This week and next week, please tune in to Rogers Cable (Channel 20) to see "dana shortt gourmet" featured on “Grand River Living” TV show with Audrey Wilson and "food diva" Maribel Linfield.

Grand River Living airs weeknights at 6:00 p.m. and highlights the region's "urban hot spots" - from gala affairs and art galleries, to nightlife, style and, exquisite cuisine, Grand River Living is your guide to the best of what Waterloo Region has to offer...

Check out our article on the front page of this week’s business section in the Waterloo Chronicle!

banana cream pie

Recently, David and I had my parents over for dinner to thank them for all of their support and help with the expansion. I had good intentions of preparing a fabulous 5 course meal…..but the work week got away from me (so I ended up serving something a little simpler).

I did, however, manage to bake one of my Dad’s favourite desserts – banana cream pie. This is a very simple recipe and it’s great this time of year, when there isn’t a lot of fresh fruit in season.
Thanks again Mom and Dad!

ingredients - crust

• 1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup mashed banana
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted

ingredients - filling

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups whipping cream
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 3 large egg yolks
• 1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise (or 1.5 tsp vanilla extract)
• 2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) unsalted butter
• 3-4 ripe bananas,
• peeled and sliced
  toasted coconut, optional
• fresh whipped cream, optional

method - crust

1. 1. preheat oven to 365 F.
2. melt butter in a microwave safe dish. Add mashed banana, graham cracker crumbs and sugar. Mix well until moist.
3. press onto bottom and sides of a 10" diameter glass or tin foil pie dish.
4. bake crust until golden and set - about 10 minutes. Cool completely.

method - filling

1. whisk sugar, cornstarch, and salt in heavy medium saucepan to blend. Gradually whisk in whipping cream, milk, and egg yolks. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean (or add 1.5 tsp vanilla extract).
2. whisk over medium-high heat until custard thickens and boils, about 5-7 minutes. Be careful – it can scorch/burn very easily!
3. remove custard from heat. Whisk in butter (preferably unsalted butter). Discard vanilla bean, if using. Transfer custard to large bowl; cool completely, whisking occasionally, about 1 hour.
4. stir custard to loosen, if necessary. Spread 1 cup custard over bottom of prepared crust. Top with half of sliced bananas, then 1 cup custard, covering bananas completely. Repeat layering with remaining bananas and remaining custard. Chill banana cream pie until filling is set – a couple of hours or up to one day.
5. optional – when I’m feeling decadent, I like to top the pie with freshly whipped cream and toasted coconut...

Did you know that we sell frozen, ready-to-bake hors d’oeuvres by the dozen?

All of our hors d’oeuvres are made from scratch, using only the highest quality ingredients (as always, no fake flavours or artificial ingredients).

Visit our website to view our “pick up hors d’oeuvres” menu to peruse the available selections.

Gourmet made easy!

Did you remember that Wednesday, April 23rd is “Administrative Professionals Day?”

We have plenty of thank-you gift ideas to show your assistant or team how much you care and appreciate the hard work they do all year.

Here are our top 5 favourite ideas:

1. a gourmet gift package – for one (all of the included items are ready to open, eat and satisfy!) Pick up or delivery available.

   Small $12.99
   Includes a ¼ lb box of “Rheo Thompson candies” assorted mint smoothie chocolates and a dozen of our melt-in-your-mouth shorttbread, all wrapped up in coloured cellophane and tied with ribbon.
   
   Medium $26.99
   Includes a ¼ lb box of “Rheo Thompson candies” assorted mint smoothie chocolates, a dozen of our melt-in-your-mouth shorttbread, a bag of our addictive cheese straws and a ¼ lb bag of our secret spiced nuts, all wrapped up in coloured cellophane and tied with ribbon.
   
   Large $49.99
   Includes a 1/2 lb box of “Rheo Thompson Candies” assorted mint smoothie chocolates, a dozen of our melt-in-your-mouth shorttbread, a bag of our addictive cheese straws, a ¼ lb bag of our secret spiced nuts, a ¼ lb bag of our black pepper and red wine biscotti, a box of “raincoast crisp” crackers, and a “slice” of gourmet chocolate pizza, all wrapped up in coloured cellophane and tied with ribbon.

2. a gourmet gift package – for a group to share (all of the included items are ready to open, eat and satisfy!) Pick up or delivery available.

   Small $49.99
   Includes a 1/2 lb box of “Rheo Thompson candies” assorted mint smoothie chocolates, a dozen of our melt-in-your-mouth shortbread, a bag of our addictive cheese straws, a ¼ lb bag of our secret spiced nuts, a ¼ lb bag of our black pepper and red wine biscotti, a box of “raincoast crisp” crackers, and a “slice” of gourmet chocolate pizza, all wrapped up in coloured cellophane and tied with ribbon.
   
   Medium $89.95
   includes a ¼ lb bag of our red wine and black pepper biscotti, a package of our secret spiced mixed nuts, ¼ lb of Danish brie, “palatte” fine foods savoury jelly for brie, a dozen of our melt-in-your-mouth shorttbread, a box of “raincoast crisp” crackers, gourmet pesto for the crackers, ½ lb box of “rheo thompson candies” mint smoothie chocolates, haute cuisine crackers, a jar of tipsy spiked olives, a large bag of blue corn tortilla chips, gourmet salsa and a 1/2 lb bag of our addictive cheese straws, all wrapped up in a beautiful basket with ribbon.
   
   Large $124.99
   includes a lb bag of our red wine and black pepper biscotti, a package of our secret spiced mixed nuts, ¼ lb of Danish brie, “palatte” fine foods savoury jelly for brie, a dozen of our melt-in-your-mouth shorttbread, a box of “raincoast crisp” crackers, gourmet pesto for the crackers, ½ lb box of “rheo thompson candies” mint smoothies, haute cuisine crackers, a jar of tipsy spiked olives, a large bag of blue corn tortilla chips, gourmet salsa, a 1/2 lb bag of our addictive cheese straws, a bag of “Cajun crunch” snack mix, a box of “Reid’s” tortoise” chocolates, “jelly belly” candies, and a bag of gourmet pretzels, all wrapped up in a beautiful basket with ribbon.

3. a gourmet gift certificate – available in any denomination

4. a catered gourmet breakfast – includes a selection of our freshly baked sweet and savoury scones, muffins, jam, lemon curd, and fresh fruit skewers with honey lime yogurt dip.
   $6.99 per person – pick up or delivery available

5. a catered gourmet lunch – includes our Asian crudités platter/s with fresh mint peanut sauce, gourmet quesadilla’s, “t & j” shrimp platter/s with paprika and lemon pepper aioli, miniature desserts platter/s and fresh fruit skewer platter/s with honey lime yogurt dip
   $18.99 per person – pick up or delivery available

What a delicious way to say THANK YOU!

What a scrumptious way to say I APPRECIATE ALL YOU DO!

What a tasteful way to show someone YOU MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

Treat Mom to gourmet breakfast in bed

The following package (to serve 4 adults) must be ordered in advance and can be picked up at the store on Saturday, May 10th, 2008.

It's simple as 1, 2, 3... just choose a quiche, scones and salad.

choose a 10” quiche (serves 4 large portions, quiche is cooked and ready for you to re-heat in your oven)

• quiche option 1 - roasted vegetable, chevre and basil
• quiche option 2 - bacon, swiss cheese and caramelized onion
• quiche option 3 - ham, artichoke and asiago

choose your scones (4 large scones – scones are ready for you to bake in your oven)

• scone option 1 - lemon currant
• scone option 2 - cranberry orange
• scone option 3 - almond crème
• scone option 4 - cinnamon raisin with cream cheese icing
• scone option 5 - cheddar herb

choose a salad (salad ingredients are prepared in separate containers, all you have to do is toss them together)

• salad option 1 - mixed greens with our tangy lemon dressing, candied pecans and sliced strawberries
• salad option 2 - mixed greens with our toasted almond vinaigrette and fresh vegetables

$39.96/ 4 people ($9.99 for each person)

We are now offering a 5th flavour of scones....cinnamon raisin swirl scones!

Just bake and serve with our cream cheese icing (this comes with the scones). If you love cinnamon buns, you'll adore these!

We have expanded our hours to serve you better! We are now open:

Monday – Friday
from 10:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m.

Saturdays
from 10 a.m. until 5:00 p.m.

The shop is closed on Sundays.

We hope that by staying open an extra hour, it will be more convenient for many of you to stop in on your way home from work to pick up something for dinner or for dessert or the company you're expecting...

When pre-baking a pie shell, instead of lining the unbaked pie with pie weights, beans or rice, line the unbaked pie shell with tin foil and then nest another pie plate of the same size inside and bake for the desired time...

One last thing – we’re hoping that all of you receiving this newsletter want to be on our distribution list.

If you would like to be removed from this list, please let me know and we will fulfill your request asap.