Some of my favorite things

This time of year is pretty hectic in the evening, and dinner is had on the fly.  Bad lighting brought to you by a sun that sets around 4pm also hampers my ability to provide quality pictures.  I was going to prepare Prosciutto Wrapped Chicken Thighs for dinner tonight, but I realized that there would be no time, and so I will prepare a salad consisting of baby spinach, sheep's milk greek style feta, roasted pine nuts, and halved grapes. I will add poached eggs to the salad to amp up the protein, and avoid the kids asking for a snack 1 hour later.

In this post I have decided to present a few food and food related items that I have been enjoying. I would like to add that I have received no sponsorship whatsoever, and am truly listing things I love and use.

Santa brought me 2 new Le Creuset spatulas. You can never have too many and my former favorites were disintegrating.  They lasted 10 years and were put through a lot.  These Le Creuset spatulas are sturdy and aesthetically pleasing. Let's see if they last a decade.

One of my families' favorite long time staples is St. Dalfour fruit spreads.  I haven't found better and I have tried many.  I keep the tall narrow jars to store my spices. These spreads are sweetened with grape juice, and are packed with fruit.  My favorite spreads are Black cherry and Black currant. St. Dalfour fruit spreads are a product of France, and apparently Australians are St. Dalfours biggest fans. Try St. Dalfour's Royal Fig fruit spread with Camembert and crackers.

Having said all that I never thought it could happen, but there is another fruit spread that rivals St. Dalfour fruit spreads: Wilkin & Sons Ltd (Tiptree).  Their  fruit spreads are exceptional. Not too sweet, tangy with flavourful pieces of fruit. These spreads herald from Tiptree, Essex, England and are now happily stocked at my corner store. I usually have Wilkin & Sons Cherry fruit spread and St. Dalfour's Raspberry fruit spread in my fridge.  Both spreads work well in trifle recipes.

On the savory front I  buy Cirio Chopped Tomatoes whenever I can.  I prefer whole tomatoes but in our neck of the woods I am just happy to be able to find a Tetra Pak of tomatoes made by Italian producers.  Whenever I make Tomatoes sauce these are the tomatoes I use.  Specifically Chopped Tomatoes with Basil.  Very flavorful, not too acidic, slightly sweet and perfect as the base for any tomato sauce. They do make chopped tomatoes with chillies (which I love), but my 5 year old is not able to handle the heat.

And finally my new favorite cheese is Greek style Feta à la grecque made by Shepherd Gourmet Dairy.  This Canadian product continues to prove that Canada can make cheese with the best of them. This feta is creamy, not too salty and tastes like the feta  I used to enjoy on a Greek salad when I was a kid.  More importantly my kids, who do not like feta, like this one.  Put it in salads, on pizzas, pasta and in sandwiches.  I am able to find it at Loblaws. Sorry about the quality of the photo but it gives you the idea.  This cheese is a little pricey but well worth it. It will be the cheese I use on the salad I described above.