On my trip to Mississauga in order to get our lease (which was a real pain in the ass to get) for this upcoming school year, we went to
The Apricot Tree Cafe for lunch. I found it on Google, since I knew we would be going to be eating lunch in Missisauga. I was intrigued because of it's name. I looked up the menu and I have to say, they seem pretty dedicated to their apricots. I think they also serve dessert later on at night.
I ordered the artichoke flatbread, which was served with a side of mixed greens. The side salad was too heavily dressed for my liking. The artichoke flatbread was okay. It wasn't really anything to get excited about.
However, my dad got the 3-course platter (pictured left), which was one of their daily specials. It included soup (my dad chose the Thai style chicken noodle), chicken and vegetable curry, and a dessert. I tried some of his curry, and it was actually really good! I didn't expect a cafe to have good curry, but it was nicely spiced. The meal came with a slice of some sort of layer cake. It had chocolate chip sponge layers, and had a typical cream frosting and filling, with some canned apricots in the middle. It was garnished with a raspberry drizzle. I tried a bit, but didn't really like it.
Give The Apricot Tree Cafe a try if you're in the area. It's got a nice ambiance and has very polite servers!
I was looking forward to this past Wednesday. Here was the plan: visit the downtown Fresh Wednesday's farmer's market in the morning, then head over to Princess Margaret Hospital for my doctor's appointment (well, this I wasn't looking forward to) at 10:45, and then off to 5th Elementt for our 1:30pm lunch reservation. This was one of many restaurants that was participating in the city of Toronto's annual Summerlicious event. Wednesday was actually the only day that I was able to go for a Summerlicious lunch (I didn't want to go for dinner), and it just so happened that I had a doctor's appointment downtown that day. So it worked out so perfectly! Here's what went wrong:1. Toronto labour strike--Fresh Wednesdays were cancelled
2. My doctor's appointment went WAY overtime and we ended up leaving at 2pm. We saw that doctor for like, 5 minutes, and all he said was "okay, nice to meet you, everything seems fine, see you in 3 months." I was actually really annoyed and pissed off beyond belief because apparently we were "saved" until the end because we were new to the clinic. And apparently he likes to spend a bit more time with new patients so that we can ask questions and he can talk to us thoroughly. Yeah, okay sure buddy.
After we left the hospital almost 3.5 hours later, we walked along Baldwin St, where my mom told me that Bodega was where she used to live! The entire street consists of townhouses that have been converted into shops/restaurants/cafes. I can't believe she used to live in the house that is now Bodega! I wanted to eat there just because of the weird coincidence! We walked around looking for a place to eat and finally decided on Karine's, a quirky little place located in the Village by the Grange. It specializes in vegan, vegetarian, and all-day breakfast foods. It also is environmentally-friendly, since they encourage customers to bring their own take-out containers, and they also serve their food on ceramic dishes and mugs that can be reused. 
I ordered the Vegan Tofu Beni (pictured on the left), and my mom got the Western sandwich wrap lunch special. I was torn between the vegan tofu beni, or the peanut butter and banana crepe. Since the tofu was someting unique to Karine's, I decided to go with that. The servings were very generous, and mine came with a side of fresh fruit (grapes, watermelon, strawberries...mmmm), salad, and some pita with some awesome garlicky dip. The baked tofu was set atop a vegan patty, and the entire thing was smothered in tomato sauce. It all tasted good, I just think there was a bit too much tomato sauce.
My mom really enjoyed her wrap too (on left). There were nice chuncks of tomato and tons of eggy goodness wrapped inside. So, even though I am really disappointed with not being able to partake in Summerlicious (which ends tomorrow, by the way), at least I found a cool new place to eat!
A while ago, I made the coconut brown rice recipe from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian. We ended up having so much leftover rice, that I decided to make rice pudding, one of my favourite things to eat. I had never made it with leftover brown rice before, so this was a new experiment. Rice pudding is basically just rice that's been simmered in milk (or cream, if you want it super rich), with some sweetner added to it, until it has become thick and porridge-like. I normally follow the Barefoot Contessa's recipe, which I find works nicely (although I find the cooking time always takes longer than indicated). Anyways, I improvised on this one and it turned out very well! It actually didn't really take that long, probably because the rice was already cooked. And the coconut taste wasn't very strong either. I think I have now converted to making rice pudding with brown rice, simply because it's healthier than white rice and it tastes just as good! Coconut Brown Rice Pudding
- 2 cups leftover brown rice (or any rice, I guess)
- 3-4 cups of milk/cream/soymilk (I don't know how much I added, this is just an estimate. I just kept adding more if the pudding looked too thick)
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
1. In a heavy, medium pot over medium heat, combine the rice and the milk.
2. Once it warmed up a bit, add the sugar.
3. Let simmer and stir occasionally (I stirred constantly, just because I'm paranoid that stickage would occur), until the pudding is thick and creamy, and the rice grains have broken down. This part took about maybe 30 minutes.
4. Take the pudding off the heat and stir in the vanilla.
5. Pour into a bowl and cover the rice pudding with plastic wrap, making sure you place the plastic wrap right over the surface to prevent a skin from forming.
6. Chill in the fridge (or you could eat it warm!)
7. Sprinkle with cinnamon and enjoy!
However, my dad got the 3-course platter (pictured left), which was one of their daily specials. It included soup (my dad chose the Thai style chicken noodle), chicken and vegetable curry, and a dessert. I tried some of his curry, and it was actually really good! I didn't expect a cafe to have good curry, but it was nicely spiced. The meal came with a slice of some sort of layer cake. It had chocolate chip sponge layers, and had a typical cream frosting and filling, with some canned apricots in the middle. It was garnished with a raspberry drizzle. I tried a bit, but didn't really like it. 
