Local love love love: CHIPOTLE

I've been meaning to blog about this place for a long while but everytime I eat here, I always somehow manage to forget my camera, or just forget period, because the food is soo darn amazing here. Their menu is pretty simple but I love the food here, you know sometimes when you go somewhere to eat all the time it gets a little boring..yeah thats never the case at Chipotle for me. Just a little background on Chipotle, they are committed and strict on their food with integrity policy, here's their initiative from the website:"Food With Integrity" isn't a marketing slogan. It's not a product line of natural and organic foods. And it's not a corporate initiative that will ever be finished or set aside to make room for other priorities. It's a philosophy that we can always do better in terms of the food we buy. And when we say better, we mean better in every sense of the word- better tasting, coming from better sources, better for the environment, better for the animals, and better for the farmers who raise the animals and grow the produce". Chipotle is located on 323 Younge st, Basically on Dundas square, within the Toronto life square building right between HMV and Rogers. Personal favorite from the menu, chicken tacos, and if you decide to visit Chipotle YOU HAVE TO TRY THE CHIPS AND GUACAMOLE, that is a staple item!

Let them eat cake part deux

I recently had a work potluck, there were countless of yummy, yummy foods. My boss brought in her famous meatballs with pineapple slices, there was pasta salads, and of course cakes. My friend and I got together in the morning to make cupcakes that will be in the next entry. For those of you who know me know that I LOVE to bake cupcakes, especially during times of stress. I would bake cupcakes and bring them in for my fellow classmates after a hefty paper or an exam. Anyways going off in a tagent, my coworker Claudia surprised us with these gorgeous cakes. It looked like it should be on a television show or something.

the revealing of the cakes! *we all gasped*

the exciting *just cut the cake part*

and the eating part...yums!

Let them eat cake

As some of you may know my birthday recently passed (I still consider it to be my birthday month), and this year for some reason I had like 4 cakes. Mind you I didn't buy them, I personally believe a person should never buy their own cake on their birthday..but thats just my thing. I had the following cakes, a vanilla with buttercream icing, strawberry shortcake with white chocolate flakes all around, a triple chocolate truffle cake, and lastly the rare ube cake. These cakes were given to me by my mom, and my aunts,which was a really sweet gesture and of course I didn't eat them all I would've fainted from the abundance of sugar. So thank goodness for friends who love to eat. You're all probably wondering what is an "ube" cake. Well in short if any of you know what bubble tea is, you all probably know the flavour/fruit taro/purple yams..basically an ube cake is just that.. a taro/purple yam cake. I don't know how it's made, I wish I did, and I will probably ask my aunt but all I know is that it is soo good to eat. Also a crowd favorite

The first fruit cake of the season

My mother came home one day with a fruitcake, every year around christmas time she brings home at least one or two of these and they all happen to be by the same coworkers..every year. This inspired me to make an entry. I have come to a conclusion that it is a fact based on my own personal survey that every household in Canada..basically all of North America will have at least one or two fruitcakes before the end of the year. They usually come during the holidays, and personally I don't like how they taste. But hey it's the holidays so I make this post in tribute to the great holiday fruitcake, and while you're eating your christmas fruitcake you can down it with some eggnog..mmmmm

local love: Osmows

Another hidden gem in Mississauga is Osmows. I have tried a lot of schwarma's in this lifetime and they all do not even come close to Osmow's schwarmas. I can not even express this, every schwarma I have tasted that isn't Osmows have been soo bland to me..that is because Osmow's is the BEST! I am not exaggerating here people, and I am telling the honest truth. You can find Osmows in 251 Queen Street ,Streetsville. I have been going to this place since high school, once you've tried Osmow's schwarma's you're gunna keep coming back for more..I guarantee it!

Just some pictures of good times at Osmow's: 

some friends to share some schwarmas with

hard at work

mmmm... jam packed with garlic sauce and a pack of gum

for dessert!

Local Love: Korean Grill

So as of Friday last week, I am glad to say I am done the fall term 

*hurrah* I went downtown after my last midterm to spend some 

time with my good friends Michelle, and Ruby. After some retail 

therapy, a well deserved treat considering it's almost my birthday (Dec 11). 

We went down Dundas and Younge and ate at Korean Grill. 

Korean Grill is located on 369 Yonge Street it is pretty sweet,

 you pay $12.99 for all you can eat, and they present you with 

raw meat to which in the centre of the table, is a mini grill, and 

you pretty much cook your own meal. To top of a great day, I treated 

myself to a rumified pina colada...which was

in my opinion pretty darn strong. 

Onto the pics:

ok so this does not look that appetizing but I swear it tastes 

pretty darn good.

a well deserved pina colada sort of..ngl I was

expecting it to taste like booster juice with 

a lil sumthing sumthing in the mix...yeah not so much

Hang all the mistle toe

In the midst of all the papers, exams, presentations and with all the fall classes wrapping up, it can often get really crazy during these weeks, and everything gets a little gloomy. What keeps me optimistic during these times is the thought of weeks after it is all done..the Christmas festivities!! December has and will always be my favorite month of the year for a number of reasons MY BIRTHDAY (dec 11), Christmas, and boxing day! Although this month is panned for consumerism at an all time high I get pretty caught up in the spectacle. I love it all, the atmosphere during these weeks brings a smile to my face just thinking about it. The hot coco nights, all the baking I tend to do, the buzz in the malls, the christmas music and movies playing all day everyday, the candy canes, the rich colours, the santa pictures, skating at nathan phillips square, the lights on yorkville and everywhere, but most importantly cooking with my mother on christmas day and my family coming together. I come from a Filipino background and during these times the following traditional dishes are brought to the table:

For breakfast: Tapsilog

This consists of fried rice, eggs sunny side up, tomatoes, and tapa meat
aka cured meat

Palabok: a noodle dish, jam packed with greatness

and lastly for dessert Halo-halo this dish usually comes out during the summer time
but in my household its a year round dish. It consists of crushed ice, cream, sugar,
red beans, mangos and many other things, with a scoop of ube(taro) ice cream.

Photocredits: off_wut post (cochina)

Local Love: Smoke's Poutinerie

So who loves poutine? Poutine in my opinion is one of Canada's well kept secrets. I remember when my cousin's came from California in December 2004 and they had never even heard/tasted/seen poutine before, and when they first tried it, they were in complete awe. Every time I go back to California they ask me to bring poutine..of course the border would/will  never allow it. Anyways so Michelle and I recently went to Smoke's poutinerie on 218 Adelaide St W to simmer down the poutine craving we both coincidently had at the time. The journey was well worth it, they sell pop shoppe drinks which brings in a little vintage diner feel to the place and have free stickers which I took advantage of. Smoke's is a cute little place, with a pretty cool aesthetic , the atmosphere is pretty darn chill, and the menu ranges in all kinds of poutines I didn't even know existed. Check it out, and the prices range depending on the kind of poutine you get. Very well worth every dime and it doesn't dent the wallet either. 

On a lighter note

I recently went to a wedding the food was amazing I got too

 busy to take pics of the full menu

so I took pics of some of the desserts instead :) 

This right here is a filipino dessert called puto it is a steamed 

little rice cake and often made in various colours it looks really 

plain but its amazing with coffee or tea

Just a bit of the desserts offered there was more

including the most delicious strawberry short cake

 I have ever tasted ever!

Morbid

My friend Jose recently tweeted this youtube clip, no words are even needed on how morbid this is. Although I usually am not one to criticize food this is to some cultures a delicacy. Personally not fa me, after seeing this I don't think I could eat/look at fish the same.

poor fish :( 

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas

Fall/Winter is the best time of the year for a number of reasons. All the best holidays in my opinion happen during the fall/winter period. There's Thanksgiving, Halloween, MY BIRTHDAY, Christmas and New Years. So my good friends Nikki and Periwig Peter have already jump started to the festivities by making a gingerbread house. These pics will surely get you giddy for the coming weeks ahead. From now on until the end of the year this blog will be filled with TONS and I mean TONS of scrumptious holiday recipes, from my home to hopefully yours. 

Photo credits: Peter!

A pattern

frozen yogurt

mashed potatoes

rice pudding

Everything I've been eating since my wisdom teeth extraction has been

colourless and not very substantial...help me out am I allowed to eat at

least mac n cheese? anything?

Wisdom teeth removal menu

Some of you may know I had my wisdom teeth extracted. Many of you probably know the feeling, if you haven't gotten your wisdom teeth out yet I salute and wish you luck. Anyways as your gums heal from the operation, the specialist often times gives you a do and don't list, well my whole week will consist of soup, juice, liquids, and ice cream, jello, basically soft baby food...I am very hungry :(  does anyone have any healthy SOFT wisdom teeth friendly suggestions? Here is my first meal of the day:

Mom's homemade congee soup and for dessert my pain medications

and falling asleep in front of t.v watching marathon episodes of the 

barefoot contessa (food network)..yay!

expensive food = dent in wallet but good in quality? maybe?

I recently bought a starbucks meal for $11 it consisted of a strawberry banana smoothie, some wheat crackers, brie cheese and few cuts of fruit  it tasted good, but it was such a hefty price and made me think about where did my $11 go? and why was it soo expensive later on that evening my mom and I went to Costco and I got hungry once again and purchased a hot dog and pop for $2. I felt filled up with the hotdog but I also felt gross at the same time, where as the healthier food choice made me feel pretty satisfied, but sad because of the cost also the fact that I bought it from Starbucks..a little indulgence I suppose. I need to find a food medium any thoughts? Especially living in a highly suburban area there are very FEW places that meet at the middle in terms of quality of food and cost. I wanna hear your food comparisons in terms of cost and quality, guilts? and fraustrations? 

the secret to green guacamole

Not a very flattering picture, but the secret to evergreen guacamole, you have to keep the seed in the middle of the guac! 

if you want the recipe to the guacamole...that might be a little harder to get ahaha but with enough convincing I will definitely reconsider.

Food fair

I know this is very late, but better late than never and these pics are pretty solid on all the hard work that each group did for their poster presentations. Onto the pics :)

and Rob for the win

Tofu sizzle

Tofu 1-2-3

This recipe requires lots and lots of patience depending on how

golden you want your tofu. So I had a brick package of tofu that

I needed to cook before the due date (Nov23) and there

are soo many tofu dishes out there, but very little ingredients

on me so I decided to just fry it and eat crispy yummy tofu.

Here is what your going to need:

-parsley

-kosher salt

-five cloves of garlic

-half an onion

-lemon pepper

Step One:

slice your ingredients into tiny pieces, take the tofu and cut it how ever you want.

Preferably in cubes

Step Two:

pre heat the pan and pour olive oil, carefully place tofu in the

pan and add garlic after 2 mins then the onion, sizzle till golden,

once golden add kosher salt, lemon pepper and parsley

Step Three:

EAT!!!!!

trippy

wow! Just a random tricked out cake I came across.

Source: rainbow

Banana Bread why are you soo overratedd?

Upon doing my usual youtube rounds while taking a quick break from homework and the UPCOMING ESSAY PROPOSAL due this thursday *ahem ahem* I stumbled upon this: 

For some of you who don't know the guy making the chocolate bread that is Sebastien Grainger 1/2 of the former Death From Above 1979 duo, and is currently doing his own thing in music with the mountains. Anyways for those of you who enjoy his music this is a treat!! recipe is in the video tutorial.

Source: his food blog: Eat My Dish

Local Love: Swirls!

I love cupcakes. I can not even begin to explain how cute and convenient they are. Personally I think its probably one of the best things ever made, who doesn't get happy over a single cupcake! Cupcake bakeries are on a rise and one that I personally love is called Swirls, they serve homemade gelato and various flavoured cupcakes. I first stumbled upon it when I was in highschool a big hang out spot in the summer was Streetsville, we would pop in buy a gelato and take some cupcakes home, and they would ALWAYS be gone by the morning. I have lived in Mississauga for pretty much my whole life, and Swirls is probably one of our best kept secrets. They recently just opened a new location in Etobicoke on 4158 Dundas Street West. So if you're ever in town say Streetsville or live near Etobicoke, pop in and eat a delicious red velvet cupcake (my personal fave).

You can check out their website: SWIRLS
or follow their facebook - linkage can be found on their website

Source: Pics from their facebook fan page!

salad 1-2-3

It's easy to make a salad because you can pretty much just toss and go. This salad has no particular name..I just call it yummy mozzo salad:

here is what your going to need:

lettuce/spring mix/or spinach

fresh mozzarela cheese..as in circular not squared and processed

grape tomatoes

sea salt/ or kosher salt ( I use kosher salt)

pepper

extra virgin olive oil

(almonds are optional)

step one:

prepare the goods, chop the grape tomatoes in half and the mozarella

step two:

once everything is chopped and prepared place ingredients in the bowl

step three:

drizzle olive oil, salt and pepper and mix

step four:

EAT! (nomnomnom)