Top 5 Halloween Pantry Products

It's almost time to get spooky & scary! 👻 Booo~

Get out the jack-o-lanterns, because it's Halloween in a week. What's the key to a good Halloween? Good treats, of course! Treat yourself to amazing gourmet food products this Halloween.

Wildly Delicious Petite Maison Tapenade (Kalamata Olive & Fig). Made with Greek Kalamata olives and figs, this Mediterranean-style tapenade is a zesty take on the harvest season, and of course, Halloween. Party idea: serve with Halloween-themed crackers or plain, crunchy breads cut into shapes: ghosts, bats, pumpkins or cats!

Lotus Foods Forbidden Rice Ramen with Miso Soup Mix. Despite its rather unforgiving and decidedly Halloween-esque name, this delicious rice ramen is made with jasmine black rice, an East and Southeast Asian specialty. Black rice contains plenty of antioxidants, so it's way better than plain old white rice. When cooked, its colour changes to a rich, deep purple... quite mesmerizing indeed! Perfect for a Halloween-themed bento. 🍱

Wildly Delicious Maple Pumpkin Butter. This delicious butter is a product we always find ourselves coming back to. It combines our favourites: autumn-appropriate maple with Halloween-friendly pumpkin! Add it to toasts and other baked goods for a tasty start to your day. Halloween party? Butter your pumpkin tarts with maple pumpkin butter for added flavour.

Rième Blood Orange Limonade. A beverage with an ominous name, but a wonderful taste. No worries, there's no blood in this, just oranges! Rième is a popular French artisan beverage brand from France, and we're pleased to make their products available here in Oakville, Ontario. Serve at Halloween parties or enjoy together with forbidden rice ramen! All Rième products are organic, GMO-free, kosher, and have natural sugars. No preservatives!

Classic Biscuit & Wafer Assortment. Tired of Halloween-themed foods? Serve these classy, classic German biscuits at your Halloween party and charm your guests. These pretty little biscuits and wafers come in different shapes, sizes, and flavours. If the little witches and wizards in your life want to hold a Halloween tea party, these biscuits are perfect. 

Trick-or-treat! Let French Lunch treat you this Halloween. Grab your favourite gourmet condiments in-store, 15% off before October 31, 2017. 🎃 

Top 5 Sweet Condiments

Got a sweet tooth? So do we. Join us as we explore our favourite sweet condiments — AKA the stuff we like to drizzle & dress our crêpes, pancakes, waffles, granola, breads, and sometimes, even our entrées with!

Hope we were able to provide you with a few examples of what types of foods go best with jams, honeys, and syrups! Breakfast and brunch are ideal for sweet condiments, but honey can be used to glaze meats and some vegetables for extra taste. Mmmm... 🤤

Onto the list!

1. Martelli White Truffle Honey. The humble white truffle is the rarest truffle (our favourite fungi!) of all. So why not add it to honey? This Italian white truffle honey will have you singing praises to both truffles and honey. Combining sweetness with earthiness for an all-natural taste, this is certainly one combination mother nature can't help but approve of. It's extra healthy honey! Here are some ideas: truffle honey French toast, truffle honey in your coffee or tea, or brie with truffle honey for when you want to feel swanky.

2. Nude Bee Honey Co. Wildflower Honey. Nude bee honey bares all. It's Canadian, it's completely natural, and best of all, it's raw, meaning that this honey isn't processed in any way. It's collected from Ontario bee farms and sold in a small container. Raw honey has immense benefits as an anti-bacterial, anti-oxidant & anti-viral food. It's also great for people struggling with seasonal pollen allergies. Support Ontario bees. Buy Nude! Drizzle pancakes with raw honey, or use it to glaze vegetables and meats, like carrots, chicken and pork.

3. Bonne Maman Quince Jelly. Bonne Maman is a French preserves company famous for its jams and jellies. This jelly uses the quince, a fruit similar to the pear, which is grown throughout Europe. Quince is a great source of vitamin C, iron, and copper, all needed moderate amounts to maintain the body's functions.

4. Wildly Delicious Maple Pumpkin Butter. Combining our favourites — maple syurp, pumpkin, and butter — into the perfect sweet condiment, it's maple butter! This is an excellent back-to-school breakfast butter for kids (or adults) that love pumpkin spice. Love your pumpkin spice lattes? Why not spice up muffins, toast, tarts, and other warm, bread-based foods with maple butter? Experimenting is worth it.

5. Wildly Delicious Brandied Cherry Butter. Cherries are combined with brandy, apples, red wine vinegar, and spices for a premium taste. This is an adult's gourmet condiment. Add to toast, eat with aged cheeses and eat with plain biscuits or small breads like prosciutto. Cherry butter deserves a place on your cheese board.

What's your favourite? Although we only covered five sweet condiments, rest assured, we have many others in stock, too. Visit our Jam, Honey & Syrup page for more information.

Remember, everything on this list is 15% off in-store, so visit us soon! 187 Cross Avenue. Be there. We'll be waiting!

We look forward to feeding you,

French Lunch

4 Appetizers to Try Before Dinner

We're sure that you'll enjoy these appetizers (hors d'oeuvres if you're French) even if you're no gourmet buff. With that said, let's begin!

Blini with Red Caviar & Sour Cream. We know what you're thinking. Caviar on a tiny Russian pancake? But why? This gourmet starter dates back to imperial times, when it was served in czars' palaces. Eventually, the dish found its way into France — no surprise there, considering how close the two countries were in the late 19th century. Our blini can be defrosted and heated up easily. Ready within 30 seconds!

Potatoes au Gratin with Porcini. This tasty potato-mushroom pie (made with Italian porcini mushrooms) can be eaten by itself, but we've chosen to turn it into a starter instead. Gratin refers to the browned crust on any French dish, which is composed of breadcrumbs, cheese, and sometimes eggs and butter. Eat before or with stews like coq au vin!

Escargots with Butter. As a French food shop, if there's one item that has to be on our menu no matter what, it's this one (duh!). Here we have traditional Helix shells stuffed with butter, garlic, parsley, red peppers, and salt. If it's your first time eating escargot, you may need a drink to go along with it. Preferably alcoholic. 😉

Pacific Salmon Stuffed Shell. Stuffed shell foods are found all across European gourmet. Escargot is one unique example. This starter is more conventional, but just as good. The stuffed shell's plain name hides its true nature as a flavour-packed dish, with white wine, vegetables, shrimp, potatoes, Swiss and mozzarella cheeses coming together in a lightly spiced salmon pie. Squirt a bit of lemon juice on top and serve!

What's your favourite starter? Is it on this list? In any case, we hope our picks inspired you to try one of these fine hors d'oeuvres in the future. Drop by 187 Cross Avenue and chat with us any time. We love seeing new faces!

Before you leave, please consider voting for us. We've been nominated as Best New Business/Store 2016/2017 by the Oakville Beaver's Readers' Choice Award panel. Voting has already begun. 😄 

Until next time...

Au revior (we look forward to feeding you),

French Lunch