cannon coffee co.

I love, love, love Cannon Coffee Co!  It is just the type of coffee house that the east end needs.  Cannon Coffee Co. is on the corner of Ottawa and Cannon, and has a gorgeous wide angled street view from their corner window.

Opening its doors just in time for the Christmas rush, owners Anne Cumby and Cindy Stout are serving up some of the best coffees in the city using locally roasted beans from Detour, Red Hill, and (soon to be added to the roster) Speakeasy, AND they are also baking muffin tops (yeah I know how is that even possible!?) cookies, scones and other delicious sweet treats too.

When we stopped in for a mid Friday afternoon coffee the shop was successfully abuzz with nothing but people who were just really excited to drop in and check out the fresh new space and have a coffee.

Cindy and Anne are so sweet and charming, and happily chatted with Steve and I about how they put their whole space together.  No doubt the ladies have been working hard to get everything set up and ready to go.  It really is a true work of inspiration and dedication and they have definitely been successful in creating a unique space where you just want to sit and look out those big wide windows for hours.

The light installation is the work of Toronto designer Enoch Khuu.  The table art book is a published work of photographs and artwork by the super talented Brooks Reynolds, whom I believe is a Hamilton local.

Original tiles and ghostly blue-grey hand finished pine plank floors.

This was honestly the best latte I’ve ever had (thanks Cindy!).  Mine is on the right. I take it with a little swirl of honey.  I swear with each sip I would sigh and say something really cliché in all seriousness like “mmmm this is so delicious I could die”, or “this is the best latte ever”.

Owners Cindy Stout and Anne Cumby.

*179 Ottawa St. north, kitty corner from Steel Town Pickers, open T-F 8-8. S 9-8. Sun 10-6. 905.912.1980

morning feast

Merry Christmas!  I know I’m a little late but I still wanted to post some photos of Christmas.

When I picked up my parent’s old box of Christmas decorations, I was really looking to score the beautiful and delicate glass balls that I remember from when I was little.  One day we’ll get a Christmas tree but being a treeless house this Christmas I thought displaying them in some vases would do too.  I especially love the pink one below.

The latest tradition to develop in my family around Christmas time is to have a delicious Christmas morning breakfast of savoury treats, meats, and cheeses -my favourite!

This year we hosted Christmas breakfast at our place and was it ever a feast.

My father had made a special request to have tator tots as part of the spread -you can never go wrong with some tots! SO we had tots, a cheese fondue, meats, other various cheeses, crostini, spicy pickles, pâté, caviar, jams, jellies, coffees and teas.  I would love to start any day with a feast like this.

aga & eggs

If you don’t know what an AGA is… it is truly a wonderful thing.  It is a cast iron, gas running, super heavy (1052 lbs!), radiant heating, 2 burner beast of a beauty of an oven.  It is definitely a different kind of cooking and living experience.  Eggs get fried here on the hot plate, or in the oven, biscuits get baked and stews get simmered, AND one of my favs bedsheets, and laundry get toasty warm and dry in minutes next to the AGA.  It is a super nice wintery treat to have one of these in your home.

We visited some friends in Guelph, who inherited and AGA from their parents.  They made us the best eggs ever served on a pita with yoghurt, fresh orange juice, and some really good coffee. Mmmm.

An AGA is so heavy that if you had one  in your home you’d have to reinforce the supports in the floor or basement.  Our friends added a couple floor jacks in their basement.

After breakfast we all got down to business and helped build an intricate train track system, which sprawled across the living room floor (the way a train track should).  We passed some easy hours of train tracking, train derailments and constant bridge reconstruction.

bmore

Baltimore House opened its doors last week on King William!  It’s a great spot and charmingly decorated in all its gothic goodness.  I had about 30 minutes before work one morning to stop by and grab a coffee.  I got an americano and besides being amazing, it was rich, full-bodied, creamy, not too bitter, AND it kept me going for the rest of the morning.

I’d like to stop by again to check out their Victorian parlour (when it opens in the new year), where I’d like to spend a snowy afternoon reading and relaxing in a comfy and cozy chair.  Especially now that the course I’ve been working on is wrapped up and done I will finally have the time to enjoy a place like this.

I’ve heard great things about their sandwiches too, so I will definitely be back to do some more food drink sampling.

Bmore  I think you’re my Hamilton dream come true. Did I hear talk of film nights, and a theatrical production of the Importance of Being Ernest, or am I just making this up?  AND a regular night for album spotlights (open mic for vinyl every Tuesday)!  Amazing.

For more reading on Baltimore House check out the Spec’s feature article here.

*Baltimore House, 43 King William St., Hamilton, 289.396.4830

gorilla cheese

I experienced my first Gorilla Cheese grilled cheese the other day and it was delicious!

I heard that the Gorilla Cheese truck was going to be parked across the street from our house so I made extra sure that I would be coming home for lunch that day.  All morning long I was anticipating the cheesy tendrils of this treat, and fantasizing about the gooey melty cheesiness of a real good grilled cheese.

I didn’t think there would be much of a crowd ordering from the truck since our house is located in a weird in between corktown/downtown mixed commercial residential area.  Clearly I was out of touch with just how much daytime commercial population is in the neighbourhood because there was a good solid crowd of 15-20 people waiting for their grilled cheeses!

Once we got to the truck there was some debate as to which sandwich to get. I hmm’d and haa’d about my selection and was stuck between the OG (Original Gorilla) -better than your momma’s grilled cheese, aged Canadian cheddar on white or multi or the Sarducci -mozzarella, red onion, fresh basil, tomato, balsamic glaze on multi. I eventually settled on the Sarducci for $7.50.

I have to admit that I thought $7.50 was a little steep for just a grilled cheese, however, I was not disappointed. First off the grilled cheese is not just any grilled cheese it’s a Gorilla Cheese and it is huge! I could’ve probably had a meal of just a 1/2 portion. The bread was delicious (crispy and buttery), plus you get a tasty pickle as a side. I swear carrying two grilled cheeses back to our house to eat from fresh off the truck it felt like I had 5 pounds of grilled cheese in my one hot little hungry hand. So in conclusion for $7.50 I don’t think you could have a tastier grilled cheese sandwich. Definitely a special treat that I would pick up again.

Way to go Hamilton for starting a food truck revolution! I missed the food truck rally back at the end of September, but have heard there’s a mini one coming up on Ottawa Street for 3 Fridays starting on December 9th 11:30am-2:30pm with Gorilla Cheese, Cupcake Diner, El Gastronomo, and Bonfire Catering.  My hope is to sample some wood fired pizzas from Bonfire Catering.

saucey

We had a pretty successful summer harvest of tomatoes this year.  The beefsteaks were so massive and juicy and the romas weren’t bad either.  When there were just too many tomatoes to eat Steve started making some simple tomato sauces and freezing them.  The goal was to eventually get it all into one pot and make one real mean sauce, like one that cooks on the stove for hours and hours.  That is just what we did.

The sauce was a great success.  I love that as we use it we can add other ingredients to change up the flavours.  Homemade soups are our next venture, and then our freezer will be all set for multiple winter meals.

in the nick of time (i hope)

I know that garlic is supposed to be planted in mid October but since the weather has been so mild I hope that it’s alright that I just planted our garlic last weekend!  Last fall when we went to Tregunno Seeds for some bulbs, garden supplies and garlic. Unfortunately we saw the last bunch of garlic walk right out the door 2 minutes before we had a chance to buy any.  It took me a little while to figure out that you can buy any good sized organic garlic from the farmer’s market and just plant that.

So last year was my first time planting garlic.  By the time I had my garlic ready to go it was so late into the fall that the ground was frozen.  I had to do some serious soil thawing and maneuvering to get the cloves in the ground.  As a result his year we harvested tiny miniature garlics (but man they were potent!).

Lesson learned garlic goes in the ground before the ground freezes!  I hope that I was still in time for a better garlic harvest for next year.  Can’t wait for the garden again in spring!

33 ain’t bad

For a really long time I had been wanting to go to South Sea Chinese restaurant on Ottawa St.  Usually I can’t make it past the South Sea signage without stopping to peer and sometimes even gawk through the front windows.  The restaurant is stuck in a majorly wicked time warp.  Chinese taverns like this really bring me back to Chinese restaurants from my youth (they have the Chinese zodiac paper placemats and everything!).  This particular restaurant has been around for 28 years and probably has not changed much since the day it first opened.

As a special treat for my 33rd birthday we decided to indulge in a nostalgic  culinary and atmospheric journey of  true Chinese Canadian cuisine as it would’ve been circa 1983.  If you want chicken balls, egg rolls, fried rice, honey garlic spareribs, and chow mein; just some good ol’ classic North American Chinese you can’t go wrong with South Sea.  Who knows how long restaurants of this era will stick around for?  I feel like they’re quickly becoming vintage relics of their own kind.  If you’re interested in learning more about the unique history of Chinese restaurants in small towns across Canada (there’s basically at least 1 Chinese restaurant in every town no matter how small!) then you should pick up Eating Chinese: Culture on the Menu in Small Town Canada.  Author Lily Cho can give you the real historic low down.

What girl doesn’t love sparklers on their birthday!?  After South Sea Steve suggested we have a tea out back, and then he busted out the sparklers!  This was still during the lovely and unusually warm fall nights from about a week back, so it was just about the most perfect and beautiful way to end the celebrations of my 33rd birthday. Thanks Steve!

*South Sea Restaurant, 282 Ottawa St. north, Hamilton, 905.545.0352

paris

Oh, Paris… Paris, Ontario that is. A few weeks back Steve and I stopped by the small town of Paris, Ontario. The town is 160 years old and is at the cross section of two major southern Ontario rivers; the Grand River, and the Ninth River.

Although Paris is beautiful, it is not, as one might think, named after la belle ville de Paris because of it’s notable elegance and beauty.  In fact, the town of Paris, Ontario actually bares no resemblance or connection to Paris, France whatsoever.  It’s name actually came to be as a result of the large amounts of gypsum found in the area, which is used in the making of plaster of Paris.  It is also the location of where the first long distance telephone call was received by Alexander Graham Bell.

Oh, Paris you do not cease to amaze me!

Spring time in Paris as the sign connotes would be beautiful.  But I would chance a guess that fall in Paris, Ontario would be just as picturesque.  The river is lined with trees, and is banked with a row of old buildings that overlook the Grand.  I remember when I took the train in to visit Steve at his artist residency in Windsor going by Paris and thinking to myself that I definitely wanted to stop through this charming town.

If you do ever find your way to Paris, Ontario in fall, spring or summer, you can rent a canoe or kayak and do some river cruising, while enjoying the scenery.  There are also the rail trails that extend from Hamilton to Brantford and then Brantford to Paris.  I saw a lot of bikers on the Paris rail trail as we made our way out of town.

One of the best parts of our trip to Paris were the treats!  I had a black cherry ice-cream from the ice-cream shop across from the Canadian Tire that had been retrofitted into a historic old building (why can’t more cities do this!).  We picked up some sweet and delicious treats form the Paris Bakery for the road.

Then we went for a coffee at the Brown Dog Coffee and Frittery.

Yes, yes you can! You can get apple fritters, cheese cake fritters, & a banana split fritter!

Fresh apple fritters!  What a fantastic fall treat.  Coincidentally the city of Waterdown as of September 23rd will be home to the 2nd 3rd Brown Dog Coffee & Frittery.  So this means that I’m just that much closer to having fresh apple fritters paired with super amazing coffee on a more regular basis.  Mmmmm.

*Brown Dog Coffee Shoppe & Frittery, 63 Grand River St., Paris, ON, 519.302.0722

*Brown Dog Coffee Shoppe & Frittery, 312 Dundas St., Waterdown, ON.

festival food

The summers around here are filled with festivals and small town fairs.  Along with festivals and fairs comes festival food.

One of the early summer festivals we hit up was the Turkish Festival at Gage Park. My favourite was this savoury Turkish pancake, called a Gozleme.  It’s a thin buttery bread stuffed with parsley and feta cheese and then pan fried right in front of you on special hot plate that looked like an inverted hot steel bowl.

I went to the Winona Peach Festival for the 2nd time in the past 3 years.  I do have to be honest in saying that I will probably not go back. This year I went strictly for some food tasting, but I did not find much that would warrant another visit.

We sampled the ribbon chips, which were probably the best purchase of the evening.  The chips are thinly peeled into a giant long ribbon from one whole potato, then deep fried into golden crisp goodness.

The peach sundae was good, but like much fair food, was overpriced, and nothing that I wouldn’t be able to whip up at home with some fresh and local peaches, vanilla bean ice-cream and some whipped cream.

These deep fried panzerotti balls were the biggest disappointment.  What one would think would be awesome cheesy deep fried goodness, was just pretty much over processed crapiness.  I was looking for something a little more homemade.

We also stopped by the Cactus Festival in Dundas, which was your typical mid town fair.  There was a huge variety of food vendors, including fair classics like elephant ears, funnel cake, deep fried butter, mars bars, plus items from poutine, sweet potatoe fries, to Indian Currries and gourmet burgers.

In my many visits to Dundas I had never noticed the little Ukranian grocers until this day.  I was so excited to see the shop that I couldn’t resist indulging in some pierogies and kielbasa.  I can only dream that one day somewhere nearby there might be a pierogi festival.

My only warning to you if you do ever decide to head to the Cactus Festival, be aware that the festival population is composed of about 99.9% 12-15 year olds.  Just to give you a better picture, there was a bouncer at the McDonalds to assist with teen crowd control.