Sharing is Caring

I was so tired today that I ended up having two of my dear friends helping me out on the cooking extravaganza. One on site and another one remotely. I do appreciate all the help and support. The reality is that I had to drop two dishes in total. I guess my schedule was aggressive and I run low on resources. Next year, we will eat out!

I cannot write much (time to go to bed).

Breakfast: Spinach salad with goat cheese, kiwi, pecans. Boiled egg with coffee and milk



Snack: Yogurt and Coffee


Lunch: Dim Sum



Dinner: Yogurt, berries, and all bran buds.


Cheers,
Fernanda

Cooking marathon

The cooking marathon is picking it up. It is midnight and I am almost done for the day. Cannot wait to sleep. I will post all the dishes on Thursday.

Breakfast: Omelet with red pepper and salami cheese, and coffee with cheese



Lunch: Lamb, quinoa, eggplant, and asparagus



Snacks: Pieces of a chocolate muffin and coffee, trail mix, slim fast



Dinner: Mushroom soup and a glass of pinot noir

Preparation

My birthday is coming soon and I have so much to do until then. While trying to get inspired for my birthday menu, I stumbled upon a video (http://nyti.ms/ZvIYrY) on how to deal with lemongrass. Even though I love cambodian food, I always avoid recipes that require lemongrass because I never understood what to do with it. I guess I will have to leave it the Phanaeng Curry dish for another occasion as I understand that trying new dishes in a party is a NO NO. Nevertheless, I have finally set the menu and I am happy about it. It will properly portrait my Brazilian roots, my adaptation to Polish food and language and my passion for middle eastern everything. This birthday will be celebrated several times. Part one will be on Thursday with my friends and dear mom (the official day). Part two on Saturday, where I will be dancing my night away... I hope I will practice some shimmys, and finally part three in two weeks with the girls.

The shopping activities are almost done and I have started the cooking process. I love to host parties but somehow I am already regretting the amount of work involved in this one...anyway, I am sure it will be worth the effort.

Breakfast: Scrambled eggs, spinach, goat cheese and pecan salad. Danactive, all bran buds, and blackberries, and coffee with milk

Lunch: Grounded lamb, quinoa, an asparagus

Snacks: Activia, all bran buds, and one peanut butter treat

Dinner: Feijoada, manioc flour, an egg, and cucumber salad with avocado, lime juice, cilantro, and garlic


I hope I will be able to exercise tomorrow again!

Cheers,
Fernanda

Buca

Hapa Izakaya

Birthday dinner at Hapa Izakaya (http://hapaizakaya.com). Time to celebrate and have some fun! The place was nice and ample, the service was nice and bubbly and the food was good but not fantastic. The atmosphere was fun but let's be realistic, no one does Izakaya like Guu (http://www.guu-izakaya.com). For the record, I ate too much and I did not eat half of my dishes and not even the half of my cupcake.




Breakfast: Spinach salad with salmon, blackberries, candied pecans, and goat cheese. DanActive with all bran buds, and a coffee with milk.

Lunch: Naked hali burrito from my favourite burrito boyz (http://www.burritoboyz.ca).



Dinner: Halibut tacos, pork belly wrapped in lettuce, and ahi tuna and avocado salsa. The dessert? red velvet cupcake.

The Rock Lobster

We had dinner at Rock Lobster tonight and I have to admit that my expectations were extremely low. Here were the two plusses: they are located in one of my favorite neighborhoods in the city and they are a seafood restaurant (mind you I LOVE fish and seafood), other than that…… there was not much else to hope for.

Breakfast: Spinach salad with Macedonian feta, grapefruit, and candied pecan. A fried egg, all bran buds with yogurt and danActive, and coffee with milk

Lunch: Gyros on a pita with salad and tzatziki at Angelo’s Restaurant in Woodbridge. I have to admit that the food was better than I expected. I am not saying it was great but I was able to eat without complaining. The place was so not inviting, and the service was as close of the post-communist restaurants I have been to in Easter Europe.

Dessert: tiny chocolate mousse with decaf coffee


Dinner:
The decor of the restaurant was nice and modern. A lot of reclaimed wood, a nice bar, and teeny tiny tables.
The music was loud and having a conversation was not easy. It reminded me a lot of Grand Electric on that sense.
The food was not bad but not fantastic. The lobster cappuccino was good but very light, almost watery. It could be as well called lobster latte. The surf and turf stake tartare with chips was ok but very strong on wasabi and I tend to be concerned about serving raw food with very strong seasonings and it can usually hide bad meat. I have to confess that I felt well after eating the tartare. The chips were very flavourful though. The jerk crab and shrimp was my favourite part of the meal. The crispy maple pork belly with creamy spinach reminded me of sugar shack food....Not that great. In overall, nice place, good service, and some hits and misses on the food side. I would definitely go back to that place just to eat the jerk crab and shrimp and drink their 1$ wine per oz.

Panini Restaurant

Today we went for lunch at Panini Restaurant in Woodbridge (http://www.tripadvisor.ca/Restaurant_Review-g562671-d707676-Reviews-Panini_Restaurant-Woodbridge_Ontario.html). The veal sandwich was great as usually. The arancini on the other hand (huge) but not fantastic. Great place to go if you have someone to share with.
I have noticed that my appetite is decreasing more and more during the evening. I am very happy!












Breakfast: Spinach salad with strawberries, goat cheese, candied pecans, and poppy seeds. A brazil nut and coffee with milk (please ignore the omelet in the picture, I could not eat it)


Snack: An apple and baby carrots ( not in the pictures )

Lunch: I really misbehaved on this one. 1/3 of an arancini and 1/2 of veal scaloppina sandwich with cheese and mushrooms.



Dinner: DanActive with all bran buds

Locally Grown, Really?

I stumbled upon an interesting article in the NY Times that touches a very interesting subject; How possible it is to offer fresh and locally grown ingredients when living in a northern climate? http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/20/dining/winter-poses-challenges-for-chefs-with-a-local-ethos.html?ref=todayspaper

I have got curious about the topic so I decided to conduct a mini field research in Toronto. The goal is to find stores that sell locally grown produce and meat and check what they have in store. I am wondering how "local" will be. I will try to visit at least two stores this weekend. You can find a list of stores in Toronto in the website of the Toronto Environment Alliance (http://www.torontoenvironment.org/campaigns/greenbelting/foodguide).

As you can notice, my appetite is back!

Breakfast: Fennel salad with bloody orange, omelet, a brazil nut, and coffee with milk

Snack: 0% strawberry greek style yogurt, and blackberries

Lunch: Broiled salmon with spinach salad garnished with grapefruit, Macedonian feta, and candied pecans

Dinner: Sweet potato with chourizo and an egg salad sandwich with spinach