Mambo Italiano

As we all know, we spend more time with our coworkers than we do with our friends and family.  A sign of the times in modern society, but I however, am truly lucky to have some pretty great coworkers at this point in my life (not always the case as for the majority of my working life I have worked with some effed-up characters).   I am even lucky enough to call some of these coworkers friends. 

So when you spend this much time with a group of people it is only natural that they have an influence on your life.  So, as per Audrey, Carlos and Peter, I am officially the "honorary scozzese italiano amico" - or honorary Scottish Italian friend. 

I prefer the term "Britalian" because our culture exchange works both ways.  Peter has introduced the phrases "mi piace" and "no mi piace" into my everyday vernacular.   I have introduced the phrase "blokey" into Carlos' vocabulary.  Audrey (after being horrified by the fact that I had never tried Nutella) promptly procured a jar for me to try (thanks for putting that delicious monkey on my back Audrey!).  I returned the favour by turning her on to the "proper" sour flavour of British pub-style pickled onions.

I am hooked on all things Italian.  Therefore a trip to Toronto's Little Italy was in order.  Little Italy is officially the area that borders around College Street between Bathurst and Ossington up to Harbord Street.  Although it cannot compare to Little Italy in Manhattan (there are now various Thai and shawarma restaurants scattered in the area), there are still some great gems to be found.

Bar Italia is one of these gems.  The staff are informative and friendly and the food is authentic.  Without exaggeration, it is probably the best Italian meal that I have had this year (and trust me - thanks to my work mates I have eaten at a LOT of Italian restaurants this year).

We started off with the Crostini Al Gorgonzola, served with roasted red peppers and marinated mushrooms.  Don't let the small portion fool you - it is super rich and it is just enough for two people.  I highly recommend pairing this with one of their fine red wine selections.

When in Rome (or a reasonable facsimile)...I had the Chianti...The Fella had the Moretti Forni beer.

I had the Bucatini Con Broccolini - fresh pasta with broccolini, roasted cipolini, roasted garlic, chili peppers, basil, olive oil and parmesan cheese.  It was out of this world delicious!

The Fella had the Spaghetti Bar Italia - fresh pasta with a home made tomato and basil sauce topped with locally made hot Italian sausage.  I could not help but to steal some of his meal.

"Britalian" at it's finest - the Italian Scooter a la British Mod chic!

 

 

 

A stop in little Italy is not complete without stopping at the legendary Sicilian café for a scoop of gelato.   Mi piace my friends - mi piace!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Eat to the Beat

My friend Liz and I have shared many (many) birthdays together; all of which have always involved good food and drinks. 

For my birthday this year, I had the pleasure of being treated by Liz to a chef table event called "Go Cooking"- an evening of food prepared by a local chef, a sample plate of each course along with a wine tasting and education by a professional sommelier.  You had me at an evening of food....

Go Cooking is held at our local newspaper, The Hamilton Spectator building at 44 Frid Street in Hamilton.  They have a fully functioning kitchen and the chefs prepare their deliciousness in an interactive and entertaining style.

This evening's chefs were from West Plains Bistro in Burlington (www.westplainsbistro.com) - a venue that I have wanted to try for some time.  Based on the yummy creations that were prepared, I am sure to plan a visit soon.

 

Appetizer - Wine Steamed Clams with lemon, dill & caper butter

Wine - UMA Coleccion Torrontes from Argentina (LCBO $9.95)

 

 

 

Main - Seared Sea Scallops with lemon and lavender glaze, Risotto with chives, green beans and golden beets

Wine - Fazi Battaglia Verdicchio from Italy (LCBO $11.20)

 

 

 

 Desert - Lemon Mouse with summer berries in phyllo pastry

Wine - Freixenet Cordon Negro Brut (LCBO $13.95)

 

 

 

The sommelier services were provided by Peter Bacchus from Bacchus Sommelier Services (www.bacchussommelier.com).  They are available for private parties and educational seminars - how great would it be to have a gathering of friends and have Bacchus provide an education session and sampling of wines!

 

 

 

 

For more information on the GO Cooking series, visit www.gocooking.ca

 

 

 



 

 

 

Visit my friend Liz's blog - www.experiencehamilton.blogspot.ca



Tainted (cork) Love

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This week marked round two of adventures in wine making.  Having bottled our fist batch of Amarone back in October, I quite fancy myself as a character from the movie "Sideways".

Bottling under the direction of the Brew Time (www.brewtime.ca) staff was just as much fun as the first time.  Our new batch of "Bitch n' Wine" is an Italian Pinot Grigio.  And it is yummy if I do say so myself. 

When we bottled the Amarone, we had selected plastic corks.  The theory is that plastic corks are a better choice because they are the best measure to prevent wine spoilage.  However, the plastic corks are are real pain to get out of the bottle and they do not fit back in the bottle once removed. 

We seriously considered using the natural cork variety for this batch.  There is something psychological about a natural cork - one just assumes that the wine is of better quality compared to a bottle of vino topped with a plastic cork or a screw top.  God forbid, the classy box 'o' wine. The thing is, a great wine can't be judged by it's packaging. A great wine is determined by your own personal tastes. 

After reading various wine articles on wine, a natural cork has a 5% chance of spoilage which is known as "cork taint".  And no, a "cork taint" is not the area between the top of the wine level and the bottom of the cork - get your minds out the gutter.  It is the term given to spoiled wine that has a "damp basement smell" that is caused by a bacteria in the cork. 

In the end we decided that taking a few more seconds to remove the plastic cork (and hurl curses at it) was better than potentially losing some of our inventory.

As we are now hooked on making wine, we have plans for 2013 batches of Chardonnay and Sangiovese.  For those of you who play the stock market, I highly suggest investing in Proctor & Gamble shares based on all of the Crest White Strips that I am going through with the consumption of the Amarone, coupled with the upcoming Sangiovese.

Painted Lady and a Bottle Of Wine

After sampling wine made by friends at Brew Time on Upper James Street in Hamilton (www.brewtime.ca),  The Fella & I decided to experiment with making our own wine.  We decided that our first batch would be red wine.

I have a love/hate relationship with red wine -- I love it but unfortunately it is not very kind to me. It's not that it makes me sick... let's just say it doesn't make me very...um... attractive.

About 10 years ago my friend Liz & I were both single on Valentine's Day. We decided to thumb our noses at the society of coupledom & off we went to paint the town red.  With red wine that is.

We had ourselves a pretty damn fine time. Towards the end of the evening I spotted a fella who I kept seeing around town who I quite fancied. I had never spoken to him -- I would just keep bumping into him & we would smile & nod to each other. Fuelled by cheap red plonk & pent up pheromones, I walked over to him and proceeded to chat him up. I went home feeling quite proud of myself that night. Not only did my singledom keep me from being hidden away from Valentines society, but I had the courage to initiate flirting. Girl power!

Smiling to myself, I walked into my bathroom to get ready for bed. It was then, in the mirror, that I discovered that the red wine had turned my teeth black...and given me a Jack Nicholson joker mouth. I would continue to see this cute guy around town...but he never, ever, looked my way again....

Now I only drink red wine in the privacy of my own home.

Brewing your own wine was a lot different from what I had built up in my own mind.  We had the pleasure of dealing with Vic at Brewtime who gave us a crash course on the different types of grape juice, we chose the Italian Classico Amarone and he walked us through the fermentation process which literally took no more than three minutes.  And there I was all nicely pedicured in anticipation of doing a Lucy & Ethel routine!  

Eight weeks later, through the magic of fermentation, our grape juice and yeast had magically turned into wine.  Sounds kinda biblical, no?  The bottling process was way more fun.  First, they cracked open the vat and extracted some Amarone for me to taste. Not to be conceited or anything, but it was damn delicious!  

                                                 

  

                                                        My new Christmas Tree!!!!

I had the very lovely Hannah teach me how to work the machine that transfers the wine from the vat to the bottles (which stops automatically when it reaches the top of the neck so no worry about spillage of the fine nectar) and how to work the corking machine.  Very fun!!  I felt so Falcon Crest!  

Hannah also created the groovy labels for me based on a design that I had emailed them. Lo & behold the birth of the Bitch n' Wine. 

We now have a batch of Pinot Grigio patiently going through the biblical process as I post this.

Nuptial-Palooza

This month I had the honour of being invited to celebrate the marriage of two lovely couples who had weddings a week a part of each other-- Pete & Kim and Shaun & Rachel.  These couples are the real deal.  I'm always curious to hear the story about how couples met each other  The beginning of these two love stories are hilarious--but not my stories to tell.  Plus Kim & Rachel would both KILL me if I posted the details for all of the world to read, and by all of the world I mean the three people (if I'm lucky) who actually read this blog.

Kim & Rachel were two very unique brides to be. Neither were concerned about the usual trappings that go along with the big business of weddings.  There was no obsession about rings, Vera Wang dresses, showers, etc.  Their laid back attitude was refreshing. Both were more excited about embarking on a big journey rather than focusing on "the big day".  Having their family and friends in attendance to celebrate the new chapter in their lives was what mattered.  It meant a lot to be  included as part of their celebrations. 

Oh yeah, and also OPEN BARS!!!  Hello, this blog is called Free Spiritz!!

SPIRITZ

At Pete & Kim’s event I stuck to one of my all time favourite beers – Lowenbrau (LCBO $2.25 – 500ml Munich Germany) – which I now have them hooked on after leaving a can (or two...or three) behind in their fridge after parties.  Lowenbrau (touted as the “official” beer of Oktoberfest) is a pale lager brewed according to the Bavarian purity law of 1516 – yep, this is an actual legislation on brewing beer!  In a nutshell, this law was to help keep “unhealthy ingredients” out of the brew and it strictly forbids corn, rice, sugar or chemical additives (yay! health points).  You can’t really go wrong with German beers, and I never met one that I didn’t like, but Lowenbrau is a fantastic beer for a price that can’t be beat.  

It was wine all the way at Shaun & Rachel’s celebration and the event was well stocked with chardonnay and valpolicella – made by the happy couple themselves at Brew time http://www.brewtime.ca here in Hamilton.  I was so impressed by the quality of this wine; I currently have a batch of Amarone lovingly fermenting as I write this.  Future blog on the experience pending.

FASHION

Ok, ok, both brides were gorgeous and dressed to the nines.  They knocked it out of the park.  What more can I say.  

As for the guests....

Blackbird Studios (http://www.blackbirdstudios.ca) ruled at Shaun & Rachel’s wedding.  Myself, Jenn and Leslie (crickey we look like the witches of Eastwick) sported designs made by the team of Kiki and Buckshot at the James North Hamilton store.  They describe themselves as catering to “rock stars, roller girls, burlesque artistes, fashion misfits and fashionistas” –you have to see these designs to believe them – the photos do not do justice to the amazing work that these two designers create.  All clothing is made on site and most of the fabric is made exclusively for the shop.  Not only are their creations unique and affordable, but they have styles that fit all women’s body types.

Thanks for reading. 

Eat, drink and don’t be Mary – just be yourself.