Sunday, September 5, 2010

apology to our blog

Where has the time gone? When we started Chubbi Bunnies a couple of years ago (June 2008, to be exact), we had the best of intentions to blog all the time.

But then we got lazy.
And busy.
And probably lazy again.

So the blog posts are rare and sporadic, but every time I think about blogging about food, I get excited again and have all these grand schemes in my head.

So, no more grand blog plans - just a simple promise that I will try to blog here at least twice a week.

Starting in October. LOL.

Why October? Because Suzisaurus and I will be travelling to Hong Kong and Tokyo together (along with our husbands) and what better way to "re-launch" the blog than with a TON of foodie photos and adventures halfway around the world?

Stay tuned! We'll be back soon with (hopefully) lots to share and a renewed passion for Chubbi Bunnies!

Thursday, June 10, 2010

eating vegas style

Last November (yes, I know, this post is a little late) my hubby and I went to Las Vegas for the first time. This was more a trip for him, as he had always wanted to go. Vegas wasn't high on my places of "must visit before I die" but I went along and happily planned all the great places I'd be eating at while I was there.

That's one thing about Vegas - if you're not a gambler (I'm not a gambler) but you're a food-lover (yep, that's me!) Las Vegas really has it all. There are SO many restaurants here, and so many celebrity-chef restaurants, that it's hard to know where to even start!


We ended up having breakfast every day at the Bouchon Bakery (by Thomas Keller), which was conveniently in our lobby and had the most amazing pastries. Check out the sticky bun and the lemon macaron! (That macaron was the size of the palm of my hand. Ok, I have small hands, but still...it was huge)



We also ended up spending our "one really good meal" at Bouchon (also Thomas Keller), which was in the Ventetian. Unfortunately, it was really dim in the restaurant and our food shots came out...very dim, so I'm only going to share the exterior restaurant shots for now. The waiter was amazingly nice and we had a really great dining experience here. The food was exactly what you would expect from a high-end Vegas celebrity-chef restaurant.


We both had a lovely soup du jour to start - I can't remember what it was, but it was green and creamy and was topped off with creme fraiche and truffle oil - and then hubby had a place of fresh oysters while I enjoyed the duck confit. For dessert, what else? Creme brulee.


We also HAD to (according to my hubby) eat at the Burger Bar, which is a really popular restaurant. You pick your bun, your meat and your toppings. Seriously - the best burger I've EVER had.

Hubby's Kobe beef burger, with mozzarella on a ciabatta bun.


My Angus beef burger, with mozzarella and priuscutto on a ciabatta bun.


Oh, while in Vegas I also had the best hot dog I've ever eaten - at Nathan's. By the time I got my camera out, it was already almost too late...


The guidebooks also told me I HAD to stop at the famous Jean Philippe Patisserie to gaze at the world's longest chocolate fountain...but I got distracted by their chocolate Louis Vuitton suitcase cake.



And I gained a few calories having their "must have" dulce de leche brioche (I'm drooling at the memory), although the powdered sugar made a mess.


There was also $7 gelatos, the Bellagio buffet and a few other food gems that I'm sure I've forgotten about.

Needless to say, I had an absolute fabulous time in Vegas and I can't wait to go back since there's still so many places to eat there!

Oh, in case you're wondering, after this trip was over, I had lost 4 pounds overall. Must have been all that walking from restaurant to restaurant.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

mmm...macarons!


My sister went to Las Vegas a couple of weeks and brought me back a SUPER treat.

When my hubby and I went to Vegas back in November, we stayed at the Venetian and every day we had breakfast at the Bouchon Bakery (it was in our hotel lobby). I got to try a different item every day (mmmm, macarons, chocolatines, sticky buns...)

Anyhow, we had told my sister and her husband about the Bakery and they ended up falling in love with it as well. So as a souvenir they brought us back a pack of Bouchon macarons!

Look at them!!! (Did I mention that these are HUGE? Like almost 2.5 inches wide!)

MMM....each one was a different flavour:
- pink: passion fruit (I think - it was fruity)
- green: chocolate mint
- yellow: lemon
- cream: vanilla
- light brown: coffee
- brown: chocolate

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Kaiseki Yu-Zen Hashimoto

As I mentioned earlier, me & Dave went to Kaiseki Yu-Zen Hashimoto to celebrate Valentine's day! Unfortunately customers are not permitted to take pictures in the restaurant, but their website is full of wonderful pictures and videos.

The tiny, but charming restaurant seats a maximum of 6 people and reservations need to be made well in advance, as the menu is catered to the amount of persons planned to eat at the restaurant each day.

It was definitely an incredible culinary experience and worth the money. The food was fantastic and you could really taste and feel the amount of passion and love for food the owner Hashimoto has.

We enjoyed a 6 course meal that was made up of mostly imported food from Japan. Most of the things we had never tried before, but everything had a very familiar and comforting taste.

At the end of the meal Hashimoto himself came out to thank us and chat with us. He chatted us about the food, the cuisine of Kaiseki and his experiences. We learned that a minimum of 10 years is required to master Kaiseki and the artform includes a more formal tea ceremony and even Ikebana floral arrangement.

I`m sad that he will soon be closing the Mississauga location and moving to the Toronto location in the fall, but I am happy that he will be continuing bringing this very unique and lovely experience to the area.

I don`t think my short review does this dining experience justice, but I definitely encourage you to check out their website and the below mentioned Toronto Life magazine to learn more about the art of Kaiseki.

For a comprehensive review, check out the article found in Toronto Life written by James Chatto.

sencha green tea


While eating at Kaiseki Yu-Zen Hashimoto , me & Dave fell in love with the green tea they served us, so we asked what it was and where we could purchase some.

They directed us to the cutest little tea shop, Ko-no En, located in the Japanese Cultural Centre in Toronto (near Eglinton and Don Mills). We purchased 100g of Sencha green tea leaves (imported from Japan) and are excited to brew some at home and enjoy the sweet green tea we enjoyed during our Kaiseki dinner

Sunday, January 31, 2010

spaghetti squash

I was watching Dr. Oz and he was doing another bit about losing weight and one of the recipe substitutes mentioned was using spaghetti squash instead of pasta, with pasta sauce.

I've always wanted to try cooking spaghetti squash so I picked one up while grocery shopping today.

I cooked it according to the label that came stuck on the squash (baking in the oven) and eating it with pasta sauce, and it wasn't halft bad. Although it is more expensive than eating pasta and a little more time intensive.

Eating healthy & low calorie sure hurts the wallet.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Kaiseki Yu-Zen Hashimoto

Me & Dave are going to Kaiseki Yu-Zen Hashimoto to celebrate Valentine's day! Unfortunately customers are not permitted to take pictures in the restaurant, but I'm still super excited!

Sunday, January 17, 2010

cheeseburger cupcakes

As I mentioned in a previous post, I found a cute tutorial on how to create cheeseburger cupcakes!

I had a go at it today and they turned out not TOO shabby for a first attempt. Check out the pictures -

Friday, January 15, 2010

wasabi (mississauga)

Me and Dave had dinner at Wasabi Japanese Buffet (Mississauga location) tonight. I am STUFFED!

It's brand new and it's gigantic! It's so much better than the other locations we've been to in Scarborough and Richmond Hill! The service is 100-times better and there is a lot more food to choose from.

But, I think my favourite is still Prince Sushi for Japanese buffets in Mississauga. If you can get a table at Prince Sushi and like more authentic Japanese food I would recommend it.

If you're wanting to try out either Wasabi Japanese Buffet or Prince Sushi they're located on Hwy. 10 (Hurontario) at the Courtney Park AMC complex.

bakerella


Wow, check out this site - Bakerella !!! I love it! I can't wait to try some of these goodies!

Thanks to Sweet Things for introducing me to the site!


Those are cupcake & brownie hambergers and cookie fries in the picture above in case you're wondering!

Images from: bakerella.com