Corn Tortillas in Ottawa

So unless anyone can direct me otherwise, finding fresh(ish) soft corn tortillas in ottawa is impossible. You can get frozen packs from herb n spice and they are very affordable. However, a recent awesome puchase of a book called Tacos parlayed to avoid frozen corn tortillas at all cost. It also seemed to indicate making your own isn't so bad... so i decided to try it!

And it is easy, theres just a few things you need, and some investment involved.


A skillet i believe is key. I bought cast iron as it has the best heat distribution (and i've always wanted one). And they're not nearly as expensive as other stainless steel or fancy nonstick pans (this 12" was 50$ from Grace).



Masa mix. This is basically ground white corn with a bit of preservative (calcium hydroxide in mr gouda, lime in the maseca brand). I used the goudas, but wasn't sure if it was stale (it had been in my cupboard for a while) so i bought the other... it definitely was not stale. I think it was 4$ for these 2kg bags. I would recommend the maseca brand as it has a more complete "recipe" on the back.

UPDATE: Geez, i forgot to mention where to GET masa mix! Thanks to a local blogger (thanks Minty!) the Sultan Supermarket at bank and hunt club carries this stuff.



Tortilla press - this is a requirement. This one was the cheaper of 2 available from Grace (~20$ vs 30$). It was lighter, but larger, and larger and cheaper normally wins with me. Having something a little heavy may help to make flatter/thinner tortillas, but i think this one was fine.

I won't go into the nitty gritty of how to make em (the recipe is on the back of the Maseca brand), but after a bit of practice i'm pretty sure i could turn out dozens of amazing tasting, fresh, and versatile tortillas within 30 minutes or so. Highly recommended!

The one thing i will need to work on is keeping them warm while cooking - i've never been very good at that. They need to stay moist so i'm thinking wrapping in a wet towel and leaving it in the over at 200 or so... any tips or ideas would be appreciated.

poached eggs on seed bread with arugula

Hell ya, I love breakfast in front of the computer!!!

As i can see by this post in feb, i think my poaching skills have improved, although i still have a long way to go. Its true, vinegar IS the key. Yay improvement!!!

a night of new experiences in the T dot

A few nights ago i had the pleasure of experiencing 2 very new and exciting sense related experiences in the large, fair, garbage filled city of toronto. The first was a restaurant called O Noir, and the second, a cocktail lounge called barchef.

What to say about O Noir... if you haven't heard, its not the first "in the dark" culinary experience in the world, but it is the first of its kind in our vicinity, and it had to be tried. Basically you walk down a set of stairs into the subterranean. You walk into a dark, dankly lit but classy hallway, and are greeted by very friendly people. You then navigate a little further and have a seat at the bar where you make your choice on 3 courses and initial drinks (32$ for 2 courses, 39$ for 3). Once all the decisions have been made you are led through a door "into the dark".

By into the dark, i mean into the absolute PITCH BLACK. It is complete sensory depravation. You are led in by very friendly, completely blind wait staff who keep chanting "careful" every 5 seconds as you are linked up, hand on shoulder with the person in front of you. A few minor bumps along the way and you sit down to be instructed where your cutlary are, put your bags on the floor, and start soaking in the feeling that you are completely BLIND. It is CRAZY weird, and i was honestly freaking out for the first 10 or 20 minutes (until the wine arrived).

The wait staff was very nice and frequently stopped by to bring the courses, and/or take requests. I ordered the octopus for my app, pasta for the main dish, and "the surprise" for dessert. Any course could be a surprise, and we were told it would be something distinct from the menu. Other options were calamari on greens, stuffed portobello caps, steak, risotto, chocolate cake and ice cream, mousse, and sorbet (and a few others). The menu was, well, less than amazing, but i'll get to that in a sec.

Dishes came and went pretty quickly actually, as did the wine. We initially ordered one bottle, then another, but we didn't actually pour anything - the server would just bring you glasses as you asked for them. The 2nd bottle went really fast, but without seeing it its hard to know how that actually happened. Eating in the dark takes some serious getting used to. As does talking, drinking, and well interacting in general. Having a conversation without observing the mannerisms is totally bizarre. We spent a good chunk of the meal simply discussing the experience of being without sight. It is remarkable, and i highly recommend it. I am a claustrophobic, easily anxious person, and i worked through it and had an amazing experience.

The one downside, which was only really realized upon reflexion after the meal was over, was that the food really wasn't very good. The meal options were quite standard, and the tastes were not overwhelming. It could have been SO much more. I would not have minded the standard options so much if the food actually tasted amazing. Now perhaps this could have been because of lack of sight, but if so, the proprietors should get on that and mix it up to have a more potent selection. The octopus had a very nice flavour, but the big chunky pieces were really chewy, and frankly not appropriate for eating in the dark! The pasta, same thing - flavour was really mild, and pieces of rigatoni in the dark - not remarkable. How about an orzo? Or even spaghetti with a creaming sauce? Or cannelloni even? Just SO standard, it could have been so much more!!

I think for this reason you should probably go to O Noir while you can - the price is right for this amazing experience, and i don't think it will last forever. Its a gimmick, one thats great, but unless they overhaul the culinary portion of it they will have very little repeat business, and likely not last forever.

Now on to the second, and actually more amazing experience of the night - barchef. Its this new, also dark abode where they serve from very classy, to ridiculously amazing molecular beverages (plus some delightful sounding apps, but we weren't there for the food).

The atmosphere of barchef is very appealing (to us anyways). Gorgeous wallcoverings and frames, amazing light fixtures, huge comfortable and roomy chairs. Its first come first serve with apparently no standing room so get there early. The place smells amazing and apparently all the ingredients are fresh/local/organic/whatever. There is a hunk of ice on the bar - no cubes here, just a pick and a bit of muscle!! There is an absinthe decanter/pourer on the bar too, ask the owner dude to tell you about it (he picked it up for 20$!!). Its just really nice and comfortable in there.

All the "recession" drinks are their "standard" drinks, but they are anything but standard, and at 8$ its a standard price at a decent club/lounge making it win win, and perhaps the best mixed drink you ever had.

My first drink however was off the molecular menu, and because of my lack of decision making and newfound risk taking desire, i ordered the "cocktail du jour" - i didn't even think to ask what it was coming from o noir and surprises and all. Everyone elses drinks arrived first amidst ooo's and aww's. My drink arrived on a plate/saucer 3 wide, and it was actually 2 drinks, with a ravioli in the middle. The drinks were, well, absolutely amazing - they were a gin base, had funky foam, one was burnt (a la creme brule), had chartreuse, mint, coriander, and i don't even know what else... holy crap, amazing. But the most amazing thing was the ravioli. Now this is not the typical ravioli, its some chemically created hunk of concentrated drink (in my case, mojito) in a little nugget shape, with a mint leaf and a little something else. When you put the spoon with the ravioli into your mouth, your supposed to slurp it onto your tongue (like an oyster), let it sit, then press down. And boy, it was a taste/flavour explosion!! It was literally the most concentrated most amazing taste type experience ever. It was fleeting, but i'd do it again in a heartbeat. Coming in at 20$ for the 2 cocktails + ravioli, this was highly worth it. All of the molecular drinks ranged from 15->45$ so they are not cheap, but everytime i can guarantee it will be an experience like no other. My other drink was caramelized banana which also had the most unique taste you could imagine - i wasn't a huge fan as it was quite strong and i'm a bit of a wus when it comes to strong hard liquors, but it was an experience nonetheless (that was easily polished off by others at the table).

Anyways, if you're in toronto anytime soon, and looking for a new experience, something truly different, i highly recommend checking either/both of these places out. I really enjoy my occasional visits to the T dot, they definitely have more of a range of neat places to shop and visit and eat and drink at, and its worth soaking them in from time to time as its very close to the O dot.

first bbq of 2009 - a photo essay

pre




intra




imminent




post





Now that the test is done, i'm ready for the 2 racks of ribs that have been marinating all day, yes!!!!

If you're feeling down...

Poached eggs on toast is the cure!!! If you're feeling great, it'll only
make you feel better. Guaranteed. Well... Unless the yolks are too
or not runny enough, but that's just being picky.

chips n salsa

One of my favorite snacks in the world is tortilla chips and salsa. I've tried making my own salsa before, and it can be quite good, but the amount of effort it takes is normally not worth the 4$ or so you can pay to get a nice jar of decent salsa. When i sit down to do some work on the computer, nothing gets me happier than being accompanied by big bowls of tortilla chips and salsa!!!

However, one thing i've often struggled with is the relative quantities. If you have a large fresh bag of chips, and an unopened jar of delicious salsa, how much salsa do you take relative to the amount of chips you have? I'm pretty good at estimating, and likely make subconscious adjustments along the way, but inevitably i end up with a bunch of dry chips, or mounds of salsa left at the end.

And incredibly when the bowls go back to the kitchen, they are both always empty. How can this be!!! This is evidence of the perseverance of the human spirit, and how we can defeat all odds to get the job done.


Salsa verde, yum!!

pantry stocking

Some good links for stocking your pantry.

I know i'm supposed to throw out spices that are over a year old, but i never have! Dried basil is NOT worthless, but arguably does give very little (it can be had in a tube, which seems to work a bit... a good substitute would likely be refridgerated pesto).

I've never even TRIED cooking dried beans, i should!

Tomato paste in a tube, check.

1/4lb of Prosciutto at all times - now THATS some stocking i look forward too!!

Yay food!!!

teff gluten free pizza crust

Its been a while since we've attempted anything of the sort, but i think the crusts prepared last night were likely the best ever made (by us). I'm selfishly noting this recipe more for myself as i'm likely to forget it the next time i need to make one.

This recipe borrowed technique and substance heavily from here and here. When i "adapt" recipes i tend to "round up" many different quantities because of ease of memory. I actually took some of my original memories and multiplied them by 1.5 in order to make enough pizza for 3 crusts last night, but i was off and the recipe below is only healthily good for 2.

Teff Gluten Free Pizza Crust

2 cups dark Teff flour
2 cups white rice flour
2 cups starch (i used corn and potato)
3 tbl xantham gum
3 tbl instant dry yeast
1 tbl salt
3 tbl oil (i used promiscuous olive oil)
3 tbl honey
1.5 cups white soy milk
1/2 cup water + 1/2 cup or more
extra white rice flour and corn meal for dusting
extra oil for rubbing

If you don't know about Teff, its likely the our favorite and the most flavourful gluten free flour. I believe it comes in both dark and light, although we've only seen the dark. Bob's Red Mill sells it, its what we use, and thats about the only place i've ever seen it.

Start by adding the flours, starch, xantham gum and salt to a large round bottomed bowl. Sift gently.
In a cup add the 1/2 cup of water and honey and mix. Ideally you heat it up for a better mixture, but i was too lazy. Then add the yeast and mix to coat all the yeast (this didn't work well for me, but not a biggy in the end).
After a few minutes when the yeast has started to bubble, add it to the soy milk and oil. Then about 1/3 cup at a time add the wet mixture to the dry, stirring to soak as much of the dry as possible.
Once all the wet is in there, mix with your hands into a ball. If the mixture is too dry, add more water a tablespoon at a time, if it gets too wet add more flour. I kneaded heavily for about 5 minutes.
The target is to have the mixture in your hands slightly tacky to ensure a moist crust. When you're just about done add a generous pinch of flour to your hands and coat the outside of the ball with the flour. Wrap in plastic wrap and set aside for as long as you can bear, 30 minutes is likely enough.

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. When its about ready, unwrap the ball and cut in half with a sharp knife, reseal half for 2nd crust. Place uncut side down onto a lightly floured and corn mealed surface and roll out into as good a circle shape as possible to about 13" or so, adding more flour as necessary. Then roll the likely cracked looking edges in to form a circle of about 11" to 11.5" in diameter. Gently coerce the dough with a spatula onto your cooking surface (we just have a metal pizza plate with little holes on it which works well). If a bit of it rips, don't worry!!! Once you get it on, mush down the suffering parts and you'll never know after the baking.

Add some oil to a small bowl and brush on the edges and middle of the pizza. Bake for 8 minutes on its own, then pull it out, add your sauce, toppings, etc., bake for another 10 minutes, then possibly broil for 1 or 2, and its ready to go.

Makes 2 hefty 11" pizza crusts.

For pizza flavours the net has no end of sources, i suggest Stephen Cooks, he hasn't been around much but his archives have some of the best bizza recipes ever, ie here and here.

I should also note that the plan was to make 3 pizzas. Well after i realized the first recipe was going to be good for only 2, i decided to make a different kind of crust. With light buckwheat flour and too late added zantham gum, i ended up with a crust that barely held together but ended up working in the end too, although clearly wasn't as flavourful as that wonderful teff!!

running on pasta

I ran the 10k yesterday and it was a good time.  I had been training for 8 weeks or so, roughly running 5 days a week, it was a long haul.  Over now though!!!  Yay!!!  I finished well ahead of where i expected, i attribute 25% of that to good weather, 25% of it to a better starting position, and 50% of that to healthy lungs.  Finally, empirical evidence that i'm healthier now that i don't smoke!!!!

Mostly so i remember next year, i'm going to boringly note what i ate.  Friday morning i was at rocking johnny's for breakfast taking my car in, followed by a medium 2nd cup cappuccino.  When i got home i started pigging out on pita and hummus and tabouleh, and pretty much ate that all day long, with the inclusion of one kaiser roll sandwhich of left over genoa, provalone, and hot n sweet mustard.  Around 6 o'clock, i cooked for the first time in over a month a very dilectable de cecco fettucine dish that had:
- 2 bbq sliced sazloves lamb sausages
- 2 bbq sliced sazloves chorizo sausages
- 4 chopped roma tomatos
- 1 head of long raddiccio, chopped
- one large shallot diced
- 1/2 bunch of fresh oregano leaves
- lots of salt and pepper
- garlic infused oil (about 30 minutes)

All raw but the sausages added to the pasta at the end, very darn tasty.  Ate a bunch of that friday night for dinner, then when i was alone, i picked away at it some more around 10pm.  Then i had some mango sorbet.  Saturday morning around 9am i had breakfast i prepared the night before - mango coconut granola, frozen berry fruit, and a few corn flakes.  Then coffee...  couldn't avoid the coffee on race day!!  At 1pm i had leftovers of the pasta, not too much but a decent human sized portion.  At 3:30pm i went to the store, bought 2 gatorade's, and proceeded to finish just one of them before about 5:45.  I also drank water throughout the day.

This all seemed to work pretty well, but i still think there was too much food sloshing around in my tummy.  Should've eaten a smaller lunch...  also, i had to pee.  I peed twice in the hour before the race, but it still wasn't enough.  I have to be good and STOP drinking fluids by about 5pm i think.  Then i've got a hope of purging my body.

The pot i used to clean the pasta is still dirty.  Its a little too big to wash in the bathroom...  i'm hoping plumbing will be restored today.  Guess i should get to work - first things first...  make some coffee!!!!

R. I. P. Cam Kong

Just as soon as i mentioned my adoration for #705, an era has come to an end.  Why is it all good restaurants must go by the wayside?  Hopefully if this is anything like stoneface, the new tenant will be just as good...

To the point, Cam Kong is no longer - it has been replaced by a similar Vietnamese restaurant called "Fuscian" i believe.  Apparently the owners retired.  We went there a couple nights ago, and were shocked and bewildered for a few minutes before we sat down in a blur and decided to stay. 

They do have a hot n sour vietnamese soup, and were very happy to do a veggie variety upon our request.  The staff was very helpful, and very accommodating.  And the food was pretty darn good.  The soup was not quite like a #705, slightly less tangy and oily, not as addiction satisfying, but good nonetheless.  They told us that we can ask for extra hot stuff for next time, and i definitely will.

When i was in the Dominican, perhaps even on the day they shut their doors, i had a dream.  I had a dream that Cam Kong was closing (i only knew at this point that renovations were occurring), and i actually tried to get a job there in order to learn their secrets.  This is how obsessed i was/am.  I was desperately in need of that soups power, and was frantically dreaming of the 2nd to worst case scenario.  The worst case being, they'd be closed when i go home, no chance to sneak in and steal a peak at their fantastic flavours...

Rest in peace Cam Kong, i'm sure i'll think of you always.

In related news, for lunch i chopped a tomato, an avacado, and a green mango.  To them, i added lime juice, and salt and pepper.  I then scooped it into tortilla chips and had a splendid time.  Thats what i call a goooooooood lunch.

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Tags: foodottawa

pineapple

One thing the dominican left me with was a taste for pineapple. There was an abundance of fresh pineapple down there, and i ate a ton of it. I wasn't a fan until a few years ago when i realized i liked pretty much all foods, and now i can't get enough of it.

I picked up a pineapple for the first time in my life yesterday, a PC organic pineapple for 4.99$. From costa rica i believe. Let me tell you, worth every penny.

I followed this and this about preparing and storing it. Its true what the guy says about the sweet stuff being concentrated at the bottom. Now i understand - in the dominican, i'd learned to eye the sweeter fruit as the fruit that was a brighter, wetter yellow. I cut up this pineapple i bought, very simple, stored all the top rings, and proceeded to make the bottom one very large (almost 2inches). Then i ate it. Damn it was heaven. Then i slurped up all the residual cutting juices - definitely do your cutting on a plate from which you can drink later.

If you want a sweet treat, and some good fruit for a few lunches, treat yourself - for the price of a pint you can have a little chunk of yellow heaven.

bitchin bout broth

I needed to get some vegetarian broth on sunday for a soup i was going to make. Nothing fancy, just some good old gluten free, relatively low sodium broth. Gluten free cause of allergies, and low sodium because i like seasoning things myself.

I found myself in loblaws. I'm finding less and less reason to shop at loblaws these days. I needed a few other things, a cuke, broccoli and cauli... their broccoli, while cheap, was shit as only the dregs were left, and no cauli was to be found. Their cukes (english that is) were small and pathetic. I decided to bail on produce and get it at farm boy down the road, and headed for broth and soy milk.

I first went into the "organics" or specialty section (this is the south keys loblaws btw). In there i did find 2 types of broth, but only the PC organic type was available in the veggie variety. I was SHOCKED and APPALLED to learn that the organic PC veggie broth has over 900 mg of sodium in a cup... WHAT!!! This is RIDICULOUS!!! Why the hell do they need to lace it so badly!!! I can't in good conscience buy that, thats just way too salty considering i needed at least a litre... i kept looking.

I went to the regular broth section... i found some cambells veggie broth in a smaller, likely half litre container. If i recall, it said it was at 400 or 500 mg... but of course, the serving size changed to 2/3 of a cup, making it better, but still about 700 mg sodium per cup. Not to mention their deception, how could i ever support such a product with deceptive portion manipulation!!! Bastardos!!!

At this point i just want to point out that i'm not a massive fan of salt, and seeming obsession with low sodium products is not primarily because of health. I simply want to use ONLY enough of it to bring the flavours out, and for this purpose i am greatly respectful of its powers.

Anyways, now i'm bitching herbivorously the loblaws name under my breath... i head to the soy milk section, to find out all they have is the shite silk stuff left, no regular so good, and definitely no so nice. I'm pissed. I got the obligatory cereal and some pompadum's as a constellation prize, hit the self serve isle, and hoped i'd never have to enter again save to use that coin changing machine if it doesn't charge too much (anyone know what it charges, it doesn't say...?).

So to farm boy. Ahhh farm boy. I don't care if your garlic comes from china too, i'm still shopping there. I found everything i needed. Organic veggie broth, "Pacific" brand... it ended up tasting decently enough, and was *only* 530 mg of sodium per cup. I found my so nice regular milk, which was convenient too as i wasn't sure they'd have it. Got some bananas, a beefy english cuke, and was out in no time saving 4c because of my supplied bag.

In closing, loblaws is getting under my skin, and farm boy is climbing the ranks. I still prefer herb n spice where possible, but if i have specific needs and need to go out anyways to say the depot or liquor stores, i'm gonna opt to save a few bucks at the bigger stores (most of the time). But what pisses me off the most is the amount of sodium in broths... i guess thats the flavour, and better tasting broths will sell more, but people are wising. I even overheard someone in loblaws NOT buy something because it contained "modified corn starch"... this is a good sign.

i love food

I think food is likely my favorite thing in this world (when i say thing, i'm excluding people and interactions between them). It is just so good.

I planned on doing the lemon cleanse again this year. I started today. I will likely stop today too. I love food too much now. I also don't have much motivation for doing it, short of saying i wanted to, and i wanted to give my stomach a break. But i'm all confused now... just like the nicotine angels call down to me for company, so do the food sirens request i swallow them post chew. Oh my god i love food so much.

I would love to have some more camcong soup right now. It was my last meal last night. I'd also settle for peanuts in the shell.

I'll get through today, i'd feel like a mofo if i couldn't. But tomorrow is another school day...

pasta from the gods

Desperately low on substance in the fridge, i needed to eat something... and i needed it fast.

One of the beauties of having a house, and some yard, is the veggie garden. This year i planted a bunch of tomato plants, basil, red peppers, lettuce, and cilantro. The tomatos have been good allthough a little sparser than i would've expected (considering i planted 13 plants), the basil has been great, cilantro had its times (remember to pick flowers!!!), and the lettuce much the same as the cilantro. The peppers are just coming in full force now.

So back to lunch. I needed some, and had very little in the fridge. Some sundried tomatos was about all that was in there. So i went out to the garden, picked a bunch of basil, and the one tomato i could find. I came inside, pulled some shallots out, and sauted them down with some balsamic till tender. Then added sliced sundrieds and garlic. Of course s & p and oil al mucho. Once done, i took the whole bit along with the pile of washed basil, into the cuisinart with you!!! They had a bit of a pesto party in there they did. Cooked the de cecco pasta (the spooled fettuccine, best dried pasta money can buy), spooned directly into the original saute fry pan, added the pesto, and voila, lunch. Chopped my one tomato on top, some red pepper flakes, and now it is in my tummy, but not before taking this pic on top of my new filing cabinet. What a way to kick off what will likely be paradigm shiftastic weekend.

jaks kitchen redux

Ok, so i've now been a few times. Went for breakfast there last weekend, and what can i say, it was much improved, so much in fact, that i almost want to remove all my previous reservations about the switch over.

To summarize, there were a ton of homies, the fruit was massive, juicy and better than ever, there were specials, one of which i had, and hot damn it, it was overflowing with what it promised. We were out on the balcony, and hot diggidy the service was almost too god in that my coffee never got below half... below HALF!!! I don't even like drinking that much coffee!!! Ya, it was really good.

Partially by chance and partially because of that previously quite large breakfast, we hit it up for dinner last week as well. Again, not disappointed in the least, in fact quite delighted (i need to start using words like 'delighted' when i order bottles of white wine instead of bottles of beers). Non spicy curried cream farfalle!!! Giddeup!!! The mussels were rippin hot too (not like spicy hot, like sexy hot), with pancetta and portabellas in a red wine kickass broth, they were unlike any mussels i've eaten recently (including the ones i had at savanna last night, which you'll likely hear about elsewheres). And the wine, i think we just had house wine, not even bottles, was super crisp and perfect.

So, since i'm just an individual who has little moral responsibility to the community at large and can bounce from one location, to the next, and then back again, i am in the business of second chances, as they often bear juicier fruit, and damn, this time it was falling from the trees. I can't help but feel a little flushed or perhaps setup, as my original posting is on their cork board, but i'm going to pretend no link up was made and these were just natural changes and in no way directed at yours truly. Bye bye stoneface, hello jak. Thank goodness for second chances, proximity will no longer be the only thing bringing me back (again and again).

bye bye stoneface

So it's official, "Jaks Kitchen" has moved in down the street, replacing the iconic original location of "Stoneface Dolly's" gourmet homestyle eatery. I am, tres triste. I've been going for brunch still, albeit not as often, regularily over the past few months during the long transition. I've got a few things to say about the changes, and what i like and dislike. I realize some of the things that have changed will improve over time given that it is technically a new restaurant, but i'm going to mention them anyways.

Good Changes
Fruit - the new fruit is good. Big chunks of cantelope and pineapple. The fruit has gone from a whole variety, big pieces to small, on the plate to a bowl, and then back again. I actually can't remember how it was originally, but i remember the occasional blueberry. Now i'm not so sure this is a good change.
Renos - they did some renovations that gave the place a bit more space, which is definitely good.

Ambivalent Changes
Decor - i really liked the old art, then the transitional chunky art, and now i like the mirrors. The new paint is nice too.
Service - the old girls and guys served great, and so are the new. I miss the old cause they knew me of course, and i'm saddened the new may not get to know me as quickly, but i can't hold that against them.
Coffee - perhaps it hasn't changed, i'm not sure, but its still damn good.

Negative Changes
Service Times - No matter how busy it used to be, i used to be able to be in and out in 30 min or so. Last time, i was waiting at LEAST 30 min just for my food, and it wasn't that busy.
Homies - they don't even call them homies anymore!! They used to have chunks of onion and peppers in em, at least on occasion, and they just tasted better. The new ones are probably healthier tho, less butter, but the old ones definitely tasted better
Omlettes - um, hello?? Can i have cheese in my omellete. Both myself and my friend got omlettes, her the goat cheese, me the fruilano (now called peppers and spinach). Neither of us could taste the cheese, and my friend asked them to check that it was in there... they said it was. I'm skeptical. Mine was just not cooked right, the egg was too cooked, and i don't think the spinach was saute'ed at all before going in. Thats just a no-no, especially when you can't taste the cheese.
Portions - the portions are smaller, not by much, but by a little
Coffee Creamers - different company now, used to be organic creamers, now its just regular stuff.
Brunch Specials - there is a complete lack of these alltogether! The specials before were what i went for, only occasionally did i not get the semi-special eggs blackstone or mexican fritatta. Now, there are no specials, and thats just uninspired.

Let me now say this. Breakfast, was awesome, no doubt about it! One of the best breakfasts in ottawa, was and still is. But when you mess with a winning formula, even just a little, its liable to piss a few people (aka me) off. I will go back, i will grow to love it i'm sure, but i'm a little bitter that such an awesome place would every change, even a little bit.

my new favorite snack

The dip in the pic is something i'm getting very much addicted to. Click the pic and follow the link for more details... i'm in love with its semi-bland refreshing and massive room to improve characteristics.

lope lovin

Starting to really dig the cantelope. Its probably now my 3rd favorite breakfast fruit, behind bananas and mango's, but mango's are falling given their difficulty in eating.

Notice the bowl in the pic - i got a compost!!! I had some trees come down (finally) recently, and so now i've a sunny backyard...

"First we make a compost, then we plant grass" (sung to the tune, "first we take manhattan...")

But ya, the fruit is largo - i'm on massive vitimin c rush now. Half one day, the other half the next. For 2 bux you can't get any bettter than that.

And my windows are getting replaced, starting today. Will let you know how that goeth.

more home working

I've been the worst blogger every lately. Can't really clasify myself as one. Classification blows anyways.

I ate about 2/3 of:
- 1 cup organic white flour
- 1 cup vanilla soy milk
- 1 egg (1 yolk, then 1 folded egg white)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil (ya, its organic too)
- 2 tsp of baking powder (don't know what this does)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- lots of grade a maple syrup
- some organic margerine
- banana

Banana waffles rule.

Checked out a new thai place last weekend, Sacred Garden. Its vegitarian, its on bank, ottawa south but before riverside. It was very tasty, as most ottawa thai is. The soup - the tom yum - not up to massive par, but tasty. The most striking part is everything had a frickin meat substitute "protein" in it!!! I think its ridiculous!!! Apparently there's an art or something in coming up with things that look and taste like shrimp/beef/lamb/whatever that is made from plant, i'm not a buyer of it. Plus it all has wheat in it, and some people i know can't eat that cause they're celiac. So just substitute everything for tofu!!! Ok!!!! Which is good, but why not, i dunno, massively creative veggie/fruit dishes? Try some squash, eggplant, mangos, appples, hell roasted thai chillies!!! The food was good, the service was amazying, but holy crap, your special really isn't "lamb protein" is it!!! Geez. Please correct me if you think i'm being unfair.