Halloween Potluck

Halloween has to be one of my favourite Holidays. There is something about dressing up and being someone or something different for a night that makes it so exciting. Oh, and the candy doesn’t hurt either! Over the years my Halloweens’ have gone from trick or treating to week long celebrations while in undergrad. For the past three years I have hosted a Halloween Potluck, a new tradition that I hope to continue for many years. There is only ONE rule that has to be obeyed, any dish you bring MUST be Halloween themed. I love how creative everyone gets, it’s so much fun to see what people come up with. At the end we all vote for the best dish and the winner gets bragging rights and their name on the Halloween Potluck trophy.

Here are some pictures of the AMAZING dishes my friends made this year and some great ideas for your own potluck!

I used red food colouring for the blood on these cupcakes

Blood splattered red velvet cupcakes

KD and JR’s Boonanna-tines

CP’s Marshmallow pretzel bones

DR’s spanakopita intestines

AA’s and HE’s rest in cheese, grilled cheese graveyard

TR’s puking pumpkin!

TA’s squid ink pasta

JS’s quinoa lungs

JH’s carrot cake

AC’s werewolf brains and pumpkin guts

CG’s Black bean zombie mud!

And this year’s 2013 Potluck winner!

JB’s Spider venom soup

Happy Halloween!

Love,

not foodies.

Momofuku- Noodle Bar

Momofuku – Part 2

After hearing about Ashley’s experience at Momofuku I knew I had to try it! I headed over to Noodle Bar on a weeknight after work with two of my girlfriends, D and J. It wasn’t too busy and we were able to get a seat immediately, which was great because I was pretty hungry! The waiter came over to take our drink order within the first 5 minutes of us sitting down. He was very friendly and helpful when suggesting drinks and food items. D and I got the Lemonade Slushie with blueberry, orange, vodka. It was sweet and not too sour. We both ordered the small and wished we had gotten more! It made me feel like a kid (in a good way) drinking from the fun pink straw in a mini glass!

Mini Lemonade Slushies!

To start, we ordered the famous pork buns – hoisin, scallion, cucumber and the pastrami buns — tongue, sauerkraut, pickle and Swiss cheese (which are no longer on the menu) . Even with Ashley’s review , I ordered and enjoyed the pork buns! They were a bit fatty, but they were cooked very well. The meat melted in my mouth. The pastrami buns were also very delicious and a great mix of flavours.

Pork Buns

Pastrami Buns

We also ordered the corn which was good, but it had a lot of different flavours and a thick sauce that I didn’t feel needed to be on the corn. In the summer when corn is in season I prefer to eat it plain and enjoy the natural flavors.

Corn with lots of stuff

After much contemplation I ordered the dan dan mein – spicy pork, dry scallop, peanut. The flavours of this dish were great and like nothing I had tried before. When I ordered it I thought it would have a little more sauce (I was thinking ramen). I wish there was a little bit more sauce in the dish, but only because it tasted so great!

Delicious dan dan

J ordered the Momofuku Ramen- pork belly & shoulder, fish cake, egg. The presentation was very nice. You could see all of the different ingredients displayed, and once mixed together the flavour was even better. I tried some of this dish and kind of wished I ordered it myself. The broth was very tasty and for the price ($15) the serving was large.

Momofuku Ramen

D (the vegetarian) ordered the ginger scallion noodles – shiitake, cucumber, cabbage. The noodles were crunchy and had a lot of flavour. If I was still a vegetarian I would be VERY satisfied with this dish!

The table beside us made a reservation so they were able to order the fried chicken ( something you have to do in advance at the noodle bar), It looked delicious. Something I will be sure to go back for.

The Best: J’s Momofuku Ramen.

Not The Best: The corn.

Sunday Brunch at Me and Mine

On a rainy Sunday afternoon I was on the hunt for a new brunch spot. Not being able to come up with any ideas I used one of my trusted sources… Google. I typed in “Best brunch places in Toronto” and the first name the came up was Me and Mine. Without thinking twice my friend A (not Ashley) and I began on our brunch journey! It was a little bit out of the way from my house (on the corner of College and Dufferin), but somehow I got really lucky and scored an awesome spot right in front, the trip was already off to a great start.

Once inside I was pleasantly surprised with the space. It was clean and simple with the back half of the restaurant raised a few steps higher. The waitress greeted us with a smile, took our drink orders AND brought us water right away (bonus points for Me and Mine). One of the things I really liked about our waitress was that she explained the specials and told us the price of each dish. I find that a lot of places forget to add that in and I end up ordering a $50 dollar dish without knowin

The cute menu!

I ordered the Brunch special that came with poached eggs, toast, sausage, an interesting side salad and potato patties.

The dish was great, but what really stood out was the home made sausage. It was one of the best I have tasted! It was fresh and the flavour was perfect. Since we went around 2:00pm, they were out of the sausage links that originally came with the brunch, but I was not disappointed at all.  The potato was not my favourite, I found it had a strong vinegar taste. I did finish everything else on my plate though!

Brunch Special

A- ordered the Cowboy Sausage which was a cauliflower & aged cheddar bake, pickled cherries, green beans & wilted watercress. It also came with a sausage. Let me say this, I am not the biggest fan of cauliflower so I wasn’t dying to try her dish. With one bite A looked at me and said “you have to try this bake”. It was AMAZING, the texture was like mashed potatoes, nice and fluffy with no lumps. The cheddar cheese was baked in perfectly and complemented the dish very well. We were both licking the plate to make sure we got it all – it was that good.

Cauliflower bake!!

The meal came to $30 including tax and tip. For the amount of food we had and the time and effort they put in to their cooking, I would have paid way more. Needless to say, this place was a home run!  I really wanted to order the peanut butter cookie for dessert, but was way too full to eat anything after my main course. I guess I will just have to go back!

The Best: A tie between the home made sausage and cauliflower cheddar bake

Not the best: The potatoes. I didn’t love the vinegar taste they left in my mouth.

PS. if you are looking for something fun to do on Halloween Me and mine is offering  a special Halloween Prix Fixe on Thursday, October 31. The $50 dinner features spooky-sounding menu. Costumes encouraged. (thanks BlogTo for posting this)

Me & Mine

(1144 College Street)

Delicious Food Show

Last night, we ate our way through one of our favourite events – the Delicious Food Show.  After its one year hiatus, we were certainly ready to check it out.   We didn’t want to miss anything so we basically went from one side to the other snaking our way up and down the aisles… Let’s get right down to it.

One of our first stops was Mrs. Bridges’ British for British chocolate.  Our friend went NUTS  buying all kinds of treats.  He would have been fine if we left after this.  She owns a store in Scarborough that might be worth checking out if you love British chocolate like Dairy Milk.

We tried Van Dyk’s 100% pure Wild Blueberry juice from Nova Scotia. It tasted exactly like fresh wild blueberries which is a flavour very hard to find outside of a couple short summer weeks.  This juice would make a great addition to a smoothie.

Wild blueberry juice

We made a quick stop at Green & Black chocolate.  Chocolate is an easy way to win our hearts.  Jess loved the hazelnut and currant, I was into the toffee.  Organic chocolate is our friend.

We are following meNu (menu or me and you because food is about sharing – line stolen from them) on Twitter and stopped by to enjoy the secret Wontonamo Bay special (shrimp wonton) and Gangnam style rice ball.  Both were delicious and worth checking out.  Allen is really passionate and excited about the food he’s serving, you could really see this when watching him prepare the food.

Gangnam Style and the secret Wontonamo Bay special

Kevin from Cheesewerks let us sample an amazing grilled cheese.  We promised him that we will be coming to a trivia night soon.  Looking forward to grilled cheese, trivia and an amazing rice krisipie square.  If you are heading to the show today – see if you can score some of his cheese and beer soup.  It’s not to be missed!  Hopefully it will make it on to the menu soon (*wink wink*).

We also chatted with our favourite hot sauce – No7HotSauce.  I was lucky enough (after begging) to get a bottle of their hot sauce.  I can’t wait to take it to work and spice up some lunches!  If you like hot sauce (and why wouldn’t you), stop by and pick up a jar.  You won’t be sorry.

I stopped in my tracks when I saw some adorable tea towels and the cutest little meringues that looked like they were fake from Jack and Lil’s.  I’m a sucker for meringue and thought it was the perfect treat with roasted marshmallow.  Soft and crunchy.  Delicious.  Their tea towels were printed from designs made by a woman in South Africa.  Very stylish for any kitchen.

So pretty they looked fake!

We were excited to meet Mario from Just a Pinch.  I have purchased some of the salts from Longo’s and he gave us a few different sugars to sample (vanilla, raspberry, cinnamon).  He was so excited about the product and really eager to share tips on how to best use it.  It’s really great to meet people like that.  He packages different kinds of salts and sugars in very small bags that sell for $1-2.  It’s inexpensive enough to try anytime

One of the last stops was to Belly Ice Cream Company.  I have had the pleasure of eating their ice cream at McEwan and All The Best and was totally shocked and excited to take home some new flavours.  They packed up their pints (callebaut chocolate and blackberry lemon) with dry ice so it made for a cute little Halloween scene in my sink.

By the end of the show we were so full, but we just had to try the Jelly Modern Creme Brulé Doughnut.  The filling was in the centre of the doughnut, but was not covered like most cream filled doughnuts are.  It was very tasty and a great way to end the night.

Who doesn’t love Creme Brulé!

A big thanks to the girls at Moo Milk bar.  Their toffee cookie was amazing and Jess had a great breakfast treat this morning – I was sad she didn’t share it with me though!

Moo Milk Bar toffee cookie

Confession: we did spend a few minutes (read 20) watching the Vitamix demo.  It really is quite riveting each and every time I see it.  One of our friends left us for a little and knew exactly where to find us.  Read more about my love for the Vitamix here.

Not the Best: The only thing we didn’t like was that we weren’t able to make it during the day to see one of our heroes – Martha Stewart.

Momofuku – Nikai

Part 1 – Jess will be posting her review shortly.

I was pretty psyched when Momfuku came to town.  Not wait-in-line-for-hours psyched, but pay-$150-for-fried-chicken excitement.  BUT very mixed review from friends and strangers online stopped me from experiencing the most hyped restaurant for a while… but not forever.

On a rainy night, I had to meet a friend I hadn’t hung out with in a while  We wanted good drinks and somewhere with subway access*** (and very little walking in the rain).  Our first choice was closed, so we decided we would try Momofuku.  Hoping just for drinks, but maybe, just maybe getting into the Noodle Bar without a super long wait.  We arrived just before 7pm on a Friday… We were told it would be about 10 minutes for a table at Noodle Bar.  While deciding if we would go to the bar or just wait, the table became available.  But we still decided to go to the bar.

This is a totally awesome SECRET.  No line, same menu, super helpful (and cute) bartender.

We didn’t order a ton because we were there for the drinks, but not the food, but we didn’t leave hungry either.

Pickles – a small jar of pickles filled with brine (kind of odd to wrestle them out and get the brine everywhere), with mixed vegetables.  Everything was really tasty – carrots, celery, onions.  The only thing I didn’t love were the mushrooms.  I am not a fan of the slimy Chinese mushroom.

Pickles in brine

Pork bun – hoisin, scallion, cucumber – even though we aren’t big pork eaters, we couldn’t say no to the signature item.  A little too fatty, but it is pork belly.  The bun was also a little greasy.  It almost slipped out of my hand, but you still must get it.  I doubt you will be disappointed.

Mandatory order

Ginger scallion noodles – shiitake, cucumber, cabbage – maybe not the most exciting choice, but very tasty and flavourful.  Lots of ginger and scallion flavour (duh!).  Vegetables were cool, but the noodles were hot.  After mixing together, we slurped them up happily.  Also greasy, I may have dropped a few on the ground (Sorry!)

Noodles after they were mixed.

Roasted rice cakes – red chili, onion, sesame – the name totally throws you off when you see the end product, but these are a must order.  Made out of rice flour into the cutest gnocchi-esque balls of yumminess.  These were slightly spicy and totally addictive.  Thinking back to them puts a smile on my face.

No way to describe, just go try.

Crack pie – They call it that for a reason.  The best butter tart, but better.  Super decadent.  Real whipped cream.  Mmmmm.

Say yes to crack… pie

We also stopped by Milk.  A little closet next to the bar.  We picked up 6 cookies for $11.  I loved the cornflake marshmallow and compost cookie.  I should go back there soon.

I’ll be honest, I don’t remember the exact drinks I had, but I think it was the malabar crush – gin, ginger, lime juice, pok pok som tamarind and then something bellini-like, sparkling with peach.  Both were totally delicious and refreshing.  I trusted the bartender’s recommendation and suggest you do the same.  Just go.  And fast.

Overall, it ended up being an amazing night.

Best: Rice cakes.  No contest.  Not like anything I’ve ever had.

Not the best: Tough call this time, but for me it was the pork bun.  Not because they weren’t delicious, just personal preference.

***Say no to drinking and driving  There’s no reason to do it.  EVER

190 University Ave (University and Richmond)

http://momofuku.com/toronto/nikai/

Cava

I owe a lot of my passion for food (and fancy restaurants) to one specific friend.  We met almost 10 years ago when we were both eating very differently than we do today.   Me – the queen of picky eating, him – the king of the dieters.  Since then, we have shared many meals, in many cities.  Most of them very fabulous.  We love trying new places together and have been to very few repeats.  Plus, it helps that he’s an expert at getting impossible reservations!

We went to Cava.  Dinner for four.  We had an amazing pinot noir (ok, two bottles) – Josef Chromy.  Usually, I drink cocktails or sometimes white wine (my preference is light bodied, non oaky).  But this wine was perfect with our meal – easy to drink, great flavour.

You get the option of ordering from the menu or having them bring you food.  We did a little of both.  Oddly enough, the selections we made were mostly vegetables.  The dishes our amazing waitress selected for us were almost exactly what we would have chosen for ourselves.  Dishes came out one by one – fast and furiously.  It seemed like the right pace for our 8:15 weeknight meal.

From the beginning….

Watermelon salad with unpasteurized sheep’s milk cheese and pickled ramps – While I was a big fan, this had mixed reviews.  One friend said the watermelon tasted artificially flavoured since it was compressed.  Everyone loved the pickle ramps.  I could eat them on anything.  Overall a good start to a great meal.

Compressed watermelon salad

Fried shishito peppers with gazpacho chaser – a good charred shishito pepper is everyone’s friend.  One person got a really spicy one (it’s like pepper roulette when you eat them, good luck!).  4 peppers weren’t enough for our crowd, but we played nice and shared the soup too.  A good pairing.

Bruschetta of edamame, grilled green onions, Moroccan olives and Sicilian tomatoes – a group favourite (and must order), we were debating if there was cheese mixed in with the edamame.  No cheese, but a light, nicely salted, whipped edamame base topped with super flavourful roasted vegetables.  This was one of the dishes selected for us.

Papas fritas – very complicated name for fries.  They were fried with rosemary, other herbs and served in a cone.  There’s a small hole cut into each table to put the stand of the cone into.  You can tell this is a super popular choice.  Who doesn’t like fries?

Kingfish ceviche verde – I didn’t try this, but it was presented with tortilla chips.  The group seemed to like it, but didn’t finish it

Roast sablefish with black rice and braised escarole – while I’m not a fan of fish and seafood, I do make some exceptions.  This was a really light and tasty fish with two great sides.  The rice was creamy and the escarole soft and only slightly bitter.  Overall, a great plate.

Fish too pretty not to eat

Venison anticucho with a warm red cabbage salad – for my first time tasting venison, this skewer was a winner.  Slightly gamey (think a cross between lamb and beef), it had a nice texture.  Apparently, venison is usually more gamey, but this was a good introduction.  The cabbage was kind of pickled like a slaw – I loved it.  I thought it was a little odd that the waitress served this with the brussel sprouts (next item) since cabbage and sprouts are similar… that being said…

Roasted brussel sprouts with black garlic – roasted to perfection with the excellent, pungent taste of black garlic (another thing I had meant to try).  I kept spooning these on to my plate.

Seven vegetable quinoa “couscous” with marcona almonds and dates – Nothing couscous about this, it was a cross between Indian and Moroccan flavours and ingredients.  Chickpeas were in the mix, but the biggest seller was the almonds.  They were spiced with a curry-esque flavouring, I couldn’t stop eating them.

Forty-eight hour beef brisket with white puree and chimichurri – I was pretty excited for this dish, but it fell a little flat for me.  The brisket was too fatty (you will RARELY hear me say that) and the chimichurri was sort of like roasted greens.  It didn’t pack the usual zesty punch I was looking for.  I couldn’t identify the white puree, but it was decent.  Not a bad dish, but not a great way to end such a spectacular dinner.

Churros – pretty unfair for me to comment since I ordered one without cinnamon.  For me, the chocolate sauce they came with was too dark or bitter.  Everyone else enjoyed them.

Best: Bruschetta of edamame, grilled green onions, Moroccan olives and Sicilian tomatoes by far.  I would go back just for these and the wine.  But I would obviously order other things too!

Not the best: 48 hour beef brisket with white puree and chimichurri.  Get braised brisket elsewhere, like at a bbq restaurant.

http://www.cavarestaurant.ca/

1560 Yonge St. (Yonge and St Clair)

Cupcake Carrier

I know I have mentioned this before, but I LOVE cupcakes. There isn’t a cupcake I won’t try and I will go out of my way to have one! When I visit New York, I spend a lot of my time going from cupcake store to cupcake store. If I still need to prove how much I love these heavenly, sweet treats – I have even worked at a cupcake store in Toronto.

Aside from the fact that I will go to the end of the earth for a cupcake, I also love to make my own from various recipes I find online.  There is something about showing up to a friend’s with homemade cupcakes that always seems to put people in a good mood. The one thing I hated about making my own cupcakes was figuring out how to transport them. Putting them in a Tupperware never worked and carrying them on a platter could be a disaster if you hit one bump in the road. This all changed when I was given the best gift EVER.

Behold…. the Cupcake Carrier !

Who doesn’t love pink!

What I love about this carrier, aside from the fact this it’s pink and looks like a cupcake, is that it has 3 removable trays that stack on top of each other. There is a about an inch and a half of space between each tier so you can load on the icing without it getting squished! Each tier holds 8 cupcakes for a total of 24.

There are a few places I have found in Toronto that sell them: Home Outfitters, Home Sense occasionally has them or you can buy it online at Sears.

The cutest way to travel with your cupcakes!

El Catrin

My first experience with Mexican food included deep fried ice cream in a plaza next to a mall. As you can imagine, it wasn’t the most authentic and I didn’t love it – not a great start. Things have changed. I’m a total Mexican food junkie. I love spicy and crunchy and both are usually part of a good Mexican meal.

I went with a friend to El Catrin on one of the last warm days of the year. We started on the patio, but it started to lightly drizzle – picture me sitting with a napkin on my head chugging my margarita. We asked the waitress if we could sit inside, maybe at the bar? She said no. Annoying…and wrong – we ended up at the bar. That was the best decision of the night. The bartender was super friendly and knowledgeable.

I had the traditional margarita and my friend had a beer cocktail. Both were really large and pretty tasty. Very fair prices for the huge drinks we got.

Classic margarita

They give you 3 salsas and lime at the start so you can add as you like. Since we moved locations, we got them twice. Both our original waitress and the bartender said they were in order of heat, but the order they gave them to us in was different. Is rojo hotter than verde or not? Anyway, none really packed the Mexican spice I was looking for, especially since there were 3.

Tacos con Tinga – make your own tacos with refried beans and pulled chicken. I enjoyed this dish, but my friend wasn’t really feeling it. It was a little too simple for her. I was loading on the limes so take that for what it’s worth.

Guac – mashed in front of you with a whole avocado. My friend ate it all fast. I’m not a fan of mush (nothing against El Catrin, just avocados), I had some chips and some of the salsas they give you.

Elote Placero (whole corn) – one piece of corn with chili butter, chili aioli and crumbly cheese. The presentation was much better than the actual taste. We had this during corn season so I had pretty high hopes.

Tacos Gobernador – Sauteed shrimp and lobster tacos with a creamy chili sauce. This was the spiciest and best for sure. The bartender said it recently won a Toronto contest. I believe it.

Tostado de Atun – my friend had both of these tiny tostados. Nicely seared pieces of tuna with guac. I think this was her favourite.

Finally, we had the Mexican bread pudding. Interesting flavour. Next time, I will try the churros. Or for $18, you can get 3 desserts plus caramel popcorn. A very intriguing offer, for sure.

At slightly more than $100 for dinner for 2, I found it on the high priced side for what we got. That’s not to say I wouldn’t go back. The patio is beautiful, the decor is awesome and it’s wayyyy better than the previous restaurant in that space.

Best: Gobernador. Spicy and well cooked seafood

Not the best: Corn. Hard to pay $6 for a single ear

http://www.elcatrin.ca/home

18 Tank House Lane (Distillery District)

Thanksgiving 2013

While my not foodies partner is eating her way through NYC on this Thanksgiving long weekend. I had the pleasure of spending my time up north. Here is a look at my delicious meal.

We started with a delicious apple and pumpkin soup.

The perfect fall soup!

We wasted no time with salad and got right to the good stuff.

BBQ corn and squash with brown sugar

How could we forget deep fried potatoes with a bacon and sour cream sauce.

mmm bacon

This was my first Thanksgiving dinner in the past four years where I actually ate meat so it was pretty exciting to have a few options.

Beef tenderloin with homemade jus

And the star of the show, two kinds of turkey. Traditional and DEEP FRIED!! If you have yet to try deep fried turkey I suggest you do, ASAP!

Deep fried on the left traditional on the right

Aside from all of that we also had mashed potatoes, peas and some other stuff I couldn’t eat because I was in a turkey Coma. Oh and how could I forget all the gravy!

What’s on your Thanksgiving menu ?

Happy Thanksgiving from not foodies!

Toronto Cocktail Week 2013

Last weekend we had the pleasure of attending one of the many Toronto Cocktail Week events. We were not sure what to expect when we purchased our tickets to the Cocktail Generator Gala, but the idea of getting some innovative drinks from top bartenders around Toronto was enticing enough.

After getting slightly lost, we ended up at the Burroughes Building. The event space was unique, rustic and had an amazing view of the CN Tower. If you are ever looking to host an event, this place is definitely worth checking out!

The event was set up so that each section of Toronto had its own bar and two bartenders mixing drinks. One of the interesting things about this event was that there was no drink menu. Instead, a list of adjectives that you chose from. The bartender would then make a drink out of many weird and wonderful ingredients (pumpkin, concord grape and all kinds of bitters). The concept was there, but a few times the drinks were not the best.

The list of ingredients

My first stop was the WQW/South OSS section. After waiting what felt like an hour for the girls in front of us to stop flirting with the bartender I asked him to, “make me your most delicious drink”. My first sip brought back terrible memories of being forced to drink cherry cough syrup as a child. I was later told it was a Negroni, one part Gin, Vermouth, Campari and bitters. I was slightly disappointed by this drink, but thankfully we had lots more to try!

By the end of the night we had found our favourite bartender Ana Wolkowski from Northwood who was serving in the Yorkville/Annex/ College section. She made some amazing drinks including one with egg whites and another using pumpkin! The only downside is that we did not find her sooner.

Egg whites and pumpkin cocktails!

Aside from the drinks there were also a few food stations set up from some great restaurants in Toronto. We tried the brisket sandwich from Barque (a place I have yet to experience!) and some delicious butter chicken arancini wings from The Hogtown Pub.

Barque’s brisket sandwich

Overall the event was unique and very well done, hopefully they have it again next year!

The Best: Ana from Northwood, her drinks were amazing and you could tell she put a lot of thought in to every drink

Not the Best: The cherry cough syrup tasting Negroni

PS. In true Not Foodies fashion, we made a couple more stops before ending the night. Burger’s Priest for a priest burger Vatican style (burger with deep fried portobellos stuffed with cheese on grilled cheeses instead of buns) and two dozen Tiny Tom’s donuts.

Burger’s Priest in all its meaty, cheesy goodness