Review: 3030

On occasion, 3030 feels like a house party for hipsters. There is the boisterous mixed gender group playing pinball. The weird, slightly greasy, loaner hipster reading a philosophy text. The ageing couple speculating and gestating wildly about the nature of art. And us. Drinking beer and making up gossip about the hipsters that surround us. 

 

The real reason to visit 3030 is the beer. The bar has taps with beer ranging from Flying Monkey, Junction Conductor, Church Key, and Iron Spike. If you cannot make a decision (which is a problem we frequently have at 3030) the bartender is happy to offer advice. Real advice from an actual beer drinking bartender! The only real negative is that the bar does not have stools but the back bar is at the perfect height for leaning. I appreciate places that think about how customers will interact with and in the physical space of a restaurant or bar.

The hipster house party vibe made me feel uncomfortable and out of place, so I would recommend avoiding 3030 at peak bar times. This is no real hardship for almost every bar is better at 2pm on a Tuesday afternoon than at 11pm on a Friday night.

3030: 3030 Dundas Street W

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Cooking from Vegan MoFo: Daikon and Mustard Pickles

I pine for Daikon radishes in grocery stores. This creamy white exotic vegetable evokes visions of .... Daikon radishes don't evoke any vision in me. I have no clue what to make with Daikons - and it makes me sad. That's why I was so glad to come across this recipe for Daikon and Mustard Pickles last MoFo. It may have taken me a while to make them, but actually buying that Daikon, and not just fondling it, made me happy!

I didn't have all the ingredients that the original recipe called for. I just hadn't had any call to buy dried mango powder before! Also, these pickles SMELL but are worth it!

Check out the original recipe here: Vegan on the Prowl

Come visit me at this year's Canzine - mention that you read my blog and get a free zine! 

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Drinking: Devil's Nector

A devil's nector is simple. 
Espresso with coke over ice. 
Bitter.
Cool. 
Full of carbonation.
Creamy head.
Interesting alternative to iced coffee.
Cafe Neon

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Indie Alehouse

We accidentally walked in on Indie Alehouse's soft launch, although my husband has been opening the door and peaking in for weeks now. I assumed he was already on the banned list! He wasn't and we took our usual places at the bar. 

Things looked surprisingly smooth for their first day. The decor is pleasant - tin roof, pale blue paint, and polished wood. The bar height is too low for my liking. The taps are located on the back of the bar in a vintage refrigerator (but in a good way!) It was very easy to wave down the owner who we talked to about beer for a while. I appreciate the fact that he was easy to find and interested in talking to us. The staff was friendly. I expect that Indie Alehouse will attract a lot of hipsters! 

They'll be open regular hours starting Tuesday and will have a beer on cask and brunch so expect a more detailed review! 

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Apples to Apples

My father, in his bachelor years, cultivated a half-dozen apple trees and dabbled in grafting experiments. In a flash, he had four children under the age of seven which made such hobbies seem, I'm sure, a vast and distant extravagance.
 

The trees and children grew together. We spent many summer and fall days between those apple trees. We gorged on crabapples. We threw fallen apples at the shed and each other. We gathered crabapples for my mother to can in syrup and bake into pies. As the children grew, fewer apples were eaten, fewer pies were made and the apple trees became a tiny bit detested as their wild and unpruned branches became a grass cutting nightmare. 

(Original Post)

Most people, my husband included, believe the only value crabapples have is as ammunition in childhood fights. I know their true value. Crabapples are tiny, tart, rosy apples which grow with wild abandon throughout this great city. The organization, Not Far From the Tree, brought crabapples back into my life after a long absence. After a pick I was able to consume crabapples with such gusto that I soon had that specific, familiar, long-missed stomachache that only tart little crabapples can cause. My @NFFTT haul was more than I could eat so I canned most of my crabapples into sparkling, jewel-toned jelly. Yes, crabapples make the perfect ammunition but there are many other options for this tart, unassuming apple.

 Submitted to Gastropost

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Cooking from Vegan MoFo: Ukrainian Cabbage Rolls

While thrifting with my sister I found many a treasure. I snatched up a working dehydrator for ten bucks and a huge baby blue pot that is large enough to use as a canning pot. While browsing a furniture store my sister handed me a book. I opened it and decreed 'Getting it!' It was “Traditional Ukrainian Cookery”. My sister was a little disappointed that I was so excited for if I had been nonchalant about this find she would have adopted it. I did email her the recipe for Nachynka (a type of cornbread) for which she was harboring a ten year long craving. Nachynka is standard fare at small town Saskatchewan Legion potlucks.

When embarking on cabbage rolls I turned to “Traditional Ukrainian Cookery” for insight. “In the summer beet, lettuce, or spinach leaves may take the place of cabbage. In the grape-growing areas of Ukraine, the filling is often encased in grape leaves.” (pg 215) Upon advice from this cookbook, I omitted the tomato sauce in favor of lemon juice mixed with water. I did this because tomato sauce isn't my favorite ingredient (especially when it comes to Campbell Tomato Soup). I would recommend a somewhat more flavorful sauce than mere water with lemon juice as my cabbage rolls were a little lackluster.

The recipe and MoFo inspiration is: The Real Meal

Visit me at this year's Canzine! Mention that you read the blog and get a free zine!

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Is it possible for comfort food to be classified as something new?

 
Comfort food does not seem like something that would classify as new. However, every culture has a unique version of comfort food so a specific bowl of comfort food can be classified as new. The universal qualities of comfort food allow it to be simultaneously new and satisfying. This allows cultural comfort food to be a low risk/high reward introduction to ethnic food.

My recent exploration of the comfort food of other cultures began when I spent a long Saturday afternoon making tamales. After hours of work I unwrapped the corn husk and dug into the soft pillow-like masa dough. The first few bites were foreign, reminding me of mushy baby-food but soon the tamale began to comfort. I began to imagine my Mexican Grandmother making me tamales and the warm combination of corn and beans surrounded by smooth, slightly sweet masa dough warmed my soul as comfort ought to do. 

 

 (Dried Corn Husks)

After the successful exploration of tamales, I headed out to Noodleholic (2210 Dundas Street West) because it's tag line is “Asian Comfort Food”. The vegetarian ramen soup was pleasant, noodle-heavy, and a little bit oily. The food was not complex or fancifully plated but it was comforting. The restaurant was furnished with plastic chairs and harshly painted walls but the server was attentive and very polite. Overall Noodleholic is worth a visit because the food is affordable with large servings and lives up to their tag line.

The universal quality of comfort food is that you have to imagine that your grandmother made the dish for you. I have met my Mexican and Asian grandmothers as a result of trying something new.

Submitted to Gastropost

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