Eats & Smiles: Mate

One of my favourite things in travel is the opportunity that it affords in exposing me to new and interesting food items or rituals.

Olive oil in Italy, herbs de provence in France, dulce de leche in Argentina... those tastes and smells can instantly transport you back to your memories of those places, reminding you of your adventures, and urging you to plan your next.

One such bit of food tourism of my latest adventure was my introduction to mate in Argentina.

Pumpkin Spice Lattes

As I share this with you, I am sitting cozy on my couch, tree lit, presents (mostly) wrapped, cradling a mug of pumpkin spiced goodness.

I have been trying to perfect this for a few weeks now... first, I came up with my own pumpkin spice blend using ground ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and so on. It was too gritty. I cut back on the spices and added vanilla. It wasn't rich enough. I tried with two tablespoons of pumpkin. Getting closer... but not quite right.

I needed to capture the rich spiciness without the gritty texture... then it dawned on me! A sugar syrup. You wouldn't think that this is such a jump since the big coffee shops use a sugar syrup as a flavour base in their drinks but it never occurred to me sooner that I should just make this at home too.

Aperol Spritz

Picture this: You're in an old piazza in Northern Italy. The sun is shining and a gentle breeze is blowing... stirring the air slightly but not disrupting the scene. Waves of beautiful people move through the piazza and their conversations twirl around you like ribbons, dancing over your skin and fading into the distance. Your companion approaches the bar and points at a striking and vibrantly orange-hued beverage spotted in the hand of one of those beautiful people. "Two, please."

As romantic and ridiculously dramatic as that scene may seem to you, it felt just that romantic and ridiculously dramatic to me when I was in Italy last... though instead of two, the order was somewhere in the forties. hahah. We had a wonderful group together to celebrate the wedding of a fantastic couple (and very dear friend of mine).

This was our spritz after a long day of moving... 

no ice, couldn't find the oranges,

but we managed to chill the Prosecco.

It was divine.

Making these spritzes at home was one way to transport myself back to those special days in Northern Italy and -in particular- Verona, without the costly airline ticket. And with the long overdue (enter: cheers of "finally!") arrival of summer, I can think of no better way to celebrate it than with a spritz!

Rhubarb Raspberry Syrup

A few weeks ago, I turned to the wannafoodie facebook page for suggestions on ingredients for which people wanted to see recipes. There were lots of suggestions... one of which was for rhubarb. As anyone who has a rhubarb plant can attest, it grows like a weed and often yields more than one family could ever imagine using. In fact, I only just finished using the last of the rhubarb, frozen from last year, a few months ago. I don't even have a rhubarb plant in my garden as I have four or five friends who would happily supply me with rhubarb anytime that it remotely crossed my mind... and sometimes completely unsolicited!

I was sitting in the backyard, enjoying an apple mint mojito, when it occurred to me that I should try a rhubarb syrup in place of that apple cider syrup that I had made. It seemed that I wasn't the only one thinking that way when I saw this beautiful dark purple blackberry verbena syrup. That sealed the deal! I had to have a pretty pink soda!

Apple Mint Mojitos

When I went to purchase the starter herbs for my little container garden, I could not find any regular mint! Pineapple mint, chocolate mint… ai ya. I wasn’t convinced. I just wanted regular mint. Then I stumbled upon apple mint and, while it still wasn’t quite right, I figured that that would be easier to use than something like chocolate mint.

As nine times out of ten, I seem to grab the mint for a mojito, I figured that this would be a good opportunity to try making an apple influenced mojito.

Hot hot chocolate

Now, I had a bit of chocolate left from the breakfast bar dipping and was not so interested in the scraping and mess of cleaning it out... so I opted to make a mug of hot chocolate! I was thinking of a mole sauce as I chose the spices to accompany the chocolate... but you can really add what you would like.

Ingredients (if starting from scratch):
- 40g (1/4 cup) chocolate (I prefer dark chocolate.)
- 250 mL (1 cup) milk
- Salt
- Cinnamon
- Chili powder

Melt the chocolate. Whisk in 250 mL of milk. Bring to a low boil. Sprinkle with cinnamon, a dash of chili powder and a dash of cinnamon. Stir and enjoy.