As always I have just returned from another trip to Ottawa. As you know, I visit regularly (every 6 weeks) and on each trip I discover something new that delights my taste buds (and sadly my waistline too).

Here’s a few highlights:

1. Harvey and Vern’s Ginger Beer. Hands down the best ginger beer I’ve ever had. Sadly I only bought one bottle. WHAT WAS I THINKING (please don’t answer!!). Next time I’m picking up a half dozen bottles. Seriously.

2. Callaloo Jamaican Patty from The Piggy Market: (400 Winston Ave, Ottawa) I love something interesting and this was indeed something interesting!! The pastry was perfect and the filling was flavorful too. So glad I dropped by this amazing store.

3. Hummingbird Chocolate has joined forces with Michaels Dolce Candied Ginger ….to make the perfect chocolate bar. It was introduced to the public at the Ottawa Farmers Market on Sunday Aug 4th and I’m confident that others will also give it a THUMBS UP!!

4. Albacore Tuna Crudo with Lemon Truffle Oil, Puffed Rice and Young Cilantro from Supply and Demand (1335 Wellingston St. W. Ottawa) Many thanks to @simplyfresh for tweeting me about this dish. Can you say “heaven?”.

5. Ministry of Coffee. Again, many thanks to @AMWATERS for tweeting me about this brand new cafe that opened up on Elgin St.  I enjoyed a wonderful “Cortado” which is a shot of espresso with both cream and milk. Will definitely be returning for more!!

6. Bombs from It’s a Matter of Cake (Ottawa Farmer’s Market) These are not cake pops. Not even close. They are simply dense and delicious. My mom bought a bag of 6: Chocolate Peanut Butter, The Split, Oatmeal Nutella, Maple Carrots, Smokey Bacon, and the Dark Horse. When we got home…the knife came out and we started to split each one in half. Then we started  saying words like: “ohhhhh” and “ahhhh” and “freaking h” and “unfreakin believable”. Clearly we loved each and every bomb!!

Can you tell I had another amazing trip to Ottawa? I’m already looking forward to my next trip in September!!

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I can’t seem to visit Ottawa without visiting the Ottawa Farmer’s Market and discovering new products.

Here’s a few examples.

Product #1: Huckleberry: I don’t know about you but I’ve never seen it or heard of it. All I know is that I had to buy it. I also know that I need a recipe. If anyone can help me out, please let me know. I’m sure there will be a future blog post about what I make with them. Warning you now!

Need a recipe. Stat.

Product #2: Carrots. These little gems came from the Perth Farmers Market. I didn’t see them in Ottawa but had to include them in this post. I was told that this variety are grown in window sills in Paris. Can anyone verify that this is true? I couldn’t resist buying them.

Cute Carrots

Product #3: Lemon Cucumbers. At 50 cents a cucumber, I had to buy these too. No – they don’t taste like lemons. Yes – they do taste different than an english cucumber. I not only bought them last week but returned the following week to buy them again.

This will be a nice addition to my salad this week.

Product #3: Hummingbird Chocolate.  I have been reading tweets about this company from @AMWATERS and was eager to say drop by and find out more about their chocolate. While chatting with one of the partners, I discovered that they got into this business as a result of their work in Haiti. I had a sample and it only took one nibble to find out that this chocolate is no ordinary chocolate. Please take a look at the Hummingbird Chocolate website to learn more about this Artisan, Bean-to-Bar Goodness.

WOW.

Product #4: Pascales All Natural Icecream. My adventures thru the market got even better when I dropped by Pascales All Natural Ice Cream who said  “Hey Girl – I have something special for you”. She was not wrong. Pascale gave me a sample of her HUMMINGBIRD CHOCOLATE SORBET that was too good for words. I truly hope that both Hummingbird Chocolate and Pascales All Natural Ice creaml find distribution in Toronto one day!!

Pascale with her awesome ice cream!!

As always, I had a great time visiting the Ottawa Farmer’s Market and discovering new products. Have you discovered anything interesting at a Farmers Market lately? Do share.

P.S. The Ottawa Farmer’s Market can be found every Sunday from May 6 to October 28th, from 8 a.m to 3 p.m, at Brewer Park

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