For 20 years, I lived at Bathurst/Sheppard. Therefore, the Milestones at Empress Walk was my “go-to” restaurant for a drink. Never ate there though….till last week when I was
invited to a six course tasting menu.

This menu featured culinary creations showcasing twists off Milestones’ upcoming Summer Chef’s Menu, paired with a selection of Constellation Brands finest wines. I have to say, I felt pretty honoured to be invited to this event. It was not only a “tasty” event but educational too as Executive Chef Jason Rosso and the Milestones Management Team were also present and spoke to us about the new initiatives at Milestones.

I have no doubt that these items will be a hit with customers this summer!

1. Crispy Quinoa Shrimp in a chimmi churri ailoi served with a vegetable slaw: This dish was my favorite. It had everything going for it and I KNOW I will be ordering this on my next visit

2. Panko Blue Crab Cakes with Fennel and Arugula Slaw and Chipotle Aiola. Again, another great dish!

3. Spicy Thai Basil Stir Fry – rice noodles, shrimp and coconut milk. Something tells me that this is going to be a popular dish.

4. Surf and Turf: A duo of grilled flat iron steak and lobster fricassee

When coffee was served at the end of the meal, I turned to the Director of Operations for Eastern Canada, Todd  Attridge, who was sitting next to me and said: “Wow – this is really good coffee” and he replied “We just partnered with Starbucks!”. I think this is great fit for both brands and delighted to have  my coffee of choice (Starbucks)  after a fantastic meal.

Milestones has it all – cocktails, wine, great food, and great coffee too!

Congratulations to the whole team at Milestones for such an amazing evening.

PS Loved the fact that the COO @FindlayMark was tweeting throughout the meal. #impressed.

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Today is Follow Friday in the “Twitterverse”  so I thought it would be an ideal day to blog about the Neal Brothers.

I met the Neal Brothers (Chris and Peter) back in the early 1990’s at the Good Food Festival. At that time, I was not a food sales rep or a food blogger – just a hungry consumer that was interested in new products! Over the last two decades, I have continued to bump into them and have continued to watch their business grow and grow and grow.

In fact they are celebrating their 25th anniversary and to help them celebrate…I interviewed them!!

(L) Chris Neal (R) Peter Neal

Question: What did you do before you launched your own business?

Answer: We were in school, and worked in the summer doing odd jobs and at worked at Wonderland too

Question: What product did you start off with?

Answer: Croutons

Question: What’s your best selling product at the moment?

Answer:  Organic Blue Flax Tortilla Chips and our Corn Salsa

Question: What changes have you seen in the food industry in the last two decades?

Answer: An increase in allergens (gluten free, wheat free etc) and that consumers want healthier options

Question: Do you cook at home?

Answer: Yes!!

Question: Name your favorite restaurant?

Answer: Chris: Scaramouche. Peter: “this could smoke me…can’t just name one”.

Question: Any suggestions for future entrprenuers?

Answer: Chris: Nothing comes easy. Adapt and Persevere.

Answer: Peter: Persevere. Never lose your dream.

I wish the Neal Brothers nothing but the very best as they celebrate this huge milestone. I know I will be a fan for may more years, as they have shown nothing but

genuine kindess to me every single time I bumped into them (no I wasn’t a stalker). Not to mention, they sure do represent an amazing line of food products!

CHEERS!

For Further Info:

Twitter: @NealBrothers

Facebook: www.facebook.com/nealbrothersfoods

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True Story:

In 1977,  I was 12 years old and was going to a new camp that summer called “Wabikon“.  Seeing as my dad owned a sports store in Ottawa called “Ritchies Sports Store“, I was decked out in a lot of clothes from Nike, Adidas, and Puma. In fact, one could say ALL my summer clothes came from my dad’s store.

But then I went to Wabikon and my entire cabin was wearing polo shirts with a little alligator on it. I soon learned the word: Lacoste!!

When I returned home, I started to slowly collect Lacoste tshirts and this trend continued till I was 16. I was a HUGE prep and was proud of it. Througout high school, I wore Lacoste tshirts, Levis jeans and Converse running shoes. Period.

Fast Forward to 2013!

A few weeks ago I received an invitation to attend a media night at the Lacoste store at Yorkdale and I quickly sent a reply back that I would love to attend.  At the event, there was a preview of “the Annivesary Capsule Collection – “Edition and Unexpected”. Did you know that Lacoste is celebrating their 80th Anniversary? I loved walking around the store saying to myself “want” “want” “need” “want”!!

I was all too happy to celebrate with them. It was like going down memory lane but so much better. I can’t remember owning Lacoste shoes – but now I own a a pair and I can’t stop wearing them!!

Happy Anniversary Lacoste! Thanks for including me.

P.S. A huge thank you to the store manager who really demonstrated amazing customer service skills.

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This past weekend, I had the opportunity to play tourist in my hometown, Ottawa. I visit this amazing city almost every 6 weeks for the last few years but this particular weekend I got to know Ottawa in a different way!!

I started off the weekend, by attending Nepean High School 90th Anniversary Celebration. I haven’t been thru their doors since 1984 so it was kind of neat just to be inside the building again. Oh the memories!

Sadly not a lot of people were there from my year (sniff…)

On Saturday, my mom and I REALLY played tourist. We boarded a double decker bus  (at the corner of Elgin and Sparks St) that is operated by a company called Lady Dive.  This 75 minute tour (which leaves every hour on the hour) is truly the best way to see the city as you can Hop On and Off at a variety of stops, such as: Museums, Parks, Galleries, the Byward Market, the Parliament Buildings, Rideau Hall and more.

Our tour guide was entertaining and certainly knew his stuff. My mom and I were amazed at what we learned in such a short period of time about important landmarks in our own city! We loved every minute of this double deck bus tour and would certainly recommend it to visitors.

Playing tourist meant that I got the chance to visit the Tulip Festival TWICE over the weekend. I simply could not stop taking pictures. See what I mean?

And more…LOL

For more info:

Lady Dive Tours:  Reservations-  613 524 2221  PS. many tour options are available so please visit their website to learn more.

Tulip Festival – May 3 to 20th,2013  Ottawa/Gatineau

Ottawa Tourism

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This pop-up restaurant has been “on my list” for a while. (um, since early 2012 to be exact) I’ve read many positive reviews and have passed it by a gazillion times but for some reason it took me a LONG time to actually go there for a meal.

Finally last week – I had the opportunity! (applause)

Come and Get It  would certainly make it on my cheap and cheerful restaurant list for 2013, for several reasons.

a) I loved the space and their marketing  – funky and casual. Very appropriate for a restaurant at Spadina and Queen.

b) Two Step Menu – Gotta Love It. You can order everything as either a Salad or a Sandwich.

b) It’s Carb Free Friendly (which is perfect for someone like me). Therefore, I ordered the Hawaiian Pork Belly Salad. Everything about this salad “worked” and I was pretty happy with the generous portion too!

c) The service was amazing. When we walked into the restaurant we were warmly greeted and everything was explained to us.

d) Come and Get It is an environmentally friendly restaurant. The owner pointed out that the plastic bowls are made of corn and completely bio-degradable. #Impressed.

Here’s the catch – the owner is working on a monthly agreement since Dec. 2012 with his landlord. Therefore you need to COME AND GET IT – NOW!!

For further info:

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There’s lots of different ways to celebrate Mother’s Day!  As a foodie – the best way for me to spend Mother’s Day is to be surrounded by food!!! This year, I will be in Ottawa for Mother’s Day so I can celebrate this special day with my mom. She’s bit of a foodie herself  – lucky me – so this schedule will be ideal for both of us.

The day will go something like this:

9:00 am – pick up a few donuts from SuzQ Doughnuts

9:30 am — enjoy a cappucino from Illume Espresso

10:00 am – head over to Simply Biscotti for some black pepper  biscottis (not just buying one anymore)

10:00 am -11:00 am Quick visit to the Ottawa Farmer’s Market!

11:30 -12:30 Enjoy a visit with my Dad.  He’s a foodie too so we will be sharing our “goodies” with him

1:00 – visit Golden Palace for some epic eggrolls.

1:30 pm  -2:30 pm – Visit the Tulip Festival at Dows Lake

2:30 pm – hit the hightway

6:30 pm arrive in Toronto

7 pm head to Lotus Pond Chinese Vegetarian (3838 Midland Ave, Scarborough) to celebrate Mother’s Day with my daughter. For dessert we will be enjoying a Cold Stone Signature Ice Cream cake. I’ve always loved  ice cream cake and this will be the perfect way to end my day. We usually go to the Cold Stone that is located at 2005 Avenue Road  as I use to have a store at 1648 Avenue Road. To this day, I still visit Avenue Road on a regular basis even though I haven’t had the store for 10 years.

Can’t decide between the 6 inch $23.99 or the 8 inch cake ($33.99)!

I’m SO excited to be celebrating Mother’s Day in Ottawa that I’m going to be giving away a 6 inch Cold Stone Ice Cream Cake to one lucky reader. All you have to do is answer this question. Visit the Cold Stone website and leave a comment below, which flavour ice cream cake you would like to win.

The contest will run from May 7 to May 12th. The winner will be selected using random.org. The winner will have 7 days to contact me, otherwise another winner will be selected.

Happy Mother’s Day.

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I’ve just returned from a trip to Hartford Connecticut. I had the chance to hang out my amazing cousins at a bar mitzva AND I had  a chance to visit Trader Joe’s. The last time I went to a Trader Joe’s was in March 2012 while visiting Detroit.  Go figger that this is how I like to spend my spare time while visiting a city I have never been to!

Here’s a sample of my purchases:

–Shelf Stable Whipping Cream ($1.29) – Never know when I might need Whipping Cream last minute, right? Can’t wait to do a taste test and compare this product to refrigerated whipped cream. Stay tuned.

–Trader Joe’s Guacamole Kit: I coudn’t buy this kit due to restrictions about bringing in veggies over the border. But, don’t you think this is a brilliant idea? This contains all the ingredients you would need to make fresh guacamole. LOVE IT.

–Trader Joe’s Chile Spiced Mango:  ($1.99) I have no idea what I want to do with it but I know that I haven’t seen this type of dried fruit in Toronto. Right?

–Trader Joe’s Savoury Popcorn. ($1.99) This totally appealed to me as I’m all about flavour. Can’t wait to try it.

More items that I bought included: Beer $1.50 a bottle, a super amazing kitchen towel ($3.99), Tomato Basil Pasta Sauce $1.99, Crunchy Curls ($2.69), Chocolate bars (99 cents), Cheese and More. My bill was $81.44 to be exact. …so trust me, I did OK.

After my visit to Trader Joe’s, I sat at the pool at the Ramada to enjoy some sunshine. Also wanted to share with you that I purchased my hotel night using Hotwire and selected the Secret Hotel Optionl. I’ve done this only once before and had such a great experience that I did it again. Did I score? You Bet.  I scored a 3.5 star hotel in DOWNTOWN Hartford with a $63 a night room rate. #happiness

Next weekend: I’m off to Ottawa  to:

a) Celebrate Mother’s Day with my mom

b) See the Tulip Festival

c) Hang out at the Ottawa Farmer’s Market  on Sunday.

Can’t wait. So much to see – so little time!

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I will be honest. I have no time to write a long blog at the moment. Here’s why:

-I’ve been enjoying the sun (err…suntanning WITH sunscreen) and I think my brain is also suntanning.

-I’m off to Hartford Connecticut for a family bar mitzva and the only thing I can think about is #road trip

-I haven’t packed yet which means I’m scrambling at the moment!

So this is going to be a BRIEF blog post about my BRIEF breakfast this morning.

It all started with this cute little 5 minute breakfast sandwich maker from Hamilton Beach.

In the morning, I let this cute little appliance warm up for 5 minutes. I then assembled the ingredients into the cute appliance and put the timer on for 5 minutes. Notice, I’m using the word “cute”…over and over again. This appliance is truly adorable AND functional too!

BINGO – Breakfast.

Now only if I had 5 minutes to clean the sink!! Notice there is no picture of my sink…LOL

For more information: Please visit Hamilton Beach. They really do have an awesome line up of amazing appliances. Please note: that this cute 5 minute sandwich maker won’t be available till August. K?

One more thing: Thanks Fathcom Communications for inviting me to the Hamilton Beach #Social Media Kitchen event. It was nothing short of fabulous.

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As you know, I went to Jean-Talon Market last week. One of the items, I picked up was Kale. It was $2.50 and half the size of my arm – so I couldn’t resist. I knew I wanted to make a salad with it and headed over to google to see if I could find an interesting recipe to check out.

I swear I selected this recipe because the blogger made me laugh out loud. I’m being honest. This is what made me chuckle:

“I know you need another kale salad recipe like you need another artisanal pickle, but I swear you’ll love this one. And even if you don’t, I have a mixing technique to offer that you can apply to the other 37 kale salads in your life.”

Here’s the Kale and Anchovy Salad recipe that I found on a blog called  Food52.

INGREDIENTS:

1 small garlic clove
2 anchovies 
Salt and freshly ground black pepper 
1/2 Meyer (or regular) lemon ( I used a regular lemon)
4 tablespoons olive oil 
1/4 small red onion, very thinly sliced 
1/4 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves  (forgot to buy fresh and ended up using dried thyme)
6 cups packed lacinato (dinosaur) kale

 

1. In a mortar and pestle, mash the garlic and anchovy with a pinch of salt to a paste. Blend in the juice from half a Meyer lemon. Then beat in the olive oil. It should semi-emulsify; don’t worry if it doesn’t. (For some reason, I used my cuisinart).

2.  In a small bowl, combine the onion and thyme leaves with a large pinch of salt, then rub the salt into the onions using your hands. Let sit for 10 minutes.

3. Put the kale in a large bowl.  Add the onion and thyme. Pour in half the dressing and using your hands, mix the greens — really get in there and work the salad;

You should almost knead the greens so they break down a bit and the dressing fully coats the leaves. Taste and add more salt, lemon juice, or dressing, as needed. Let the salad sit for 15-20 minutes. Taste and adjust once more. Then spread on a platter and serve.

NOTE: I decided to add a hard boiled egg for added protein and I also decided to add a touch of balsamic vinegar to the dressing

FINAL PRODUCT …(err,,,,my uber healthy lunch)

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This past weekend I went to Montreal to visit a good friend and to visit Jean-Talon Market. I had NO other agenda. It also helped that I had a friend do the driving!! (thanks M)

The trip started off with a quick visit to Buster Rhinos in Whitby. I ordered the pulled pork sandwich (as always) but also had the opportunity to try their EPIC BBQ ribs. Why oh why have I never tried these ribs before? Will now be ordering both items. It will not be a discussion!

I have stopped off at Buster Rhinos on almost every trip to Ottawa or Montreal.

When I went to  Jean-Talon Market, I bought the following:

-Lime Basil Macaron: not sure I tasted the basil but was pretty happy with my macaron

-Bourgot:a member of the conch family and not easily found in Toronto

-Quebec Beer: was not easy to select from the massive selection but I did it. LOL. Bought a gluten free beer…go figger.

-Non Homogenized Cream : haven’t tried it yet but something tells me it’s going to be wicked. Can you see the numbers: 45%

I also picked up:

-a few new cheeses: La Tome A rudy, Mont Vully and a few more

-Australian Fingerlime : definitely hard to find this in Toronto

-Almond Croissants from Kouign-Aman :I’ve been here on my last trip but HAD to return to get my dose of these freakin’ amazing croissants.

-Pear and Coriander yogurt: sounds amazing, doesn’t it? Can you tell I like unusual flavour combinations?

The trip continued with yet a few more purchases:

–Cafe In : for a much needed cafe au lait!!

-Sorry can’t remember where the olives were from but they are stuffed with ORANGE PEEL. Never seen this in Toronto either

–Chez Louis: Purchased black garlic on my last trip and went back for another bulb. Can’t wait to roast this bulb and serve it to guests.

As you can tell, I had an amazing time wandering thru Jean-Talon Market. No shortage of goodies here!!

Please note: Also came home with four bagels from St. Viateur and a tub of butter from La Ferme de Patrimonie! Don’t get me started about this butter…it’s that good!

For More Information:

Buster Rhinos Southern BBQ: (for da best bbq) 2001 Thickson Road, Whitby, ON

Koenig Aman Bakery : (for the freakin’ amazing croissants) 322 Mont Royal Est, Montreal Quebec

Jean-Talon Market:

Les Delices De La Mer (for the bourgot)

Le Marche des Saveur  Du Quebec (for local Quebec beer , cheese,and other local goodies)

Fromagerie Hamel; Butter, Cream, Cheese

Chez Louis (for unusual produce)

Brulerie aux Quatre Vents (for the macarons)

Coffee: Cafe In

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