Category: Uncategorized

Uncategorized Feb 8, 2009 The Waffle No Comments Tania was in town for a rare time, and she wanted someone to host a dinner in her honour.  And I was voluntold I had to do it, which I did happily. For the starter, I made a cream of broccoli and cheddar soup.   Broccoli, of course, onions, potatoes, herbs.  2 year old cheddar.  A bit of cream.  Very smooth, not too rich.  It is easier to get a nice green colour if you make sure your vegetable has plenty of leaves. The next course would involve a vodka sauce: Very simple – two cans of crushed tomatoes, 2 cups of 35% cream, herbs, onions, garlic, and 1 cup of vodka.  I intended to have only 1 cup of cream, but ended up adding more in the end.  Quite rich, quite smooth, quite tasty. I used the sauce to create some Penne…

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General Feb 4, 2009 The Waffle 3 Comments I had chili for lunch.  Third time this week (first for the Super Bowl at my friend Norm’s place, second at Brixton’s yesterday for their Consumer Appreciation Party), so I figured I would go for the chili hat-trick. Some time ago, I got a coupon for a can of Stagg Chili. Can’t remember how I got it, but I did buy a can, and it’s been sitting in my cupboard for a while.  But no longer. Stagg Foods was established in 1956 as Rocking K Foods. The company first manufactured its products in Sante Fe Springs, California, but then moved production to Hillsboro, Oregon. In 1980, the company’s name was changed to Stagg Foods. In October of 1996, Stagg Foods was acquired by Hormel, the creator of the real Spam – the luncheon meat that is. I never had a can of Stagg…

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Restaurant Dec 19, 2008 The Waffle 1 Comment I was off today, and decided to pick Melissa up for lunch.  She had an errand to run at the SAAQ – a Quebec driver’s licence, no less – just by picking that up she improves her driving about 40% over an Ontarian licence holder – and I thought lunch would be a nice reward for becoming a good driver. I enticed her into going to Scores in the Mont-Bleu area of the Hull sector in Gatineau.  It would be a change from St-Hubert, a definite Melissa favorite. Scores is a Montreal-based chain of restaurants, established in 1995, which has 38 locations in Quebec and 3 more in Ontario, with plans to open new locations in Ottawa and Oakville. It was bought in 2005 by PDM Royalties Income Fund, who also owns Pizza Delight, Mikes and Bâton Rouge.  (You can find my latest post on…

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General Dec 13, 2008 The Waffle 1 Comment In the Fall of 2007, in the old Au Coq building on St-Joseph in Hull , opened Georges, a trendy-looking lounge and grill by the owner of La Station, a Gatineau deli I wrote about here. Georges’ menu is self-described as eclectic, but their specialty clearly is beef.  Prime Rib and steaks are at the heart of their offerings, but you can also find a few pasta dishes, poultry and seafood.  They even have a gourmet poutine section in their menu.

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Restaurant Dec 11, 2008 The Waffle 3 Comments A lot of my Italian friends would scream bloody murder at the mere mention of this chain of Italian-style bistros. Especially Laura.  But I am quite fond of Pacini. And for some reason, I have a history of girlfriends who also liked Pacini very much, which makes for cheap romantic dates. That’s right. For sure, it is not top-of-the-line Italian cuisine, but it is not fast food either.  The cuisine is simple, the prices are very reasonable, and the atmosphere very friendly.  Their wine selection is not great, but I’ve seen worse. Pacini launched a new menu last fall, inspired by the work being done at the Pacini culinary academy (located at Bassano Del Grappa, near Venice), with a marketing strategy driven by italo-quebecker singer Mario Calliari.  You can even buy his CDs there, apparently, although he must be very popular because last time…

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