YYZ YVR SYD :: Goodbye Toronto, Hello Oz!

And I'm off! The last week of Toronto-life has been intense. While most girls make an effort to diet to look hot for vacation, I ate my way through Toronto. Regrets? None. I rub my pot belly (which actually cropped up from the week...!! No lie...) Nor will it stop me from enjoying my last Tim Horton's double double (or should I just go all out and get the triple triple?) and Timbit for awhile.

So how do you say good bye to Toronto, even if it's just a short leave? Try cramming all of this in 4 days, and keep in mind that I didn't photo all of the ridiculous Lindt chocolate bars, potluck desserts, and cookies that went along with it. Throw in seeing Harry Potter twice, 2 fantastic tickets to the MLS cup, finishing a project over 2 years in the making, and about a million hugs...then you might come close to the fantastic week that I had. I leave for Oz with diabetes, and I plan on returning fat and tanned!

So here's how I sent myself off, in the most Torontonian and Canadian way I could:


Second Cup :: Coffee and a banana muffin.
Their banana muffins are made with banana chips, which gives them a crunch. I've always been partial to Second Cup, not only because it's Canadian, but also because I had the fortune of meeting and working for one of its co-founders.

Madison Avenue Pub for Beer & Grub

Hit my favourite downtown pub with a boatload of friends. Ate my face off with wings  and sweet potato fries. When done right, I can eat these forever. Good sweet potato fries must be paired with beer. I prefer lighter beers, like Mill St. Organic and Rickard's White. Mill St. Lemon Tea beer is also quite tasty.

I originally wanted to go to Mitzi`s Sister, but Maddy`s seemed better for a big crowd - had a great night as friends kept showing up to bid me farewell, yell as UFC fighters grappled on TV (zzz), and enjoy Maddy`s patio. I really love it on chilly nights, since it is covered but stays nice and cool when it`s super busy.

O&B Canteen :: Canadian Back Bacon

I decided to keep my Canadian theme so I headed to O&B. Among other treats, I ate one of their Breakfast Butties with Canadian Bacon and maple mayo. MMmmm...bacon (French-Canadian accent)

Chinatown

Okay, some might find this odd but a lot of my time is spent in Chinatown. It`s ridiculously cheap for produce and I honestly don`t know how I would been able to afford eating as much fresh fruit and vegetables otherwise. Anyways, I stopped by after a drool worthy visit to the Healthy Butcher to pick up some steak-friendly produce. My non-Torontonian friend was entertained by the following:

Snow peas, eggplant, long beans, and snap peas look oddly different in Chinatown...

Check out the second picture - has anyone ever seen anything like this before? It looked like a double-banana. Oh Chinatown. Let's see if Sydney's will compare.

My Kitchen :: Filet Mignon with Erin's Special Steak Rub ;)

 Mmmm...STEAK. My last Midnight Snack post awoke some sort of steak monster within me. I picked up two beautiful Alberta Angus Beef Tenderloins and I thought I did a pretty good job searing them to what I like to call...perfection. Served wtih a mixture of white rice abd beans as well as steamed peas...mmm

My Kitchen & The Healthy Butcher :: Aged Prime Rib with Red Wine Gravy

The Healthy Butcher is a good spot for fresh meat. Pricey for my thinning pockets, but I decided to do it right and got Dry Aged Prime Rib. A friend is moving away to Calgary and I have been showing him a few things in the kitchen. Lesson One was my classic cookie recipe (to be posted...one day) and Lesson Two was this!

Potluck!

I also hosted a potluck, which ended up being hilarious since we had 15 desserts and 1 main course arrive. It was pretty much diabetes-night and being the host, I ate a bit of everything. There was apple pie, peanut-butter Rice Krispie squares, Nutella thumbprint cookies, double-chocolate cookies, this huuuuge Italian cake thing with icing sugar all over...do I need to keep going? Really? I didn't take pictures because I was simply having too much fun with my friends to think about pulling out the camera. Except when it came to these babies

Samosas!! From Sultan something - not Tent. I don't even know because I was too busy stuffing my face with the spicy, beefy filling. I must ask my friend where he got them so you can try them too! I contributed homemade guacamole and apple chips. People seemed to enjoy them and some were surprised to find that I make my own chips :-)

Favourite Toronto Eats:
I also ran around town eating some of my favourite noshes. Some have already been blogged about, some haven't - but full reviews and pictures will have to wait. Here's some pictures for now though:

Big Fat Burrito :: Pulled Pork & Yam

Kenzo Ramen :: King of Kings

Hana Korea :: Bibimbap

Buster Rhino's Pulled Pork Sammy

And last but certainly NOT least...
 
TORONTO SAUSAGE!
So that's it. I have a few pre-written Toronto posts  that will be published over the next while so this blog will still have some Toronto flavour - but I won't be writing anything new and my most recent noshes will have to wait upon my return. When will I be back in Toronto? What cities will I visit in Australia? What will I eat? Your guesses are as good as mine. This is the most spontaneous thing I have ever done, and this blog will take an interesting turn as I will be chowing down on things that I just find along the way - no planning. That, and I suspect that my posts will be brief and maybe a little sparse at times.

Pearson Airport's Kensington Market?

So Cookies & Tomatoes is going to start to take an interesting turn - it will slowly but surely become Australia-centric as pre-written Toronto posts deplete. I am awfully excited about my first trip to Australia! A wonderful foodie who stumbled across my foodmap was kind enough to send me a Sydney food map he created - I will be working my way through! Aside from that, I don't have my sights set on any spots and I will simply share what I find in Oz in a somewhat random, haphazard manner. No time for research - but isn't that the best way to travel? I'm excited - for the first time, friends outside of my Facebook network will get to see my travel food pictures!

So. First stop: Sydney, NSW, Australia. Meat pies and hand-pulled noodles HERE I COME! I am at Gate D51 in YVR...and, as if on cue, they just started boarding the flight! No time to spell check or add comments about my favourite eats. Just like my trip, it's simply time to GO.