A curious sight in Toronto

Living in the big city, I see a lot of different sights around town. Perhaps I shouldn't really be that surprised (this is Toronto, after all), but I never expected to see what I saw the other day from my balcony. Sure, walking around town, it's usual to see the various styles of men and women - the unique styles of 'hipsters' in outfits I could never get away with wearing, but somehow, they pull off. But the view from above is very different.

The other day while working at home, I had the balcony door open (it was one of those days where the heat broke and it was actually comfortable to sit with the cool air blowing in). Amidst the car horns and sirens, I heard the air fill with music, an unusual sound during the day. Curiosity simply got the better of me and I had to see what was going on.

You should know that our balcony overlooks a rooftop patio of a bar/club. Thursday through Saturday nights, it goes without saying that our windows stay closed, and although the low  drumming of the bass often seeps through the window panes, we are fairly well insulated from the loud chatter and rhythmic music.

So, what did I see???

A giant inflatable beaver! Turns out, the club was hosting a private event for Roots Canada, so of course! A giant beaver. It makes perfect sense. I shared the image on Facebook with my friends, and had to let Matt know what he was missing out on, and that beaver really did put a big smile on my face.  What a day...

Brunch - BQM Style...

You must know by now that we LOVE brunch at the Reid House, especially when someone else cooks it! The bacon, the eggs, the toast, the home fries...exploring new brunch places is only half the enjoyment. One of our Fat Fridays took us to BQM, and while we enjoyed their evening dishes, we noticed their breakfast menu and decided we had to go back. So, we did.

The best part of Saturday or Sunday mornings is sleeping in and heading out for brunch. Sometimes its coffee and croissants while reading the newspaper, but sometimes we want a full on breakfast. We don't really do it all that often (despite what this blog might say), so each time is like a little treat. The BQM menu was nothing too adventurous, and when judging a new restaurant, we always try out the standard - scrambled eggs, bacon, and home fries. And we both usually order the same thing! This actually tends to be true on most brunch mornings, so this really wasn't out of the ordinary. Neither of us really like eggs, but we figured that they are probably the healthiest part of the meal, and so we eat them.

So, bacon, eggs, and bacon is what we ordered. Matt always judges the toast(has to be white) and the bacon, but the test for me is the home fries. I like my home fries crispy on the outside but soft in the middle, plus really well seasoned. Some of the best home fries I've had usually have a bit of spicy salt on them and that really makes a big difference. How did this one stack up? Well, the eggs - hard to screw them up. Put a bit of salt and pepper on them and eat away. The bacon - well, I thought it was a little undercooked, which made them a little rubbery (not a good quality in bacon) but they were edible. And the home fries? They were good. Very nice seasoning and done really well, so I think they get my thumbs up. Not sure if we'll go back for the brunch, however, but for the burgers - for sure!

Along with our breakfast, instead of a traditional orange juice, we ordered a can of San Pellegrino Aranciata - sparkling water with a hint of orange from Italy. It made for a really refreshing morning beverage and cut through the saltiness of the bacon and potatoes. We came across this drink first while we were at Blue Mountain in April and really liked it. We haven't gone out of our way to find it, but when we noticed it on the shelf, we had to give it a try.

We're heading to Italy in October for a delayed honeymoon, so I'm sure we'll come across it there, too...

Recipe: Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake Cupcakes

A mouthful of a recipe name, yes,  but a mouthful of gooey goodness, too! I saw this recipe in the free Kraft Kitchen's magazine - Get Cooking. It gets mailed to me every so often and the picture was so appetizing that I simply had to whip up a batch. Plus, we were having dinner with friends and I couldn't just show up empty handed!

The picture on the website is a bit more attractive than mine (I opted to skip the whipped cream and cheery for a more rustic cupcake), but tasted, I'm sure, just as good. The basic brownie batter is then filled with a dollop of cream cheese mixed with peanut butter and sugar and then baked in the oven. The result, a rich and creamy bite of chocolate and peanut butter - two of my favourite things!

Here is the original recipe from the site:

INGREDIENTS

1 pkg. (450 g) brownie mix

175 g (3/4 of 250-g) Philadelphia Brick Cream Cheese, softened

1/4 cup Kraft Smooth Peanut Butter

2 Tbsp. Sugar

1 cup thawed Cool Whip Whipped Topping

12 Maraschino cherries

DIRECTIONS

HEAT oven to 350ºF. Prepare brownie batter as directed on package. Spoon into 12 paper-lined muffin cups.

BEAT cream cheese, peanut butter and sugar with mixer until blended. Spoon 1 rounded Tbsp. into center of batter in each cup, pressing down slightly into batter. Bake 25 min. or until centers are set. Cool.

SERVE topped with Cool Whip and cherries.

If you don't have the Brownie mix handy, you can make your own with some ease. Here are the ingredients I used for fudge brownies:

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup butter or margarine

2 ounces unsweetened chocolate

2 eggs

1 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

DIRECTIONS

IN a medium saucepan, melt butter and chocolate over low heat. Remove from heat when combined. 

STIR in eggs, sugar, and vanilla and beat lightly with a wooden spoon.

STIR in flour and pour into lined muffin cups.  

And then you just carry on the rest of the steps from the original recipe, above.

Now don't get this recipe confused with the other Peanut Butter Cheesecakes I've blogged about. Those are actual mini cheesecakes with a Reese's cup in the center. These are more of a brownie with peanut butter cream cheese in the middle. Both are equally good, though...

Hamburgers!

If you've read any of our Fat Fridays, you know that Matt and I enjoy a burger now and then. I would have thought that eating them as often as we do that we might possibly get tired of them, but, in fact, with each new burger place we try out, I think we enjoy them more and more. It has been a while since we've gone back to any of our local burger joints, but for dinner last week, we wanted burgers... and I wanted to make them!

In our condo we do have access to a couple of bbqs, located on the roof top patio of our building. I don't know why we don't use them more often, to be honest. Maybe it's the work of having to bring everything up to cook when the oven is just as good and close. Whatever the reason, we decided to bbq some of our own hamburgers the other week. I don't have much experience in the burger area, but I thought, how hard could it be? I had made a really good meatloaf with onion soup mix, so I just used the same and formed patties.

Well, the burgers turned out HUGE! I really should have made 4 instead of 2, but live and learn. it just meant I had leftovers the next day for lunch. But the seasoning was great, and topped with melted 8 year old aged cheddar....mmm! We should bbq more often, especially while this nice weather is still with us.

At long last... throw pillows!

Only a short 8 months after I bought the fabric to turn our existing brown couch pillows into fabulous throw pillows, I have completed the project! What took so darn long, you wonder? Well, frankly, life...and our little condo. The sewing machine was tucked away in a closet, which meant bringing it out and setting it up.

My original plan was to take the pillows already on the couch, use the stuffing, the zipper, and the edging to create new pillows to match our lampshades (to some degree). I picked out this polka dot circular pattern - I loved the colours and the graphics and knew that it would be a great addition to the brown couch. I even got off to an ambitious start by cutting out the fabrics. I figured out how to add the zipper by examining how the old pillow was put together, and I even got as far as getting one pillow unstuffed and ripped apart - and that is how it stayed for the next several months.  It was a little sad, actually, to see all the parts splayed on the floor...

Well, I think Matt got tired of seeing that little pillow, stuffing out and about, just lying in the condo, and I knew I had to finish what I had started. I managed to get the zipper in quite nicely (this turned out to be an easier route than I had thought it might be...and doesn't require any hand stitching after stuffing!), but when it came to the edging, I learned the hard way that it wouldn't be quite as easy. I stitched one side, but after much frustration, I decided, for my sanity, to rip it out and just keep the pillow plain and simple. And really, when I set my mind to it, completing both pillows took me just over an hour! You would have thought I might have found an hour in the last 8 months to put these two together...

Let's take a look at the before and after shots (my FAVOURITE part of any makeover/renovation by far! Oh, that and the Big Reveal....)

The zipper is nicely concealed at the back, and the great thing is that these are completely removable and washable. And the cost for making them? Only about $20 bucks for the fabric! Since I reused all the essential elements, this was a quick and cheap way to update our couch. And I even learned a thing or two about how to add zippers to fabric.

I Scream for Ice Cream!

Alright, so maybe I don't exactly scream for ice cream (not since I was a kid, anyway), but I do enjoy the creamy cold stuff - especially if bits of chocolate skor bits are mixed throughout. For that we usually head to the local DQ, and now that they offer the Mini cups, it's a quick little sugar fix I need after dinner (did you know that DQ has a blog? Now you never have to miss an important announcement from the Dairy Queen...I mean, if that's important to you.).

So...where am I going with this? Well, no longer do we have to venture outside the condo for the taste of mini blizzard - we can make them at home!. My loving sister (the ice cream lover that she is), gave us a wonderful wedding gift - the gift of homemade ice cream! We had seen this little mixer in a newspaper probably about 2 or 3 months ago, and Sarah has been looking for them in stores ever since. It turned out that the ad that ran didn't happen to mention that they were only available in store early August. But Sarah finally managed to get her hands on one (in the end, she just ordered it online), and along with the mixer, she threw in a great book on ice cream, some great sundae toppers, and a couple ice cream mixers, too. I must admit, I love the gifts that I get to both use and eat (the edible variety I especially love because it won't take up much space in the kitchen for long...).

But let me tell you why I particularly liked this mixer - it's small, making 2 - 4 servings at a time. And storage is convenient, as long as you have room in your freezer - you simply place the two bowls in the freezer.  Then, when you're ready, mix together the milk, cream, vanilla, and sugar (for a basic soft serve ice cream) in a jar and let it sit in the fridge for about 15 minutes.

Once that's set, pour into one of the frozen bowls. Then place the motor on the bowl, hit the on switch, and let the machine do its thing. 15 minutes later you have frozen milk and sugar - also known as soft serve. We enjoyed this first batch over a warm peach cobbler, and with some left over, we'll enjoy a second serving tomorrow. Each bowl serves 1 - 2 people, so there isn't a need to find extra storage in the freezer for a large container. And with the new book of ice cream flavours, well, we have a lot of new recipes to try out. One quick and easy dessert is just put in a container of yogurt in the bowl, turn on the mixer, and voila - frozen yogurt!

For those of you without a handy-dandy ice cream maker of your own, check out this video on how to make ice cream with two plastic freezer bags. I've actually tried this out before and it works really well!

Mmm....what flavour shall we enjoy next?

Fat Friday - Taste of the Danforth

Just a week or so ago, Toronto celebrated its annual Taste of the Danforth. You might have heard a thing or two of the festival, but if not, briefly, they shut down a section of the Danforth for the various restaurants to offer a taste of their cooking to visitors. Neither Matt nor I had been before, so we thought we'd head out on a little taste adventure for our Fat Friday.

So, we hopped on the subway, headed out to the east end, exited at Broadview, and were immediately met with hoards of people trying to make their way along the street! It was like a crazy mass of people with no clearing in sight. But we did manage to find some open space to walk, only to be met with long line-ups for the food stalls. We were already hungry at this point, and the crowds and lines (not to mention the heat) were making us quickly grumpy, so we left the madness of the Danforth to head south to Leslieville, where we were certain we could get a great meal. We'll just head back to the Danforth on a regular day when the crowds won't be so crazy (it could be that we're just getting older and can't be bothered with crowds any more...).

We headed south to Queen St, only about a 20 minute walk from Danforth, to a little Italian restaurant we had been to before, Lil Baci (probably about the furthest thing from Greek food!).  With no line up and a small menu, we were enjoying our appetizer and glass of wine in no time. For a starter, we each ordered crustinies, prosciutto with caramelized red onions and Parmesan. Even though they came two to a plate, we each ordered our own - we were that hungry!

Next, the entrees. Matt went for a pizza - a favourite of his - spicy sausage with basil. A classic and delicious pizza to enjoy on a summer patio. Of course, the food probably tasted 10 times better because of our hunger and frustration, but Lil Baci has no problems with good food - they know how to dish it!

Myself, I have been on a huge pasta kick as of late, so how could I turn down the option to indulge myself yet again. The special that night was orecchiette, similar to that I enjoyed at Brassaii, but this one came served with hot sausage in a cream sauce (I am a sucker for cream sauces, yes sir!). I have to say I enjoyed the sun dried tomatoes better at Brassai, but this one was pretty tasty...and filling. Sadly, I think I had to leave some behind, and we didn't have room for gelato. But we did enjoy a specialty coffee afterwards.

It was great to enjoy dinner on a back yard patio. The sun slow set while we enjoyed our wine and conversation, and once it go too dark, the patio was lit with small strings of lights, just enough to see who you were talking with. We said at the beginning of the summer that we should have Patio Phat Phridays, but so far, this has been the only one we've made it to. Hopefully the nice weather keeps going so we can get to a few more.

Oh, I'm sorry. You thought I was going to write about Greek food....

More baking with peaches...

You might already be a fan of my lime yogurt bread, so here's a new take on an old favourite: Peach Yogurt Bread! A great little afternoon snack with a cup a tea, or serve with a scoop of ice cream after dinner. That's right, just substitute the lime juice and zest for one peach. Simply wash then puree in either a food processor or blender until smooth, then add to the dry ingredients. You might need to adjust the flour quantity, perhaps adding a bit more, as the peach will be juicier. Just add more flour accordingly.

I have to admit that this first attempt did not turn out so great (yes, sometimes I do fail at new cooking projects). For one, as I previously mentioned, the pureed peach might require more flour, and I neglected to add any. Secondly, I opted to leave out the canola oil in this batch to see if that made any difference (and to offset the juicer peach). I was also short on cooking time as I was expecting company that afternoon. So, combine all of those things together, and I got an undercooked loaf. The flavour itself was delicious, but the consistency, not so much. It was the middle that was still rather doughy, so we didn't actual manage to eat our way through the loaf. And, contrary to what I thought would work, re-baking in the oven didn't do much.

But, all that being said, it is worth repeating and next time I'll make sure to bake longer, because the peachiness in the bread was really tasty! Hope you guys have better luck!

Oh, and I should warn you: should you decide to keep the skin on, which I did, it bakes into a rather interesting shade of brown, which doesn't really look all that appetizing. I think next time I'll take a few extra minutes and peel them. Ah, that's what happens with trial and error!

Chips ahoy!

Ok, maybe that title made you think of chocolate chips, but I'm talking about actual potato chips (although it has no relevance to pirates, it was the first clever thing that came to my mind...). In any case, potato chips are the first recipe I made out of the new book. I narrowed down the choice to chips as I already had potatoes in the fridge, and, as I have already shared, I love using the mandoline!

So, away I went. Directions were not that difficult to follow, and the beauty thing with this recipe is that you bake them in the oven and not deep fry them (although the book did have both options...). After slicing them thinly, you lightly oil a few cookie sheets and lay the potatoes, careful not to overlap (I was surprised at how many slices you get from just two potatoes!). The book was not clear on whether or not to wash the slices, so I just put them on after cutting them. Bake them in a 300 degree oven until crisp, then lightly salt and cool on racks.

They turned out really nicely, but very brown, as you can tell. I wasn't sure if that was due to the potato I used or the heat of the oven, but they didn't taste burnt. The side that was in the oil was a little bit greasier than I would have liked, but at least it gave the salt something to stick to. 

I did want repeat the process again (Matt gobbled up that batch in no time!), this time using parchment paper instead of oil. I also rinsed the potatoes after slicing to see if this would make a difference. And for one sheet, I salted the potatoes  before baking. The second batch turned out just as good, but as you would imagine, much drier. And the downside to that was that the salt had nothing to stick to. But salting them pre-baking worked like a charm! Not quite sure which method I prefer yet; the oil is probably easiest, but the parchment makes for some easy clean up! In either case, we have fresh potato chips in 40 minutes, so what's not to like about that?!?!

If you'd like to try at home, here's how you do it:

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Oil baking sheets with neutral vegetable oil.
2. Scrub, dry, and slice potatoes about 1/16 inch thick. Peel or don't.
3. Arrange slices in a single layer, making sure not to have them overlap.
4. Bake for 40 minutes, or until chips are thoroughly dried throughout, testing the center of each chip for doneness.
5. Sprinkle with salt to taste.
6. Transfer to wire rack and let cool.

They will keep for about a month.... if you can get them to last that long!

Jam it, Pickle it, Cure it!

I recently received a new cooking/baking book from my wonderful mother for my birthday (thank you, Mom, and a shout out to Matt for finding it!). It's filled with delicious ideas for desserts and snacks and other great treats, and it really was the cover of the book that caught my eye (and probably Matt's, too!). I had already been toying with the idea of making my own jams, but this book just takes it to a whole new level! I was very excited to flip through the pages to see what creative cooking I could do next... (I wish my kitchen has those fully stocked shelves!)

If you can't read the fine print in the top corner, let me enlarge it for you here, because you must all know that two of the three are probably some of my favourite foods. And now this book is telling me I can make them?!?! A-MAZING! I immediately had to flip to those pages to see what was required in regards to equipment, time, resources, and of course, space. Turns out, not that much! The cheeses, as I guessed, are a softer cheese, like ricotta. I don't think I'll actually be able to make my own hard Cheddars, but the bacon is actually a pretty easy recipe. I think the only thing I'm lacking is a smoker, but I think I know friends who might have one to borrow, especially if they get to try the bacon.

The book has a website with a few of the recipes, including the bacon, so feel free to browse HERE. There is also a blog to follow, but it doesn't get updated nearly as often as mine.... =)

So, what to make first. Guess you'll just have to wait and see. Ok, you know I won't keep you in suspense that long... probably just until tomorrow.

What to do with a fresh basket of peaches...

man, the lighting in my fridge is good!

You may not think there is any other answer to that question than to eat them. There probably isn't really, but in my mind, the question of the day is HOW to eat them. And now that I've found the farmer's market at Metro Hall on Thursdays, I dream all week what I can make with the local fruits and vegetables I'll be picking up. Today's trip was to pick up said peaches, some corn on the cob, and some fresh tomatoes.  The corn is for dinner, as are the tomatoes, which are destined for a roasted tomato and pepper sauce for my home made spaghetti (look for that post later...).

So, what exactly to do with the peaches, I mean, besides eating them as is? There is something extremely satisfying about taking a big juicy bite. My first thought was dessert! And to accomplish that, I whipped out my trust mandolin (my new favourite kitchen gadget for slicing and dicing), and finely sliced a few peaches. I then placed them in small oven safe bowls, and sprinkled a combination of brown sugar, butter, and oatmeal on top - the classic topping for an easy peach cobbler.

I know you can't really see the peaches, but they are under there...

It turned out we weren't really in the mood for dessert that night, so why not a peach cobbler for breakfast the next morning?!?! Just cover with aluminum foil and refrigerate for the night, and warm in the oven the next morning. Put a spoonful of yogurt on top, and what a great morning treat.  

Summer Bruschetta

Ok, I can admit it. I've been getting pretty lazy during these summer days. Work has slowed down a bit, and the hot and muggy weather makes me kind of tired, to be honest. And with the amount of traveling and visiting we've been doing, it doesn't seem like much baking or cooking or knitting is getting done (or posted about!!). But, the start of August has given me new energy after a relaxing long weekend, and I'm back at it!

And to assure you all, the bread making still continues, quite regularly in fact, but today I thought I'd share with you a recipe to use on freshly made bread or a nice store-bought baguette - bruschetta!! A couple of my bread loaves have been used to make these delicious appetizers (which we have actually served as a side dish), and having found a new farmer's market just steps outside our door, it's a great way to make use of the summer produce. The recipe itself is made equally easy by using a pre-made bruschetta mix from Epicure (a great line of spices and seasonings to make a huge array of dishes. I love my Epicure!). My base if from the recipe is on the side of the jar, with a few additions.  

Ingredients

1. 2 cups diced tomatoes
2. 1 tbsp olive oil
3. 1/4 cup diced red onion
4. 1/2 tsp lime juice
5. zest of 1 lime

Halve the tomatoes and remove seeds, then finely dice into small, bite size pieces. Finely dice the red onion and combine with tomatoes in a medium bowl. 

Add the lime zest, lime juice, and olive oil and toss.

Sprinkle the Epicure Bruschetta spice mix and combine thoroughly. I also recommend making at least a day beforehand to let the flavours really intensify.

Just before you're ready, slice your bread into thin slices, brush with olive oil or butter and broil in the oven to a golden brown. Then spoon on a good helping of bruschetta, top with feta, if you're so inclined, and....crunch! Enjoy.

This is a great little snack that can be done on the bbq, too, if you don't want to heat up your oven.  

Bread Diary - Wheat Stalk

For a family dinner a few weekends ago, I offered to bring the bread and the potato salad. With a new batch of dough resting in the fridge, I had been waiting to try this shape of dough for a while. It seemed the most interesting in the book, and the French name, Pain d'Epi, was given because of the shape of the bread - a Wheat Stalk.

I also thought this would be good one to make for the dinner. People could just tear the 'stalks', sort of like dinner rolls to spread with butter. Turns out that is exactly what we did, and it was good! I'm really liking this new batch of dough... it makes me feel healthier knowing there isn't just white flour in it.

Making the stalks was a bit more difficult than I first thought it would be. The baguette shape I first made was too long, so I opted to cut it in half and make two stalks. I don't think I rolled them out thin enough...but practice makes perfect. At least they were still edible...