Toronto seems to be struggling with deciding to stay winter or change to spring.  The last few days, it'll change from blustery cold with snow to sunny bright sunshine the very next.  But, even as winter bids her adieu, she leaves us with a reminder of how beautiful winter can be.

Here are a few upcoming events that are fun or worth supporting which have piqued my interest!


EARTH HOUR 2013  24MAR13 @ 8:30pm - 9:30 pm or longer.  Definitely hope to take part in this annual global event.  Coordinated my workplace's effort towards this event.  This year, am happy to just be a participant.  Will be turning all non-essential lights out...No TV, not phones...No blogging tonight ;p

Click here for the official youtube video.  Very inspirational! 

Metro Zoo.  Panda Bears ready to face their admirers in May.  So cute.  Must visit!

Sparking Diva's.  Ladies networking event.  Sounds like a fun way to meet some new people and make some new friends. 

GreenDrinks.  Every third Wednesday.  I've been struggling with attendance. Something always seem to come up.  I have attended a number of them in HK and am keen to see how the two cities' approach the same event.

When I was a young kid, my parents decided it would be fun to bring their three little bamboo girls to a maple farm...We're proud Canadians after all and isn't that what every family does during March Break holidays?

But, not being particularly articulate at the young age coupled with the fact it would be a lost-of-face to complain about the could when your younger siblings haven't made a peep about it; I held my tongue for as long as possible.  When my feet went from uncomfortably cold to downright painful; I started to express my discomfort.  But, I suppose when one's got two younger kids to attend to...Well. there really wasn't much they could do other than to tell me to deal with it.  

But you see, I was and am (or so I've been told), a very impressionable child.  Images of blue toes amputated due to frostbite (I had been reading the Little House on the Prairie books about pioneers and the dangers of being frostbitten) and the fact that all fair maidens and princesses (I still entertain the idea that I'm a descendant from Chinese royalty from mom's side as her maiden name is a Wong and kings are known as Wong Dai) always had all their toes and fingers.  Bitter thoughts of how I was on the brink of losing my fingers and toes coupled with the chilly wind led to bitter tears as I fashioned up all sorts of pretend-headlines in the next day Toronto Star newspaper about this poor Chinese kid who lost her toes...Sacrificed so her parents could better attend to the needs of her younger siblings.  I'd be a heroine of sorts...Besides; as the eldest in the family, one hardly gets good roles in fairy tales as the eldest is almost always painted as wicked or selfish and thus it will be my duty to show that the eldest can also bring glory to family and country...

But I digress...And you can see why I had trouble expressing all that in the above at the age of 9ish.  Anyway, now as a full-grown articulate adult, I visited Mountsberg maple farm out in Halton.  

Quaint and informative as it is; this definitely something more suited for the young families or tourists who's new to maple farms.  Tickets were $7.25 each but family packages were available.  There are wagon/hay rides, maple candy demonstrations (and samples!); informative trails through the maple trees with signs explaining the process of turning sap into the maple syrup and everyone's favourite, the pancake house!  But very pricey!    I can't recall the exact price but was remembered feeling taken aback by it considering an admission fee was already taken. 

On the way out, we stopped at a small aviary for birds of preys.  The snowy owl was breathtakingly beautiful. 

All in all, it was an educational trip (I learned that a maple tree produces 50L of sap and that 40L of sap is needed to make 1L of syrup); a bit pricey as we finished it in about 40 minutes.  But, I can see for young families it can be a great outing for the kids. 

At $17.00 per admission ticket, it does seem a bit dear.  However, with admittance to both the National Home Shoe and Canada Blooms event, you are sure to have a busy day.  Fortunately, we were given a few free tickets and so decided to take advantage of it.

I worked at the CNE for about 5 summers as a youth and everytime I see Prince's Gate, I always remember fondly of my adventures while working there.  Fortunately, in this cold weather, the two events are hosted in the same building and connect into each other.

The National Home Show first.  It was HUGE and covered everything from booths promoting windows/doors producets and services, flooring, tiles, kitchen counters, patio furniture, home furniture, alarm systems, sinks and taps, lighting fixtures etc.  The massage chairs were awesome and once you're all laid out comfortably in one, you just don't want to leave...I had be pulled out one :p  There was a booth promoting sewing classes and I had a lot of fun making a small cosmetic bag.  There were also live cooking demonsrations and other small home-improvement demonstrations. 

I entered a few lucky draws...I know, I know...They just want your info to do marketing but I play along...Maybe, just maybe I'll win  something!   Don't mind the Canadian Tire cash card; a car, a VIA train trip or maybe even the portable sewing machine like the one I worked on!

After stopping for a little snack...A large order of freshly deep-fried onion rings washed down with a large free sample of iced tea from Keurigs; it was time to tackle the Canada Blooms exhibition.  Unlike the National Home Event, things were spread out more so it was less claustrophobic.  There were numerous vendors selling seeds and bulbs, floral care items, artisan crafts made with flowers or based on a floral theme. There were many different types of floral arrangment competitons...Two of my favourites were on the themes of wedding cakes and shoes. 

Ohh..What a feast.  We had some coupons for The Fish House and with everyone home from afar, it was time to celebrate!  Still thinking of my low-carb diet, I thought, 'no problem'...It's just fish after all.  Oh, but then there was the appetizer and then the dessert...Guilty!

Fish House, located on Woodbine Ave. serves up all sorts of seafood.  It'll cost a pretty penny but thanks to mom's quick thinking, had purchased some promotional coupons in earlier in the year.  Tonight, we ate like kings but did little damage to the wallet.

The place is suitably decorated with fishes decor dotting the walls.  There are wide booth seats as well as regular seats and a bar area too.  It was a busy day and our server was kept quite busy.  We ordered from both the regular menu and the special dinner menu.  There's Early Bird menu too for those who dine from 4:00pm - 6:00pm.  Seems like quite a good deal, including appetizer, main and dessert.  Next time.

Now check out what we had!  Most of the fish was salmon or tilapia and seems like the specialty here is for it be 'crusted' which is a topping of crushed pastachio or macademia nuts and served with two sides.  We had extra asparagus, daily vegetalbes (carrots, peppers, zucchini) and my favourite, sweet potato mash.  Warm crunchy bread was served together with our drinks.  We then sampled the clam chowder and fried calamari for appetizers...The chowder was thick and chunky and full of yumminess but the calarami I found to be too salty; actually I did find the overall meal a bit heavy on the salt side.  A lovely ley lime pie helped round of the meal.  It's tartness was refreshing of such a big meal. 

While there ain't much free these days...And if it is, do exercise some caution...But if it's coming from McDonalds?  You take it!  I don't care how my coffee aficionado friends swear by their gourmet cups of coffee...It's all caffeine in the end.  And if it's free, I say it tastes even better ;D

And nothing beats a nice, hot cup of free coffee after shovelling 3 rounds of wet and heavy snow.  When the driveway and sidewalks are cleared of snow and you're tucked warmly inside the familiar neighbourhood McD and only have the strength left to lift that fraqrant cup of coffee and play a little Sudoku from the free Metro News paper...Ahhh...Small pleasures, small pleasures.

Was out running a banking errand and decided to stop by a store, part of a chain, which was closing down.  There used to be one close to where I live but that must have been when I was still in elementary school.  Over the years, they started closing them down, one by one, especially when Wal-Mart came in.  Now that Target is coming, they just couldn't compete.  Big box stores are great...When it's raining or snowing, there's lots of aisles to wander about...But it's the smaller guys that have their own indpendent character and contribute to the local neighbourhood identity.

Anyway, with everything priced to go, I indulged by buying some games; Game of Life and Battleship in card form.  Hmm, it's been awhile since I played boardgames.  Maybe I should host a games night one day.  Too many kids and adults these days are glued to their electronic gadgets...Sometimes a good ole-fashion boardgame can be even more rewarding.

After shopping about, decided it was time for a coffee.  It's TIm's Rrroolll Up the Win time!  Saw a newsclip of this guy who one big...Made me feel like I needed a cup of coffee too and see if I'd win anything.  Nope...All I got was 'Please try again'.  How discouraging.

So, Day 2 of my no-carbs diet saw me grating cauliflower as a rice substitute.  Was not bad actually.

Stir-fry Cauliflower Rice with Tofu:
Ingredients:
-cauliflower, red bell pepper, onion, bok choy, ground beef,
-1 tube of smooth tofu
-crushed garlic, black pepper, salt

Instructions:
1.  Roughly cut up a cabbage into several large pieces.  Run each piece through a grater carefully creating small rice-like pieces.  Set aside.
2. Dice the red pepper, onion and bok choy.  Set aside.
3.  Brown the ground beef in a skillet.  Season with some salt, black pepper and chilli flakes as desired.  Set aside.
4. Heat a little olive oil in the skillet.  Add the garlic and brown lightly.  Add the grated cauliflower and stir-fry lightly for about 5 mins, stirring occassionally.
5.  Add the diced vegetables.  When cooked, stir in the cooked ground beef.   Add a dash of salt and black pepper.  Once everything is heated through, dish out in to serving bowl.
6.  Slice up tofu into 1cm think slices.  Heat a little oil in the skillet and brown the tofu on both sides.  Once cooked, layer tofu on the cauliflower rice.
 
TIPS:
**A variety of ingredients can be used such as diced carrots, peas or corn.

So in my attempt to tackle my muffin top and to achieve an overall sense of well-being, I decided to take up zumba with TDSB's Continuing Education program.  Was SO sore after my first class...Could really feel it going up and down the staires.  Thankfully, after my 3rd class tonight, I'm delighted to say I've picked up most of the steps and don't feel as tired now. 

It's a room full of ladies with similar health concerns so we're cheering each of us on...Especially at the halfway mark of each class.  The spring session is up for registration and I wonder how many of us are going to stick to it. 

With thoughts of weight, exercise and health on my mind, I found myself staring at a magazine on the rack next to the cashier at the neighbourhood grocery.  It talked about people who loved eating breads and pasta and having wheat bellies.  I superstitiously eyed my own tum-tum while I waited for my turn to pay and thought "Yup, I've got a wheat belly"  

So, starting tomorrow, I'm going on a 14 day no-carbs diet to see if it will make a difference.  More fresh fruits, veggies and lean meat for me....AND, I figured, since I've written this down here, I have to stick to it. 

I decided to reward myself for making a possible change to my health and diet with a nice croissant. 

Visited this the same day I did Allen Gardens.  Although there was only one hour left until closing, we decided to go for it anyway...It was a small little place so there was enough time.

Toronto's library MAP pass is awesome; so much so that I hesitate to promote it here...Free passes to various museums and historical centres and MacKenzie House was one of them.

Upon entering, an informative man shared with us information about MacKenzie's print shop.  As Toronto's first Mayor, it turned out he wasn't that rich at all and left behind debts.  Perhaps money was poured into his printing business or to the upkeep of their home.

Leaving the printshop, we were given a short guided tour of the ground level comprised really of a large room with dividing doors separating the parlour and the dining area.  The lady who led this guided portion was cheerful and knowledgeable and quite pleasant. 

We were left on our own to explore the upstairs portion;  two bedrooms and a storeroom/maid's room and the basement portion which housed the kitchen and pantry.  All the rooms were outfitted with furnishings appropriate for the time period though not necessarily original to the House. 

One cold, snowy weekend, we were looking for something to do INSIDE...Other than eating of course, which as you can see from my previous posts, is quite often.  As we were in the vincinty and having just fed ourselves a yummy brunch, we decided to give Allen Gardens a go. 

We were pleasantly surprised to find it bigger than it looked.  The attached conservatory held numerous colourful flowers and presents itself as great photo-ops for those looking for a colourful place to practice photography...Had a bit of fun myself playing with various camera features; mind you, I can't take credit for that lovely pic at the top of this post...Got it from Google ;p

Beautiful flowers, a little carp pond, colours galore...All in the middle of winter!

Now that we've admired the pretty flowers, look at what it was like outside!  Made me want to just stay in the garden!