You’ll find lots of delicious new posts there :)

I’ve also endeavoured in running a tumblr featuring food that has taken up a lot of my time and effort. But while I love looking at food photography and showcasing the works of others on that blog, it’s time for me to get back to what I originally got into blogging for.

I’m often left responsible to make dinner each night for my family during the summer time and while I do get a lot of feedback and suggestions from my family, I’m often left to my own devices to somehow come up with something edible to put on the table. I had been inspired by a chickpea salad photo and decided to make my rendition. Chickpeas are so delicious and healthy. If you have the chance to cook them yourself, it would be even better but I never have enough foresight to soak them in advance to accommodate for my craving. So for those pressed for time like myself, canned chickpeas work just as well.

My parents had recently returned from a trip to the Philippines and they brought with them numerous cans of tuna and fish in various flavourings. In keeping with the inspiration photo, I decided to take a can of chick peas and picked one of the cans of tuna to combine to make a super quick and easy side salad. Having not previously tried any of these before, it was a tough decision as to which one would accompany the chick peas the best.

I ended up deciding on afritada which in Filipino food refers to a tomato based stew. Upon opening the can, I realized how much sauce/oil was in the can which worked in my favour as that allows sufficient coating for my chickpeas. I don’t know how easily you can find this particular product in your local grocery/asian grocery store but of course you can use any flavoured tuna. You could also use plain packaged tuna and add a dressing/sauce of your choice to toss in your salad.

To add freshness, feel free to add whatever vegetables that you like to accompany the chickpeas. I added cucumbers and red onion to bring freshness. I considered tomatoes but since the sauce was tomato-based, I opted out. Bell peppers, corn, carrots, fresh herbs…whatever you had on hand would be great. Don’t forget to season to taste and get creative with the salad.

My family had this alongside chicken burgers that night as a healthier alternative to fries or chips.  I’m not necessarily a big fan of tuna or canned fish in general but I thoroughly enjoy this. I also certainly loved the ease of this recipe combination. Try it out one night and of course, Happy Eating!

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The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Wow.

Crunchy numbers

A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 13,000 times in 2010. That’s about 31 full 747s.

In 2010, there were 27 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 71 posts. There were 222 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 398mb. That’s about 4 pictures per week.

The busiest day of the year was October 23rd with 100 views. The most popular post that day was Nutella Stuffed French Toast.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were nutelladay.com, urbanspoon.com, foodbuzz.com, facebook.com, and blogcatalog.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for rainforest cafe yorkdale, exams, rainbow birthday cake, christmas cupcakes, and exams time.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

Nutella Stuffed French Toast November 2009
4 comments

Rainforest Cafe at Yorkdale Restaurant Review April 2010
5 comments

Rainbow Birthday Cake! November 2009
1 comment

Loukoumades Greek Lemon-Honey Balls April 2010
5 comments

Official Notice: Exam season has arrived December 2009

Well I’ve had a serious craving lately for something similar to the photo below.

Photo courtesy of : Food Porn Daily

I’m really in the mood for crispy chicken tossed in a spicy sauce, perhaps a General Tso’s recipe. The spicer the better too as I’ve been really loving everything extra spicy these days.

If you have a recipe that you think I’d enjoy, please leave a link and I’ll definitely have a look and add it to my recipe list. I have yet to actually look and find a recipe I’d enjoy.

For those who don’t know, my hands-down most favourite dessert of ALL time is chocolate dipped strawberries. I’m not entirely sure when that obsession started but regardless of when it did, it stuck. What I love most about them is that the combine two spheres of desserts into one: fresh, ripe fruit and creamy, satisfying chocolate to create the ultimate dessert for me. Despite my intense love for these things, I rarely get a chance to eat them. So when strawberries were in season, I quickly decided to buy a few and put my leftover chocolate chips to good use.

Recipe:

The process is simple. Get a bunch of ripe and fresh strawberries, wash them thoroughly and pat them dry. Then melt the chocolate however most convenient for you (I typically opt for the microwave but would just as easily set up a bain-marie if I planned to do a lot. Get the strawberries, dip it in the chocolate and set onto some wax paper to cool. If you’d like, you can dip the strawberries into nuts or decorating sugars after the chocolate. You can choose whatever kind of chocolate that you’d like based on your tastes. This would also be a fun cooking event to do with kids.

I thought that these would be particularly cute to make for your special someone for Valentine’s day. I used both white and milk chocolate and then dipped them in red and white sugar and peanuts just for a different taste. They were all equally good and I made a fairly large batch but was quickly eaten in the days after. I haven’t made it since but when strawberries are back in season I’ll definitely be picking up some to make this again.

Happy Eating! :)

This is official notice that for the month of December, blog posts will not be published on a regular schedule due to both exams and the holiday season. Posts will begin to follow every other day posting beginning in the new year. Still continue to check for updates and I will continue to still write, just not as often.

To fellow students: good luck on finals!

My love affair with chickpeas started in my first year of University. As a student living on campus and stuck with a meal plan, it was easy to get bored with the food pretty quickly. So I spent a good amount of time trying to eat salads (the only relatively healthy meal option available). And before I knew it, chickpeas became an integral part of my diet.

Chickpeas (otherwise known as garbanzo beans) are a great addition to meals. They are a great source of folic acid, fiber and protein to name a few. They can help lower cholesterol and improve blood sugar levels making them ideal for diabetics. They are often consumed from the canned variety. I certainly took a liking to them even after I moved off campus but discovered the economical and health benefits from just cooking dried chickpeas for yourself and that’s where this meal came in.

I keep a jar of dried chickpeas in my pantry whenever I need them. The process of cooking them from a dried state is this:

How to cook chickpeas/garbanzo beans

1. Soak the chickpeas in room temperature water overnight. Change the water if needed.

2. Fill a large pot with water. Put in the chickpeas. Make sure there’s about 2-3 cups of water for every 1 cup of chickpeas that you are cooking.

3. Bring the water to a boil and then reduce to a slow simmer.

4. Leave for about 1 hour +, checking on the doneness and tenderness of the chickpeas.

5. Use as you’d like.

It’s a fairly simple process. I’m not entirely sure it’s the exactly correct way to cook them so if anyone has better suggestions let me know as I based it off of the instructions I could find (but of course everything has variations so it’s hard to determine who is right)

Along with my chickpea obsession at this time, I was also obsessed with corn. I bought several cans of corn and decided for this meal to create a spicy fried rice with the chickpeas and the corn.

I’d provide a more solid recipe but to be honest, I just threw in whatever I had on hand (a typical tactic I employ when making food in a hurry)

Essentially I had cooked some bacon a little earlier in the day so instead of letting that valuable bacon fat go to waste, I decided to sauté some onions and garlic, threw in some sausage from a leftover the night prior, added the chickpeas and corn and finally the rice. Once that was all well incorporated and mixed together, I added whatever spices I fancied that day. I added some chili powder for kick, garlic powder and other spices. I also finely chopped some parsley and added it at the end for some fresh flavours. I can’t remember every single thing I added but I definitely remember enjoying it. It just goes to show that cooking doesn’t have to be hard. It’s all a matter of throwing together what you think would taste good to you and heating it up. Voila!

Writing this up has put me in the mood for some chickpeas so I think I’m gonna go soak some tonight. As for you guys, I hope you’ll think about trying chickpeas if you haven’t already. Happy Eating! :)

Browsing through old blogs, I discovered the fascination and adoration for macarons. Previously, the only macaroons I was aware of were those of the coconut variety but I soon discovered the creative and intriguing world of French macarons. I immediately began looking for some place to try it but unfortunately there were no places in Kingston that I could find catering to this French dessert. So my craving would have to wait until a trip back home to Toronto. In the meantime, I decided to learn whatever I could about them, their flavours, where to find some and what I should expect when it comes to a good and fresh macaron.

For those who don’t know, a macaron is a meringue-based dessert: made from a mixture of egg whites, almond flour, and both granulated and confectionery sugar. It comes in a wide variety of flavours and quick browse through food blogs, you’ll quickly see its popularity and versatility.

So I researched and looked through forums debating on where to get a decent macaron in Toronto. I compiled a list and vowed that if I was in the area of any of them, I’d venture and get my first taste. I never did end up in any of the areas; instead I got a friend to drive me out to the closest one – Ruelo Patesserie.

As you enter the store, you immediately notice the desserts sitting in the glass case ahead of you. The place is clean and colourful without being too overly decorated or in your face. The desserts are laid out with labels and prices, each looking more appetizing than the next. On the forums, I read mixed reviews from the place but I was willing to try anyways. I reviewed their flavours in advance and knew when I wanted. I ended up purchasing 11 different flavours to try and took them home to enjoy. They were packaged in a little bag for me with a card showcasing the store’s range of flavours.

Both above pictures are not identical placement so we’re going to go with the bottom picture for reference. Also keep in mind that this was my first time trying macarons. I have no idea what ‘the best’ macaron tastes like. I have some idea as to what it should taste like so with that concept in mind plus my own palette, I came up with these opinions.

1. Raspberry - The shell for this one was so perfect, with a perfect dome and feet at each cookie. The flavour was exact and delicious, totally resembling a raspberry. It was a tad chewy on the inside but I enjoyed it all the same because of its strong flavour.

2.  Fleur de Sel Caramel - This was my most favourite of all based on flavour. The salty sweetness is definitely shined through as soon as you took your first bite. Unfortunately, it was far too chewy. Hopefully it was just a mishap for the day.

3. Pistachio Raspberry - The shell was a beautiful green colour and had a nice crisp bite to it. There was a dried raspberry in the centre to help with added flavour and texture which was a nice surprise. The pistachio filling was delicious and flavourful and worked really well with the raspberry. It definitely wasn’t too sweet. Due to the nuttiness, I also had hints of chocolate from it.

4. Espresso, Chocolate – This was definitely way too chewy and very off-putting. I generally like coffee flavoured things (despite not being a coffee drinker) but this flavour didn’t suit me at all.

5. Wasabi Grapefruit – I bought this out of curiousity. I love wasabi but have never had it in any dessert form so I was intruiged. The shell was crisp with just a hint of grapefuit flavour. It definitely wasn’t too sweet nor was it chewy. The filling was…unique. As you bite into it, it has this delightful sweet grapefruit flavour but a few seconds later you get the punch from the wasabi. The filling is this nice light green colour from the wasabi. It also had a candied piece of fruit in the middle just like the pistachio raspberry. Unfortunately was a tad too bitter to really enjoy but definitely an interesting flavour combo.

6. Banana Chocolate – This tasted just as you’d expect from the name. Personally not a big fan of banana flavoured things but I’ll give it props for being authentic. If you’re a fan of banana, this is definitely one to try as the flavour is pretty exact.

7. Peppermint – This was certainly my least favourite flavour unfortunately. In fact, I couldn’t bring myself to finish the rest of the macaron. It was the flavour of the filling that was the least appealing to me. I had expected a stronger mint flavour and this lacked that entirely.

8. Rose Lycee Raspberry – This has a strong lycee flavour. Although I haven’t eaten to many rose flavoured infused things, I could detect hints of it. Another candied lychee fruit in the centre of the filling which I enjoyed. The filling was light pink almost lavender colour. Overall it was a tad chewy and a tad too sweet but delicious flavours.

9. Cream Cheese Orange – There were candied oranges in the filling and a definite distinct cream cheese flavour. Not too sweet at all and the shell was crispy. When you bit into it, it was soft and had a melt in your mouth effect. This was probably my most favourite overall.

10. Praline – Flavour-wise this was so delicious. I’m a big fan of praline flavours and it reminded me of on my favourite Filipino desserts. There was just a tad too much filling so it kept escaping out the sides. It was definitely more chewy than the others and a touch too sweet but the delicious flavour made up for it.

11. Vanilla - Another one of my favourites. You could see the flecks of vanilla bean in the shell and in the filling. The filling was creamy and tasty. It’s a classic flavour that’s hard to go wrong with

All in all, I enjoyed my first adventure into the world of  French macarons. Ruelo service was great. The place was quiet when I visited with friends. They have a website featuring some of their other desserts (cakes, tarts). For whatever reason, macarons are not listed on the website. I was worried that they had stopped serving it since I had visited there a while ago to do this review but a quick phone call to them confirmed that they do still in fact sell them. Cost for them is about $2.25-2.50 depending on the flavour you get. A tad pricey if you want my opinion as I’ve sourced for competitor’s prices. Hopefully this review will help you decipher which ones you’d actually want to try and avoid wasting your money. Luckily my friend bought these for me as a nice gesture.They’re located inside the Times Square plaza on the ground level on the north side of the plaza. A spin around the parking lot and you should be able to find it fairly easy. If you live up north in the GTA and want your fix of macarons, give this place a try and taste for yourself.

Happy Eating! :)

Times Square
550 Highway 7 E., Unit C73
Richmond Hill, Ontario, L4B 3Z4
(905) 762-1500
Website
Menu

The eating habits of a student can turn for the worse really easily and soon enough, you realize that you’ve spent the last few weeks chowing down on some seriously unhealthy food: pizzas, wings, chips, chocolate, baked goods. Even when you have the best intentions, you find yourself slipping back into those reliable favourites and that freshman 15 turns into a yearly 15 (yikes!). I try to combat it whenever I can by making something simple, delicious and fairly healthy (certainly a lot healthier than a bag of chips)

Cravings come often for me and some are fleeting while others stick around for a while. Eating corn was one of those lasting cravings. While grocery shopping one day I decided to pick up a can of corn just to add it to my pantry and from there got hooked. Generally speaking I’m a big fan of corn but it’s not easy to come by past the summer months hence the reliance for canned or frozen. But hey, the stomach wants what it wants and I ain’t about to start denying it the deliciousness of life.

Tilapia is another star of this dish. This fish is sweet, flaky and filling. I get the frozen filets from Costco at the beginning of every school year so I can stock up on fish in my fridge. One of my favourite ways to cook it is lightly breading it in seasoned panko crumbs and then pan-friend until golden brown. Balanced out with the corn and tomato salsa this was an extremely delicious dish.

Ingredients:

• Filets of tilapia
• panko crumbs
• cooked corn niblets, room temperature (fresh, frozen or canned variety)
• ripe tomato, chopped into cubes roughly the same size as the corn
• spring onion, chopped
• oil for frying
• Ziploc bag for mixing
• salt, pepper , taco seasoning mix

Recipe:

This is the method I went through to create this exact dish as plated in the picture. Substitutions and alternatives will be mentioned in the review section.

• In a skillet, turn it to a medium heat and put enough oil to evenly coat the pan
• In a large ziploc bag, fill it up with about 1/2 cup to a cup of panko crumbs. Season with salt and pepper and taco seasoning to crumbs according to tastes. Close and shake bag well to properly incorporate the spices into the crumbs.
• Take a fillet of tilapia and place inside of bag. Shake to coat fish with panko crumbs evenly. (Essentially the shake-n-bake concept)
• Once the oil has heated, place the fish gently into the pan. Turn over after a couple of minutes. Ensure that fish is cooked completely through and that it has turned opaque.
• While that’s cooking, combine the corn, tomatoes and spring onions into a bowl. Season with pepper and some salt.
• Plate together once the fish has finished cooking.

Review:

As you can see this is a totally simple recipe that I made on the fly one lunchtime. Variations come in every shape and form. Use whatever fish you’d like and season it however you’d want.  A lemon & pepper seasoning would go great with this as well. As for the salsa, use red onions if that’s what you’ve got on hand or opt out of them altogether. Chickpeas (another fav of mine) would be a nice addition to the salsa. Mix it up however you want with whatever you’d got on hand. Let me know what you decide to add to it or any other suggestions you think would go well with this. Also to clarify, the corn in my cooking prep was room temperature as I had bought already cooked canned corn so it was just a matter of adding it to the mix. However you can definitely opt to have warm corn with the tomatoes as that would work as well.

As for my opinion on my own creation, I adored it. Frying tilapia this way had already become a standard for me so the real novelty of this dish was the salsa. It only heightened my love for corn. A great balance of (semi) freshness to counteract the lightly fried fish. This would make for a great lunch or dinner for the family as it involves minimal cooking but great flavour. Try it out when you get the chance and as always, Happy Eating! :)

Christmas is one of my most favourite times of the year. I love the music, the traditions, the snow, the shopping…It really is the happiest time of the year for me. I’ve always had really good memories with my family.

A few weeks leading up to the Christmas time, especially since it corresponds with exam time for students, I tend to bake little treats to keep my energy going, give me something sweet to munch and put me in the Christmas mood. Baking cupcakes is always a quick fix and I happily decorate them in the holiday spirit.

Recipe:

it’s pretty basic and simple. Get yourself a cake box mix or use your favourite recipe. Top it off with homemade or store-bought icing and decorate as you will. It’s a great treat to do even closer to Christmas day as it is a fun activity to get others involved (relatives, children) An alternative for gingerbread men or houses since those might be a little more costly to buy or harder to make.

These were a simple white cake mix (probably french vanilla). I bought the icing and had christmas inspired red green and white sprinkles plus white chocolate chips to garnish.

My twist on the cupcake came with what was inside…

So as you can see from the inside of the cupcakes, they’re multicoloured to resemble the sprinkles that are on top. This is done by simply separating the batter into 3 batches, colouring each batch to the desired colour and then spooning each layer into the cupcake liner. I also experimented and used Nutella as a frosting for some of the cupcakes. They were incredibly sweet but the friends who tried it, told me that they totally preferred it (with a glass of milk on the side lol) They turned out really well and were so cute!

On another occasion I made a simpler version but still in the holiday spirit. I used once again a box cake mix ( I believe this one was some sort of chocolate fudge flavour). I iced it with French vanilla frosting and I had some fresh raspberries on hand that I thought would look so cute sitting on top.

Last but not least was my super cupcake event. I had a whole bunch of candies and goodies laying around so I decided to bake some cupcakes just because and make a decorating event out of it. Crushing cherry candy canes and using it decor for the cupcakes was such a good idea. With the leftover raspberries from the previous cupcake endeavour I flavour a batch of icing with the juice of the raspberries and it came out beautifully. Definitely a fun treat to put yourself in the holiday spirits.

I hope holiday preparations are underway for you and as always, Happy Eating! :)

google image

I haven’t eaten this but my mother has and she’s strongly encouraged me never to eat it. A simple question turned into a very heated review of her disappointing experience with the sandwich. I suppose she was hoping for something more flavourful. Instead she remarked that the bread was soggy, the chicken rubbery and the sauce of little taste. All in all a bad sandwich and one that should be avoided. She doesn’t have a total hate for McDonald’s so please don’t consider this her latest disapproval of the entire menu; she just really disliked this one. And since she and I have fairly similar tastes, I suppose I shall take her up on her advice and keep my $2.00 or so for something more appetizing (every cent counts as a broke student lol). However don’t take her word for it or mine. Go out and try it for yourself and if you do, please report back. I’d be interested in hearing other people’s reviews!

Whether this if your first time stopping by or you’re a continued reader, I thank you for your time. I appreciate your efforts to drop by, have a read and hopefully enjoy what I have to say. I’ve heard from many lovely people in the past year, been exposed to many new opportunities and discovered two big passions of mine in life; food and writing. It is through this particular experience that I have pursued further writing opportunities  and hope someday that more success will follow. It surprises me every day as my readership continues to grow that anyone comes here at all. I remember the days when even having 5 people (which I assumed were just family or friends) come by my page gave me so much joy. Now, my posts featured on other sites, people trying my recipes or asking me cooking advice, taking my restaurant reviews into consideration and belonging to an amazing food blogging community are even bigger joys that have been added to my life because of this opportunity.

Funding hasn’t always come easy. I’ve been fortunate to have supportive friends and family who have chipped in when they can. I want to continue to enforce the concept that I do this purely out of love for the craft. I always question whether adding ads or sponsored posts would be appropriate and beneficial to me but I don’t want to detract from the focus of my blog which is the food and my writing. I want to thank those who have contributed financially, whether buying me my domain, cookbooks, tools or the ingredients to make the food or trips to favourite restaurants. Without you loving people, I certainly wouldn’t have a site.

Unfortunately due to the expansion of my writing endeavours and the normal stresses of life, I’ve come to neglect this blog a bit but I promise that in due time I will return to my original love with full force. There’s many yummy features to come in the near future.

In the meantime I wanted to mark the top 3 posts of the last year.

1. Nutella Stuffed French Toast

This post is where most of my readership comes from. Directed from the world nutella day page which someone kindly submitted me for, I’ve received a lot of great feedback for this recipe. This is probably one of the things I’ve cooked the most in the past few years and a definite favourite of mine. It’s simple and delicious.

2. Rainforest Cafe Review

I was initially surprised at the success of this post. I guess a lot of people are interested in knowing what the quality of service and food there is at the Rainforest. I don’t blame them considering the amount of money you might inevitably be spending at this place. I hope it has been useful to many and that I captured the restaurant accurately.

3. Rainbow Birthday Cake

Probably my personal favourite post of the past year, this too has found its own popularity. Often stumbled upon by those looking for birthday cakes for kids, this fun cake is great for all ages. Marking my leave from the teenage years, I was inspired to create this cute cake for my birthday and it seems like everyone enjoyed the idea also.

I simply cannot express the gratitude and joy that I have for everyone who supports this and any of my other blogging adventures. I cannot wait to see what a new year will bring especially as I continue to work on my dedication and blog post quality. Please continue to support me and visit by often. I promise to keep this adventure going.

As always, Happy Eating! :)

In the meantime, I decided to start up a new series called Meal of the Day. Often times I cook/make simple meals at home consisting of leftovers or food that I have around the house. Food that I wouldn’t necessarily devote a whole blog to as it normally wasn’t created by me. I think it would give some insight about what I was eating every day, maybe record some memorable meals. I will try to do them as often as possible, though don’t hold your breath on getting it on  daily basis but I’ll work towards it. If you have meals that you’d like to share feel free to leave a link so I can take a look. It’s always interesting to see what people eat regularly besides all the creative recipes/dishes that you see on food blogs.

This is what I had for dinner last night. A fairly well-balanced meal if you ask me. It consisted of:

• Half a plate of salad: mixed greens, dried cranberries, feta, almonds, red onion, fresh button mushrooms, lemon citrus dressing
• quarter plate of white rice: I normally eat brown but this is what I had on hand at the time
• a few slices of smoked salmon
• 2-3 tbsp of giniling: Filipino dish of ground meat with potatoes, tomatoes and peppers
• for dessert: 2 yogurts, vanilla & mixed berry

A very filling meal. I ended up eating a banana as well later in the evening to tide me over for the night. Not bad for student eating :)

I came across this while reading someone else’s blog and was instantly intrigued with the idea. Energy usage doesn’t always come immediately to mind when you think about blogs. After all, we’re saving paper by keeping it vitural right? Yes, but you do use up a significant amount of energy via your laptops which can lead to carbon emissions and a steep carbon footprint at the end of the year. This awesome website (don’t be thrown off by the German words, there is English on there) is helping to reduce the carbon footprint of blogs by planting a tree for each blog submitted.

According to the website, it works something like this…

“How much carbon dioxide does your blog create?

According to a study by Alexander Wissner-Gross, PhD, physicist at Harvard University and environmental activist, an average website causes about 0.02g (0,0008oz.) of carbon dioxide for each visit. Assuming an average blog gets 15,000 visits a month, it has yearly carbon dioxide emissions of 3,6kg (8lb.). This can mainly be tracked back to the immense energy usage from (mainframe) computers, servers, and their cooling systems.” – How It Works

If you want to participate, here’s how:

Here’s how you can participate!

Just write a short blog post about our programme “My blog is carbon neutral” and include one of the buttons below on your site (ideally in the sidebar). Send the link to your blog to CO2-neutral@kaufda.de and we plant a tree for you, neutralising the carbon dioxide emissions of your blog. The trees will be planted planted from spring of 2010 through late summer of 2010 by the Arbor Day Foundation. After the reforestation of the Plumas National Forest the tree planting will be continued in another National Forest. So for now, you can confidently state that your trees are being planted in Plumas unless you hear differently from us! For more information about how and where the trees are planted, see the NEWS section.

Just a few easy steps to make it green:

1. Write a blog post about the initiative + insert your favourite button
2. E-mail the link to your post to CO2-neutral@kaufda.de
3. We plant a tree for your blog in Plumas’!

Note: We plant a tree for each domain. Please copy the html-code and paste it in your blog. Make sure the carbon-neutral button works, the html-code must not be changed. Use the carbon-neutral-white button for a white background or the carbon-neutral-transparent button for different colored backgrounds. If you need help, please contact CO2-neutral@kaufda.de. We are looking forward to planting your tree!

I’m doing my part by writing about it and sharing this with you guys and I sincerely hope you’ll join in. Carbon Neutral or not, planting trees is just a beautiful way to enhance our world. Without them, we’d live in pure concrete jungles and that’s just not pretty to look at. You’re gonna blog anyways, might as well blog about this :)

My sister had just gotten another acceptance letter from another university so our family decided to celebrate by going out for the night and getting some food. After much deliberation as to where we could get what my sister was craving, we decided to head  down to Markville Shopping Centre and visit the Pickle Barrel for some dinner.It had been a long time since our last visit but we were excited.

The Pickle Barrel has a wide range of menu items for any meal of the day. Breakfast until late at night, there are many options to choose from. Although we had gone for dinnertime, my sister and I were drawn to their breakfast and brunch items (who could resist pancakes smothered in sweet goodness?) but we went the traditional route and stuck to dinner entrees. Pickle Barrel was also featuring new items on the menu as seen in the above photo. An adaption to the summer season, this menu has lighter, fresher options. I’m sure there’s something on the menu that would entice you.

My mother decided to get the Lobster/Jumbo Shrimp Angel Hair Pasta ($15.99) I’m not a big fan of sauced pastas but because it was a lighter pasta, the overall meal didn’t feel heavy. The vegetables added a fresh touch and the sauce was flavourful. Portioning was good for the value and the seafood was cooked pretty well. An enjoyable dish overall.

My father was craving some kind of sandwich so he decided to get the Hot BBQ Beef Sandwich ($9.99) with gravy. It came with fries and coleslaw as seen in the photo. You can opt to get their BBQ sauce instead of the gravy. My father was a tad disappointed as he was hoping to get the gravy on the side and just dip pieces of the sandwich into the gravy as opposed to being smothered in it. As you can see, the sandwich came drenched in gravy and he was left confused as to how he was supposed to eat it exactly. He figured it out eventually. I only ate a small piece of this. Beef Sandwiches generally aren’t my favourite for meals. The gravy wasn’t anything truly unique. My parents moderately enjoyed it. I don’t think it would be something that my father will try again but he’s more than willing to try other sandwiches on the menu.

My sister had been cravings ribs in particular for her meal out and it was her first choice on the menu. She choose the Full Rack BBQ Pork Back Spareribs ($18.99). Along with the order came coleslaw, fries and a pickle. This coleslaw is the same as the one my father got with his sandwich. I’m generally a fan of coleslaws and this one wasn’t an exception. It wasn’t the typical mayo drenched coleslaws. It definitely had a tang and the cabbage and other vegetables used remained crisp and delicious. I definitely ate it all up (because my sister doesn’t really like coleslaw, bonus for me!) As for the ribs themselves, they weren’t the kind that my sister had been craving. She had envisioned tender fall off the bone ribs slathered in sauce. This was more a dry rub treatment with no sauce whatsoever. Personally I enjoyed them and so did my dad since he’ not a fan of meat being over-sauced but of course it didn’t quite hit the spot for my sister. Some end bits of the ribs were a little more cooked and tougher than what I’d like but seasoning was pretty good. I’d suggest you try it for yourself if you’d like but I’ll definitely be trying other things on the menu instead of this.

And finally for myself, I decided to get my standard fav which is the “Best Ever” Meatloaf ($9.99). This is one of their specialities/signature dishes on the menu.  Every time I visit the Pickle Barrel, I decided to get it myself or encourage someone else to and share it. One of the things I love to eat is meatloaf. However I have yet to experience making it for myself. In the meantime, I enjoy the one at the Pickle Barrel. The meatloaf is soft, full of hearty flavours and holds together nicely. It comes with mashed potatoes, steamed vegetables and gravy. As always, the meatloaf didn’t disappoint. The mashed potatoes were tasty but only because of the accompanying gravy. Without it, I don’t think I could have enjoyed it quite at much. There wasn’t anything too memorable about the vegetables. The gravy is the  same one used with my dad’s sandwich. It helped to bring all the flavours together in the meal. Their meatloaf has remained consistent every time I visit and remains one of my favourite choices.

As for service, our waiter was very attentive with our orders, drinks and follow ups on the meal. The atmosphere in the dining room gears towards casual dining without going too far into the kitschy area. Everything looks classy, colourful and clean. There is an option for take out and catering for those interested. At the Markville location (and I suspect most of their other locations as well) there are displays outside of the restaurant where you can purchase things from their menu and eat in the designated areas or anywhere else. It’s sort of like cafe style for a quick meal on the go. A great alternative for a lunchtime meal before heading back to work.

Like I mentioned earlier, the Pickle Barrel is not necessarily where my family heads to when hunger strikes but it’s definitely something we return to from time to time. The pricing is fair and its value when you consider the portioning and quality of food presented. Everything is made fresh. There are numerous options for anytime of the day, whatever you may be craving and this particular location is conveniently located within a mall. I encourage others to stop by next time they’re out shopping and looking for a place to grab a bite. Happy Eating!

Markville Mall
5000 Hwy-7
Markham, ON
905-470-7400
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