Even though the Chai Bar is less than 4 km from where I live, I had never been there till recently! Don’t ask. I’m not happy that it took me so long to get there….at ALL!!!

It’s tucked behind the Indian Rice Factory and you probably pass it ALL THE TIME but just didn’t know it was there!! So today I decided not to drive by and take the time to find a parking spot and go in.

Soon as I opened the door I was impressed. The space is simply perfect and very fitting for a Chai Bar. I ordered a chai latte (how could I not?) and was blown away  to see the waitress using a mortar and pestle to grind up the spices. My latte was perfectly hot and was the REAL DEAL.

 

What I loved most about the Chai Bar is their outdoor patio. Guess who is going to be hanging out a lot at this place over the summer? Isn’t it perfect?…well it’s almost perfect…throw in some SUNSHINE, greenery and some cushions!!  I just wanted to give you an idea!

I also enjoyed the free wifi so I could work while enjoying my  chai latte.  Because I was so impressed, I spoke  the owner to discus a tweet up for Cofficers (errr…for freelancers who work from coffee shops). Stay tuned.

For more info:

Chai Bar: 414 Dupont St, Toronto (647) 748 -2424

Hours: Monday to Friday 830-500 pm, Saturday and Sunday 930-500 pm

Facebook: www.facebook.com

 

A few years ago I attended a cousins wedding and was introduced to some new people who were sitting at my table.

A few years later, that same cousin had a baby shower and  I recognized one of the people that I had met at the wedding. We said hello, started to chat and I discovered that she recently took courses in millinery!!  Not only did she learn this skill but she started a hat business called Wild Work Designs.

She shows me her beautiful brochure, and before you know it, I offered to host a hat party for her! I’ve hosted a lot of parties before but this was my first “hat party”. I liked how my dining room table looked with all the beautiful hats displayed!!

My guests walked in the door and immediately started to try on different hats. It was so much fun!

It was truly a hoot to see everyone trying on different hats.

   A party wouldn’t be a party with out food but I realized afterwards that everyone was so focussed on the hats that hardly anyone ate anything!!

It was a lot of fun to host my first “hat party! I can’t wait to watch this business grow.

For more info:

Wild Work Designs (the website is stunning – so please take a peek at this website)

Twitter: @hatsbywildworks

Tel: 416 220 1490

 

It’s been an interesting week!

I spent five days in Ottawa for the first time in decades and it wasn’t enough time! SO much to do….so little time!!

Sadly I was sick on the weekend (see previous post). But the minute I felt better, I went to have a beer at Les 3 Brasseurs. I think this new location at 240 Sparks is nothing but brilliant!

On Monday and Tuesday night, I celebrated Passover with my parents. Highlights of my meal consisted of: gefilte fish, matza, eggs with salt water and chicken soup with matza balls. I  also had some delicious chopped liver from Creative Kosher Catering that I wish we had in Toronto.

 

On Monday and Tuesday: I hung out in a variety of coffee shops so I could work. (Thanks to my twitter friends @foodieprints @AMWATERS for the suggestions)

–Bridgehead (130 Anderson and 109 Bank St….went to both locations)

-Starbucks at Woodroffe and Carling

–Happy Goat (35 Laurel)

-Illume Espresso Bar  (1433 Wellington St).

-Simply Biscotti ( 307 Richmond St.)

I got a lot of work done and was well caffeinated.

Plus, I managed to give my first twitter lesson in Ottawa!

Hopefully will be back in Ottawa so I can enjoy the Tulip Festival  (May 3-20th) . Hopefully I will  drink more beer and less coffee on my next trip. So many new beer restaurants have opened and I really need to check them out. #lovebeer

 

 

A “Random Rant”  about a whole bunch of stuff that has happened to me in the last week:

-I bought myself an iPhone 5 as an early birthday gift. One of the only reasons I wanted an iPhone 5 was to take take better pictures for my blog! Time will tell. Still trying to sync everything over from my iphone 4. Wish me luck.

-Usually I buy  Belkin products to protect my iPhone and my iPad, however I decided to buy a hard covered case for $12. I returned it to Staples 30 minutes after purchasing it as 4 people could NOT remove the case. Lesson Learned. (ps the staff at Staples were amazing)

-Usually I go to the Apple store to buy all my accessories, but was already at Staples and bought a Belkin car charger for my new iphone. Guess what? It doesn’t work  either and I’m pretty sure I threw out the receipt and the box. #nothappy. Again, lesson learned.

-I’m in Ottawa at the moment and arrived with a nasty cold. I brought medicine with me as I knew I was getting sick and this stuff  (err, Tylenol Cold) SAVED me. I took a dosage on Friday night at 11 pm and took another dosage in the middle of the night. Guess who woke up on Saturday at 2 pm. Guess who also had a nap between 6 and 8 pm?

-This is totally random: My parents live in a condo in downtown Ottawa and the cost of using the laundry machine is $1.25. My laundry machine in mid town Toronto is $2.25. Can someone explain this  to me?

-I went to the National Home Show/Canada Blooms last week. Why did it take me 17 years to go to Canada Blooms? #lessonlearned….won’t be missing it again.

-My mom went on a cruise and came back with a Kipling hand bag for me. I have no idea what this is but apparently my 74 year old mom knows her “labels”.

 

So how was my random blog? did you like it or should I stick to recipes and restaurants and food products? LOL

 

I received an invitation to an event called “Taste of Iceland” that was going to be held at the Drake Hotel, from March 21-24, 2013. I have to admit, that it was the cocktail listed on the invitation that really caught my attention. Specifically, I am talking about the “Sons and Daughters” cocktail that was going to be served that night!

What’s in the drink? Let’s see …some pretty interesting ingredients! Reyka vodka, aquavit, lemon juice and caraway seeds, muddled thyme, and sea butckthorn syrup.

Not your average cocktail. I RSVP’ed very quickly – “Please add my name to your guest list”.

Not only did I enjoy my cocktail (or two), but I enjoyed multiple servings of EVERYTHING.

The evening started off with:

-Hardifskur  w/Icelandic butter (I would travel to Iceland just for this butter!!)

-Grilled Icelandic Langoustine, with garlic, butter and herbs

-Atlantic Shrimp and Lumpfish Caviar, with pickled vegetables and citrus vinaigrette

-Deep Fried Crispy Balls of Cod Potatoes with “Sol” mayonaisse

-Pickled Herring on sweet rye bread, curry dressing, green apples and spring onions (I had 3 of these).

The main courses included:

-Naturally Raised Icelandic Salmon – cold smoked salmon with grainy mustard dressing, sour cream dill oil, and Icelandic rye bread

-Free Range Iclelandic Lamb – seared Icelandic lamb filet with glazed root vegetables, juniper berry infused lamb jus and wild Icelandic blueberry herb dust.

I inhaled EVERYTHING. My table mate, Adam Mazerall from View the Vibe actually said ” he never saw someone devour something so quickly.

Needless to say, I barely had breakfast or lunch the following day!!

For those who can’t hop on a plane tomorrow and head to Iceland – please head to the Drake Hotel from March 21-24 to experience the food and the culture of Iceland. In the meantime, I think I’m going to add Iceland to my bucket list of places I want to visit!!

Drake Hotel 1150 Queen St. West Toronto 416 531 5042

Taste of Iceland: on Twitter: @IcelandNaturally

On Monday March 18th, I reached 5,000 followers on Twitter. This is a big deal for me. Really. Therefore, I want to say THANK YOU to everyone who reads my blog via facebook or twitter or email. I started my blog in October 2010 and it’s been an incredible journey. In fact Samsung saw my passion for blogging  (and my zest for life ) and selected me and a handful of others to attend an event last year that was truly inspirational.

I was sincerely touched that Samsung had reached out to me. They even offered me a Samsung Notebook Series 9  to give away to one of my readers!! Guess what? The time has come to say thank you and run this “thank you contest”.

Contest Rules

The contest will be open to anyone in Canada and will run from March 19 and will end at noon on April 2nd.  (which is a great way to celebrate my birthday – with gratitude). The winner will have another 7 days to contact me via email, otherwise I will select another winner. I will use www.random.org to select the winner.

All you have to do is answer the following question:  How many computers are in your household? Just leave a comment on my blog!!

Wishing everyone the best of luck and once again….THANK YOU for supporting @momwhoruns

For More Information:

Twitter: @SamsungCanada

Facebook: www.facebook.com/SamsungCanada

Website: Samsung.com/ca

My weekend was indeed full of amazing adventures. That’s what’s life is all about, non?

It started off on Saturday morning, with a trip to Bruce’s Mill Conservation area for some amazing pancakes with maple syrup and a short hike. I’ve been participating in maple syrup festival since I was a child and it’s one of my favorite Spring time activities. The Maple Syrup Festival continues till April 7th. Advice: wear snowboots or rain boots

On Sunday morning, I went to check out The Big Cannoli for their famous fresh filled cannoli. I found out about this place from @ali_bidabadi who tweets about this place, practivally every Saturday morning (along with photos of the cannoli). After reading these tweets, I knew that I wanted to drive to Woodbridge one Sunday morning to check it out! Ali knows his cannoli – this place is da best.

On Sunday afternoon, I went to the Firkin to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. I was looking for a mid town bar that served Molson 67 and the Firkin is the answer! Believe it or not this was my first time having a green beer. Sadly I didn’t discover that they served Deep Fried Pickles till I was on my way out. (how did I miss that on the menu?) Looks like I will need to return!

For more information:

Bruce’s Mill Conservation area 3291 Stouffville Road,  Stouffville ON (905) 887-5531

The Big Cannoli, 28 Roytec Road Unit 11 (905) 850 6699

Quail & Firkin, 1055 Yonge St. (416) 962 0782

 

I went out on Wednesday  night with a fellow food blogger (@th3hungrycat)  to a new restaurant called Aft Kitchen & Bar. (which of course I will be blogging about). She recognized another foodie  that was sitting at the bar, so we went went over to say hi. We chatted about food, exchanged business cards, twitter handles etc.

On Thursday, I exchanged a few emails with @MoezKassam regarding food events and foodies he might want to follow on twitter. One of the events that I forwarded to him was a Local Food Movement event at  Jamie Kennedys’ Gilead Cafe featuring Dillon’s Distillers.

Next thing you know I am hanging out with this fun group of foodies at the event!

Of course, I am also drinking some featured $5 drinks!! (thanks again@moezkassam)

What’s unique about Dillon’s Distillers is that they are LOCAL and located in Beamsville Ontario. Not to mention they are using local ingredients for their products. (rye, gin, bitters and vodka too)  Trust me, as soon as the weather warms up I will be driving out there to visit the distillery and get a tour. In the meantime, please visit their website. (which I love by the way).

It was a fantastic partnership to hold the event at Jamie Kennedy’s kitchen as he is a huge supporter of the local food movement. I was thrilled that I had the opportunity to attend this great event and hang out with some amazing foodies.

For more info:

Dillon’s Distillers, 4833 Tufford Road, Beamsville ON (905) 563 3030

Gilead Cafe, 4 Gilead Toronto (647) 288 0680

Aft Kitchen & Bar 686 Queen St East, Toronto (647) 346 1541

 

I have slowly crawled thru many ramen restaurants over the last year.

To be honest I have been going to Ajisen Ramen (Yonge/Sheppard) for many many years.

Last summer/Fall? I went to Kinton Ramen and then this winter I hit  Sansotei, Sansouka, Ryoji and A-OK ! Full disclosure, I am not a “ramen” expert so I’m not even going to talk about the broth, the texture of the ramen, or the garnishes. I’m just going to say that I would return to all of the above restaurants in a nano second. Please note, that these restaurants are hugely popular with line ups at 8 pm in -15 weather!! My recommendation: go early!!

Here’s a few photos to give you an idea of my ramen crawl.

PS Thank you to my friends who went with me to these Ramen Restaurants. You are all troopers!! (and good friends)

For Further Information:

Sansotei 179 Dundas St. West, Toronto (647) 748 3833

Santouka 91 Dundas East, Toronto (647) 748 1717

Ajisen Ramen 5229 Yonge St, 322 Spadina, 7010 Warden Ave.

A-OK Foods (Ramen and Snack Bar) 930 Queen St. West (647) 352-2243

Kinton Ramen 51 Baldwin St, Toronto (647) 748-8900

Ryoji Ramen & Isakaya 692  College St. Toronto, (416) 533-8083

 

I’ve been a fan of Macarons ever since I tried one a few years ago. For those of you who haven’t tried one, here’s what you need to know. They are small round discs that are made of egg whites, almond flour and sugar and filled with a ganache that can be ANY flavour. I was told from La Bamboche that their top selling macaron is caramel sea salt. Other flavours you might find include: chocolate, matcha, strawberry, lavender and more. I’m ALL about flavour so these delicate treats have my name all over it!!

Now let’s talk about Macaron Day TO. Firstly this is a world wide event that takes place on March 20th. Toronto is now participating for their second year in a row.  The event is spearheaded by  Michel Firanski, from La Bamboche, however 18 different patisseries are involved!! 25% of sales that day will be donated to the Red Door Family Shelter. All you have to do is visit one of the patisseries on March 20th for your FREE macaron. (which will be limited at each location). Truly – this is an amazing event. Last year close to  $6500 was raised and I’m sure this year, that number will increase.

Today  I went to CHIN TV to hear Lisa from Le Dolci, who spoke about Macaron Day TO on the Festival Italiano di Johnny Lombardi show. Many thanks to @Ali_Bidabadi for making this happen!! Here’s a lovely photo of Andrea (on the left) who is the host of the show, interviewing Lisa (on the right).

 

Hope everyone gets a chance to participate in Macaron Day TO on March 20th. I will be hanging out at La Bamboche that day – eating a Macaron or two or three or four…LOL

For Further info:

Twitter: @macarondayTO

Facebook: www.facebook.com/macaron

Website: www.macarondayto.com