Monthly Archives: October 2010

On Coffee (excerpt from my 3-pages a day thing)

Posted by thekarin in simple life and tagged with , , ,

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I may also brew more coffee. I am currently drinking an Americano that I purchased from Hula Girl, which is a new rustic-looking coffee shop on the Dundas West strip.  But back to coffee! I recently started to adore coffee for its flavor. Mostly because I discovered the fact that there is so much more to it than Starbucks or Tim Horton’s; I think I discovered a culture. More on that later, but first, a prelude:

Two years ago I decided that Starbucks should go to hell and that I don’t need it in my life; I still avoid it like the plague. It is the second last coffee chain (after Coffee Time – shudder!) for which I will settle. That was that. One year ago I embraced my Ontarian nature (as temporary as I think it is), and started to really like what Tim Horton’s offered. Even the black coffee. That’s actually the only beverage, beside water and green tea, that I will buy and drink from them.

Then I started paying attention to more independent chains. I don’t want to admit, but it really hit me when Dark Horse opened on Spadina (and Sullivan) in Toronto’s Chinatown. It is located in the same building as the Centre for Social Innovation. It is a place with communal tables, a bunch of fair trade blends of coffee, lots of wood, lots of Macbooks and other Apple products, and pretty decent coffee. They don’t take credit cards, like any indie institution, but I can live with that (with a grudge, however). I started patronizing these independent venues. The coffee is certainly better than Starbucks or Tim Horton’s or any other chain. I just wish I lived closer to several independent coffee bars.

September was a completely Americano-crazy month. I craved Americanos not because I needed a caffeine boost, but because I wanted that rich flavor that I could sip slowly. I enjoy a strong coffee that washes over me like a fiery lava. However, my enjoyment decreases in proportion to the amount of Americano I drink. I think a fuller stomach leads to lower receptiveness. Either way, I tend to forget the first couple of sips and move on to greedily consuming the rest of the cup before it gets too cold. Or I forget to consume the rest of it immediately after satisfying my desire for strong coffee flavor that came with the first sips….

InCuisin: Time is Short, but Tastebuds Stay Demanding

Posted by thekarin in kitchen and tagged with , , , , , , , , ,

Great new product to add to your kitchen, folks. I’ve recently had the pleasure of trying all varieties of InCuisin mashed potatoes. The website and the packaging both claim that that “our mashed potato is as good as home-made without the fuss and ready in 2 minutes.” In practice, it took me about 4 minutes to get the potatoes ready to serve, but, I admit, it is still faster than procuring, washing, peeling (optional), boiling, mashing and salting, peppering and spicing them to taste.

Let me tell you, I was skeptical to receive a brightly colored packages with frozen mashed potatoes. They looked like broken chocolate pieces (that’s the size of the pellets). Why? So you could control serving sizes. That’s a bonus!

There are 5 flavors:

  • Cream and Butter mashed potatoes
  • Peas and Carrots mashed potatoes (sneaky vegetable placements! Bonus with kids I bet)
  • Garlic and Chives (MY favorite)
  • Carrots and mashed potatoes
  • Cauliflower mash (1/3 less calories than and 1/2 the carbs of the regular InCuisin mashed potatoes)

What is the process? Just throw a desired amount of pellets into the bowl, zap that in the microwave, fluff it about with fork (I add spices, salt and pepper if I want to), and voila! Mashed potatoes are ready.

The flavor is… surprisingly great. I was very skeptical at first. You know me, I’m into great food and I eat out + cook full meals at home (when the fancy strikes). When I was met with the prospect of serving originally frozen mashed potatoes for dinner, I was a little wary. But then I put a spoonful in my mouth, and

Oh my god, amazing flavor! I can’t emphasize this enough. For time-strapped people, this is the best alternative. Especially if you pick the cauliflower mash – healthy.

So here’s what I did. Besides eating these with my 100% grass-fed striploin or a grilled salmon steak, I did a Thanksgiving experiment on my friends. Had to. I prepared a package and a half for 5 people, and placed the potatoes in nice bowls. Look how weird it looks:

And then it turns into the mushy mass that we know as mashed potatoes. See for yourselves:

(Uh, Slava, thanks for the finger photo bomb!)

And then, the best thing! See, they were meant to be together with 8-hour slow-cooked organic Ontario carrots, beets, shallots, chantrelle mushrooms and the precious roast beef.

My Thanksgiving guests ate them like they were the usual potatoes. Good! Nobody noticed anything. I couldn’t help telling them, of course, that these potatoes were in fact frozen first, and that I prepared them in a microwave! Shocked faces all around… but also some signs of relief: they could replicate the flavors themselves!

The InCuisin mashed potatoes are available at Sobey’s and all Loblaws affiliates (except No Frills), and, I believe, Provigo. If you’re the busy person who enjoys comfort food once in a while, but doesn’t have the time nor energy to whip out mashed potatoes, this is your answer!