Sips, Sweets & Snacks

I have a confession to make – until recent years I was never ever a salad person. For some reason the crisp of cold veggies just didn’t appeal, and I was almost offended when someone offered this healthy dish to me… maybe because everyone assumed it’s all I would want as a vegetarian!

These days I’ve finally come around, often opting for salad instead of pasta or other heavy carbs (ok, who am I kidding: I’ll get salad on the side) and whenever I have fresh local veggies in the fridge I try to add some green to my lunches.

Johanna and I were lucky enough to be invited to a picnic at Fresh City Farms that included all sorts of amazing local veggies. We ended up loading up our shopping bags with special goodies to take home, and got creative with a garden-inspired local summer salad! Complete with lavender honey dressing, this recipe tastes like warm summer days spent in sun and soil, with flowers and veggies in abundance.

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What you’ll need //

Local spring greens
Easter egg radishes
Watermelon radishes
Local garlic scapes
Snap peas
Cherry tomatoes
Grated purple carrot
Apple or Grapes
Pansies or other edible flowers for garnish

Dressing //

2 tablespoons Lavender-infused Olive Oil
2 tablespoons Raw Honey
3-4 tablespoons Boiling water (to dissolve honey)
Juice from half a lemon

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Party TimeSips, Sweets & Snacks

There are many people who only eat cake once or twice a year, even skipping the tradition on their birthday because a whole cake is simply too decadent an indulgence.

Here at RAOP headquarters, we are not those people.

Around these parts, we believe cake should be a weekly, if not daily, occurence. We get cakes for blog birthdays, friend’s birthdays, Easter, Halloween, and sometimes just because we feel like it! No matter how many layers, how much icing, and how many flaming candles, we say bring it on! And that’s exactly what we said when La Rocca loaded us up with not one, but 4 CAKES to help them celebrate their 30th anniversary.

Yes, yes we did eat cake for every meal for an entire week. My favourite had to be the Strawberry Shortcake, but for Jo and the rest of the team Black Forest “took the cake”. Of course we can’t forget the Greatest Hits cake, La Rocca’s limited edition 30th anniversary creation comprised of all their favourite cakes- think layers of red velvet, chocolate sponge cake, almond meringue, white chocolate truffle, and MORE.

Getting hungry? Good, because we have a super special giveaway for you, and it involves eating your very own delicious La Rocca Greatest Hits cake! Scroll down for full contest details:

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The Prize //

1 Greatest Hits Cake (trust us, it’s amazing!)
Plates
Napkins
Forks
Confetti
Candles

How to Enter //

1. Follow both @randomactsofpastel and @LaRoccaCakes on Instagram

2. Comment on today’s Instagram post who you’d like to share your cake with (tag at least one friend)

3. Bonus points if you comment below as well! Bonus bonus points if you share this link on Twitter or Facebook (just make sure you tag me so I can find you!)

Rules and Regulations: due to cake shipping limitations, this contest is only open to those residing in Southern Ontario (I’m sorry!). Winner will be asked to email me their shipping details, and should allow 1-2 weeks for fulfillment. Winner will be announced Monday evening! Good luck!

This post was sponsored, but all opinions are my own. To inquire about sponsored posts, please email jess@shineinfluencers.com

Dear Diary

Scheming and dreaming over the dessert spread at the Pastel Garden Brunch with Delysées helped us become fast friends, and that means we are now able to learn about super secret sugary projects before they come to life.

When Fred, the mastermind behind this incredible French Toronto patisserie first told us about the new champagne macaron collection he was developing, we almost popped our lids so to speak! No one gets delicate flavours into macarons quite like Delysées, so we knew the collection would be a masterpiece.

To our delight, Fred not only let us have a sneak peek (and taste) at his creations, but he also gave us the huge honour of featuring our photos of the release on the packaging and larger than life on his King Street storefront window!

Make sure you take a trip by this month and stop in for a bubbly treat!

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Sips, Sweets & Snacks

Okay, so who doesn’t love a well-planned picnic right? I’m generally into dining outdoors in any capacity, but if printed blankets and cute paper plates are involved you can definitely count me in!

Apparently this coming Saturday is #InternationalPicnicDay, which in my mind means everyone, everywhere will be rushing out to their local park with colourful blankets and cooler bags stuffed with goodies. And if my vision is true -which I really believe it could be- what better time to share a super simple, extra pretty picnic recipe!

We love a good canapé at RAOP HQ, especially when Lavash crackers, some form of goat cheese, and locally crafted jam is involved. We combined one of our favourite flavours of Kitten and the Bear jam with the always-delicious Flax and Honey Lavash Crackers by Ozery Bakery (happy 20th anniversary guys!), slices of cheese and a drizzle of liquid honey, all topped off with an edible flower to finish our two-bite works of art.

This recipe is sure to be a crowd pleaser at any picnic you attend this Summer! Scroll down for full instructions //

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Ingredients //

Ozery Bakery Flax & Honey Lavash crackers
Kitten and the Bear Plum & Rose Jam
Goat Brie
Liquid Honey (we used Nude Bee buckwheat honey)
Edible Flowers

Recipe //

Break up each cracker into two pieces. Spread approximately a teaspoon of jam across each one. Thinly slice the goat brie and place on top of the jam – drizzle with honey and finish it all off with an edible flower or two!

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This post was sponsored, but all opinions are my own. To inquire about sponsored posts, please email jess@shineinfluencers.com

Dear Diary

It’s funny how much everything can change in such a short amount of time. It’s so easy to get sucked into a routine, a step-by-step blueprint for the way each day plays out that at times feels impossible to overcome even if it’s not making you all that happy.

I worked a 9-5 for nearly a year, and though I learned a lot, in retrospect I am not the type of person who should ever be working in an office like that. I dreaded getting up in the morning, let the things that mattered to me most slip, and some days I was so miserable and awful to be around that I barely recognized myself anymore. In the end, my only sanctuary was my lunch break each day.

I know everyone says this, but I really truly love food, and in the final weeks of my office job nothing seemed to matter quite as much as what I’d eat when noon rolled around. I started using Ritual as a way to peruse the local options while I was waiting for my break, and to maximize the spare time I had when I was able to leave for lunch. From indulgences at Little Nicky’s and Burger’s Priest to healthy bowls at Fresh, Ritual served as a sort of life raft in my day, and honestly it gave me something to look forward to. Whether I was using it to pre-order a coffee on the trip in, or for an afternoon snack, this app really helped me get through, and I daresay it’s one of my favourite app discoveries ever.

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This post was sponsored, but all opinions are my own. To inquire about sponsored posts, please email jess@shineinfluencers.com