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.

The #SundayFunday (#superhappyfunmagictime) Wedding

On the Sunday of the August long weekend, John and I went to a beautiful wedding to watch two friends say "I do" and then to party the night away with them.

 

John was the best man and had spent the week leading up to the big day worrying about his speech and wanting to get it just right.

 

Me, I was busy trying to find a hair-do.

 

I amalgamated a few that I found on pinterest and did a test run...

 

...Which went too successfully that I figured I would never be able to recreate it.

The night before I set my hair in 3 french braids to make sure my hair would be as voluminous as I could make it without teasing it beyond recognition.

The effect made it look even cooler.

 

 

I did a reverse french braid starting at the top right side of my head and moving down to the bottom left. A reverse french braid is what I call it when you braid the hair under instead of over the other strands.

When I ran out of hair to add to the braid I tied it into a ponytail. Then I used a sock bun to keep the hair off of my neck and out of my face.

Essential for dancing at summer weddings.

 

Perhaps the ease with which my hair went up was a good omen because the wedding was absolutely beautiful.

The venue was great, the bride looked stunning and the groom very handsome. The bridesmaid's dresses were also something I would have worn and the flowers were so lovely that I made a frantic bid for a centerpiece at the end of the night.

And the band that they had really got the crowd going.

 

And the food...

 

Delicious.

I don't remember exactly what each course was but the first was reminiscent of a spring roll but in a much flakier, tastier shell.

The salad was wrapped up in a cucumber lead and came with a grilled mushroom and a toasted slice of baguette topped with an avocado spread.

The main was roasted potatoes and vegetables with chicken and beef.

Desert was two types of fruit sorbet in a sugar cookie-esque bowl with a chocolate dipped bottom.

The wedding cake was pink velvet and we were treated to a late night buffet of mini hotdogs, sliders, fries, and grilled cheese sandwiches.

 

Everything was delicious.

 

I just finished watching the newlywed's wedding video for the 10th time... what a beautiful wedding.

 

I can't thank them enough for letting me be a part of their day and for throwing hands-down the party of the summer.

I wish the newlyweds nothing but love and happiness for the rest of their lives.

 

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.

 

 

Fam Jam 2012

We got home this afternoon after a wonderful weekend at the lake for Fam Jam 2012.

Though we were down a few family members, we had a beautiful day on Saturday, sunshine for some of Sunday followed by a rainy day spent inside watching the Olympics, lots of great food, games, and lots of laughs.

Sunday, in between rain showers, we managed to get almost everyone out into the lake at the same time.

Saturday night was a very sweet celebration of our upcoming wedding. My cousins set up an awesome photo booth complete with the most incredible (and appropriately hilarious) props ever.

These are two of my personal favourites, as modeled by their daughter:

Bill Murray: the actor & the cat.

They also organized a wine shower (we are now the very proud and very excited owners of a large number of bottles of wine) and made a desert of the best thing ever: s'mores. Done 3 ways. S'mores mini pies, s'mores cookies, and s'mores squares (made like rice krispies squares only with golden grahams and chocolate chips) (these might have been my favourite considering I had 3 of them).

They also brought moustache cookies as a thank you for everyone who sponsered my cousin during Movember. He is a big supported of Movember and raises a lot of money for prostrate cancer research by growing a respectable (or not so respectable) moustache. Currently, he's rocking a pretty serious beard, to his wife's dismay and to my dad's awe.

On Sunday me, John, my sister, and her boyfriend all got to work in the kitchen to make a meal for our 'Cinqo de August' night. In trying to come up with a theme it was either that or 'Olympics' but to come up with a meal for 'Olympics' was impossible.

And Mexican food can be done relatively on the cheap.

We cooked up some beef, sauteed some peppers, baked some pulled pork quesadillas, and put out a whole bunch of fillings for burritos and tacos including refried beans, black beans, Mexican rice, tomatoes, salsa & salsa verde, cheese, and guacamole.

You really can't go wrong with Mexican.

Inspired by these but not wanting to put THAT much effort into it (what? Look at how many steps are involved!) I tried to make a pinata cake.

As most great ideas of mine tend to do, it failed when the cake fell apart once it came out of the pan.

But with some icing and mushing together, the cake stood and was filled with candy to spill out once it was cut into.

And since Sunday was my birthday I got to cut into the cake wearing the birthday Sombrero.

Thanks to my family for these pictures (my camera's broken), a fun birthday, a very sweet shower, and an awesome long weekend!

Fam Jam 2013: 363 days to plan next year's theme dinner.

Summer in the City: The Beaches

I've said it before but I'll say it as many times as I can: I love Toronto.

It's an amazing city (despite the recent surge in violence that seems to be happening) with so many different neighbourhoods. Numerous times I've found myself semi-lost, wandering around areas I've never explored before. Always I'm reminded how big this city is and how much it feels like home, no matter where I am in it.

My mom and I used to take a trip down to the Beaches every summer, usually at the end of August. It's been about 2 years since we last went, so yesterday we put on our walking shoes and made our way East on Queen Street for some shopping, lunching, and catching up.

The weather was beautiful - hot and sunny without the heaviness of humidity.

While my mom didn't have to much luck in the shopping department, I went home with 2 new dresses and 2 pairs of yoga pants (for $20 each at Titika!).

We also sat down and shared a chicken souvlaki dinner as well as some white wine and margaritas.

Nothing says summer like enjoying the sunshine with drinks on a patio.

While we didn't eat here, this place holds a special place in my heart.

As a kid, anytime my family and I would go to the Beaches we always stopped into Garden Gate for some chinese food.

I have never once in my life called this place Garden Gate.

It is lovingly referred to (by anyone who knows of it) as The Goof.

Or, 'Goof's' as we called it.

Even it's website knows how people have come to know this place.

Thanks, mom, for a lovely afternoon.

And thanks, family, for making me smile everytime I see the sign for Goof's.

My Roasted Summer Salad

To pick one thing I love the most about summer would be impossible.

Summer is my all time favourite time of the year. Yes, even more than Christmas, although it is a close close second.

I become a creature of the outdoors, I get to wear sundresses and flip-flops, and I get to spend weekends at cottages and at backyard BBQ parties.

There is nothing (that I can think of) that I dislike about summer. Not even 50 degree heat waves can make me say otherwise.

I stopped off at the fruit market around the corner from my apartment the other day and was reminded of another thing I love about summer: the fruits and vegetables - especially the fruits.

Peaches are ripe, cherries spill out of their bags, and yellow zucchini is front and centre on the shelves.

I love independent fruit markets and buy my fruits and vegetables from them almost all of the time.

The prices are so much more reasonable.

The market near me (and another one just a short walk away) sell their fruits and veggies at prices so low it seems impossible to walk away without a bag full of food.

The other day I picked up 2 containers of strawberries, 2 containers of blueberries, and a package of 2 peachs and 2 plums all for a grand total of $7.00.

Blueberries usually retail for around $3.99 a container and I got 2 for $3!

C'mon!

C'mon!

I took my love of all things cheap and summer-y and made myself a delicious summer salad.

It's the easiest thing you will ever make and it tastes so good.

All you need to do is roast 1 yellow zucchini and some heirloom cherry tomatoes in the oven , season them with pepper, and add some hot banana peppers (which I have become obsessed with lately).

 

 

Hope you are finding some inexpensive places to buy fruits and vegetables and being inspired to make some delicious summer meals.

Cottage Weekends

This will be a quick post, as I'm off to a job interview in a few minutes.

Just wanted to share some photos from the last few weekends.

I'm lucky to have several friends (and family members) with cottages and there is nothing I love more than spending a relaxing weekend hanging out by the lake.

Can't wait to do more of it this summer!

Friends relaxing on the dock

Beautiful sunset

Food always tastes better (and disappears faster) when grilled and roasted on the BBQ

Another beautiful sunset in Ontario

How to be creative with your partying!

Pink Lemonade Jello Shooter Slices

Yesterday I had a lovely leisurely day, though the morning and early afternoon was a bit of an accident.

I went down to a part of Toronto that I've never been to in the daylight to pick up some antique-y art for my cousin. Thinking I had my day planned out perfectly, I made my way downtown around 11 am only to realize that the store I needed didn't open until 2.

Being pretty happy after some good news in the morning (two interviews for nursing jobs!!), I made the best of a beautiful day and wandered around the city. I went into Trinity-Bellwoods Park for the first time ever and sat and read my book for awhile. 

Then my friend came over and we made a ton of jello shooters for this weekend. We're off to a friend's cottage to enjoy the sunshine and to celebrate Canada Day.

One type of jello shooter I've wanted to try for awhile is the orange slice shooter.

I found a recipe for pink lemonade and we made them in both lemons and oranges.

It's actually a lot easier than I was expecting. So if you're looking for a twist on jello shots, give this one a whirl.

• Hollow out 8 lemon halves.
• In a saucepan, sprinkle 2 pkgs of gelatin over 1 cup of pink lemonade and let sit for 2 minutes. Heat over low heat until the gelatin has dissolved, about 5 minutes. Add in 1 cup vodka.
• Pour into lemon halves (make sure they're well balanced or they WILL spill over) and refrigerate until set.
• Cut into slices and enjoy!

Have a good long weekend and a happy Canada Day!

Lazy Hazy Summer Days

Since finishing school I've found myself with a wonderful amount of free time. Not too much but not too little.

I didn't think I was actually studying all that much but I must have been because I've found myself doing things that previously I used to never have time for.

Last night I baked cookies for the first time in a long time. It felt (and smelled) so nice to have a finished batch of cookies cooling on the counter before I went to bed.

Other activities I've recently re-engaged myself in are things like reading (Game of Thrones! I need book 5 now!), catching up on celebrity gossip (Miley Cyrus engaged! Angelina Jolie rated a C+ mom by Star Magazine!), running (generally 4 times a week!), cleaning the apartment, and enjoying TV. I did try watching 'Girls' online yesterday and now my laptop is virused. I hope John can fix it tonight. My solution was to restart the computer. Twice.

Didn't fix it.

I've also been making dinner whenever I can. I'm trying to find new ways to incorporate as many vegetables into my diet as I can and so far so good.

And the nicest thing of all about lazy summer days is getting to end them with dinner on the balcony.

I'm so glad summer's here!

Let's Go To The Ex: Deep Fried Edition

Yesterday (after sitting through a 7 hour orientation for my last year of nursing during which we learned, once again - and in depth - how to wash our hands, AND that despite the fact that school begins in a few days we still do not know our clinical placements) I went to the Ex!

For those of you who are not familiar with The Ex, I'm talking about the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE). Every summer for the last 2 weeks before Labour Day, Exhibition grounds in Toronto is set up with rides, games, and (funny enough) exhibitions.

There are products from countries all across the world, an arts, crafts & hobbies building, a food building (my favourite), and much more.

I went on a few rides but I didn't want to try my luck with any of the crazier ones as my stomach still felt a little bloated...and I've also become skeptical of the safety of the CNE rides in my old age.

I think I've told the story of The Zipper and how my sister and I thought we were goners.

Speaking of old age, I won a medium sized gorilla at the "Guess Your Age/Weight/Birth Month" booth. Believing I look remarkably younger than I am, I went with age. He had to guess within 2 years of my actual age and he guessed wrong, though he wouldn't show me what he guessed.... I'm telling myself he guessd 20.

If it was over 28 it would break my heart.

The goal of the night (get ready for this - so begins my get-healthy-for-your-wedding diet) was to sample as much of the fried foods that the Ex has to offer this year.

Last year's big attraction was the deep fried butter.

I didn't try it because 1. it sounds absoutely disgusting and 2. the line up was HUGE.

This year there were  few attractions, but I'll save the best for last.

Also, most of these pictures I took on my blackberry and cleaned up in picnik but the first one I forgot to take a picture of so I had to google an image.

Deep Fried Oreo Cookies

Delicious.

Healthy? Not a chance but oreos only increase in deliciousness when covered in essentially a funnel cake.

Deep Fried Mac & Cheese

I had higher hopes for this one.

Eventually it had to be doused in hot sauce as the flavour sort of died out once the fried cheese curds were gone. Deep fried noodles aren't all that flavourful.

Still good though.

Deep Fried Cola

I didn't know how they could do this but one of my nursing friends explained to me that they deep fry the syrup. That is exactly what they do! Unfortunately the syrup doesn't retain much of the cola flavour once it's been fried. It's more like funnel cake that they cover in a cola syrup, powdered sugar and some whipped cream. It's still delicious because funnel cakes are delicious but this is one you could probably skip. Or try the deep fried slushie that they offer.

Ok, now we get to the main attraction.

I'm kind of embarrassed to admit that I searched for this.

Every food stand outside, and inside the food building. For some reason I couldn't find it. Eventually I overheard two guys asking about it (in the line for the deep fried cola) so I followed them.

And found it.

Not the Behemoth - a burger sandwiched between 2 grilled cheese sandwiches on Texas toast, no less.

I'm sure it has become a legend in it's own right:

Krispy Kreme Donut Burger

Yup.

I thought it would be the most disgusting flavour combination but I was still so drawn to it.

I had 2 pretty decent sized bites and honestly, it's kind of good.

Flavour-wise, that is. Not calorie wise. That bad boy packs about 1500 calories.

I should mention I also got it with bacon.

I ate half of it, 2 bites with the donut buns then I just ate the burger patty (with the cheese, bacon, lettuce and tomato).

This is one of those things you have to try once because honestly when are you ever going to eat a beef patty in between 2 donuts ever again?

Finally, before leaving, I picked up a dozen of the most delicious and best smelling exhibition deserts:

Tiny Tom Donuts

I'm going on a hunger strike until my arteries de-clog.