An Afternoon at The Office

This past weekend, I saw one of my high school best friends, Rima, walk across the graduation stage and get her diploma. I made a special trip to Toronto and then Rima, Sonia, Lovejeet, and I made a road trip to St. Catherine's on Thursday evening just to see her convocate on Friday morning. Running on about 3-4 hours of sleep, we were all tired and were starving by the time her ceremony concluded. Just before we left for Toronto Friday afternoon, we made a quick stop at one of R's favorite places to eat, The Office, for a very late (but deserved) lunch.

When she talked about it, I don't know what I was picturing but I can tell you that it was nowhere close to how the restaurant actually looked. As you walk in, the first thing that draws your attention is the bar and the wonderful painting done above it. The whole place itself was nice and quaint but not too small. The bar, however, stole the show for me.

Aside from the bar, I also liked that the restaurant had a separate Vegan menu--and this menu wasn't just a list of 3-4 things. It was a page long! There were a lot of choices and it seemed like the owners had put a lot of thought and creativity into the restaurant.

Patiently waiting for our food...

Not really because our stomachs were literally growling with need of sustenance. ...Or was that just me?

But it came soon!

[caption id="attachment_239" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Vegetarian Ratatouille[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_240" align="aligncenter" width="640"] The Ricky Gervais Chicken Club[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_242" align="aligncenter" width="640"] L: Harvest Penne
R: Veggie Burger[/caption]

The food was delicious and in the end, four little piggies piled in to the car and drove away to the big city, fuelled up and happy.

Recipe: 10-Minute Nutella Cookies

I've been trying to bake more. I have never been a baker but sometimes you just get a craving to eat something sweet but you have nothing. This time, I was getting a craving for something chocolate-y but the idea of Nutella on a piece of toast didn't fit my craving. So whilst surfing blogs, I came across this stellar 10-minute Nutella cookies recipe.

The best part (aside from the Nutella goodness)? It only uses 3 ingredients.

Ingredients
- 1 cup Nutella
- 1 cup flour
- 1 egg

Just mix all the ingredients together until the mixture begin to look like a crumbled mess. The dough isn't going to look like what you might find when making regular cookies--be aware of this fact and don't freak out like I did! Once it's thoroughly mixed, start scooping out little bits of the dough and roll the scoop into a ball like below:

Now I forgot to take a picture of this part but with the back of a spoon, just push down on the little balls to make the cookie shape. Then simply bake for about 7-8 mins in the oven at 370 degrees. Let them cool and enjoy with a glass of milk!

These cookies aren't the sweetest but they're absolutely divine! After 2-3 cookies, I guarantee you'll need a cold glass of milk. This recipe is great for people who don't have a lot of baking experience and want to make something to satisfy a craving in less than 10 minutes. If you try this, comment below and let me know how they turned out!

Well, I'm Feeling Perkins

First off, apologies for not blogging for a while there. This week has been crazy! But I did go home this past weekend and a few days home means meeting up with two of my high school besties, Rima and Lovejeet. Our perfect, though slightly rainy, day began with a very late brunch at Perkins, a restaurant and bakery hidden away in the shadows of Toronto and introduced to me by Lovejeet (there, happy?). Sadly, I had left my camera at home but Rima was more than gracious enough to lend me her Samsung Galaxy S4 camera so I could snap away!

Each of us ordered one of these badboys but sadly, I was quite disappointed with mine. I like my milkshakes sweet and although there were 4 scoops of ah-mazing vanilla ice cream, the after-taste was a little to milky and unsweet for my liking.

[caption id="attachment_208" align="aligncenter" width="640"] For R: Mediterranean Omelet with WW toast and hashbrowns.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_207" align="aligncenter" width="640"] For L: Pancakes with added chocolate chips (only part of her giant meal!)[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_206" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Me: Belgian waffle with strawberry. Yum-my![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_205" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Ah yes, the remaining bit of L's meal.[/caption]

By the end, we were three happy musketeers! Although the milkshake was bit of a downer for me, the Belgian waffle more than made up for it! Stuffed to our necks, we ended our day with going to watch Now You See Me at the local theatre (find my review HERE).

You can find Perkins HERE. There are locations all over the US and Canada so if you have time for a delicious brunch on a weekend, go and have a bite!

A Night Out at Atomica

So I completely forgot to write this post until now but last Thursday (not this past Thursday but the one before that), my lab team and I went out to a restaurant called Atomica. Funny story before I begin: my friend who called Atomica to make reservations, as there were about 10 of us, didn't realize that he had accidentally made them for Friday instead of Thursday so we all showed up on Thursday night, expecting to be seated inside right away. However, because of the mix-up, the hostess sat us outside for a while, during which we just ordered some drinks and then contemplated on what to order, and then brought us inside when a big party left. It was perfect timing really, because it was starting to get a little chilly outside.

I honestly just love this picture because of the hilarious, yet completely different, expressions on everyone's faces! There was good company and the evening was just gorgeous!

[caption id="attachment_104" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Herrow, Syl![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_114" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Pizza 1: Bistecca (gorgonzola cream, mozzarella, 'enright cattle co,' rare flat iron steak, portobello mushrooms, arugula, balsamic reduction)[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_115" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Pizza 2: Autunno (sundried tomato pesto, mozzarella, artichokes, roasted red peppers, olives, red onion, herbed chevre)[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_116" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Pizza 3: Atomica (la bomba tomato sauce, mozzarella, local cremini mushrooms, 'seed to sausage' calabrese calabrese, pepperoncini)[/caption]

I ordered the Autunno (vegetarian) and it was quite simply, one of the best pizzas I've ever had. It was very filling (I had two massive pieces to pack home) and the crust was to die for; it had the best balance of soft but crispiness. Another favorite part of my pizza was the sundried-tomato pesto sauce. I've only ever had pizza with tomato sauce so ordering this was quite the risk for me, especially because it also had goat cheese and I'd never had that either, but I'm glad I made the dive. It was just too good. I can't even go on...

But wait! There's more...

So after we wrapped up our dinners, our hostess walks over with 10 of these badboys and says because we had to wait outside and were super patient about it, this was our treat. Um...what?! Now I don't drink so I gave mine to someone else (*cough*) but I was told they tasted like peppermint liquorice and were shots of sambuca. And that's all I'll say about this picture.

The best part of eating out is the dessert. I mean the actually food part is great but I always get bummed out when it's dessert time and the person I'm with says they're too full for dessert. Uh. That's not possible. There's always room for dessert. A friend and I shared a tiramisu and it was absolutely amazing! It was so light and fluffy with little shaven bits of white chocolate and came in a cute little mason jar. Needless to say, it was just amazing.

Now, I've lived in Kingston for 4 years now but had yet to go to Atomica, which is weird because I absolutely love pizza and Atomica is said to be THE place to get good, gourmet pizza. And those reviews haven't let me down. I had very high expectations for it and needless to say, Atomica met every single one of them. If you find ourself in the Kingston area, do take the time to eat out at least once at Atomica, though I would suggest calling ahead just in case to make sure they have room. You can find them here:

Atomica
71 Brock St.
(613) 530-2118

Final Rating: 8.5/10

Recipe: Italian Pesto Ciabatta

In my third year at Queen's, I used to work for a cafe on campus called Common Ground. They offered two sandwich options: made-to-order bagels and sandwiches and pre-made wraps and sandwiches (two of which were vegetarian). My favorite was what CoGro had named the 'Italian Pesto Ciabatta'. It was simple and delicious. However, they cancelled it the following year and because it's my favorite quick lunch item to make, I took to making the sandwich at home. And because it's so delicious, I've decided  share it with you all!

Plus, it takes less than 10 minutes to make. Perfect for those busy early mornings!

Ingredients

- 1 ciabatta bread
- Mozzarella cheese
- 1 tomato
- Your choice of pesto

Step 1: Assemble all your ingredients.

During my time at CoGro, I saw that the company they used for pesto sauce is Olivieri so I grabbed a tub from the local Metro. Olivieri is quite expensive (about $5.30 for the small tub) but I was used to paying $5.50 for the pre-made sandwich so it is much cheaper for me to buy the tub since I could make about 2-3 sandwiches out of one tub. Of course, you can also use homemade pesto as well!

Step 2: Slice your ciabatta in half and spread pesto on both sides. Use your discretion as to how much you want in your sandwich.

Step 3: Slice your mozzarella cheese in thin slices.

Step 4: Place the cheese slices on both sides (like the pesto and then thinly slice your tomato. Put the tomato on one side and close the sandwich.

Voila! Enjoy the sandwich!

Recipe: Walnut-Cranberry Banana Loaf

When I was away at university, my mom made this delicious walnut and cranberry banana loaf and sent it to me. It was so delicious! I'm not the biggest fan of banana bread because a lot of times I find that the banana flavor is too strong but this was banana bread with a twist. It had walnuts and dried cranberries in it. The walnuts added a nice little crunch and the dried cranberries gave it an extra tang. So this time when I came home and my mom asked what I wanted to eat, naturally I suggested we make the banana bread again. And I've decided to share it with you all because it just needs to be shared!

One thing I love about this recipe is that it doesn't require eggs. It's not completely vegan (we do use milk) but you can definitely experiment and try using soy milk or almond milk. Our household doesn't really stray from using regular milk but we did find that for those of you who don't eat eggs (like us), milk and the ground up flax seeds happen to be great substitutes!

Doesn't it just look absolutely delicious? Let's just get into it, shall we? This is what you'll need:

Ingredients- 1.5 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 small bananas or 2 large bananas (Note: make sure they're thoroughly blackened; you don't want ripe bananas!)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup oil
-1/2 cup milk
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp ground flax seeds
- Any nuts you like (e.g. walnuts, pecans, etc.)
- Handful of dried cranberries

Step 1: Assemble your ingredients! Take this time to set your oven to preheat to 375 degrees as well.

Step 2: Mix all the dry ingredients together: flour, salt, ground flax seeds, baking powder, your nuts of choice, and dried cranberries. Don't add the sugar now though! It will be added later.

Step 3: Mash those bananas until they look like the picture below. Come on, work those muscles and mash those bananas!

Step 4: Add the vanilla extract and sugar. Mix it a bit and then add the oil. Mix it again. Add the milk.

Step 5: After all that mixing and adding, your mixture should look like this!

Step 6: Add in the dry ingredients in and mix them in well. PUT THOSE MUSCLES TO WORK!

Step 7: Grease your loaf baking pan and then pour the mixture in. Feel free to add some extra walnuts in top for an added crunch! Pop it into the oven for 35-45 minutes. I set the timer for 35 minutes and then just checked up on it. For us, it took around 40 minutes.

This is what the finished product will look like. Doesn't it just look scrumptious?

Step 8: Cut up, admire your work and then DIG IN!

Try this recipe yourselves and tell me what you think! Did you like it as much as I did?

Cheers!