Special Thanks to Aran from Cannelle et Vanille for the great tips on photographing in low light condition. Please visit her blog and you will be inspired by her creations.
We are all getting ready for Thanksgiving in Canada. Only three weeks to go. In Canada Thanksgiving is a Monday so people either celebrate the Saturday, the Sunday, Monday or the three days. It’s the time of the year to be with family and friends. This year we are still living on the Island and my family lives thousands of miles away. We will celebrate without them. I’m a bit sad about it. We love to see each other in my family. We always have a great time. I have two sisters and one brother and we don’t see them as much as we would like. When we meet we always plan food ahead of time. It plays a big role in our family reunion. One rule is that everything has to be homemade. Also because we are French we love great wines. After a great meal and wine you may find us all singing, dancing, doing crazy things and having a great time. Since we all live apart we usually see each other over two days and the next morning we have a big brunch. Those mornings we talk about the night we had and watch the pictures and videos we took the night before. We cherish those special moments in our lives and they are our most precious memories.
Couple weeks ago I received a big box of products from Epicure Selections. Some of you might not know that this is a Canadian Company that sells through direct sales. They offer the finest quality food products. They sent me a Canadian Maple Brining kit. Perfect timing for Thanksgiving. I like to try a recipe at least once before we have guests for Dinner. So I did prepare a chicken using the brining kit. Brining makes cooked meat moister. It will prevent your meat from drying out. It will also carry a great flavor into the meat. What I love about the kit is that it comes with everything you need to brine the Turkey. In the Canadian Maple Brined Turkey kit you get Mulling Spices, Black Pepper, Maple Spice Fruit Dip Mix, Turkey Rub and bags. All you have to do is add water, salt, brown sugar and brine the Turkey for a couple of days. If you have always been afraid to cook a Turkey you should try this kit and your family will be delighted with the results. That brined chicken was outstanding. I’m still licking my fingers.
Giveaway:
I have some good news for you; one lucky reader from Canada will receive the Canadian Maple Brining Kit on time for Thanksgiving and a box full of great products from Epicure Selections valued at more than $100.00.
-Canadian Maple Brining Collection that includes: Mulling Spices, Black Pepper, Maple Spice Dip Mix, Turkey Rub and Brining Bags
-Pumpkin Spices
-Nacho Cheese Dip
-Spinach Dip
-Pinot Noir Wine Jelly
-Cheese Potato Topper
-Dip Baker
1- Please leave a comment below and let me know what is your favourite Thanksgiving Dinner menu.
2- Only one entry per person.
3- Anyone can comment but the contest is open to Canadians only.
4- Draw will be on Sunday October 4th at 9 p.m.
5- The winner will be announced on Monday October 5th.
If you don’t want to miss any upcoming giveaways subscribe to my blog and follow me on Twitter.
Canadian Maple Brined Chicken & Giveaway - Epicure Selections
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58 comments:
I'm already thinking about Thanksgiving which isn't until the end of November for me. Your chicken looks incredible! Lovely photo too.
My favorites for Thanksgiving are Turkey, roasted potato's and a few different veggies. Carrots, brussle sprouts and assparagus. Yumm Yumm... Epicure Makes some great seasonings to make it the perfect family evening.
as much as i love maple syrup, i've never thot about using it for savory dish!
your chicken look delectable. beautiful picture too!
my fav thanksgiving dinner menu would hv to hv:
1. cranberry sauce to go with turkey
2. pumpkin pie
without these 2 things, might as well forget about thanksgiving!
My favorite thing about thanksgiving is the stuffing, my brother and my brother-in-law and I fight over it.
Dana Gordon
204 467-9176
dana9618@hotmail.com
Maple brine - love it! I think I'll try something similar on my Thanksgiving turkey. Thanks for the inspiration.
Turkey and dressing are "musts" at our house; as are mashed Turnip and Pumpkin Pie :-) Epicure makes two wonderful Stuffing Seasonings that let you make stuffing/dressing an "anytime" meal addition. The Sage and Apple Stuffing Seasoning is wonderful with a pork roast or baked ribs! The Maple Spice Dip Mix also adds a little extra "something" to carrots and turnip.
Remember.....Play with your food!
Too bad we're not in Canada! This would be awesome. Oh well. Nice to see that you did something tasty with it.
Wow! That turkey looks delicious!
My favourite Thanksgiving meal consists of: honey-glazed ham, freshly baked buns, lots of cranberries, dressing, my grandma's amazing mashed potatoes, corn, garden salad, perogies with mushroom sauce and Waldorf salad. And, for dessert: grandma's apple pie and some butter tarts. YUM!!
Unfortunately, I'm in my first year of university and am not able to go home for Thanksgiving. I'll be eating dorm food. :(
Wow, that looks amazing! I bet the maple brine adds so much flavor and moistness.
My favourite Thanksgiving dinner is not very traditional. I like a nice big Chinese feast of steamed rice; a whole fish (usually live rainbow trout) steamed with sweet soy sauce, scallions, and ginger; silken tofu and oyster mushrooms braised in oyster sauce; and stir-fried bok choy with scallops. Mmmm, I'm getting so hungry just thinking about it!
Just found your blog - its lovely!! I almost forgot that Thanksgiving was just about here, but I'm definitely looking forward to the break, and the food! I love the sound of the Maple Brining on Turkey - Yum!
Turkey, stuffing, gravy, cranberries, vegetables, pumpkin pie with whipcream, friends and family, these are the ingredients for our Thanksgiving...can't wait!
First of all your photos are terrific:)
I love C et V photos also..:)
You know I am now a fan of VE:)I bet that is delicious..~
I love Thanksgiving..It's always here..at our home..
I now have high chairs and booster seats..and slings seating special guests .. That's my favorite part of Thanksgiving!
That w/ time my family grew again ..
Oh my lord, Helene, your photos are getting more gorgeous by the day! I love the light in those photos - that table is begging me to sit down to a feast!
I LOVE LOVE LOVE Epicure products! My ideal Thanksgiving dinner includes turkey with apple sage stuffing, roasted potatoes, steamed carrots, mashed turnip, cranberry sauce. Dessert, of course, is apple pie...and also pumpkin peacan pie...on Thanksgiving two desserts is TOTALLY acceptable :)
Helene! I'm really impressed! That photo looks like a painting! C'est tellement beau!
That is a beautiful bird. I'm going to try a maple brine for my next turkey.
Not in Canada -- but I have to chime in... maple brine is the best! We brine our turkey in a maple brine every Thanksgiving... leftovers make amazing sandwiches with a slice of apple and a bit of brie.
Helene, I can understand your feeling, one of my sister her family also live miles across the ocean. It'll be so quite without them, especially my 2 nephews.
BTw, your photographs is so beautiful!
Wow, I can't believe we are already talking Thanksgiving and turkey. This year has flown by.
It is wonderful how you have just managed to capture the essence of autumn with this picture..... Beautifully done, Helene!!
Ta photo est de fait superbe.Je vais aller voir ce lien ... Quant à Thanksgiving, c'est une fête que je vous envie chaque année ... ;o)
Bises
Hélène
A wonderful way of preparing chicken! a pity I don't live in Canada ;-P....
Cheers,
Rosa
Your photographs are so nice !
Thanks for the lowlight photography links. I finish dishes later at night sometimes and am frustrated by the quality of the photos that come out.
that does it--i'm celebrating both canadian and american thanksgivings this year! lovely, lovely display!
My favorite Thanksgiving dinner is pretty traditional. It consists of roasted turkey with homemade cranberry sauce, my mom's amazing stuffing, mashed squash and carrots, cream sour cream whipped mashed potatoes, mixed salad and what Thanksgiving would be complete without my mothers delicious homemade pumpkin pie with whip cream. Oh my god I am full just thinking about all of this food.
Too bad I am not from Canada, But I love your recipe, and your photo is wonderful, I am going to take your recommendation and look at the low light tip too! thanks!
This looks delicious, both the food, and the photography! Seriously wonderful photo...I spent several minutes with it alone as it is so beautiful. It was such fun reading about your Thanksgiving and your family memories.
What a great giveaway!! The photo of your bird is excellent.
Trop belle ta dinde. Juste parfaite et le style "nature morte" de la photo, vraiment superbe.
C'est une photo magique et merveilleuse. On se croit dans un conte de fées et c'est sublime...J'aime beaucoup !
It is a magical and wonderful photo. We believe in a fairy tale and it is sublime ... I love!
The chicken with maple brine sounds fantastic, would be a great preparation for turkey as well! I really need to start planning my Thanksgiving menu soon!
The chicken looks really inviting!
Oh Helen this sounds SOOOO amazing!!!! A true taste of home for me!! :)
mapple sauce is among my favorite!! ye chicken turned out rili good!! sound perfect!!
cheers!!
Absolutely stunning! I had my first thoughts on thanksgiving today. It's getting near :)
Your blog is GORGEOUS! I just love it and am so glad that our food paths have crossed. I am an avid baker too although I came to it late in the game, just a few years ago.
Yes, Thanksgiving is coming up isn't it? I wonder what I will make this year? I have only ever made a turkey once, can you believe it?
So lovely to meet you! I will be back although I do not comment very much for health reason, I will still be visiting. :)
I love turkey, with mashed potatoes, gravy, potato salad, coleslaw and deviled eggs - yum. Hope I win :)
tammyepicure@gmail.com
Helene, your blog is really looking fabulous these days--such wonderful photos! Like you, my Thanksgiving is focused on family and being together, and being thankful that we are in Canada in the first place. So we bring a bit of our Eastern European culture to the table. Alongside the turkey, cranberry sauce, and a stuffing with apples and water chestnuts, we make cabbage rolls from home ground pork, spicy homemade European sausage, and finish with a Dobos torte and some cookies very similar to rugelach. I think this is the perfect way for us to celebrate Thanksgving, because we are such a mosaic of cultures all fortunate to live in a great country but never forgetting where we come from.
Salut Helene,
Beautiful photo of the roasted chicken. Our favourite Thanksgiving menu includes Turkey w/ stuffing just as my mom always made it, brussel sprouts, steamed veggies, perogies, holopchi & Tourtiere. This year I'm going to make Pears Poached in VE Mulling Spiced Wine and drizzled w/ dark chocolate truffle sauce as it will be lighter after the big meal.
I'm going to brine my first bird this weekend. Can't wait to taste it.
Don't enter me in the contest as I'm an Epicure consultant and my cupboards are already full of these wonderful ingredients.
tamaracooks at shaw dot ca
That is a gorgeous photo Helene. I am positive the chicken was awesome!
Chicken with maple sounds heavenly..looks perfectly roasted.
Fantastic giveaway..too bad I can not enter:(
That chicken looks fantastic!
What a gorgeous photo! Looks like the cover of a magazine.
I love Thanksgiving dinner - the classics - turkey, stuffing, mashies, cranberry sauce, soft rolls, gravy, peas and corn. And apple pie for dessert. I just like it more than pumpkin. :)
I know just how you feel...we are all alone, too. No family. And,since I moved to LA to marry, all my friends are back east. Just the three of us for holidays, and like you I always try to make a nice dinner.
Your chicken looks for perfectly cooked. i can't wait to see your Thanksgiving post.
What a wonderful giveaway you're having.
J'en reviens pas que l'Action de grace est dans quelques semaines seulement... heureusement que tu es là pour nous inspirer pour le repas. Quel dessert penses-tu faire pour l'occasion?
Helene,
That chicken looks unbelievable. No wonder you are still licking your fingers. Your family sounds like my family get togethers. I love Thanksgiving here in the U.S. Happy Thanksgiving to you in Canada.
I usually have all the regular Thanksgiving items on my menu. But my favourite(and specialty) is my homemade stuffing. I get more comments on it than almost any of my other recipes.
smiller36(at)gmail(dot)com
Looks wonderful, so Fall like and comforting.
Good Lord, that picture is beyond gorgeous. Just beyond. I'd love to know what advice Aran gave you...care to share?
Great give away and great post!!
I'm afraid I have to be boring and say that my favourite Thanksgiving dinner would be the usual turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, fresh veggies, yummy gravy and cranberry sauce. (I'm stuffed already just thinking of it!) lol
As an aside I would love to hear about the photography tips as well. :-)
Thanks for the giveaway Helene!
I am so inspired by that photo Helene. It is stunning!!
I've heard of brining but been afraid to try it. After reading your blog, I'm going to have to try it since I always have trouble with my roast chicken being dry.
Oooh, it looks fabulous! Your photos are gorgeous.
I'm so happy my friend Monique (La Table de Nana) recommended your blog ~ it is a treasure and I look forward to checking in often. :)
Wow this looks gorgeous (as do all the food on your site) :)
Maybe you could share the photography tips with us someday? :)
Stunning photo. :)
Gorgeous! Both your photo AND the Turkey! Thanks for the inspiration and delicious recipe!
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