Lemon Yogurt Mini-Cakes on City Bandit

Once upon a time, I made lemon yogurt mini-cakes.  

It’s been a while, but here’s the recipe. 

This is a spin-off of a classic French everyday cake.  I learned the recipe back when I was an exchange student in France from my host mother.  She made one of these cakes about every week, and I absolutely adored them.  They were so light and fluffy, not too sweet.  You could eat it as a snack, dessert, with cream or chocolate or berries; it didn’t matter, it was so versatile.

I find that making this cake in Canada, it works best in muffin tins.  I don’t know, maybe it is the consistency of the yogurt that we have here or something, but every time I’ve tried to make this cake in a cake pan, it always ends up turning into a tough and chewy mess.  In muffin tins however, they rise beautifully and have the most gorgeous golden colour.  

Button Sugar Cookies on City Bandit

Here’s a classic sugar cookie recipe, along with my directions on how to  turn your cookies into darling buttons on City Bandit.

It’s really not too difficult. Just roll out your dough…

Yogurt Mask on City Bandit

I talk about how to get a spa fresh face with a little yogurt, honey, and sugar on City Bandit.

I really love being able to head into your pantry, and use some all natural ingredients to feed your skin.  Effective, inexpensive, and gives you a feeling of pride being able to creatively throw together something out of what could appear to be nothing.  Whether we eat it or slather it on, it all ends up in the same place, anyway.

Not only is this mask great for your sun-stressed face, it also tastes damn good too.  Mmm mmm.

Crumb Topped Banana Muffins on City Bandit

I love breakfast.

This is the one meal I rarely ever skip, with the exceptions of the weekend mornings that I sleep in and then promptly resort to brunch.

My breakfasts during the week generally consist of a yogurt, a bowl of oatmeal, and fruit – usually chopped berries or a banana.  Everything is prepped to be on-the-go.  I usually eat my breakfast standing up as I wait for the metro, or at the hostess desk of the restaurant where I work, chowing down while I check reservations.

Bocadillo on City Bandit

I went again today to Bocadillo, a hole-in-the-wall on St-Laurent with crazy amazing Venezuelan food.  I was introduced to this place by a friend one night after school.  At first, my usual starving nature after class led me to fear that the food at Bocadillo was only good under hunger-fueled delusion.  After several other takes at this place, I can firmly assert that no, Bocadillo is just plain good. 

Now, I can’t say I’m a pro on what crazy amazing Venezuelan food is, but the intense number of South American individuals that flock this place make me pretty sure I’m right.   

This right here is the shizzle, and my order of choice: carne mechada empanada, tequenos, side of guasacaca. (Photo taken by my equally drooling roommate, Carlo.) 

Read the rest of my glowing recommendation here.

Macaroni Bar on City Bandit

Read the article here. 

Went to this supperclub-esque resto last year with a girlfriend (photographer of all following photos.)  I love going to places that just have fun with food, and create dishes with humor.  Restaurants that take food too seriously are no walk in the park.  Sometimes it is appropriate to go to a place like that, and sometimes after a long day, you’d rather go to a place where you don’t have to worry about laughing too loudly or using the wrong dinnerware. 

I’d probably get murdered by uber-foodies for using this word to describe the dishes, but how cute! Braised pork lollipops in the centre, the infamous gnocchi poutine on the right, and sliders in the background.  Sliders weren’t anything special, but they had me at poutine. 

Tasso Bar à Mezze on City Bandit

From mezze to mezze.

Went to this fabulous restaurant for my birthday last year.  I picked it because I love Greek food (especially grilled octopus), and I think tapas-style dining works well for groups.  Can neatly fit into anyone’s budget, and allows everyone to sample lots of different dishes.  

Amazing octopus – and not a stingy portion.  The saganaki lived up to its name.  Fantastic, fresh scallops that were light and perfectly seared.  

Obviously a big part of having a good restaurant experience is the food, but another huge consideration is the service.  You can have one of the greatest meals, but given a shitty waiter and terrible service, that’s all you’ll be able to recall.  And that’s all it takes.  One person asking you, “How was it?” and you responding “Worst. Service. Ever.” to put a potential restaurant visit – no matter how infamous the eats – onto a personal blacklist.  

Luckily, no such happenings at Tasso. 

The staff were beyond accommodating, fun, and helpful.  My friends had brought two cakes (something that I, only because I’ve worked at restaurants, would probably not have done) but they were sliced up and served without questions.  We were so ecstatic with the service that we offered cake to the staff, which they shyly accepted, but then quickly reciprocated by bringing out plates of Greek desserts on the house.  

Tasso Bar à Mezze was thoroughly impressive, and worthy of all the praise it’s been getting.