Category: Eat

Summer Iced Tea Bar

I love iced drinks, with lots of ice. For a bridal shower, I set up an iced tea bar. It was such a hit at the party that I’ve decided to share!

 

To start I had 3 different types of teas in fun glass gallon bottles. I brewed a ginger peach, and matcha green tea with mango and passionfruit. On the table I set out berries, herbs and citrus. And provided two types of sweetners, raw cane sugar and agave! Guests got to mix and match their teas, sugars, fruits and herbs and create their own fun summer drink! I loved this idea and hope to use it again.

 

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Amelie’s Bakery

I don't know if you noticed but…I am slightly obsessed with macarons it seems to be the thing to do now when I go on a trip. Find macarons. So on a recent trip to Charlotte, North Carolina, I stopped in at Amelie's Bakery before heading home. This short weekend trip was no different. We went to the “petite” store, which is much smaller than their flagship store I am guessing. It was quite charming and tiny. I loved it. A chandelier made of cooking tools, and french artwork and paraphernalia all around the cozy bakery.

I had their caramel iced latte, a chocolate croissant, the gruyere and ham puff pastry and each of the macaron flavors they had out that day. Puff pastry, excellent, delicious, and I kind of want one right now, just thinking about it. Same goes for the croissant. Macaron flavors were fun. They had mixed berry (purple with a jam in the middle), ginger peach, lime basil, lemon butter cream, and raspberry. To be honest they all tasted about the same…like a sweet chewy cookie. The only one that stood out to me was the mixed berry, which was vibrant in flavor. It was a little chewy, but that's just not a preferable texture of mine. The other flavors were just sweet with a hint of whatever they were supposed to be.

 

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Dana’s Bakery

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If you click the hashtag on instagram for macarons, I’m sure you’ve seen a post from Dana’s Bakery or of goods from there. As a lover and baker of macarons, I wanted to try these oh so pretty, and unique flavors. Since I was going to be out of town for my friend Deanna’s birthday, I wanted to send her a gift. After seeing so many pictures of macarons online, I figured I should send her a box, since they deliver, and because I got her some last year for her birthday.

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They come in a cute purple insulated lunchbox with an ice pack in which you have to refrigerate immediately upon opening. I suggest that you stick them in the fridge and let them cool down before you enjoy them.  They got flavors like birthday cake, peanut butter and jelly, smores, and thin mint. American flavors if that’s what you want to call them. I think they are fun.

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Visually and texture wise, they are great. The perfect size and you get that satisfying feeling when you first bite into it. I’m more of a fan of traditional flavors, so I was sad that there wasn’t pistachio or raspberry for me eat. But all of their fun flavors seem true to what they are supposed to be! A little too sweet for me though.

Not only are their macarons delicious, their customer service was great. We ran into a little shipping snafu, where the post office didn’t leave the box for Deanna, AND made her pay to pick it up. So by the time she got them, they were not refrigerated and eaten 3 days later. I immediately called the bakery, and they rectified the situation the best they can.

Definitely will order some more to try, they also have a flavor of the month club!

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Bangkok Noodle

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Not sure if you noticed, but I love noodle soups. It’s so comforting, and even though it could be 100 degrees outside, I could probably still have some noodle soup. A couple of people have mentioned Bangkok Noodle House in Springfield, so we decided to give it a shot one day for lunch.

They also serve a regular thai menu, but we were there strictly for the noodles. The service was attentive and friendly. I chose the floating market soup. I have never had it before. It was flavorful, but I don’t think I would get it again, it was too…liver-y for me.

But their homemade ice cream? YES. Winner. We had a scoop of coconut, and a scoop of taro. AND IT HAD BITS OF REAL TARO in it. Taro is one of my favorite flavors, artificial and real.

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Chez Francois Macarons

In Ottawa they speak more English than they do French but tucked away in Westboro is a little place called Chez Francois. When we first walked in the lady was helping the customer and they were speaking in French. It was like we stepped into France…or Montreal. They had all French goods and gifts, but we were on a mission. Macarons for our pajama party. They had a tray of them on display.

Amy asked the lady for the whole tray…there was a little bit of confusion…I guess she didn't think we would want THE WHOLE TRAY, but yes, we did. Luckily there was a special, where it was buy 4 get one free. Our total ending up being $52! The flavors available were classics. Coffee, chocolate, vanilla, lemon, raspberry and pistachio. They were tiny but still the same price as the ones that I would find at home.

They were alright. I still like the ones at home better. I will have to try them again from Montreal!

 

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Fatboys Southern Smokehouse

As crazy as it seems, yes I went to Canada and craved southern food. Let me start off saying, don't go to Canada for American southern food. I just wanted to see their interpretation of it. Just like how I went to France and tried and American burger, what am I thinking. Don't judge me…too cruely.

Food aside, Fatboys was fun. There is out door seating, there is a market, and Harley themed decor. Right down to the bathroom sinks resembling motorcycle handlebars. As with most places in Canada, the service was friendly. There was also a stage that the babies found their way to, which just received smiles from the staff (where if it happened in America someone would have told us to get handle on our kids).

 

The boo and I shared a Kentucky Trio, we chose dry rubbed ribs, chicken and brisket. We had sides of cornbread, baked beans and bacon Mac n Cheese. It was satisfying but nothing to write home about. But because I love barbecue, I will still probably go to a BBQ place in Canada again, just not this one!

 

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Baja Burger Shack

When you think of Canada, beach doesn't come to mind. But what is crazy is, when you walk around the corner from my cousin's house…there's a beach. A real beach. Sand and everything. However, it's a river. But a beach nonetheless. There's a volley ball set up. Lifeguard shacks. Happy almost naked people. The best part of the beach, other than the awesome rock point?

Baja Burger Shack.

It really is a shack. There's a stand with outdoor seats around it. I'm guessing that it is only open when it's warm. Can you imagine sitting outside eating a burger in a Canadian winter? Hahaha. I pictured the same thing.

The place is cash only, ATM conveniently located right next to the register. We ordered the bacon cheeseburger, and a beach dawg. They have fun fruit squeezes, which are just fruit slushees. We each got one of those too. And french fries. Oh and guess what, they have poutine there too!

The burger was fresh, moist and medium well. There's some kind of sauce in there, you didn't even need to add ketchup or mustard. They're regular fries were awesome. Sprinkled with their all season (pretty much old bay for us DC/VA/mD'rs minus the spice) and a little ketchup it came together pretty nicely. I enjoyed sitting out there with my family, on the uneven table, then walking it off at the beach!

 

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Brewer’s Park Farmers Market

What is it about farmers markets? I love checking out all the local produce, jams, and handmade stuff. Oh, and eat at all the local vendors. It’s always fun to be outdoors and shopping. Unfortunately, we wouldn’t have been able to take anything home, so we opted for just enjoying the local eats.

For my breakfast, we shared a ham and cheese crepe from Crepe Joy. Delicious ham and cheese in a perfect crepe, with honey drizzled on it.

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Then to wash it all down, I had my first Arnold Palmer. I always thought it was an alcoholic drink. Alas, I was DELICIOUSLY wrong. It’s half sweet tea mixed with lemonade. New favorite summer drink. AND, did you know that iced tea in Canada IS sweet tea. My cousins were definitely surprised when they came to the states and realized that iced tea is unsweetened unless asked for.

We originally wanted to go there for the ribfest… but getting there at noon was too late! All the cooked ribs were gone. We could have purchased already marinated ribs to take home, but where is the fun in that? Oh well!

 

 

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Burgers: The Works

I wish burgers were healthy, and good for you. I like eating them, a lot. As seen here, here, and here. So of course when I visit Ottowa, I had at least two kinds of burgers.

The Works is a chain, they call themselves a gourmet burger bistro. I can see that. There are A LOT, and I mean a lot of things to choose from, to build your ultimate burger. First you choose your patty, Gourmet Ground Beef, Whole Chicken Breast, Ground Turkey, Gourmet Veggie, Portobello Mushroom Cap, or Lean Domestic Elk. Then you choose what KIND of burger and toppings you want. There are 71 combinations. After that you choose your sides.

We started off with 3 towers of onion rings. They came with 4 different dipping sauces, some spicy, some creamy, some tomatoey and some all of the above. I don’t like onion rings in general because they usually slide out of the crispy crust, and I don’t like onions enough to eat it straight up like that. But these didn’t do that. They were the best onion rings, I’ve had in my life. That’s not saying much though, I haven’t had that many. But it was good!

I’m pretty boring when it comes to burgers, so how fitting that my choice in burger was called “Ho Hum #5”. It was mushrooms, cheddar and bacon. I also got a classic poutine as my side. I was pretty full already full from the onion rings, and my pyrex measuring cup full of ginger ale (yes they use measuring cups as their mugs). The burger was just a plain patty with no seasoning. It was dependent on the sauce and toppings you chose. Verdict? I’ve had better. 

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Poutine

 

I spent a few days in Ottowa, Canada this past weekend. It was a well deserved weekend getaway. Spent time with my cousins, who I haven’t seen in forever, and got to play with the not-so-new additions. P.S. My niece Avairy is the cutest baby in the world. Believe me. And she has a great personality.

Like usual I will break it all down in a couple of posts, and of course my first post is about food. I couldn’t go to Canada and not have poutine. What kind of food blogger would I be? So yeah, I had two different kinds of classic poutine while I was there.

This is something I will crave here. Delicious hot gravy, and melty cheese curds over crisp fries. Oh yes. However, I can only eat them when they first come out. Soggy is not a texture of my preference. If I were to make this at home…which I will probably try to one day if I miss it that much. I would probably have to dip my fries into a curd filled gravy. OH or maybe I’ll try it with TOTS! Sorry Canada for thinking of ways to bastardize your already delicious concoction.

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