March Theme: Comfort Food

 The March theme for the City Daily Photo Blog community is Comfort Food and I chose this pic of my Pancake Tuesday dinner as my example. Pancakes with maple syrup, veggie sausages, and a nice glass of Chardonnay fits the bill for me.

Taking part in the theme Comfort Food. Click HERE to see more great food from around the world.

May Theme Day: "Let's Eat"

The May theme for the City Daily Photo Blog community is Let's Eat and this is my take on that theme. This is my regular Saturday night pizza at my local pub for many years and I just walk in the door and the chef puts it in the oven - no ordering!
Taking part in Let's Eat. Click HERE to see more dishes from around the world.

Theme Day - "Smell"

The theme day for the City Daily Photo Blog community for May is "Smell". I thought of flowers of some kind but we really don't have many flowers open yet this spring so I settled on this very odoriferous display case of sausages found in a local grocery store which has wonderful specialty areas within the store. The strong whiff of garlic from this won out over the cheese display!
Taking part in the theme day, Smell. Click HERE to see more examples from around the world.

Friday Fish

Not your traditional Friday fish & chips meal but just as good and probably healthier with seasonal tomatoes and zucchini to go with it. And always a bit of red wine too!

Fierce Food

For the ceremonial reopening of a local grocery store after undergoing extensive remodeling they had a huge variety of free samples on offer. The most beautiful had to be this fire-breathing dragon made of sushi to advertise the new sushi bar. It was hard to grab a quick pic before the monster was torn apart and eaten by all the humans on hand but I did my best. He even had little feet with long claws!

Street Food

At the many street festivals that take place here during the summer, food is a big draw. The empanadas from this booth were so good that you had to make sure you were close by when a fresh batch came out or you would be out of luck. They were very good!
Taking part in Signs, Signs. Click HERE for more signs from around the world.

"Thunderin' Thelma"

I seem to be seeing a lot of food trucks lately and they all have unique signs & decorations. This one called Thunderin' Thelma belongs to Caplansky's Deli and is named after the owner, Zane Caplansky's, grandmother. That is Zane looking rather stern in the photo on the side of the truck. The menu covers the usual deli offerings but everything is smoked in-house and is said to be really tasty! Mmm...
Taking part in Signs, Signs. Click here for more signs.

Spread The Feeling

As a fervent peanut butter fan imagine my excitement when seeing this Kraft Peanut Butter Food Truck  heading into a local gas station. Apparently the truck has been touring across Canada throughout the summer serving peanut butter based goodies at various events. And I missed its stop here!
Taking part in Signs,Signs. Click here for more signs.

I seem to have been a day early with yesterday's tree post - today is Tree Appreciation Day in Canada so have another hug today!

"Food Dudes"

This weekend there was the 10th Annual Queen West Art Crawl which included a show of over 250 artists in Trinity-Bellwoods Park (home of the famous white squirrels). Queen St along the edge of the park was lined with food trucks and of course viewing all that art builds an appetite. This was the view 2 hours ago with crowds of people chowing down and sitting about in the wonderful sunshine of the day.  It was a perfect Sunday in the city!

Chocolate Days Of Summer

School ended here yesterday for the summer and this is a long weekend as we celebrate Canada Day on July 1 which falls on Sunday this year so some people have Friday off, some have Monday off, and others are taking them both. As I was walking by a local chocolate shop last night I saw their summer display all made from chocolate and thought it was perfect for this weekend when there will be lots of sitting around a fire, drinking ale, listening to music, and just relaxing!  

Chinatown Shopping

This is one of the many well-organized grocery stores to be found in Chinatown where you can find all types of exotic produce spread out along the sidewalks. The variety available and the reasonable prices certainly put the main-stream grocery stores to shame. I was there during the week but on weekends the area is packed to capacity with people doing Dim Sum and then their shopping!

Poutine - A Canadian Original

Poutine is a French Canadian dish of French fries and fresh cheese curds covered with gravy or sauce and was first made in the province of Quebec in the 1950s. It can now be found across Canada and even some large franchises such as MacDonalds have it on their menu in some locations. Some specialty shops like this one on Bloor St also serve it with various meat toppings. I have to admit to never having tried it!
Taking part in Signs,Signs. Click here for more signs.

City Hall Food

This shot is from the end of summer when we still had hot weather and were eating outside. This area on Queen St in front of city hall is a favourite place for people to grab a quick lunch from the many trucks and carts selling mostly hot dogs & sausages. This truck has gone well beyond that limited menu - looks like a cross-section of international foods!

Wychwood Barns Farmers Market

This Monday is Thanksgiving here so all the farmers markets are doing great business this weekend. This shot is from the Wychwood Barns market this morning and luckily the crowd thinned out for a few seconds so I could get a shot of some of the veggies available - some really exotic squash at this booth. This market is one of the best - great variety of fresh foods and delicious prepared foods too.

Canada Day Butter Tarts

Today marks the 143rd anniversary of the Confederation of Canada. There will be lots of celebrations (even Queen Elizabeth is here for it) and lots of fireworks displays tonight. There will also be lots of eating - barbeques etc but my favourite is the traditional butter tart. Made of mostly butter and brown sugar plus eggs, they usually have either raisins or nuts added. I vote for the nuts. Happy Canada Day!

Walnut Cakes in Koreatown

Went to Koreatown this morning for delicious walnut cakes. They come filled with 3 varieties - red bean with almond or walnut, and mashed potatoes with walnut. One of the coolest things is the machine that makes them - a little assembly line at the front of the store that fills little molds (except for the nuts which are dropped in by human hands) and then plops the cakes into the oil for baking - fascinating! They arrive at the cash register hot!

Easter Eats

Spent the day eating - hot cross buns, chocolate bunnies, ......... etc.

Birthday cupcakes

My favourite baker came by with some surprise cupcakes. They taste as good as they look!