A Merry Mat Leave Christmas : Toronto Christmas Market

I'm not normally one to brag about the sweet things my husband does for me but this one I have to share.

He knows I love Christmas.

He begrudgingly got and put up our tree earlier than usual this year so we could have it for the bad sweater party. 

On Friday he said he wanted to take me out on a date on Saturday.

We went to the Christmas Market, the most beautiful place during the holidays with all of its lights and christmas carols, warm drinks and inviting smells. 

While we wandered in the market he told me that this was day one of his 12 days of Christmas for me.

Earlier in the day he had gone shopping and after wrapping them up, plopped a bag of gifts under the tree. I assumed these were the gifts for his family being kept separate.

Nope.

All gifts for me to last the remaining days until Christmas.

He is the sweetest. 

I love that man. 

Our evening at the market was wonderful.

We had apple cider (with whiskey for the one who isn't pregnant) (I miss you, mulled wine) and shared a giant soft pretzel cuddled under a heat lamp.

This is the second year we've gone and the second year that we didn't buy anything other than food and drink. But it's so beautiful that walking around is more than enough. 

If you get a chance, check it out before it's gone!

It's open daily until December 21st 

Countdown to Baby E's due date: 8 days!

Let's Go To (the food building at) The Ex!

Summer, for me, always wraps up with the opening and closing of The CNE - The Canadian National Exhibition, or The Ex. 

Even though we'll still have summer weather (and technically summer since fall doesn't start til later this month) for awhile longer, it always just feels like a summer full of long days and warm nights has wrapped up. 

This is extra ridiculous because the weather this summer hasn't been particularly hot. 

But today was a hot one. 

John and I made our way down once I finished work to take in the sights and sounds (and tastes, more importantly) of the Ex before it closed its doors for another year. 

I haven't been big on the rides since I was little - also cause as I get older the voice saying 'hey, this event runs for two weeks every year. How safe do you think these rides are?' gets a little louder - but this year I had a definitely excuse to stay off the rides. We did splurge on tickets for the ferris wheel though. I've always enjoyed it and it's  great way to see the entire grounds and the masses of people. 

Plus Baby E seemed to enjoy it, as she gave me a few good kicks as we made our way down from the top. 

Then we walked around, watched some people play games at the midway. 

We saved our money for food. 

As always, I was excited to see what the new additions would be to the food building. 

The big ticket items were the Thanksgiving waffle, the chocolate fried chicken, the chunky Elvis grilled cheese & the spicy peanut butter sriracha rolls (both were no-goes on my list), the far east taco (like an Asian spin on the classic beaver tail), the butter coffee, and the crowbar. 

I had two of those things. 

I had to make a decision between the cocoa-infused chicken and the Thanksgiving waffle. I went with the chicken.

It was divine. 

The batter they use has - you guessed it - cocoa infused into it and then it's deep fried. It's amazing. 

We had an option of two dipping sauces. I forget what the other option was but I went all in and opted for the chocolate ketchup. 

If this comes back next year GO FIND IT.

And save me some.

John went a different route (in hindsight he refers to it as the gut rot route) and got the colossal onion. It's a massive onion that they deep fry. Then you pull the pieces apart and dunk them in dipping sauce. 

It was like a big helping of onion rings but we only finished about a third of it before we had to say our goodbyes. 

This is a staple at The Ex so if you want one of your own, never fear. It'll be back again next year.

The Crowbar. I tried to talk John into getting the butter coffee also being sold at this location but he was full with the onion. The crowbar is the beautiful love child of a chocolate bar baked into a croissant-like pastry. I went with the Mars bar (Caramilk, and Reese's Peanut Butter cup were also options) and was not disappointed. The cronut was the big hit last year and I missed it so I didn't want to pass up the chance to try the crowbar. 

I still have half sitting on the counter to be picked at and savoured over the next few days.

So while my food samplings didn't quite rival that of other years, I'm pleased with my decisions.

And even happier about an afternoon well spent with my main guy.

Christmas Market & Mulled Wine

On Friday night John and I made our way down to the Distillery District to meet up with some friends to check out the popular Christmas Market. 

Having never gone before, my expectations were high from seeing pictures in years past. I was not disappointed.

When you get to the Distillery District the first thing you see is lights, lights, and more lights.

It's magical.

Unless you go during the day, then I can't promise the lights will be as magical. 

It's just beautiful. I spent the first few minutes just squealing.

We stopped first for some free scotch (John) and apple cider & rum (me, because they had temporarily run out of mulled wine) and warmed up by the fires they had going in their beer market (see the first picture).

Then we walked around to check out the tree, the carousel, and the ferris wheel. 

On our way to the wine sampling (where there's wine, we'll find it) we stopped to pose with the Gingerbread house. Then we sampled a selection of Ontario wines from Malivoire, Henry of Pelham, and a few others we've yet to visit.  

Then after a quick stop for a grilled cheese with bacon sandwich, we made our way back to the adult beverages for some mulled wine and more scotch.

My first time trying mulled wine was Friday afternoon when I made my own. 

I'm hooked. 

I used Martha Stewart's recipe and made a few changes based on what I had handy.

Follow the original Martha recipe here 

Or my slightly different version below

1. Set a pot over high heat. Pour in one bottle of red wine.
2. Add in the zest  and juice from 1 orange, 1 tbsp black peppercorns, 1 tbsp cloves, 1 cinnamon stick, and 1/2 cup brandy.
3. In a tea bag, spoon in 1/2 tbsp nutmeg and 1/2 tbsp all spice. Bring up to a boil and add teabag to the mix. Reduce heat to low and let simmer for about 30 minutes. Turn off heat and let wine cool slightly.
4. Pour wine through a strainer to remove the zest, peppercorns, cloves, cinnamon, and teabag.

Then pour contents back into the original wine bottle.

Mulled wine is best served warm so if you don't drink it right away heat it up again before serving.

And if you're feeling crafty - make a fancy new label for your bottle.

I made this one for the bottle I brought to my brother in law's birthday dinner last night.

Most of the alcohol burns off during the process so if you want you can add a dash of brandy to the finished process for more of a kick.

If not, just enjoy the wonderful taste of Christmas Sangria! 

A Christmas To-Do List in T.O.

Now that the Christmas spirit has officially taken over my mind, body & soul, expect 90% of all posts for the next month and a bit to be Christmas themed.

 

Today was the Santa Claus Parade.

This year, like every year since I was maybe 10, I missed it.

In my defence I've been working nights this weekend so I slept right through it but every year I tell myself that next year I'll go.

 

That got me thinking about all the wonderful things there are to do in this city that I tell myself I'll do next year and never seem to get around to doing.

 

If you're lucky enough to live in the Toronto area or are planning to come visit the city during the holidays, here are three things I want to do/see/recommend you also do/see this holiday season:

 

The Cavalcade of Lights

 

 

This free event includes the lighting of the city's Christmas tree (it's massive and my family and I pose for pictures with it on Christmas Eve every year), fireworks, musical performances, and skating on the rink.

The 47th Cavalcade of Lights will take place at Nathan Phillips Square on Saturday November 30th.

 

The Nutcracker

 

Every year when the ads go up on the bus shelters I tell myself that this will be the year I go to see this ballet. This year I actually plan to.

Maybe with my mom and sister... or just my mom, depending on who else is actually interested.

(I'll be expecting a message from my mom re: her RSVP to this event tomorrow)

The Nutcracker runs from December 14th to January 4th at The Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts.

Tickets run from $25 - $184

(sorry mom, we'll be sitting in the nosebleeds. We can spend the money we saved on tickets on wine)

 

The Toronto Christmas Market

 

I was planning a day to attend this last year when I realized I had missed it completely.

This free event in The Distillery District is a street market dedicated to the sights, sounds, and smells of Christmas. Hundreds of products are available for purchase from unique vendors or you could listen to the carolers and choirs, or just walk around and take in the sights.

The Christmas Market runs from November 29th to December 15th. Hours are Monday - Friday noon to 9 pm and Sat & Sun 10 am - 9 pm

 

 

What events, sights, or traditions are you looking forward to this holiday season?

 

Toronto Wine & Spirits Festival

After our trip to Baldwin Street Burger several Saturdays ago, John and I made a stop at a Portugese bakery for a half dozen delicious lemon custard tarts called natas and then we made our way home to get ready for the Toronto Wine & Spirits Festival.

 

 

This was my first time attending but it certainly won't be my last.

The event was held at Sugar Beach, a man made beach with white sand right by Lake Ontario and with a great view of the city.

 

 

Upon entrance you get your wristband, a sample cup, and 5 tickets to use for sampling. Some were 1 ticket and some were 2. We didn't venture to try anything more than 2 tickets.

Availble to sample were a ton of wines, ciders, beer,  a scotch & cigar lounge, ribs and prawns, cesaers and vodkas, there was free applewood smoked cheddar and parmesan cheeses, and live entertainment.

 

John and I used some of our last tickets to try bone marrow croquettes.

I was excited to try a new food but I was told that the bone marrow was incorporated into the bread so I couldn't make out it's flavour.

 

This event runs for a weekend and it is well worth checking out the next time it comes around.

Be smart and buy your tickets early! You save almost $10 - ten extra bucks which can be spent on more sample tickets!

 

Sip & Savour Ontario

Back (way way back) in June, John and I went to the Sip & Savour event in the Distillery district.

Having never attended this event before, I was unsure what to expect but was very excited at the prospect of eating amazing foods and sampling tons of wines.

 

And sample wines we did!

Here's a list of the participating wineries - HERE - and I can proudly (?) say that we almost sampled wine from every single one.

Almost.

I think my last glass was around Kacaba... I tried another white after a stop at that booth and then promptly shattered my wine glass.

 

And then cut myself off.

 

 

The Distillery District in Toronto is absolutely beautiful to walk through and there's usually an event of some kind going on most weekends.

Here's the calendar of events for the rest of this month.

 

Cheese was featured quite prominently (much to my liking) and we sauntered in to a presentation on cooking with cheese - wisely suggested to use by the food guru herself, Ginger Rose.

 

I don't have the information that they gave us with me so I can't tell you what types of cheese we sampled.

I can tell you they were delicious and the servers also topped up our glasses with pairing wines.

 

The food was delicious.

My hands down favourite was the duck confit crepes, shown below.

 

There was a good deal of seafood up for sampling too which John dug into.

He was fortunate enough to grab the last of the halibut sandwiches.

 

We also grabbed plates which were promptly filled with freshly baked bread, cheeses including cheddar and a feta & watermelon salad, then spicy peppers, pickled beans, and jams like cherry chocolate and plum.

I went back for a second plate of this.

 

I forgot to take a picture (truth: I did take a picture but the picture is of the deserts I had put in my purse to take home) of the amazing mouses that were offered. They had raspberry and triple chocolate among a few others.

 

Also very tasty were the choux pastries from Popelin.

They had blueberry, lemon, and ice wine flavours. All 3 were to die for but the lemon might have been my favourite.

This was also where I broke my wine glass, trying to set it on a non-ledge so I could fill my grubby little hands with pastries.

 

Me, esentially:

 

 

All in all, it was a fantastic night that I would highly recommend checking out. Tickets run a bit on the pricey side but you certainly fill your tummy with wonderful foods and it's an opportunity to get drunk in the classiest of fashions.

 

 Plus the Distillery District is just beautiful.

 

 

Restaurant Review: The Lobster Trap

 

I love Groupon & Buytopia.

Love them.

I've purchased yoga classes, restaurant coupons, massages, a watch, and an assortment of other things.

Most recently I purchased one for The Lobster Trap.

John is a big seafood fan and this restaurant gets good reviews so I took him for a surprise dinner outing on Thursday night.

 

$30 for $70 worth of entrees sounded like a lot but the prices are quite high so the deal from Buytopia was perfect.

 

 

 

 

We enjoyed some deliciously buttery garlic rolls and John ordered a half dozen oysters ($16).

He maintains the best oysters he's had are from The Miller Tavern but he certainly devoured the ones in front of him pretty quickly.

 

I ordered the filet mignon ($32) with a baked potato while John opted for a 1 1/4 lb lobster ($36).

 

The steak was easily one of the best I've ever had. It was cooked perfectly and was so tender I barely had to move my knife to cut through it.

Even the lobster was delicious and I am not a big seafood fan.

We were shown by our server how to find some secret meat in the tail - lobster meat can be pretty sweet but the tiny morsels of meat from the tail was perfection.

 

The staff were very friendly. The restaurant doesn't feel overly upscale but the prices certainly seem that way.

 

The food is well worth the price if you're willing to splurge a bit.

Or, better yet, find a deal!

 

 

Restaurant Review: Balsamico

As I mentioned yesterday, John and I went out for a much needed dinner on Saturday night.

Being big fans of Italian food, we've hit the Italian restaurants around us many times. We were looking for someplace we hadn't been but that was still within walking distance.

 

After a quick interet search we landed on Balsamico.

 

We made reservations for 6:30 and it's a good thing we did because even though when we walked in there was only one other couple, every single table had a reserved sign on it. And this place picked up around 7:30 to the point where it was packed.

 

We split a half litre of a pinot grigio and a caprese salad ($9.95) to start.

I think the salad we got was a daily special because I believe he said it was buffalo mozarella and not bocconcini. The cheese melted in your mouth and was with the tomatoes, arugula, and blasamic vinegar it was to die for.  

 

 

For the main course John ordered the Pappardelle al porcini ($15.95)

[Porcini Mushrooms And Roasted Red Peppers In A Tomato Cream Sauce] which he enjoyed.

 

I ordered the Linguine Fra Diovolo ($14.95)

 [Italian Spicy Sausage,Baby Arugula,Cherry Tomato,Chili Flakes In A White Wine Sauce]

 

 

It was very good and I really enjoyed the arugula on top. Mixed in with the sauce and the parmesan and pepper it was a nice touch.

 

The service was fantastic (brought us another basket of bread after we downed the first one in minutes) and we were fortunate enough to be seated right by the window (where we watched renegade snowflakes fall from the sky). The food was also well worth the walk over.

One thing I didn't like personally was that pretty much all of the pasta options contained either seafood or mushrooms or both - two things I dislike. So it narrowed my options quite a bit. I'm sure I could have asked for another dish sans muchrooms but I don't like to be picky.

 

My meal was delicious though and I'd recommend checking this place out if you're a fan of Italian food done right.

 

Uncle Betty's Diner

On Tuesday John called in sick to work so we had a leisurely lazy day together and in the evening once we were sufficiently bored from staying inside all day we went for a walk to get some coffee.

The place John wanted to go was closed so I suggested a place not too far that I had been wanting to try out for a little while.

Uncle Betty's Diner just looks like a fun place to eat.

The staff are very friendly and the donut making machine inside makes for some unique decor.

We got coffees and couldn't resist ordering a donut ice cream sandwich.

Yep.

It was as good as it sounds like it should be.

Uncle Betty's makes their own Dreesen's donuts (apparently quite famed in NYC) so we figured we had to try one.

John opted for the powdered donut with oreo ice cream, whipped cream, chocolate sauce and cookie crumbs.

 

 

 

While it doesn't win the prize for craziest thing I've eaten regarding donuts (see the Krispy Kreme hamburger from the Ex a few summer's ago) it was probably the best thing I've had involving donuts.

If you get the chance check this place out.

The menu is full of classic diner food and I would like to go back and try some of their crazy poutines.

 

The website can be found here

 

Next on my donut list is THIS PLACE (actual website here).

Drool.

 

A Much Needed "Day-t" Day (+ 'Bamburger' Burgers!)

Last night I felt light headed, headachey, and nauseous.

Tonight I feel still a little headachey and tired, I won't lie, but much more refreshed and happy.

I got home this morning after a quick stop at McDonalds (I was convinced my nausea was actually the result of a lack of food and too much caffeine) and then quickly threw on my Hugh Hefner-esque red silk PJs and hopped into bed with John.

 

It was our planned "day-t" day as John called it.

 

 

I fell asleep and he watched Pawn shop shows on TV.

I woke up around 1 and we found a channel that was showing every Harry Potter movie in order. We caught the end of the first and started watching.

I made the much-craved eggs benedict and for a first attempt it turned out pretty well!

I will definitely go back and fine tune it a bit though.

Then I fell asleep again for a solid 2-3 hours.

When I roused around 6:30 pm we got up and with some gentle insistence on John's behalf (I was in a lazy, lazy mood) we went for a 6.25 km run around the neighbourhood.

His pace is similar to mine so I see this running partnership working out!

We took a nice long shower then got dressed to go out for dinner.

 

One of my foodie goals in life is to make my way around the city and find the best hamburgers.

Every year a list is published declaring certain restaurants the best with regards to burgers and I want to try them all.

After originally deciding to try a sandwich place called Boar Sandwiches (which closed at 8 pm and there was no way we would make it there before it closed), we walked to Bamburger (at 2112 Yonge Street, just north of Davisville).

I thought long and hard about getting a burger just to compare it to the others that I've had but my recent healthy-ish kick added to my desire to try specific toppings led me to the turkey burger.

My turkey burger came stacked with the standard lettuce, tomato and red onion, and then my personal choices of tzatziki, black olives, hot banana peppers, sauteed onions, and pickles.

John got a bison burger with maple bacon, goat cheese, sauteed onions, and spicy chipotle mayo.

Both were very good. The bison was a lot more tender than either of us were expecting. It had a melt in your mouth texture and coupled with the soft creamy goat cheese... he practically inhaled the burger.

John also got fries which are handcut at the restaurant along with their homemade gravy. Also well worth trying.

 

My burger was $8.95 plus $1 for the sauteed onions (John's bison burger was $14.95 plus the bacon and the cheese were an additional $1.50 each). It can be a bit pricier than your average burger but they were delicious and our server was fantastic.

 

I would definitely go back to this spot to try some of the other burgers and even just to re-order the exact same thing I had for dinner last night.

 

If you're interested, the website and menu can be found here.

 

All in all, yesterday was much needed. For my tired body, my sanity, and for John and I to just enjoy each other's company for an entire day.

 

I'm also thankful for my mom, who can give the best advice and put things into a better perspective.

She and I have a date this afternoon to do some shopping, perhaps a few more episodes of GoT, then turkey!

 

 

 

Restaurant Review: Amaya Bread Bar

On Friday night John took me out for my birthday dinner to a spot I've been wanting to check out for over a year now: Amaya. It's a self described 'neo-Indian' bread bar. 

I was not disappointed and even John, who is not the biggest fan of Indian food, really enjoyed our meal. 

So, here's what we ordered! 

We started with the Mixed Grill for Two which consisted of  chicken tikka, beef kebabs, and tandoori prawns ($15.95) 

was delicious. Even the prawns were very good and I am not the biggest seafood fan.

Our main course consisted of butter chicken ($14.95), Alooo Gobi ($10.95) which is curried cauliflower and potatoes with cilantro, and sides of garlic naan bread ($3.95 for 4 pieces) and the jewelled basmati rice ($3.45)  

Everything got piled up on my plate and I went in for a big second helping.

I would highly recommend this restaurant. The food was delicious, the space is small and intimate, and the service was fantastic - we even got a starter on the house!
Make sure to make reservations, though, as the restaurant doesn't open until 4 and the kitchen closes at 9:30 pm. And the space is small so tables go quick!

The food was so good, in fact, that while at Yorkdale with my parents on Sunday we decided to check out the new food court and where did we end up eating?
Amaya.