Had a bit more time by the lake (although it was much chillier) this weekend. Here’s a view from Dingle Park, and a cat that happened to be there.
Month: April 2014
I Love Cake
Ever looked into a display case of cakes and then knew you were meant to be with one? Well, I had to have this Cookies & Cream cake! But before I ate it, I took some random photos because it was so adorable.
Cake selfie!
Oh and Batman is still unimpressed:
Habits Gastropub
A random stroll down College Street for something delicious led us to Habits Gastropub. We didn’t have a reservation but we were lucky it wasn’t busy when we walked in. The tables filled up quickly afterward and there was a little bit of a wait for our food and bills. There was basically one guy running most of the tables and also acting as bartender and we thought he looked quite overworked. Despite this, he was very friendly.
I ordered the Mac & Cheese ($15 pictured above) which had mushrooms, bacon, black-truffle, asiago & parmesan cheese. It was very flavourful and comforting, but totally more of an Alfredo, which I guess is adult Mac & Cheese.
Nash had the Fish Soup, the soup of the day, to start. It was a lovely blend of fish, scallops, mussels in a tomato broth.
He also had the Fried Chicken ($14) which was panko crusted and served with a delicious potato salad and jalepeno-cheddar biscuit. The chicken was to die for!
Another thing about Habits it has an extensive drink menu and tons of wine options. I ordered the Habits Mojito. I’m usually very picky with mojitos because I usually think they have too much salt, but this one was perfect. It also had enough alcohol to create a buzz.
I wish we had enough stomach left to try dessert but we’ll definitely be back for those soon.
Jelly Modern Doughnuts
Have you ever had one of those weeks where you totally need a doughnut to feel better? I had one of those so our journey took us to Jelly Modern Doughnuts near College and Spadina.
The interior was white and pink and there was a variety of different doughnuts to choose from. They also come in small and bigger sizes.
Obviously we went for the bigger sizes. Nash had the Peanut Butter Cup and I had the Maple Bacon. I couldn’t resist bacon on a donut. I love it, it was a perfect combination of flavours. The bacon brought out the maple glaze wonderfully. It was light and fluffy. I’m not a fan of doughnuts with cream in the middle so I was relieved that this was simple and tasty. Also, the person working the front was very nice and will totally photobomb you if he sees you taking a photo!
My sister also popped in with her boyfriend while we were in the store. She also ordered the maple bacon (we are sisters afterall) and her boyfriend had the coconut. They were delighted with their orders and there was no crumbs left in sight.
Before I left, I bought a large doughnut for a friend we were going to visit. They wrapped it up in an adorable container! Thank you Jelly Modern for a fantastic doughnut experience.
Lakes & Birds
Happy Earth Day! Here’s some random photos from nature exploring over the weekend.
Friends At The Dog Park
Finally we had some nice spring weather this weekend so we took Teddy to Totoredaca dog park for the first time. It’s the larger dog park in Mississauga and there are different sections if you want your dog running leash free in a smaller space. It’s also a lot cleaner than the previous one we went to.
Teddy’s still a bit shy, since he doesn’t go out much but he still made a few friends!
Livia
I rarely shoot posed portraits, but my sister got baptized yesterday and I thought I’d take some photos while everyone was dressed up.
These were all shot using the 24-70mm 2.8L on my Canon 60D. I also used the right light from Photojojo.
I Won 2048
I was late to the 2048 train. I only got the game last week and I finally beat it yesterday. I feel strangely accomplished.
In playing it a couple hundred times, I realized there is sort of a strategy to it, even if I didn’t exactly figure out where the “2s” spawn. Towards the end, I came close to winning many times and then finally did so by keeping these things in mind:
- Stack numbers. Start by pressing left or right until you can’t, then go the other direction.
- Don’t go down. When you have enough stacked, go up. Don’t go down. Going down leads to death. Alternatively you can only go down and avoid going up.
- Get rid of 2s in the top corner ASAP. Turn the 2’s into a higher number ASAP so you don’t get stuck.
- Careful with 2s and 4s beside each other. Think carefully when this happens and get unstuck or this usually leads to death.
- Remember to feed yourself when you get addicted to playing the game.
The New Come And Get It
Pop-up restaurant Come and Get It now has a permanent home on Queen West, a few blocks away from its previous Spadina location. I believe the menu is still very similar at lunch but things get switched up to a tapas style during dinner time. It still follows a similar menu of choosing a flavour and format. The menu has icons of little people, but I’m not sure what they mean because I went with my friend Melody and according to the chart, we ate 8 little people’s worth of food. We went for one of each item, except the poutine.
To start we had the Bag O’Bites ($3), which were plantain chips served with a side of spicy mayo. I have never had fresh plantain chips and quite enjoyed this. We also used this as utensils to scoop up stuff we dropped from the flat bread.
The Snack (3.85) was a one bite ceviche served on a crispy chip, which reminds me a little of Asian shrimp chips, only thinner.
For our Flatbread ($9.75) we chose Hawaiian Pork Belly as the topping. Seriously we don’t know what the icon of four people would mean on the menu. Four people would fight over this flatbread as we gobbled it up quite quickly. I loved the tenderness and flavour of the pork and sauce. It also had the crispy chip thing of the ceviche.
Lastly, we had the Chipotle Short Rib Sliders ($5.75) because we saw other people have them and they looked adorable. LOOK AT IT. Oh, and it was also delicious.
I’ve been obsessed with like “alcholic lemonade”-like drinks at restaurants lately. The closest thing to that here was the Chill Girlfriend $14 which had gin, St. Germain, basil, prosecco, cucumber and lime. It was very cool and refreshing and very alcoholic.
Anyways, I quite enjoyed the food at Come and Get It. But note that if you go, prepare to eat more than the menu suggests. Oh, I forgot we also saw Sandy Cohen (the dad from the OC) eating there, which was kind of awesome and random.
Boo Radley’s
Nash moved a couple blocks West of where he was so now we have a whole new area of food to explore. Our first stop was this very homey place called Boo Radley’s, named after the mysterious character from To Kill a Mocking Bird. The menu has a lot of familiar comfort foods such as the Pulled Pork Sandwich I ordered (pictured above). I also had a side of Cream of Asparagus Soup.
Nash’s pick the special of the day: a jerk tilapia with blueberry salsa was the best thing ever. It’s interesting that they have familiar things on the menu but offered such an interesting special that night! The fish was tender, moist and delicious and I loved the seasoning. Even the salsa was very good.
We couldn’t resist the dessert of the day, a French toast bread pudding with ice cream. We shared one but we sort of wish we got two because we licked the bowl clean!
This place will definitely be our new regular hangout!
Tiana Feng 