Engine Communications

Thursday’s Tweet Up, at the Boathouse Restaurant, was a huge success! We had lots of fun, gave out a tonne of prizes and we were able to raise some money for a good cause. What better combination could you ask for?

We here at Engine wanted to take a moment to thank the students from Loyalist PR, who partnered with us to put together this evening of networking and fun. Special thanks to Marina, Jeremy, Michael, Jordan, and Eri for all of their hard work! Thanks to Kerry Ramsay, co-ordinator of the Loyalist PR program, for her direction and guidance.

Another huge thank you goes out to Winding Violets, for taking the time out of their busy schedules to photograph our event. They also donated our grand prize: A private portrait session! (So cool!) Despite poor (very poor) lighting, they took a bunch of great photos, and we couldn’t be more pleased with the results. Make sure you follow Lucas on Twitter, and check out their Facebook Fan Page for an album of pictures from the event.

Thanks also to all of the vendors who donated door prizes: The Boathouse Restaurant, Classic Hits 95.5 & Cool 100.1 FM, Polish Day Spa & Salon, Essential Relaxation, Capers Restaurant, L’Auberge de France, The Organic Underground, The Empire Theatre, Chumleighs, Kernels Popcorn, Sweet Escape Dessert & Coffee Lounge, Belleville Art Association, Symphony Boutique, Stephen License Ltd., The Bull & Boar, and Foxy Hair Salon. Wow – that’s a lot of amazing donations!

You can take a look at our Facebook Fan Page for more pictures from the evening, but here are some outtakes that you won’t find anywhere else.

@brynajones (Me) having a great chat with some tweet up guests

@brynajones (Me) having a great chat with @KerryRamsay and some tweet up guests

@ariel_54 (Ariel) signing in with the help of @TweeterBird82 (Jeremy)

@ariel_54 signing in with the help of @TweeterBird82

What do you call a whole group of Tweeters? A flock? A gaggle?

@youresovanilla chatting it up

@quinterecycles enjoying the company of @SaraHamil

@QuintePR and @jerikabradford

@jessgrigg

@HastingsCounty

@jayzeb deep in conversation with @ariel_54

@dantruman and @brynajones having some fun with @maltesefalcon behind the lens

Thanks again to everyone for a successful evening! My only question: Who’s hosting the next Tweet Up?!

Go Canada Go!

February 19, 2010 Fridays with Kerry

Comments Off

Alex Bilodeau wins the gold for Canada in Men's Freestyle Skiing

2010 Winter Olympics – what an awesome time for Canada! All eyes are on our country, and millions of people are gathering on their sofas, love seats and comfy spots, catching a glimpse of Canada’s best athletes.

Cheering on our local heroes, and all of the relaxing that goes along with it, can make one hungry, and yes, even thirsty. Why not whip up some Canadian themed munchies, such as Maple Bacon Puffs or Proscuitto Wrapped Asparagus (not sure how Canadian this is but it is one of my favs).

Top it of by chilling out with a glass of wine from the West Coast. To learn more about the wines of British Columbia check out this link.

Maple Bacon Puffs

Two great Canadian ingredients are showcased in this recipe: Creamy brie from St. Damase, Quebec and pure Canadian maple syrup!

1 pkg. Presidents Choice Frozen Puff Pastry, thawed (I find this the easiest one to use)
6 slices of bacon, chopped
1 small red onion, chopped
1 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp white wine or sherry
¼ tsp fresh ground black pepper
1 small round of St. Damase Brie, cut into 24 chunks
½ cup of grated Swiss cheese

Thaw puff pastry following directions on pkg. Once thawed, unroll on floured surface and use a pizza cutter to cut pastry into equal squares (approximately 24). Place pastry squares in a greased mini muffin tin. Place brie chunk in each cup.

Sauté bacon, once done, remove & drain excess grease (keep some grease in pan to cook the onions). Add onions to pan and cook on medium high heat; add pepper, maple syrup and wine/sherry and sauté till onions are golden brown and most of the liquid has evaporated.

Combine bacon & onions, let cool slightly, then evenly distribute mixture to pastry cups, top with shredded Swiss cheese.

Bake for 20 minutes at 350 or until puffy and golden brown.

Yummmmmmy!

Procuitto Wrapped Asparagus

Name speaks for itself, clean and blanch asparagus (no more than 3 – 5 minutes). Cut thinly sliced proscuitto and wrap each stock of asparagus. Place on platter and cover with vinaigrette of choice.

Cheers,

Kerry

Social Media for Creatives

February 18, 2010 Uncategorized

Comments Off

Happy child with painted hands As I mentioned yesterday, I had the privilege of hanging out with the students of the Art & Design Foundation program at Loyalist College. I was there to present a workshop on “Social Media for Creatives.”

The idea was this: Many of these bright, talented young design students, will be small business owners someday. We wanted to help take them from the notion of “starving artist” to “social media savvy entrepreneur”. Low cost marketing options are great for new grads, and for anyone in the creative class.

Between myself, and Lucas from Winding Violets, we were able to talk about the technical side of this (me), and the application of these technologies in viable ways (Lucas).

At the end of the morning, Lucas did the coolest thing for us, and took everyone out into the hall for a photo shoot. All the students (and I) have swanky new pics for their various social media avatars! Take a look!

Here’s the slideshow for you to take a look at. If you have any questions, give us a call.

Social Media For Creatives

View more presentations from Engine Communications.

Collaboration, Photography and Tweet Ups!

February 17, 2010 Social Media

2 comments

Hi everyone! Wow, has it been a busy week for anyone else?!

This morning I had the privilege of speaking with the students from Loyalist College’s Art & Design Foundation program. The subject: “Social Media for Creatives”.

I’ve had the chance to work with the group before, and I couldn’t have been happier to be invited back by program co-ordinator, Robert Kranendonk. We love working with Loyalist’s faculty and students, and it’s always a pleasure to visit the college. On top of that, one of the highlights of the morning for me, was guest presenting with Lucas Tingle, and his wife and co-owner, Melissa Howlett, of Winding Violets.

These two incredibly talented professional photographers are based in Kingston, Ontario, but have worked throughout North America. They came in, literally at the last minute, to help me explain to the group why social media and personal branding are of the utmost importance for young, creative entrepreneurs. You must take a look at their website to see why I was so excited to bring them on board.

And it gets better!

Tomorrow, we’re partnering with Winding Violets and Loyalist Public Relations, to present the next Quinte Tweet Up! Lucas and Melissa have generously come on board to chronicle the event, pictorally, and we couldn’t be happier! With their avid use of social media, and their gifted photographic skills, they’re the perfect people to work with for the event.

And it gets even better!

Winding Violets is donating our grand prize: A personal portrait session for one lucky guest!

How do you qualify to win? Easy! All you have to do is show up to the Boathouse Restaurant in Belleville, Ontario, tomorrow night between 5:30-7:30pm, and donate to Flights of Hope and their relief efforts in Haiti. This is such a win-win scenario!

Why do you win? Once again, may I direct you to Winding Violets’ website. Also make sure to become a fan on Facebook, and follow Lucas on Twitter.

There’s still plenty of time to RSVP to this event via our Facebook Fan Page, our event profile, or by tweeting me, @brynajones, or @EngineCom.

Hope to see you there!

Bourbon, Beans & Bacon ~ now that’s comfort!!!

February 12, 2010 Fridays with Kerry

Comments Off

Here I go again, do you see the pattern here? Yes, most of my recipes include wine, beer or grog of choice. This time it’s bourbon, smooth, rich & sweet bourbon.

Bourbon Baked Beans

4 strips bacon

1 large onion, chopped (1 cup)

2 stalks of celery (with leaves), chopped

1 sweet green pepper, chopped

1 can (16-ounces) diced tomatoes

1/2 cup molasses

6 Tablespoons tomato paste

1/3 cup bourbon

1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

2 tbsp Dijon mustard

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 pound dried navy beans

Preparation

Cover & soak beans in cold water overnight to soften. Drain beans and discard the soaking liquid. Place beans in a pot of cold water and bring to a boil, skimming off any scum, then reduce heat to a simmer and cook for about 45 min.

Drain the beans (reserving the liquid) & pour into a bean pot or heavy ceramic casserole dish that has 2 of the bacon strips placed at the bottom. Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

Cook remaining 2 strips of bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until cooked (not too crisp). Remove to paper toweling to drain. Pour off all but 2 tablespoons fat from skillet.

Add onion, celery and green pepper to skillet; sauté 8 to 10 minutes or until tender. Stir in tomatoes, molasses, tomato paste, bourbon, brown sugar, mustard, salt, and black pepper. Bring to boiling; cook, stirring occasionally, 3 to 5 minutes.

Crumble bacon & add to sauce. Pour mixture over beans in pot. If mixture does not cover the beans, then add the reserved cooking water.

Bake at 350 for 2 hours, then turn oven down to 250 and cook for another 1.5 – 2 hours. Check the beans during cooking to ensure that they are not drying out and if necessary add more water. Remove the lid in the final hour of cooking to allow the sauce to thicken.

Enjoy as a side dish with breakfast, on it’s own as a heartwarming lunch, or as the sidekick to your main dish at dinner ~ pairs great with ribs!

Smiles,
Kerry

A Hungarian Chef in Our Midst

February 5, 2010 Fridays with Kerry / Uncategorized

Comments Off

With all of the talk about comfort foods and simplicity (I’m sure my begging her to cook my favorite dish might have guilted her into it as well), Kathy went home last weekend and felt inspired to cook some of her favorite traditional family dishes. And guess what? On Monday, the Engine team got to reap the benefits of all of her hard work.

Thanks so much for sharing Kathy! See her recipe and comments below.

My family is Hungarian, so of course Hungarian Lecso is my most favorite comfort food. It is a cooked mixture of onions, yellow banana peppers, red peppers, tomatoes and paprika. Add some sliced Hungarian Sausage (or Polish Sausage) and it can be served as an appetizer or stew. I like to serve it over rice as a main course, but served with dumplings is the traditional way to eat it. You can also spoon it over scrambled eggs for breakfast, or over chicken for something different at dinner! Lesco can also be easily frozen for use at a later date.

Ingredients:

2-3 tbsp oil
2 large red onions sliced
Traditionally, yellow sweet banana peppers are what you would use, but my family prefers to use red peppers also. I use 1 yellow pepper, 1 orange pepper, and 5 or 6 red peppers seeded and sliced. (Do not use green bell peppers they have no flavor and will turn to pulp.)
1 large, ripe tomato, diced. (You can use canned tomatoes if you drain them well)
375g Hungarian Sausage Chopped into small chunks (Pillers Polish also works very well if Hungarian sausage is hard to find)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
2-3 Tbs. Paprika

Directions:

Heat oil in a large pot, add sausage and cook for about 10-15 minutes on medium heat to brown slightly. Add sliced onion, and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes until onion caramelizes slightly. Add salt, black pepper & paprika now. Mix together and cook for another 5 minutes.

Add all pepper slices and the tomato and cook for an additional 15 to 20 min. on medium high heat.

If needed you can add more salt, pepper and paprika to taste. Depending on the type of sausage used you may want to reduce the salt.

Reduce heat to simmer and cover, cooking for another 30 minutes or until peppers are soft.

(The ratio of peppers to onions and sausage should be 2/3 peppers to 1/3 sausage & onion.)

Spoon over rice or dumplings.

Serves 4.

Enjoy!

Kathy recommends the Hungarian wine Bulls Blood to go along with this dish, may be hard to find but some LCBO stores will place a special order for you.

There’s more comfort food on the Facebook Fan Page, as Bryna shares one of her favourite exotic, yet simple recipes: Vegetable Jalfrezi.

Events to Inspire

February 2, 2010 Uncategorized

2 comments

Celebration. Glasses of champagne and wine in hands. I’m a consummate learner, and yesterday I was lucky enough to be able to indulge my academic yearnings by spending the morning with a group of students from Loyalist College’s PR (@loyalistpr) program. They’re helping us to plan a Tweet Up to raise money for Flights of Hope and their relief efforts in Haiti.

After our brainstorming session, I was able to stop by the Art & Design Foundation (@artdznfndation) program to sneak a peek at their current projects, to talk internships and to start thinking about the workshop we’ll be doing with them later in March.

If you’re like me and crave learning, here’s a list of events to teach and inspire you:

Social Media Week – It’s happening in Toronto, as we speak! With a great line up of guests and events, this is a great follow up to Ad Week.

Toronto Works for Haiti – Yes, I blogged about them last week, but they’re doing amazing work to benefit the people of Haiti; they deserve the air time. (Plus, they got a site redesign! Slick!) I love the concept of delivering a valuable service for donations. It’s so much cooler than just asking for money. This is the kind of model any business could implement. They’re hosting a networking event in Toronto tonight, and I’m so sad I won’t be able to attend.

Eat, Drink & Give – Eat, Drink and Give has teamed up with a number of Toronto restaurants and Ontario and international wineries, to plan an evening of food and wine, with all proceeds going to Doctors without Borders. The event will be held on February 9, at Roy Thompson Hall. This event has been planned, in part, by one of our Twitter friends, Suresh (@spotlightcity)–one of the best food bloggers around.

Maple in the County – Another great event, this one local, to learn about all things Maple Syrup! Could life really get any sweeter?! It’s perfect for the whole family, and this year, they’re going interactive. Follow @CreativeDanT, @OntarioCulinary, @blackprincewinery, @TastetheCounty, @SandbanksWinery, and @saraswatispa for more info as it unfolds.

Tweet Up Quinte! – On February 18, 2010, Engine Communications and Loyalist College’s PR program will be hosting a Tweet Up to raise money for Flights of Hope’s relief efforts in Haiti. There will be amazing door prizes, lots of networking and talk of all things social media. It’s going to be happening at the Boathouse Restaurant from 5:30-7:30. We’ll post all the details on our Facebook Fan Page.

“Simple” Traditions: Coq au Vin

January 29, 2010 Fridays with Kerry

Comments Off

“A good cook is like a sorceress who dispenses happiness.”~ Elsa Schiaparelli

To some of you cooking is magic. Well, it really isn’t. It’s the end result of all of your hard work that is truly magical! You know what I’m talking about, that moment you put fork to mouth, and the taste explosion sets off all of your senses – it’s complete satisfaction and a feeling of a job well done!

I thought that we should continue with the “simple is better” topic from last week. Cooking doesn’t need to be complicated, or feel like a chore. If you follow the basics of good cooking then everything else should fall into place.

For the next few weeks I will focus on some “simple” traditional. Comfort foods that are really quite easy to prepare. And did I mention, to die for yummy?

One of my all time favorites and an oldie but goodie, is Coq au Vin. If you’re saying to yourself, “That’s that French dish. It must be difficult to make, and you probably need fancy French ingredients” – wrong! Simple, basic ingredients maks up this classic comfort dish. (Yes, I consider wine and cognac to be basic fundamental ingredients.) The most trying step is cutting up the whole chickens. But I’ll walk you through it. (If you want to simplify this even more, purchase chicken pieces instead of cutting up your own chicken)

Cutting up a whole chicken

Place chicken, breast side down. Trim and discard any fat at cavity and neck
Starting at body cavity, cut as loosely as possible along both sides of backbone. Cut off wing tips. Reserve both wing tips and backbone to make chicken stock. (Throw them in the freezer for later use)
Turn chicken over; open up slightly and cut in half through middle of breastbone.
Place chicken halves, skin side up. Lift one leg at a time and cut along contour through skin and meat to separate leg from body.
Bend back thigh and drumstick until joint pops. Cut through skin and meat at joint.
Divide each breast in half; leaving wing attached to one half.
Trim off excess skin and fat from chicken pieces; discard any shreds of bone.

Coq au Vin (serves eight)

This is a combination of the infamous Julia Child’s recipe and a Canadian Living Classic.

– 2 chickens, cut up (or 6 lbs of chicken pieces)

– Salt & pepper

– 2 tbsp butter (you may need more as you cook the veggies, it’s ok, butter is an important ingredient)

– 2 pkg pearl onions peeled

– 1 lb button mushrooms (about 6 cups)

– 1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme

– 2 cloves garlic minced

– 6 thick slices bacon, chopped

– 1 bottle of red wine (Burgundy, Beaujolais or Chianti), 2 cups go in recipe & you drink the rest!

– 2 cups sodium-reduced chicken broth (homemade stock would be preferable)

– 1 bay leaf

– 3 tbsp flour

– 1/4 cup cognac

– 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

In a Dutch oven cook bacon over medium heat. Sauté slowly until golden brown. Remove bacon with slotted spoon and transfer to bowl. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Heat half of the butter over medium-high heat; brown chicken in batches. Drain excess fat from pan and put any chicken back in pan that was removed while cooking in batches.

Pour in the Cognac, turn heat up to high, shake pan a few seconds until bubbling hot; ignite. Let it flame briefly while swirling the pan, extinguish flame with lid.

Heat remaining butter in another pan; cook in batches, first the pearl onions (transfer to bowl) then the mushrooms & thyme (if mushrooms are small keep them whole). Tip: if you want your mushrooms to brown nicely then don’t crowd them, cook in batches. Cook for about 5 min., add garlic and cook until golden brown, then transfer to same bowl as onions.

Add mushrooms and onions to pan with the chicken. Add cooked bacon, wine, broth and bay leaf, stirring and scrapping up brown bits. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 35 min.

Stir flour with a little bit of cognac or broth, to make smooth paste; stir into pan along with parsley. Simmer until thickened, about 10 – 15 min. Serve with wine of choice!

Bon Appetite,

Kerry

Go Canada Go!

Social Media for Creatives