Popcorn

At the risk of sounding like a junk food junkie, here's another yummy food post from this weekend.

Ian and I watched wedding crashers last night and decided to make some popcorn. We had no butter, so the usual air popped was out. I decided to make it in a pot on the stove. I had NO idea how to do it, but it actually turned out perfect and very tasty with no burning and like 5 unpopped pieces.

So here's how ya do it. Heat up some oil over high heat and add 1-3 T veggie oil in a somewhat medium-large pot. Add popcorn. About 1/2 cup? for a medium pot.

Then, add a lid, shake occassionally until you hear popping. Then you shake vigourously for about 30 seconds until it's all popped. Remove from heat add salt and serve.

Kawartha Dairy

I went kayaking with Milton and his crew to the Gull in Minden (2.5 hours North of TO). As per usual, we stopped at Kawartha for some ice cream on the way home.

I usually get something caramelly or the moose tracks. All choices are quite tasty.

The best thing about this place is the price, only $2.30 for a small, which is really like a double scoop at most ice cream shops. Ocassionally in the summer, I will go all out and order the small waffle for $2.80. This is a grotesque amount of very tasty ice cream!

Two thumbs up in value, with a "very tasty" rating.

Also recommended, go in the winter and avoid line-ups.

Ethiopian House

Ian and went for dinner tonight. Ethiopian House is just off Yonge, South of Bloor.

I had the veggie combo and Ian had the meaty combo. Pretty tasty, lots of injera (spongy type bread), lentils, spiced veggies, salad, 2 beef dishes and some sketchy cottage cheese.

We ended up spending $32.40 with both of us drinking water, so a bit more than we normally like to spend. I think the combos are much less at lunch, so that's our plan in the future.

A "very tasty" rating with a no thumbs up in the value department.

Popeye's

After some beer drinking with Ian's friends we headed out to a St. Patrick's Day Party and stopped by Popeye's on the way. I didn't eat any chicken, but the whole crew scarfed it down and seemed to like it. I had a pretty tasty, super salty biscuit. mmm. Also a couple forkfulls of creamy coleslaw.

When I asked Ian if this place is a step up from KFC he said "no". So there you go, stick with the Colonel.

Kuni Sushi

Never one to turn down food, I went for the all you can sushi along with a few others. We ordered lots of food, it was slow to come because I think we overwhelmed the sushi chefs. The overall quality was OK (i.e. slightly tasty) but with buffet I guess the real goal is quantity. I definitely left feeling full but unfortunately the 23 bucks (with tax and tip) left me feeling empty in many respects. I'll go back again but I'll definitely continue to complain how this is nowhere near as good in price or quality as the ubiquotous sushi places in vancouver particularly when you consider their late night buffets

East

I went to East with some friends tonight. Was only so-so. Strangely, the food came really quick, but was kind of cold.

The waiter was super rude too.

Perhaps I'll head back to the original Spring Rolls next time.

Licks

Ian and went to Lick's after our Sat night driving lesson. Ian is teaching me to drive his standard so I can have some deeeelightful air conditoning this summer instead of sweating it up in my sauna, I mean car. Anywho, I stalled a few times and Ian wanted to recharge the battery so we took a drive out by the Ikea. We stopped by Licks and had a pretty tasty hot fudge sundae.

One thing we've noticed with all these ice cream places is that their pricing is a bit off. One scoop is generally $3.50. We go for the super duper sundae which is generally $5 or so.

Problem #1: you could go to the grocery store and get a whole tub of similarish "fancy" ice cream for $5-6.

Problem #2: The sundae items probably add up to $10 if purchased alone, but the item is charged at 50% of the individual component value. For example, in NYC, Ian and I were into Ben and Jerry's. We got the cookie sundae consisiting of 2 generous scoops of ice cream, a couple cookies, sundae topping, whip cream and a cherry I think, all for about $5. The ice cream scoops alone would have been like $7-8. Cookies retailed for another $3 or so.

So, moral of this story is, round up a friend and go for the big kahuna! If you are lacking in ice cream eating friends or are adverse to sharing, hit the grocery store and get more value for your $$$.

PC Shephards Pie

Ian really seems to these President Choice frozen meals...in fact he is somewhat obsssessed.

They used to be a bit greasy, but now they have the "Blue Menu" variety with reduced fat, so it's somewhat less un-healthy. I don't want to say "healthy" because that would be stretching the truth. Anyway, looks like lots of good ground beefiness, some token veggies and some pretty tasty mashed potatoes. I usually try and de-potato the top layer of Ian's if he is not paying attention, but he is now catching on :(.

If I were a meativore like Ian is, I would likely think these meals were pretty good stuff.

Since I buy groceries, I give it 1 thumb up in the value department at regular price ($3.50) and two thumbs up when I find them on sale for $2-$2.50. Ian is not here, but I'm pretty sure he would give it a "very tasty" rating.

Sneaky Dees for Brunch

I went on Sat for some brunch to my favorite cheap mexicain place. I had the guacamole...something and it was a tortialla bowl filled with beans, topped with guac some veggies, sour cream and some lettuce stuff around the outside. Pretty good for my $7.45 and I definately could not finish it. Others has some huevos ranchero egg type dishes. All seemed to be pretty tasty.

A "tasty" rating and 2 thumbs up in the value department.

Sushi Queen, not Queen Sushi

For those that actually live in Toronto and care, Ian and I have been thinking that the Sushi Queen is actually Queen Sushi. Good to clear that up!

Sheraton in Birmingham

I spent most of this week in alabama in a course on electric furnace steelmaking. Yeah, I know, pretty exciting stuff! Lots of the meals were catered, all pretty decent and they actually made me special veggie stuff.

I had grits for the first time ever, kind of like mildly salty cream of wheat with a bit more texture. Pretty tasty stuff with some brown sugar. Now, must try and find them in TO. Perhaps will go to whole foods this weekend and use up the rest of my $15 gift certificate!

BP's

Ian picked me up from the airport last night and we went to Boston Pizza. Ian went with the usual lasagna but I tried the cactus nachos. Pretty tasty and some good greasy goodness. Lots of cheese, two kinds of dip, and a few veggies on top of some home made potatoe chip type things.

Ian complained a bit about the noodles in the lasagna, but didn't let that stop him from eating the whole large thing in about 5 minutes!

Service was ok, we had what appeared to be a new server so he wasn't too on top of things.

Anywho, BP's is generally good for a quick meal, drink or snack! I also own their income trust, so all the more incentive to go! Last night, Ian and I spent about $20 but I probably made like $0.00001 back :)

Lack of Updates

There definitely have been few updates recently. For that you can place the blame squarely on Janice. She's eating 3 meals out a day but yet she hasn't been posting anything. Sure these places are in Alabama but We Eat Toronto has never been a blog that restricts itself to tight geographic boundaries as past posts demonstrate.

With the blame game complete we can now talk about Toronto restaurants. Today was marking time so we of course went with Sushi on Bloor. We went with the ever popular Party for 7.5. There were 7 markers so this was sufficient food. Barely. Some of you may not see the Party for 7.5 on the menu because there isn't one. We had to make our own with 1.5 Parties for 5. It's terrific that they do half orders of the Party (once you've ordered one). As I said last time this place is terrific in terms of price and it makes marking enjoyable which says a lot.

Super cheap night

Ian and I went to a FREE taping of Royal Canadian Air Farce. Mildly entertaining, but kind of dragged on between set changes.

Afterward we went to Queen Sushi and then headed to the Crepe place to Queen for desert.

Pretty tasty, we got the three scoop ice-cream wrapped in a crepe. Very tasty coffee ice cream. Chocolate sauce on top.

Decent value for $6 especially considering it was plenty of crepiness for two people.

PC Memories of Singapore Sweet and Sour Sauce

If you are looking for a sweet and sour sauce, check out this stuff. It's not as sweet as the usual "western style" chinese stuff. Very tasty over veggies with rice or as a dipping sauce for springrolls and that sort of thing. Mmmm.

Sorry Jacko, another boring post involving eating at home. I do have a client coming into the office today for a meeting, so there may be some lunch involved depending on what time we finish! So there! That could be exciting eating out for you.

Ian and I are going to a taping of royal canadian air farce tonight, but we can't really make it on time to pick up tickets, so they may give them away to someone else. If they do, we'll go to queen sushi instead.....stay tuned for some excitement!

Sushi Salad

Tonight I made some salad with sushi type rice, carrots, green peppers, green onion, avocado, sesame seed, sushi seaweed and a dressing of rice wine vinegar, wasabi powder, salt, sugar and some lime juice.

Good stuff all around! For Ian I baked a piece of fish and threw it on top.

Thai Kitchen Pad Thai Sauce

With my curling winnings, I bought some "Thai Kitchen Pad Thai Sauce". I made a big batch last night and it turned out ok. The sauce wasn't that great and I actually prefer my homemade variety with ketchup, lime, soy, brown sugar, garlic and ginger.

Oakville Curling Club

Sorry for the lack of updates, Ian has been in California (AGAIN) and I've been in the Sault hanging out in steel plants. Quick note, lots of good italian restaurants in the Sault. Aurora was ok. Some place on Queen downtown was good, forgot the name. Thymly mannor also tasty but expensive.

Yesterday I made it home in time to go the second annual pat o'riley bonspiel at the oakville curling club. Food was alright, good snacks, breakfast, lunch (sandwiches, squash or b.b. soup) with dinner (rice, veggie, chicken, oreo cheesecake with two bottles of wine on table).

I went to the same spiel last year, and they classed it up a bit more and seemed to have overall better food. Maybe a different caterer or food comittee?

A "tasty" rating overall.

The value department requires some explanation. I paid $45 for the day, which is pretty typical for a spiel of this nature. My team came in 10th place out of 32 teams, so we went up the prize table relatively early. Sadly, the top 9 x 4 = 36 prizes were already gone, but I grabbed a whole foods market gift card. There was no value indicated on it, so this is probably why it was still available by the time I got up there. On the way home, I swung by the new whole foods in oakville and found that it was worth $50! So I spent the $45 on the spiel, $10 of raffle tickets, and $10 on drinks. Basically, I ended up spending net $20 for curling and three meals, so "two thumbs up" in the value department.

Quizno's

Ian convinced me to go because he had a coupon. Ian feels that every coupon we do not use is money lost, but I think quizno's have sucked him in because he is spending additional money that he would not otherwise and they are probably still making a profit off him, even at the coupon rate.

I, as usual, had the veggie. They are ok the first few times, but I am getting a bit weary of them lately. This time they forgot to put on the guacamole so that was a bit upsetting. Even with the small (and Ian taking a few big bites) I find it's more sub that I would like to eat at one time.

So that's the story. My official rating is "neutral tastiness" with only a 1 thumb up in value should you have a coupon. Hopefully Ian is not mad at me for speaking ill of the quizno.

BBQ

The last couple of days I was in the rather small town of Sorrel-Tracy about 1.5 hours North of Montreal. Ian wonders if the winter boots come from the area, but although it was snowing, I did not seen anyone in sorel's so I'm assuming no.

Both times I have been to this place, we go or order in from a place called "BBQ". The local crew seems quite obsessed with this place. The menu seemingly has nothing to do with bbq and in fact serves pizza, sandwiches and an odd assortment of fried rice type items as well as standard meaty quebec favorites. I wonder if the quebecoise have mistaken "BBQ" to mean something that it does not? Anyway, they make a pretty decent grilled cheese with salad.