Thought I would write a blog post called Saturday Stuff that would be short and sweet.

Here we go:

1. This week, I organized my first Media Dinner for 12 Food Bloggers at Pukka Restaurant. It was definitely a highlight of my week.

2. I also went to a fun event sponsored by the French Chamber of Commerce, called Le Beaujolais Nouveau. Similar events take place all over the world on the third Thursday of November….every year. It was a great opportunity to try Four new Beaujolais Nouveau wines and chat with some pretty interesting people.

3. I went to Sam James Coffee Bar in the PATH for my first time but it won’t be my last time.

4. I FINALLY (yes – FINALLY) became a an AIRMILES cardholder. What took me so long? Many thanks to the people who invited me to this AirMiles Event. You picked the right person.

5. I had my hair straightened at Evoke Salon for the first time in MONTHS.  I love having my hair straightened however I wasn’t able to got to Goodlife to work out  for 2 days. Sniff.

6. Enjoyed an amazing meal at my boyfriends house on Friday night.  Seriously, I think this is the first time I ever eaten crab legs outside of a restaurant.

Have a wonderful weekend!! I’m off to the cottage which means that I will be enjoying a lot of bacon. Lucky me.!!

Share this:

While visiting the Toronto Garlic Festival back in the fall, I had the opportunity to sample a Seafood Chowder from a vendor that was simply outstanding. That vendor was Smoked & Cracked, who also happens to own a restaurant at  516 Mt Pleasant Rd. (just north of Davisville).

Last week I went to visit their restaurant and it was so good that I returned a week later. I simply had to try more items on their menu and share this “find” with more friends.

The restaurant has a lovely “East Coast” feel without being too kitchy. (you know what I mean). There’s small touches that I really think are cute: i.e small jade plants can be found on each table that are planted in empty tomato cans.

The menu is on a chalkboard. Simple but effective.

This is what I’ve tried so far.

–Lobster Bisque

–Manhattan Seafood Chowder: This soup had  a beautiful broth with massive chunks of perfect scallops, shrimp, and mussels in it. I think this was my favourite soups out of the two that I tried.

–Lobster Mac and Cheese

Comfort food at it’s best

–a WARM lobster roll (that was the best lobster roll ever)

What really impressed me was that every vegetable was perfectly diced. Plus the shrimp, scallops and lobster that were in my soup were cooked to perfection.  Bonus that the owners are super friendly and know the industry inside and out!

This is what I want to try on my next visit (which there will be…trust me).

Either the lobster omelette or the lobster scramble gratinee…which is served on Sundays only.

Who wants to join me?

For Further Info:

Smoked & Cracked  516 Mount Pleasant, Toronto ON 647 748 5722

Twitter: @smoked_cracked

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SmokedandCracked

Share this:

I always look forward to receiving the  Milk calendar. As much as I love my iphone calendar, I still keep a calendar in my kitchen. I was delighted to received the Milk Calendar in my Toronto Star last week and while flipping thru it, this recipe caught my attention. I always make the same french toast recipe so it was nice to kick things up a notch.

NOTE: you need to prepare this dish 6 hours before you want to serve it. I learned the hard way. I went to make it on Sunday morning only to read the instructions: “cover and refrigerate for 6 hours”. I still made it – but we enjoyed it on Monday morning.!! (which was a pleasant way to start the week off).

Here’s what you need. (ps I cut the recipe is half as I was only making it for two people)

BAKED NUTTY BERRY FRENCH TOAST

6 thick slices (preferably whole wheat). *I was lucky and received a delicious loaf from LaBamboche  (1712 Avenue Road)

4 eggs

3/4 cups packed brown sugar

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg AND cinnamon

2 cups of milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup chopped pacans

1/4 cup melted butter

4 cups mixed berries

DIRECTIONS:

1. Butter a 13 x9 glass baking dish. Arrange bread in a single layer

2. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, 1/2 cup of the sugar, nutmeg and cinnamon until blended. Whisk in milk and vanilla

3. Pour evenly over the bread.

4. Cover and refrigerate for at least 6 hours or overnight.

5. Preheat oven to 400 degrees

6. In a small bowl, mix remaining 1/4 brown sugar, pecans and melted butter.

7. Spread  berries over the bread mixture. Followed by the pecan mixture (I only sprinkled the pecan mixture as I wanted the berries to be fresh and not cooked)

7. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until bread is puffed in the centre and fruit is bubbling.

FINAL PRODUCT

Can’t wait to try more recipes that are in the Milk Calendar. 

Share this:

Recently, I made a new friend on Twitter. When I saw that she had a blog called Fables and Focaccia,  I knew that she would be the perfect person to invite over to help me use my Kitchen Aid Pasta Attachment. Sadly the Pasta Attachment had been sitting in a box for MONTHS. I was all too thrilled that Jenny agreed to come over and share her expertise with me.

The evening started off with wine. (of course).

Then Jenny started to mix a few ingredients together and do her magic.  As for me….I was too busy taking photos and drinking wine to actually participate.!

Before you knew it – we had an amazing meal of pasta in browned butter with fresh sage. Even though I’m on a carb free diet, I couldn’t resist and dug into this bowl of fresh pasta.

Jenny was even kind of enough to share her recipe with me:

INGREDIENTS TO MAKE FRESH PASTA (we doubled this recipe)

Share this:

Just came back from a quick quick visit to Ottawa. This visit was special as I discovered something NEW plus I went to visit a museum that I use to enjoy when I was a kid. (keep reading).

Let’s talk about the NEW discovery first.

As you know I spend a lot of time on twitter. Here’s a classic example of a finding out about something via twitter. One day I was on twitter and I noticed  @LiftRestaurant had sent me a tweet . I checked out their profile and noticed that they were a restaurant in the Delta Ottawa City Centre – exactly a block away from where I stay in Ottawa!! We started to chat on twitter and I mentioned that I would drop by on my next week. So I did.

When we arrived  at Lift Restaurant, the first thing that impressed me was the contemporary, bright, space. After chatting with our super friendly waitress, we ordered the Lift Chowder (Bay Ccallops, Shrimp, Atlantic Salmon, Surf Clams and a Charcuterie Board to share. We scored with our order. The soup was probably the best chowder I’ve ever had and there’s a reason for that. IT’S  MADE FRESH WHEN YOU ORDER IT.

I was also given a quick tour of some of the suites and LOVED the fact that the CLEAN DESKS had all sorts of  computer plugs in it. This certainly appeals to people like me, who travel with no fewer than four cords on each trip!!

I can’t wait to return for more Chowder and have even posted the menu in my parents nearby condo so that this restaurant is on their radar too!!

Now for the part of my trip that brought me down memory lane.

We went to visit The Canada Science and Technology Museum. This museum was my favorite museum as a kid because they had an exhibit called the KRAZY KITCHEN. Forty years later – it’s still there.

I swear I was smiling throughout my visit.

I love visiting Ottawa! Period.

For more information:

Delta Ottawa City Centre 101 Lyon St. N, Ottawa,  613 237 3600

Lift Restaurant  101 Lyon St. N, Ottawa 613 688 6802

Canada Science and Technology Museum1867 St. Laurent Blvd, Ottawa 613 991 3044

Ottawa Tourism

Share this:

I was on Twitter a few weeks ago and noticed that a new ramen restaurant was opening in Toronto. I was so excited seeing as I’m a  huge Ramen fan. I clicked the “follow button” and asked if they would  keep me in the loop when they were opening.

Shortly after, I received an email asking if I would like to attend their opening. I quickly said “YES…COUNT ME IN”.

They opened today for a media preview and I was one of the lucky people invited into their restaurant, which only has 36 seats!! Touhenboku Ramen is located at 261 Queen W. and in my opinion this is a great spot for a ramen restaurant.

Touhenboku Ramen features ramen soup that is made from chicken broth. It can be ordered be with your choice of lean pork, rich pork or chicken chasu. Plus you can choose between thick or thin noodles, which are made from their own blend of flour.

I tried the Garlicky Touhenboku Ramen and was surprised that the broth was so thick but it was indeed one huge bowl of flavorful ramen. I’m sure by the time winter is over I will have tried their other options, which are: Original, Spicy, and Light.

Sadly I didn’t have a chance to try their Chiffon Cake but it looks great, doesn’t it?

Thannks @ortdavid for the photo #iPhoneproblems

For more information:

Touhenboku Ramen: 261 Queen St. West, Toronto 416 596 8080

Twitter: @TouhenbokuRamen

Share this:

I did it. I purchased a Blentec and I totally blame Costco for this. I kept passing that demo lady and just couldn’t resist.

My life for the last 3 days hasn’t been the same. I’m too excited for words that I’m now a proud owner of a Blendtec. I’m enjoying a lot of smoothies at the moment but my intention is to be making soups with it.

Blueberry Smoothie

Kale/Spinach/Avocado Smoothie

Things I’m loving about the Blendtec:

-I love the timer feature as I no longer  need to guess what 90 seconds is.

-I love the easy to clean wide pitcher

-I love that it pulverizes everything

Things I’m not enjoying:

-it sounds like a 747 airplane

-I still have to cook my soup. I thought I cook just add raw vegetables and some stock and make a quick soup – WRONG. You really need to brown the onions.

-my freezer has no space as I bought these huge bags of frozen fruit from Costco.

It was an investment to purchase this Blendtec but I think it was a wise one.

Share this:

This Sample Sale only opens to the public twice a year and it’s well worth visiting. Seriously.

Advantages:

1. You get the chance to buy your clothes 6 months in advance. This means, when I go to the sample sale in November, I’m buying my Spring clothes and when Spring (finally) arrives….I’m set to go.

2. You save $$$. Lots of it. Sample Sale prices are  wholesale.

3. You will always look unique as there is only ONE of each item at the Sample Sale. I have only bumped into two people in 8 years who were wearing the same piece I had bought at the sample sale (sadly…they bought it retail at a very different price).

4. It’s held in a showroom where the staff are super friendly and knowledgeable. I love asking them for advice and they have never steered me wrong.

Disadvantages:

1. Sample Sales are best suited if you are a size 6, 8, or a 10.

2. A lot of people can’t get their head around the fact that they are buying Spring Clothes in the Winter or their Winter Clothes in the Spring. I have no problem with this. (clearly)

Here’s a small example of SOME of the clothes I purchased in November 2011. (click here for more photos of what I purchased)

Here’s a few of the WINTER merchandise I bought in April 2012. It’s hard to see the details of these blouses and sweaters but trust me….there’s detail. I bought another 6 pieces but I didn’t want to take too many selfies and I didn’t want to bore you.

This years sample sale is taking place on Monday Nov. 11th, Tuesday Nov. 12,  & Wednesday Nov 13. All the details you need to know can be found on the flyer below.

I will be there on Monday morning at 10 am sharp. Hope to see you there too.

Share this:

Kitchen stores like Teatro Verde in Bayview Village are dangerous stores for me. I’m bound to buy something and indeed I did buy something. Here’s an example:  See this display? Well…it really worked. I actually stood there…. watched the video and then bought the Rice Cube.

I must add, that I was  (really) nervous to buy this kitchen gadget, as it was $19.99 and there is no refund or exchange policy at this store. But I did. Go figger.

When I got home, I took out my beloved Rice Cooker (thanks @isfalk for ensuring I bought one back in 2010) and my USA Rice and made a batch of sticky rice.

Then I inserted the cooked sushi rice into the little compartment. (photo on the left). Step 2 involved  closing the lid ( photo on the right) and then Step 3 involved taking out the CUBE OF RICE. No fuss. No muss.

Here’s the end result. I was all too happy to serve this to my guests that were coming over for dinner.

Rice Cubes topped with Dried Kimchi that I bought at Trader Joe’s.

This kitchen gadget is certainly going to be motivating me to use more USA Rice.  Also I’ve recently discovered this Rose Reisman Video that I would like to share with you. This video demonstrates the versatility of rice, the health benefits as well as a recipe for a quick and healthy rice salad.

I can’t wait to make these cubes again and top them with chopped nori, or black and white toasted sesame seeds. So many ideas. So little time!!

For more information:

USA Rice 

Teatro Verde, Bayview Village, 2901 Bayview Ave, 416 733 4448

Rice Cube 

Disclosure: I was provided with compensation for this post, however all opinions and ideas expressed are my own.

Share this:

I was invited to an event where each guest would receive an Avocado Hand Mask followed by a manicure at Tips Nail Bar. How could I say no? I love manicures and I love Avocados. It was a no brainer. I was SO going to this event. (I’m decisive. Did you know that about me?)

The evening started off with some amazing appetizers featuring Mexican Avocados. Naturally I tried each and every appetizer on this table!

Then I sat down and enjoyed an Avocado Hand Treatment.

That’s my hands. Promise.

Here are the ingredients: 

1/4 fully ripened avocado from Mexico

1 egg white

2 tablespoons rolled oats

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Directions: In a shallow bowl, mash avocado till smooth. Add egg white, oats and lemon juice.

I loved  the colour  that the Nail Polish Blogger (@everaftrlacquer) beside me selected. How appropriate for the event!!

As you know, I usually hang out with food bloggers but on this particular evening, I had the chance to hang out with lifestyle and beauty bloggers. It was truly a lot of fun.

I think this event was a genius idea. Now I can enjoy Mexican Avocados in my food AND on my skin!! Other applications include using Mexican Avocados as an Enriching Hair Mask, or as a Moisturizing Face Mask.

Many thanks to Tips Nail Bar for hosting such a fabulous evening. Their space, staff and selection of colors and brands, is a a notch above most nail salons. I even took the business card of their designer who made this unique mural!

The mural was featured on the WHOLE length of the wall. This is just a very small segment that I liked.

For more information:

Please visit : www.missavacado.ca

Tips Nail Bar: 848 Danforth Ave, 416 405 8477

Share this: