BURGER!

The one and only...

Apache Burger-

5236 Dundas West

Toronto, Ontario M9B 1A7

(416) 233-3046

So after a weekend of being at my future in-laws place attending a party for me and my fiance we ended the weekend at Apache burger. If you knew me you would know that how I got threw that party with my wit, charm and a couple shots with the future uncles. Needless to say I had a great time.

Although the next morning all I needed was water, tylenol, and a great big Burger!

This burger joint is not in my neighborhood and unfortunately (or fortunately for my cholesterol) it is all the way at Kipling station. Worth going if you are staying at your in-laws, driving by or taking a road trip on the TTC for a delicious burger and onion rings. so so so so... oh so good. fresh, juicy, big. - that's what she said?????

What I ate:

Cheese burger with everything on it-hold the relish...relish is chopped up pickles... I don't get it.

Fries and Onion ring combo

Giant diet Pepsi-

cost for 2: $15.06 -worth every penny.

The place feels like a 50's diner and the serve the best onion rings in Toronto.

Con: They only take cash.

Pro: There is a cash machine on location, giant portions and fresh fresh fresh.

For all you picky topping people-You get to chose what goes on the burger.

Open to 2 am!!!

And Scene!

(she bows and exits stage left)

The Long Weekend Coffee-

I have been MIA. I know I have, but life gets busy. My actual job has been taking up all my time and I have had no time to sit and write. This entry will be a quickie.

Te Aro

Love love love this place. One of the best coffee places in toronto. I enjoyed a fresh cup of french press coffee for 2.50$. You can't get better than that.

side note- Why I love toronto? You can always find lactose free milk, soy, whole, 1%, 2% and almond milk in almost every private coffee establishment. Te Aro even had simple sugar to sweeten your summer iced drinks.

Oh Toronto you are hard not to fall in love with!

This cafe has a great cup of coffee and the homemade iced teas are perfect for hot summer days.

I know coffee and this place is up hight up on my list. If I didn't think it was great I would just not write about it.

So far discovering Toronto has not been as intimidating and threatening as I thought.

Although The TTC situation is less than desirable at the moment-Closure of Bay station

Important info:

Te Aro Roasted

983 Queen Street East,

Toronto, ON M4M 1K2

T. 416-465 2006

info@te-aro.ca

Hours

Mon 7am – 6pm

Tues 7am – 6pm

Wed 7am – 6pm

Thurs 7am – 6pm

Fri 7am – 6pm

Sat 7am – 6pm

Sun 8am – 6pm

Another Gooder! Enjoy

Toronto Street Meat

Where I am from originally the climate is too cold to have street meat. I mean sure in the middle of July there is a hot dog stand in from of Mountain Equipment Co-Op but other than that the real street meat venders of shawarmas,hot dogs and chineses trucks are mystical and usually only in far away lands. While in Europe I would often get a street dog or a shawarma from a sketchy,yet somewhat sanitary looking, stand. Let’s just say I like living on the edge. The only time I got deathly ill( I mean I almost died) was in Thailand when I decided to have giant prawns from a beach hut. You would think the prawns would have been fresh-they didn’t have to travel far. I got what I deserved I got too comfortable traveling and tried to eat like a local without the knowledge of a local. Rookie mistake.

Street- University & College

Cusine- Middle Eastern

After a long morning of planning for another big event at the University I decided to grab a quick lunch. Street vendors are one of my favorite quick lunch. Tasty, fast, and usually cheap.

I decided to go for the chicken shawarma. I highly recommend this! It is delicious and filled with a marinated chicken, lettuce, tomato, onion, hummus and a little bit of hot sauce. The pita is grillled so when you get the wrap in your hands it is warm and ready to eat.

Try it! Do it! 5...4...3...2... Do it!

For 5 dollars you get a delicious lunch and a beverage!!

Paska- Ukrainian Easter Bread

Paska 2 of 2

Here is the best Paska recipe in existence. No joke, the best. I am a little afraid of sharing it. Knowledge is power!

My baba, on my mothers side, gave it to my mother and now my mother to me.

This was my first attempt without my mother directing me from the kitchen table. I miss home terribly but the smell of Paska baking in my apartment baked away the homesickness.

Паска -Saffron Paska – Baba Yaremenko recipe

3 cups milk

1 package saffron (3/4 to 1 ounce)

¼ cup boiling water

2 pachages of dry yeast

3 tblsp. Sugar

1 ½ cups lukewarm water

1 cup butter

2/3 cup sugar

6 eggs, separated

1 ½ teaspoon salt

10 cups sifted flour

Juice and grated rind of 1 lemon

1 tsp. vanilla

Scald the mil and let cool to lukewarm. Pour ¼ cup boiling water over saffron; let steep till cool, then strain.

Steeping safron

Dissolve dry yeast and sugar in lukewarm water; cover and place in a warm place for 10 minutes

Cream butter with remaining sugar; add 6 egg yolks, one at a time, blending each in until thoroughly mixed. Add salt, lemon juice and grated rind, and cooled saffron water to creamed mixture.

lemon grind

Add yeast mixture and lukewarm milk to creamed mixture, mixing well. Add 5 cups sifted flour to liquid mixture, mixing well.

Beat the 6 egg whites until they stand in stiff peaks; fold into the dough mixture. Cover bowl and let dough rise in warm place until doubled in bulk.

Add remaining sifted flour to make a soft dough that can be kneaded. Knead until smooth and elastic on a floured board. Place dough in a greased bowl, cover with a clean dishtowel and a bath towel, and set in a warm place to rise until doubled in bulk.

Punch down the dough to release the air. Reserve 1/8 to ¼ of dough for decorating, and shape remaining dough into 2 or 3 loaves. Place in well greased round bread pans. Cover and let rise until doubled in bulk.

Decorate as desired with reserved dough before baking. Bake in a preheated 325Foven for 30 minutes, then reduce oven heat to 275F and bake an additional 35 minutes longer. Brush tops with egg beaten with a little milk and return to oven to bake 5 more minutes or until golden and shiny.

MAMA’S NOTE: I do the egg wash BEFORE baking, and also find that the paska bakes in total 40-45min.

Done- Paska 1 of 2

Nice one Toronto (1)!

Everyone told me how Toronto is the "big bad city"- large, impersonal with no sense of community. Well I will be honest and tell you that there have been several times were everyone walks along with their ipod with not a care in the world. People pay lees attention to one another and in a crowd of people you feel alone. Technology, such as ipods, blackberries have given people permission to disconnect from reality and to go through a day without having to interact with one another. I will not go into kinship, right of passages or the new species just discovered in africa, this anthropological dissertation will be saved for my Masters degree.

With my ramble coming to an end I will say this- there is always a glimmer of goodness and care in people. Especially in Toronto.

Toronto is friendly, nice even!

Story 1:

Today my fiance got off the subway and when he looked back he saw his cell phone on the seat. As the subway doors slammed shut a man signaled to him that he will have his phone waiting at the next stop.

My love got his phone back with no problems. You can imagine what life would have been if you lost your phone.

He didn't! Because Toronto is nice, thoughtful and not as cold as everyone told me it was.

Happy thought indeed!

This is one of many feel good stories. There is a lot of them. Not such a big bad city after all.

Boire Un Coup

I am having a little bit of cabin fever and can not believe I am stuck in Toronto of all places. Oy, the things you will do for love.

So to make myself feel better- I drink… not alone. If no one is in the room it might be considered alone... but someone is defiantly in the room, or in the next room, but still in the house. I really hope that counts.

To cope with living in a new place with few friends and the rainy weather, I made myself a demi-peche. I believe that is what it is called.

Once upon a time I lived in France and was introduced to many great new things like smoking and pretending to be philosophical. While I smoked, and sketched in my journal, I was served a cold delicious demi-peche. I would have had coffee but I like to change it up.

Ingrédients pour 1 personne

2 cl de sirop de pêche

25 cl de bière

Réalisez la recette "Demi-peche" directement dans le verr.Verser d'abord :
-environ 2cl de sirop de pêche dans votre chope .
-Remplissez ensuite de 25 cl de biere.
C'est a vous de doser la quantité de sirop comme dans un diabolo pour que ca ne soit pas trop sucré, mais que le goût soit présent.
Vous pouvez mélanger doucement avec une cuillere pour bien mélanger les deux éléments.

Should I leave it in French…yes! Bisous!!

Dr. Cake

Dr. Pepper Chocolate Cake Recipe

(makes one 13×9x2″ baking pan)

(http://www.shewearsmanyhats.com/)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup Dr. Pepper soda

1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil

1 stick melted butter (8 tablespoons)

4 tablespoons cocoa powder

2 cups sugar

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 eggs

1/2 cup milk

Directions:

- Preheat oven to 350° F and grease or spray with cooking spray a 13×9x2″ baking pan.

-Begin by combining the Dr. Pepper, oil, melted butter and cocoa. Mix well.

-In a separate small bowl lightly beat the eggs and milk together. add to mixture.

- Mix dry ingredients together (sugar, flour and baking soda), add to mixture, mix well. Don’t over beat.

- Pour into a greased baking pan and bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Be careful not to over bake.

Chocolate Frosting Recipe

Ingredients:

1 stick salted butter (8 tablespoons)

4 tablespoons cocoa powder

8 tablespoons milk

4 cups confectioners sugar (powdered sugar)

Directions:

- In a saucepan, combine butter, cocoa powder and milk together over medium heat, stirring occasionally until melted and smooth.

- Add in the powdered sugar a little at a time, combining after each addition until smooth.

- Pour over warm cake.

Where I Go On Sunday Afternoon

Toronto is full of great cafes and restaurants. I have observed that Toronto locals find where they like to go and usually stick to them. People like to stay in their neighborhoods. For a big city where the world is your oyster (yes, a popular cliche) Torontonians like to stay near their homes. Since I am new in town and am trying to "go native" I have been drinking many cups of coffee in many different cafes. I love coffee because it loves me back. I drink it and in turn it makes me happy. We have a great relationship. In short, here is one of my favorite places to go on a Sunday. I have been several times...

Tango Palace Coffee Company

The place is warm friendly and the barista knows most of the locals by name. Since I am not originally from Toronto it has taken me some time to find a place to go for a morning brew. I felt very comfortable here right from the first meeting. It reminded me of a cafe back home.

Tango Palace picks and chooses from several bakeries across Toronto so everything you order is delicious. I often have the dilemma of only choosing one treat. I often forget that I have the power of ordering what I want without someone telling me I can only have one.

If you are looking for a nice place to sit, read/do work (why do work on a sunday?!), and have a cup of coffee. I would consider Tango Palace.

Tango Palace is open from 7am to 11pm. Plenty of time to stop by for a treat. Look at those people in the photo, all relaxed, drinking their coffee. I know you want to be doing the same. I often walk home from here because I love stopping by all the great vintage shops.

No website for this place but join the facebook group.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=wall&viewas=0&gid=2385040993

I am coming off my coffee high... worst part of my relationship with coffee.

Roasted Butternut Squash Apple Soup

I love this soup. It is always great to serve as a started at a dinner party. For guests I swirl in some heavy cream. You can not go wrong with this soup!

side note- The receptionist at my office kept a delivery I was expecting hostage for 2 weeks. I ended up just having a bowl of soup and forgetting all about it. But if she does it again... oh... oh... I might bribe her with cookies!

My favorite pureed soup. MMmmmmm rich and smooth...even a little spicy.

Chopped up butternut squash ready to go into the oven... they look so happy!

My horrible knife... that does the trick. I dream of the day that I get beautiful knives....

( I think I need a minute... I am thinking about sexy knives and a bright red le creuset)

The apples give it an extra luxury.

This is before the soup meets the blender

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

1 (1 ½ pound) butternut squash, peeled seeded and rough chopped

3 tablespoons olive oil

¾ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

¼ cup Italian sausage, removed from the casing

1 cup small dice onion

1 peeled, cored and cubed Apple

½ cup small dice carrot

½ cup small dice leeks

2 tablespoons minced shallots

1 tablespoon minced garlic

2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

1 ½ quarts chicken stock

2 teaspoons maple syrup

1 teaspoon fresh chopped sage leaves

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Place the chopped squash in a medium-size mixing bowl. Drizzle the squash with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and season with ¼ teaspoon of salt and 1/8 teaspoon black pepper. Line a shell pan with partchment paper or aluminum foil and place the squash on top of the sheet pan. Set the sheet pan into the oven and roast for 30 minutes, or until the squash is lightly caramelized and tender.

Remove the squash from the oven and set aside. Place a 1-gallon saucepan over medium high heat and add the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the pan and render the Italian sausage. Cook, stirring often until the meat is caramelized and has released most of its fat, about 3 minutes. Add the onions, carrots, celery,apple and leeks in the pan and sweat, stirring often for 5 to 7 minutes. Andd the shallots and garlic to the pan and sweat for 1 minute stirring continuously. Deglaze the pan with the vinegar and add the chicken stock to the pan. Place the squash in the pan with the maple syrup and sage.

Bring the pan to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Continue to cook the soup for 30 minutes, or until the vegetables are all tender. Use an immersion blender to puree the soup to a smooth consistency and velvety texture. Alternately, you can puree the soup in batches using a blender. Taste the soup and re-season if necessary with ½ teaspoon of salt and 1/8 teaspoon of pepper. Keep warm until serving. About 6 servings.

Enjoy! I always do.

Tim Hortons

FREE HASHBROWNS tomorrow!

I love free! Free food! Free! Free!

So I am grabbing a Tim Hortons coffee and hashbrown tomorrow, March 3, 2010. To top it off it is roll up the rim time. I am aiming for a car or a doughnut. I will be glad to get either one.

http://www.timhortons.com

Speaking of Free.. McDonalds has free coffee till March 14. I could get half my breakfast for free.

wow.

http://www.mcdonalds.ca

Okay this is a short useless post but I am very excited about the free stuff that is being given away.

going to bed!

Editorial Doodling-ROM Toronto

DAN PERJOVSCHI EXHIBIT AT THE ROM: He filled the walls of the roloff beny gallery with his editorial drawings. yes, he was allowed to draw on the walls of the museum. what about all the signs that say "please do not touch"?. then this guy comes in and draws all over the walls. i wish i was overly creative with a beard and spoke romanian.

My thoughts:

I had the perfect saturday that started with a Starbucks non-fat caramel macchiato and then took a visit to the Royal Ontario Museum. I generally love museums because I am a bit nerdy and always find one area of the place where I could spend hours.

The exhibit, that I stumbled upon, didn't really plan on seeing, mainly because I didn't google the museums exhibits before I left the apartment, is interesting, refreshing and a little too heavy for the family crowd that was ever so prominent in the Discovery gallery.

I LOVED IT! At first it was annoying to find the actual exhibit since it is hidden on the 4th floor in the north east corner. Once I got there I found the artist himself there with many Eastern European Canadians looking up towards the cartoons.

Here are some of my favorites:

It might be too soon for this one. But I think McQueen himself would have thought it was funny.

This was walking into the gallery

I love to eat but this is how I really feel:

This of course didn't stop me from eating a street meat hot dog after being at the museum for a couple hours:

To end this post off I will say this, Go to the exhibit! Not that anyone besides my sexy guitar playing, law school going, procrastinator, fiance is reading this. I loved this exhibit! It was captivating. The artist was there creating his images right infront of you. I felt like I was part of the process instead of looking at some modern art that I would forget about after eating my hot dog. I will be picking up this artist book and looking for future exhibits. I wonder if he does weddings?

See Perjovschi at work in the gallery February 15 to 21, 2010. His wall drawings will remain on view until the summer of 2010.

Study Snack

Peanut Brownie Bites

Here is the best recipe for brownies. I usually hate using boxed pre-made cakes. But it made these so easy to make. My fiance (this is new...I feel like screaming with joy every time I think about it) loved them. I think he ate 90% of them. Originally I made them so he could have something with his tea I didn't expect them to be eaten in one night.

Peanut Brownie Bites

1 package Duncan Hines Chocolate Lovers Double Fudge Brownie Mix
2 eggs
1/3 cup water
1/4 cup vegetable oil
30 mini Reeses cups unwrapped
1 Box Reynolds 2-inch aluminum foil mini cups for muffins

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Place 30 foil liners on baking sheet
3. Combine brownie mix, contents from fudge packet in mix, eggs, water and oil.
4. Stir with spoon until well blended. (about 50 strokes)
5. Fill each liner with 2 tablespoons of batter
6. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes and remove from oven
7. Push 1 Reeses in center of each “brownie cupcake” until even with surface of the batter.
8. Bake 5-7 minutes longer.
9. Cool 5-10 minutes in pan and then move to cooling rack to cool completely.

Note: I used noname peanut butter cups- Just as good. I also watched them like a hawk. I would only do 5 min before you push the cups into the brownie and 5 min after.

(http://www.bakerella.com)