I’ve tried hard over the years, to make it to the Canadian Tulip Festival in Ottawa. I decided to take Friday and Tuesday off of work and visit Ottawa AND Montreal. This particular blog post will be dedicated to the Ottawa segment of the trip.

As always, the first thing I did upon arriving in Ottawa was to stop at Golden Palace (2195 Carling Ave) for an egg roll (or two). Please google “best egg rolls in the world”,….guess what appears?

It also dawned on me that I hadn’t been to Perth for a while so on Saturday we headed to this charming city to visit their farmer’s market.

Naturally I wanted to buy something and this product intrigued me. I’m thinking of putting it on a piece of salmon and then baking it. What do you think?

I didnt’ buy this Loon Kombucha but I should have! #next time

After the farmers market we drove back to Ottawa and went directly to Dow’s Lake to visit the tulips. Please forgive me but I’m going to bore you with a few photos of some beautiful tulips.

See what I mean? One flower is more stunning than the next one!

I can’t decide which photo I like best.

I had a little bit of energy left to drop by Seed to Sausage (729 Gladstone) to pick up a bottle of this root beer syrup by Michael’s Dolce. I had been seeing this product on Instagram and was waiting to return to Ottawa to pick up a bottle, so I was thrilled that I have my hands on it!!

 After our quick trip to Ottawa, we proceeded to Montreal.

Stay tuned for Long Weekend: Montreal – Part 2.

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Toronto has no shortage of fabulous events. Here’s a few that are on my radar for the month of May!

1 Massey Centre invites the community to attend its first “Cook for New Lives” gala fundraiser. This event is taking place at George Brown College Hospitality and Culinary Arts Centre on Wednesday May 4th from 6 to 9 pm.  Tickets are available for $99 which includes a cocktail reception, gourmet cuisine, no-host bar and silent auction.

2. Toronto Jewish Film Festival. (May 5th to May 15th).  I’ve been attending this festival for a few years now and every year I attend a few films that leave a huge impression on me. Can’t wait.

3. My favourite Sample Sale is coming up. This sale will feature Fall/Winter clothes for the upcoming season and it should NOT be missed. TRUST ME.

4. Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival.(May 1- 31, 2016) Did you know that CONTACT is the largest photography event in the world and features over 1500 artists in 200 exhibitions? I’ve never gone (believe it or not) but I’m really going to try this year and attend one of the many exhibits across the city.

5. Appleseed Cider Festival. Need I say more?

6.  The Canadian Tulip Festival. I know it’s not in Toronto but I just had to include this festival. It’s well worth the drive to see this spectacular event which features over a million tulips in 50 varieties blooming in public spaces across the National Capital Region.

Like I said, there’s no shortage of things to do in May.

ENJOY.

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It’s that time of year when I get super busy going to as many events as possible so I can embrace Spring and Summer as much as I can.

Here we go:

1. Currently I’m busy watching as many films as I can at the Toronto Jewish Film Festival, which is taking place till May 10th. I’ve watched the first three episodes of the Israeli hit TV Series “Hostages” and will be back for more!! Seeing as I’ve just returned from Israel…this is the perfect festival for me.

2. I’m off to Ottawa on Sunday May 10th to see the Canadian Tulip Festival. I think this Festival which is taking place May 8 to 18th, is nothing short of spectacular… so I try not to miss it. Check out http://tulipfestival.ca/ for more details.

2. On Saturday May 9th it’s the Mount Pleasant Village 3rd Annual Kids’ Fun Day. Nothing beats a community festival. Not to mention, I’m a huge fan of the restaurants/bakeries along this street!! Check out www.mountpleasantvillage.ca for more info about all the fun events that will be taking place.

3. Recently I was introduced to U-Feast. Their tag line is:  Exclusive Food and Wine Experiences for people with a passion for life. UM…Hello…That’s ME!!  Lucky me, I will be attending their upcoming event on May 19th called: Campagnolo’s Greatest Hits 2010 and 2015.  Believe it or not, I’ve never been to this restaurant so I’m super excited. Check out their website for more details  about all their upcoming events. www.ufeast.com

4. The Stop’s Night Market will be taking place on June 17 and 18th at a new location!(181 Sterling). This event will SELL OUT fast. This is what you need to know: Mark down – May 13th at noon and PRE REGISTER your account. Important details are here:  http://nightmarket.thestop.org/#details. Seriously this event is NOT to be missed.

5. The Social Good Conference, on May 25th and May 26th at the Telus Centre, has caught my interest too. I especially like the “pay it forward” registration fee. Not to mention there’s a wide variety of speakers.

Have I missed any other events. LOL. I’m sure there’s lots more!!

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I am so lucky to be regularly visiting a city that has such great food. The trip was carefully planned so I could celebrate Mothers Day with my mom, as well as enjoy great food (once again) and see the Canadian Tulip Festival (which is taking place May 6 to 23).

Let’s begin with the food: A trip to Ottawa would not be complete with a visit to the Byward Market. I associate the Byward Market with Beavertails and with Maple Syrup Cones. (childhood memories).

I also went to visit the Byward Fruit Market store and to my delight found this unusal looking product that I have never seen before. I gave it to my mom as a Mothers Day gift . (its so great to have foodie parents). We loved the texture and the flavor and were eager to try it on more foods (ie a piece of dark chocolate). YUM.

Molecular Gastronomy in a Jar. Available in 16 different flavors.

I also visited the Red Apron to see their new location. The new space is stunning. PLUS…they now carry my favorite butter  (Beurre de Patrimonie) that I had been bringing back from Montreal.  I was squealing with delight that it is now in Ontario, so I happily bought three tubs to bring back to Toronto.

Love their new location. A stunning space.

I also made sure that I snuck in a visit to Art-is-in Bakery, so I could enjoy a coffee and an incredible croissant with a twitter friend (@kleggett). The place was busy the entire hour we were there and for good reason!! This bakery rocks.

heavenly breads

A trip to Ottawa wouldnt be complete without a tweet up so I could shmooze with some local foodies. The tweet up  for this particular visit, was held at Jacobsons Gourmet Store and everyone enjoyed their charming hospitatlity as well as some great food…fig balls, jam, crackers, charcuterie, cheese, refreshments and desserts. I especially loved the gift bags that they gave to each attendee. How thoughtful!!

cheese is always a crowd pleaser....

Next to Jacobsons is ZaZas pizza. I had read a review on Nooschi.com ,so I met some friends there before the tweet up to try the mushroom pizza with truffle oil. It was perfect. Demolished the whole pizza along with 4 lactose pills.

inhaled the whole pizza..

The trip ended with a visit to Landsdowne Park Farmers Market on Sunday and it was PACKED at 10:30 a.m. It was a gorgeous sunny day and it was mother’s day. I tried some organic cucumbers, some paneer from Curry Home Soon and welcomed Pascales Ice cream to twitter.

As for the tulip fesitval. The tulips weren’t quite open. (sadness). We stopped at Dows Lake and managed to find one patch close to our car. I have no doubt that in a week the tulips will all be open and it will be spectacular.

Our timing was off..but atleast I found this patch

Tulips or no tulips…it was a great visit!! As always.

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