Travel Throwback: Rivière du Loup ( Bon Voyage Pizza )

This adorable stand-alone pizza place on rue Lafontaine seriously has the best pizza in ever-charming Rivière du Loup.

Eating through CNE

Canadian National Exhibition is the annual carnival/festival/ full-out party that I attend with my brother. This was the first place we went together at night without my parents some years ago. I remember that year it was to see Lights in concert, but pre-show I remember totally blown away by The Food Building.

Bacon Pancakes !

The Breakfast Club (can we be called the Breakfast Club?) unites again.

This time, not over any particular sadness, but after being gone for five weeks, this was simply necessary.

 

Since we had extra batter leftover at the end, we sliced up some bananas and threw on some chocolate chips for chocolate/banana pancakes as well. We also cooked the bacon pancakes with a dash of brown sugar. You would be surprised how well that combination works! 

Adventure Time (almost) tells no lies.

Travel Throwback: Québec City ( Point d'Exclamation )

Amongst all the eating we did in Quebec City, sometimes you need to take a break to immerse yourself into the cutest, pastel-est boutiques you've ever seen. If soft pink, mint green, baby blue, and all things cute are your kind of scene, Point d'Exclamation is definitely for you.

Macaron attempt 01

Oh what a tragic tale this is.

We started with so many cookies; everything was going well and it was all so exciting to try to make french macarons for the first time. Where I went wrong was setting the temperature too high. The cookies baked too quickly which either burned the cookies all together or created air bubbles inside the shells. Super bummer. I'm really glad they at least developed nice macaron feet. Plus they don't look half bad in the photos. The ones that made it out alive didn't taste half bad either! I think I'll wait another four years until attempting this again though.

Halloween prep !

Today I took the time to do the usual; run some errands, tidy up the house, work on some assignments, conjure up some fake blood........

This got me so excited for Halloween this year! I'm really glad this fake blood recipe I picked works so well. It's simply a teaspoon each of honey and cocoa powder (this blood is delicious) and as much red food colouring as it takes.

I also tried creating fake wounds/peeled skin with liquid glue since I don't want to buy liquid latex. Once it dried, I just stretched my face around until the edges of the glue came loose and applied fake blood underneath. The darkest parts are simply rough sketches using black eyeliner. I'm not too sure if I'll have a specific outfit with this (it would work just fine with my uniform) but it's a lot of fun to scare my brother with this.

What are your Halloween plans for 2013?

[ Liberty Noodle, Toronto ]

Eaton Centre's food court has undergone quite the transformation. Gone are the sketch, low quality fast food joints and in with the great variety of food from all over. My weakness; noodle soup. 

During our first rdl-reunion, we stopped in the food court for a quick dinner before leaving. Liberty Noodle is focused in noodles of all kind with no msg added which is a plus. 

My order resulted in a giant bowl of spicy beef soup with us on noodles. I thought it was cool that you could customize your order the way you want. Options include the noodles; ramen or udon,  pork, chicken or beef, different levels of spiciness in the soup, but no matter what you get, there is no MSG added. I think one of my selling points was the passive pile of bean sprouts, cilantro and green onions they put on top. Compared to the new noodle place in Square One, Liberty Noodle takes the metaphorical cake. 

I'll be arranging another RDL meet up at Eaton's so I can enjoy this beast of a bowl again. The price tag was just a bit over nine dollars which is reasonable especially for the size you get.

When Pies Fly [ Wanda's Pie in the Sky, Toronto ]

Located at 287 Augusta Avenue, in the ever-charming Kensington Market Toronto, Wanda's is an adorable corner store filled to with brim with pies, muffins, pastries, brownies, cakes, and cookies.

On the little trip I made with Daniel, a couple years ago on a trip with our art class, we stopped by; unable to resist  the unique setting of this whimsical pie shop.

Strawberry rhubarb pie was the obvious first choice! Super delicious crust and flavorful filling.

Nom.

Sticking to my chocoholic roots, I got the brownie that came with pieces of nouget on top and caramel.

End of meal means end of post. If you're ever in Kensington, Wanda's Pie in the Sky is pretty hard to miss.

Where ice cream rules [ Dairy King, Mississauga ]

On relatively cooler, summer days, my friend and I enjoy biking down to Lakeshore Boulevard to check out the cute shops and places to eat. Since Dairy Cream was a bit far off for a bike (plus we were so tired) we decided to check out Dairy King instead.

Travel Throwback: Rivière du Loup, QC ( Mini-putt )

"Casse croute" roughly translate to fast food or snack bar, which is something Québec does not take lightly. There's something about calling a fast food establishment "casse croute" that suddenly makes it cooler. More Québec.

And when in Québec, are you truly in Québec until you've tried the poutine? Non. 

Bienvenue au Mini-putt!

Summer daze

Just a few more photos from this summer! I spent a day with very nice weather, a good friend, a patch of grass, and the great view of a Wal-Mart loading zone.

This was when I returned from Quebec for about a week (after my post-rdl depression). Since I wasn't in town during my birthday, I was not able to redeem my free-Panera-pastry. Naturally, this was one of the first things I did when I was ready to leave my house again.

This is also what you would call, "The Enlightenment of Peach Muffins" 

Travel Throwback: Rivière du Loup, QC ( Brulerie de l'Est )

My Travel throwbacks of RDL are going to be in a little series since for five weeks, you tend to eat your way around this little town. Asides from that, I actually have SO many Travel Throwbacks from Québec. I never even realized until I was going through my photos to compost posts again. Anyway, commencez!

This is one of the first little places (besides Maxi) we bought food from! Summer means ice cream and what better ice cream than flavoured soft serve from a cute girl who doesn't know English.

For some further background, I was in Quebec for five weeks this summer on a French immersion program where I was quite literally immersed into the French language in order to learn it better and faster. That was honestly a fantastic experience because what I got out of it was not only the ability to throw some mad French shade, but the people I met and the friendships I formed are truly worth it beyond comprehension.

And now... bienvenue au Brulerie de l'Est!

Located on Rue Lafontaine, RDL, Brulerie de l'Est has provided me with lots of ice cream over those five weeks. There is a coffee shop/bakery located inside, but there is a window where you can order one of the many choices of it's ice cream menu. One of the main features is the large variety of soft serve ice cream.

"24 or more flavours of soft ice cream"

"Amaretto, apricot, banana, butter pecan, peanut, blueberry, espresso, caramel, black cherry, blackberry

maple syrup, lemon

Cream of mint (it's mint), chocolate almond

strawberry, black raspberry, cheesecake, coconut, orange, peach, pina colada, pistachio, rum, "tutti frutti"

Phew! All twenty-four are available daily for no more than three dollars for a small size. The small isn't even small. Depending on the flavour, these can be quite difficult to finish, especially you've gone after a big meal. Don't even let me mention the extra large size. We almost ordered one just to see how large it would actually be. 

A "petit" yeah right that is not small

I've tried peach and chocolate almond which were both alright. I usually have bad luck with making choices anyway. I heard good things about the blackberry, tutti frutti, pina colada, pistachio, and cheesecake. Then again, if it's hot and you want ice cream, Brulerie de l'Est is the place to be. It's only a short walk from la residence where rooms can also be rented out to travelers. 

One day we were feeling rather spontaneous and decided to try something weird on the menu called "poutine sundae". Honestly, I'm not sure what we expected, but the weather was pretty stemy that day so it was good regardless. It's an epic pile of ice cream, caramel popcorn, chocolate wafer cookies, marshmallows (cheese curds) and caramel sauce (gravy). Just something interesting to try especially if you enjoy caramel.

I can't say much about the inside, but I'm almost certain they have free wifi, and isn't that all we ever need?

(Brulerie de l'Est, tu me manques)

Thanksgiving Snapshots

For Thanksgiving this year, my parents and I took it easy and relaxed on Thanksgiving day. We went to visit my parents' high school friends at one of their houses. They live on a farm about twenty minutes from Hilton Falls Conservation Park. We've been lucky with the weather lately (no rain storms to knock off all the leaves) so the day was spent on a relaxing hike, surrounded by the colours of autumn.

Enjoy these snapshots from the day of. I hope you had a relaxing Thanksgiving or Columbus day. Either way, it was a nice day off for most of us. 

That night we went to a dessert café after dinner. Every year, we're too lazy to do anything significant, dinner-wise so we seriously just re-heated leftovers. The dessert café was a nice treat though! I'll be posting about it fairly soon. 

A sweet birthday.

This year, my birthday was a bit strangely dated since I wasn't going to be in town on the day of my actual birthday. Before I left for Quebec for July, I invited my friends over for food, The Game of Life, and various card games. Some of the things I prepared with my friend the day before include bean burgers, various appatizers, and definitely dessert.

Ways to go wrong with decorating with fresh flowers: 0

Those paintings on the wall are actually all painted by my dad! He took up painting many years ago as a hobby and it seriously blows my mind every time. He's a super talented guy.

I'm not going to lie because those cookies are those Pilsbury cookie dough cylinders because those are just too dang good to pass up. One year, a friend bought a tube of cookie dough for me for Christmas. Dang that was a good year.

Waste not, want not.

The brownies were made using the same recipe as my Baking for Bakesales post and were really good. Too bad most people were too full by the end of it to really enjoy them. I definitely enjoyed the leftovers the next day.

See you next post! 

Whole Wheat Peach Muffins

After my episode of enlightenment courtesy of Panera's peach muffins, I decided to make some peach muffins to serve as a quick breakfast before I headed out to volunteering around 8:30. The recipe has been altered from cookthink.

These muffins are exceptionally moist thanks to the chunks of peach and you don't need as much sugar as you'd think since the peaches also make up in sweetness. 

Almost anything looks good in early morning sunlight. 

Recipe makes twelve muffins.

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup brown sugar + extra for topping
• 2 tablespoons cinnamon 
• 2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup milk
• 1/3 cup oil (vegetable, coconut, etc)
• about 2 cups of peaches, chopped (fresh, frozen and thawed, canned)

1. Preheat oven to 400F. Line your muffin tins with muffin cups. 

2. In a large bowl, mix the dry ingredients together. In a separate bowl, whisk the wet ingredients together until incorporated and thickened. Add wet to dry and gently fold the until the flour is moistened and there are no dry spots. 

3. Add the chopped peaches and fold in gently.

4. Fill muffin cups 3/4 of the way with the batter. Sprinkle with extra brown sugar, and add extra peach pieces on top if desired. 

5. Bake for 18-22 minutes, or until lightly browned and a toothpick comes out clean. The centers should also bounce back when pressed lightly.

Long live the peach!

Travel Throwback: Montréal, QC

An evening was spent in Montréal this past summer en route to Rivière du Loup. We entrusted Yelp with our sole meal in Montreal and it did not disappoint.

Bienvenu au Kazu!

Homage.

to the legendary Kraft dinner; fueling me for too many meals during the hard nights.

What's a food you connect with simultaneous comfort and regret?

Pizza roll kind of summer

Pizza rolls, ranch dressing and Nestea under the sun. I made these with whole wheat flour and the filling include tomato sauce, red peppers, onions, garlic and marble cheese.  

Summer is seriously winding down. I'm savoring what day light we have left.

See you tomorrow!

Travel Throwback: Key Largo, FL

This throwback truly is thrown quite far back. My cousin was married in Key Largo, Florida during the December of 2011. Needless to say, I ate a lot of food
. Also included in this post is a bit about meeting internet friends in the outernet.

Thai Can't Believe It Either [ Twin Fish, Mississauga ]

Oh what a great place for Thai food.

Twin Fish was introduced to me by my mother who frequents this place with her co-workers. Although it's a bit out of my way to visit, the visit is always worth it.

.

The lamb curry was just divine; made with coconut milk and served with aromatic coconut rice. This was the high light of the meal for me! I'm coming back this winter just to have it again.

Spicy seafood noodles; not my favourite thing on the menu. It felt very regular-chinese-take away with the starchy sauce, but it had a good level of heat to it.

The pad thai here is really good! Not too oily, but a very bold flavour. Reccomended.

We've also ordered their smoothies which was really good. You can either get strawberry or mango, or a combination of both.

For their lunch special, they offer rice with grilled chicken and a side mango salad. I've never gone for lunch, but the leftovers my mother had brought back are fantastic. Also, keep in mind they are closed Sundays.

80 Courtneypark Dr E, Mississauga

See you tomorrow! 

UB hungry? [ Union Burger, Mississauga ]

Newly opened right in central Mississauga, this Union Burger has marked the beginning of the gourmet burger uprising of Canada's sixth largest city. After Toronto's apparent gourmet-burger epidemic (Burger Priest, Holy Chuck, Burgernator) I was hardly surprised when this little gem popped up.

Being one of the first gourmet burger chains in Sauga, I decided to give it a try with a friend of mine.

Here we go.