It’s a sunny day in early spring, and Charles and I are walking by the lake’s edge on our way to sample some of the Okanagan’s best spirits.

It’s a good day to be in British Columbia, Canada.

Just a hop from the sparkling waterfront in Kelowna, Okanagan Spirits Craft Distillery is a local family-owned business that makes its own award-winning spirits on site in a copper-pot still.

Inside, the Kelowna storefront brims with colorful bottles of specialty spirits, all made from 100% BC fruit and grains, without additives, chemicals or artificial flavours.

In a region known for it’s many wineries, it’s nice to find some place a little different. I think I’m going to like this place.

Shereen, an import to Kelowna with a charming British accent, ushers us to the back of the store to see how the spirits are made.

Polished and shining, the copper pot still looks straight out of a Jules Verne novel as it hisses and bubbles until a stream of crystal clear liquid alcohol pours out of the front. Each batch is made with local fruit carefully selected for the best flavor. For instance, their apricot brandy comes from a single, 100-year old apricot fruit tree.

Now for the fun part.

She then gives each of us a taste of pear and plum brandy. They’re lovely, light and not too sweet or cloying, with a delicate scent of fresh fruit.

Next comes a taste of their fruit liqueurs. Forget what you know about fruit liqueurs – these are not the cloying, sweet concoctions you’re used to.

First up is the blackberry liqueur. It’s a beautiful, deep purplish-black color, with just a hint of sweetness and a burst of fresh, all-natural blackberry flavor.

Obviously, these distillers really know what they’re doing.

Okanagan Spirits Craft Distillery has won a slew of awards, with the most recent being Spirit of the Year and Distillery of the Year at the World Spirits Awards 2015 in Koje, Denmark. Their Blackcurrant Liqueur kept its title of ‘Spirit of the Year’ with 96 points and newcomer Haskap liqueur won along with their Aquavitus. Even their Our Laird of Fintry Single Malt Whisky won Gold, making it the first Canadian whisky to win Gold at the WSAs. Other medals included Gold for their Taboo Absinthe and Raspberry Liqueur, a Silver for Peppered Pete, and a Bronze for Gin.

Our Turn to Play Bartender

All of this has gotten me in the mood to try our hand at making some of our own cocktails, and Shereen’s kind enough to give us two recipes to try at home: an Okanagan Martini (made with Raspberry Liqueur and Vodka) and a Moscow Mule (made with Vodka and non-alcoholic ginger beer).

First up is the Okanagan Martini.

Okanagan Martini

This is a simple recipe, with only three ingredients (four, if you count ice).

What you’ll need:

• 1 oz Okanagan Spirits Raspberry Liqueur
• 1 oz Okanagan Spirits Vodka
• 2 oz pineapple juice

Combine all the ingredients in an ice-filled shaker, shake vigorously and strain. Garnish with a frozen raspberry on top of the foam. You can use a fresh raspberry, like we did in the video, but a frozen raspberry will float on top a little better.

Moscow Mule

The Moscow Mule has an interesting history.

It was first created in the 1930’s as a way to increase vodka sales, and became hugely popular with the Hollywood crowd. It fell out of popularity in the 1950’s as anti-communism grew, and no one wanted to be associated with a Russian-sounding drink.

It’s made with vodka, ginger beer, lime and ice. We used Fentiman’s ginger beer, which is an old-fashioned ginger beer with a strong, ginger-spicy taste.  For those of you that never tried it, ginger beer has a very different taste than ginger ale, which is sweet with just a hint of ginger.

What you’ll need:

• 2 oz Okanagan Spirits Vodka
• juice of half a lime
• ginger beer
• ice

Mix vodka and lime juice in an ice-filled glass. The tradition is to use a copper mug. Pour ginger beer to the top, and garnish with a wedge of lime.

About Okanagan Spirits Craft Distillery

Okanagan Spirits Craft Distillery is Western Canada’s first and oldest craft distillery. They are North America’s first and only recognized World Class Distillery and the only distillery in North America to win Distillery of the Year at the World Spirits Awards.

You can order their spirits online on the Okanagan Spirits Craft Distillery website. Within Canada, there’s free shipping if you buy three or more bottles. They do ship internationally, but free shipping does not apply.

They produce over 25 varieties in traditional copper-pot stills. These include fruit brandies, liqueurs, marc (grappa), aquavit, gin, vodka, whisky and Taboo genuine absinthe.

Okanagan Spirts offers on-site tastings at both its Kelowna and Vernon locations, for a small fee.

Okanagan Spirits – Kelowna Location

267 Bernard Ave, Kelowna, BC, Canada, V1Y 6N2

Okanagan Spirits – Vernon Location

2920 28th Ave, Vernon, BC, Canada, V1T 1V9

New Vernon Location

Okanagan Spirits is about to open another larger distillery in Vernon in April 2015 that will boast the tallest copper still in North America as well as a prohibition styled whisky lounge and a moon shiners themed tasting bar. For tasting hours and info for all locations you can contact them here.

Want to learn more about Okanagan Spirits Craft Distillery? All their information is below.

• Okanagan Spirits Craft Distillery website
• Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram

It sometimes seems like there’s a gelato or ice cream store or a bakery around every corner. Especially in Europe. My sweet tooth loves Europe.

And they’re so good, and such an important part of experiencing the local culture, you just HAVE to try them, right?

After a few weeks on the road, though, it starts to show.

So we started a few simple rules: we have a salad with every meal (whenever we can), and we’ve embraced the power of the smoothie.

Because I’m a vegetarian, we’ve always been pretty health conscious, so we’ve tried everything in our smoothies from soy milk to almond and coconut milk, and really like the variety in flavors.

So, I was interested when Silk Canada reached out to us to try new Silk Creamy Cashew Milk.

The four of us got busy in the kitchen whipping up a few yummy smoothies made with cashew milk.

The Power of Purple Cashew Milk Smoothie

The kiddos love this smoothie because of the bright purple color, which comes from a whopping big bunch of fresh blueberries and blackberries.

Ingredients

2 cups Silk Creamy Cashew Milk

1 cup ice cubes

1 cup fresh (or frozen) blueberries

1/2 cup fresh (or frozen) blackberres

1 banana

Instructions

Add ingredients to blender, cover and mix.

Matcha Green Tea Cashew Milk Berry Smoothie

This is the smoothie for you if you’re looking for a mega dose of anti-oxidants.

Matcha green tea powder is said to have over a hundred times the antioxidants in regular green tea. It’s made from green tea leaves ground into a fine powder, and instead of seeping the leaves in water, you just use the entire ground-up leaf in powder form.

Matcha smells a lot like warm hay to me. It’s a bit of an acquired taste, with a slight bitter aftertaste. Matcha powder does contain caffeine, so you may want to keep this one for the grown ups.

Ingredients

1 tsp matcha green tea powder

1 large banana

2 large strawberries

1 cup Silk Creamy Cashew Milk

1/2 cup ice cubes

Instructions

Add ingredients to blender, cover and mix.

Silk Creamy Cashew Smoothie with Avocado

I haven’t tried this Silk Creamy Cashew Smoothie recipe from Silk Canada yet, but I’m really looking forward to trying the combination of cashew and avocado.

Ingredients

1 cup Silk Creamy Cashew Milk

1/2 banana, fresh or frozen

1/4 ripe avocado

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup ice

Instructions

Blend and enjoy.

More about Silk Creamy Cashew Milk

Silk Creamy Cashew has fewer calories than skim milk, but as much calcium as dairy milk with only 60 calories per serving.

Cashew milk is especially good in your creamier recipes, such as ice cream or mashed potatoes.

Silk Creamy Cashew is Non-Gmo Project Verified, gluten free, dairy free and soy free.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Silk. The opinions and text are all mine.

I’ve been reading fellow travel blogger Jodi Ettenberg’s wonderful Food Traveler’s Handbook, and it’s led me to think more and more about how food intertwines with our travels.

It’s really as simple as this: When the food is good, our travels are usually good, and when the food is bad, our travels are usually bad. And lately, in the warm climate of Southern Spain, the food has been very good.

We’ve spent the last month sandwiched between Andalusia’s green mountains and the Mediterranean. With the beautiful climate in Southern Spain comes an abundance of fresh, ripe, locally grown veggies and fruit. Since we cook most of our meals ourselves, all of this wonderful produce has made its way into hearty vegetable soups, salads and (one of our travel favorites) grilled vegetable sandwiches.

We first got the inspiration for these sandwiches from the interior of British Columbia, during a visit to the Tranquille Farm Fresh market last summer. The fresh produce and clean air of Southern Spain reminded us a lot of our time in the mountains in British Columbia, making Spain a perfect place to recreate these yummy grilled veggie sandwiches.

This is not a precise recipe, which is why it’s such a great meal for traveling. I usually make it with whatever vegetables are fresh and on hand, and use the local cheeses and breads we like most.

We generally eat these as is, however Charles loves his with a few strips of bacon for any of you non-vegetarians out there. For an extra protein boost, I love mine with strips of smoked tempeh – so good! You can pick your favorite protein from this handy guide to protein sources from Radical Strength.

We even love roasted carrots in this sandwich!

Grilled Vegetable Sandwiches

Ingredients

• 1 Zucchini
• 1 Eggplant
• 1 Onion
• 1 Red pepper (or capsicum, for those from the UK or Australia)
• 1 Yellow pepper (or capsicum, for those from the UK or Australia)
• 4 Lettuce leaves
• 1 Tomato
• Salt
• Pepper
• 3 Tablesppons olive oil
• 1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar (optional)
• 2 Fresh baguettes cut in half (to make four sandwiches) or 4 fresh buns
• 3 Tablespoons butter
• 4 Slices Havarti (feel free to substitute Gouda, Cheddar, Edam or any other cheese)

Easy Roasted Garlic Mayonnaise

• 3 Garlic cloves (whole)
• 4 Tablespoons mayonnaise
• A few drops of hot sauce (optional)

Preparation

• Wash vegetables and lettuce and pat dry.
• Slice tomatoes into 1/4 inch slices and set aside.
• Slice vegetables into half inch thick slices, brush with olive oil and season lightly with salt and pepper. Leave skin on garlic cloves and brush with oil.
• Cut baguette or buns in half lengthwise, and spread both sides lightly with butter.

Cooking

• Place vegetables (except for tomatoes) on hot grill. You can cook veggies on a BBQ, an open-faced grill, or even a hot frying pan, and they’ll turn out perfectly delicious.
• Cook until vegetables are tender. Toss with balsamic vinegar, if desired.
• Place baguette, butter side up, on grill and cook until warmed through.

Assembly

• Pop the skins off roasted cooked garlic cloves, and mash the garlic cloves into the mayonnaise with a fork. Add a few drops of hot sauce to season, if desired.
• Spread roasted garlic mayonnaise on both sides of baguette.
• Pile piping hot vegetables on the bottom half of the baguette.
• Cover with cheese. If you’d like the cheese to melt thoroughly, pop the sandwiches under the broiler for a minute to melt the cheese.
• Place uncooked tomatoes and lettuce on top of cheese.

Makes 4 servings.

Enjoy!

Micki

Here are a few of our favorite recipes from the multi-talented folks at other travel blogs.

A Mouthwatering Fruit Buffet

Migration Mark at Migrationology talks about his mouthwatering experience at a fruit buffet in Thailand. While this isn’t a recipe, his description of the luscious fresh fruit available in Thailand made me want to jump on a plane to Southeast Asia. Mark’s fruit buffet experience is something I can’t easily replicate everywhere, but it’s a great inspiration for hitting the exotic fruit section at our supermarket.

Coconut Curry

Jodi Ettenberg at Legal Nomads posted a yummy coconut curry recipe. While the recipe and photos are wonderful, what I like most is Jodi’s philosophy of food. Jodi says, “What fascinates me about cooking is both the way that different tastes mix and blend together, creating perfect matches from seemingly unrelated beginnings, and the history and trajectory of each ingredient in a meal.”

Vegetable Biryani

Justin P. Moore from Lotus Artichoke got my taste buds working overtime with his recipe for a vegetable biryani. He based his recipe on a biryani he tasted at a little corner stall in Mamallapuram, Tamil Nadu, South India. Justin’s site is chock full of great vegan recipes.

Gin Passion Drink

A great drink can make for the perfect meal. Talon Windwalker from 1Kid1Dad has a great recipe for a Gin Passion. Talon uses passion fruit juice in this recipe, but I think this would work well with almost any tropical juice, including POG (pineapple, orange, and guava) from Hawaii.

Grandma Ople’s Apple Pie

All of these delicious vegetarian recipes wouldn’t be complete without a great dessert. Akila and Patrick from The Road Forks deliver big time with a truly decadent recipe for Grandma Ople’s Apple Pie. Check out the topping poured over the pie to make a delicious, crispy  crust. You may need a family of five to finish this deep-dish lattice topped wonder.

Hope you enjoyed these!