This past week I had the pleasure of attending what has become one of my favourite blogger events each year – the PC Holiday Party which includes getting to try out a lot of their new holiday recipes!
This was the fourth annual event, and I think we were all in agreement that this was the fanciest yet! Complete with a cheese board featuring All The Fixins Cheese Ball, Baked La Belle Riviere Cheese with Apple Pear Confit, and the delicious new PC Olive Tapenade Hummus Roll,
this amazing “Seauterie” Board, Blackberry Bramble Mocktails,
and our own personalized place settings.
Once seated we were greeted and then had the pleasure of having Janette Ewen join us to give us some new #TwistsOnTradition ideas when it comes to decor and hostess gifts. Using beautiful wrapping paper as a table runner, or creating a DIY craft project for your guests to have fun with while waiting for your dinner to get started are two of my favourite ideas from Janette. If you scroll back up to see the picture of our full table you’ll see my ultimate favourite decor idea from the night – using fir/evergreen boughs to decorate your table. It give such a beautiful rustic look.
After Janette, the lovely ladies from Forest Glen Greenhouses (out of Brookfield, NS) who have been the supplier of poinsettias for Atlantic Superstore now for 20+ years talked to us a bit about their operation and how to care for our poinsettia. A few tips for those who tend to not have a green thumb – keeping your poinsettias from getting cold and keeping them happily watered are the two biggest things you can do to keep your plant looking fabulous all season long!
Also on hand were some reps from Shopper’s Drug Mart to tell us about their exclusive Quo Holiday Line which has something for every girl on your list. And once of my favourite things about the holiday Quo sets is that they all coordinate with one another so you can mix and match to build the perfect gift and it will always look put together.
And then it was time for the main event – dinner!
We enjoyed the PC Butter-infused Turkey with Two Stuffings, Korean fried potatoes with Cabbage and Bacon, Chard with Piri Piri and Hollandaise and Za’atar Crusted Cauliflower Steaks with Mint, Yogurt and Garlic Oil.
The cauliflower steak recipe created by Chef Kathy Jollimore was a huge hit and is a fantastic option for any vegetarian friends or family who will be with you during the holidays.
photo courtesy of Kathy Jollimore
Yield: 4 Preheat oven to 400°F. Spread 2 tbsp. olive oil over a parchment or foil-lined baking sheet. Trim the end off the stalk and remove the leaves from the cauliflower. Slice it in half through the stalk. Carefully slice each half into slices, reserving any florets that fall off. In three large shallow bowls or containers, place the flour, the egg and lemon juice, and the flatbread crumbs mixed with za’atar. Working slice by slice, dip the cauliflower into the flour then the egg then the za’atar crumbs. Place on the oiled baking sheet. Repeat with reserved florets. Drizzle slices with remaining oil. Bake 15 min then flip and bake another 15 min until golden brown and tender. Meanwhile heat garlic and oil in a small saucepan just until it starts to sizzle. Remove from heat. Strain, reserving the oil. To serve, spoon 1-2 tbsp. yogurt on top. Drizzle with garlic oil. Garnish with za’atar and mint leaves.
Ingredients
Instructions
[Tweet “Why not try some #TwistsOnTraditions this season with these new #recipes from @preschoice”]
Then for dessert we were offered the most amazing selection of decadent treats
including that gorgeous Avocado Lime and Coconut No-Bake Cheesecake. It was absolutely divine.
Certainly a twist on a traditional holiday cheesecake.You can get the recipe for it by clicking here (and aside from the Cauliflower steak which is listed above, manyof the other recipes used are linked above as well).
There were so many amazing desserts I could go on forever sharing recipes, but I’m going to wrap it up here with the cheesecake.
As usual this was the perfect kick-off to my holiday season, and I am excited to have the opportunity to use some of the new #PCInsidersCollection products and recipes in my own holiday gatherings over the next 4-5 weeks, and I hope you get a chance to try some of them out too!
To help get you started, the East Coast Mom’s are hosting a Twitter party on Wednesday, November 30th with $1000 in prizes to give away! SO if you are free Wednesday evening, be sure to pop in and join the party, you can RSVP here.
Disclosure:While this is not a sponsored post, I do work with President’s Choice throughout the year. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.
