It has been three weeks since my last entry and I've had some tasty March Munchies since then that I can't wait to share about.
Executive Summary:
March 3: My Birthday!
March 4: Birthday Supper at Aqua
March 4: Birthday Supper at Aqua
March 5: Chicken Nachoes
March 6: My take on a McGriddle
March 8: Pancake Day
March 10: Burgers
March 12: Smoked Salmon
March 13: Soft Shell Chicken Taco & Marshmallow Dream
March 14: Pork Tenderloin, Sticky Sauce with Carrots and Mash
March 15: Curry Quinoa and Shrimp
March 16: The La Casa Special at Quintana's
March 17: Press & Bean (See Feature Restaurant section)
March 18: Lilly's Landing
March 19: Pizza and Drinks!!
March is a crazy birthday month for family and friends and for me! My birthday is on the 3rd, my little brother Daniel's is on the 8th, my dear friend Krissy is on the 16th, my little sister Emily's is on the 21st, AND my boyfriend Josh's is on the 27th... phew! It's a busy month with a lot of eating out. Here's a little taste of March!
My Birthday
On my birthday I came to work and there was a cute little package on my desk from my bosses - Lindt gourmet truffles. These were the most decadent chocolates that I've ever had the pleasure to eat. Thanks!!!
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| Lindt Chocolates - These were all wrapped up on my desk at work from my bosses for my birthday! |
March 4
For supper the next day my super awesome boyfriend took me to Aqua. We had purchased our first Groupon for this restaurant and were anxious to get our grub on! Starters on the house were freshly made focaccia bread and a tuna/salmon tartare. I don't have a picture of it here, but Josh ordered a DELICIOUS item off of their menu: the lobster poutine. I ordered the crispy salmon with sticky rice, bok choy, star anise, pickled carrots, ginger and tamari... yea, yummy! We didn't even have room for desserts. Check out Aqua's menu here.
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| This was the amuse bouche at Aqua - tuna and salmon tartare |
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| Aqua - Crispy Salmon with Ginger on Sticky Rice |
March 5
I'm excited to be in my very first wedding party coming up this summer for one of my best friends. So we got together this month to put together the invitations for the special day. A friend of mine made these delicious chicken nachoes - definitely worth including!! That night I received a few gifts, because my birthday had just gone by. You'll see the neat serving bowls that I received from some friends in a picture below (March 6th), and a very cool birthday card! Inside was a strip that tasted like donuts! I've heard of scratch and sniff, but cards you can eat?! Very cool.
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| Chicken Nachoes at Stephie's Wedding Invitation construction night |
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| Peel 'n Taste Glazed Donut Strip!!! |
March 6
The morning after I spent with my friends and fellow bridal party, I was pretty hungry due to consuming the better part of a large bottle of wine and being a bit of a victim. Luckily I had anticipated this in advance and the day before I had prepared special sized pancake "buns". I made normal Aunt Jemima pancakes but used an egg circle to keep them a consistent size when I cooked them. I also added Aunt Jemima syrup to the mix, so they were flavored a lot like the McGriddle sandwiches at McDonald's. Next came Kirkland microwavable bacon, an egg and some cheese. Follow with a side of Hashbrowns and Coffee and YUM! (Note the cute white serving dishes that my friends gave me the night before!)
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| Homemade McGriddle-esque Sandwich |
March 8
Keeping with the theme of pancakes, we had to have them again because it was Pancake Day on the 8th (also my little brother Daniel's 9th Birthday).
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| Pancakes with butter - Just like on TV! |
March 10
Another yummy meal was one that Josh pulled together one day while I was at work. Inspired by Burger King's new Stuffed Steakhouse burger, he made hamburger patties stuffed with cheddar cheese and jalapenos. It was delicious!
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| Josh's take on Jalalpeno and Cheddar stuffed BK Steakhouse burgers |
March 12
On the 12th we decided that we were going to treat ourselves to a yummy supper of smoked salmon, capers, cream cheese and focaccia bread. It was the first time I'd had any really since our trip to Montreal at Trois Brasseurs where I had an open-faced sandwich. We served the smoked salmon with capers, cream cheese, thinly sliced onions, sour cream, gherkin pickles, lemon and wine. It was my favorite meal this month!
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| Smoked Salmon with Onions, Capers and Cream Cheese |
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| The Spread |
March 13
Josh and I have been craving chicken a lot lately, mostly because the stuff is so expensive these days that we rarely get to eat it. So we jumped on the idea of Chicken Tacos when we found some ground chicken on sale at Sobey's. My friend Melissa was in that weekend too, so we stopped by Chapters for some lattes and chatter. The Marshmallow Dream cookie is my dream cookie. Those of my friends from high school and university will note that I am a Rice Crispie Square FIEND of the most severe variety. These cookies are deadly!
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| Chicken Soft Shell Taco |
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| Marshmallow Dream |
March 14
I thought we had a couple of striploins in the freezer, however I was disappointed when I discovered that it was actually a pair of pork tenderloins. But I made lemonade out of lemons and dressed up the loin with a really tasty sauce that Josh's mother gave me. (See Feature Recipe Section)...
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| Pork Tenderloin, Sheila's Sticky Sauce, Mashed Potato and Carrots |
March 15
I've been wanting to try Quinoa for some time now and I finally bought some to experiment with! We used the quinoa as a substitute for rice in a stir-fry. We picked up some pre-made curry sauce and marinaded some large tiger shrimp in it before cooking and adding to the cooked quinoa.
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| Curried Quinoa and Shrimp |
March 16
My bff Krissy celebrated her birthday this month too - oh my God so many birthdays!!! But that also usually means a lot of take out and good eats in the month of March :) I had never eaten at Quintana's before, only at the upstairs nacho bar called Arriba's, so it took me forever to order off of the menu because I wanted it all. Here I ordered 2 beef tacos and 1 chicken enchilada, with a side of re-fried beans and Mexican rice. Yum! Next time I'll have to try Montezuma's Revenge....
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| The La Casa Special at Quintana's |
March 18
I had not been out to Gander since Christmas until this past weekend, so I was really excited to have been able to get out there despite the storm that hit central over the weekend. Almost as soon as we arrived we set out to Lilly's Landing - an airplane themed restaurant - to take advantage of some gift certificates the owners had generously given us at Christmas. I ordered the 2 piece fish and chips with a side of gravy, and Josh ordered the Mozza Burger with a side of taters. We were driving all day so the greasy feed was much welcomed!
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| Fish Chips and Gravy at Lilly's Landing |
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| Mozza Burger at Lilly's Landing |
March 19
Day 2 at the Abbott's in Gander was marked by a very yummy supper of homemade pizza, homemade garlic fingers with bacon bits, and Caesar salad. Everything about this meal was delicious! The pizza was loaded with 3 types of pepper, tomato, pepperoni, salami, cheese, onion and mushroom. The garlic fingers were the best I have ever had, with Parmesan and mozzarella cheeses and bacon bits. Top it all off with some of the Abbott's home-brew wine and you have a fantastic meal! But that wasn't all because later that night we even snacked on nachos and hickory sticks ;) Sheila also makes a mean Grasshopper (see the beautiful green bevvy below). It's made of cream de cacao, cream de menthe and whipping cream - yum!!!
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| The Delicious Spread at The Abbott's in Gander |
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| Homemade Garlic Fingers with Bacon Bits, Deluxe Pizza and Caesar Salad |
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| Sheila's Grasshopper! |
That concludes this month's Yummy Food Recap. I am very much looking forward to tonight's supper - CHILI! Shoutouts go to hickory sticks, whisky sours, $3 McCain pizzas, Lays new Kettle Cooked Chips, many varieties of cake, and RRRoll Up The Rim.
