A Lot About Nothing

A little while ago I went on a mini-road trip to Kingston, and one of my friend’s asked me (okay, she practically threatened me) if I could stop at this place called The Big Apple on the way and pick her up some apple pies. I’m thinking, what’s so special about this particular apple pie that you’re telling me to veer off the highway and make sure I get you a couple boxes when I get back to Toronto?

Boy, did I sure I find out when I tasted a juicy morsel. These pies were delicious!

The Big Apple is easy to see off the 401. About 1 1/2 hours from Toronto, there’s a giant apple that can be seen from the highway once you reach the city of Colborne and a short drive to the front doors from there. There’s a small petting zoo outside the grounds (including ducks, llamas and goats) and even a mini-putt golf course.

When you get inside the restaurant, you go through a couple of turn-styles and greeted with a large menu sign that lists all the pies available. The kitchen is also right there, so you can view the bakers making the pies. Once baked, the pies are put into colourful boxes and rested on the counter for customers to choose from. They go for a whopping $10 each, but it’s so worth it. Took me about a week to polish one off… that pie was huge.

There’s also non-apple things on the menu, such as fries, burgers and hot dogs. And of course they have candied apples. The only thing I still don’t understand which my friend had warned me about was their reluctance to provide forks to people who purchase whole pies. When my mom had ask for a fork the cashier had said that they were only for people who buy slices to eat in the restaurant. They’d probably make more money selling forks for 0.25¢ than by losing business of people who’d opt to buy a slice over a whole pie just to get a fork. I had to wait until I got home to eat my wonderful-smelling pie, but it was well worth the wait.

There were about 20 different types of flavoured apple pies to choose from. I purchased Apple-Maple (my favourite out of the two I got) and a Mumble Crumble. Others I was tempted to get were Apple-Strawberry and the Caramel Apple pies (next time!).

So if you’re in the GTA and planning a road trip east to somewhere like Ottawa or Montreal via the 401, make sure you make a stop at The Big Apple in Colborne, Ontario.

I totally forgot to post some of the pics I took of all the goodies I baked over Christmas. Oh, well… better late then never!

Peppermint Swirl Cookies - One of the recipes I got from a holiday issue of Canadian Living. These came out really well.

Sugar Cookies - These were so yummy! Melt in your mouth!

Angel Food Cake - This was my first time making this type of cake from scratch… I didn’t realizes it would be so easy!

Peanut Brittle - My mom loved these… Got the recipe off allrecipes.com

One of the things that I love about visiting the National Women’s Show is learning about new products (and of course freebies :D). One of these freebies that I got a couple weeks ago was a 15-pack of Sun-Rype Fruit Source Bars. There was a choice of strawberry or wildberry “plus veggie” flavours, so I opted to try the one with the veggies. I didn’t recall tasting these particular bars before (I usually buy the smaller Fruit-To-Go snack bars), but I’m glad that I did, because they are super-tasty!

Made with 100% fruit and vegetables, these bars contain fibre, potassium, Vitamin A and 3 servings of fruit and veggies in each one. I could hardly taste the carrots that are part of the ingredients, so the bar has a nice, naturally sweet taste. No artificial colours either, and it’s only 130 calories with no fat–perfect for that mid-morning snack. Chewy (but not sticky), these Fruit Source bars should be a staple in your kitchen when you want a healthy snack alternative

Wow. This has got to be one of the most delicious Mexican dishes I ever cooked up to date! I never made burritos this way before, but thought I’d give it a try last night and they came out tasting great. I tried to make this meal as healthy as I could by using extra-lean meat and fat-free refried beans.

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Yield: 8 Burritos

Ingredients:

450g/1lb package of Extra Lean Ground Chicken
1 can of Refried Beans (approx. 400mL)
8 8″ Flour Tortillas
1 1/2 cups Shredded Cheese (cheddar, Monterey Jack, or mixture)
1 Onion (chopped)
1 Tomato (chopped)
1/2 teaspoon of Cajun Seasoning (or a blend of salt, pepper, paprika and cayenne pepper)
2 Cloves Garlic (minced)
1 teaspoon of hot sauce (optional)
1 tablespoon of lemon juice (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a large saucepan on medium heat, brown the ground chicken for about 10 minutes or until no longer pink. Drain off the excess liquid from the pan
3. Add the chopped onion and garlic to the ground chicken, then sprinkle in the Cajun seasoning and cook for another 5 minutes until the onions are soft.
4. To the chicken mixture gradually add the refried beans, chopped tomato, hot sauce and lemon juice, blending well with a large spoon. Cook on medium-low heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
5. While the chicken and bean mixture simmers, line a 9 x 13″ baking pan with parchment paper (or just lightly oil a casserole dish).
6. Line the center of each soft tortilla with a large spoonful of the chicken-bean mixture. Carefully fold up the sides into a roll and place in the baking pan. Continue until each tortilla is filled and lined up next to each other.
7. Sprinkle cheese on top of the rolled-up burritos, and bake uncovered in the oven for 15 minutes, or until the cheese is nicely melted.
8. Serve with chopped lettuce, salsa and sour cream.

Not only is this salad quick to put together, it also makes a great side to any meal, and works as a nice, healthy snack. Bocconcini is a smooth, round, mild-tasting cheese–soft, unripened mozzarella. I like to use the mini pearls, but you can use the regular sized bocconcini if you like.

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:

1 200g tub of TreStelle Bocconcini cheese
1 pint container of Grape Tomatoes
1 large English Cucumber
3 tablespoon Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
2 tablespoon Balsamic Vinegar
1 teaspoon of Club House Salad Herbs Seasoning or Mrs. Dash (more or less to taste)

Instructions:

1. Peel and chop the cucumber into bite-sized cubes and place into a large bowl.
2. Add the grape tomatoes and bocconcini cheese to the cucumbers and mix with a large spoon.
3. In an salad dressing bottle, or small bowl mix together the olive oil, balsamic vinegar and seasoning to taste. Pour over the cucumber mixture, mixing and coating thoroughly.
4. Serve and enjoy.