Bonne Journee, Montreal

The second day in Montreal was filled with walking, brunching, comfort-fooding, and pastry-eating.  I actually tried to dress myself and looked adorable in front of a stone house adjacent to a quad-park at McGill University.

Beanie from ASOS, vest from H&M, top from Banana Republic, BDG  jeans, Minnetonka booties, Ecote handbag, and the studded cuff I always wear.

We then ate at a kitschy little bistro that featured many French children's comics.  I ordered savory, buckwheat crepes and they were to die for.  Where else to get good crepes than in a province in a country that has French-speakers?

Me eating an egg, cheese, ham, and onion crepe with a side of coffee.

And then Jil, Katharine, and I wandered around the old quarter for several hours, taking pictures of random shops we found and being silly.  One of the foods I definitely wanted to eat while in Montreal was poutine (which I consistently mispronounced to say something else).  We found it at a hole-in-the-wall drunchy place, but Jil and Katharine decided to eat some eclairs and drink cappucinos while I tasted the poutine in this lovely establishment named ChocoMacaMousse.  It had some of the cutest decor and the eclairs were too good.  I actually enjoyed the poutine, but I could definitely go my entire life without eating it again.

Display case at ChocoMacaMousse

Me eating the poutine.  Sad part of it, is that it was gluten-free (even the gravy)

Then our foodie adventuring led us to a Polish restaurant, which left me a very happy Polak.  Jil had never had Polish food before in her life, so this opportunity was excellent for introducing her to some of my favorite dishes.  We got borscht and I got my favorite food: golabki.  She got fried kluski with meat (which is not gluten-free...yet!).
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Golabki: cabbage, rice, meat, and onions.  Side of mashed potatoes and tons of veggies.

And then we went out with a bang, drinking absinthe, to a Crystal Castles gig at this awesome venue called the Metropolis.  It was seriously a good show and a great way to end our trip.  We wearily rode back to America the next day.  I had a wonderful time in Canada for the weekend and I seriously want to go back there forever.

Keep it yummy,
Jo

Chinese Food Pt. 2: The Mysterious Boxed Breakfast

The friendly Koala box of crap I can't eat.

Every morning of a flight started exactly the same.  We wake up at some unholy hour (5 AM) and then collect a box full of food.  But not just any food: food I (and most of you readers) can't eat.  It was muffins, toast, an egg, and something that I'm pretty sure can't be defined as food.  That made me really sad and really cranky after landing in whatever city was next.  

Then comes the next question: what do you wear to such a terrible meal?

Look at this hipster person

Be as comfortable as possible, duh!  Your stomach's going to be growling, you're going to be cranky, you're going to almost want to devour the nearest human being, so you might as well be comfy as all hell while doing it.  To accomplish that goal, I wore a loose cardigan with a gray tank top, comfy shorts, Minnetonka sandals and a hat (because my hair was a mess).  And I was happy as a bird until my first meal of...

CONVEYOR BELT SUSHI!

Keep it yummy,
Jo

Experiments in My New Kitchen

Dinner

I felt so pro after plating this, you guyz.

I've been wanting to make a gazpacho for a really long time.  It's a really easy way to use up a lot of vegetables in a short amount of time.  And since it was "I wish I could sit in my underwear in front of an air conditioner" hot two days ago, this chilled soup is perfect.  I used V8 juice, a tomato, a zucchini, half of this monstrous cucumber I found, parsley (thought it was cilantro, my bad), one celery stalk, one jalapeño, one clove of garlic, and a quarter of this ridiculously large onion.  The flavors balanced perfectly, especially with the mistake of using parsley instead of cilantro.  Because of that, you couldn't really taste the spiciness of the jalapeño, which honestly, disappointed me a little bit.  On top, I put brown rice and slices of chicken and garnished it with parsley (that part was intentional).

I used the recipe from The Pioneer Woman blog, which is quite fantastic as she photographs every step and her show is quite charming.  Yet, I am quite jealous that all she does (it seems) is cook, blog, and take pictures.  I want that to be my life rather than working a 9-4 and trying to balance friends and work.

Breakfast

Does this almost look like it could be in anime somehow

Yesterday, Andrea, a housemate, was going to a dinner party and wanted to bring something from home.  I suggested cupcakes because cupcakes are gooey, yummy, and make the heart sing after eating them.  But I also really wanted breakfast food, so I decided, LET'S MAKE SCONES.  Which involves cupcakes.  Because most things in the Babycakes' book involves other things, like cookies and cupcakes.  There ninja-shaped cookie cutters, so we made ninja-scones.  I drew a circle of blueberries and caramelized bananas for some nutrition and color.  The almond milk was a perfect addition to a sweet breakfast.

So these are two things that I've been up to that do not involve ANY wheat or gluten.  Tonight, I am making mojitos and some kind of 1920s-esque hors d'oeuvres for my 1920's party.

Keep it yummy,
Jo