Passover starts tonite at sundown which means a lot of Jewish people will be having Matza Balls in their chicken soup. I actually make them all year round but that’s another story. I usually make them from a mix but for this blog entry, I decided to kick it up a notch and make them from scratch.

What’s the difference – you ask?

• From a Box: it has nasty ingredients (ie monisodium glutamate) but it’s convenient and they pretty much always turn out right.
• From Scratch: no nasty ingredients but it takes almost twice as long to make

Simple Ingredients

Lifted up the cover for the photo!!

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup matza meal

1 tsp baking powder (may be omitted during Passover)

2 tsp of salt

4 eggs

4 tsp vegetable oil

METHOD

a) mix eggs and vegetable oil in a small bowl

b) mix baking powder and matza meal in another bowl

c) mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients but do not overmix

d) put the mixture in the fridge for an hour

e) boil a pot of water

f) make small balls (again not the size of golf balls more like large the size of a large marble!!)

g) place balls into boiling water, COVER and simmer for 40 minutes. (do not touch – yes – that’s right – do not touch)

RESULTS:

It was a no brainer – the matza balls from the recipe tasted “real” vs “salty”. As for the texture – both were light and fluffy.

Not sure I will be buying the mix again. It’s SO much healthier to make my own.

By the way – its worth googling a few matza ball recipes online. Each one was different i.e one recipe even called for club soda.

Happy Passover and for those who celebrate Easter – Happy Easter.

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My last visit to Ottawa was in December, which means a lot has happened in regards to new restaurants opening up!!  Therefore, I was on a mission to visit these new restaurants even though my trip was a quick one.

I had been tweeting with @AMWATERS about my trip and she suggested we have a coffee at Bread & Sons (195 Bank St). I’m always eager to visit new coffee shops even though I’m a huge fan of Bridgehead. While sipping coffee, we shared a croissant which was buttery and chewy and quite perfect!! I had my “eye” on the butter tarts but decided to try it on a future visit.

Cool presentation!

Then we met for lunch at a new Taco restaurant that recently opened called Taco Lot (995 Wellingston St. W). I inhaled a super fresh taco and can see why Ottawa has embraced this new restaurant as the city was kind of lacking a place to eat a really good taco.

Really. Really. Good.

Seeing as the taco was more of a “snack” – we headed over to Hintonburg Public House (1020 Wellington St. W). We shared an order of fish and chips and noticed that all the surrounding tables had ordered the same thing. Clearly this a a hit on the menu! We were impressed with the food, service and ambience – no complaints.

Perfect.

Due to the fact that Isobel’s was a few stores down, (1018 Wellington St. W) I went in to grab a vanilla bean cupcake with cream cheese dressing. I couldn’t resist.

I encourage everyone to visit Wellington St. West  – it’s truly a happening neighborhood. (referred to as Hintonburg). You can visit lots of fabulous stores and restaurants without having to move your car once!! SCORE.

In the afternoon, I headed over to see my foodie friends  at Michaels Dolce to check out their new kitchen facility. This couple is super interesting and super talented and I was thrilled to have had a few minutes to drop by.

Available in Ottawa AND Toronto!!

For dinner I headed out once again to Wellington St. W. I was excited to catch up with @FoodiePrints and they suggested we eat at Hintonburger (1096 Wellington).  I ate the falafel veggie burger while chatting with this lovely young couple about food, social media and more food!!

The next day, I made sure to visit 3 places very quickly before heading out:

1. Art-Is-An Bakery: to pick up 3 fantastic loaves of bread

2. Rideau Bakery: to pick up challah and rye bread.

3. SuzyQ Doughnuts: to pick up 2  (yes, only 2), salted caramel donuts. By the way – I was introduced to these donuts at the Farmers Market last year, but just recently they opened up a retail location at 991 Wellington St. West. I’m thrilled for them.

Next time Im buying 3.

It was a great trip that combined inhaling great food and spending time with family and friends. Even the weather cooperated. Looking forward to my next trip already.

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Do you do the same things ALL the time? i.e go to movies, go for dinner, go to the theatre. Well, I have a suggestion!

Head out to see Les Coquettes.  I promise you that this will not be a boring evening and it’s definitely something different. Not off -the -charts different but certainly different.

Here’s a bit more info about Les Coquettes. They are a talented group of cabaret performers with a modern twist. It was the perfect evening that combined great entertainment with great food.

We started off the nite with cocktails while listening to live music being played by the talented Tyler Yarema . Then dinner arrived and then the show started. Please note that you can either go for dinner and see the show, or just go to the show. I love that there’s two options.

If you go for dinner, I can assure you that you will have an amazing dinner. Chef Woods from CWCatering, certainly knows what he is doing in the kitchen as my salad, main course and dessert were fantastic.  In fact, everyone at my table was thrilled with their meal.

See what I mean?

As for the show: Totally entertaining in a very tasteful way. The MC was brilliant – she was funny and cheeky and really got the audience warmed up. The different acts that were performed by Les Coquettes were fun, entertaining and very professional. There were lots of smiling audience members – that’s for sure.

A few hours zipped by and we all walked out reviewing the fantastic evening – perfect food and a perfect show! Not to mention, that it was SOMETHING DIFFERENT and not just your typical nite out for dinner and a movie.

I highly recommend going to see Les Coquettes. Upcoming shows will be taking place April 4th, April 15th and April 22nd.

For Further info: Click on their website : Les Coquettes or call 1 877 821 7803.

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