STILL PLAYING CATCH UP

21st...Sunday (aka Fun Day with Sean!)
The plan was for Sean to pick me up after his 12-hour shift and for us to grab a bite to eat--that's it. It turned out to be a wonderful day together, despite the frigid temperature and the battle within my stomach. Since Johnny's Burger was closed when we drove by, I suggested Caplansky's, a deli specializing in smoked meat. It's about as close to Montreal smoked meat as you'll get so you better get there quickly. Sean and I were there around 2:30 on a Sunday afternoon and man, it was still packed! We waited about five minutes (less than the time our server stated, hoorah!) and were seated. Good stuff so far. Not so good, no photos. At all. My tastebuds took control so no photos were taken.
Sean and I both opted for the sandwich combo (both getting smoked meat sandwiches) but Sean got the matzoh ball soup while I got the fries. You'll have to take Sean's word for it when he says that the soup was good. I couldn't have a taste due to the chicken broth, which I doubt was free-range and didn't really bother to ask about. My fries arrived in a basket shortly after and the server was smart in placing the basket in the middle of us. No way was I going to finish off that entire basket of fries. No way was I even going to finish off that 7oz. smoked meat (I chose "medium" while Sean got the "fat") sandwich but I somehow did it. It was a mistake. My stomach was not thanking me for it later but my tastebuds and the tapeworm were very grateful.
We also got an extra order of pickles (yum) and Sean was practically swooning over his coffee. My water was good (har har) and their assortment of mustards was actually kind of impressive--not that I remember any beyond the one with horseradish and the extra spicy, which our server called "mango" because I think he meant that as being awesome(?).
The rest of the menu sounds amazing (the LEO looks to be right up my alley) but their smoked meat is definitely what everyone goes there for. I would definitely not hesitate to go to Caplansky's again and hey, maybe this time, I'll get a photo or two! Oh, worth mentioning as well...the waiters/waitresses were ultra friendly and not in an annoying way. They were not snobby or uptight or the least bit pretentious. They were totally down with getting into conversation but nothing too deep or lengthy (which was okay) and there was no need to ask for a water/coffee refill (it came right away) which is always a good sign.

The rest of the day was spent spending money, har har! I picked up a dozen macarons at Nadege:



And who is this blurry friend?To be honest, I have no clue who exactly this i but if I had my way, we would have smuggled him into the back of Sean's car. I just about lost my shit (seriously, ask Sean) when I saw this Chow Chow being walked along Bloor St. I had never seen a full-grown Chow Chow that wasn't in a pet store before so this was beyond exciting!

The rest of the day's eats included half a large Greek feta, half a large container of watermelon, a small bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios with milk (whatever was in Sean's fridge) and some awesome cranberry apple ginger juice from Wilde, a pure, natural fruit juice that doesn't contain any sugars, preservatives and is not from concentrate. I don't usually go for things with ginger but as I've mentioned a million times already, stomach was a-hatin' this weekend so I thought the ginger would do me some good. It did.

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22nd...Monday (today, hurrah, we did it!)
There was a really gross amount of food in the mini fridge this morning so I made a half-assed attempt at emptying it out. First up, eating this peach danish from Prague:Tasty but the filling was really sweet and my sensitive teeth was not having it. Lunch was leftover orzo salad with half a salmon filet that my dad happened to be pan-frying as I was heating up my orzo in the micro--score!About an hour later my sweet tooth kicked in but remembering the ultra-sweet peach danish, I opted for a bowl of fruits instead:nectarine, grapes and strawberries.

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We're getting our new stove and fridge tomorrow and I'm beyond excited. It'll be the first time my family has ever had major stainless steel kitchen appliances. Woo! I am uber-excited for the new oven. I'm hoping that the temperature has been calibrated properly and that the my attempts at making macarons will not fail me. The first test will be a batch of cupcakes though. I've been wanting to make cupcakes or brownies for a couple of weeks now.

Oh, I forgot to mention the ridiculous weather we had over the weekend. Friday was glorious and I mean, glorious! The high was 18C and boy was I itching to get the heck out of the lab. Every time I opened the door to receive a sample, I'd get a whiff of fresh air, the warm sun and a glimpse of what I was missing out on. It was hard to sit still! But then Saturday morning rolls around and what should greet me as I head into my dad's car? Flurries! It was freakin' snowing. It was cold, really cold. I hadn't anticipated how cold it would be and didn't think I'd need mittens while walking through the woods at Kortright Conversation Area, but boy was I wrong! I could have used my winter coat as well but of course, that was an afterthought.

RESTAURANT REVIEW: HOOF CAFE (PART TWO)

So if you're born on a leap year, when do you celebrate your birthday? Would you have celebrated on the 28th or do you celebrate on the 1st? If I were a leap year baby, I would celebrate on the 28th...a day early. Who doesn't like early birthday presents? I sure do! Especially when they come in giant boxes all the way from Vancouver!

I'm not gonna lie...I was kind of bummed that I didn't have any mega-awesome-out-of-this-world birthday plans like last year (it was a two-parter!) but Sunday's plans included birthday brunch at Hoof Cafe (*swoon*) with Sean, which was good enough for me! His parents were going to join us but my birthday was in the middle of lent so they decided to stay away, which meant more food for the two of us!

We managed to get a table for two despite arriving after 10am. Could it be...has the hype died down? Or is it because they've increased the prices?...more on that later.

Sean and I were seated directly under the menu, which was great for Sean--not so great for me. I neglected to take a photo of the outside of the restaurant--again--so just re-read my previous review for the exterior description.

A few changes to the Hoof Cafe...they were advertising the bone marrow beignets (donut holes) as a special and now charging $5 for 6 donut holes. Not terribly cool, though they did taste better than the last time Sean and I enjoyed them. This could possibly be due to the fact that we let them cool down after they were served to us and therefore, the tip of my tongue was not burned. Also, I think we only received 5 beignets in our order, otherwise Sean ate one without me noticing.

After a brief break, our "mains" arrived. I ordered the tongue grilled cheese...
My tongue sandwich was super tender. The cheese was seasoned with something that I can't remember anymore. Sean was asking me about it and I think I said dill. It was a very distinct herb.

Sean ordered the French toast with a slab of foie gras and julienned apple:
Sean prepared the perfect bite of French toast and foie gras for me--along with julienne strips of apple and sugar.
This was my first time eating foie gras. I ate it so I knew what it would taste like, which was buttery and smooth but to be honest, it didn't blow my socks off. Would I order it again? Probably not. Sean and I decided to do "splitsies" so I gave Sean the other half of my sandwich and he gave me the other slice of his French toaste plus half of his foie but I found it to be too sweet. I ended up sprinkling some coarse sea salt onto my bites before consuming.

We also got a bone on the side ($8):
I'm not crazy about the new presentation of the bone marrow. Yes it is easier to eat but I prefer the shorter cuts and cheaper price. This was definitely not worth $8 considering that the entire right side of the marrow was almost as thin as paper. There was hardly any marrow on the bone. We didn't even have enough to cover all four toasts which was really disappointing. (Note: this ended up being gratuit due to "receipt failure" so I can't really complain that much.)

Sean...satiated. Our server with his t-shirt and cardigan in the background. I didn't feel like a re-do.

After our meal we headed to Nadege (which is just about one street south) so that I could pick up a dozen macarons. Whenever we're in the area--which just happens to be whenever we eat at Hoof Cafe--I always ask Sean if we can stop by Nadege.

I always feel a little bit apprehensive because spending $25 and change on a dozen cookies does seem ridiculous but Sean said that he understood why they were so expensive after he spent an afternoon making them with me last summer. I'm not sure if he was taking about the process of making macarons or the process of making them with me specifically but I'll take whatever justifies $25 cookies.

My box 'o precious:
Contents: salted caramel (yellow), olive oil (light green) x 2, mojito (green) x 3, cassis (blackberry, purple), mojito (again!), poppyseed (pink with poppyseeds), blackberry chocolate (light magenta), chocolate (light brown/beige) and salted caramel (again). Sean and I tasted a mojito macaron on the drive home to watch the mens' gold medal hockey game and holy mother f, was it good. A mint macaron--GENIUS!! I'm glad I got four.

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Anyway, I felt a little so-so about our second visit to Hoof Cafe. It wasn't nearly as exciting and pleasurable as the first time. I'm not thinking about our meal days later like I was the first time and not anticipating our next visit. I was really excited about the idea of bringing Janice to Hoof Cafe but I think I might let a couple of months pass before I go back there again.

Maybe Sean's right...maybe when something is so good the first time, you should never try to re-create that experience. Maybe it's a good thing I didn't try to re-create my 26th birthday celebration then.

TO BE A MASTER BAKER...

You must bake a pie and make French macarons.

Huh? You ask...

Well I have this crazy idea in my head that in order to be a good baker I must learn to master two things: apple pie and macarons. The first seems to be a no-brainer since making a good pie crust seems to be a hard thing to do. The latter is just craziness on my part.

Ah, the French macaron. I had heard about these things for ages but never had the opportunity to eat one until yesterday. There is a little patisserie that opened up on a Queen St. west not too long ago and with two hours to kill, Sean and I decided to venture from Bloor Cinema to Nadege Patisserie. We hopped into a subway and onto a streetcar and not too long after, we were walking into a stark, white pastry shop. It was nothing like how I had imagined. Oh well. Maybe it's the pastries that people come here for.

I kind of expected to see rows upon rows of delicate French macarons but instead was greeting by four rows of macarons in four different flavours: chocolate, cappuccino, chocolate raspberry and poppy. The macarons were $20 for a dozen so I decided to get 3 of each. Even the decor was drab, the packaging was pretty enough--everyone knows I'm a sucker for pretty packaging.

Here's the unveiling: the logo... the box...the inside...the lovelies...Uh, so yeah...there's a few missing. Sean and I had a little nibble while on the streetcar. My favourite was the poppy as was Sean's. The chocolate raspberry (the lilac-coloured one) was also very delicious but extremely sweet and the chocolate filling was quite rich. I haven't tasted the cappuccino one yet. I think the coffee-flavour would counteract the intense sweetness quite nicely. I hope so anyway.

Moving along, here's my first attempt at the French macaron:So yeah, a bit of a failure despite the fact that I tried my best to follow the recipe directions as closely as possible. I had looked up a bunch of different recipes and most of them had the same ingredients. A couple of them called for sifting the ground almonds and powdered sugar while others didn't. I wasn't really sure which one to follow. I then found a recipe and decided not to sift the ground almonds and powdered sugar. I also had run out of pastry bags and ended up piping them through a ziploc bag. Note to self: not a good idea.

I wasn't terribly upset when my first-run macarons didn't turn out as they should have. I had prepared myself for a long battle with the macaron. I was prepared for batches and batches of ground almonds, sugar and egg whites but was a little disappointed that I had not mastered them on the first try. What a feat that would have been!

In the end I called Sean and we decided to give the macarons another shot, but this time at his house. We sifted the ground almonds and powdered sugar separately and then whisked them together and then slowly added them to the soft peaked-egg whites and white sugar. We baked them at 350F for 15 minutes and this was our result:French macarons with vanilla bean filling.

Sean and I completely forgot about the flavouring of the filling and about flavouring the shells with vanilla bean like I had done in the first batch so instead we improved and used the vanilla bean for the filling.

It was good. Ridiculously sweet, but good. I think next time I'd cut down on the amount of sugar or use a bittersweet chocolate ganache to offset the sweetness.

YES! *air punch* French macarons on my second try! (And on Sean's first try!) I guess it really does pay to sift your ingredients.

Oh and just for kicks...