Afternoon Treats From Ciboulette Et Cie #FoodPicFriday

I met some friends in Midland last week for some late afternoon beverages and treats. We went to Ciboulette Et Cie, which has a wide choice of in-house baked goods to try. This was only my second visit to Ciboulette (I posted about my first visit here), and I have to say I love their food. Plus I always wanted to try a homemade marshmallow (see below) and they had a few on display to choose from.

My friend Jen ordered a chai latte and a single-serving Baileys cheesecake. She commented that the latte was the best one she'd ever had.

Up close Baileys cheesecake. (The Baileys is an Irish cream flavour).

My friend Bobby got a chocolate chip oatmeal cookie. It was as big as a small plate, so you know it was good.

I ordered a mint tea (with local mint, apparently), and a homemade mint marshmallow that was dipped in dark chocolate.

The marshmallow was awkward to eat (it was really big!), but don't worry, I managed. I might even try making them at home sometime. Especially love the chocolate dip. Nice touch.

Sour Gummy Worms #FoodPicFriday

I have quite a few contenders for my favourite candy, though I don't think I could ever pick just one, as there are so many candies I enjoy. Red licorice, cherry nibs, sweet tarts, caramels, and suckers (to name a few) are all in my top ten. Chocolate bars are in a different category, as when I think of candy, I think of "penny candy", or what I knew as "nickle candy." Candies you could purchase individually at the corner store and come home with a dollar's worth of goodies in a cute little paper bag. The best.

Edging pretty close to my number one fave (these are in my top three for sure), is sour gummy worms. I love gummy. I love sour. And putting them together brings me a whole lot of joy. There are several varieties of sour gummy worms, of various sizes and colours, but I tend to enjoy them all equally. As long as the gummy isn't too hard to chew, I am in treat paradise.

Curried Chick Peas and Potatoes #FoodPicFriday

One of our favourite dishes is curried chick peas and tomatoes served over basmati rice with a dollop of cucumber dressing. If we're in the mood for a complimentary taste, we'll add a side to it. For this meal we served it with pan fried potatoes and onions, which were crispy and delicious.

We use a full can of both chick peas and diced tomatoes in this dish, which makes a lot of amazing food. We have it on rice two nights in a row, and for the third night I'll make up some tortillas to finish them up in wraps. I absolutely love a three day meal, especially when the food is this good.

Red Lobster Appetizers #FoodPicFriday

When Mom and I go out to eat, we often end up really full (or with lots of leftovers) because we think we can eat an appetizer and a full meal all at once. To be fair, sometimes we can, but it mostly depends on how big the appetizer is (note: nachos are pretty much a full meal on their own).

These are two appetizers from Red Lobster taken from two separate visits. I realize these are presentation photos, and don't really show you what the food actually looked like, but take it from me, they were both really good. The first is Lobster Stuffed Mushrooms and the second is Escargot (they're hiding under the mushrooms and cheese).

Lemon Cupcakes #FoodPicFriday

I was craving some sort of lemon treat and decided to make another batch of lemon poppy seed cupcakes. The last time I made them, I piped on yellow lemon frosting, which was great, but I wanted something a little more subtle this time around. I made a half batch of icing that I left white, and just spread a thin layer on each cupcake. A lovely treat to go with afternoon tea.

40th Birthday Cake #FoodPicFriday

This cake was totally improvised, which made the final result even better. There is a kind of joy in throwing things together and having them work out. It feels really good.

This rectangle (or bar) cake was the result of only wanting half a batch of cupcakes. I made my twelve cupcakes, and decided to make two small square cakes with the rest of the batter. From there I cut each sqaure in half, layered them, and frosted them with peanut butter buttercream. I drizzled melted dark chocolate chips over the top and sides of the cake to add some flare. I topped the cake with some chocolate numbers to signify the big 4-0.

Overall, a pretty fantastic cake!

Kelsey's Appies and Dessert #FoodPicFriday

A fun way I like to go out for dinner with friends is to order and share appetizers. The appetizers often eat like a meal anyway, so it is fun to get a number of things for everyone to dig in and try. On a visit last year to Kelsey's with my friend Jen, we ordered nachos, wings, and an assortment of fun desserts to share too. All were really good, especially the Brownie Pops for dessert. They were fantastic!

 Wonton Nachos

BBQ Chicken wings

 Dessert Treat Trio:

Funnel Cake Fries, Peanut Butter Cup, and Brownie Pops
served with English Toffee caramel sauce for dipping

Egg Salad on a Toasted Bagel #FoodPicFriday

I go through phases with certain foods, where I'm either completely obsessed with them or I forget about them entirely. There is no middle ground and the obsession lasts for short spurts with years of nothing in between. My number one food like this is egg salad. I haven't eaten it in years (the last time was probably at a funeral), but over the past month I've made it twice and have been so damn happy while eating it. How did I forget about egg salad? As much as I love it right now, I know it will slip my mind soon enough. I'll have fun with it while it lasts.

My egg salad is simple: mashed hard boiled eggs, mayo to taste, and some pepper. Love it.

Red Lobster Lunch #FoodPicFriday

Going out for lunch with my Mom is one of my favourite things. We have our sure-bet locations (Red Lobster, Applebee's, Moose Winooski's, and Mandarin). Sometimes we try new things, but mostly we stick to what we know. Periodically Red Lobster puts out "$3 off lunch" coupons, and we head over there for some good talks and good food.

For this visit I ordered Shrimp Tacos. They were really good and had the perfect amount of cilantro. I'm pretty sure I'd eat anything if it had the perfect amount of cilantro. I love that stuff.  Mom ordered some shrimp and scallops, of which I probably snuck a few. Sharing is caring!

Chocolate Pudding Pie #FoodPicFriday

I usually buy the 4L bag of milk as it is cheaper than buying cartons (the bag makes it $1/L, the carton is about $2/L or more depending on the size of the carton). The only problem with the 4L bag (16 cups of milk) is that we sometimes don't get through it before the expiry date. The main problem over the past month is that I've cut back on cereal (I was eating it multiple times a day) and I haven't been in the mood for smoothies. This past week I had to use up over a liter of milk so it didn't go to waste. I even drank it (on its own) which I never really do (unless it's chocolate), but I kinda liked it (especially when served with pie!).

To use up 3 cups of milk, I made a chocolate pudding pie, with a recipe from Hershey's website. This pie is egg free and uses corn starch as the thickener. The pie was served with individual helpings of whipped cream and was really delicious.

Swiss Chalet Family Pak #FoodPicFriday

We don't eat a lot of take out in our house, so when we do it is a real treat. One of our favourite meals (and deals) is the Swiss Chalet Family Pak. Over the years it has gone up in price (I think it was $25.99 when we first started ordering it - now it's $27.99), but still a great deal for Swiss. For that price you get a whole chicken (quartered), four sides, four rolls, and a giant chalet sauce (the reason I order Swiss Chalet in the first place).

This is enough food for four, but could also serve three, and sometimes only two. When John and I order it just for us, I order a garden salad as one of the sides, save a quarter of the chicken, and have a chicken salad for lunch the next day. Yum.

Our Swiss is located in a Harvey's so we don't get the authentic Chalet fries, but I have to say the Harvey's fries are pretty good too.

Caramel Popcorn #FoodPicFriday

Having a cold over Christmas means a slight delay in treat making/consumption. Once I was feeling better I made a big batch of caramel corn, a tradition of mine around the holidays. This was more of a New Year's treat, but it was yummy as always. You can find the recipe here.

Rainbow Birthday Cake #FoodPicFriday

Well it looks like it's been Rainbow week here on the blog, so I couldn't let today pass without another rainbow post. Good thing I had some photos handy of a rainbow cake I made in November for my birthday. This is a simplified rainbow cake, using only one cake mix, four layers, and one batch of Marshmallow Buttercream. For the decoration I used a 1A Wilton tip to make the top and bottom border. The "Happy Birthday" is a plastic cake topper that was originally on a Dairy Queen cake.

Blue Cheese and Bacon Burger #FoodPicFriday

When Mom sent up all that cheese last week, one of the flavours was Danish Blue Cheese. I wasn't exactly sure what to do with it, but we were talking about having burgers for dinner and I knew they had to have blue cheese on them. And bacon, obviously.

We made homemade beef patties, buns, and had homemade fries on the side. It was absolutely delicious! The blue cheese was so tangy and it paired with the beef wonderfully. We had enough for leftovers too - so I got to eat this deliciousness twice!

Chicken Wings with a Side of Corn #FoodPicFriday

This meal was from sometime in September when farmer corn was still around. Love that stuff. We were getting some wicked deals on chicken wings around that time too (which have since ceased), so we were making them as often as we could. It was good living.

This meal consisted of spicy BBQ chicken wings, corn on the cob, and some sidekicks on the side.

Happy Halloween #FoodPicFriday

Happy Halloween!! I hope you are having a great one!

I made a batch of double chocolate cookies earlier this week and then kicked myself for not making them Halloween themed somehow. But the moment I got the idea, I knew I could correct it. All I needed was a little icing sugar and some orange food colour and Halloween cookies came to life.

So these are my afterthought Halloween Jack o' Lantern double chocolate cookies! Happy Halloween everyone!

My Favourite Sushi Take Out Order #FoodPicFriday

The past few weeks have been very rainy, cloudy, and miserable outside. It got to the point where I was starting to feel rainy, cloudy, and miserable too. It reached a head on Monday, when I realized I was having a "case of the Mondays". I knew baking wasn't going to cure it, so I went and got my favourite order of take out sushi to wash away my Monday blues.

This take out meal consists of Spicy Tuna Rolls, Avocado Rolls, and Yam Tempura. This is the same order I get almost every time, and whenever I'm done eating it, I always wonder why I didn't order twice as much. Yum!

Pumpkin Spice From Tim Hortons #FoodPicFriday

As I mentioned last week, one my favourite things about October is pumpkin spice. I love trying the new treats and bevys that restaurants come up with, as well as making some recipes at home. I recently indulged in some of the pumpkin spice offerings from Tim Hortons and really enjoyed them.

Pumpkin Pie Doughnut - includes pie crust crumble and pumpkin pie filling.

Pumpkin Spice Muffin - includes pumpkin seeds on top and icing in the middle.

Chicken and Gravy with Home Fries #FoodPicFriday

It's harvest time so there have been some cheap deals on potatoes. I usually get mine for free from my farmer brother, but he decided not to plant them this year. Brothers, eh? (haha!) I already miss his potatoes - 50lbs of his are just perfect for the winter. Luckily I was able to pick some up cheap from the grocery store.

We've actually gone through 20lbs so far and have another 20lbs on deck in the porch. We recently made some into deep fried home fries. They are incredibly delicious and the house always smells like a fair when we're cooking them. We served them with pan fried chicken and gravy and were full and happy for the night.

Chicken and home fries served plain (no gravy):

Chicken and home fries with pan gravy:

Serve with a salad and it's a complete meal!

Red Lobster Crabfest #FoodPicFriday

I had lunch with Mom earlier this week and she treated me to Crabfest at Red Lobster. As a seafood lover this lunch was over the top and really hit the spot. It was messy to eat, but that is half the fun.

What I ordered was called the Crab and Roasted-Garlic Seafood Bake. It contained: crab legs, shrimp, bay scallops, corn on the cob, and potatoes. Everything was roasted in a garlic and white wine broth, which was excellent for dipping the signature rolls into. This lunch was a mega hit and I remained happy and full all day.