Celebrate Canada all summer long with President’s Choice Insider’s Collection

This post is sponsored by President’s Choice.

Cheers! There’s a lot to celebrate in Canada this summer (it’s our 150th birthday, in case you hadn’t noticed!) and President’s Choice have released a whole load of new products to help you do just that – all summer long!

I’ve long been a fan of “The President” and his products and used to eagerly await the Insider’s Report tucked in the newspaper a couple of times a year. Nowadays, that’s been replaced by the Insider’s Collection and the summer collection is always something to look forward to (hello #teacherlife!).  This year, the Collection includes a number of specially branded #Canada150 products to celebrate the flavours of Canada and encourage people to get together to celebrate the summer and our country together.

Just before I left Canada, we got together with good friends (who are die-hard PC fans as well!) to check out some of the new product!

What could be more Canadian than a Caesar? (for those of you who don’t know, it’s tomato juice with clam juice, vodka, Worchestershire sauce and hot sauce, served in a glass rimmed with celery salt with a stick of celery and maybe a lime wedge – like a Bloody Mary only better!) Well add some BACON flavouring to make it even more Canadian (everything’s better with bacon, right?). I actually really enjoyed this but others at our tasting party found the bacon/ smokiness a little overpowering.

Summer in Canada can get hot so if you’re looking for a refreshing drink, a radler might be more your speed. Typically a beer flavoured with sparkling citrus – grapefruit, lemon etc… it’s a great way to cool down on a summer afternoon. But if you’re after something with low alcohol, good radlers have been hard to find. Until now.

This Lemonade Radler is a wonderful alternative to alcoholic drinks for outdoor entertaining this summer. It’s crisp and light and not too sweet at all. While we were enjoying our drinks, we snacked on this:

Berry Cherry is a selection of tart-sweet dried fruit (cranberries, Montmorency cherries, blueberries, golden berries and goji berries) that’s perfect for snacking on by itself but would also be great in a trail mix or on yogurt or cereal. YUM!

Also in the snack department….

Mango salsa! A really nice alternative to regular salsa which also works as a condiment for seafood or chicken (or poutine smokies, see below LOL!).

For the main event, we were ALL very intrigued to try these:

Uh, ok…. Poutine Smokies? A cross between two favourite Canadian street foods (poutine and sausages), and promising “a delicious filling of real French fries, gooey cheese and just the right touch of gravy seasoning” this was certainly the product we were all super interested to try.

YES – there were little french fries in the sausages just like on the package! A source of much conversation, these sausages were declared “delicious” even by a few who were eyeing them a little dubiously! I don’t often eat “street meat” but I could see these being a fabulous choice for entertaining (with the bonus conversation-starter factor!).

And of course, what’s an outdoor get together without burgers? But not just any burgers…

This ultimate Canadian burger combines Canadian beef, rich cheese curds, bacon and a classic Montreal-style steak spice in one thick patty. Made in Canada with all kinds of true patriotic love, this flavour-packed burger is the most delicious way to celebrate our home and native land.

When we were reading about these, we wondered if they might be a little too much – too many things going on. But, like the Poutine Smokies, we loved the Canadiana burgers!

Served in a perfectly-sized bun topped with Montreal steak spice…

SO good. SO quintessentially “Canadian outdoor entertaining” 🙂

And what about something sweet? Well, we didn’t make S’mores (we were too full!) but we did taste these giant maple marshmallows…

(a little bit ironic that they are “product of the USA”!)

These were, indeed, giant and so, on their own, they were super sweet. In fact, they are not meant to be eaten on their own, according to the product information:

Revolutionize your s’mores with these large maple-flavoured marshmallows created for campfire toasting and s’more building. They release a sweet maple aroma as they cook, and their round, flat shape makes them the ideal fit for graham crackers.

Well then, that’s a project for later this summer, right? I personally loved their shape – I find s’mores a little challenging to construct but this would definitely help!

And finally, because a President’s Choice party needs some frozen cheesecake bites…

Definitely my kind of dessert, these are just the thing for warm summer evenings. Maybe you don’t want a whole piece of cake or a larger portion of dessert. These are the perfect size – just one bite (ok, maybe two!). Again, we found these very sweet so a package goes a long way!

This was a really fun evening, connecting with friends at the end of the school year and before we all headed off to our summer adventures. I know I’m already looking forward to late summer and early fall when it will still be warm enough to eat outside and hey, it’s still 2017, so we can definitely still celebrate Canada with the rest of the PC Insider’s Collection!

How will you celebrate Canada and/ or #EatTogether this summer?

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Disclosure: I was provided with product samples and received compensation for promoting the President’s Choice Insider’s Collection this summer, however all opinions are my own. For those of you who know me in real life, you’ll know what a huge fan of “the President” we are in our household, as we’ve hosted a “President’s Choice products-only” holiday potluck every year since 2002 (not sponsored!). This post was not reviewed prior to publication.

 

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