Smiling

Sometimes other people know best.

This was one of those situations where I was pretty adamant that I did not want a bridal shower or bachelorette party. I was serious and stayed strong. But then finally gave in after they asked me for the fiftieth time. Fine! Do it, whatever you want! No one listens to the bride anyways!

I caved and agreed to a small bridal shower (still a big no to the bachelorette party) and to my maid of honour's delight, she got to plan a tea party for me.

You know what? My bridal party has got skills. And game. They completely blew me away. Prior to the party, the only thing I did was give them a list of all the ladies invited to the wedding. Threw in a few activity ideas. And that was that. They did everything else. So I went in not knowing what to expect . . .

But look at the spread! These were all homemade! Unbelievable as they look store bought, but my maid of honour made lots and lots of tea sandwiches. One of my bridesmaids made three different types of scones: lemon poppyseed, berry, and a chocolate chip one. The other bridesmaid made a cherry crumble and blueberry crumble.

My bridesmaids are busy people. Always on the go and taking care of their energetic kids. So I was so touched that they squeezed in some baking time for me. And they didn't just make one flavour, they had to go for the gold star and make a variety!

Then there was the decoration. Silver, white, and pink balloons to match what their bouquets will be on the wedding day. Black and white HOWIA sign to match our classic wedding theme - also homemade. At first glance, I thought they bought the letters from a craft store!

Throw in my favourite colour of teal, a pretty table runner, mason jar centerpieces, and a cheese platter, this tea party had me speechless. My mom and future mother-in-law also pitched in a brought lots of food and desserts. A few aunts and friends couldn't make it, but we still had a great time playing games and catching up.

There was even a designated seat for me. I was scolded many times to stay under the Bride-To-Be bunting (also homemade by my bridesmaid). Look at how cute those paper ribbons are! Seriously Pinterest worthy!

We were pretty full from lunch, but you can't have a bridal shower for a dessert lover without dessert! There were lots of cakes and cookies and squares to be eaten and shared. Look, even teapot shaped cookies!

We obviously don't believe in sugar overload.

Or portion control. We will just eat and eat and eat. I do feel that I'm eating a lot more desserts these days - it's what all brides do a month before their wedding, right?

Also, we had yellow watermelon. And coconut lime sparkling beverages. And I ate sugar snap peas (I absolutely hate peas, especially those in the frozen medley with carrots).

Doing what I do best, cutting into a delicious chocolate cake. (For those of you who haven't seen me in contacts, I am not cutting the cake blind. I do occasionally wear them! And also for those of you who haven't seen me with wavy hair, I did attempt to curl them, but my hair likes to go back to being pin straight after awhile.)

Why the heck am I even having my wedding at a restaurant? My bridal party could totally cater.

Oh and those cute milk carton party favours? Another amazing DIY project by one of my bridesmaids. The were all personalized boxes of tea so that guests could take home a memento of the tea party.

Yup, the tags and labels were all personalized "S"ylvia tea!!!

I think everyone left smiling and I couldn't thank my friends more. They did so much to make the afternoon special for me. Hugs and thank you to Megan, Diana, and Laura!!! I am so excited for the big day because they'll be there to support me. =)

Mile End Deli

Mile End Deli

53 Bond Street

New York City, NY 10012

(212) 529-2990

Noah and Rae Bernamoff opened Brooklyn's Mile End Delicatessen in 2010. Their goal was to share the classic Jewish comfort food of their childhood and they did this by using their grandmother's recipes - updating and tweaking as they went. Next, Mile End Sandwich opened May 2012 but has now renovated into Mile End Deli as well - lucky us!

The reason I wanted to visit was because I own a copy of their cookbook, also titled Mile End Deli. I didn't even know what the book would include when I bought it, but I was taken away by the book's design. Bold graphics, spot UV with matte lamination, and debossing. I couldn't resist taking the book home and it found a spot on my shelf. So when it came time to planning our trip to New York, I knew we would have to make a visit! One might think it's silly since we have Montreal's famous delis in our country, but places like this and Russ & Daughters (which we sadly didn't get to this year around) are making some noise in the culinary world and we wanted to taste what it was all about.

We went to have lunch or brunch on a Sunday afternoon and was greeted at the door by a friendly host. It looked pretty busy at first, but there was no wait (mostly people coming in for take out) and were seated right away.

We debated long and hard before deciding on what to order. My initial thought, Smoked Meat Hash, was thwarted because Howard was getting the Smoked Meat Sandwich. Plus, I really wanted to try their latkes, so by ordering the Classic Breakfast, I would get two eggs, potato latkes, and smoked meat.

We tried making latkes once and felt that we over fried them, but now seeing how the latkes were, I guess we didn't do so poorly at home! They were delicious with the sour cream. Amazing with the apple sauce. They were also great for mopping up runny egg yolk. And even better with the smoked meat.

Howard's order of the Smoked Meat Sandwich was off the chart. I mean, just look at that thing! A pile of cured and smoked brisket with mustard and rye. We tip our hats off to you Mile End Deli, you do smoked meat well!

And it wouldn't be a grand start to our New York City trip if we didn't upgrade the side to a Smoked Meat poutine with fries, cheese curds, brisket, and gravy. You might think that we had too much smoked meat, we learnt that there's no such thing as too much smoked meat here. It's delicious and we even recommended it to the table beside us when they were ordering.

When we returned home, I quickly flipped to the recipe to see how they make their smoked meat. Instructions indicate it would take us two weeks at home. And we would need a smoker. We suggest you visit Mile End Deli instead!

ACE Bakery's Best Sandwich Contest

Hi friends! We just wanted to let you know about Canada's Best Sandwich Contest, hosted by ACE Bakery, Bob Blumer, and food blogger, Julie Van Rosendaal of Dinner with Julie. They're searching coast-to-coast for the country's best sandwich recipe! If you have one or would like to make one up, it's super easy to enter. Make your sandwich, snap a photo of it (totally optional), and submit it here. That's all. And you could win the grand prize!

Canada’s Best Sandwich Contest: 20th Anniversary Edition will be accepting recipes on the ACE Bakery website from now through September 24, 2013. Each entry will then be reviewed by Bob Blumer, Julie Van Rosendaal, and ACE Bakery, and scored based on their taste appeal, creativity, innovation and originality.

On October 7, one regional finalist from Western Canada (British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba), Ontario, Quebec, and Atlantic Canada (New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland) will be announced. Each regional winner will be awarded a $1,000 cash prize, as well as a $1,000 donation to their charity of choice.

The regional winners will then be invited to Toronto to participate in a Sandwich Showdown on October 17, where they will prepare their own recipes. Bob Blumer, Julie Van Rosendaal, and Marcus Mariathas (ACE’s Master Baker) will judge the final creations and decide on the winning recipe. The creator of the winning recipe will be awarded an additional $20,000 – $10,000 cash prize to take home and $10,000 to donate to their charity of choice. Sounds good to me!

As a little nudge and inspiration for you to enter the contest, the lovely folks at ACE Bakery are also sponsoring a $100 gift basket of ACE Bakery products! Enter using the Rafflecopter embedded below.
a Rafflecopter giveaway


Giveaway:
- ACE Bakery will ship the prize directly to the winner.
- Only open to residents of Canada.
- The giveaway ends on September 29, 2013 at midnight.
- Winner will be contacted by email 48 hours after the giveaway ends.
- If you have any additional questions - feel free to send us an email!

Birthday Weekend Lunch

I just wanted to share my birthday weekend treats with you. Howard and I started off being really good! Bright and early, we both went to the gym - step class for me and the elliptical for him. It was such an uncharacteristic January day, sunny and warm, so we went downtown to have lunch at Nadege Patisserie. We've been before to pick up pastries, but we hadn't tried their sandwiches yet!

My favourite of the two was the smoked salmon, cucumber, dill, and cream cheese! A delicious buttery and flaky croissant with the crunch of the cucumber. Smoked salmon and cream cheese, always a winning combination.

We tried their breakfast sandwich which consists of bacon, scrambled eggs, cheddar, and tomato. They heat it up for you so that you're not eating room temperature eggs and bacon.

The first dessert we tried was this green fuzzy-looking cube with the raspberry garnish and cute Japanese decal. Inside, the matcha green tea cake is composed of two layers, the top being raspberry mouse and the bottom being brown rice pudding.

Unable to resist, we tried two more desserts. The salted caramel mousse, which looks like a mouse, was very rich. Breaking it open, we were surprised to see that there are layers in this dessert!

Finally, our favourite of the picks that day, the raspberry tart. Seeds removed and filled with a syrup or jam, the raspberries themselves were a dessert on their own. But, on top of that scrumptious pastry cream, just wonderful!

If you are going to only pick one dessert, I think Nadege's tarts are worth a try. On previous visits, we've had the grapefruit and earl grey tart, a personal favourite of mine, and the mango coconut tart. They all have a great balance of sweet and sour.

PS: Took the photos on my iPhone. I need to remember to bring my camera out more often!