Old Town Montreal

Technically the city of Montreal is OLDER than the country of Canada.

So there is a plethora of history to be seen and experienced.

Our Friday started navigating the Metro System to get to Old Town Montreal by the Canal.

Cartier Square (pronounced Car-t-A)

Onto St. Paul street!

THEN THE BEST STORE IN THE CITY!

I look just like a little kid scurrying inside.

CHRISTMAS!!!!!! (and some Halloween)

Notre Dame Basilica

Hey mom, did you know you're name is famous in Montreal? You were their first nurse and so loved that they put you on stained glass inside the Basilica!

(My mom's name is Jeanne sans Mance)

This picture can't even describe the awe you feel walking into such a place.

It seats 3,000 and every inch was ornate and gorgeous.

Not to mention the Bride's Chapel in the back.

The sculpture behind Mary (our guide) is made of 22 tons of Bronze.

*Nerd Alert* SmithCale took a sculpture class at ACU and made little foot tall statue that was about 10 pounds.

A mold has to be made, then the bronze must be poured.

Holy Moly.

SmithCale was in need of a pre-dinner snooze.

I'd read about Cafe Stash in our guide book and again online, so we knew we had to try it.

It was Polish Food!

I do believe he captured the exact moment of when they were bringing out our borscht.

Borscht! AKA beetroot soup. Surprisingly good!

Food for Travel,

the SupperSmiths, forging one meal at a time

Montreal Via Bikes

Wednesday started with light rain and mostly cloud cover, so luckily they didn't reschedule our tour.

We started out nice and early just to get lost on the bus system and spend the best $20 ever on a taxi to make it to Fitz & Follwell just in time.

We were fitted with proper head gear.

Meet the friendliest dog ever: Mila.

and prepared to depart!

Our first stop was Mount Royal, which is the tallest "mountain" on the island.

I wish we had gotten a non-biking picture with the following couple. They are Jeremy and Christina from Denver, CO. SmithCale and I both agreed that he was a doppelganger for our Bro-in-law, Ben.

Ogled at yet another gift from the French.

*Brief interlude for a down pour and to buy cheap controversial ponchos*

Why were they controversial?

A little back story first, Quebec is about 80% french-speaking, which is a stark contrast to the other Provinces.

In the 80s there was a movement to separate itself from Canada, and small pockets of this ideal still remain.

Last stop: the Atwater Market for pizza and sadness.

Why sadness? Because it was filled for tons of local produce, butchers, fancy cheeses and no way for us to bring any of it home.

Truly beautiful. So beautiful we went back Friday and Saturday

Normally, a tour is from 10-1, but due to the rain and our guide's watch stopping, we didn't get back until after 3!

The guide was fun and full of facts and our group was easy-going and full of laughs.

Rain soaked and helmet-haired us and our fearless guide: Shontal

On the way back (via Metro, thanks to a fellow bike groupie who filled us naives in), SmithCale found graffiti so moving he had capture it.

Food for Travel,

the SupperSmiths, forging one meal a time

Montreal- The Beginning

I'll start where all good recollections should start: from the top.

Let me flash back to last year's trip to California. We hit major traffic delays on the way to the airport and were literally the last people on the plane.

To avoid any more angst, we stay close to the airport this year.

Was this close enough, SmithCale?

Of course, with any of our travel, something has to go askew.

They didn't have us on the flight printed in our itinerary because the airline wouldn't be able to have time at our stop to transfer our bags: very important detail.

When we tried to use the computers to get our boarding pass, I was Betty and Cale was Ricardo.

Oddly enough, the same brand as my bag.

We got a new flight and us and Kitty-illow waited to board.

Quick stop in Chicago.

Then finally made it to the 18th floor of our hotel!

Vive la Montreal!

We decided to wander around for a spell and rub elbows with the locals.

Museum of Modern Art: Very arty.

SmithCale really wanted to make it to Chinatown

We used our guide book and found a very obscure chinese restaurant.

They only served hot tea, not a problem for two american-tea loving people like ourselves.

SmithCale and his off the beaten path choice in restaurants!

Ruby Rouge was authentic and tasty!

We walked everywhere back to the hotel to rest up for the epic bike ride the next day.

Food for Travel,

the SupperSmiths, forging one meal at a time

Quick Preview- Montreal 2011

We're back from Montreal, and it was beautiful!

Stay tuned for more...

Food for Travel,

the SupperSmiths, forging one meal at a time

Melon Gazpacho with Crispy Pancetta

Adapted from Cooking Light

Chef’s Notes: It has come to my attention that over the hectic summer: A. I really enjoy cool soups. B. Pancetta is becoming the new salty/fatty meat of choice over bacon. Both observations I’m totally OK with. I made this a few weeks ago, and I was tentative to say the least. But, cantaloupe is SmithCale’s favorite melon. So I tried it! If I could describe it in own word: refreshing.

Plan of Attack:

1. Chop

2. Fry

3. Blend

Ingredients for 2:

2 ½ C peeled cantaloupe, cubed

2 ripe peaches, chopped

¼ C water

1 Tbsp minced shallots

1 Tbsp lemon juice

½ Tbsp red wine vinegar

Salt to taste

3 slices pancetta

Fresh ground black pepper

Instructions:

1. Blend cantaloupe, peaches, water, shallots, lemon juice, red wine vinegar and salt until smooth; set aside in fridge
2. Heat a non-stick skillet or cast-iron skillet to medium-high and cook pancetta until crisp; remove from pan and crumble
3. Pour the cantaloupe mixture into two bowls, top with crumbled pancetta and season with freshly ground black pepper
4. Enjoy!

Food for Life,

the SupperSmiths, forging one meal at a time

Dose of Adorable

Just in case you missed it, you've made it to Friday!

To celebrate, I'm going to share with you baby me!

and a slightly older contemplative me!

And finally, a picture of us about 20 feet from the finish line at the 15K (with addition edits)

Food for Fridays,

the SupperSmiths, forging one meal at a time

Zucchini Pancakes & Work-a-versary

Adapted from Ina Garten

Shared with me by my Aunt Norma (<--second on the left)!

Chef’s Notes: It is a rare fact, but I do have a secret crush on the Barefoot Contessa. We essentially have the same ideology; make good, real food. Although, we did have a disagreement one day when she was making a ridiculously indulgent carrot cake, while shredding the carrots she said, “this is a great way to get your kids to eat carrots!” Really? Because if you shredded up old tires and smothered them in cream cheese frosting I think I’d eat that too. Not to mention that carrots are probably the least offense veggie out there! Either way, we laughed off the difference and continued on!

Plan of Attack:

1. Shred zucchini

2. Mix

3. Cook

Ingredients for 2-3:

2 medium zucchinis, shredded

2 Tbsp yellow onion, grated or finely chopped

2 eggs, slightly beaten

6 Tbsp chickpea flour

1 tsp baking powder

Salt and pepper to taste

1 Tbsp unsalted butter

Greek Yogurt, option

Instructions:

1. In a bowl slightly beat your eggs, then add shredded zucchini and onion
2. To the same bowl mix in chickpea flour, baking powder, salt and pepper
3. Melt ½ of the butter in a skillet or cast iron(the best) pan to medium-high heat
4. Drop ½ C of the zucchini mixture at a time into the pan; cook 2 minutes on each side.
5. After the first batch, I added the 2nd ½ of the butter to the pan and repeated with the last of the mixture.
6. Enjoy with a dollop of greek yogurt!

Also, I think it should be noted that on this date 4 Years ago I joined the working world. Due to the complexity and anonymity of my job I can't really go into too much.

In the past four years I've learned (and am still learning) a LOT, became a notary, testified in court, been in a civil suit and can truly say I thorough enjoy what I do.

This was the first document I notarized, who else gets excited about that? (and don't worry I didn't wear my Margaritaville sweatshirt in the actual process)

Food for Life,

the SupperSmiths, forging one meal at a time

Final Applegate Edit

WE'RE FINISHED!

I think the SmithCale leaning head on hand posture just about says it all.

It must dumbfound some of you where we carved up an extra 24 hours of editing time.

Trust us, it astounds us too, but we know that what we've made is the 40 minute cornerstone for many memories.

Food for Family,

the SupperSmiths, forging one meal at a time

Peppered Tuna Steak Salad

Chef’s Notes: On a recent Fresh excursion, I decided to splurge. You know how it happens: The stars aligned, the lighting was just right and they were 25% off. I grabbed just one and knew just what I wanted to do with it. Thanks again to Nadia G. and her accursedly named show for another great inspiration! I know that some of you are oogied out by the fact it is still rare in the middle (MOM), but it is the ONLY WAY! Overcooked tuna is dry and sad. Don’t make your $13 tuna sad.

Plan of Attack:

1. Make Teriyaki

2. Grill

3. Assemble

Ingredients for 2:

1 lb Tuna Loin Steak

Freshly ground black pepper

1 Tbsp canola oil

Teriyaki-

¼ C red cooking wine

2 Tbsp low-sodium tamari soy sauce

1 Tbsp honey

1 tsp sesame oil

2 garlic cloves, crushed

½ tsp ground ginger

Salad-

Greens of choice

Tomatoes

Red onion

Bell pepper

Instructions:

1. In a small saucepan combine teriyaki ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer about 4 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside
2. Heat canola oil in a skillet to high heat until the oil begins to smoke.
3. While heating oil, pepper both sides of the tuna steak liberally
4. Cook tuna for 1-1:30 minutes on each side while basting with the teriyaki sauce(tuna should be left rare in the middle)
5. Enjoy on your bed of salad!

Food for Life,

the SupperSmiths, forging one meal at a time

Cafe Magala

Saturday night we drove up to a big, yellow house that claimed to Cafe Magala. I had researched where we wanted to eat and this one looked neat online! We were a little tentative because there wasn't a clear front door. So we followed another couple and found our way into the beautiful dining room.

It was our first tapas experience and their selections were AWESOME! Truly almost like eating at home for us because of their use of spices and unique combinations.

Below:

Seared shrimp in a garlic aioli

baby red bell peppers stuffed with goat cheese & crostini on a bed of kalmata caramel ^(AMAZING!)

sauteed spinach with crisp garlic, pine nuts and raisins

Moroccan beef skewers with mango sauce <-- (also AMAZING!)

We didn't even get pictures of the hummus and buttery, soft pitas we had for an appetizer or SmithCale's spanish potato tortilla or sadly, the really scrumptious chocolate mousse we had for dessert.

We can't wait to visit again just for the restaurants (and to see my mom, of course)!

Food for Life,

the SupperSmiths, forging one meal at a time

Quality Time

The day before our 15K, we met up with my Mom at her new locale: McKinney.

She wasn't exaggerating when she said the shopping downtown was great.

Also, the restaurants are AWESOME (more to come on that).

After lunch she bought me really cute birthday shoes, then told me either an extremely sad or gross story (I don't quite remember).

Of course, we had to go see her new employer: Gunter ISD. She'll be their new upper-level math teacher!

There were lots of fancy tigers.

So many tigers it's scary!

then she drove us by Deion Sanders' house on the way back!

Thus ends the Summer of Travel!

In case you wanted to recap of this summer since May:

We went car buying (already has over 10K miles on it)

Family Graduated

Service Honored

Edit Weekend #1

Alley Fest 10K

Reunioned

Showered

Shannon & Ben Got MARRIED

I turned 26

Edit Weekend #2

Shopped for Zoe

Visited Genghis

15K

WHEW! I'm sure you're as tired from reading all that as we are from doing it!

This weekend our car won't leave the garage except for church (and a "long" run- haha 4 isn't long), and we're STOKED!

Food for Life,

the SupperSmiths, forging one meal at a time