Be a Guest at your own Party!

This recipe was actually an experiment for my dear friend Kevin.  I made this recipe the first time I had all my old Tea staff over and made a recipe for each and every one of them.

Lapsang Souchong Star is a tea that most people have a love or hate relationship with.  It’s a black tea that was actually created by accident the first time… but now, it it known for its smokey liquor and tannic nature.

This cheese ball was a huge hit at the party…. even with the staff that don’t normally enjoy drinking the tea.

Here’s what you need:

• 1 brick of Philidelphia Cream Cheese
• 2 tsp Lapsang Souchong Star Tea
• 1/4 cup of crush cashews
• 1/2 tsp each salt and pepper

Check out how fast this comes together:

1. Leave the cream cheese out of the foil while you get the rest of the ingredients together.
2. Using a mortar and pestle crush down the tea with the salt and pepper until it’s nice and fine.  Add in the cashews and crush for a few more minutes — make sure you still have a few cashew pieces for a little bit of texture.
3. Pick up the brick of philly and start rolling into a ball.  One the ball is almost formed and the cheese begins sticking to your hand, roll it in the tea and nut mixture.
4. Chill for about 10 minutes to firm up the cheese ball again and then serve with crackers!

Can you even believe how simple this dish is…

I love something like this because it’s super easy, super inexpensive and most importantly super impressive!

Be creative and try a different type of nut or add dried fruit into the cream cheese before rolling.  Try mixing the cream cheese with Goats cheese before rolling it up!  These are all simple ways to create a new and exciting dish for you to call your own!  Try it for you and your friends at your next festive bash.

Savour Your Experience!

Traveling for me usually consists of finding everything “foodie”:  I familiarize myself with locations based on friends’ or local’s recommendations for places to eat and things to see along the way.  When I confirmed my trip to New York for this past Labour Day weekend, I immediately began looking up restaurants and eateries that have been recommended over the years.  And then I thought to myself… sometimes when you really want to
understand why the food is a certain way, you have to learn about the city
itself first.

The wonderful Urban Adventures was able to hook me up with a 3 hour walking tour of the New York Village to help me understand some really interesting information about New York.  My local guide Phil, accent and all, was amazing and was able to give up-to-date and insightful stories and anecdotes about architecture, historically relevant locations and of course… insider tips on some celebrity houses! The tour stated in Washington Square, which was super easily accessed by the subway.  I made sure I got there a few minutes early to snap a few photos!

Washington Square is literally part of the heart of New York University (NYU).
It’s been re-faced in the last couple of years, making it more accessible for tourists and student life, and is very well known for music to be played on each and every bench.  There
is a fountain right in the middle of the square which is absolutely beautiful, and although this place is busy, you seem to be able to get lost in your thoughts here for just a few moments.

After meeting up with Phil and getting some initial information, our guided walk though Greenwich Village began.  One of our first stops was at a little street where you could see how this area had been transformed from stables into housing.

It seems funny over the years how this can go from being so working class, to now being one of the most intriguing housing markets serving mainly to the extremely wealthy… my how times change!

The next area that really impacted me on the tour was this wall with a bunch of pottery tiles.  It was titled to be the “Tiles for America”.

I took a couple of random photo samples of some of the nice things the community had said, but essentially this was in remembrance for the 9/11 tragedy.  There was a little pottery shop just at the corner of this fence, and when the planes hit and the aftermath had begun residents would come here to make a tile and hang it on the wall.  Just looking at some of these tiles you could feel the sense of community and saw the importance of having a voice through a rough time.

Next stop was kind of neat.  We detoured through some of the residential housing and got to see a very famous front step… I’ll only give you one “BIG” hint…

That’s right… none other than Carrie Bradshaw’s front porch.  For those of you that have been sleeping under a rock, this is Carrie’s house from Sex and the City.  The cool part is Sarah Jessica Parker (who plays Carrie) and her hubby Matthew Broderick (Ferris Bueller) live a few blocks over in their 15 million dollar house that is becoming too small for
their growing family.  This tour also took us by the Magnolia Bakery that was featured in the show, as well as into the Meatpacking District, where the character Samantha lived for a while.

Now, enough about celebs…back to the tour.  Once we started to go more residential I noticed that the main character of Greenwich Village was definitely in the wrought- iron railings and accents on the houses.  Phil told us that many of the houses are finished with a pineapple-like figure on the front, which is supposedly a sign of welcome, and presents and invitation to come in!

Another example of the detailing I loved was at the music school.  It’s little things like this that seem to go a long way!

Finally, we found really interesting addresses!  This address was actually to the back of a
house, but was 36 ½ – 34 ½ and was just a gorgeous hidden entrance to their
houses.

Our tour ended up back on the main street in Greenwich and we passed by the White Horse Tavern, the oldest bar in the area, where the tour was supposed to end.  There were a couple other cute shops along this route, the one that really intrigued me was a whole
store based around salt!  Oh the fun I could have had!!!

Phil, being the local that he was, offered us to walk with him while he passed through High Park to the Chelsea Markets so he could grab some sausages for that night’s dinner.
This is where my foodie took off!  I love going to markets and the fact that I got history, architecture, and then a glimpse of Masaharu Morimoto’s restaurant…

…as well as Mario Batali’s restaurant Del Posto….

…was such a delight!

I finished off my tour saying goodbye and thanking my tour guide for a wonderful afternoon, and then grabbed a delicious Italian Sausage Panini from right inside the markets!   It felt great munching down on this crunchy sandwich knowing that the history of the town, and the market food seemed to match up perfectly on this trip!

All in all this New York Urban Adventures tour was intriguing, it was interesting, it was authentic, and it will always be completely unforgettable!

A big thank you to the team for opening my eyes to the community that is Greenwich, and a big thank you to Phil for keeping me interested and motivated to walk through this quaint little hood!

For info on this tour please visit: New York City Urban Adventures – New York Village

For Urban Adventures tours in over 90 destinations worldwide, please visit: Urban Adventures.com

Follow them on Twitter: @UrbanAdventure_

And ‘Like’ them on Facebook: Urban Adventures and New York City Urban Adventures

Just another example of how you always have to Savour Your Experience!

This Saturday August 20th, 2011 at 12 noon I will be presenting two recipes LIVE infront of the Garlic is Great Audience in Newmarket’s Beautiful Fairy Lake.  Come down to support me as well as The Town of Newmarket Events!

Check out the Garlic is Great Flyer and Vendor Announcement Here!  <<I’m on page two!>>

Other publications for the event:

Check out other Newmarket Events (including this one) Here

Check out the York Region Planner Event Info Here

Click “attending” on the Facebook Invite here