How My Life Changed as a Puppy Mom

Teddy was our family first puppy, but he’s always been considered my sister’s dog when we moved out of our parent’s house.

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I’m a supreme doggo #fashion

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When I moved out a few years ago, I really missed the constant companionship of a dog, but I wasn’t really in a financial or mental state to take care of one. My bachelor apartment was too small and I thought it wouldn’t fit into my social and musical life.

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Do you have a treat for us? 😁😬

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When Nash proposed and we moved in together to a bigger space, we spoke about our future and our desires for a little dog. We always thought it would come after the wedding but as soon as I met Bacon, I was in love.

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I am half pretzel now #🥨

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The 6 weeks we’ve been together so far has flown by and he’s already grown from the 4lb tiny doggy he came home as. The first couple of weeks I lacked sleep and was always anxious to get home to him. Now he sleeps much better and I know he does okay by himself at home.

I’ve spent a lot more time offline than I used to. It’s kind of easy to choose between being on my phone/computer and happily paying fetch with Bacon. I’ve also gone on more walks and seen parts of my own neighbourhood I would have never otherwise have visited and neighbours (and their dogs) we’ve never talked to. Together we’ve seen the sun rise and set many times.

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Snooooooze 😴🤤#zzz

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When I am online, I find I use the time more efficiently. No more am I browsing around aimlessly. I usually have a specific task I have to do in a short time frame (when Bacon is calm or napping).

I can’t wait until the weather is warmer so we can see more new places and people. Here’s to more adventures in the New Year, which in 2018 is also the Year of the Dog!

Bacon’s First Week

Having a new puppy in my life while planning a wedding and working full-time is slightly insane, but I wouldn’t give it up for the world. Here are some random snapshots from his first week so far!

He’s already visibly grown and is getting used to us as his humans:

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This is my spot on the couch now

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First encounters

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Morning commute #ttc

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Zzzz play hard, sleep hard

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Already spending half my life waiting for the #ttc

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Lunch @ Duke’s Refresher + Bar

photo 2Lunch with Nash’s parents landed us randomly in Duke’s Refresher + Bar, across from the Eaton Chelsea hotel where they were staying. It’s a sports bar that looks like it would have been perfect (and probably was) for the big olympic hockey game. It had a very homey vibe. There was even a thing on the menu where you could have your own personalized beer mug up on the shelf to be used every time you returned. What an adorable idea!

I had The Woody Burger ($12.95 pictured above) which was a BBQ brushed patty with American Cheese, “really special sauce”, carmelized onion on a bacon-infused foccacia. I loved the sweetness of the sauce and bread, which was not only bacon infused, but had a visible piece of bacon in it.The sandwich was also not heavy, a great choice for lunch.

photo 3Nash had the Hopped Up Fish & Chips ($14.50), craft beer-battered fish with a slaw, fries and of course tartar sauce. He also said it wasn’t heavy and light considering it was fried.

photo 1The bar also has it’s own house-made hot sauce which to me wasn’t that spicy but more of a nice flavour combination. We loved it on our fries.

There are also over 40 beers on tap and I had a lovely Coffee porter. If you’re looking for a casual pub to hang out in near Eaton’s Centre, this is a good one with decent food too!

Duke's Refresher + Bar on Urbanspoon

Bacon Wrapped Chicken Drumsticks

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Yesterday I felt like wrapping something in bacon and I happened to have a bag of drumsticks in the freezer. They turned out moist and delicious so I thought I’d share the recipe.

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Ingredients
Chicken drumsticks
Rosemary (you can use dry or fresh)
Bacon
Garlic Cloves

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

IMG_4348Mince the garlic and the rosemary and toss them in a bowl with the chicken to season the drumsticks.

IMG_4349Wrap the drumsticks in bacon! I started from the stick and made my way to the meaty part. Sprinkle any leftover garlic and rosemary on top of the wrapped drumsticks. When you’re done stick them in the oven for an hour or until bacon is nice and crispy.

IMG_4360And serve! I paired mine with home-made fries I made in the oven at the same time.

Bacon Crackers from Fita Spreadz

baconWhile I was grocery shopping with Mom at the Asian grocery store, I came across these Fita Spreadz crackers from the Philippines. These were borderline weird but as a bacon lover I just had to try them.

bacon2They were individually packaged so you could have some on-the-go like the people in their commercials.

bacon3They looked a lot like giant ritz bits sandwiches and the aroma of bacon was enough to get Teddy wanting some too. The verdict: they weren’t as weird as I’d expected. They were creamy like cheese cracker sandwiches but saltier.

The downside was that it left an after taste that was kind of like when you eat a package of dried Mr. Noodles. Fita Spreadz also comes in a spicy tuna flavour, but that seems even more frightening than bacon.

Sandwiches at Sky Blue Sky

I first heard of Sky Blue Sky Sandwich Company at last year’s All Caps Island Music Festival. They were catering the event and I ordered the Casino Queen Sandwich.
20130123-121141.jpgThe sandwich had avocado, bacon, turkey and onions. They were running out of bread at the festival so it was served on a bagel. It was a delicious sandwich so I sought out their actual location at Bloor West.

20130123-121028.jpgI’ve been there multiple times already. One of the things I ordered was a sandwich called I’m the Man Who Loves You. All the sandwiches are $4.99 (or cheaper). This one had tons of slices of smoked chicken, lettuce, tomato, red pepper sauce of some sort and ricotta cheese. I loved that little bit of a kick. Appropriately named since it was a pretty sexy sandwich.

20130123-121416.jpgAnother sandwich I have tried is the Dreamer In My Dreams ($4.99). Slices of roast beef were accompanied by onions cooked in red wine vinegar, tomato, banana peppers and cheddar cheese. The bread it was served on was interesting and somewhat spicy.

Besides sandwiches they also have some hearty salads.
20130123-120816.jpgThis one is the Casino Queen Salad. It is like the salad version of the sandwich containing lettuce, cucumber, tomato, avocado, onions and of course bacon.

20130123-120946.jpgI also tried the lighter Mandarin Orange Walnut Salad. It was a refreshing salad with lettuce, avocado, walnuts and mandarin oranges.

Besides the sandwiches being delicious the people who work there are pretty awesome, so do yourself a favour and pay them a visit!

Sky Blue Sky Sandwich Co. on Urbanspoon

Bacon Nation at CNE

The food building was hilariously close to the farm.

One of the reasons I went to the CNE was to eat copious amounts of bacon. Of course we had to check out this so called Bacon Nation that was getting all the rage. We opted for the bacon wrapped hot dog with extra bacon as well as the Ba-conic Sandwich Explosion. To be honest, they were a little bit anti-climactic.


The bacon wrapped hot dog with bacon was literally a bacon wrapped hot dog with more bacon. It was good, but for almost $10, I half expected it to be huge.

The sandwich was bacon wrapped and stuffed sausage with lettuce, tomato and Jack Daniel’s sauce on a bun. The sausage bacon had a nice crunch to it that was nice. While it was delicious, it was nowhere near an explosion. I’ve eaten gourmet burgers bigger than it for the same (if not cheaper price). You can’t name something an explosion if it isn’t gigantic or at least super messy to eat!

We left the desert bacon things alone, mostly because we didn’t want to spend more money to be disappointed. I’m glad I tried them though, it was good but didn’t live up to my expectations.

Bacon Donuts and Pulled Pork Slider From Caplansky’s

The last time I visited Caplansky’s I tried the bbq brisket slider and the smoked meat slider. I encountered the truck again at Hard Fest , so I decided to try the bacon donuts and the pulled pork slider.
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The donuts were like timbits stuffed with bacon and glazed with maple. They were soft and warm and a strangely delicious mixture of savoury and sweet. It was like a mini bacon and maple pancake breakfast in one bite.

The pulled pork slider was mini but packed full of meat and coleslaw. It was a bit messy to eat but I ate any droppings with the stick that came with my donuts. It was yummy and if they didn’t cost like $4 each, I probably would have had 5 of them.

So far, I’ve been satisfied with everything I’ve eaten at the Caplansky’s Food Truck. Perhaps I should go check out the actual restaurant!

Mac and Cheese With Bacon

mac and cheese is really awkward to take a picture of

Having the house to myself again means more cooking adventures. Today I decided to make good ol’ Mac n Cheese from scratch. I read a bunch of recipes and basically did a spin of my own with whatever ingredients I had on hand. I used a mixture of mozzarella and cheddar as well as some thyme that was leftover from a random turkey I roasted last week (my parents liked the one I made at Christmas that much). I also added onion and bacon on top as garnish and it turned out delicious and worth making from scratch. I’m sure we all have KD in the cupboard right?

Here is my take on classic.

Bacon Wrapped Chicken

This week I was home alone and I used the chance to experiment in the kitchen. As it approached the end of the week, I realized all that was left in the kitchen was some chicken breasts and bacon. I decided LET’S WRAP THE CHICKEN IN BACON!. So, I did.