Weekend Cooking

June 2016 - Toronto ON

I'll start with some more food pictures from Taste of Toronto. Click here for last week's photos.

We were hungry when we arrived and stopped at the first place on our list. yes, we had downloaded the menu card before we arrived and highlighted the dishes we wanted to try. We had also preloaded our Crown card, Crowns are the mode of currency, 1 Crown equals $1. 

John obviously had already eaten one of the satays before he remembered to take a photo.

These were from Little Sister, an Indonesian restaurant. This was the first time we had eaten Indonesian and I can say from looking at their menu we will be going back!! Click here for their menu.

And I must say, I think their booth was one of the best decorated.

Their menu is printed on corrugated cardboard.

Satay Ayam krupuk (chicken), peanut sauce, cucumber pickle

This was delicious!!!
Babi Guling - balinese roasted pork, tomato sambal, pickles, peanuts, crackling, ice berg lettuce

From the celebrated Drake Hotel. John said these were good but that my recipe is much better.

Pork and Shrimp Dumplings Szechuan Chili Jam

More photos from Taste.

Sap water was surprisingly good. Sapsucker is water harvested from mature maple trees, technically called sap.

Cooking classes.

Lounges

Local grocery chain Metro had servers providing lemonade and watermelon (delicious) juices all day.

Here's part of the selections. What would you choose? Click on photo to enlarge.

Saturday was a day of good chores around the house. John painted the pantry with leftover living room paint and it looks so clean and neat too. I was able to move some stuff off the counter to the hall closet. Pictures got hung in the pantry.





I did some shopping around the house and moved this picture into the master bathroom.



This new plant got a home in a former candle holder that was on the balcony.




In preparation for the cleaning crew on Monday I am making sure all chores are done and everything is put away.

Monday I had booked cleaners to come in at 10:30 to clean up after the closets' renovation. Check last week's post to see my awesome new closets.


Well, 11:00 comes and no cleaners so I email the manager. She phones immediately to say she had booked it incorrectly and they would be here at noon. I said no doesn't work. She gets snippy and says fine. Then she phones back 2 minutes later to say she could have them there in fifteen minutes. I still said no. John and I decided we could save ourselves some money and do it ourselves. John was going golfing and had already given me 2 twenties for a tip so I got to work and gave myself the tip.





Tuesday we went to the Weston's Bakery Outlet no far from us. We'd never been there but someone had recommended it to me. WOW what deals.

Gluten free bars $1 a box. Graham cracker pie shells $1.70. Hamburger buns 1.50. Loaves of bread 25 cents!!!! They carry some canned goods that were a very good price also.

Then a quick run into No Frills a grocery store we don't normally use, and a shopping cart later we were stocked up.

Wednesday we went looking for James Gardens and spent some time just wandering.

In 1908, Fred T. James purchased the land and for the next 40 years he carefully transformed his property into a picturesque garden where public visitors were always welcome. Before their main home was built in 1927, James lived in the coach-house that still stands next door. The terraces and collection pools were built almost 50 years ago.

I made hummus using this recipe. Also some bread machine strawberry jam.

Thursday we went looking for some murals we had seen when we took the 501 Streetcar Tour.
Queen St. E in The Beach.
Drive by capture.

Another Elicser. I couldn't have planned this better with the guy in the blue plaid shirt crossing the street.

And the back side.

We then made a stop at Ashbridges Estate also spotted on the streetcar tour. We shopped at the East End garden centre many,many times when we lived in that area and NEVER knew this was just east of it.

The property — once a vast expanse of 600 acres stretching from Danforth Ave. to Ashbridge’s Bay — had been in the family for two centuries. The widow Sarah Ashbridge, with her five children, began clearing the land in 1794 after she had fled Philadelphia to escape religious (she was a Quaker) and political prosecution.

The family thrived farming, but as Toronto began to grow and the next generations of Ashbridges became professionals, the land was parcelled off until, in the 1920s, it was just the two acres on which the house still sits. It was designed by a local architect named Joseph Sheard, who would go on to become mayor of Toronto in the late 1800s.

We stopped into the Dominion Pub for a beer on their patio. It is housed in the old Dominion Hotel that was attached to the Dominion Brewery.

The founding of Corktown, as well as significant growth that was made in the city's brewing and distilling heritage, is thanks in large part to the Irish. There is, in fact, some dispute as to whether the neighbourhood's name derives from the fact that it was largely populated by Irish emigrants from County Cork in Ireland or if the name is in reference to the early and dominant presence of distilleries, breweries, and cork-stopper manufacturers.

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Regardless, these newly-arrived Irish immigrants benefited from the availability of jobs in these industries just as those who owned companies benefited from the arrival of a new and ready-to-work labour force.

One such man was Thomas Davies. In 1849, Davies established the Don Brewery, which was built on the Don River and drew from it for brewing and malting.

Davies operated the Don Brewery with his son, Thomas, Jr. until Davies died in 1869. At that time Thomas Davies Jr. was joined in running the business by his brother Robert Davies in 1871. Seven years later, Robert left the family business to found his own brewery, the Dominion Brewery down the road from the Don Brewery on Queen Street East in Corktown.

Robert Davies and his Dominion brewing had such a widespread effect on Corktown that his influence can be seen even today. At the peak of his success, Davies owned over 140 separate brewing "houses" (essentially taverns). He also owned Valley Brickworks (now The Brick Works). As a result, a large part of Corktown was built by Davies, whose bricks were used not only to build his many brewhouses and taverns, but also the homes of his many employees. Much of the distinctive 19th century brick architecture that remains in Corktown today is a direct result of Thomas Davies' companies.

Friday was Canada Day! Forecast called for rain so we decided to make it our day to clean windows.

I also made blueberry jam using the same recipe.

I then had extra meat left from the cabbage rolls so I made these sweet and sour meatballs to be frozen or used later with rice.

Some photos I've already posted.

DINNERS


Saturday - homemade veal meat sauce and spaghetti with garlic bread.


Sunday - steak, coleslaw (bought Moishe's at Costco, so we'll be eating it a lot) garlic bread

Monday - John was out for dinner. Turkey breast and coleslaw

Tuesday - pan fried haddock, fries and coleslaw

Wednesday - John's weekly golf I had a burger

Thursday - burgers and coleslaw

Friday - cabbage rolls and gluten free cheddar biscuits

EATING LUNCH AROUND THE WORLD (IN TORONTO)

Vietnam Pho soup at Green Mango Boys Cloverdale
Italy pizza at Olympic Bloor/Yonge
International Burgers at Batch in Financial District
New England Clam chowder at St. Lawrence Market
Chinese General Tao Chicken at Sawtow in Chinatown (Spadina)
Thailand Thai curry soup at Noodles and Co. in TD Centre Financial District (twice)
Mexico tacos at La Carnita John St.
Poland Cafe Polonez cabbage roll, pierogis and potato latkes.
India Aroma buffet
Asian Pork won ton noodle soup
England Afternoon Tea
International Hero burgers

Canadian and Israeli Luminato Food Festival and Taste of Toronto
Indonesian Szechuan Taste of Toronto

Photo Friday.

Beth hosts Weekend Cooking where you can post anything food related.

Make My Saturday Sweet

 Saturday Snapshots is hosted by West Metro Mommy.