Review: Azure

(Excuse the stock photo - the lighting was terrible!)

 

I've never attended a Winterlicious event before due mainly to the griping of fine dining restaurant staff about the busyness of the restaurant during this time. I always figured if I am going to drop that much money on one meal the service better be impeccable but when contacted for a complementary Winterlicious dinner for two at Azure I gladly accepted - if only to see what the hype about Winterlicious was all about.

I intentionally picked a reservation time that would be the least busy to avoid any server burnout (which means I ate supper with all the senior citizens!) Our server was friendly and we (my husband and I) really enjoyed the meal and atmosphere. We are not 'fancy' people so I went in jeans and my husband went in combats (ps. He is in the military). However, most people in the restaurant were dressed up which I found weird because the restaurant is, after all, attached to a hotel. 

The music was loud and very pop/clubby but the restaurant was well lit and remained so throughout the night. The wait staff knew who ordered what - which I appreciate because I dislike having meat meals waved around my face! There was one host guy who didn't introduce himself but walked around and talked to people - he was the only staff member that made me uncomfortable.  

On to the food!

I had the Dried Cranberry and Apple Salad which was made interesting with the addition of honeycomb and brie. My main was butternut squash risotto which was the only vegetarian option. It was heavy and slightly sickening while not tasting of butternut in the least. 

My husband had the Parsnip Bisque and the Osso Bucco. He didn't complain - which is the most anyone can expect of him.  He did state that they shouldn't have the tv tuned to CP24.

We got all three of the desserts! Cafe Mocha Chocolate cake, apple carmel cheesecake and banana walnut ice cream. The cheesecake and the banana ice cream were amazing.    

Overall, this restaurant really needs to step up their vegetarian game but the service and atmosphere made for an enjoyable evening.  


The Small Print: I was provided a complementary Winterlicious dinner for two at Azure. 

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Toronto Indie Arts Market: Selling Kombucha Zine.

 

I'll be at the Toronto Indie Arts Market today!

It will be at 1214 Queen Street W from 1030 until 430

 

Come by and say hello!

 

I'll be selling my Kombucha Brewing Zine (also available from here) 

as well as other zines!   

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Review: Toronto's Festival of Beer

I received free entry into last weekend's Toronto Festival of Beer as part of their Social Media campaign. This allowed me to skip the entry line and have access to an exclusive Social Media Tent (ohhh fancy lady!) The event was heavy on the pilsners and lagers, wildly disorganized, and only really worth it because of the free entry. (Entry tickets were prohibitively expensive!) 

 

While there was 'an app for that' there were no printed maps for us non-smart phone people (or even worse – us Blackberry people!) The individuals working the 'exclusive' Social Media Tent had absolutely no information regarding locations and after several questions (and helpers) I was sent off with a 'good luck with that'. The worst part is that I remain worried that I missed an entire aspect of the event because I did not have a printed map!

The confusion continued as I discovered that the coupons handed to me at the Social Media Tent were not, in fact, the drink tokens required for beer. I stood in line to purchase the correct drink tokens only to discover that drink tokens were only sold in quantities of twenty – encouraging and ensuring maximum drunkenness! (God forbid that we actually savor the beer at a beer festival!) After the right amount of cash was procured I stood in line again to purchase the drink tokens, after leaving the window I realized that I still had no idea how many drink tokens were required for a drink!

The ratio of beer to token was one of the only satisfactory aspects of the event (although I think this was mostly a consequence of a small tasting glass!) Oh and the beer was okay too! The twenty drink tokens allowed me to sample any and all beers of interest to me and even left a few extras to return to the favorites.

Overall this event was more satisfactory than Cask Days – but only because last year's Cask Day ran out of beer by Sunday!

The Small Print: I received free entry into this event. I did not promise a positive review. The opinions presented are my own.  

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Zine Dream

While my blog may have been silent in recent months my life has been anything but! I've enjoyed a three week bike tour of the prairies, sunny summer days, refreshing beers, and many other wonderful summer moments! 

But I'm back to blogging on a regular basis! I will be returning to a 2x a week blogging schedule but am including a weekly newsletter with exclusive content! So be sure to sign up by submitting your email in the box on the left hand side of this page! 

I will be participating at Zine Dream on the 5th of August (12-5pm) at The Tranzac, Toronto. I will be tabling with two new zines! The main attraction is Winged Snail Brews (and Drinks) Kombucha: Volume 1: A Kombucha Brewing Primer which includes a coffee kombucha recipe, how to grow a SCOBY from purchased kombucha, basic kombucha brewing steps, brewing philosophy, a treatise on the importance and form of labels, and bottling and flavoring information. 

Included with the $3.00 purchase is a SCOBY and free access to my online kombucha brewing course - found here. (You, dear blog readers can have free access too! Just enter coupon code 'blog'!)

My second new zine is a 24 hour Zine Thing entry entitled "Don't Ask Me How I Know: The Bicycle Touring Edition" in which I give you advice and information regarding bicycle touring. *may be inspired by my recent bike tour!

In addition to these zines I have my "Winged Snail Eats: MoFo Edition" available for purchase here. My new zines will also be available to purchase through that link after the event. 

I will also be selling assorted food buttons.  These buttons were made with the button machine loaned from the Toronto Tool Library.
 

   (My six favorite buttons!)

Visit me at the fair, mention this food blog and get a free food button! 

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Summer in the City: Homemade freezies

Toronto is heating up! This year I vow to be prepared for any heat wave this city wants to throw at me! This afternoon, while listening to Alphabet Soup Podcast I stocked my freezer with two batches of homemade freezies. 

I picked up this food saver/sealer from a thrift store for four dollars. A few days later I found three full rolls of the plastic at a different thrift store. The vacuum part of the sealer does not work but it seals the plastic thus making it possible to make homemade freezies in the traditional plastic sleeve.

I made two recipes from 200 Best Ice Pop Recipes . The freezie on the left is "Spicy Lime Ice Pop" and the one on the right is "Cucumber Chile Ice Pop". I recently had a Cucumber Chile popsicle from a local company - Augie's Gourmet Ice Pops - and it was divine! I am very much looking forward to the version from this book. 

The Small Print: I received this cookbook as a review product. I did not promise a positive review nor receive any additional compensation for this review.

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Review: Harvest Noon's ChocoSol Workshop

Over reading week, Harvest Noon held a series of workshops in conjunction with ChocoSol. I attended the second event entitled, ChocoSol Workshop Series II: Cacao, Coffee, and Commerce. The ChocoSol employee and presenter was very knowledgable about cacao and coffee as he was a biology student. It was fun to see him geek out about some of the specifics of the plants. For example, he told us that the cacao pods grow directly on the main trunk of the tree, a feature known as cauliflory.

He was an articulate and knowledgeable speaker but it was difficult to pay close attention to his speech as he was constantly passing out samples and working on preparing a crude cocao drinking chocolate. 

Exhibit A: First the cocoa beans were roasted. 

 

Exhibit B: Once roasted it is easy to separate the the bean from the chaff (pictured in the two bowls in the foreground). The beans are then ground in a warm mortar and pestle. 

Exhibit C: The ground cacao is then mixed with hot water in a jug and agitated with the wooden 'whisk' seen below.

    

Exhibit D: The finished product and some of ChocoSol's products.

 

The finished product was wonderful and the process is simple so I've added 'Make drinking chocolate from Cacao beans' to my culinary to-do list! 

 

Things I learnt (but probably should have known) about cacao:

- There are many varieties of cacao. 

- There are only three commercially available varieties of Cacao.

- Cacao nibs are roasted and crushed cacao beans. 

  

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Review: Trade School Toronto

(Photo courtesy of Rachel Tredon via Trade School Toronto's Facebook Group)

Trade School Toronto is a barter (or trade) system of exchanging knowledge. It is volunteer run and organized. This 'term' was held at Hart House on the U of T campus. I taught 35 people in five food related classes and I participated as a student in four other classes!

As a teacher I had the opportunity to list trade items that I would like to receive and so I traded my knowledge about sourdough bread, fermentation, and cookies for chocolate bars, tea, baked goods, vegan recipes, cafe recommendations, and recipe testers. As a student, I participated in classes after having brought chocolate bars, picture frames, sticky notes, and glue sticks to class.

Teaching or public speaking in general can be a scary thing. I am amazed at how quickly my public speaking skills have developed since I began speaking at conferences. It becomes easier with time but also depends on the subject matter. I have a fair bit of knowledge in both sourdough and fermentation so felt quiet comfortable answering questions in those areas. I am also aware of the edge of my knowledge and have become comfortable answering questions with an 'I don't know but I think...' type of answer. Teaching at Trade School Toronto is a low stress way to develop and hone public speaking skills.   

Did you miss Trade School Toronto? Interested in my class notes? Email wingedsnail99 [at] hotmail [dot] ca - and I will send you the notes!  

 

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Review: 5th Annual Totally Fabulous Vegan Bake-Off

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On 2 February 2013, I joined 45 other bakers in the 5thAnnual Totally Fabulous Vegan Bake-Off.

As an amateur baker, I had to prepare 100 bite sized portions of my entry – a delicate orange chocolate biscotti which was included in the category of 'Charming Vegan Cookies'. Preparing that many samples was an interesting but comforting challenge for me. It took me the better part of a day and much to my chagrin I had to prepare an additional batch of candied orange peels late in the day.

The event was sold-out and over 5000 samples were consumed within hours of the doors opening. The Toronto Vegetarian Association did a wonderful job coordinating and preparing the event. Information was seamlessly passed to bakers and the event went off without a hitch.

The two major problems I had with the event were the unprofessional nature of the announcers (I don't care that your roommate entered, or your boyfriend, or your brother – keep it to yourself!) and the odd judging organization. Entries were only tasted by judges if they won first place in their category. I believe that fair judging requires the judges to sample every entry in each category as many individuals brought with them a mired of friends and groupies with which to pad the votes.

Regardless of the odd judging hierarchy, when I returned home I immediately began to dream about the possible entries for next year's bake-off. I entered with a biscotti because I believe it tastes pretty darn good but also because it was quick to bake and easy to transport. However, I do not think it showed that well in an atmosphere were there were no hot drinks into which to dip the biscotti. I think I will plunge a little deeper into my baking repertoire for next year – perhaps with a flood iced cookie which is 3-D in nature. 

 

This was my first cooking competition of any kind. Entering a food competition has been on my to-do list for many years and I am glad that I have finally accomplished it! I really approached this competition with a 'fun run' mentality. It was something new, something different that I am glad I accomplished. I also liked the challenge of making 100 samples.

Advice for newbies to the Bake-off?

1. Plan ahead! I should not have had to make additional candied orange peels the day before the event as it would have been simply a matter of counting how many batches I would need to hit the 100 mark.
2. Take the 'bite sized' seriously. My biscotti were gratuitously large!
3. If making 100 treats AND a beautiful display worries you – go simple and classic for the display. This year's runner-up in the display simply placed two treats and a piece of fruit on a square white plate.
4. Have fun! Remember it's a 'fun run'!

Unfortunately my entry did not pull a win – but I plan on blaming that on the lack of coffee – for what is a biscotti without a hot substance into which to dip it?

Keep an eye out for this awesome event next year! It's a too tasty to miss!

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Foraging: Rose-hips

While researching the best time to forage for rose-hips I came across various time frames. Some sites said January or February while others claimed that early fall was appropriate. Most sites claimed that post-frost was the best time to forage for rose-hips. I decided that early November in Toronto would classify as post-frost (based on absolutely no evidence). Growing up in Saskatchewan, where it always snows before Halloween has really messed up my ability to determine weather patterns in the much warmer Southern Ontario! We headed out to my SECRET rose-hip foraging location on a whim one afternoon and I tossed ruby rose-hips into my shoulder bag. As this was my first time foraging for rose-hips so I did not know how much to pick or whether I would like the jam I planned on making with the rose-hips. 

  

I came home with about six cups of rose-hips which made one 250mL jar of jam. The recipe I used required me to seed the hips and boil them. They were then sieved. Sugar is added at a ratio of 2 cups puree and 1 cup sugar and cooked again. Then I water-processed the jam for 15 minutes.

 

I found the end result of this to be too cooked in flavor. The next time I make jam from rose-hips I will boil the seeded hips, sugar and water together. Pass through a strainer and test for jell. This is the same process with which I make grape jam. I find this process gives a final result that is fresh, light, and not overcooked.

 

Rose-hips are very high in vitamin C but do not eat the seeds! They are covered in tiny hairs that will (apparently) negatively affect your digestive tract!

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Review: Bloordale Pantry

 

The Bloordale Pantry (1285 Bloor St W) has a classic, kitschy diner atmosphere. The tiny booths for two adds to the cozy, authentic diner feel while making sense in small physical space. If alone, you can choose to eat your brunch at the bar on a line of red stools. There is a convenient little shelf in front of the stools (under the counter) that would nicely hold a wallet or book. The back wall is covered with kitschy kitchen goods that I pined after. The lights and tiling fit the theme but the roof tiles did not.

The menu has a few vegan options including pancakes, salad, and a veggie burger. I started with the frothy, thick hot chocolate that was very rich even when made with soymilk. For brunch I had the special of coconut banana french toast, which was entirely too mushy. The pepper shaker on the table was preground and the hot sauce bottle was very dirty. They had a few micro brews available in bottles.

The atmosphere at the Bloordale Pantry is very cute and the staff is friendly enough, but I probably will not be returning because ultimately my choices are based on the quality of the food and mushy french toast isn't gonna cut it!

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