sew hungry

Last Friday I attended my first Sew Hungry food truck rally in Hamilton with Seema. I was pretty surprised by how busy the event was. Food trucks lined Ottawa Street and each had a line-up, plus a crowd of people waiting for their orders. We had to skip the Dirty South truck because of its long line (and because I was trying hard to get Maxwell to sleep in his stroller and the sidewalk was jammed!) and moved on to Buster's Sea Cove for lobster rolls and fish tacos. Both were tasty, but I'm sure I could have eaten about three of those small lobster rolls (but not at the $13 a pop they were going for)!

The most surprising bite of the day was El Gastronomo Vagabundo's asparagus (perfectly cooked) topped with a battered poached egg (nice and runny), candied bacon, tarragon emulsion, ramps and dukkah. We couldn't believe there was barely a line-up. 

Another surprise came from the homemade meat pie Seema and I scarfed down from a local church mainly to get a table and chairs. When you have two babies in tow, $8 for a seat and a tasty meal seems like chump change.

We all really wanted to try the food from The Big Chief, a new Hamilton food truck that specializes in First Nations cuisine, but unfortunately, they were sold out by the time we got to them. 

It was great to see how popular Hamilton's food truck scene has become and a nice way to spend a sunny Friday afternoon.

follow me...if you want

I finally decided to jump on the social media bandwagon! You can find me on twitter @writeveronica and instagram.

just in case

These days I have to be even more organized when I go out. That means thinking about naps, feeds and diaper changes each time I plan on leaving the house. Pair that with hauling a bag filled with diapers, wipes, extra clothes, a portable change mat and anything else we may need when not at home. It was a pretty difficult adjustment at first, but now I feel like I have it down pat (most days). Something I put together recently was a little emergency kit that I carry in my bag at all times (note: not a diaper bag. I just can't do it). 

I bought a small toiletry bag from MEC and filled it with some things that I may need when I'm out and about. Included: Purell (I'm not totally sold that this stuff actually works, but it makes me feel better in a pinch—like on the subway), kleenex (snot, puke, you get it), Mustela cleansing cloths for babies (I use them instead of wet wipes), a bottle of water for emergency hand-washing in parks or when eating outdoors (I hate not being able to wash my hands before eating or feeding Maxwell), and snacks!!!

I grabbed all of these from MEC too. I'm not one for energy bars, but sometimes I have no time (or forget) to eat and I feel better knowing I have something I can scarf down fast if need be. Also, I was pretty intrigued by the selection of "energy chews". I'll let you know if they work!

the preservation kitchen

I’m probably being a bit ambitious, but I’m still planning to get some preserving done this spring/summer/fall even though I now have a little one who loves to be in my arms at all times. To pump myself up, I bought a new cookbook, The Preservation Kitchen: The Craft of Making and Cooking with Pickles, Preserves, and Aigre-Doux. 

It was just what I needed for inspiration. Pickled cherry bomb peppers, milk jam (sort of like dulce de leche), pressed eggplant in olive oil...so many good recipes!

I won’t be tackling anything too crazy, but I am hoping to at least add a couple of new pickles or preserves into my repertoire and my pantry.  

foodstuffs

Some random food-related pics from this past week:

1. Trying out a new flavour of Pretz from Sanko. Supposedly black pepper chicken. Tasted like peppery chicken bouillon. Oh well. The melon cream(y) soda was pretty refreshing.

2. A new-ish addiction: milk chocolate covered toasted corn from Soma. Salty and sweet, I polished off this bag in no time.

3. The first scoops of the summer at The Big Chill. So many flavours! 

I settled on watermelon sherbert and pistachio kulfi. Can't believe I've never been here before.

4. Maxwell getting his first taste (ok, more like whiff) of an original steamer hot dog from The Little Dog (conveniently located beside The Big Chill).

It was a good week! 

100 days old

Over the weekend, Maxwell turned 100 days old. And because he's half Korean, we decided to throw him a baek-il party. You can read about this Korean tradition here, but basically it's a celebration of a baby surviving its first 100 days (back in the day a lot of babies didn't make it to 100 days, so it was a reason to celebrate). We weren't planning on marking this milestone, but then I thought about how great of a memory it would be for Maxwell, so we rushed around and got everything the day before. It was a sweet little party for three! 

The table included Korean Shingo pears and a baby watermelon (there's always fruit on a Korean celebration table), Asian snacks, sticky rice cakes, and the requisite baby photos.

The sweet Korean rice cakes (tteok)are a must. I like the really soft and chewy ones stuffed with red beans (the tan, white and brown ones). The shiny green, red and pink ones have a liquid honey centre. The cake-like multi-colour slices are much drier, not very sweet at all and even though they look mighty pretty, they're definitely my least favourite.

We also had a very non-traditional (but delicious) ice cream cake with two kinds of ice cream inside: cookies and cream and gold medal ribbon. 

The party continued the next day thanks to Maxwell's halmoni and halabujee (grandma and grandpa in Korean). They brought even more rice cakes, fruit, kimbap, and two cakes.

Halmoni made a traditional steamed rice cake that says "100 day celebration" in Korean lettering made out of dates.

We love you not-so-little Mundoo! You make us smile and laugh every day!

an afternoon in parkdale

Last week, I finally got the chance to visit Adam and Davis' cute little shop, Crown Flora Studio in Parkdale. Both Adam and Davis are dear friends of mine (I've been friends with Adam since highschool and Davis and I have bonded over our mutual love for good food—remember sake + cheese?), so it's great to see how much their business has grown over the last year and how successful they've become.

Conveniently, their shop is also located just down the street from Glory Hole Doughnuts. I do like me a good doughnut every now and then and while I'm partial to Dough's, these aren't too shabby either. 

The doughnuts are huge, but light and fluffy. The vanilla glazed and bread and butter are two of my top choices, but there are plenty of other unique flavours to choose from. 

Crown Flora Studio

1537 Queen St.W.

Glory Hole Doughnuts

1596 Queen St. W.

another year

Sometimes when Mundoo is crying, I say, “I understand. You’ve only been on this earth for two and a half months, everything must be terrifying! Can you believe I’ve been here for 33 years?” Well, let’s make that 34 now. Over the weekend, I celebrated a low-key birthday. I treated myself to a new iPhone (!!!) and spent the day with my two favourite boys. We capped off the evening with some cake and dirty Chinese food (you know, the deep-fried everything and red sauce-type of Chinese food). Sometimes it sooo hits the spot. 

to the market

Getting out of the house when it's winter and you have a new baby is tough. Like, really tough. But now that I'm more comfortable with my little Mundoo, I've been bundling him up, strapping him into the baby carrier, and trying to take him out on little adventures at least a couple of times a week. It's been great for both of us. Earlier this week we ventured out to Kensington Market. First stop, the new-to-the-market, Nu Bügel, for wood-fired, Montreal-style bagels. 

Then a quick perusal at Good Egg. Man, do I want this set of Falcon enamelware.

The market is always a fun place to walk around. It's a bit too busy for me on the weekends, so I appreciate being able to go on a weekday.

And finally, a visit to Hogtown Charcuterie. Cured meats, pâtes and terrines, and get this, a "fermentation station" lined with pickles! I grabbed a pair of their sausage rolls (really tasty) and can't wait to sample more of their goods.

Stay tuned for more of our little outings as the weather warms up!

super salad

Even though it's still winter (ugh), I've really been into salads lately. The last of my post-preggo baby weight (double ugh) that's been looming around might be part of the reason. Here's a recent favourite. Start with a gnarly celery root:

And a bulb of fennel:

Cut the celery root into thin matchsticks and slice the fennel thinly (reserve some of the fronds for the dressing). Add in some thin slices of red onion:

Whisk together a quick dressing of freshly-squeezed orange juice, chopped fennel fronds, olive oil, sugar, sea salt and cracked pepper (I did this all to taste):

Toss everything together and let sit for an hour or longer (it's even good the next day). Season again. Other great additions to this salad include: toasted hazelnuts, thinly sliced granny smith apple, and shavings of parmigiano-reggiano cheese.