-inch slices
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
3 tbs honey, warm and divided into two parts
� cup chopped walnuts
2 tbs lemon juice
2 tbs walnut oil
� tsp kosher or sea salt
� tsp ground black pepper
~ 6 cups mixed baby greens, lightly packed
� cup crumbled feta

Preheat oven to 400�F. Toss the squash and olive oil in a large bowl. Spread on a parchment-lined  baking sheet and lightly brush with half of the honey. Bake for 15 minutes. Turn and brush with the remaining honey. Bake for another 15 minutes or until the squash is cooked through. Some varieties  take longer to cook.

While the squash is baking, toast the walnuts lightly. Whisk together the lemon juice, walnut oil, salt and pepper in a small bowl.

Toss the greens with the vinaigrette in a large bowl and place on serving plates. Top with 3-5 slices ofsquash. Sprinkle with the walnuts and feta, season and serve while the squash is still warm.

3. Honey drizzled on Chevre with herbs

On a cheese board, place amount of chevre. Sprinkle your favourite dried herb mixture on the cheese,

such as Herbes d�Provence, Za�atar, Sumac, etc. Drizzle liquid or warm melted honey over cheese and

herbs. Enjoy with breads or crackers.

Easy Comfort Food on CBC's Weekend Morning Show

Easy Comfort Food

This morning I am presenting the following recipes for CBC's Weekend Morning Show, with host Terry MacLeod.  

Both dishes are so easy to prepare, that I made them this morning in short order.  

Local honey from Beeproject Apiaries can be purchased directly through them.  They will deliver, within a reasonable distance. 

1.Honey Saut�ed Zucchini (with Lavender)

1-2 sliced zucchinis (sliced on the bias)

� + tsp creamed honey (I used wonderful Bee Project CreamedHoney www.beeproject.ca)

pinch lavender flowers (optional)

Heat a saut� pan and add the honey and then the lavender.  Add the zucchini slices and cook until done.  Serve. 

2. Baked Cheesy Pasta

(for a large baking dish)

2 pkgs short pasta (farfalle, penne, shells, etc.)

1 large tin diced tomatoes

1 head roasted garlic

1-2 onions, sliced

1-2 dried red chilies, crushed

1 tbs dried oregano

pepper, to taste

chipotle peppers, or other chilies � tsp (optional)

2 cups heavy cream

good pinch nutmeg

white wine or vodka

olive oil

Cheeses:  your favourites, such as blue, chevr�, brie, gruyere, Emmenthaler, etc., crumbled or grated in a large bowl.

Grate and crumble cheese.  Cook pasta less than time recommended.  That is, if the dried pasta package recommends 10 minutes, take off 2+ minutes in cooking time.

Cook sliced onions in a large saucepan with some olive oil. Add tomatoes and spices.  Add garlic and red wine or vodka.  Bring up to a simmer.  Now make the white sauce IN the red sauce.  That is, add cream, nutmeg and white wine or vodka. 

I don�t add salt to the sauce as the cheese is salty enough. 

Drain pasta and add to cheese.  Add sauce and stir thoroughly.  Fill a large baking dish with the mixture and bake at 350�F until bubbly. 

Let rest for a few minutes and serve. 

Hint:  When reheating, bring to hot temperature, covered, in an oven.  A microwave will result in an unpleasant and mushy pasta.

*other optional ingredients include, red wine, vodka, roasted red peppers, saut�ed mushrooms, sun dried tomatoes, cooked bacon, cooked chicken, Crispy onions, etc.

Boozy Honey Cinnamon Shakes

Boozy shakes, boozy shakes, boozy shakes for all! 

Before I talk about boozy shakes, let's talk about my day job. For work, I drink boozy shakes. And I also manage the content team at a B2B tech marketing agency. It's rad and I love it. Sometimes, I go to events and conferences about digital marketing, social engagement, new technology, and interactive media. Sometimes these events have food. And sometimes they have really, really good food. And drinks. I go for the food and drinks, I stay for the knowledge, ya know? 

This week I attended IN-NW 2014, which happened to be one of the best events I've attended, knowledge-wise and food-wise. And, what a stacked agenda! It basically looked like this:

• Top Pot Donuts and coffee
• People talking on stage
• Marination Mobile food truck
• People talking on stage 
• Snoqualmie Ice Cream Whiskey Milkshake happy hour
• Networking

WHISKEY MILKSHAKE HAPPY HOUR. Sign this girl up! I went through line twice. Or maybe three times, no one was counting. Oh�they were?

Whiskey and ice cream together is always a good idea. It's an even better idea when you're using amazing ice cream like Snoqualmie, which is local for us Pacific Northwest folks. They're family run, and use local ingredients and sustainable practices for their small-batch ice cream, which is really creamy amazing, and comes in a ton of flavors. I really only stopped by the milkshake table three times so that I could ask the Snoqualmie gals how to make these boozy beauties� and then of course, I had to sample each time, just to make sure. 

Honey, cinnamon, whiskey, and ice cream� come to mama. 

Boozy Honey Cinnamon Shakes

Inspired by Snoqualmie Ice Cream

Snoqualmie makes these shakes with their Honey Cinnamon Frozen Custard. Which I totally recommend. But, if you can't get your hands on it, then you can definitely recreate the awesomeness with vanilla ice cream. If you can find the Honey Cinnamon custard, just leave out the honey and cinnamon. 

1 pint (2 cups) vanilla ice cream

2 tablespoons honey

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 ounce whiskey

Extra honey & cinnamon for glass rim

Add all ingredients to blender or milkshake machine, and blend until thick and creamy. Add more whiskey as desired, party animal! Add about a tablespoon of honey and a pinch of cinnamon to a plate, and mix together. Dip rim of glass in the honey/cinnamon mixture until coated, then pour in the milkshake. Drizzle remaining honey from the plate over top of shake. 

Note: This post is not sponsored by or affiliated with Snoqualmie Ice Cream in any way and all opinions are my own, I just really like their ice cream!