Avocado Coconut Pops

Avocado is one of my favourite fruits because of its smooth, buttery taste and of its many health benefits. As a result, I searched some recipes of using avocado in pops and found that some used it in combination with coconut. The sound of it tasted good already ... how can you resist avocado and coconut, right? However, I was too lazy to follow any recipes this time and just blended the two ingredients together to make the pops. The coconut water lessen the buttery taste of the avocado but at the same time made the pops more refreshing. I love this the most out of the three different flavours of pops that I made so far and will definitely make it again! ^^

Avocado Coconut Pops

ingredients

• 0.5 avocado
• 140ml coconut water/milk
• 1 tsp honey

preparation

Blend all ingredients in a blender until consistency is smooth.
Insert sticks into the moulds and pour in the avocado/coconut mixture to fill the moulds up to the fill line.
Wait until it freezes completely.
Remove the pops with the Super Tool.

Makes 3 Quick Pops.

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Simple Bistro

We went to Simple Bistro for brunch last weekend because we did not want to go somewhere too far south.  It turns out that indeed everything is very simple inside -- with white walls and 1 waitress who was serving the entire restaurant (around 15+ people when we were there).  I ordered the Crêpe aux Champignons and Hubby ordered the Simple Burger. 

The crepe had just the right amount of goat cheese so that its flavor did not overpower the other ingredients in the crepe. 

For the burger, hubby said it was average, nothing special. 

Overall, we both felt nothing too special about our dishes (crepe was good and burger was average), the place was very small and we felt like our elbows were always hitting something. We don't think we will go again unless we are really in that area and there is nothing else we like to try.

Simple Bistro
619 Mount Pleasant Road
Toronto
M4S 2M5
Tel: 416.483.8933

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Strawberry Banana Smoothie

From the Zoku blog, I followed the Strawberry Banana Smoothie recipe today and made these healthy pops for yet another hot summer day. I modified the recipe by adding too much milk in the strawberry yogurt by accident.  As a result, the color of the strawberry portion was too pale and did not have the contrast that I looked for.  In addition, I added 2 tsp of honey instead of 3 tsp as in the original recipe and the taste turned out to be not too sweet which I liked.

Strawberry Banana Smoothie

ingredients

• 1 small banana
• 140ml whole milk
• 1 teaspoon lime zest
• 3 tsp honey
• 140 grams strawberry yogurt

preparation

Blend the banana, 110ml of the milk and 3 tsp of honey in a blender until consistency is smooth.
In a separate container, add the strawberry yogurt and 30ml of whole milk and blend well.
Insert sticks into the moulds and pour in the banana mixture to fill the moulds about half way. Wait for the banana mixture to freeze, and then pour the strawberry yogurt mixture up to the fill line.

Makes 6 Quick Pops.

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Strawberry Lime Pops

My new toy, Zoku Quick Pop Maker, had arrived!  I purchased it from the Indigo online store when they were 50% off and free shipping to an Indigo/Chapter store of your choice, not a bad deal.

For the first time, I followed exactly the recipe from the Zoku Blog -- Strawberry Lime Pops.  It was very simple to make and the pops popped right out of the maker at exactly the time suggested.  This recipe requires 0.5 tablespoon of sugar per pop plus the sugar in the limeade so we allowed Baby J to licked it only a few times. I would definitely decrease the amount of sugar if I make it again.

The taste was OK but Hubby still likes Häagen-Dazs more. ~.~

More photos on flickr.

Strawberry Lime Pops

ingredients

• 10 ounces fresh strawberries; stems removed, rinsed and drained
• 3 tablespoons sugar (*more if necessary)
• 1 teaspoon lime zest
• ½ cup water
• 3 ounces limeade; divided use

preparation

In a blender, puree strawberries, sugar, lime zest, and water, until smooth, set aside.
Remove Zoku Quick Pop Maker from the freezer. Insert sticks.
Pour 1 ounce strawberry puree into each Zoku Quick Pop cavity. Allow this layer to freeze completely.
Next pour ½ ounce limeade into each cavity. Allow this layer to freeze completely.
Finally pour another layer of the strawberry puree up to the fill line in each cavity. Allow this layer to freeze completely.
Remove the pops with the Super Tool. Repeat with remaining pops.

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Sunday Breakfast - French Toast

Starting off our Sunday morning slowly with French toasts, fresh strewberries, and coffee!
I love Sundays! ^^

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Victoria's Restaurant - The King Edward Hotel

Afternoon tea at Victoria's Restaurant - The King Edward Hotel on Friday after the light lunch at Taro's Fish. I really looked forward to an afternoon tea occasion because I wanted it since Baby J was born but never got a chance to go. I have never tried afternoon tea at Victoria's Restaurant before, however, we soon found that it was a bad choice. The quality of the food was such a disappointment and it was definitely not worth the price we paid. :(

The scones in the bottom tier was the best part out of the three tiers and it got progressively worse upward.  For the tea sandwich tier, I felt like I just kept on eating just bread, and soggy bread. 
For the final dessert tier, which we did not finish at all, was a disaster, 1. the almond madeleines tasted worse than the ones I made at home; 2. the rest of other mini desserts tasted like those I can purchase from a regular supermarket.  As for the tea, we both chose the Kind Edward Blend, it had a fair floral aroma, not too strong, and it was OK.

On an happier note, we still enjoyed our afternoon off and enjoyed taking pictures of it but I don't think we will return to Victoria's again.

 

 

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Light Lunch @ Taro's Fish

Light lunch at Taro's Fish this afternoon. This fish market/take-out place provides only a handful of seats by the window for eat-in, however, we never minded squeezing ourselves into their tiny bar stools because the quality of the fresh fish and price ratio is better than most of the Japanese restaurants in the North Toronto area.

Hubby and I shared the deluxe sushi, blue fin tuna sashimi, and organic salmon sashimi (not in the picture) for less than $50.00 CAD. I don't think you can get any better than that (if you know, please let me know) in North Toronto when compared against the quality and freshness provided in Taro's Fish. ^^

Photos from Taro's Fish in other occasions on flickr

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休閒篇: 花

Loving my plants and flowers in front of my lovely home this summer ^^

I hope these plants will survive longer than the mums I had last fall which I had to throw away the two pots of them because the pots broke after a heavy storm.

The miniature flowers above are so tiny but yet they still consist complex details.  God works intricately in the fine details for everything ... even the smallest flowers. ^^

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Le Sélect Bistro

Woohooo!!! Second brunch in the month of May! ^^

This time we went to Le Sélect Bistro located in the heart of Toronto and yet tucked away from the downtown busy streets. As a result, finding parking was not a problem for us. I loved the atmosphere of the entire place, from the front patio to the interior decoration -- very charming and elegant (sorry, no pics because I was busy carrying Baby J). In addition, the lady who served us was also very attentive and friendly.

I ordered the Escalope de Foie Gras aux Lardons et aux Figues -- seared fresh foie gras on a thin French Toast with lardons, pears fambe in Brandy and a fig compote. Served with an egg en cocotte and a Port maple sauce. It was a well prepared dish, everything in the dish paired well with the foie gras but at the same time I did not find it extraordinary.

Hubby ordered a Steak Grille, Ouef a Cheval -- grilled centre cut filet, topped with a "fresh air" egg, and served with mushrooms and frites. The meat was tendered and we loved the sauce and it was a better dish than the foie gras that I ordered.

Baby J had the Ouefs Bebedicte -- two poached (well-done) eggs on a croissant with ham and Hollandaise, served with frites -- from the kids brunch menu. No complains from Baby J, he enjoyed a bit of everything and 1 fries (first fries for him ^^) and we finished the rest for him.

Overall, we enjoyed the atmosphere, the food, the service and we will definitely be visiting again.

Le Sélect Bistro
432 Wellington Street West,
Toronto
M5V 1E3
TEL: 416.596.6405

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Japanese Style Curry Beef

Japanese style curry beef, one of the easiest dishes to make.  Although it is easy to make, I haven't cook this for a long time.  Sweet onion, beef, carrots, potato cooked together and add the secret ingredient -- Glico curry blocks last, it is a dish that one will never screw up cooking. ^^

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Lovely Sunday Afternoon

Lovely weather today.  Enjoyed the sun and the breeze while Baby J was taking a nap!

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Grains Bistro

I love brunch but almost always there was no time to go in the past year.  However, I was determined to go this weekend and after some last minute research, we went to Grains Bistro.  Grains Bistro is a modern, child-friendly, relaxed place.  The patio looks great too but we decided to sit indoor by the windows anyway.

We were impressed by the toddler (under 4 years of age) eats free menu because the food, and the plating exceeded our expectation in a free food point of view.  I cannot recall the last time we had free food, let alone free food with good portion and decent plating.  I guess this point is well-known by its neighborhood because we also saw other tables with many toddlers as well. There is no free lunch, but there is free brunch ^^

I orderd a latte, and a Smoked Salmon Benedict.  The latte was average but I was satisfied with the delicious benedict.  Eggs were poached perfectly with warm, creamy, runny egg yorks and Hollandaise sauce.  Yum!

My hubby ordered the Certified Angus Roast Beef Melt which he did not like because the meat was too tough. He ended up not able to finish the entire plate.  Despite the fact that his dish did not come out as well as he wished, he still would give Grains Bistro another chance because he tasted my benedict which he loved too.

Overall, we were happy with our experience and will likely return to try another brunch or lunch / dinner.


Grains Bistro
8707 Dufferin St., Unit 12
Thornhill, ON
L4J 0A2

TEL: 905.907.9000
Website: http://gbistro.ca/

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Sidedoor Contemporary Kitchen & Bar

We went on an Ottawa road trip last weekend to visit friends and tried Sidedoor Contemporary Kitchen & Bar in the ByWard market on Saturday night because (1) it was the only restaurant that still have 5:30pm reservation by the time we booked (which was around 2:00pm on the day of) and (2) our friends told us the chef, Johnathan Korecki, is competing in the current series of Top Chef Canada. 

By the time we arrived, the place was not packed but I realized immediately that it was not stroller friendly at all due to the stairs to the main lounge and eating area.  However, the hostess saw Baby J and the stroller, she then offered another waiter to carry our stroller to our table.  That was very nice of her and I didn't mind that it wasn't stroller friendly after all.  The environment was comfortable and we did not find it too crowded with Baby J around.

The food served was tapas style, since we went in as a group of 4 plus Baby J, we were able to order a few more dishes to try.  We tried the fish tacos, lamb tacos, and pull pork tacos.  The tacos were great but not much to wow about.  In addition, the sauce used in the lamb and pull pork tasted similar to me.  Overall, the tacos were good but the other dishes we had after were better and more interesting.  The tuna sashimi was very different from what you normally would have in a Japanese restaurant.  It was served with a jelly sauce with jalapeno pepper, this combination gave us a kick in our taste buds and it was very refreshing.  The broiled black cod we had was well marinated but the portion of the fish was very small (as you can see in the picture).  The way you eat it was to lettuce wrapped the blank cod with the provide condiments.  Although the portion given for the main ingredient of the dish was very tiny, we still enjoyed it because the lettuce and condiments combined well with the fish.

The spring roll was brought to our table by mistake but we ate it (and paid for it) anyway :)  Lettuce wrapped spring roll and I liked it too .... it was a lot more delicate than those Chinese spring roll from the Chinese dim sum restaurant (haha, and of course, more expensive too :P )

Highlight of the night had to be the Grilled Alberta Tenderloin!!  It was cooked just right, delightfully tender and juicy!  The mushroom absorbed the reduced jus was perfect too.

For desert, we had the Donut Platter, it was fresh, fluffy, and not too sweet. I almost wanted to have my hubby's share as well :P

 
Overall, we had a pleasant experience, the taste of the food was refreshing and well balanced and the service was good.  Most of all, we had good companies to enjoy the dinner with which made the food even tastier.  Food tastes great only when you are with good companies. ^^

By the way, if you are wondering if Chef Korecki was absent from his kitchen because of competing in Top Chef, we did see him in the open kitchen busy preparing meals for his customers.

Sidedoor Contemporary Kitchen & Bar
20 York Street, ByWard Market, Ottawa, K1N 5T5

TEL: 613-562-9331
Website: http://sidedoorrestaurant.com/contact.aspx

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Enjoying a Sunday Afternoon

What a way to enjoy a Sunday Afternoon!  Baby J is napping while I sip my coffee and enjoy a lovely piece of green tea cake.  Thanks A for the cake, it tasted awesome!  Also, want to note that the new Valentine's theme Starbucks cup is CuTe.

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Almond Butter

To see if my baby boy is allergic to almond, I made almond butter for the first time.  The recipe was very simple and I do not have the exact amount of the ingredients I used because I just added in enough amount to reach my desire thickness. The taste of almond in my almond butter was not very strong, it might be because I added water to the mixture as I did not want it to be too sticky. However, I still like the result of it because I know now that my son is not allergic to almond! Yay! Next thing to try would be peanut butter...

ingredients

• almond
• olive oil
• water

preparation

Roast the almond at 300 degree oven for 20 min
In blender/food processor, blend the almond until smooth. Remember to make it super smooth if you are using it for your baby or else they might choke.
Blend in olive oil and water until the mixture reaches your desire thickness. (There was not an exact amount of olive oil / water that I used but I used more water than olive oil because I did not want the mixture to be too sticky such that it might be a choking hazard for my little one)

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休閒篇: 花

After the mums, I fell into a flowery mode and decided to use some flowers to refresh my home a bit.  I dig up some old vases that I haven't use for months and bought some cheap flowers to see how it goes.  It was always difficult to arrange flowers in the horizontal vase, however, this time it wasn't bad at all and I am happy. ^^

 

More photos on flickr.

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秋菊

Autumn, my favourite season of all, has arrived!  In addition, our front porch finally has some flowers, fall mums in a pot.  My first time caring for outdoor plants and I hope they bloom well. 

 

More photos on flickr.

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Turkish Coffee and Pancake (Istanbul)

We tried The Han when we were in Istanbul, Turkey. It is located near the Topkapi Palace and the things that attracted us to The Han were that there was a woman making gözleme (turkish pancakes) by the entrance, its Turkish seating area and its decorations (haha, of course we knew that all of these gimmicks were just to attract tourists like us, but we went in anyway :p ).

We ordered Turkish coffee and the gözleme. I liked the coffee because it was super strong but the gözleme was very plain (not sure how to judge it since it was the first and only time that I have tried it but it was not very tasteful).

Overall, the experience and the food was average (nothing to complain nor rave about).

For more photos of The Han, please visit here.
For more photos of Istanbul, Turkey, please visit here.

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