Bircher Muesli

I know I've said it before, but I really, really like breakfast. I'll tear myself from the comfort of a warm bed at whatever early hour if I know there's a decent breakfast happening. When my classmates and I went to Berlin last spring, the hotel we stayed at had a huge breakfast buffet... SCORE.

I was rooming with my friend Marielle (we bonded early in the school year due to our shared sense of humour and obsession with good food; also, on the first day of class I found out she had met Lou Reed, sooo... I had to become friends with her, obviously). We would set the alarm and wake up extremely early so we could be the first downstairs at breakfast, where I had bircher muesli every time. If you haven't had it before, it's a kind of stick-to-your-ribs mix of softened oats, yogurt, shredded apple, and other yummy bits and pieces. It's filling, healthy, and customisable to your tastes.

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Sex and the City Cupcakes

Fair warning: this post contains content that is all kinds of girly. A miniature cupcake with a swirl of pink frosting, named after the girliest show on television... pinning it! I could go into all the trouble with anti-feminist caricatures and how the cupcake is a symbol of everything that's wrong with society, but I won't. That's not what we're here for.


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Sweet Potato & Kasha Pilaf

My all-time favourite place to eat in Montreal is definitely Le Commensal, a vegetarian/vegan buffet on Ste-Catherine and McGill College Ave. It's actually one of a chain of Commensals, but this location was my favourite - close to school and in the heart of the city, with a great view (especially at Christmastime, when the trees on McGill College Ave are lit up). Like Tibits, which I wrote about earlier, this buffet charges by weight (I love this idea: only paying for as much as you feel you want to eat). I went there with my roommate Jessica quite a bit, and I'm pretty sure every time we went we had the "I flippin' love this place" conversation all over again.


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Maldon: Earl Grey Shortbread

When I moved to England in 2010 to go to school, my friend Christina and I hadn’t found a place to live. We had been seriously stressing out about it for a month or two – we didn’t want to be homeless when classes started, but it was impossible finding a flat when we weren’t there to see it. Christina left a week before me, and by some "friend-of-a-friend" miracle she met up with Brad and Tony, also from Canada, who took her in to their home. When I landed at Gatwick a week later, Brad had driven well over an hour from Maldon, Essex to get me. At like 7 in the morning. Can you imagine doing that for someone you’ve never even met? I wouldn’t – I’m ashamed to say I’m not that nice.

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Baklava Muffins

I don't celebrate Easter at all - I mean, I do in the sense that there are usually Mini Eggs in the house around this time of year, but that's where the festivity ends. I spent the long weekend in Red Deer catching up with my mom (and sister, on the phone) and seeing my friends. There was shopping and dog-walking and Moxie's and beer pong. Classic.


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Pain Beauté (Montreal French Toast)

Two things I know for sure: I like art, and I like breakfast. And a combination of the two is a recipe for an ultimate Sunday, in my opinion. That’s how I first experienced the Brioche Beauty at Eggspectation in Montreal – a menu item that lives up to its name.  Grilled cinnamon brioche with fruit, yogurt and honey, and then a big long wander through the Musée des Beaux-Arts with two lovely friends? Yes please. 

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Mango Lassi

In the summer of 2010, I was in kind of a frenzy trying to gather all my documents and apply for a student visa (I’m glad that headache is over). The only visa office in Alberta is in Edmonton, so in July I went up for a long weekend – I had to go to my Border Agency appointment, but I also wanted to visit my brother and his girlfriend. After getting my appointment over with, it turned out to be one of the best weekends ever – Chai lattes (and bumping into an old friend) at Remedy, seeing the Escher exhibit at the AGA, getting to meet the band at a Wolf Parade concert with my friends Jenna and Jesse. Such is the sweet stuff of summer.

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