Jarritos - The Perfect Cocktail For Any Party

When it comes to entertaining often times the hardest part of putting a party together is trying to figure out what drinks you'll be serving to all your guests. Of course you can go the easy route and have a selection of store bought juices, pop, and beers on hand, but that's not the type of party you want to have. That's not the host you want to be! You want to provide your guests with choices. You want to elevate your party with home-made cocktails that get the alcohol flowing and people talking. Something that can be put together in a jiffy without leaving you stuck in the kitchen for hours on end. By the time you get through reading this article, you'll have at least one more party trick up your sleeve and let me tell ya. This is a good one!

A simple solution to spice up your next party that will surely be a hit among all your guests is by offering up the Mexican soda, Jarritos. Introduced in 1950 as Mexico's first national soft drink, this drink has stood the test of time and is still enjoyed by millions of people around the world. Made with 100% natural sugar, many of their 12 delicious flavours here in Canada are sourced from actual fruit trees in Mexico. You can drink them straight up out of their distinctive glass bottles or turn them into colourful cocktails for a new and exciting way to make some boozy drinks.

A few weeks ago Jarritos helped celebrate "Dia de los Muertos" aka Day of the Dead or All Souls Day in Toronto, where they hosted a media dinner at one of the city's finest Mexican restaurant La Carnita. We had the most epic Mexican feast the night after Halloween which consisted of Dips & Chips (the fresh guacamole was amazing), chicken wings, Mexican street corn, tacos, and paletas. One of the highlights of this feast was definitely the Jarritos cocktail that started the night off for me, and ended the night as well. I just couldn't stop drinking it and lucky for us here I have the recipe to re-create it back at home!

The "Strawberry For The Souls Cocktail" was created by Joanna Matysiak of La Carnita and incorporates the strawberry flavour of Jarritos in it. This is the perfect cocktail to incorporate at your next party because it's so easy to make and it just tastes absolutely delicious and refreshing with the aromatic strawberry flavour it brings.

Strawberry For The Souls Cocktail Recipe

Ingredients:

2oz Tequila
1oz Lemon Juice
3oz Coconut Water
3oz Strawberry Jarritos
Strawberry Slices (garnish)
Dehydrated Lemon Wheel (garnish)

Directions:

Combine tequila, lemon juice, and coconut water in a shaker and shake away. Strain contents into a mason jar (or glass) over fresh ice. Top up with strawberry Jarritos, garnish, and enjoy!

All pictures on this blog post taken by Josh Tenn-Yuk courtesy of Jarritos Canada

If you want to switch it up a bit, or add some more variety of flavours into the mix just replace the Strawberry Jarritos in the end and try some other fruit flavours such as Pineapple, Mango, or Grapefruit (all personally my other favourite fruit flavours from Jarritos). Half of the fun is getting to experiment with all the colourful and fruity flavours Jarritos offer!

Creating a Viking Appetite with Highland Park

Did you ever wonder if you had any Viking ancestry in you? Well if you just so happen to be living and reading this from Orkney, Scotland you very likely could be part Viking! In fact 1 in 3 people living on Orkney today have Viking ancestry, and the Highland Park 12 Years Old Viking Honour Single Malt Scotch Whisky perfectly reflects the unique culture of the remote island home.

Highland Park is a premium and unique singe malt Scotch Whisky that honours the spirit of the Viking ancestors. It shares the pride, integrity and fierce independence of the Vikings and is distilled with the same rigorous standards introduced in 1798 by the founder, Magnus Eunson who was a descendant of the early Viking settlers.

There are five keystones that separate Highland Park from other distilleries: hand turned floor malting, aromatic peat from Hobbister Moor, sherry oak casks, cool maturation, and cask harmonization. No other distillery uses all 5 of these benchmarks, so it's safe to say there is no other whisky out there that tastes like Highland Park.

Viking Honour features the perfect harmony of aromatic smoky peat, sweet heather honey, and rich fruit cake. The full Highland Park 12 Years Old Viking Honour Tasting Notes (43% abv/750 mL) are below:

Colour: Natural, glowing amber
Nose: Heather-honey sweetness, gently peaty smokiness
Palate: Rounded smoke and honey sweetness, full malt delivery, oak, alongside equal amounts of dried fruits and spice
Finish: Sweet and lingering with heathery notes and subtle smoke right at the end

With a recent update to its aesthetics (box & bottle design) and name, Highland Park has teamed up with The Healthy Butcher, a local Greater Toronto Area butcher, to create some unique infusion and pairing recipes that will no doubt stir up our Viking Appetites. The Healthy Butcher is focused on craftsmanship, providing only the best quality 100% grass fed and Certified Organic meat to their consumers. This partnership brings the smokey and sweet notes from the Highland Park Whisky to rustic and or gamey meats from The Healthy Butcher, so today I am going to share with you all a delicious Meatball recipe that will surely be the show stopper at your next family meal.

These meatballs can be eaten two ways. You can incorporate them in any classic pasta dish or better yet pair it off with the Highland Park Scotch Whisky Sauce (the recommended way of eating it)!

Below you will find all the ingredients you need for the Meatballs and Highland Park Scotch Whisky Sauce. Simply combine all the ingredients together.

Meatballs

• 2 1/2 ounces breadcrumbs

• 2 pounds ground beef

• 1 1/2 pounds ground pork

• 1 large egg

• 1 1/2 tbsp salt

• 2/3 tbsp pepper

• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

• 1/2 tbsp coriander

• parsley

• 1/2 diced onion

Highland Park Scotch Whisky Sauce

• 1 diced onion

• 1/4 cup Highland Park Scotch Whisky

• 1/2 cup beef broth

• salt to taste

• pepper to taste

• 1 oz roux (butter/flour)

• 2 sprigs rosemary

• 2 cloves garlic

There are also select products that are already infused with the Highland Park Single Malt Scotch Whisky that can be bought at any of The Healthy Butcher store locations in Toronto and Kitchener. So the next time you want to fire up your grill or have some mad cravings for some delicious meats, don't forget to bring out the Viking in you and pair it off with some Highland Park, The Orkney single malt with a Viking soul!

Fuel Foods

It's almost been four years since I've gone on this journey to become a food blogger/digital content creator, and what I've realized in doing so is this job comes with a blessing a curse. The blessing is I get to indulge in all of the incredibly delicious food on a weekly basis, and the curse is....I get to indulge in all of the incredibly delicious food on a weekly basis. One of the most common questions now I get asked all the time is "How are you still not fat?" A valid question because part of my job now is essentially eating things whether they are healthy or not. The notion of "It's For the Gram" is for better or worse part of my life now, and in coming to this realization over the past year I've learned to put my body and health first above all else.

It started with a total revamp of my lunch diet where portion control, salads, and fruits became the daily norm. Going to the gym consistently started do become a new lifestyle, and just being more mindful of what I'm putting in my body especially when I have control over it at home needs to be the new mentality. So of course when Fuel Foods reached out to me to try their nutritious meal options designed for people looking to live their best and most healthy life I was all on board. I need as much help as I can get!

Fuel Foods is a Toronto based company made up by Health, Wellness, and Nutrition professionals combining over 30 years experience, with an additional 20 years in the kitchen. They are a meal delivery service that understands the importance of readily-available, convenient nutrition that many of us working unfortunately just can't find the time or have the know-how on preparing meals that strike a healthy well-balanced lifestyle.

I tried one of their meal boxes that was delivered right to my door step which consisted of nutritious main entrees, breakfast items, snacks, and even a cold-pressed juice to help get my eating schedule on track for the next few days. One of my favourite parts of their delivery process was that you receive text messages the day of the delivery that notifies you around what time you should be receiving your package. My text message said it would arrive in about 17 minutes and so it did!

Upon opening up the box, all the meals and snacks are well-portioned to ensure you are not over-eating, but still gaining all the nutrients one requires per day. Each meal is very clearly labelled on the front for complete transparency into how many calories, protein, carbs, and fat are in each meal/snack. For the main entrees it also explicitly states the exact date the food was cooked, and in my case it was cooked for me on Sunday and delivered on Sunday. Definetly made fresh to order!

Below you will find exactly what my meal box consisted of.

Thai Green Curry Thighs

Middle Eastern Ground Beef

AAA Sirloin with Pesto Barley

Gremolata Whitefish

Protein Pancake Roll

Bliss Bowl

Chocolate Coconut Protein Bites

Date Blueberry Protein Muffin

Protein Cookie

Arouse

Having all these meals cooked, pre-portioned, and ready-to-eat saved me so much time after work each day which allowed me to do other things I enjoy. Not having to worry or think about what to make for my next meal was amazing, especially with the added bonus in knowing that what I was consuming through Fuel Foods was healthy and good for my body. If you struggle like me to strike a healthy lifestyle balance, I would highly encourage you all to give Fuel Foods a shot and let them help us reach our dietary and fitness goals in our daily routines. We only have one body so lets take care of it and make sure we fuel it up the right way.

Daniel Wellington

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Classic Cornwall (White Face) 40mm Rose Gold

Starbucks Rewards - Ready To Drink Beverages

I was a man on a mission years ago trying to get my Starbucks Canada gold card, and now collecting these stars has never been easier! Starbucks Rewards are now available when you purchase Starbucks Ready to Drink beverages like their bottled "S'mores Frappuccino" or their "Vanilla Doubleshot Energy Coffee Drink" at your local grocery stores.

Just snap and submit your receipt digitally to automatically earn stars in your Starbucks app. Visit starbucks-stars.ca for more info!