Let's Go To The Ex Pt. 2: The Food Building

In today's coverage of the Canadian National Exhibition, I'm going to talk a little bit about everyone's favourite part of the CNE: stuffing yourself stupid in the food building.  Yes, The Ex has a whole building dedicated to nothing but food.  Indeed, everyone who I spoke to about going to The Ex had the same goal in mind, "to eat all of the fried things".  Word.  For.  Word.  ALL  of the fried things.  Friends, that's a goal we can achieve, but the biggest obstacle to overcome is the daunting task of having to choose from the extraordinary amount of variety of deliciousness that shouts at you from every possible vantage point.

To illustrate how insane the food building is, I present to you, a panoramic shot of roughly 1/6 of the food building.  Open this puppy full size, and just let that all sink in.  You too can eat this much (if not this WELL) at the CNE.

This was my first panorama attempt, and except for Oriental Express and the now headless guy in front of PULL'D, I'd say it came out smashingly!

 

It really is a tough choice to make, though there are no bad decisions here (well, relatively speaking.  EPIC Burgers and Waffles did give dozens of people food poisoning with their cronut burger, and none of the food in this building is likely any good for you whatsoever.  Tread lighly, dear friends.  Pace yourself).  Personally, I opted for a couple veggie samosas from Ghazale, while Ephraim enjoyed a lobster roll.  I refused a blooming onion at the time, and I have regretted it every day since the fair.  Next time, I'll wear my eating pants, and not a high waisted skirt.  How foolish of me!

For dessert, we enjoyed the carnival staple, funnel cake.  If you're not familiar with funnel cake, I'm so sorry, and this is what it looks like:

It's basically deep fried dough with some sort of "fruit" topping, and icecream.  Funny story about funnel cake, years ago my family went to Canada's Wonderland (an amusement park, that has nothing to do with Canada at all) and ordered funnel cake with strawberry topping.  My step mother asked the man at the funnel cake stand if it was made with fresh strawberries.  We all laughed at her. I mean, all of us.  My dad, my brother, myself, the guy running the booth, we all just laughed.  You do not eat funnel cake for the fruit.  You eat funnel cake for the high you get from cheating death when you finish the thing and you haven't had a heart attack yet.  

And really, that's what the food building at The Ex is all about: eating really, really badly for a day, and loving every minute of it.  Enjoy all of the fried things, and feel accomplished when you manage to eat more than you thought humanly possible.  Because the CNE happens but once a year, and you aren't braving these lines twice.

--Erin

Let's Go To The EX pt. 1: The Flower Competition

Last weekend, Ephraim and I went to The Ex, a.k.a. the CNE, a.k.a. the Canadian National Exhibition.  Think of it as a massive carnival, taking place for the last two weeks of August, every summer.  I (and many) think of it as an excuse to eat "all the fried things", and take a turn on some intensely overpriced rides.  You know, good clean family fun.  The CNE is more than just a carnival, with Dog and Horse shows, Acrobatic displays, food and tchotchke vendors from around the world, and one of my favourites, the floral competitions.  It also tends to be one of the only quiet areas of the CNE, so it's a perfect spot to relax a moment, enjoy the air conditioning, and take gratuitous photos of beautiful flowers.

Who am I to refuse? Enjoy the gratuitous pretty.

This first place arrangement incorporated my favourites of the winning flowers.  Plus, it's in my favourite colour scheme! I told Ephraim to feel free to think along these lines next time he wants to buy me flowers... haha, yeah, right!

After spending all that time walking through the competition, and going through my photos afterward, I feel it's really confirmed for me that when we do manage to clear a sunny patch in Ephraim's front yard, I'd really love to plant some Dahlias.  They're so gorgeous, and come in amazing sherbert-like colours!  At least, that's where my mind goes.  Straight to rainbow sherbert from Baskin Robins...perhaps the only food vendor I did NOT see at the EX.  But the food building is another story, saved for another day!

--Erin

Paradigm Designs at the Spring One of a Kind Craft Show

Paradigm Designs once again graced The Direct Energy Centre at Exhibition Place this past week, as part of the Toronto Spring One of a Kind Craft show.  I lent a hand minding the booth to give the artist a much needed dinner break, as well as to help pack up at the end of the show on Sunday.  Needless to say, I can't turn down an opportunity to photograph pretty sparkly things, and I did, abundantly.  And that's all there is to say about it.  Now look at the shiny things!

--Erin

Day Trippin' Down Memory Lane: Newtonbrook Bowlerama

As a kid, I was always a huge fan of bowling.  My parents were both in a bowling league before they had kids, and as far as a fun family activity goes, bowling always won out.  It didn't hurt that there was a reasonably priced, delightfully scuzzy bowling alley in our neighbourhood (which was also the neighbourhood my mother grew up in!), the Newtonbrook Bowlerama.  All of my childhood birthday parties were here: greasy pizza, gutter bumpers and all.  One time, I even out-bowled two teenage boys the next lane over, when I was young.  Now, I'm very much out of practice, and must have just been killing it that day when I was 10, because I barely broke 100 this trip out.  It didn't really matter, though.  Just seeing the incredible lack of any updates to the Bowlerama whatsoever made it all worth while... it was a total trip back to the mid 90's!!

Yes, I do have the most ridiculous bowling form ever.  I look like a gentleman bowing.  I don't know where I got it from, but any attempts to correct it were just an utter failure.  I'm doomed to forever look like an idiot when I bowl.  Tragic, really!  Thanks for taking a peek at a fond childhood memory with me :)

--Erin

Photo an Hour: February 2013

Okay, so though not all of my goals for 2013 have been so consistent, this whole Photo-An-Hour thing is totally happening!
For your viewing pleasure: an errand-filled February day.  Looking back on these photos has made me realize how tragically un-spring-like the weather is, this late into March.  Yuck!  Warm weather, you had better be around the corner!!

10 am// a quiet morning.  Rise and shine!

11 am// doing a bit of blogging in bed (the best place to blog.  The couch is a close second)

12 pm// the end of an era.  None of the goth stores on Queen Street seem long for this world.

1 pm// queen street, you really have changed.

2 pm// bridal shop spikes

3 pm// creeping on Ephraim as a photographer took his photo for The Globe and Mail

3 pm// I tried my hand at car modelling, too!

4 pm// checking out Star Wars on blu-ray (oh, yes, it's good!!)

5 pm// half off day is best day.

6-7 pm// driving home from a Michael's Crafts run and having some dinner

8 pm// catching the bus back to St. Catharines

And with any luck, folks, that'll be the last Greyhound I ever ride to or from the Niagara region.  Having a car is the best!!!

And for anyone else observing Passover (or Pesach, in hebrew), I hope you have a great Seder the next two nights! I'm really looking forward to seeing my extended family tonight.  This is the one time of the year that we can get all 60 or so of us in the same room! Yeah, I have a gigantic family.  The "smallest" Seder we had was something like 45 people.  Insanity!!
 

--Erin

OOTD: Broken Hearts and Polka Dots

This necklace is the first, and thus far only, piece of clothing or jewelry I have bought over the internet.  I don't own much jewelry (really!), but the moment I saw this piece made by the now defunct Paraphernalia, I knew I had to have it.  Wearing it is a weird confidence booster for me, so naturally I wore it to a certain infamous (in my eyes) grad school interview a couple years ago, where, long story short, it broke.  And long story shorter, I didn't fix it until a couple weeks ago.  But now my baby is back, and I'm going to wear her all the time.  Because I'm cool like that.

This outfit totally reminds me of my earlier high school days, when I wore a lot of black clothing.  That's probably mostly because I actually thrifted this skirt around that time, though it looked pretty different back then.  Inspired by the high-low gothic skirts I was seeing in shops like Silver Cross and Sirens (for all my Toronto readers; how's that for a flashback? Before Queen West was a strip mall!), I altered this skirt for a similar vibe.  Turns out I was about 7 years early on that trend, but it's cool, my patience paid off, and I have always loved the hem of this skirt.  Makes me remember learning how to so (mostly by trial and error).

The Deets:

Top: Hand-me-down (Bubbie)

Bustier: Danier, hand-me-down (Step-Mom)

Belt: Anthropologie

Skirt: Thrifted, altered by me

Tights: a billion years old

Boots: Leone (not sure of the brand, oops!)

Bag: Hand-me-down (Step-Mom)   Makeover story here
Necklace: Paraphernalia (no longer open)

We took these pictures in a back alley after a very pleasant afternoon out shopping.  I picked up a gift for my little sister's birthday next month (she loves the Big Bang Theory and I am determined to make her into a real nerd, not just someone who thinks nerds are fun to laugh at), and a quick trip to the comic book store Ephraim and I both prefer.  I should do a dedicated post on them some time, but if you're in Toronto and you've never been to The Beguiling on Markham street, your life is sad and empty and you should fix that (stop by the Victory Cafe afterward! Yummy!)

For some back alley shots, the lighting in these sure was pretty.  Also we look like such hipster scum in these portraits.  I kind of love the shot of Ephraim especially.  One of the things I've been wanting to work more on in my photos is lighting, especially getting the hang of lens flare (which I did VERY successfully in some of my 365 challenge, as you'll see in this post.  That's not a filter!), and I think the lighting coming through the fence and branches in that shot is just so lovely.  Plus I like his face.  So there you have it!

--Erin

Super Brunch Sunday: The Gem

Now that it's no longer my restaurant-less November, I'm expanding Super Brunch Sunday to include restaurants (the majority of which will be located in the Toronto area). I love brunch, and the one thing I like more than eating it, is not having to cook it myself.  I'm sure I'm not the only one.

 The Gem, located on Davenport at Ossington in Toronto, is more renowned for their nachos and beer (SO GOOD by the way.  And the burrito is nice.  Great vegetarian options for once!), but they prepare an outstanding brunch spread on Sundays as well.  From 12-4pm, all kinds of eggs, french toast, home fries and much more can be YOURS! On this day, I ordered the butterscotch pancakes.  They were perfectly fluffy, but honestly the butterscotch chips tended to clump together and were too sweet! Next time I think I'd just get the regular pancakes, because the texture was just perfect! 

Ephraim got the eggs over medium with bacon and french toast.  We both have a sort of "standard" breakfast order, and this is his! I love that for the toast they give you a big hunk of toasted baguette, well buttered.  I am totally a butter person.  I don't care how well margarine spreads, I'll never pick it over butter!

One of my favourite parts of The Gem is the decor.  Unfortunately I didn't capture the best of it, as there was a small brunch crowd and I got all self conscious about having my camera out.  We go every couple of weeks though, so expect a supplementary post chalk full of Elvis busts, Pin Up wall art, and lots and lots of glitter.  OH the glitter! I did get a couple shots of our table for your enjoyment.  All of the tables at the Gem are topped with glass, but the table tops themselves are filled with postcards, business cards, doodles, photo booth pictures, the works.  I've added a couple pieces to the tables in the last year, and it's pretty fun to see a ticket from a show you went to (but someone else's seat!) or a card from your friends business, while you sit down to a pint or some eggs.  It's my favourite neighbourhood haunt!

--Erin

** apologies for the tardiness of this post! I was home ill yesterday and just wasn't up to looking at any food that wasn't toast or tea.  Feeling much better today, but still taking it pretty easy.  Hope you're all having a good weekend so far!**

One of a Kind Christmas Show

Craft show season is upon us! And it's my favourite.  This past weekend I went to the One of a Kind show in Toronto.  One of a Kind puts on a GIGANTIC craft show twice a year, with their Christmas show being the larger of the two.  And it's huge.  I mean it took us a couple hours to walk the whole show, and that had us stopping at only a few booths! I tend to do the whole circuit, grab business cards, and then loop back to make purchases after I've thought them all through.  And I will share those purchases, but I'm saving that for another day! I didn't take too many photos at the show because a) many of the booths had no photography signs up and b) it was a total mob scene, because it was the last day.  But here are a couple snaps from the show.  If you're in the Toronto area and you've never been, you'd better get your butt in gear for the next show in the spring! 

I love going to craft shows with Ephraim because it's a good chance to be able to see what kind of stuff he likes, particularly when it comes to clothing items! His mother's company Paradigm Designs has been showing at the One of a Kind shows for years, so many of his gifts have come from local vendors over the years.  It was really exciting to discover a new vendor, Breed Knitting, a men's knitwear clothing company from Montreal.  They sadly don't have a webstore yet, and they ran out of every size except for small at the show! Their wares were gorgeous, and I already told Ephraim we'll have to hunt them down at the spring show so I can have him try on stuff to buy him a gift.  They had a lot of optical illusions knit into their sweaters, plus knit bow ties! Their booth was really slick looking too!

Ephraim's long time favourite Yve's Drop had one of the coziest booths at the shop, with a cowhide rug, fireplace, and lots of rich wood as a backdrop to their screen printed men's ties.  They also had this very dapper looking mannequin. 

Well, that's it for now! This coming weekend is City of Craft, and I aim to get some more in depth photos of the goings on.  As well, expect a post in the near future of all my craft show scores! I got to focus on myself as I got my holiday shopping done nice and early.  Lucky me! Now I just have to wrap everything up for channukah this weekend.  I guess I know what I'm doing after work tonight!

--Erin