During the heat wave last week, I was determined to prepare an entire meal for guests without using the oven. Yay for me..I did it.

This is what I served:

1. Tuna Nicoise: lettuce, tuna,mushrooms, tomatoes, black olives, red pepper, yellow pepper and hard boiled eggs. (sorry no green beans as I’m on a carb free diet)

Not Just Your Average Salad

2. Asparagus: I also served an asparagus dish that I haven’t made for years. All you have to do is steam the asparagus  and then make a marinade.(sauce?) Please forgive me as I don’t have the exact measurements nor can I even remember which cookbook this recipe is from! (oh the joys of owning too many cookbooks).  Here’s the best I can do: grated ginger, grated garlic, rice wine vinegar, tamari sauce, sesame oil, brown sugar, salt and peper. Does that help? Probably not…again, my apologies.

Steam the asparagus. Make the Marinade. Plate the Asparagus and then drizzle the marinade over it. Simple Stuff.

My Favorite Asparagus Dish

3. FISH:   I als0 served fish using a spice packet that I bought at Eat Sum More (7700 Bathurst St, Thornhill.  This unique retail store specializes in products from South Africa. I figured for $2.99 – it was worth trying. All I did was squeeze some lemon juice into the mixture and let the fish marinate in it for a few hours in the fridge.

There were 4 different spices in this packet. Sadly I took the photo after I used it…but you can get an idea what it looked like

After marinating the fish, I simply pan fried the fillets for a few minutes on each side.

So Tasty

4. Berries with Whipped Cream: I served a carb free dessert to my guest  However they didn’t seem to mind being served an assortment of berries (blackberries, blueberries and raspberries) with whipped cream and some mint as a garnish. Do you like the cups? First time I used them.

A perfect ending to a summer meal

As for drinks: I served a red sangria and a white sangria for my guests and I sipped Molson Canadian 67. This beer is SAVING ME. It’s one thing to go carb free and it’s another to go carb free during a HOT summer. A huge thanks to Molson for developing this beer.

Mission Accomplished: I entertained without using an oven PLUS I stuck to my carb free diet. I’m on week 5 and so far so good.

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Everywhere you look – there is a festival. I’m not complaining…just wish I had more TIME to go to all of them!

This past weekend I went to two festivals in one night. I started off at the South Asian Festival on Gerrard East and ended up on St. Clair for Salsa on St Clair. Each festival had something different to offer and I was happy to be able to walk thru both of them. (and eat, of course)

Needed a translation but managed just fine!!

Other festivals that are on my ‘hit list” include the following:

a) Toronto Fringe Festival to see “Everything I Never Knew I Wanted”. This festival takes place from July 4 -15th. This is my first time attending the Toronto Fringe Festival but I’m really looking forward to it. I didn’t know this but it’s Toronto’s largest theatre festival with 150 plus artistic creations. I have a good feeling that this festival might be on my list every year!

b) Night It Up which takes place July 13-15 at the Markham Civic Centre. This festival features 100 plus different vendors including many “street foods” that one might find in the markets of Taiwan or Hong Kong. I’ve heard so much about stinky tofu that I really think I might go this year!!

Street Food!!

c) Toronto Festival of Beer which takes place July 27-28th on the Exhibition Grounds. I am a huge fan of this festival and have been going for years and years and years. In my opinion the festival just gets better and better each year. Don’t delay and buy your tickets as this festival will sell out on all three days!!

Won’t Miss the Toronto Beer Festival. Period.

b) Cobourg Sand Castle Festival which takes place Aug 4 – Aug 5th. Well worth the drive to Cobourg to see the spectacular sand castle exhibits.

Love this beach and this competition.

c) Wild Blueberry Festival which takes place August 11th from 8 a.m to 3 p.m at Evergreen Brickworks. If you love blueberries – this is the festival for you!! Tons of great activities, recipes, food products containing blueberries and more.

Blueberry Heaven

d) The Ex which takes place Aug 17 – Sept 3rd. I’ve been eating my way thru the Ex for the last two years and once again will be there the minute it opens. The minute!!

Eating My Way Thru The Ex.

e) The Toronto Garlic Festival which takes place Oct 13-14 at Evergreen Brickworks. I went last year and learned so much about garlic that I need to go back to learn even more!! (and taste more).

Garlic 101..So Much To Learn Here.

I know that my calendar has all these dates marked down and I encourage you to look at your calendars too. By all means take a peek at this website  called Festivals Toronto for a bigger list (way bigger) . In this blog post, I simply wanted to highlight some of my favorites!! I’m hoping to add a few more festivals to this growing list but like I said in the title of this blog post….so many festivals, so little time!!

PS what are your favorite festivals?

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Thanks to twitter, I discovered Paulette’s Original Donuts and Chicken. They were on twitter even before they opened (smart business move).  Last Monday I was following @amypataki and her tweets about the donuts she was trying. I then noticed more tweets from @foodie411 about Paulette’s Original Donuts and Chicken!! Clearly, I had “donuts” on my brain and wanted to go check it out too.

Donuts are the New Cupcakes. Did you know?

I really wanted to do a tweet up there but knew that there would be a good chance they would sell out if I organized a tweet up at 7 p.m. You see, they start serving the donuts at 8 am and start serving fried chicken at 11:30 am and serve till 7 p.m OR TILL THEY RUN OUT. I wasn’t risking it.

I gathered a few friends to meet there on Friday at 10 a.m. We all happily tried: a Rootbeer donut, a Strawberry Balsamic donut and a Mango Yuzu donut. Every day there are 7 different flavors and each donut will set you back $2.75. I liked the rootbeer donut and the Mango Yuzu donut the best and we all agreed that the donuts were cakey not yeasty. Hope that description makes sense.

Im on a carb free diet so I only had a bite. Me. Good.

The store is really cute with a few bar stools and a ledge by the window. I wonder if the owner would tell me the paint chip number as I adored the shade of blue that was used in the store.

Seeing as I was with a few foodies…we went to explore another nearby restaurant that also opened recently, called Leslieville Pumps. Think of a gas station (which it is) that is totally hip and serving cool food.

Love this concept!!

The gas station/restaurant is owned by two friendly  brothers and one of them is the chef. So of course we talked FOOD and ordered a few things to try:

a) The Deep Fried Pickles: These are my weakness. Something about the crunchy batter and the sour batter along with the wicked sauce. I was a happy camper.

Deep Fried Pickles. My Weakness.

b) We also ordered the baked beans which were full of flavor. The right type of flavor. Not to sweet, not to smokey….just right.

Clearly Homemade!!

c) Also spotted a few bars of candy that you don’t see every day: I have never tried them but the White Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup certainly intrigued me. Next time.

Candy that I have never tried – but would like to try.

They even have a herb garden on the rooftop. How impressive.

What’s also impressive is both of their websites. Worth clicking on their links:

Paulette’s Original Donuts and Chicken 913 Queen St. East (647) 748-1177

Leslieville Pumps 929 Queen St. East (416) 465-1313

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Just returned from a whirlwind trip to Ottawa. Nothing quite beats spending Canada Day in Ottawa. Naturally I started off celebrating Canada Day at the Ottawa Farmers Market. (now located at Brewer Park and not at Landsdowne Park). The trip  to the market was highlighted by the fact that I saw Toronto Foodies: @AS_Toronto and A Food Gypsy there!

3 Toronto Foodies with Michael Sutherland (from Michaels Dolce)

We all seemed to bump into each other infront of Michaels Dolces Booth. After hugs, photos and introductions I had the chance to wander thru the market to discover Brewgels. What a awesome concept (in my humble opinion). I ended up my visit to the market by bumping into FoodiePrints. How perfect.

Can you read the list? Oatmeal Stout, Strawberry Fruli, Coffee Porter…

Notice the dark color of these bagels..due to the infusion of porter, stouts and more!!

ps Sorry didn’t taste the bagels as I’m still on this carb free diet! (argghhh)

On our way back downtown, we stopped into Bridgeheads’ new Roastery, which just opened this past week. (thanks Twitter for the update!!). I am so glad that we stopped here to see this 15,000 sqf space that now houses their head office, a coffee shop, and training centre. Congratulations Bridgehead!!

134 Anderson Street

What a great space for a tweet up!!

After enjoying our coffee it was time to walk by the Parliament buildings. No shortage of proud Canadians. Downtown was mobbed and it was GREAT to be there.

The perfect place to be on Canada Day

Then we went to the Byward Market to walk around and watch the soccer game at Smoque Shack.(129 York St).  The air condioning, great staff, amazing deep fried pickles and the beer – made it a welcome stop for us to get out of the sun and rest our feet for a bit.

On the stroll back to my parents condo we stumbled across this vendor on Sparks St. I just HAD to try it. I have never seen this “new way” of serving potatoes before, have you?

due to the carb free diet – I only had ONE potato slice. I swear.

At 10 p.m, we stood behind the Supreme Court building to watch the spectacular fireworks. Not a bad way to end a great day!! Hope you had a meaningful Canada Day as well.

PS. One more thing: I really meant to try two new restaurants: Brothers Beer Bistro (366 Dalhousie) and Big Rig BrewPub (2750A Iris St). Sadly didn’t have enough time, but these two restaurants will be on my radar for my next visit. Tweet Up anyone?

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