Hot Diggity Dogs

There are quite a few things I miss about living in Toronto, one of them being the food! Street meat to be exact! I am one happy girl when I see the street meat vendors out, signaling that spring has come, which I guess means that hot dogs should be consumed. Chicago also boasts having great hot dogs, so which city does it better? Let's discuss...

Toronto:

Street meat vendors are everywhere in Toronto. Some vendors stay out year round but most pack up for winter and come back in full force as soon as the nicer weather hits. The vendors typically sell hot dogs and sausages, ranging from $2-4. The toppings are in plastic containers on the side of the carts so you're free to add whatever suits your fancy.

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In my opinion, the absolutely best topping available is sauerkraut. This MAKES the dog. Street meat is not street meat without the sauerkraut. What else do I put on my hot dog or sausage? Well let's refer to the picture below, which I took this past weekend, while I was in Polish sausage heaven. Since I haven't had street meat in a loooong time, I decided to go big with the toppings. Sauerkraut, pickles, olives, ketchup, spicy mustard, bacon bits, corn relish, and regular green relish.

Chicago: There are no hot dog stands in Chicago but there are tons of hot dog restaurants with pick up windows and small seating areas. The typical "Chicago style hot dog" is made very specifically, which you can read about here. The toppings are as follows:

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You will notice no ketchup. Ketchup is a big no-no in Chicago. I can't remember the prices exactly but I'd say they're similar to Toronto. The Chicago dog is the basic hot dog but the restaurants have many options if you like to add cheese or other toppings.

The Verdict: Who Does it Best?

Well, in my humble opinion, there is no contest. Toronto is the clear wiener! Why?

1) The Chicago dog is too difficult to eat with big spears of pickle and tomato. I have to take these off and eat them separately because they won't fit in my mouth otherwise.

2) Why is the relish on a Chicago dog neon green? Scary.

3) The self-serve method and variety of toppings in Toronto makes everyone happy. And you can eat ketchup without getting heckled :)

That settles that! If you've tried both styles of hot dog, which is your fave?

This Sickens Me

What is wrong with this world? Yeah, yeah, the G20 probably should NOT have been held in Toronto in the first place, but what is the point of so much useless destruction?

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Playing Ketchup

Every time I tell my students they need to "catch up" on their work, they think they're hilarious and ask, "Mustard too?" Hardy har har.

Anyway, I'm playing catch up today with pictures from two weekends that I meant to blog about a while back. The first was when my mammy came to visit and the second is when my mammy came to visit (two weekends in a row, aren't I lucky) with my Aunt.

So... let's go!

Here's my mom enjoying a frosty pina colada on a rooftop patio. Next time you order a pina colada, get it with amaretto instead of rum. Ohhhh sooo goooood.

We tried out sushi at a new restaurant that had recently opened near me. Tasted good, but the rolls were very small.

And then we went bike riding to burn all those calories off!

The next weekend when both my mom and aunt came was action packed! We went down to the Harbourfront and took a boat tour that dropped us off midway through at the Toronto Islands.

I had never been to the islands before, so that was pretty fun and was actually a goal of mine to complete for my 36 in 365 challenge.

Here's my aunt, who's either really tiny, or that's quite a large chair.

Next we took the streetcar down to the Beaches and walked along the boardwalk, resting for a few cocktails along the way!

I introduced them to bibimbop at a Korean restaurant. Yum.

Smile!

And yeah, that was exhausting!

Fancy, Fancy

Over the past weekend my mom and aunt came to visit and we went for high tea at The Royal York, because we are just that fancy. Here is the menu you can peruse before entering the Library Bar, where high tea is served.

And here's the cushy couch I sat on, which was sorta a bad idea. I had to put one pillows under me and one behind me so that my chin wasn't so low it was resting on the table :)

To begin, we ordered three types of tea so that we could try different flavours - Cherry, Berry Berry, and Orange Tangerine.. or something like that. When they brought they tea out, they somehow messed up who ordered which flavour, so I'm still not sure which was which. Not that it really matters to a non tea connoisseur like myself. All I know is that the tea was tasty and tasted like tea.

Our first course began with a summer berry cocktail which had perfectly ripened raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries. They also served us a toasted crumpet with honey butter that I believe they made themselves on their rooftop (at least that's what the menu said).

Next up were traditional finger sandwiches including 1) lobster with greens and herbs, 2) smoked salmon with dill creme fraiche, 3) brie with strawberries and mandarin oranges, and 4) turkey with some type of cheese and maybe apples. My memory is fuzzy. Yum.
Our third course was scones with organic cream and little jams. This was my favourite. Delectable.

And last, but certainly not least came the dessert tray. I was so stuffed. We had a mini berry tart, fresh cream swans, flourless chocolate cake, a lemon something, and an almond type cookie. Holy jeebus.

And that is that! We are now high tea experts (ha!) and have experienced tea at The King Eddy and now The Royal York. The food here was very good but I missed having the little three tiered trays that look so cute. Our table was waaaaaaaay too small for so many dishes and the atmosphere was a little crowded. It was definitely not as posh as The King Eddy either. Soooo, although our high tea was just lovely, I would recommend The King Eddy over The Royal York.

Mother or Aunt Leah, do you have anything to add?

My Favourite View of Toronto

M has been home visiting for the last 10 days, but unfortunately he's had to study the entire time! We did a couple of fun things, but man, studying puts a real damper on life.

Because we're moving, we sold our season tickets for the TFC. We saved the tickets from only two games, which just so happened to be last week!

Here's M on the subway, reviewing his flash cards. Study, study, study :(

Sitting on the crowded street car.

And finally we're here! I'll miss this view.

Too Much Clapping for One Day

A few weeks ago I had the interesting opportunity to be in the audience for a couple of TV shows - "Steven and Chris" and "The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos".

The tickets for these shows are free, you just have to show up! I got to the CTV studio, waited in line for a bit, then eventually got ushered into the studio. While waiting, I had the option of getting my makeup done! Oh la la. No thanks though, I'd rather not share makeup brushes with a million strangers :) The taping for Steven and Chris took over 3 hours, ugh! Way too long, but I think it was this way because they were starting a "Better Choices Challenge" and had a ton of guests. The only guest I knew was Arlene from the Dragon's Den tv show.

The hosts had to do a lot of their lines over and over until they were perfect. That was kind of annoying, not to mention that one of the guys looks like he's made from plastic. What is with that? It was also funny to see the hosts all jolly when the cameras were on, but as soon as they were off, the smiles disappeared. So fake. Ha. The best thing about Steven and Chris? I got lots of swag! Woo!

Next up was The Hour. This was fun.

I heart George. He had no retakes and seems to be the same person on and off camera. He talked a lot to the audience during commercial breaks. I want to be his friend. He had two guests on, a comedian (Gerry Dee from Last Comic Standing) and a FBI/military/political guy.

Overall it was a really fun day, although my hands hurt from clapping so much! Definitely something different and entertaining to do in Toronto if you have the time.

Next up, OPRAH! I will get tickets, I will get tickets...

Is There a Full Moon?

.. because all the crazies are out tonight in Toronto. Here are three separate incidents that I encountered in a half hour period:

1) Two kids plus their father come onto the subway. The one boy, maybe 7 years old starts screaming (ear piercingly loud), "Don't talk to me! Shut up! I hate you!" and runs up and down the aisle of the train, bumping into other passengers the entire way. The dad sends the older boy to get the kid and they start wrestling in the aisles, falling all over the place. The dad said nothing the entire time. I just wanted them to come close enough so I could trip them or something.

2) The man sitting across from me randomly started belting out some gibberishy song... like 10 different times in total. Then I noticed he had coke bottle glasses on, which made him all the weirder. Lookin' sorta like this...3) Steps from the entrance to my condo, I hear pitter patter pitter patter. I turn around and there's a lady running after me. She says, "Are you moving to India?" I say, "No, are you?" Then she forcefully says, "YOU ARE MOVING TO INDIA." So I said, "Yes." Then she kept running.

M and I agree that Chicago may be full of thugs, but Toronto is full of the crazies. Or maybe I just haven't spent enough time in Chicago yet :)

Toronto's Distillery District

Today my parents and I ventured out to the Distillery District.

It was a perfect day (2 degrees Celsius in January??) for a walk. If you've never been, the Distillery District is a historic, pedestrian only village dedicated to culture and the arts. It's filled with heritage buildings that have been turned into shops, restaurants, and art studios. We stopped at Soma Chocolatier for some decadent hot chocolate. Oh la la, so rich and creamy.
The Distillery District is a nice little place to wander around for a couple of hours. Plus, it fulfills one of my 36 in 365 goals of exploring a new place each month! Bonus.

My Mother's Lesbian Jewish Wiccan Wedding

Last week I went to see the musical, My Mother's Lesbian Jewish Wiccan Wedding. Read the plot line here. A friend told me she went to see it and thought it was great, so when I got an email advertising $20 tickets, I couldn't resist! Third row centre for $20!!

M asked me if he would like it and I'm not really sure. I told him it was funny and touching but I'm not sure if it's his type of thing. He's more of a Lord of the Rings musical type guy. But if my mother was interested in seeing it, I'd definitely go again! Hint, hint!

I thought it was superb. Speaking of the word superb - I wrote that as a comment on a kid's test recently and she asked me what Super B meant. Groan.

If you live in Toronto, it's playing until January 3rd. Then it comes back for a month from February 26 to March 21st. Go see it, it's worth your time!

Stepping Back in Time

Yesterday I took my class on a field trip to Black Creek Pioneer Village, which is a "living history museum" in Toronto. Students in grade 3 learn about pioneers so it's a perfect place for them to experience how life was back in the mid 19th century. There are people dressed up around the village, acting as the blacksmith, tinsmith, broom maker, etc.

The weather was perfect, the kids loved it, and I was just happy to be out of the classroom for a day! In the morning a tour guide showed us around, but in the afternoon we split off into groups to tour around by ourselves. In my group I took five of the most hyper seven year old boys that ever existed - mainly because I didn't want parent volunteers to have to deal with them and I didn't want them to run off and get lost in the woods!

It was.. interesting! Boys are crazy! They literally ran everywhere, and after looking at one place for 5 seconds, they were off to somewhere else! I had one kinda chubby boy who kept trailing behind. The others were too fast for him. By the end of the afternoon they were all exhausted and begging me for a rest. I told them to sleep on the bus :)

PS - Don't forget to leave a comment on my giveaway. Laundry detergent could be yours. Ooooh!!

Two Fails in One Day

I've lived in Toronto for just over four years and have never been to the annual Santy Claus Parade. It's sort of a big thing I guess, or used to be anyway. This was going to be the year. The weather was nice, M and I went downtown, secured a terrible spot since we didn't line up hours ahead of time, and waited. And waited. And oh my, waited some more. First a bunch of police cars with sirens went by. I thought, this must be it! No.. 15 minutes later two vans drove by with a bunch of clowns. Yay, it's finally happening, so I thought. NO. 15 minutes later a transport truck came, no decorations, and then parked for five minutes. What the? Next came two more transport trucks and more clowns. I couldn't handle it any longer. No Santy Claus for me. What a disappointment :(

Yep, still nothin coming!

We actually had to leave because we had tickets to Toxic Avenger, the musical. They were giving away free tickets to all the shows. I knew it must be really bad - nothing is free, especially in Toronto. Aaand, yes it was quite horrid. A solid 1/10. M said his artsy high school could have put on a better show and I believe it. It was just.. not good.


So yeah, that was my Sunday. At least the swirly pancakes turned out.

Leona Drive Project

On the weekend M and I were looking for something to do and heard about the Leona Drive Project. Before being torn down, a group of houses was handed over to artists to create an exhibit. Most of the art was on the exterior of the houses and in the backyards, but one house was fully open, including the basement.... spooky.

Can you spot me?
The bathroom in the picture below was painted with lipstick!

The car idea below was taken from an actual family in Etobicoke, whose house has been run into twice!

This room was decorated with painted pennies.

There were lots of video projectors used and when you looked at the windows of this car it seemed as if you were driving on the road.

Pretty interesting stuff!

Apples Galore

Ahhh, fall... the season that means winter is on its way. Kidding, sort of. My favourite thing about fall is the changing leaves. I miss living in the country and catching the beautiful fall colours, so I was happy to take a drive out to Applewood Farm a few weekends ago with M.

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Applewood is an orchard plus a winery, so after picking a big bag of apples we tasted three wines. Yum! They also had a corn maze (very sad looking) and pumpkin patches.

I finally got around to using some of the apples to make pie tonight. Oh lordy! My belly is too full right now so I'll share with you the pictures and recipe tomorrow.