an afternoon in parkdale

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another year

Sometimes when Mundoo is crying, I say, “I understand. You’ve only been on this earth for two and a half months, everything must be terrifying! Can you believe I’ve been here for 33 years?” Well, let’s make that 34 now. Over the weekend, I celebrated a low-key birthday. I treated myself to a new iPhone (!!!) and spent the day with my two favourite boys. We capped off the evening with some cake and dirty Chinese food (you know, the deep-fried everything and red sauce-type of Chinese food). Sometimes it sooo hits the spot. 

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!

super salad

Even though it's still winter (ugh), I've really been into salads lately. The last of my post-preggo baby weight (double ugh) that's been looming around might be part of the reason. Here's a recent favourite. Start with a gnarly celery root:

And a bulb of fennel:

Cut the celery root into thin matchsticks and slice the fennel thinly (reserve some of the fronds for the dressing). Add in some thin slices of red onion:

Whisk together a quick dressing of freshly-squeezed orange juice, chopped fennel fronds, olive oil, sugar, sea salt and cracked pepper (I did this all to taste):

Toss everything together and let sit for an hour or longer (it's even good the next day). Season again. Other great additions to this salad include: toasted hazelnuts, thinly sliced granny smith apple, and shavings of parmigiano-reggiano cheese.

checking in

It's been all about baby around these parts which means I've done next to no cooking or baking and definitely haven't been going out for any good meals lately. But who cares when you have a healthy, happy (for the most part), growing babe!

Luckily, for Valentine's Day/Joe's 35th birthday, my mom volunteered to babysit so that Joe and I could sneak away for a quick lunch down the street at Milagro. The appetizers were the most memorable part of the meal: a delicious ceviche of octopus, shrimp and crab, and a chunky guacamole served with crispy tortilla chips. 

We ended the day with a simple vanilla birthday cake from Dufflet and my two Valentines. 

oh baby!

On December 20 at 11:57 p.m. Joe and I welcomed our little Maxwell Dae-Won Park into the world. He made his due date by mere minutes with a fast and furious delivery! We couldn't be happier and can't believe how much we love this little dude already. Here's me and my 40-week belly the day before Maxwell was born (I already gave up on wearing makeup and straightening my hair at this point). 

And Maxwell just after entering the world:

He looked mega Korean when he was born and all the nurses kept saying how much he looked like Joe. He's changed so much already though. Here's our little Mundoo (this is our Korean nickname for Maxwell) at almost 3 weeks old:

what's really been cooking

Blogging has taken a bit of backseat here these last few weeks. But it's with good reason: in a matter of weeks (eek!) Joe and I will be welcoming our first baby into our little family. It's an exciting time, but also a stressful time. Luckily we are blessed with great friends and family which definitely makes things easier. I'm going to try my best to keep up with posting and I semi-promise that this won't become a baby blog (I may not be able to resist showing you some of the awesome prezzies I've been receiving for our baby dude), but if it goes quiet over here, at least now you know what's up. In the meantime, here are some shots from the baby shower that Adam and Davis threw me. They know that cured meats and cheese are the way to my heart. 

five guys

I think that Five Guys may be my new favourite burger spot. But only for their burgers. Not that their fries are bad (they're not, they're just not my fave), but their burgers are awesome. I'd classify these burgers as a step up from fast food, but not the same as the "gourmet burgers" that come with all kinds of crazy toppings. When you walk in there are bags of roasted peanuts for munching on (free!) But if you're allergic, be warned that they also cook their fries in peanut oil.

I went for the cheeseburger (not to self: a regular cheeseburger here is actually a double). And got it topped with ketchup, mayo, extra pickles and grilled onions. I loved the fact that none of their toppings cost extra (even the grilled onions or mushrooms). And they use my beloved processed cheese! Cheeseburgers are so much better with processed cheese.

The juicy hand-formed burgers are grilled on a flat top to order and are really messy to eat. Next time, I'll go for the "little cheeseburger" (one patty), which I think would be the perfect sized burger.

Five Guys

Locations throughout Ontario

roll house

Korean-Chinese food is one of those things that I crave on a regular basis. Especially tang su yuk and ja jang myun. It's the perfect combination. The problem is finding Korean-Chinese food. I stumbled upon Roll House in Koreatown a few weeks ago. I originally thought it was a sushi place, but noticed that the menu had all of the usual Korean-Chinese dishes. And the Korean name of the restaurant is actually House of Ja Jang Myun.  

You can get individual combos of one dish plus ja jang myun. I chose the tang su yuk and Joe got the fried mandoo (Korean dumplings). We had no complaints about the mandoo and tang su yuk. 

The ja jang myun, however, was mediocre. The noodles weren't chewy enough and the sauce was a little bland. Oh well, at least I crossed another Koreatown restaurant off the list.

Roll House (House of Ja Jang Myun)

648 Bloor St. W

dim sum at pearl harbourfront

I'm such a sucker for dim sum. To me, it's the perfect mid-Saturday morning meal. And while I mostly frequent the Chinatown dim sum joints for convenience, I recently checked out Pearl Harbourfront for a change of scenery. With views overlooking Toronto's harbour, the Pearl has a more upscale feel than the dim sum places I'm used to. They do offer cart service, but if the dining room isn't very full (like when I was there) they ask you to order off a menu. The food quality is definitely a step up from Chinatown. Everything tasted fresh and homemade. The price ended up being a few dollars more, but totally worth it. 

From top to bottom: haam siu gok (glutinous rice dumpling stuffed with pork); har gow (steamed shrimp dumplings); crispy deep-fried squid tentacles; bbq pork cheung fun (rice noodle roll); siu mai (steamed pork and shrimp dumplings); steamed black bean spareribs.

Pearl Harbourfront

207 Queens Quay W.