Pascal’s Patisserie - June 17, 2011

What’s better than fine French pastries in a Paris cafe? Fine French pastries right out of your oven! Now you can enjoy artisanal French pastries made with all natural locally sourced ingredients any time you want with Pascal’s Patisserie Take & Bake French Pastries.

Pascal’s Patisserie is a new local business headed by a classically trained French Pastry Chef from Toulouse France with 20 years experience and who has the knowledge of the classic French style of pastry-making in his head, his hands and his heart.

Blending time-honoured tradition and craftsmanship with technology, he creates fabulous French pastries unbaked vacuum-sealed and fresh for your freezer to enjoy whenever you wish.

All you do is thaw, bake and voilà..the best pastries this side of Paris! Your home has the amazing aroma of a French patisserie and you’ve just transported yourself to France - no passport or brushing up on your high school French required.

Perfect for weekend brunches or with your favourite coffee or tea. Beautiful for summer wedding breakfasts or make any moment special with these classic continental treats. Bake up a few and bring to the office and your colleagues will adore you. Executive business and board meetings will never be the same. Your book club, girls get-together, meet-up groups, bridge club, any time any where is a great time and place for French pastries.

The boutique menu includes: classic croissant, cinnamon rolls and pain au chocolat. If you’re going to treat yourself, say ‘oui’ to these! Pastry lovers of the world unite! You can have authentic classic French pastry - warm right out of your oven. Pick up a package in the frozen section and add a little ‘ooh la la’ to your life!

pascals@shaw.ca
www.pascals.ca

June 8 - Wine and Cheese at Casel Marche

As we speak, there's a celebratory wine and cheese going on at Casel Marche. Jon and I set up a display of our beautiful produce as a hint of what's to come on the Grand Opening Saturday June 11, when we will be fully stocked and open for business!

Cheese of the Month - Natural Pastures Smoked Boerenkaas

One of our most popular cheeses now comes in a smoked version! Ever since I started working in the deli at Blush, (yes even the old deli!), the Boerenkaas was always hands down, the most popular cheese. Made by Natural Pastures Cheese Company, in Courtenay, British Columbia, they place great importance on animal stewardship and sustainability. After reading a bit about their cheese-making processes from their website, I learned they pride themselves in using fresh milk from local farms, practising sustainable farming with the cows raised on a grass-fed diet in a healthy environment. Their numerous varieties of cheese-- all of which you can find in our store-- have true quality artisanal taste!

Boerenkaas, in Dutch translating to "farmer's cheese", is a semi-hard cheese with salty and buttery tones, with a slight sweetness towards the end. It is wonderful in everything from soups, salads, omelettes, pizzas and is even used in the Tuscan turkey sandwiches we sell! It is as versatile in food as it in on a cheese platter with red or white wine. Just recently, we got in a smoked version of the Boerenkaas. Not surprising to me, it was just recently announced a winner in its category of "Flavoured Cheese with Added Non-Particulate Flavouring" at the 2011 Canadian Cheese Grand Prix: considered the most prestigious cheese competition in Canada. It is cold-smoked using a blend of local hardwoods in their own smokehouse. The smoked Boerenkaas retains the sweet and buttery tones of the original, with a wonderful smoky finish that lingers. The uses to this cheese are countless and is just as great on its own.

It's hard to explain how amazing it tastes in words, so come try it out for yourself and you will be hooked!

By guest blogger Regina