Jun. 28, 2021
Cooking In Season
Salad Meals to Beat the Heat
In this recipe round up, I have gathered my best and most delicious summer salad meal recipes in one post, for days when it’s too hot to cook!
Every year around this time, I offer a giveaway on my blog, sponsored by the lovely folks at Rancho Vignola, my very favourite seller of nuts, dried fruit, and fairly traded chocolate. This may seem like an odd giveaway unless you have tried their products. The freshest, most flavourful nuts you can imagine; the plumpest and tastiest dried fruit; and wonderful chocolate confections (toffee almond milk chocolate, anyone?)
Rancho Vignola is a wholesaler based in Armstrong BC, specializing in directly-trade new crop nuts and dried fruits. I have been buying their products for years, at least 8 years before I started partnering with them in my business. I can vouch for the freshness and quality of their products and I’m thrilled to be working with them again this year.
Usually, Rancho products are only available by wholesale mail order, but at this time of year, you can catch them at one of their Western Canada Harvest Events, where anyone can sample their fantastic products, buy in quantities smaller than 5 pounds, and take in live music and recipe samples.
Next weekend, Nov 30 and Dec 1st, is the Rancho Vignola Harvest Event in Sidney, held at the Mary Winspear Centre. I’ll be there both days; on Saturday I’ll be doing several cooking demos throughout the day and I’d love to treat you to some recipes made with Rancho products.
In the meantime, one lucky reader of my blog will win a gorgeous gift basket of nuts, dried fruit, and chocolate. Giveaway rules below. This gift basket, showcasing the best of the new crop, and valued at $100, will be available for pick up by the winner at the Sidney Harvest Event Nov 30 or Dec 1st. And if you don’t live on Southern Vancouver Island, don’t worry! Rancho Vignola will ship the basket to you.
To qualify for delivery, you must have a Canadian shipping address. Enter the draw in one of four ways:
Giveaway ends by 9 pm on Thursday, November 29th, and a winner will be announced by 7 am the morning of Nov 30th.. That’s five days, folks!
(Non-winners will be very happy to note that Rancho Vignola’s December Online Harvest Sale is coming Dec 1st to 15th. Sizes as small as 1 pound, an NO minimum order required! So, if this post has piqued your interest, and you can’t make it to any of the Harvest Event locations, you can order some products to try through the December online sale.)
Jun. 28, 2021
In this recipe round up, I have gathered my best and most delicious summer salad meal recipes in one post, for days when it’s too hot to cook!
Oct. 25, 2020
Quince have a wonderful flavour, but an almost impossibly hard texture. Read on for a quick kitchen tip that makes quince easy to peel and cut!
Sep. 27, 2020
Pumpkin spices scones are a perfect fall treat; not-too-sweet, fragrant with spices, with a full complement of rich pumpkin flavour.
A wonderful thing!!! Winning lovely treats to inspire baking and snacking. Good luck
I will try to get to Sydney for the nuts and dried fruit. Sound delicious
My shelves await the delicious products you stock. Please do not penalize me for commenting one day late. I just received the email this morning here in Victoria, BC. We in Cook Street Village consider ourselves connoisseurs of fine food. And the basket will be proof of that when I share it with neighbours. I await the fantastic gift basket. Thank you.
Hi Pat, you have all week to comment – no worries! 🙂
This will be my first year to visit the Harvest Event. I am looking forward to picking up various products to include in my Christmas gifts. Thank you for letting us know about this, and for the opportunity to win such a lovely basket.
Great to learn of a local source for nuts and fruit. Will see you at the Winspear!
So many choices! Love nuts and chocolate 🙂
Love the products – they’re great to munch on and always add a burst of fresh flavour to my favourite recipes.
Nuts and chocolate! Yum! Will have to give Rancho Vignola a try!
Your fresh nuts are amazing! Love them in everything!
They’re wonderful! I’ll be back for more…
Yes please!!
I have never tried these products, but we have taken classes by Chef Heidi Fink and so we are looking forward to dropping in and checking them out! Thanks for the reminder….see you in Sidney!