happy days #9

Looking at these remind me that it's time to visit the farmer's market at Wychwood Barns again soon...

Homemade jellies and sauces.






Sweet potatoes for sale. (They made a great soup, mmm.)





Oyster mushrooms, from the Fun-Guy.






Arts and crafts, and duck eggs too.











Sampling the hand churned hot cocoa.





Sneaking a view from above.

Maybe tomorrow?

happy days #8

Ain't. No. Half. Steppin'...

happy days #7

Or, Wanda's Pie in the Sky and Other Adventures...

D and I like to walk down through Kensington Market and Chinatown at least once a week, mostly for fresh veggies, cheese and the occasional fish or two. This past weekend was especially nice and sunny, perfect for taking the little plastic camera out for a stroll.

First stop, Wanda's Pie in the Sky. Plenty of eager sidewalk coffee drinkers outside, soaking up the first spring sun.

Blueberry, apple and strawberry rhubarb, oh my!

I like that there's a large communal table inside to spread out the weekend comics.

The view from Spadina and St. Andrew.

My favourite lunchtime treat, especially when I get to meet my mom and we head on over to our fave spot for two small "everything, everything" noodles and iced coffees.

I'd need to feel especially brave to pick through these massive buckets of pickled veg. They are so tasty, it's kinda worth it...

Back in the Market, a stand for fresh squeezed/pressed/spun juice.

Good Egg is pretty much my favourite store in the whole wide world. I wish I had an entire glamourous, sunny East Wing (oh East Egg!) in my pretend future house with this shop plunked down right in the middle of it. I could la-dee-da my afternoons away, reading fabulous books about food and travel and gardening, with a happy little soup simmering away in a mini orange Le Creuset pot...

Window display at Good Egg.





Homeward bound.

happy days #6

My kind of lazy day. A book, a nap, some noodles. Yes....

I just love the way the word pappardelle sounds...

happy days #5

With a serious hankering for some good ol' comfort food - it's been getting really chilly these last few days - we strolled on down to Manpuku...it rocks.

On the way, checking out the new addition to the AGO.



I like that the new restaurant inside is named Frank, for the architect and the style of food...clever.

More inspirational/quizzical building watching. I've heard tell that some think the OCAD addition looks like "a dalmation with a hard on"...wish I had snapped the giant red elevator shaft entering the top left side.

Anyhoo, time to check out the menu. We're hemming and hawing over whether to get the shigure don, the curry don (beef, pork, or veggie? It's all so good!)...

No hesitation here; having the takoyaki is a must.

One of the great things about this gem other than that it's clean and cozy and has really nice staff, is that the menu is pretty basic. I mean this in a really good way; there's nothing too elaborate or showy, and contains nothing that you wouldn't wish you could make at home for yourself for a comforting lunch or small dinner. It's all solid, simple, well seasoned, properly done food, which I can't stop gushing about whenever I'm lucky enough to find a great place that does it up right!

I'm probably not doing this much justice, so feel free to check out the actual menu here:

In the end, we ended up sharing...

Pork curry don: thinly shaved tender pork over an addictive mild, slightly sweet curry with some nice potato chunkage, over steamed rice.

Gotta have the togarashi.

Shigure don: I don't know a ton about the cut of beef used, but let me just say that it's tender and juicy, with a nice sweetness from the onion. Definitely one of my faves.

And then came the takoyaki! The server/part owner, I believe, let us know that these are made to order and so would take about ten minutes...and so worth the wait.

These awesome, tender nuggets are made from a batter poured into special cast iron takoyaki pans...

...and contain little morsels of octopus. So good.

On top, loop de loops of mayo, homemade takoyaki sauce, toasted seaweed and bonito flakes. I would probably go back there right this minute just to have these, they're so addictive.


Thank you Manpuku for such a happy lunch.


Manpuku
105 McCaul Street
(inside Village by the Grange)
open for lunch and dinner, closed sundays

www.manpuku.ca

before...

(or the gift that keeps on giving...)

...and after.

happy days #4

Even more so, because I celebrated my birthday! So, just a few things from here and there while D and I took in a few of our (well, mostly my, this time) favourite things...

The first treat of the day; a macchiato from Manic Coffee.



Fun posters for a film fest.




Waiting for the streetcar to take us to St. Lawrence Market...




hee hee!

Mmm, salty goodness.

We actually came to the market for our fave Breakfast sandwiches from Carousel Bakery. (That's slabs of peameal bacon, a fried egg and gooey orange cheese in a kaiser bun, oh, what I wouldn't give to have another one right now!) But we were really hungry and scarfed them back before I remembered to take a picture. Next time!

Holiday decorations already!




Unusual leaves in the city...so pretty!



It's starting to get dark pretty early these days...on our way home.

We met up with my mom for dinner at my favourite Japanese restaurant, Toshi Sushi, where we proceeded to gorge on the most delicious of dishes. Nabeyaki udon, served steaming hot in a clay pot, with lots of tempura goodies and (of course, my fave) a gently poached egg for good measure. Broiled scallops with dollops of miso mayo...and thinly sliced, grilled ox tongue...oh, and steamed baby eggplant with a sticky miso glaze, served in dashi and topped with wavy shavings of bonito. And of course, a gorgeous platter of sashimi...with a very special addition of some foie gras sushi! (Just in case that sounds icky, I should explain that the foie wasn't raw, but rather barely seasoned with mirin, then lightly broiled and topped with a dusting of grated ginger...buttery love.)

Some more happy moments...

Bubbles, and pink ones at that. Makes me want more excuses to celebrate!



I'm a lucky girl to have such wonderful friends...




I'm nervous about having this new beauty...water once a week, you say?



I've been dreaming about these stomping boots, can't wait to break them in!



I like it when gifts come wrapped in butcher paper...



...and even more when they contain insanely marbled kobe beef! Holy moly, how cool is that?!



More pretty cards and wrapping paper, perfect for the inspiration board.