Epicure... Sharing a New Find

I just love to share good finds with my friends.  And this is a great find, believe me. A few weeks ago I attended an open house hosted by several consultants for a local company called EPICURE… are you familiar with it?  They sell a variety of items… silicone cookware, servingware, pots and pans, kitchen tools, and a large selection of teas, dip mixes, sauce mixed, and seasonings.

Their web site bills them as a 100% Canadian, family-owned, woman-led company committed to adding value to the lives of Consultants, Customers and Canadian communities.

I first became familiar with Epicure while working at the Weight Watchers booth at a local women’s fair a couple of years ago.  At that time I purchased a silicone Chipster.  We have used it a lot since then and I did review it in November of 2013.

Since then I have been keeping an eye on their catalogue and promotions so when I was invited to attend the open house I eagerly accepted.  I wasn’t sure what to expect but was pleasantly surprised with the way the evening unfolded.

It turned out to be very much like a home party… on a somewhat larger scale. There were several tables surrounded by both female and male guests.  Each table was nicely decorated with gift baskets full of Epicure goodies.  It turned out that they were door prizes to be given away and raffled off throughout the evening.

At the front of the room there was a small cooking area staged, and each of the consultants took a turn at putting together a drink or a food dish with Epicure products, that was then divided up and served to the guests for sampling.  They made a smoothie with one of their teas, chicken souvlaki and tzatziki, a microwave chocolate cake, and a veggie dip.

Everything was very tasty and put together so quickly. Most impressive!  I came away that evening with a little sampler of some dips, and ideas for using them. 

And I had placed an order for some cute appie plates and the Greek seasonings kit.  Sad face here that I did not win one of those beautiful gift baskets!

When my order was delivered a week or so later, I dug right into the box!

And I was really happy with what I found.   

The Greeks seasonings kit contains a jar of lemon dilly mix for tzatziki, a jar of souvlaki seasoning, and a jar of herbs for salad dressing.  And of course there are recipe cards for ideas to use them.

We used those appie plates that same day at cocktail hour and have used them many times since.  They will be just right for sushi too.

The first meal I prepared with the Greek Seasonings was delicous.  I made Chicken Souvlaki from the Epicure recipe card, along with Tzatziki to top some baked potatoes.  The pictures aren’t much, but the meal was fabulous… quick and easy, just like they promised!

And then a few days later, I made up some of the Greek Salad dressing.  I love Greek Salad and this dressing is just perfect!

And later in the week I made another one... this time on a bed of Spring greens.

F-A-B-U-L-O-U-S!

I am so happy to have found these products, and thrilled that they are gluten free and packaged in a facility so close to my own home!  EPICURE.

I urge you to check them out for yourself. 

And just in case you are wondering... no, I am not in any way affiliated with this company or the brand. I am just a very satisfied customer!

What is your favorite line of herbs and spices?

Have you heard of or used Epicure?

Home Made Chips Make Great Nachos

I worked the Weight Watchers booth for a few hours one afternoon in September at a local Women’s Health Fair.  Before my shift started, I wandered around and looked at the other exhibits… quite an interesting mix of diets, supplements, makeup and beauty products, jewellery and accessories, teas, fitness gear and even a guest celebrity speaker.  It wasn’t a huge show by any stretch of the imagination but pretty well attended by our smallish-city standards.

I picked up this chip maker at at an Epicure Selections booth. I was a bit sceptical but the friendly woman selling the products assured me it really worked.  She says she makes apple chips on hers, a lot…  so I handed over $18 and off I went to attend to my own work duties.  I should add it was an enjoyable experience working the show. I had never done anything like this before and it was really fun.

So…to the chip maker.  We have tried it out a few times now, and I am so enthralled with it that I just had to share it with you.

It is made of some kind of silicone.  And apparently it makes chips out of many different kinds of fruit and vegetables in the microwave oven.  But I am pretty much only interested in potato chips at the moment so that is what we have been making on it.

The Chipster packaging

White potatoes release a lot of watery starch after they are sliced so I patted them dry with a paper towel before salting them and putting the tray in the mike.  It takes 4 minutes on HIGH for each tray of chips to cook..

This was the first batch we made and they were so much better than any baked chip you can purchase.  Just potatoes with a bit of salt.

And truly crispy!

We made some again on Sunday to have with our dinner.  These are orange sweet potato chips.  Sweet potato is much drier than white potato and there was no need to pat them… just slice and salt and mike.

We made chips from an orange sweet potato, and a lighter yellow sweet potato and then used them as ‘nacho’s and enjoyed them with some guacamole, ground beef, and some salsa.  This was truly delicious…. and even if you use a different method to make your sweet potato chips, I would urge you to try them as ‘nachos’.

Okay, maybe I will give the apple chips a try… all you need is a mandolin or a very sharp knife to make sure the slices are very thin!

Have you ever used a vegetable chip as nachos?