Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Holiday (and Anyday) Cooking with Gay Lea

Mom's Famously Fabulous Shortbread
My Mom's Fabulous Shortbread
Do you have a holiday cookie tradition at home? Around here, December means shortbreads - and between gifting and eating, we can easily burn through 7 (double) batches of cookies between December first and January 31st. Now, our family is pretty simple when it comes to our shortbreads - butter, icing sugar, flour and an egg yolk are all we need for perfection. Of course, shortbreads are nothing without butter, and a lot of it (those aforementioned batches of cookies use up 7 lbs)! Over the years, we've tried different kinds based on availability and price, but we always seem to come back to the classic salted variety from Gay Lea. It not only packs our cookies with flavour, but has featured in many other recipes on this blog, from sweet to savoury, holiday breakfast brioche to Sunday night dinner and (especially) birthday desserts!

You may remember back in 2010 that I featured some amazing recipes from Gay Lea right before the holidays. Well this year, the Ontarian butter-makers are back - with a spiffy recipe website and their yearly contest! While my family is hard pressed to eat anything but my mom's shortbreads at the holidays (even my cookies are passed up!), that doesn't mean those on my giftee list miss out! There are so many delectable-looking things on the recipe site that I wouldn't even know where to start, except that I saw Butter Tart Shortbread Bars - one (of my many) kryptonite desserts listed. I haven't made them yet, but they are for sure on my shortlist! Other honourable mentions my family picked out were Herbed Cottage Cheese Primavera with Pasta, Light and Luscious Pasta Toss, and the Heritage Triple Butter Sticky Cinnamon Buns.

For the holidays, Asiago and Prosciutto Shortbread Crackers make a great appetizer, or you can cap off a meal with the decadent Chocolate Candy Cane Cheesecake. With the kids out of school for the holidays, Winter Wonderland Snowman Shortbreads make for a fun afternoon too! I know - how can you possibly choose?


Of course, Gay Lea is more than just butter (although if I had to choose, it would be my favourite product). The company also manufactures cottage cheese, sour cream, whipped cream, lactose free "Lacteeze" and Ivanhoe cheese. What are you waiting for? There's a world of possibilities waiting for you to discover.

Crispy Cinnamon Twists
Crispy Cinnamon Twists (Coming Soon!)
 
Citrus and Herb Roast Chicken
Citrus and Herb Roast Chicken
Caramel-Almond Latte Ricotta Cookies
Caramel - Almond Latte Swirls (Coming Soon!)
Ricotta Cookies with Peanut-Nutella Swirl
Nutella - Peanut Swirls (Coming Soon!)

Cracker Jack Bread
Cracker Jack Bread (Coming Soon!)

Holiday Brioche
 Note: I was provided vouchers for free Gay Lea products for the purposes of this review. All opinions and photos expressed on this website are my own, however I am not responsible for the opinions expressed on the linked sites. I received no monetary compensation for my participation.


No comments :

Post a Comment

Thanks for the feedback!