Category Archives: Food & Recipes

Annual Hard Cider Review 2013

Posted on by Melissa Harrison

Last autumn, I tasted every cider I could get my get my lips around, which turned out to be an exhaustive 13 ciders from Canada, America, Ireland, Sweden, Denmark and the United Kingdom. This year, I aimed to try every cider that was either new to the market or just new to my area of Southern Ontario.

The autumn of 2013 produced some of the best ciders I have ever had in Pommies Dry Cider and Tempt No. 9 Cider. I’m also happy to say that unlike last year, no ciders have failed my review, the lowest ranking cider (I’m looking at you Somersby Blackberry Cider) scored an adequate 6/10.

Canadian Cider

Pommies Dry Cider

Hard Cider

Pommies Dry Cider

Made in Ontario, Canada

By Southern Cliff Brands

  • $12.95 for 4 355mL bottles
  • 5.0% alcohol/volume

This is my all-time favourite cider. Not only does it come in a lovely bottle with minimalist design that shows off it’s nearly clear colour, topped with a cute red cap, it also presents the most beautiful, sophisticated and delicate dry cider flavour. The soft, elegant carbonation bubbles glide over your tongue and leave you with a taste as clean and simple as the design on the bottle. Pommies Dry Cider is the champagne of ciders. I rate it a 10/10. Continue reading →

The Classic Gin Martini

Posted on by Melissa Harrison
Martinis

Gin Martini

The Martinis used in the photoshoot for the new Red Sequin Table Runner are, sadly, fakes – just boring, wistful, watery imposters. (It was 11:30 am and all I had in my tummy was a bowl of Froot Loops… it didn’t feel like a two-martini-lunch kind of day.)

However, I do make a mean dirty martini: Continue reading →

Homemade Pizza Pops

Posted on by Melissa Harrison

My friend loves everything with the word “pizza” in it, so for his birthday party I decided to make some homemade pizza pops. I started by making the secret family pizza dough recipe the day before and put it in the fridge to age overnight (skipping this step will result in a dough that is tight and difficult to stretch). In the morning I portioned the dough into 3 oz balls,  prepared the ingredients and assembled a some-what organized assembly line.

Assembly area is a more fitting description.

“Assembly area” is a more fitting description.

Continue reading →