Sheltered Girl Meets World

Eaten: Lobster Roll (and much more) @ Street Food Block Party (Toronto, ON)

Don't be fooled, Street Food Block Party before the 3,000 people arrived with their appetites.

Combine the Toronto Underground Market with Food Truck Eats on a day notorious for being celebrated with music, drink and food and you get a an amazing combination of food trucks, vendors, wineries and breweries serving up Cinco de Mayo themed food at the picturesque Evergreen Brick Works.  I volunteered my car and driving expertise (don't laugh) to help Ottawa's Stone Soup Foodworks and their crew get to Toronto in time to set up and serve their local and sustainable cuisine they've become known for.

Attended: Food Truck Eats #2 (Toronto, ON)

 (The distillery district in Toronto is overrun with food trucks!)

Living in Ottawa the food truck offerings are pretty dull, the menu has the standard French fry offerings with sausages, hot dogs and pogos.  It wasn't until earlier this year when I sampled wonderful soup served from the green Stone Soupworks truck and cookies baked fresh from B. Goods that I realized more can come from a truck than fries.

This realization was reinforced when the boyfriend and I stopped in Austin, Texas - the home of over 1,600 food trucks and carts.  There were several lots dedicated to street food and few of them were serving french fries.  Instead it was a wonderland of BBQ, Thai, ice cream, sandwiches, cupcakes and delicious “deep sautéed” things served in cones.  The food was delicious, complex and I was inspired by the creativity used in such a small space.  Seeing how large and popular the street food scene was in Austin it piqued my interest and I was curious to eat and learn more.

(The Sarducci from Gorilla Cheese - my favourite of the day)

When I returned from vacation I learned I had missed the first instalment of Toronto's Food Truck Eats - an event bringing some of Ontario's best food trucks together in the Distillery District.  It also featured some stalls where local Toronto chefs who didn't own food trucks tried their hand at creating street food.  Thankfully the idea was so popular that a second and third instalment was planned and this time I was able to travel to Toronto to attend this festival of street food.
  

 (Spicy Corn Star fritters with cucumber, thai basil, hot and sour sauce from El Gastronomo Vagabundo)

When I arrived at the Distillery District at 9:50am I saw volunteers collecting donations to Second Harvest, a Toronto charity that delivers surplus fresh food to those in need, in exchange for early access  to the trucks.  Thanks to that donation I was able to skip the massive lines that developed once the trucks opened to the public and enjoyed some of the more popular trucks before it got hectic.

(Deep fried pickle from Caplansky)

I started my day with the Sarducci from Gorilla Cheese – sweet balsamic tomatoes with basil, onion and gooey mozzarella on toasted multigrain bread served with a pickle.  After licking my fingers I lined up at El Gastronomo Vagabundo for the Bangkok Dangerous Taco and spicy Corn Star fritters.  From there I went for the deep fried pickle at Caplansky which was okay but more of a deep fried novelty. 

(Maple bacon donut from po'nuts)

From there I decided I needed a break from the savoury and bought a maple bacon donut from Po’nuts (aka Beast Restaurant) – I enjoyed the sweetness of the maple and saltiness of the bacon as I walked around the distillery district, looking at the various offerings.  Wanting something sandwich-like, I bought a pulled pork and beef brisket slider from Buster Rhino BBQ.  I’m a sucker for pulled pork and the sauce was quite delicious.  My stomach was quite full but I continued on opting for traditional curd and gravy poutine from Smoke’s Poutinery and cherry ice cream from Twirlees.  I ended my day by picking up a dozen cupcakes from Cupcake Diner to bring back to Ottawa.

(Pulled pork and beef brisket from Buster Rhino BBQ)

The event was a huge success both for vendors, eaters and Second Harvest – earning close to $4,000 in donations.  The third instalment of Food Truck Eats will return to the Distillery District on October 1^st when I’m sure there will be more vendors and even more people lined up.  Hamilton will also play host to their own food truck rally on September 16 featuring the popular (and some of my favourite) Gorilla Cheese, Cupcake Diner and El Gastronomo Vagabundo. 

More information:
Ontario Food Trucks
Sew Hungry: Food Truck Rally 2011

Climbed: The CN Tower

(Yeah, you may have an elevator that travels 22km/hour but I'll take the stairs)

I had never heard about the CN Tower climb before seeing someone retweet the WWF's plee for climbers on Twitter.  Apparently it's an annual event that has been going on strong for 21 years with over 5,000 climbers every year.  I don't know why I decided to register for the climb, I guess I felt I had to prove that all my hard work at the gym wasn't going to waste - not only was I burning off the calories I was eating but I was also gaining strength and endurance.

I have done charity races before but usually I pay the entrance fee and run the race without much thought to the charity.  This time I decided to get more involved posting on Twitter and Facebook encouraging my friends and followers to sponsor me in exchange for cupcakes.  I managed to contribute $105 in online and offline donations to the $1.1 million that was raised.  A small amount, but I am very proud of it.  I still have to create the cupcakes for those that donated - I want them to be perfect to thank them for sponsoring me.

Dima and I made a weekend out of the race.  We made reservations at a nice restaurant, scheduled a post climb brunch with friends and Dimaeven created a man spa day while I was climbing so he would have something to do.  It was going to be a fantastic weekend but it all hinged on whether or not I could successfully climb the CN Tower - I couldn't face my friends if I had to bail at floor 43 of 147.  So I'll admit I was a little nervous as I left the hotel at 5:45am to walk to the CN Tower.  It didn't help that it was a miserable day - cold, rainy, windy.  As I was trying to navigate my way around the Toronto streets I bumped into another couple that had travelled from Ottawa to do the climb and clung to them as we found the entrance to the CN Tower and registration point.

Once we had registered we got in line and waited for our turn to go through the security check and start climbing.  It didn't take long to get through the line and within 15 minutes it was my turn to start climbing up 147 flights of stairs.  I had told Dima that I wanted to complete my climb in 30 minutes or less so I started my climb at a fast but controlled pace, one I could manage for a long time without getting out of breath or having to stop.  I passed several people who had stopped at the landing between floors who had to catch their breath; I also passed several people who had a pace slower to my own but were still climbing.  Between every fifth floor there were paramedics stationed and they would yell encouraging words and say how many floors were left, I hated that.  I didn't want to know there were 40 floors left, just let me climb until there were no more no more stairs to climb!

(I have conquered the CN Tower in 23 minutes and 38 seconds!)

When I reached the top I knew my face was beet red and my gray Algonquin College shirt drenched with sweat.  I passed my time card to the volunteers and they clocked me in - 23 minutes and 38 seconds!  I couldn't believe my time card!  I was happy I beat my goal time but I couldn't believe I beat it by so much.  I did a happy dance while I looked at Toronto from the top of the CN Tower.  The couple from Ottawa completed their climb at 28 minutes and 40 seconds.

Thankfully we got to take the elevator down.  I took my time card and went to the timing station and received my t-shirt that had my race time on the back.  I look forward to wearing the shirt at the gym and making sure everyone sees my amazing time.  Now, what's next?  Bring on the Burj Dubai?

Sandwich Thursday: Huge Burritos @ Burrito Boyz

(Good things come wrapped in foil and paper bags @ Burrito Boyz)

Before we stopped at Burrito Boyz at the last leg of our mad dash to Toronto this past weekend I had to warn Dima that the last time I had the giant burrito was the day after a bachlorette party and my fond memories may have been tainted by a hangover.  We all know hangovers love food like burritos -crunchy, spicy, meaty, sloppy - so I wasn't sure if my fondness for the bagged burritos were because they were actually really, really good or because it was what my body was craving at the time.  Hoping I wasn't going to be ridiculed for my hangover food, we drove to College Street to try a few of these monsters.