We have expanded our hours to serve you better!

We are now open:

Monday – Friday
10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Saturdays
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.

Interested in learning more about wine? Looking for a great night out with some friends?

The rotary club is hosting on a fabulous wine and hors d’oeuvres event at the “Hacienda Sarria” on Thursday, April 10th from 7:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.

The Hacienda Sarria is an amazing venue (very hard to describe – but it is an old factory building that has been converted into a Spanish style venue for events) located at 1254 Union Street in Kitchener.

Diamond estates will be providing the wines and we will be providing a selection of gourmet hors d’oeuvres…there will also be a wine identification contest and a silent auction.

Attendance is limited to 200 people so buy your tickets early – for tickets, please contact Beth at
519-576-2233 extension 0
or via e-mail at
bthorne@zehrgroup.ca

Proceeds to the Rotary Club of Kitchener in support of Rotary Charities. (note: tax receipts for a portion of the ticket price will be issued as permitted by the CRA).

sides for a steak and salad dinner:

• salt-crusted baked potatoes
• green beans with white wine and fresh herbs

What is my "fool-proof" meal to serve a group of men, picky eaters or guests whose tastes you may not be aware of? Steak, baked potatoes and Caesar salad, of course!

My husband David and I recently entertained some of his buddies visiting from Toronto – here are two of the side dishes that I served alongside some rib-eye steaks.

salt-crusted baked potatoes

These potatoes were inspired by a visit to the “Oconee Grill” in Greensboro, Georgia. An easy way to make baked potatoes that are a little more special in taste and presentation.

ingredients

• Four, ½ lb baking potatoes, preferably russet
• 1 egg white, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup kosher salt

method

1. Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 425°F.
2. Wash and dry potatoes.
3. Prick potatoes in several places with a fork.
4. Coat each potato with egg white, then crust potatoes completely in salt.
5. Bake potatoes in a shallow baking pan until tender when pierced with a sharp knife, about 1 hour – 1 ¼ hours.
6. Crack off as much salt as desired from skin before serving.
7. Serve with your favourite accompaniments - sour cream, butter, grated cheddar, scallions…

green beans with white wine and fresh herbs

A great recipe from my dear friend Martin.

ingredients

• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 large shallots, finely diced ( about 1/2 cup)
• 2 pounds green beans, trimmed
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon, plus sprigs for garnish
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
• coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

method

1. Melt butter and oil in a large, high-sided skillet over medium heat. Add shallot; cook, stirring constantly, until soft and translucent, 2 to 3 minutes.
2. Add beans, and gently toss to coat with shallot mixture. Cook, stirring occasionally for 2 minutes.
3. Add wine. Raise heat to medium-high; cook, stirring often for 10-12 minutes. Reduce heat to medium, and cook until beans are tender, 2 to 3 minutes more.
4. Stir in tarragon and parsley. Season with salt and pepper. Garnish with tarragon sprigs.

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!

I’m excited to announce that our grand opening week is from Saturday, March 15th – Saturday, March 22nd.

Join us for a fun week full of celebration, savings, and of course, sampling! It’s a great chance to check out our new digs and take advantage of the savings!

What to look forward to:

• 25% off all cheese tortes
  (3 varieties – pesto and sun-dried tomato OR maple, pecan, chili and ice wine OR slow roasted garlic and basil)
• 10% off all frozen products (entrees, scones, soups, and so forth)
• 10% off all Easter chocolate
• 10% off gift basket orders - plan ahead for your spring gift giving!
  (note: 10% discount applies to gift basket orders placed during our grand opening week which are for pick up or delivery by June 1st, 2008).
• Door prizes! Fill out a ballot for a chance to win one of two gourmet gift baskets
• Product sampling – cheese tortes, chocolate, dips, crackers, shorttbreads….and more!

I’m so pleased to announce that the expansion is over (sigh!) and our new space is officially open for business!

We’ve increased our retail space to 15X it’s original size… which makes for a much more enjoyable shopping experience (and working experience, my co-workers might add!)

With all of the extra space (and the fact that we’ve acquired many of Blessings lines) we are pleased to begin introducing a number of new products and services:

• lunch counter (please see below for details)
• coffee and sweets (we are proud to feature ECO coffee) – we will also be selling single baked scones, chocolate croissants, biscotti, jumbo cookies and many other treats
• packaged gourmet teas from “all things tea” in Belmont Village
• chocolate from Rheo Thompson Candies, Reid, Simply Chocolate, Saxon and Ghirardelli
• gourmet gift baskets (Carol Black from Blessings is now a part of our team, and her baskets really are “the best in the city”)
• an expanded line of gourmet crackers, dips, sauces, nibbles and nosh (including my favourite “robert rothschild” line)
• entertaining and hostess items – “Maxwell Williams” white dishware, “tag” tea towels, cheese spreaders, and so forth
• goodies and sweets – jelly bellies, chocolate covered licorice and ju jubes, gourmet cookies, and more
• a larger selection of fresh and frozen items
• cocktail, luncheon and dinner napkins

• gourmet sandwich of the day
• gourmet quiche of the day
• gourmet pizza of the day
• gourmet quesadilla of the day
• soup or chili of the day
• hot feature entrees
• and more...

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!

snow! :)

Let’s all cross our fingers for soon-to-appear spring weather!

Buying good quality chocolate for your baking makes such a difference in the taste of the final product.

The only drawback is that it is often sold in large blocks which can be difficult and time-consuming to break or cut into smaller pieces.

Try using a serrated knife (like a bread knife) to chop – it’s much easier on your hands, and it “flakes” apart into more uniform, smaller pieces (which take less time to melt).

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.