to the market

Getting out of the house when it's winter and you have a new baby is tough. Like, really tough. But now that I'm more comfortable with my little Mundoo, I've been bundling him up, strapping him into the baby carrier, and trying to take him out on little adventures at least a couple of times a week. It's been great for both of us. Earlier this week we ventured out to Kensington Market. First stop, the new-to-the-market, Nu Bügel, for wood-fired, Montreal-style bagels. 

Then a quick perusal at Good Egg. Man, do I want this set of Falcon enamelware.

The market is always a fun place to walk around. It's a bit too busy for me on the weekends, so I appreciate being able to go on a weekday.

And finally, a visit to Hogtown Charcuterie. Cured meats, pâtes and terrines, and get this, a "fermentation station" lined with pickles! I grabbed a pair of their sausage rolls (really tasty) and can't wait to sample more of their goods.

Stay tuned for more of our little outings as the weather warms up!

sanagan's meat locker

Sanagan's Meat Locker in Kensington Market recently moved from its original location in the old Max & Sons butcher shop into the space that was once European's Quality Meats & Sausages just down the street.

The new location is much bigger. The meat, as always, is sourced from small Ontario farms. They now offer a variety of cured meats and terrines as well.

And there's a hot food counter!

Here's the roast beef sandwich—a pile of juicy shaved roast beef piled onto a fresh bun and topped with caramelized onions, mushroom gravy and old cheddar. It was messy, but delicious. 

Sanagan's Meat Locker

176 Baldwin St.

kanto

I first mentioned Kanto at the Scadding Court Market way back in February when they hadn't even opened yet. Well, it's been months and I've walked by so many times without stopping in, so last week when my mom was in town we picked up some food for a quick dinner. 

Kanto's menu is focused on convenient Filipino street foods. We grabbed an order of lechon kawali (crispy pork belly) and lumpia shanghai (spring rolls). 

The lechon was awesome! Juicy with a bubbly, crispy skin—just like it should be. And the lumpia (we had the chicken version since they were sold out of pork) were little deep-fried bundles of flavourful ground chicken wrapped in a thin and crunchy spring roll wrapper. Not gonna lie, I ate most of this straight out of the container before we even got home.

Kanto

707 Dundas St.W 

@ the Scadding Court Market

arz bakery & fine foods

Last weekend, I stopped into Arz Bakery & Fine Foods for the first time. Located in Scarborough, Arz is a grocery store/bakery/deli that specializes in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean ingredients. The produce section was brimming with exotic fruit, eggplants of all shapes and sizes, plus fresh dates and figs. Behind a glass shield was a beautiful display of bulk dried fruits and nuts. The bakery had a wide selection of flatbreads as well as an impressive variety of pastries. The deli was stocked with ready-to-eat salads, prepared vegetables, meats and cheeses. I really wanted to taste everything in sight.

The olive bar was mind-blowing! Now, I love olives hard, so I couldn't stop staring at all of the different varieties. Again, everything was behind a glass shield to avoid contamination.

I picked up some of the freshest pita bread (it was still warm!) and bought a quartet of their famous homemade dips—it included the creamiest hummus ever, a tangy pepper and walnut based dip called muhamarra, garlicky zucchini mutabel and a smokey-sweet babghanouj—plus a feta dip and some stuffed vine leaves. 

At the back of the store, there's a small counter that serves stuffed pastries and shawarma. I went for the beef shawarma and it came stuffed with shaved beef, pickled turnip, tomato, onion, herbs and a slathering of hummus.

Arz Bakery & Fine Foods

1909 Lawrence Ave. E.

Scarborough

berry good

I started to panic when I realized that strawberry season was almost over and I had none in my freezer for emergency smoothies. So last Sunday, Joe and I braved the heat and drove to Lindley's Farm in Ancaster to pick some berries. We were lucky because they let us know that this was probably the last week for pick-your-own strawberries. 

The best thing about these sweet little jewels isn't only that their grown here in Ontario—but they're also pesticide free! Lindley's has started pick-you-own raspberries this week too. I couldn't bear to be in under the sun any longer, but grabbed a half pint of red raspberries and black raspberries (sometimes called "black caps") at their roadside market. 

Lindley's Farm

900 Fiddler's Green Road

Ancaster

oh ottawa

Me and the fam recently spent a weekend in Ottawa, but before skipping town my bro and I stopped by the Lakeview for a quick breakfast. While I ate my mediocre toast and eggs, I was pining for bro's disco breakfast—fries topped with melted cheddar and havarti cheese, crumbled bacon, sliced maple sausages and a runny fried egg. 

First stop in Ottawa? Parliament Buildings obviously.

The Byward Market is always fun to walk around, though around this time of year there aren't too many local food vendors. Most of the produce looked like it came from a food terminal, but there was plenty of local maple syrup, honey and even some cheese. 

The French Baker in the market, offers a large assortment of French breads and pastries. I tried a pain au chocolat and a pair of macarons. Both were just alright.

I stared at the bronze replica of Louise Bourgeois' Maman outside the National Gallery of Canada for way too long. It's just so fascinating.

And check out this retro Zellers store. During my trip, I heard that this downtown location is too small to turn into a Target so the building will be put up for sale later on this year.

st. jacobs

This past Saturday, I stopped into the St. Jacobs Farmers Market to snap some pics and grab a quick bite to eat. First, I joined the long line for apple fritters. Can't go wrong with battered, deep-fried, cinnamon sugar-coated apple rings.

Anything pickled always catches my attention.

And check out the preserves!

I grabbed a bag of spicy pepperettes, scarfed down a mediocre burger and was on my way.

St. Jacobs Farmers Market

878 Weber St. N.

Waterloo, ON.

fruit fantasy

Is it summer yet? I've been sick and craving fruit like mad. So sad that it's only February.

scadding court market

The Scadding Court market at the corner of Bathurst and Dundas opened last summer and is a pretty unique concept. Rather than having stalls, vendors are housed in refurbished shipping containers that stay put all year long. Food vendors (such as Monforte Dairy and La Pupusa) have small menus akin to food trucks. I feel like this project has a lot of potential and have my fingers crossed that the warmer months bring even more vendors. 

Happily, I walked by last week and saw a new vendor being advertised—a Filipino vendor nonetheless! Exciting times. I sampled a couple of items from Tita Flips when they were at the Toronto Underground Market so I'm pumped to see what they'll offer here.

During the winter, the vendors' hours vary (and some vendors seemed to have closed up shop altogether), but I recently grabbed a few bites from Kim's A La Carte: Ddukbokki (chewy grilled rice cakes smothered in a sweet-spicy sauce, $1) and kimchi mandu (kimchi filled dumplings, $1).

lancaster county

Other than the freak snow storm that brought about 6 inches of slushy, wet snow to Lancaster County, our little road trip was awesome. We stayed in Lancaster, but visited Bird-in-Hand, Straburg, Intercourse, Paradise, Ephrata and Lititz. These charming small towns were all within a 20-minute drive. Check out the view from our hotel right before the snow really started falling.

The market in Lancaster was one of my favourite stops. So many locals seemed to actually come here to do their weekly groceries. The Amish butchers had some amazing looking meat and there were preserves, pickles and produce galore. 

At the Bird-in-Hand market, we ate at the lunch counter. The Amish who ran the place were very kind, and the fried chicken and chicken pot pie (more like chicken and dumplings) really hit the spot.

Pennsylvania Dutch cooking is pretty heavy. Lots of meat and potatoes, casseroles and sugary sweets for dessert. Most restaurants in the area were Smorgasbord style (another word for buffet). The results of a typical breakfast Smorgasbord:

Clockwise from top left: scrapple (a Pennsylvania Dutch specialty made from various porky bits); butter-fried sticky bun (yes, fried in butter); bacon and sausage; biscuits w/ whipped butter. Lets just say that one Smorgasbord experience was enough for us.

I didn't buy the Amish butter cheese pictured above even though I was very curious, but found out it's a creamy cheese similar to Havarti.

More pics tomorrow!