Finer Than Diner

I was at Whole Foods the other day just browsing around and when I passed the salad bar, it called out to me. I had to answer. I scooped out a little bit of a few different kinds of ready-made salads and figured I could have those with dinner.

We both love chickpeas, so this was a no-brainer. Mixed in were peppers, onions, spinach -yum!

This one had no label, but it looked like some kind of Greek pasta salad. Crunchy peppers, cucumbers, olives and little cubes of feta cheese.

I loves me some coleslaw! This looked similar to Asian-type one I make, so I got some of this too.

I got home and didn't know what to have for dinner to go with the salads. Then I remembered someone at work talking about clubhouse sandwiches. I haven't had one of those in YEARS and had a massive craving. I set out to make a veggie version, which was really very simple.

I grilled up some Naked Quorn Cutlets just plain on my George Foreman Grill. While those were cooking, I fried some Morning Star Farms Bacon Strips until just a little crisp. Assembly was easy with some mayo & lettuce. I don't like raw tomatoes, so I skipped those. I used white bread just to make it more diner-like. Some fries on the side and I was saying "Mel, kiss my grits!"

I was very pleased with the taste too. Very authentic I thought. Jim agreed and ate his whole plate and said he'd have clubhouse sandwiches anytime. As for the salads, they were very tasty although the coleslaw one was a little flat. It needed more dressing.

Strawberries are here! You know what that means.....

Strawberry Shortcake! I made a sauce by just pureeing some berries with my hand blender. I then poured that on cake along with some whole berries and Cool Whip.

These strawberries are so sweet, no sugar needed. Delicious!

Just Add Spirit!

Strike Averted! The deadline was extended and thanks to an amazing bargaining team, we got an awesome contract. No complaints whatsoever. To celebrate, let's have a cocktail party!

LCBO's last promotion was spirits & cocktails.

They published this nifty little cocktail recipe book, so I had to make some of them. It was all for work of course, so I can offer better customer service Here are some of the drinks we tried. If you'd like to try some of these, click the picture of the recipe, it should enlarge for you. (Bear in mind, these were made and tasted over the course of a few weeks, not all in one day!)











First up - Whiskey Sour. This is a simple, classic drink.

I loves me some rye, so this was the first drink we tried. Delicious!









This one sounded interesting. Blueberries were on sale, so this one was next.

This is a terrific summer drink. So refreshing!

Jamaican Mule - a twist on the famous Moscow Mule only this time using rum instead of vodka.

Quite a nice tasting cocktail.

Berry Batida

Very fruity! This tasted like juice. There was a demo in my store and the girl making this drink used frozen berries. I used fresh.








Golden Sunrise which is basically a Tequila Sunrise.

This picture isn't very good. The drink on the right is unmixed so you can see the grenadine on the bottom. The colour bleeds a bit up into the juice hence the name sunrise. The drink on the left has been mixed - cool colour!

Spiced Daiquiri. The recipe called for Captain Morgan Spiced Rum, but I used this -

I much prefer Sailor Jerry. It's one of my new favorite spirits. It is really yummy.

What a refreshing, flavourful cocktail. This was my second favourite from the book.










Tangerine Sidecar

There are many variations of the classic drink. I very much liked this one.








The Lychee Buck was my favourite of all of the drinks I made from this book.


Again, a twist on the Gin Buck, this added lychee liqueur for a fabulous flavour combination. Very delicious.

With summer's heat upon us, cocktails are a great refresher after a hard work day or to sip in the backyard while lounging on the weekend. I hope you'll try one or all of these. Cheers!

Oh, The Goodies I Got!

OK. We know that the population of the US is approx. 9 times greater than that of Canada. Some research says that 2.8% of the population is veg*n, some studies say as much as 4%. Let's go middle ground & assume that vegetarians make up 3.5% of the general population, in both countries. Based on that fact, the buying power of vegetarians in the US a whopping 10.6 million. In Canada, a measly 1.1 million. Therefore, American veg*ns have many, many more products to choose from. Those of you living in the USA are so lucky to have such kick-ass veg selections. Some of which I brought back home with me.
Up first - burgers!

I can easily find Amy's Texas Style burgers, but rarely Amy's Chicago Style burgers. As for the others pictured here, not in Canada. We used to have Lightlife and Boca, but they packed up and left. :o( Gardenburger sells 3 or 4 varieties here, but not these ones.

Although I like a veggie burger that resembles a hamburger, I also like some non-hamburger-type varieties. One store I was at had a discontinuation sale on the Chik'n Grill and had them priced at $1.69 a box! Needless to say, I bought a few of those. I also searched and searched for Gardenburger's "Meat"loaf, but didn't find any.

These are new to me. The only ones I've tried so far are the Ginger Teriyaki Veggie Cakes. They were quite nice. They looked really small, so I made two, but could only eat one. They are very filling, so be warned. I'm excited to try the other two.

Yea, I'm Canadian and yea, I like bacon. Stereotypical, but it's true. (I also like donuts, maple anything & hockey. hehe! Beer, not so much) Anyway, my bacon now is cruelty free. Try to find a decent bacon replacement here. All we have are Yves strips or "Canadian style" and I don't really like either one. Smart Bacon does in a pinch, but man - Morningstar Farms is by far the best. I have these in sandwiches and on their own alongside my pancakes. I like these even better than bacon!

We are total Riblets addicts. There is NOTHING here that compares. Not even close. On this trip, we scoured all the grocery stores and couldn't find any Riblets. OH NO!!!** I did see some Morningstar Farms ones. They are NEW! so the box says, so I got those - boxes & boxes of them and prayed that they would be as good as Gardenburgers.

They are eerily similar, even the sauce. I still have some Riblets in the freezer, so maybe a taste-off is in order. I also saw a large NEW! on a box for Italian Sausage. Thankfully, Tofurky sausages are available in Canada, and I've tried Boca's version in the past. The Boca ones were OK and I usually use them as a component in a recipe rather than just grilled on a bun. We haven't tried Morningstar yet.

Most days, my work lunches consist of leftovers from dinner or something I cook up specifically for lunches. Sometimes I'm lazy and just make a sandwich. Sometimes I'm super lazy and grab a frozen dinner from the freezer. I bought some of these just for some variety.

I tried the Enchilada Pie the last trip and I thought it was pretty good for a frozen entree. Then I saw Kashi has frozen dinners. Black Bean Mango sounds amazing, doesn't it? I just hope it tastes as good as it sounds.

Mmmm-mmmm! I loves me some Quorn! This originated in the UK I believe and has spread to other countries, but not to Canada dammit! Quorn makes a terrific replacement for chicken in recipes and gives a different texture from tofu. The roast helps solve the Christmas & Thanksgiving issue, the naked cutlets are great for pretty much anything and the tenders are in chunk form. Great for Quorn salad sandwiches, stir-fries, pasta dishes, etc. It's nicely flavoured too.

For super convenience, breaded patties & cutlets. The patties are nice in a bun with lettuce & "mayo". The cutlets are perfect for those nights when I come home and don't feel like cooking at all. Throw a couple of potatoes in the oven along with the cutlets, salad or veggies on the side and dinner is served!

Of course, we like to have junky finger foods for game night.

I freakin' love those corn dogs! No condiments necessary - I like them as is. The Buffalo Wings are sometimes a little too spicy for me, but some plum sauce for dipping helps to cut the heat and they are very tasty.

On one trip I found these Smart Stuffers with the cranberry stuffing and I took them to a Christmas dinner for my "main" option. I thought they were really good. Au Naturel used to make a veggie version of Cordon Bleu and a Broccoli & Cheez, but I haven't been able to find them for a long, long time. Imagine my excitement when I saw those 2 varieties available in Smart Stuffers! My only regret....I should have bought more than just one package of each. Dammit!

Of course I had to stock up on Fire Roasted Tomatoes. I have a few cans of crushed still in my pantry cupboard, so I grabbed a few more of the diced. Why bother chopping tomatoes when it's already done for you? And these Bush's Beans...OMG! Sooooo, good! Growing up on the east coast, I had more than my fair share of beans. I love 'em! I always preferred the variety with molasses, but those ones seem to only come with pork. Boooo! Beans with Tomato sauce are meat free, but I don't like those. I like a sweet sauce. Bush's to the rescue. These remind me of the beans I used to eat as a kid. Great for "beans & wiener" cravings. I know, I know. The sophistication of my tastes is astounding.

On the advice of Karen, I bought some Cracklin' Oat Bran. I should have gotten more. This box is history. United States and Canada both have these huge, long grocery store aisles loaded top to bottom with boxes & boxes of cereal. I guess we're a couple of countries full of cereal lovers. I will confess, when I was single, there were days when I'd come home to my bachelorette pad, pooped and just not in the mood to whip up a meal for one, so I'd have cereal, a la Jerry Seinfeld. Maybe not the most nutritious meal ever, but I could have had worse.

The hempmilk I picked up because I was in an optimistic mood that day. I've heard good things about hempmilk, but the brand I tried was one of the most disgusting things ever made. Living Harvest brand is one I see showcased on blogs, so I'm hoping it's good. I've yet to see it in any stores near me. Even though I'm a little apprehensive, I'm willing to try it. As of yet, I haven't opened the carton, but one of these days I'll get brave and I'll let you know the results.

Ah, Tings. Again, another product I've heard about over & over, but have never been able to find. Even this bag took a bit of searching. I haven't opened it yet and I really don't know what to expect. It will be an exciting adventure in snacking.

I've found a couple of brands of meatless chicken-flavoured bouillon cubes at my local grocery store that are pretty good, but trying to find a decent, flavourful "beef" one has been a bit of a struggle. I've heard of this one from fellow veggies in the US so I'm going to give it a try. Once we get back into the cool weather and soups & stews are mainstays, I'll crack this puppy open.

I mentioned in another post a long time ago, about Pillsbury cinnamon rolls. When I was young, I'd go visit my grandparents in the summer. My grandfather always made cinnamon rolls for me with orange icing. These have long disappeared around these parts. The only variety available to me now is with white icing. So, whenever I'm shopping in the States, I grab one or two tins of the rolls with orange icing.

Oh how I love these! Total fat & sugar, and totally delicious. Everytime I have these, I think of my grandfather. I think Jim & I devoured all of these in a day and a half.

We also got Simon some treats which he talked about in his post here. Some other randoms that we grabbed....Jim got more cheese in a can (who knows....), some Hershey bars, Keebler Fudge Stripe Cookies, I bought some Agave that I thought was a steal at $3.99. I pay $7.99 here. When I compared the bottles, the one I usually get is twice the size. Ah well, I needed it anyway. I also got some Diet Mountain Dew.* It made an appearance around here a few years ago and I was buying it for about 6 months, then it disappeared. Weird! So I got 2 cases. It doesn't really taste the same, but it's good enough. I've heard that Mountain Dew in the US contains caffeine while Mountain Dew in Canada doesn't. Why can't they just make it the same everywhere. This was a discussion going on for a while about Oreo cookies. Some places they're vegan and some places they're not. My Oreos are vegan, while Chips Ahoy! uses LARD!? That's something new, so proof that label reading is a never ending chore.

*I've been told that diet pop is bad. I know, I know, but I don't have very good teeth, so I try to keep sugars to a minimum. I drink maybe 1 pop a day or 1 every other day, so it's not excessive. Since I switched from regular pop, my check-ups have been cavity-free. I might grow 3 heads, but at least the teeth in those heads will be nice.

**Checked the Gardenburger website - RIBLETS HAVE BEEN DISCONTINUED!!! NOOOOO!!!!!! I also noticed while zipping around the site that some of the addresses in the task bar say Kellogg's do I did some investigating. I found out that in 2007 Kellogg's bought Gardenburger. That explains the whole riblets thing.

It's Asparagus Season!

First of all, let me show you what I saw outside when I left work the other day.

A kick-ass garbage unit!

One slot for paper....

One slot for cans & bottles.....

And one for "other stuff".

Nice, eh? I just hope that people will follow the labels and not just be lazy and throw their garbage wherever.

Anyhow, onto the asparagus. It never seems to last very long, so we eat lots of Ontario grown asparagus as soon as it hits the stores. I usually like to roast it in the oven, but since we bought a new bbq grilling basket, we did some on the barbeque.

This was a Saturday night special. Veggie burgers, roasted potatoes and asparagus with GOO (garlic & olive oil), salt, pepper and some shaved Parmesan cheese.

A simpler meal done on a weeknight - Tofurky Kielbasa sausages, asparagus with Goo; then when they came off the grill, I tossed them with some balsamic vinegar. That was really good!

I popped over to Vegan YumYum and found a killer recipe for asparagus.

Chili Almond Asparagus - this is the best! The recipe called for 2 tsp. of red pepper flakes, but I scaled that back to have less heat. Baby mouth, remember? This is so, so delicious! It's fast to whip together and livens up any plate. I highly recommend this. You can find the recipe and Lauren's much nicer photos here.

Several times a year, and I'm sorry I don't know how many, maybe 8 or 9, the LCBO puts out a magazine called Food & Drink. It's complimentary since the cost of advertising covers the cost of producing the magazine. It is available at all LCBO stores and is printed in English and French. It's a terrific magazine and many of the recipes are outstanding. There was one I came across 3 years ago and I make it every spring when asparagus is in season. The recipe calls for penne, but I found this at IKEA and wanted to add some fun to dinner.

Pasta elks!

They are also wholemeal and organic!

This is an uncooked one. Cute, eh?

Here's the finished product. This dish is amazingly good. It's got chick peas, carrots, sun-dried tomatoes, asparagus, basil, onions, garlic, spinach....sounds delicious, doesn't it? Want the recipe? You can find it here.

The elks held up really well. Almost all of them remained intact and cooked to perfection.

For our wine, I pulled out this. It might seem like a bit of overkill on a light pasta dish, but this particular dish has so much going on, that I thought it could pull it off.

When I pulled out the cork, I was kinda bummed to see a synthetic one. St. Francis is one of the better wineries in Sonoma so I thought they would have used a real cork. A screwcap is an even better option. This wine was still very good. I would definitely recommend it and I would definitely buy it again.

I still had one more bunch of asparagus to use up, so back to Vegan YumYum I went for this dish.
Sesame Soy Curls with Asparagus and Quinoa. I've never seen soy curls but from the descriptions I've read, they sound very similar to a product I've been using for years called So Soya. So Soya comes in small pieces like TVP or in chunks. I re-hydrated the chunks and cut them into strips so it would closer resemble soy curls. This dish is another winner!

The quinoa provided a great base for the other ingredients. I should really cook it more often. We both like it and it's a nutrition powerhouse. If you'd like to try this out for yourself, the recipe is here.

We then had ice cream! I've been dying to try this new coconut milk version from So Delicious. In the US, it's called Purely Decadent. We have Purely Decadent frozen dessert, but the coconut version is called So Delicious. *shrugs* Don't know why. Anyway, I opted for the chocolate flavour and it tasted to me like chocolate/coconut. It was very nice. I didn't tell Jim what it was, so he thought he was getting regular chocolate ice cream. He did notice a difference in the flavour and asked me what it was. He did like it and ate his whole dish.

Since I still eat dairy, this isn't an issue for me, but the container said the product may contain trace amounts of dairy protein. Is this only on the Canadian product? I know a lot of vegans are snapping this up, so I'm wondering if we just resign ourselves to the fact that one cannot be wholly vegan in this world and just do the best one can? If trace amounts of dairy protein are in the frozen dessert one eats, it it OK to buy other products that may contain traces of dairy or egg? Where does one draw the line? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Our Trip To NY

My trusty driver and I set out early for our shopping trip to New York.


The day was slightly overcast but nice temperatures and no rain.

And the QEW Niagara was fairly clear outside of Hamilton with traffic moving well.

Once we got closer to St. Catharine's we ran into road construction. What a surprise (she claimed sarcastically). There always seems to be construction happening in this area.

This is the Skyway Bridge in St. Catherine's. If you look to the right, you can see the Welland Canal. I tried to get a picture of that, but it didn't turn out.

Our exit....getting closer

Almost out of Canada

Coming up to the border crossing...

Yay! We're in! Heading south on 190 towards Niagara Falls & Buffalo.

Niagara Falls in a major source of power on both sides of the border. We pass a lot of sights like this one.
One thing that is really kinda weird is this sign. It's HUGE!

We couldn't even escape Tim Horton's!

When we're in Niagara Falls, NY, I always stop here. I'm like a kid in a candy store. The place is huge and they have a pretty good California wine section. I find the prices for imported wines is not a whole lot cheaper than in Ontario, and with the exchange rate, it's not really worth it. I look for California wines that I don't see in Ontario or favorite ones that are so incredibly cheap that even with taxes and duty, I still save. I also keep my eyes open for a unique find - like the time I bought some wine from Idaho! It was very good and I haven't been able to find any since.

Another friggin' Tim Horton's. It's as bad as being in Canada. We did some grocery shopping in Niagara Falls and then headed towards Buffalo, stopping in Amherst. There's another good liquor store there, but I'd spent enough money already on wine, vodka and tequila. I didn't want to be tempted, so I just avoided the place altogether.

As soon as we crossed the border, there always seemed to be a plane flying by.

These weren't commercial flights either. Jim's a huge military/history buff and said these were military planes.

This went on all day long. No matter where we were, there was a plane. I started feeling like Henry Hill in Goodfellas.


Once we were finished all of our shopping, we were starving, so we decided to stop for dinner before heading home.

We'd passed this early in the day and knew this is where we wanted to eat. Neither one of us has ever been to a Chili's. There are a handful of locations in Canada, but they're all out west. This is the location in Niagara Falls, NY, which is fairly new. The place was really hopping and the hostess said it would be a 20 minute wait. We decided to relax at the bar. They had 2 for 1 margaritas! WOOT!

So I got myself 2 margaritas. We looked through the menu while we waited. It was pages long. They have an awful lot of things to choose from. After about 10 minutes, we got called to our table. I'm wondering if they secretly knew we were Canadian.

We were seated across from this....

and had a good view of this. HAHA!!

I was still looking through the menu, which was loaded with meat dishes, when our server first came by. We ordered up a plate of tortillas and salsa to munch on while we decided on our food.

Whoa! They certainly don't skimp on the chips!! Since I seem to have lost all of my ability to deal with overly spicy dishes, I was hoping I'd be able to enjoy the food here and not burn the crap out of my mouth. The salsa was perfect for me - lots of flavour and just a hint of heat.

Jim got himself a Coors Light for $1.99!! Around here, a beer at a bar or restaurant is on average about 5 bucks. Our waitress was great. She was very speedy & busy, but very attentive. She's obviously a pro.

I ended up ordering from the Guiltless Grill® part of the menu - a black bean burger that came with steamed veggies.

OMG! This was so freaking delicious! If all I could ever eat at Chili's, EVER, was this I wouldn't care. Even the broccoli was cooked perfectly. It still had lots of crunch. Jim got a mixed fajita dish that included beef, chicken and shrimp which he said it was very, very good.

A day spent shopping certainly gave us huge appetites. Jim & I both cleaned our plates,

And pretty much killed the chip plate. Granted, we'd only eaten breakfast, which explains our over-indulgence.
We asked for the bill and whoa - Look at the total! We ate and drank all that for $36!?? Amazingly cheap!

We had one more stop to make before heading home -

Yup! We always stop at Dunkin' Donuts for a coffee and some Munchkins for the ride home.

I don't know why we like this place so much. Maybe because it's like an American version of Tim Horton's - but better! (or perhaps the way Tim Horton's USED to be). The coffee here tastes better and since Tim Horton's has gone to par-baked (read frozen!) donuts, their donuts suck. There are some Dunkin' Donuts locations in Canada, but as far as I know, they're all in Quebec. Because this is unavailable to us, it's more of a treat.

Now, we're ready for the road!

The hot drink lids at Dunkin' Donuts are the best. Here it is closed....

And opened. Easy to reclose and they don't rip all to hell like plain, ordinary plastic lids.

We're driving out of the country and there's another effing Tim's. Sorry guys, we run on Dunkin'. HA!
As we're driving along, I'm compiling all of our receipts and figuring out how much we spent on groceries & how much we spent on booze. I always claim everything and pay the required duty and taxes. I just don't want to risk it, because if they do a search, I'm out the money I paid because they'll confiscate my liquor.

We get to the customs booth and they ask us the usual - nationality, where do you live, where were you & why, how long were you in the US, did you buy anything? When I told him we bought some vegetarian products, snacks and dog treats, he said "Do you do this often?" I said "Maybe 2 or 3 times a year. The selection of vegetarian products is amazing in the US." Customs doesn't care about this and I've never been charged any duty on that stuff. The big question is - Any tobacco or alcohol products? I told him what we bought and he looks confused...why wouldn't we buy this in Canada? Jim said "My wife works for the LCBO and she picks up wines they don't sell here." We also had some Van Gogh Vodka (Vanilla and Citroen) and Don Julio Tequila and I offered up receipts but then...the angels of heaven started singing....and the officer said "Would you be terribly disappointed if I just sent you on your way?" I said "No. In fact I'd be extremely grateful." With that he said "Have a good night guys. Drive safe." WootWoot! Awesome!
It had started to rain and drizzle a bit and the drive from the border is about 45 minutes, so we settled in with our coffee and revelled in the fact that we didn't have to pay duty or taxes on our booze.

What a long day! This is a weary shopper finally home. I'm in the lobby of our building waiting with our coolers and bags while Jim parked the truck.

Even after driving and shopping all day, he's still acting goofy & cheeky. We did in fact have a nice enjoyable time away, just the 2 of us.

Now....wait until you see what I bought!

Simon's Turn

Hey Bitches!!! Mom's busy, so I'm taking over blogging duties for this entry. I was thinking long and hard about what a good post subject would be and then it hit me. Food! Mommy is always taking pictures of food, so I decided I would do the same.

This is the kibble I eat. Solid Gold. Sounds impressive, doesn't it? Dr. Woolard....frigg-it I love her! She's the best doctor ever. She feeds me treats and says I'm the best patient in her whole practice. Her husband is nice, but Sarah looks after me more than Stuart does. Ooops, got off on a tangent...Dr. Woolard suggested that mommy & daddy feed me this kind of kibble and I like it well enough. It's better when mom mixes in some canned food.

I like these two kinds. Mommy buys Merrick's a lot and they have so many different flavours that I can eat. Mommy has to be careful because of my allergies. She says it doesn't matter who she's shopping for, her or me, she's got to read the labels on everything.

This is what I had for dinner last night. Actually, this is what I have for dinner almost every night. I used to have a matching set of bowls, but Mommy & Daddy had a party and one of Mommy's friends accidentally broke my food bowl. No biggie, I got a new one!

It's nice and bright. I like it. Doesn't my kibble look delicious?

When I'm a good boy - which in my mind is all of the time, but Mom & Dad just don't see things the way I do - I get a treat. Sometimes I have cookies -

Mommy buys these ones on a fairly regular basis

Sometimes I'll get these ones for a different flavour. Mommy then heard something about some people's pets in the States getting sick from Nutro pet food and she was really worried that maybe I might get sick. She checked their website and found this. There was also a report on CNN

Mom's a bit paranoid, especially after that Menu Foods fiasco, so she said that the lamb chop cookies are on hold for now "just in case." Geez! I really like those ones too. Has anyone heard anything about Nutro? I'd like to tell Mom that everything is fine so I can get my paws on some of those cookies.

These are something new Mommy bought for me. Woof! Do I like these ones!! The company that makes these, Delca Corporation, has all kinds of dog treats. And mommy's friend, my Auntie Karen, will be happy to know - these are made in a Kosher factory!! There's also a P'Nut Butter Creme cookie that I tried, but I must say, I like my carob chip ones better.

Wooof! What dog doesn't love Greenies! I get these as a treat and to also help keep my teeth clean. Especially since Dr. Woolard gave me a real good cleaning when I was in for my extraction, I want to keep my teeth sparkling. I do on occasion bury these in select spots around the house just in case I feel like one later. My favorite secret hiding places are between the couch cushions and in my crate under my blanket. Ssshhhhh! Don't tell Mom. She doesn't know.

OK, I saved the best for last. BEGGIN' STRIPS KICK ASS! If I could, I would eat the whole bag and probably make myself sick. Of course I'd throw up on the bed or on a rug, because that's just the kind of guy I am. There's a magic cupboard in the kitchen that holds all of these marvelous treats, but this one doesn't come out as much as I would like. Mom says it's "junk food for dogs" and I'm only allowed to have a little bit. Boy oh boy! These are my ultimate favorites!

When Mommy & Daddy went to the United States, they brought me back some treats too. Mommy said she read all the labels and these ones are OK for me. I have a chicken allergy, so it's hard to find good stuff sometimes. Look at the Beggin' Canadian Cuts. It's like Canadian bacon. Imagine. They have to go to USA to get Canadian Cuts. Weird. I can't wait to try all of these!

Well, typing up this post has made me sleepy. I think I'll go dig up a cookie and have a nap. Catch you bitches later.

Simon out!

April Recap

This is going to be a long one. Go get your drink before you start reading. At least this post will help you pass some time.
April was great! (except for Simon's troubles - see below) For starters, I had a birthday! Jim made me dinner which was a real treat, because he very rarely cooks. BBQ-ing doesn't count, because I do all the prep and he just watches things brown on the grill. So, rather than going out to a restaurant, I wanted him to put some effort into this. He can cook, he just choses not to. He planned the menu, did the shopping and while he was in the kitchen, I just relaxed and stayed out of his way.
I love any kind of baked pasta with a tomato sauce, so he did this big pan -

Mozzarella is the best when it's all melted and chewy & just lightly browned. Underneath all this....
Spinach & Ricotta ravioli - one of my favorites. Jim used fresh pasta and it really does make all the difference. This was really tasty.

He also made a Caesar salad

and toasted garlic bread, very garlicy and crispy on the outside, but soft inside. Mmmmm!

For our wine, we had this delicious Barolo which paired wonderfully with everything. Even though Jim can cook, he's not a baker, so he didn't even attempt to make any dessert. He opted for store bought, but what a great choice he made.

This cheesecake was so freakin' good! In all the years that it's been available, I've never had it. This has no crust & no topping and it doesn't need any. It's just pure richness. Since it was a special occasion, we cracked out one of our bottles of icewine. Even though Canadian wineries are producing a lot of world class, award winning table wines, they are best known for their delicious icewines. After harvest, select varieties are left on the vines, covered with nets so the birds don't eat the fruit. The nets also help to catch any bunches of grapes that may fall off the vine when the temperatures get to below freezing. The grapes are left outside to freeze solid. Once temps are consistently below -8C, and ideally -10 to -13, harvesting begins. Picking is done at night to ensure the grapes stay completely frozen. Pressing is most often done outside as well since to minimize any chance of the grapes thawing. Because the juice that is squeezed from frozen grapes is so concentrated, it's very, very sweet. But, it also means that very little juice can be squeezed out, so icewine is very expensive. If you have never tried Canadian icewine, do yourself a favour and taste some. It is a treat that you must experience!

The most common variety of grape used in icewine production is Vidal. It's a hybrid grape, and it works well for icewine because it has a thick skin that is less likely to split as the fruit freezes. Riesling is also used quite a lot. It's a bit more difficult to work with, but I much prefer the flavour of Riesling icewines. The high acidity in the Riesling grape gives the icewine a clean, sweet taste. A real treat is Cabernet Franc icewine. These are even more expensive, but worth it! The strawberry & honey aromas that come out of the glass are amazing and the flavour of strawberries & red berries and just a titch of spice made this a perfect compliment to the plain cheesecake. Who needs topping?!

Easter also happened a couple of days later, so that meant pub crawl! Janesse that I work with has a birthday at the end of March, so we used this pub crawl as an excuse to celebrate our birthdays. Hey, we're both Aries, so that means it's all about us. ;o) Janesse's mom was gracious enough to allow us to all meet up at her place, so we started with a BBQ and some drinks.

Birthday shots are a must.

Come on Janesse! Don't be scared. You can do it!

I took some cupcakes

I made a variety to appeal to everyone and let's face it...it's more fun!

There was carrot with cream cheese frosting

Rainbow Chip cake with Rainbow Chip icing. These are from a mix and a can. They are Janesse's favorites (go figure) so I had to include some of them, but I didn't make them with eggs like it said to do on the box - I used tofu.

Chocolate with Rainbow Chip and chocolate sprinkles.

Chocolate with chocolate buttercream

Peanut Butter with peanut butter icing. This is a recipe from my childhood and is a favorite of mine.

Then I did some Rainbow Chip cakes with chocolate buttercream

And some Devil's Food with chocolate ganache (and a lopsided peace sign)

I used Isa's ganache recipe. Look how shiny these turned out. And such a deep, dark chocolate. Yum! All of these cupcakes, with the exception of rainbow bit are vegan! No one even knew. The leftovers were taken to work and everyone gobbled them up and raved about how moist & delicious they were. I didn't tell them they were eating TOFU!

The best part of the whole weekend was that my friend Michelle was in town and came out pub crawling with us! She's been living in Calgary since February and it was great to see her.

On Easter Monday, the two of us hung out for a while and did one activity that we really enjoy....cruising around IKEA. This particular day happened to be my lucky day. We stopped at the "As Is" section to see if there were any deals to be had. I immediately zeroed in on a cabinet I've been wanting for quite some time.


Hmmm....says damaged. We looked it over and found a scrape on the bottom drawer that if you didn't know it was there, would probably not even notice. There was also a nail that hadn't been driven in correctly and was sticking up, but a pair of pliers would take care of that nicely. For a savings of $92 AND it was already put together, I HAD to have it. Problem was...it had to be paid for and taken home the same day. Jim had the truck already loaded for work the next day, so I decided to leave it and come back in the morning and see if it was still there. If it was, I'd buy it, and Jim could pick it up in the evening. Michelle and I walked around, checking out the weird new stuff but mostly chatting and catching up. When we were leaving, I had to go look at the cabinet again. OMG!! There was some woman looking at it. She was touching it. She can't have it! It's MIIIINNE!! I couldn't leave this in fate's hands. I had to get it NOW! Michelle thought it might fit in the boxy-SUV type rental vehicle she had, so we measured the cabinet, went out, measured the vehicle...hmmmm....I don't know. It would be a really tight squeeze. Screw it! I bought it. It didn't fit. Luckily, IKEA has vans that can be rented for 2 hours. So we did that. $20 and us two superwomen managed to get it to my place.

You like? I used Christmas money that we had gotten to buy this. I knew this was what I wanted and I finally got it. And no assembly required! The plan was to use it as a liquor cabinet and it works perfectly

Thanks to Michelle and all her help otherwise, this wouldn't be gracing my living room right now.

Even Simon approves!

We did a very casual Easter dinner at Mama Rita's. Michelle was in town until the evening, so she joined us.

Fergus totally partied down with his cat grass and a bottle of wine.

A few days after Easter, Jim & I went into Hamilton to see the Broadway Touring production of Hairspray. I've never seen either movie, nor did I even know what the storyline was. Jim was a good sport and came with me, even though I warned him that I thought it was probably going to be "girly".

This show was FANTASTIC!! It was upbeat, bright, busy, the actors were great, the music & singing were amazing! We both really, really enjoyed this. If it comes to your town, go see it. You will not be disappointed.
A couple of days later, we were back in Hamilton, this time to Copps to see Celtic Thunder.

The show was very good, but Jim & I were kind of disappointed they didn't sing more of the traditional Celtic songs. The guys did provide an enormous amount of eye candy though. ;o)

Here's a video of Celtic Thunder singing one of my very favorite Celtic songs, Caledonia. There is an official channel on YouTube, with a clip of this song from the show, but embedding has been disabled, and this is the best I can find otherwise. If you click THIS, you will be re-directed to watch that video if you like.

Earth Day is now 3 weeks gone, but let me show you what I received that morning

I was on the bus to work and when it stopped at the downtown terminal for transfers, a girl got on and handed out a granola bar, a key chain & a thank-you card to everyone. The card said I've reduced by carbon footprint by choosing to ride low emission, low sulphur fuel buses and that one bus takes 40 cars off the road. Too bad they couldn't get their act together when it comes to being on schedule and arriving on time so I don't miss my connection.

The planet earth keychain is kinda cute though.

I think this is the longest post I've written. Some days it's hard to squeeze in the time, so this one will make up for all the days I started, but didn't get finished. I've been creeping your blogs, but don't leave messages often these days. I'm hoping that will change. I hope you all have a great week! Up next....I'll show you what I bought when we went shopping in the States.

Simon Update

Some of you know that my little guy went through some big trouble recently. This explains part of my absence from blogging. First, I was busy with a few events happening, which I did start to blog about, (and will be posting soon) but then Simon wasn't well, so I was occupied with him.
A couple of weeks ago, it looked, to both Jim and I, like Simon had a bit of a swollen face on one side. We were keeping an eye on it, but it seemed to go away. Then a few days later, it looked like his face was swollen again. The second time, we called the vet and booked an appt. to take him in. They assumed from our description on the phone that it was his allergies acting up. After all, it's spring and everything is starting to sprout and he has been itchier than normal.
Jim took Simon into see Dr. Woolard while I was at work, and upon examination, she found out that Simon had a cracked molar that had abscessed. That's why his face was swollen. By us giving him a vanectyl-p for his itching, it also took the swelling in his face down. They asked if Simon was an aggressive chewer and yes, he can be. He was prescribed antibiotics, and sent home for a few days. He was not to be given any other drugs, but antibiotics were to be administered twice a day for 5-6 days until they were well into his system and doing their thing and he was booked in for an extraction. We decided that while he was under, we'd have his teeth cleaned as well. It would save him the trauma of having to be put under anesthetic again at a later date.

This is how he looked a first. There is some swelling around his eye and nose.

Then things started to get worse. We were told that he wouldn't be in pain like a human would with an abscessed tooth and in fact, he was playing and running around like normal.

Things were really getting bad. I was really concerned. The vet assured us that this may happen and it may in fact pop before he was to go in for the extraction and if that did happen, not to be alarmed. That never happened. It just kept swelling.

This was the absolute worst. I took this picture the day before he was to go in for his appt. Later in the afternoon, the swelling started to go down and by night time, it was significantly reduced. I don't know if it did pop inside, or if it had just run it's course and starting draining on it's own.

He was not to eat after 10pm and Jim dropped him off at the vet's in the morning. I called to check on him around 1:30 and they said everything had gone smoothly, and in fact, while I was on the phone, Simon was standing up in his crate looking around. I was stuck at work until 8pm, so Jim picked him up around 4pm. They gave Jim the teeth - it ended up he needed 2 of them out! Both were cracked. The one that caused all the swelling looks a mess. Just as they were leaving the office, Simon was given an shot of pain-killers to help him rest through the night. Jim said it was sort of funny. He got Simon into the truck and he was all happy to be with his Dad, then the medicine kicked in and he just went all dopey and looked really stoned.

By the time I got home, he was pretty much passed out. Poor little guy! There was no bleeding and his face didn't seem to be swollen much at all. (The pinky colour on his thigh is from him licking. It's one of the areas that tends to get really itchy for him. Once we progress into summer, it's not as bad and by winter, it's usually gone)

He was looking much better now, even if he wasn't really feeling it at this point. He's high as a kite.

The next day he was still groggy and slept a lot. He did go out for his walk in the afternoon and seemed to be coming a long pretty well. Later in the evening, I put down a bowl of watered down kibble mixed with some canned food and he ate the whole bowl! Yay! He progressed like a model patient and look at him now

He's healed up in fine fashion. So, he had pre-op blood work done, anesthetic administered, 2 extractions (but they only charged us for 1), a dental cleaning, his heartworm blood work done, we took home his heartworm meds, they didn't charge us for the pain shot and they also threw in free mani-pedi. The total bill?

Can't quite see that? Here's a closer look -

Whoa! That's some bill, eh? But you know what?

He is worth every freakin' penny!

Cabbage & Butterfly

Last week Jim & I went to see Opera Hamilton's presentation of Madama Butterfly.

What a tear-jerker that is. The performances were top-notch and Ailan Zhu who played Butterfly has the voice of an angel. She gave me shivers. The whole thing was spectacular. We both thoroughly enjoyed it. If you've never been to live opera, you don't know what you're missing.
This isn't the performance I saw, but this is my favorite aria of the whole opera. Butterfly has been waiting 3 years for her beloved to return and she's singing to her maid about how she imagines their reunion will be. I find this part so sad because she's so hopeful.....


On the food front, I scored a massive cabbage at a terrific price and with those large leaves, made cabbage rolls. I had some frozen perogies that I cooked up with some onion, soy bacon bits & some Follow Your Heart mozzarella.

For the filling, I dig out my old Betty Crocker cookbook and use that recipe as a guideline. Instead of ground beef, I use Yves Veggie Ground and some extra spice to jazz it up a little. Cabbage rolls always turn out well for me, so I stick with this tried & true recipe.

Since I had a large cabbage, I also got some "little cabbages". I never used to like Brussel sprouts, but now love them! I par-boiled these, then baked them with a little olive oil, agave, salt & pepper. They turned out really yummy.
I've also been thinking about pineapple upside-down cake for weeks now and finally bit the bullet and made one.
Pineapple is another thing that, as a child, I would never eat. Now, I love it!

The top (or bottom, depending on how you look at it) it the best part of this cake. I love anything with butter & brown sugar (I use margarine with excellent results). Add nuts and I'm over the top.

This is another tried and true from a cookbook that I got from my mother years ago. It's never failed me. I used tofu instead of eggs and this cake came out so moist & delicious.

Did you happen to watch the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction? What a wide variety of musical artist they chose this year. I, of course, watched to see Jimmy Page induct Jeff Beck.

They've been life-long friends and played togther briefly in the Yardbirds...which morphed in a roundabout way into Led Zeppelin. After the speeches, they played together which is why I tuned in in the first place. Amazing guitarists, both of them.

(Quite different from Puccini, eh?)

Baja Citrus Tofu

One day when I was out shopping, I came upon this little package of seasoning mix.

It seemed geared to fish, but I thought - 'Hell, I can use it for tofu!' Club House has all kinds of powdered gravy mixes, marinades, add-ins for meatloaf, chili, etc. and I think pretty much all of them are vegetarian friendly.

I mixed up the marinade according to the directions and let the tofu slices hang out in it for a while so they could soak up some of the flavour. I then cooked the tofu on my George Foreman grill.

They cooked up nice, don't you think? I had these with a Spanish flavoured rice & Dreena's Lemon-Broiled Green Beans.

The marinade was subtle, but nice. It wasn't very liquidy - more like a moist rub. I liked this well enough to buy it again. It's quick for weeknight meals.

To drink before our meal, and what was left in the bottle with our meal, was this interesting German Riesling.

This came out in the March 14 Vintages release. Priced at $16.95, I thought it was an excellent price for what I was buying.

Look at the year on the label. 1987! I was 23 when this wine was made. Now I'm....considerably older. I've had a 10 year old riesling before, but this one is 22! This is also proof that certain white wines can age quite well. This one was interesting. It had the classic petrol, elastic band sort of nose that rieslings take on as they age. It was drier in style, but with still just a hint of sweet. We enjoyed it very much.

As exciting as the wine was, it just wasn't a match for what I did yesterday. I gots me 2 tickets for U2's upcoming world tour stop in Toronto!! There are two shows at the Rogers Centre and they both sold out in no time. I was poised at my keyboard, logged into my Ticketmaster account and ready to start clicking when the tickets went on sale at 10am. It took some doing, but I managed to get 2 for the Sept. 17 show. Our wedding anniversary is on Sept. 20, so this will be a great kick-off to our Anniversary Weekend. Woot!Woot! It's been years since I saw U2 live. The last time was during their Joshua Tree tour which was in 1987 - the same year the wine above was made! Well, how's that for a funny coincidence. If I have a good a time at this upcoming concert as I did at the last one.....it'll be an anniversary to remember.

Toronto Wine & Cheese Show

On Sunday, Jim & I went to the Toronto Wine & Cheese Show. Oooo-eeee did we have some good stuff. our first stop was the LCBO fine wine area. This is where they showcase a lot of the high-end stuff. We tasted quite a few and there were some surprises.

This one was no surprise. I love me some Champage and this one was really nice. (LCBO #933060 - priced at $159) The French know how to do sparkling right. There are a lot of great sprakling wines out there and many are reasonably priced, and terrific for everyday celebrations, but when you have a really good Champagne, the others pale in comparisson. This particular vintage is 75% Pinot Noir and 25% Chardonnay. The final bottling process (disgorgement) was in March 2008, so it was in the cellars for quite some time. Yum!

The Chateau Pavie Macquin we tried was the 1995 vintage. It was quite full-bodied and very fruity. The tannins have mellowed almost completely and the wine has taken on a nice silky feel. This one is priced in Ontario at $149.00 (LCBO #37663), and is ready to drink now. This one kind of surprised me. As far as price and quality go, this one is a bit of a steal.

Dominus from the Napa Valley in California is owned by renowned French winemaker, Christian Moueix, who is best known for his own line of wines and his association with Chateau Petrus. The 2005 vintage (LCBO# 105890, price $127.95) is a big, bold red that is sure to impress. It is still young and quite tight with gripping tannins. It needs some serious aging - perhaps 6-10 years. When it's softened and starts to show it's stuff, it's going to be amazing.

Who doesn't love a nice Brunello? This 10 years old bottle is superb - smooth & silky with a wonderful finish. (LCBO# 105049) Priced at $84, it would be perfect for a celebratory meal of classic Italian fare. Delicious! I do love Italian wine.

Back to Napa Valley for this baby. In the past I've always been partial to Sonoma wines, but this Napa Valley red really impressed me. This is one of my favorites from the whole day. Rich fruit & a bit of spice.....This wine really had it goin' on. (LCBO# 733329, price $109.00) The vintage we tasted was 2004, so it does need some more cellaring time. I can only imagine how spectacular this will be in a few years. A winner for sure!

This was my other favorite of the day. The bottle available for tasting was from the blockbuster 2005 vintage. (LCBO# 567693, price $309.00) This one had the classic Bordeaux aromas, was full-bodied with loads of fruit and a velvety mouthfeel. What a gorgeous wine! This will age wonderfully and is good to sit and do it's thing for another 5-10 years. This one gets Best In Show.

Have you ever had a wine from Hungary? Ever heard of Tokaji? It's a region in Hungary that produces some of the most delicious dessert wines in the world. Grapes are infected with what is called Botrytis or Noble Rot. As gross as it may sound, it can be a very good thing. Careful control is needed in the vineyard and the end result is a sweet nectar of a wine that rich, complex and unlike anything else you have ever tasted.

The one we tried was 2002 Királyudvar Tokaji Aszú Lapis 6 Puttonyos. (LCBO# 82875, price $149.00) The wine was a wonderful golden colour and an absolute delight.

Then there were a couple of disappointments. One was this:

Chateau Haut-Brion is one of the 5 chateaus awarded Premiers (or 1er) Crus in the Classification of 1855. In good years, this wine can command very large prices. Unfortunately, 2004 wasn't a terrific year in France. Some chateaus have turned out very nice wines and as they have had a chance to age a bit, 2004 is turning out to be not as bad as originally thought. There have been a lot of pleasant surprises. Sadly, this one wasn't all that it could be. (LCBO#669762, price $329.00). The wines from these Premier Crus are meant to be aged for a number of years to reach their peak, so maybe in a few years this one will turn out to be one of those surprises. Don't get me wrong, the wine is still good, but I have had better.

Perhaps the biggest disappointment of the day was Opus One.

This wine started as a joint venture between Robert Mondavi and Baron Philippe De Rothschild (of Mouton Rothschild, other another premiere cru). It is a classic Bordeaux blend and commands a large price (LCBO#583203, price $359.95). I was anticipating something spectacular, but, meh, nothing super special. The vintage we tried was 2005, which was a excellent year in California wine country. I was hoping for another Leoville Barton or Duckhorn, but this one failed to deliver. The flavour was OK, not really complex like I'd expect from something of this caliber and it had a very short finish which was quite disappointing. A case of you don't get what you pay for. But the name alone will keep these bottles selling.

We also got to try some interesting tidbits of food but nothing that really knocked my socks off. I did have a horrible mango salad. It looked good, but tasted gross. I ended up pitching it in the garbage can. This upcoming weekend is Hamilton's Food & Drink Fest. Here's hoping for some more good stuff (and better food.)

Irish Stew & George Clooney

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Yea, I'm a little late with this post, but what else is new. I had a completely insane work week, but still managed to squeeze in a little at home St. Patrick's celebration. First off, I bought myself a new Claddagh ring.

My old one snapped right in half about 2 months ago and after looking around, I found this one that I really liked.

St. Patrick's Day calls for some sort of Irish fare. I've been dying for a good pot of stew, so Irish stew it was. I used Robin Robertson's recipe in The Vegetarian Meat & Potatoes Cookbook as a guideline and although very tasty, it just wasn't all it could be.

I had to do something to up the flavour.

How about some Guinness?

In the stew? Hey, why not?

WOW! What a great idea! The broth took on such a rich flavour.

Have a sip? Don't mind if I do thanks. Cooking is mighty thirsty work.

So my recommendation for adding some oomph to your stew - a good ol' Irish stout. It's not a secret ingredient by any means. One of my customers, Brian (not Adams) is and Irishman and he says his mum always put it in her stew. He was making a big mess of colcannon but I skipped that because I had loads of spuds in my stew. Wanna see the finished product?

Voila! Look at the nice dark gravy. It was chock full of carrots, kale, mushrooms (which I picked out and gave to Jim) white beans and I added some veggie burger chunks to give it extra heartiness. I bought some nice potato-scallion bread to sop up the broth and we chowed down in fine style.

Jim had the camera and was taking pictures and this is what I find when I downloaded -

What the...? No matter how old they get, they are still little boys sometimes, aren't they?

I've said before that I have a sort of love-hate thing going on for PETA. Despite all the good they do, sometimes, they're just a little off the deep end. And, they are at it again. Did you hear the latest wacky idea? CloFu - George Clooney tofu.

Now, we'll all agree that he is one fine specimen, but would I want to eat tofu with his sweat taste in it? I'll just stick with my stew for now thank you.
(I can't believe they actually wrote him a letter about this. Cuckoo!!)