Wings Up!

On Friday a group of us went to Wings Up! - where you can get pretty much ANY flavour of wings you want - they even have chocolate! I had BBQ Honey Garlic, mmm. Just one little wing left in this picture...

Red Velvet Cupcakes

I had my first Red Velvet cupcake in New York believe it or not. Since then they've been my favourite. Starbucks in the month of February had Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese icing too, and I probably had about 10 that month. So my mom and I decided to make some of our own. They turned out great and were a big hit with my friends. What's not to love?

Guinness Braised Short Ribs

I'm taking a gourmet cooking class (I took it a few years ago - but I guess I needed a refresher) and last week my partner in crime and I made Guinness Braised Short Ribs with Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Roasted Root Veggies. The results are below:



I like cooking and making yummy food and doing new things. You know what you need though? Time and money. When I get lots of those I will do more of this.

A little lounging, sushi and tequila

So the last little while I've tried three new restaurants in the KW area.

The first place was Tyrone in Uptown Waterloo in the "pub district". This place is definitely not a pub. It's a lounge restaurant. I know it just opened but I was not impressed - except for their DJ. But they don't have dancing so what good is that? I'm really not sure who they want their clientele to be. I went with a party of 6 people on a wednesday night around 10pm. The place was nearly empty. The decor was a fusion of Asian and Modern which just didn't look high end. They had these annoying lights that went from red to green to blue, etc and they were like blinding. They have some couches near the DJ booth and a combination of tables and booths and then seating at the bar. Our waitress was new but it took her 30 minutes to get us water and she had to ask what my drink order was 3 times before finally taking the menu to the bar. She was nice though. The drinks were TINY and way overpriced. I ordered a dessert that was good but again TINY. There are nicer places to go it you just want to have a classy drink. I wasn't very impressed as you can tell-oh and the name is horrible.

The second was Sushi Star on King in Kitchener. It's an "all you can eat" Sushi restaurant. The way it works is you pay $20 and can order as much as you want, but if you order food you don't eat you have to pay for it. So you just order a little at a time. It's comparable to Ye's Sushi in Waterloo. I always leave so FULL from these places. My one friend did not enjoy the sushi part but there was teriyaki and tempura on the menu that she could eat. I thought the sushi was good though. For dessert we had the red bean ice cream which was actually good, had a a chalky chocolate taste. The atmosphere wasn't anything to get excited about though, and I didn't check out the bathroom.

The third place was on King as well in Uptown Waterloo, Margarita's. KW doesn't really have any good Tex Mex places so I was excited to try this one which opened about 4 months ago. We went on a SUnday night and it wasn't overly busy but we weren't the only ones there either. The menu was small but I appreciated that because I get overwhelmed by choice. I ordered a Mango Margarita - it was very good, not too sweet. Then I had chicken tacos (the soft ones) that were good and there was lots of meat. Everyone enjoyed their meals (the enchiladas were apparently very good). We even tried cactus in like a vinaigrette salad - let me tell you it's an acquired taste for sure. For dessert we had Churros served with Dulce de Leche - they were AMAZING. The decor was very random and reminded me of other Mexican restaurants in New York and Toronto. Our waiter was great. I would go again...maybe with a sombrero?

Review - Caramel Brulée Latte

So this winter Starbucks has introduced a new drink: The Caramel Brulée Latte. This is an espresso based beverage that is served with whip cream and little bits of "burnt" sugar on top, just like a real creme brulée dessert. I would normally get it whith no whip and nonfat milk - but still a grande is 310 calories. If you go for the full out version (which tastes the best I must admit) then you are looking at 440 calories with 13 grams of fat. Yikes. If you like the Caramel Macchiato then you will probably like this drink. It has a slightly nuttier flavour to it because of the caramel syrup versus the vanilla syrup in the Macchiato.

Rating: 4 out 5

Red or White or Ice?

So this past Saturday I was invited last minute on a winery tour in Niagara-on-the-Lake. I've never toured a winer before so I jumped at the chance. Our group of 8 met at our friend Rudy's house who arranged the trip at 2pm, expecting to be picked up at 2:30pm. Well the driver arrived at 3:30pm, that hour was spent watching YouTube videos and some episodes of Better Off Ted. We jumped into our Sprinter van and met our driver Bill (who proceeded to tell us that he had gone to St.Jacobs to pick up some cinnamon butter...). Off we were finally. We had snacks in the van and made up stories about the other cars driving by.
Inside Bill's Party Van

We arrived at Canyon Run, a fairly new winery. Our tour guide was not there yet so we hung out and just as we were about to start the party ourselves Chris our guide arrived. I didn't trust his orange sunglasses...So we started off at the vines themselves and learned a bit about the soil and the grapes and growing seasons. Then we headed inside for our tasting. The room of stainless steel vats was tiny but we all squeezed in. We proceeded to taste 2 whites and 2 reds. I purchased the unoaked chardonay which was my favourite out of the ones we tasted.

Waiting for Chris outside of Coyote's Run 

Then we loaded up back into the van and headed to Pillitteri Estates which is the largest ice wine producer in the world and the inventors of red ice wine. Our guide there was pretty funny and we saw the cellars and did a tasting of 4 more wines and 2 ice wines (apparantly that's the first time they have done 2 ice wine samples). They were so delicious. I picked up a bottle of the 2007 Gewurztraminer Reisling Fushion which has 1% ice wine and a bottle of the Cabernet Franc ice wine. While waiting for the other bus group to finish up one of them came to our bus, opened the door with a CASE in his hands and was like "Oh this isn't my bus is it?" We should have grabbed the case and shut the door. We died laughing.

Outside of Pilliteri Estates 

Then we were off to Trius Hildebrand. The property an buildings were gorgeous. Perfect for a wedding. We had an outdoor tasting beginning with sparkling wine. Then Trius White and Trius Red. Then came the ice wine, it
had a apricot/pineapple taste. We ended up getting 2 or 3 samples. The bottles were $70 so unfortunately didn't buy any. We were sufficiently happy at this point and were ready to get some food.

Chris pouring samples for Stevie and the rest of the gang

Amy and I sampling at Trius Hildebrand

We arrived at Casa Mia, a gourmet Italian restaurant. We were seated in a private room and our waiter Andrew was great. With each course was a bottle
of wine (ice wine at dessert!). We had an amouse bouche, appetizers,
sorbet, main course and dessert. The food was REALLY good...see the pictures below for proof (smoked salmon and tiramisu). 

All in all it was a great day and night. When I finally home at 2am I was thinking I can't wait to do it again :)