Repeat Performance of Cranberry Vanilla Coffee Cake

I did it again.  Made that cranberry vanilla coffee cake, and it turned out so much better than the first one.  Thank God.  I thought either I was really grouchy when I made it the first time, or I was just jealous that this Deb person of Smitten Kitchen glory had found the recipe first.  It was a success and I here is proof of my mission completed.  

Toronto Day Cares

You know, I talk mainly about food because that is my #1 hobby, but I also like to talk about things that interest me, concern me, or whatever I want to vent or bitch about in life.  Since I have a 13 month old who is the center of my universe, her well-being is of my utmost importance.  Hence, I have started to look for a day care in the area and I had no idea how hard it was to find one.  However, that being said, the nearby recreation center has an office for P.O.I.N.T.  It stands for People and Organizations In Northern Toronto.  Or, at least, I think that's what those letters all mean.  And for a mere $3.00, you can buy a pamphlet that outlines all the nearby day cares and schools in this vicinity.  I can't tell you how much time that saves a person like me.  For 3 bucks, someone else has already done all the research for me!  YAY!  We like organizations like P.O.I.N.T.!  

Winterlicious 2009

Ok, everyone, get your AmX out and your phone ready to dial, because tomorrow, Jan. 13, if you're an AmX card holder, you get to put yourself ahead of the game and book reservations for restaurants in town participating in Winterlicious this year, and it is totally worth it.  I've already narrowed down the list to a short list, which I then made even shorter and have come up with 4 restaurants worthy of my time this year, provided my calls go thru tomorrow morning.  The lucky 4 restos I hope to visit are:  Amaya, Auberge du Pommier, Corner House and Quince (as a repeat performance not to mention the price is just right at $25 for a 3-course meal).  From January 30 to February 12, foodies like myself can enjoy prix fixed meals of 3 courses for a range of $15 to $30 for lunches and $25 up to $45 for dinner to places like North 44, Canoe, etc.  You're lucky if you can get an entree for $25 let alone a whole 3 course meal!  What I do every year is check out the list of restaurants online by googling Winterlicious, and then when I see a restaurant on the list that has intrigued me for awhile, I will check the menu to see if that gets my attention.  If it does, then that makes it onto my short list.  My original short list also contained North 44, Boiler House, Oliver Bonacini and Grill, and Canoe.  I think my shorter short list is far more fascinating and I can't wait to wake up tomorrow!

Delux

On 92 Ossington Avenue, a block and a half north of Queen Street, (right before you get to the T -intersection where there's the infamous psycho ward of Toronto), is a sign-less restaurant called Delux.  Well, almost nearly sign-less.  If you consider an outdoor lighted sign with an arrow pointing to the door with the number 92 a sign, well, then I guess there is some sort of signage.  :)   Props goes out to my friend, Janice -- her advice and food critique is always bang on.  She knows her stuff, and when she told me this place has cookies and warm milk on their menu for dessert, somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew I had to go check it out.  Fortunately for me and my husband, it was date night, and I chose to go check this place out.  We were both so pleasantly surprised.  We had a dinner seating for 6 PM, and we arrived a couple minutes early and found the front door locked.  Delux opens at 6 PM.  Someone promptly came to unlock the door and we were seated in a cozy little corner booth where I was facing a brightly lit alphabet display hung on the wall.  Coats were checked.  Water was promptly poured.  Menus were given and the menu was surprisingly short and sweet.  It makes choosing an appetizer and entree much more efficient for someone who already has Type A personality.  I'm not talking about myself here.  At my first glance, I saw there was a rib meat bourguignon, which omg...I love a beef bourguignon.  Who doesn't like melt in your mouth braised beef?  But, then I saw the steak frites and thought, omg...steak frites.  Who doesn't love steak and french fries?  But then I saw and made up my mind when there it was:  bouillabaisse.  I'm not a big seafood cooker at home, so to see that on a menu just made me get shivers down my spine.  I love a good bouillabaisse (saffron broth with clams, mussels, fish and shrimp) and I haven't had it in I don't know how long.  It has been a long time.  As an appetizer, today's special was this terrine made of pork on one end of the plate and on the other end was a pate made of rabbit/pork/foie gras.  There were toasted points, grainy mustard, candied plums or something and cornichons aka: gherkin.  It was unbelievably yummy.  What complimented the meal was the wine my husband chose.  A rose, in honor of our dear friend, Peter Greene, who introduced us to rose wine in Santa Fe at Casa Sena Restaurant.  It really brought out all the textures and flavors in the pate and terrine.  It also was a perfect compliment to our bouillabaisse main course.  The wine disappeared by the time we finished our meal.  So, what else was there to order?  Dessert!  Tonight, there was a special of a tasting of all 4 desserts listed on the menu.  Duh.  Total no brainer.  The four desserts were chocolate cake (had a molten chocolate center, whipped cream and creme anglaise), 2 chocolate chip cookies (the reason why I came here in the first place), apple galette, and a Cuban coffee infused creme brulee.  I'm not a creme brulee girl, my husband loves the stuff, but I could honestly say it made me weak to my knees to tastes something so smooth like that.  Even the drip coffee they served was delicious.  What a rare gem, pleasant surprise of a find we had tonight.  Service was excellent, totally unpretentious, food was outstanding, the decor is understated so you don't feel under or over dressed, and of course, my company was out of this world.  Delux is our new favorite restaurant in town and for the price point, (dinner for 2 including a generous tip was approximately $145.00), you can't go wrong.  

Rice Pudding

I just made this rice pudding tonight that was pretty good...still not my idea of perfection, but since I was so uninspired to make anything tonight, after a glance at The Smitten Kitchen's blog, I decided to do just that: make rice pudding using arborio rice.  The interesting ingredient was the bay leaf.  It's such an easy recipe, I actually have it somewhat memorized, which for me, is amazing these days.  1/2 cup of arborio rice, 4 cups of milk (I used 1% milk), 1/4 cup of white sugar, a spoonful of vanilla extract, 1 bay leaf -- bring all these to a low boil and then turn it down for a simmer.  I also added a dash of cinnamon and a shake of nutmeg and used a whisk to get it all incorporated.  I guess arborio rice was to get the rice pudding all starchy gooey, and the Smitten Kitchen said it'd take 30 to 40 minutes, but mine took more like an hour.  Also, what cracked me up was that her recipe said it'd feed 4 people, HA!  More like 2, and maybe 3, but that'd be pushing it.  I don't know why I didn't double the recipe.  I probably thought I'd run out of milk for my coffee tomorrow morning at that ratio.  :)

Joy Nails

On Eglinton Ave., east of Avenue Road, there is a joyful little nail salon called Joy Nails on the north side of the street, across from the Petro Canada gas station.  At Joy Nails, they do your nails in style.  Once there you get directed to the batch of various nail polish to choose a color.  Then you are led to these wonderful massaging chairs.  Next, is the menu---ahhh...the moment I always look forward to.  Which smoothie shall it be for me today?  Hmmm...strawberry mango?  Or do I need a pick-me-up like a cappuccino or espresso or tea?  As my nails get expertly trimmed and painted and my feet smoothed and softened, my eyes wander to the flat screen t.v.'s located on the wall facing you in the massage chairs.  This is where I get my fix of chick flicks playing right before my eyes.  At the end of the whole process is where you get directed to the little island of air where your nails get even more time to dry off in an expedited fashion.  It is here where I get tantalized by some sweetness whether it be a caramel, a Swiss chocolate or some other creative candy concoction.  For a mere $25 a pedicure, it's totally worth it and I have the credit card statements to prove it.

Body Blitz Spa

OMG...it is already 2009 and I went to Body Blitz Spa in 2008 and forgot to write about it!  EEK!  Body Blitz is only the most amazing spa in all of Toronto.  I can not write about it enough and rant and rave about it's wonderfulness.  The all-female spa has three pools---a hot green tea, a large sea salt pool and a very icy cold plunge type pool.  In the middle of a bustling city like downtown Toronto, this is a bit of paradise for us city folk who can't get away to Hawaii at a drop of a pin.  For $45 for a water therapy visit, it just verges on the tip of too expensive, but it is SOOOOO worth it once you're there.  This place has a small menu of services ranging from mud wraps, scrubs and massages.  I've had the salt scrub and the massage in my previous visit, and they were good, but it's really for these amazing hot tubs that you go to Body Blitz.  You completely feel so rejuvenated and refreshed after a couple hours here.  This ain't your place if you're looking for waxing, facials and mani-pedi's.  For a great mani-pedi, one goes to Joy Nails on Eglinton Ave., east of Avenue Road, where you sip smoothies, or a cappuccino while getting your nails done by swift professionals.  But that's for another post.  :)