Welcome to The Weekend Roundup...hosted by Tom The Back Roads Traveler
1. Starts with "Z" Your choice2. A Favorite
3. ZANY - Chosen by Tom
Has a Z
FAVOURITE
ZANY
adjective - amusingly unconventional and idiosyncratic. "zany humour"
25 June 2026
24 June 2026
Signs
May 2026 - Toronto ON
Korean grocery store - Yonge St.
Italian Red Meat Flavour Texas Grilled BBQ Flavour
December 2025 - Toronto ON
Red potato black truffle flavour Blue potato chicken flavour
22 June 2026
Tuesday Treasures
Tom hosts Tuesday's Treasures.
June 2026 - Toronto ON
While hunting beavers we found these art pieces in the Berczy building.
This collage artwork is titled "All Part of the Plan" and was created by artist Kat Honey.
The office building property management firm, GWL Realty Advisors, recently completed an extensive remodeling of the lobby. As part of this refreshed space, they partnered with the art agency helloart to showcase local contemporary Canadian artists.
My Recipe Box - Ice Cream
UPDATED JUNE 2026
May 2020 - Toronto ON
I bought a Kitchenaid ice cream attachment last year and went on a kick of making ice cream.
But a few weeks ago I had frozen some strawberries and wanted ice cream, but the ice cream bowl needs to be frozen for at least a few hours. Ours wasn't in the freezer (it lived there last summer) as we needed room to stock up during the quarantine.
I found a one ingredient recipe which I tweaked with my additions.
I made it again with blueberries which was also good, but not as good as the strawberries.
I then made it with frozen canned pineapple I had leftover from another recipe. Also good.
I can see any number of combinations working.
INGREDIENTS
2 cups chopped strawberries or blueberries or pineapple
1–2 tsp sugar, optional I used honey
Ingredients
500ml-600ml of heavy cream/thickened cream
1 can of condensed milk (390-400g)
Any toppings you wish (think toppings like chocolate, cookies, nutella or flavoured sauces!)
Speaking of ice cream, I named 2019 The Summer of Ice Cream as we set out to try as many places as we could.
Chinatown - gigantic macaron ice cream sandwich.
In Stratford for the weekend.
Trinity Bellwoods - Nadege
John - Canadian Gourmet - maple, nuts and chocolate brittle
Mine - lemon cheesecake, not very lemony but lots of cheese chunks
Average.
Samples from Nani's - carrot and cream and sweet potato, both delicious.
He is top of our list for next summer!
May 2020 - Toronto ON
2016 - Dolores Hidalgo Mexico
I bought a Kitchenaid ice cream attachment last year and went on a kick of making ice cream.
UPDATED - JUNE 2026
Easy homemade strawberry frozen yogurt.
Ingredients
½ cup plain yogurt (see note)
¼ cup honey or pure maple syrup
16 ounces frozen strawberries, about 4 cups
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice, optional
Instructions
In the bowl of a 7- or 8 cup food processor, add the yogurt, honey or maple syrup, frozen strawberries (and lemon juice, if using).
Process until the frozen yogurt is smooth and thick, about 3-4 minutes, scraping down the sides of the container several times, if needed, and using a tamper for the blender to help incorporate the ingredients.
Serve immediately for soft-serve consistency, or transfer the frozen yogurt to a container and freeze for several hours or up to several weeks.
2020 post
But a few weeks ago I had frozen some strawberries and wanted ice cream, but the ice cream bowl needs to be frozen for at least a few hours. Ours wasn't in the freezer (it lived there last summer) as we needed room to stock up during the quarantine.
I found a one ingredient recipe which I tweaked with my additions.
I made it again with blueberries which was also good, but not as good as the strawberries.
I then made it with frozen canned pineapple I had leftover from another recipe. Also good.
I can see any number of combinations working.
INGREDIENTS
2 cups chopped strawberries or blueberries or pineapple
1–2 tsp sugar, optional I used honey
35% whipping cream, just a little to make it creamy
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Chop strawberries in half.
2. Freeze strawberries
3. Put frozen strawberries into a food processor and blend. You may need to scraped down the sides a few times.
4. Keep blending until it smooths out into soft serve strawberry ice cream.
5. Eat immediately or freeze for later. Serve with your favorite toppings.
I came across this article in the New York Times a day after I wrote this post.
Make sorbet from canned fruit. It contains some amazing combinations.
June 13 2020 - raspberries
June 21 2020 - blackberry and lemon honey 35% cream
4 bananas and peanut butter 35% cream
May 2021 - mango banana peanut butter
IDEAS
Pink grapefruit basil lime zest
Apple and cinnamon
Rum and raisin
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Chop strawberries in half.
2. Freeze strawberries
3. Put frozen strawberries into a food processor and blend. You may need to scraped down the sides a few times.
4. Keep blending until it smooths out into soft serve strawberry ice cream.
5. Eat immediately or freeze for later. Serve with your favorite toppings.
I came across this article in the New York Times a day after I wrote this post.
Make sorbet from canned fruit. It contains some amazing combinations.
June 13 2020 - raspberries
June 21 2020 - blackberry and lemon honey 35% cream
4 bananas and peanut butter 35% cream
May 2021 - mango banana peanut butter
IDEAS
Pink grapefruit basil lime zest
Apple and cinnamon
Rum and raisin
August 13 2020
Found a recipe for no churn ice cream and decided I needed to make it since John had bought cherries and I had dark chocolate from another project along with some past its due date whipping cream. The recipe is from Foodie Adventures. I had also just read that if you soaked fruit in a little vodka it wouldn't freeze rock solid in ice cream, so I did that as well and it worked.
Ingredients
500ml-600ml of heavy cream/thickened cream
1 can of condensed milk (390-400g)
Any toppings you wish (think toppings like chocolate, cookies, nutella or flavoured sauces!)
OPTIONAL - vodka or your alcoholic choice
Method
Whip the heavy cream until stiff peaks form. This may take between 5-10 minutes.
Once stiff peaks have formed slowly fold in the condensed milk.
Method
Whip the heavy cream until stiff peaks form. This may take between 5-10 minutes.
Once stiff peaks have formed slowly fold in the condensed milk.
Soak your fruit choice in vodka.
When everything is mixed, add your desired toppings and mix them through. *Note if you’d like to add some of your desired toppings on top of the mix, don’t add all of your toppings to the mix, set some aside.*
Pour the mix into a freezer safe container and put the mix in the freezer. *Note, if you set aside some of your toppings, place them on top of the mix now.*
Cover the container and put it in the freezer.
When everything is mixed, add your desired toppings and mix them through. *Note if you’d like to add some of your desired toppings on top of the mix, don’t add all of your toppings to the mix, set some aside.*
Pour the mix into a freezer safe container and put the mix in the freezer. *Note, if you set aside some of your toppings, place them on top of the mix now.*
Cover the container and put it in the freezer.
I could also see using flavoured liquors such as lemoncello with raspberries.
2021
2020 Pandemic
Speaking of ice cream, I named 2019 The Summer of Ice Cream as we set out to try as many places as we could.
Dundas West was our first introduction to exotic ice cream.
On Dundas West
Queen St. West
Here is a video from probably the most interesting! This was on Baldwin St. steps from the AGO but a new neighbourhood for us.
The there was the POOP CAFE! On Bloor St. West
Vegan ice cream on Queen West.
Yonge St,
Japanese on College St.
Sharing with Suzanne at Garbardine's on Bay.
Harbord St.
On Dundas West
Queen St. West
Here is a video from probably the most interesting! This was on Baldwin St. steps from the AGO but a new neighbourhood for us.
The there was the POOP CAFE! On Bloor St. West
Vegan ice cream on Queen West.
Yonge St,
Japanese on College St.
Sharing with Suzanne at Garbardine's on Bay.
Harbord St.
Chinatown - gigantic macaron ice cream sandwich.
In Stratford for the weekend.
Trinity Bellwoods - Nadege
John - Canadian Gourmet - maple, nuts and chocolate brittle
Mine - lemon cheesecake, not very lemony but lots of cheese chunks
Average.
Samples from Nani's - carrot and cream and sweet potato, both delicious.
He is top of our list for next summer!
Monday Mural
I'm linking up at Monday Mural
A vibrant new, colourful mural by artist Jasmine Pannu on the side of 401 Games at 431 Yonge Street, just south of College Street, featuring characters popular with gamers and anime fans, including Pikachu and Charizard and other Pokemon characters…. and Wizards, sorcery, and flaming dice.
I don't know most of these characters but it is beautifully done.
There is also playful sidewalk murals and collection of painted bollards is part of the College Park revitalization project.This immediate area also contains two massive murals dedicated to music.
The ground mural, titled "Slide on the Snake," features a large, green-and-blue winding serpent painted on the interlocking bricks. Surrounding this central figure are several bollards transformed into colorful, stylized animal characters.
Animals to Find:
While the specific artist's roster of characters can vary, you can typically spot these animals decorated on the nearby bollards and pavement:
The Main Snake: The large, coiled green serpent with blue patterns that dominates the ground mural.
Owl: Often depicted on the upright bollards with large, stylized eyes.
Raccoon: A common subject in Toronto street art, frequently found peeking from urban art projects.
Birds: Smaller avian figures may be perched within the patterns or on separate bollards.
Turtle: Sometimes part of larger neighborhood sidewalk mural series.
This installation is designed to be interactive, encouraging passersby (especially children) to follow the "snake" path through the urban spaces.
21 June 2026
Foto Tunes
Tom the backroads traveller hosts FotoTunes
Morning Has Broken - photo taken June 21, 2026.
HUMBER BAY TORONTO ON
Morning has broken like the first morning
Blackbird has spoken like the first bird
Praise for the singing, praise for the morning
Praise for them springing fresh from the world
[Verse 1]
Sweet the rain's new fall, sunlit from Heaven
Like the first dewfall on the first grass
Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden (Ah, ah-ah)
Sprung in completeness where His feet pass (Ah-ah-ah)
[Verse 2]
Mine is the sunlight, mine is the morning
Born of the One Light Eden saw play
Praise with elation, praise every morning
God's recreation of the new day
[Chorus]
Morning has broken like the first morning (Ah-ah-ah, ah-ah-ah)
Blackbird has spoken like the first bird (Ah-ah-ah, ah-ah-ah)
Praise for the singing, praise for the morning (Ah-ah-ah, ah-ah-ah)
Praise for them springing fresh from the world (Ah-ah-ah, ah-ah-ah)
20 June 2026
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