So finally after being here for about 12 yrs – I get to go to Austrian Inn – I had wanted to go for a long time – but people keep telling me that they served loads of fried food only but they were wrong!  they have all kind of food!  See ! you must not listen to people – you’ve gotta give them a chance and try it out yourself.

We didn’t have the buffet this time – because we were pretty late for lunch a few Sundays ago.  But the buffet spread was pretty awesome and I’m going to go with my girlfriends again – but this time we are going to try the buffet.

They had loads of food and I would really loved to try a bit of everything but since PB don’t eat that much – it’s best to go for lunch with my friends instead – those who really enjoys food.

I wished they had a place card on the dishes though.  Some I could make out but others I don’t know what they were.

Fried shrimp and rappie pie and lots of other dishes.

Rappie pie is a favorite for the Acadian french here in Canada.

Fried chicken nuggets I think on one side.

And here comes 2 table full of desserts – heaven for some people but I can’t eat so much – darn right!

Fruit tarts and eclairs.

Log cake, dates pie, mixed fruits and more fresh fruits.

Pumpkin pie, jello, vanilla and chocolate mousse – yummy to the max.

Look at the jello on the fruits – the honey dew and cantaloupes.

More assorted cakes – I will get a sugar coma you know that right?  I look forward to going back to try the buffet.  Buffet I heard was about $25 – 28 + tax, a wee bit ex.  but worth every penny.  Now if only they had some oysters fresh – that would definitely make me go back every week.

Every year during this time of the year – we try to find something meaningful to give to Chloe’s teachers – whether they are a teacher’s assistant – or the school secretary – as long as this person makes an impact in Chloe’s life – I would try to thank them during Chrsitmas.  This year – I also have to remember to thank the janitors.

So I decided to get them these – they come from the local Farmer’s market and I’ve tried it myself all summer – a bottle of apple salsa and some home made BBQ sauce for her teachers in school.  But the janitors are getting chocolates this year.  What other suggestions do you have for me – for gifts for Chloe’s teachers?

So I saw this tarts at the Farmer’s market by an English couple and asked if they could make some for me.  A few weeks later – they had some made and I went to pick them up.  The tarts were good – but I had expected them to be the egg tarts from home – but these as you can see are cinnamon on top of the tarts.   Not really what I had expected – but it still tasted really good – except for the cinnamon that I didn’t really care for a lot.  A wee bit is fine – but too much just take the egg custard taste away.  I didn’t finish them all – and in fact gave some away  - I may just have to learn how to make egg tarts (dan tart) on my own.

Located at Duke and Granville Street in Downtown Halifax – Boston Pizza wasn’t our first choice to eat but Chloe wasn’t feeling so good at that time when we were in the city – so we decided to just take a quick bite.   It was very near to the hotel we were staying at – The Westin at South End and I have to say the service was very good – the waitress was very nice.  We were out getting  Christmas invitations for Christmas – in downtown when it started to drizzle – so we decided to go into Boston Pizza for a meal and also to get out of the rain.

Chloe wasn’t up to eating the fish nor the french fries that was how we knew she wasn’t feeling good at all.  Poor kid – but she was kept occupied with the new Christmas invitations that we had bought from a gift store earlier in the afternoon while we were out shopping.

I had a bowl of french onion soup with some french loaf  – the onion soup was good.

PB had fish and chips – as you can see – it was a very small portion but good enough for PB as he doesn’t eat a lot.  Overall, our experience at Boston Pizza was good.  No fault of theirs that our kid was sick but they did try to make it as pleasant as possible for Chloe.  It was a bit chilly where we sat – the air-con was blowing directly on top of our head – so it was not so good for Chloe.   After a quick meal – we packed up all our Christmas invitations – and bolted out into the night – and quickly into the car and got back to the hotel.   Maybe, the next time when we are up in Halifax, we will give Boston Pizza another try.

Now why didn’t they have food like that when Chloe was a baby?????  it certainly would have made it easier for us when we had to travel – because Chloe was very fussy about her food even when she was a baby.  She would even eat the congee I made – and I even double blended them – and still she wouldn’t eat them *slap forehead* – so most times we had to rely on Heinz.  You wouldn’t believed how much Heinz that kid ate, so it would have been nice to have a choice.

Babies are so lucky these days – but is it healthy to eat stuff like that?  I think they should be – because Chloe didn’t have any problems with the corn, carrots and squash she had from Heinz.  It was milk and Heinz food most times – until she was about 2 years old –  but then she still didn’t want to take a lot of solid food – so we had to give everything to her very slowly.   There were some sweet potato pie as well – and lots of fruits, of course I didn’t buy any – but it would definitely be something mothers to be can look into – if you have a fussy kid like mine.

Hidden Treasure’s is located in South Ohio – about 15 minutes from the town – thru’ Highway 101 – in fact – this place was the first place that PB had his store – way back 12 yrs ago – before I came to Canada – and now it has turned into a restaurant.  Because it is out of town – it mostly cater to those living around South Ohio – Port Maitland and Lake George.

They do have an extensive menu – but I wasn’t very hungry as I had a late breakfast.  So I ordered a seafood  chowder soup – a bowl instead of a cup  but it was  alot of soup – so the next time – I will order a cup instead.  The soup was good – and a lot of fresh seafood in it.

I also ordered an egg wrapped to go with my soup.

Chloe had her hotdog and fries – since they didn’t have fish that she liked in the children’s menu.

PB had a chicken burger and some mashed potatoes.

The restaurant can easily seat about 100 pax and it’s a family restaurant – and the service was pretty good as well.

They had quite a few tables filled when we were there for a Sunday lunch – and yes – we will visit again – to try out the entire menu.  Afterall, this restaurant is very near to Chloe’s grandparents place – maybe – one day they will dine with us.

Well, it was also Thanksgiving day last weekend – but Aunt Helena was doing all the cooking to celebrate PB’s parents 40th wedding anniversary.  40 years in marriage – now that is definitely something one has to celebrate right?  Not easy to stay married for 40 years and i am sure you will agree with me.

While the rest of the folks had turkey – I wanted to have some ham for the dinner – so we bought some from the grocery store.  Chloe loves turkey and the ham was super yummy!

Condiments to go with the turkey, cranberry jelly, pickled beets and potatoes, carrots and cucumber.

And for dessert there was a pumpkin pie, some nainamo cubes  and PB’s aunt had bought a cake too for the anniversary and joined us later for dessert.  We had a really good meal and Chloe had roasted marshmallows as well.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  this year we are thankful for a lot of things!   I’m sure you are too – and here’s Chloe having a rainbow cupcake from Goodies – I think she was fascinated with the color of the frosting – that’s why she wanted to buy it so bad – hahah!

But yes, we are thankful for Chloe’s good health – and that she is a happy kid, that her dad loves here and would do just about anything for her.  She is loved by many people including all our customers.  And she has good teachers for the last 2 years – we are really thankful for that – because they make her feel special and confident.

We are thankful that the store/business is doing well – and that we are getting a lot of good customers at the store and for me  a lot of good private advertisers and a long standing one – that I can count on.  Thankful for family, friends and loved ones – because they enriched my life and make me a better person.   Thankful for a spouse who never complains about me – and is long suffering towards my craziness.

Thankful for all my friends from here – you know who you are – who brings me food from Halifax and thankful for those of you who sends me food from home – you too know who you are.   Here’s wishing everyone a happy thanksgiving day this weekend – and may we all be thankful and gracious about the things we have and not the things we do not have.

A few weeks ago – we went back to Rudders for brunch after doing our morning errands – I ordered the steak and eggs because it was pretty cheap – $13.99 I think – but don’t quote me – I can’t remember – it’s been a few weeks like I said.  The sunny side up eggs were perfect – but my medium well steak was pretty charred and tough – hahhaa!! mannnn!! i had a hard time chewing them.

PB had the chicken and mashed potatoes – and he said the chicken was a bit dry too.

Chloe had hotdog and fries – she only had half the hotdog – because she had too much fries.

Chloe had her face painted that day.

Playing with her daddy’s iPhone while waiting for food.  Food that Sunday wasn’t the best – but that won’t deter us from going back to Rudders and trying different things – probably the cook was tired that Sunday.

Well, this is the 4th Annual Incredible Picnic happening province wide – but Yarmouth is only having this picnic for the first time – but I could be wrong – because this was the first – I’ve heard in my many years in Canada.  So a few weeks ago – we had the Incredible picnic at Beacon church – a lot of people showed up – but I think there were a lack of games for the kids – wished they planned some prices for the kids – or even balloons would be nice.  I saw some people with  metal detectors searching for treasures I think – maybe a game planned by a few families but we were not invited for the games

There were entertainment by a few group of musicians and they were all pretty good.

Lots of vendors cooking and showing off their delicious food.  Unfortunately, for us – we just had breakfast – so we didn’t get anything.

Of course, Chloe found some friends in the park and started playing with them – as PB and I watched her.

There were wine too – I was hoping to see Ironworks Distillery  from Lunenburg here – but alas, I have yet to see them in Yarmouth – I would love to get a bottle or two of the cranberry liqueur and apple brandy as well.

And they had some locally made pork hot dogs – I wished I could have tried some – but there was a line up – so I didn’t.

Yummy looking right?

Wished we didn’t have a late breakfast – they look so yummilicious!

Yummy soup from Red Cap Restaurant – a place I planned to visit soon in the near future.

The owner and chef of the restaurant – they were so friendly – I definitely have to go try their food out.

There were farmers selling fruits and veggies as well – but we already bought some the day before at the Farmer’s market.

Chloe playing more games with her friend.

Skipping some ropes before we went home.  It was a good picnic – but I wished they had some people to gather people together and make everyone play together – now that would have been a lot more fun.  Maybe a clown or two – or a magician would be great for the kids.

A few weeks ago – i had craving for a certain soup – and though I can’t go sit in the restaurant and have the soup – I decided I would order it as a take out.  So can you guess what yummilicious  soup I had ?   Some people like it – but some people don’t – I had talked to some of the hostess in the restaurant and they just cannot stomach the soup – I don’t know why  but I loveddddddddddd  the soup although it is very rich – and I probably shouldn’t have it too often – but I can’t resist it.  So can you guess it already?

Yes! you guessed right – it was lobster bisque – yummy! yummy!!   lots of lobsters as you can see here.

The soup was really rich – and the cost of it after taxes is about $10 something – but really yummy!  unfortunately, they didn’t give me a roll with it -  *sad*  – oh well – next time I’ll remember to ask.

For those who are not aware of this – I spent a few years in Scotland when I was finishing school and one of the best meals I had was the English breakfast.  But as a poor student – one cannot eat out too often right – so I cooked my own breakfast at the dorm most times.   So even now – once in a while I would eat the kind of breakfast I had when I was in Scotland whenever I think of the time I spent there.

But of course, when I started working in the hotel industry – I had a lot more chances to eat the real English breakfast cooked by real chef in the hotel.  But I think i ate the most english breakfast while I was traveling with my bosses and engineers during the last few years in Asia before coming to Canada.  Every single meal was in a hotel – while I was traveling – and I loved my boss – and engineers because they would always make sure we eat well.  I’m not a very good cook – but I definitely loved to eat.  Many years ago – I thought that I would missed Western food if I were to stay in Asia – little did I know that I am craving for Singapore food more than I can imagine.  Life does bring lots of surprises eh.  And once again – this breakfast was cooked like in early July – I cannot afford to eat so richly – if you know what i mean.

This was eaten about 2 months ago –  because I had wanted to check out if Jessy’s Pizza chicken was any good – since Jessy’s is about 3 doors away from us.   So I ordered 2 pieces of chicken and some onion rings – or was it 3 pieces so that I can share it with PB – probably 3 pieces.  I think it came up to about $9 if I am not wrong – but don’t quote me ok – it was so many months ago.  Anyhow, the chicken and onion rings were promptly ready – in about 10 – 15 mins I think – again – please do not quote me – but I didn’t remember getting upset about waiting for food – so I am assuming that it was pretty quick. Chicken and onion rings were sinfully  good – I was also hungry by the time I got the food – as I was undecided since it was a weekend and Chloe wasn’t around for the evening.  But I felt so guilty after eating them – hahahha!! but yes!  I would order chicken again from Jessy’s but as you can see – I don’t eat fried chicken a lot – so if I do have a craving for sinful and yummy food – you know where I will be heading over.

We had lunch at Rudder’s Seafood Restaurant & Brew Pub a month ago – I’m such a slacker – and had put away the pictures and conveniently forgotten all about it because I had gotten busy during the summer.  We haven’t eaten at Rudder’s often – and that’s because we don’t like dressing up for lunch on the weekend – and we thought it was a drinking hole – but we were so wrong !!  it was a casual smart place and you don’t have to drink – if you don’t want to – and Rudder’s is an awesome place to be at during the summer – because they have an outdoor patio.

Rudder’s had been in business for a long, long time too – and I was missing out for this long – you will be seeing me more often at the Rudder’s from now on.   You can’t missed it – it’s the huge yellow building down by the waterfront.

The service was really great – we were offered a roll of bread straight away – reminded me of the french bistro – that I had dine in when I was in Paris La Fontaine de Mars.

And Chloe had her moo – moo cup – that she was thrilled with. – filled with apple juice.

Chloe had hotdog and french fries – because she wouldn’t eat anything else.

I ordered the lobster bisque straight away as soon as I saw that they had some – yummy!

And PB had rotisserie chicken – which was very yummy too – he said.

For my main course I had a fish cake with a pear and raspberry vinaigrette salad – it was excellent but I was too full by then – and only managed to eat one fish cake.

I love the ambiance and the service at Rudder’s – they made me feel so comfy there – casual and happy.

The food was really good – although pricing was a wee bit more than the other restaurants around town but definitely worth it and I would definitely recommend it when I want to bring friends for some good food and good service.  Rudder’s restaurant is located at Water Street and they open daily at 11pm.  They did have sushi night one time many moons ago – but it was only once – too bad they didn’t do it more often.

That’s a lot of food !! i hear yer !! it is a lot!  I had to keep half a portion immediately in a doggy bag – because I know I won’t be able to finish it.  And true enough  I couldn’t even finished half – but I tried my darnedest.  I kept the rest for supper – and it was a full size meal then too.  But it was absolutely yummy !  I had this at Peg’s family restaurant – some 4 weeks ago – with PB and Chloe  - and even though I liked  it a lot – the chicken was well cooked and the Parmesan that is on top of it was good.

One definitely will not go out of Peg’s feeling hungry – in fact – I think you won’t be able to eat another bite for the rest of the day.  Good value for money – go to Peg’s – downtown Yarmouth.

You’ve gotta love a restaurant that served such big portion of food for very reasonable price right – well – we love Peg’s because of this very reason.  The staff are friendly and the restaurant is very nice – with great ambiance and food is great too  - what else can you ask for right?  Anyhow – the week we had supper with our friends – was the week I had this – the next day that is – because PB and Chloe just loved Peg’s.  I didn’t finished it of course – as soon as I saw the huge slab of meat – I cut them into half and doggy bag this for another meal.  Love the potatoes of course and the ribs was good too – but I prefer baby back ribs – the ones you get from  Tony Roma’s.  So the next time I go to Peg’s it will be another dish – that’s for sure – but for those who have a huge appetite – you know what to order.  I think the ribs were like $16.95 if I am not wrong and as usual it came with soup and garlic bread – love their garlic bread too.

A few weeks ago – my buddy Lynette and her son joined Chloe and I for supper at Peg’s family restaurant.  Lynette had been to Peg’s before but not Josh – so we decided to head for Peg’s instead of our usual Chinese rendezvous .  Josh had fish and chips – look at how huge the fish were.

Lynette had the chicken cordon bleu – the dish that PB eat all the time when he is at Peg’s.

Our meal started with soup first – I had a bowl but not Lynette – she was too hungry and dived into the main dish first.

I had spaghetti with spicy sausages because I wanted pasta.

Chloe had her usual children’s meal of pan fried fish and chips and ice cream of course.

Lynette had fried ice cream for dessert – but I was too full to eat another bite.

Meet Lynette and shiny Josh – chloe’s best friend.

Chloe eating her ice cream – look how red she is – out in the sun all day.

And this is the fried ice cream – I’ve often wonder how they do it –  and I found out from a Mexican restaurant owner from San Francisco – that the trick is to freeze it a few times while doing all the coating on it.   Did you know that they used cornflakes to coat the ice cream?   frying the ice cream takes only 30 seconds or 1 min at the most.  Very yummy  - fried ice cream!  try some – and they have it here – in Yarmouth – so those in Yarmouth – don’t forget to try it out.

So we went to Subway for breakfast the other day – and saw something new to try out – of course I didn’t bring my camera with me – since I didn’t think that there was anything new that I hadn’t taken a picture of.  But like any food blogger – how can I resist taking a picture of food that I’ve tried, tasted – and new for the people who visits my blog right?  Thank God for my blackberry curve 8520 – I never leave home with it.   Not only does it work as a phone, it has a GPS built into it and  also lets me take pictures with it – for it has a  built-in 2MP digital camera with 5x digital zoom.  So my blackberry curve saved the day!

The flatbread breakfast combo is but $3 and it comes with coffee!   I had black forest ham with mine.  You can have bacon with yours or a sunrise melt – which I will try the next time.  So how was it?  pretty good and darn filling! and healthy too!  no more MacDonald breakfast – Subway here i come.

It was such a beautiful day on Sunday – that PB & I just had to go to the lighthouse again – we tried many times to go – but the weather was either too chilly – or the big yellow chair that we wanna go see – was not there.  So last Sunday – we took a drive up to Cape Forchu – and this time I remembered to take my gravol because of the long and curvy road – and I have motion sickness.

The view was excellent – even though the food was pretty good.

They called this place The Mug Up Tea Room – and the menu wasn’t a lot but I saw someone having a whole lobster!  although it wasn’t on the menu.   Wished they served lobster bisque though but alas there was none to be found.

It was a busy little place as you can see – our table wasn’t entirely cleaned up.

Chloe with her diary and pencil – writing up a storm of what she saw and did at the lighthouse.

Truth be told we weren’t very hungry  - we just had breakfast – not too long ago.  I order a fish chowder – which turned out to be pretty good.  Now if only it was seafood – that would have been splendid.

PB had a grilled cheese sandwich – which didn’t look too appetizing to me – but he said it was alright.

Chloe had a hotdog with some chips.

Chloe and I shared a chocolate cheesecake dessert – even though she didn’t know it was cheesecake – she thought it was chocolate cake. hahahah!!   she loved it so much !  We had a good day!  Chloe went home to play with her friends in the neighborhood.

I love quiche very much – when I first started work at the now defunct Marco Polo Hotel – I used to buy their quiches to eat for bring time – quite stylo malo right?  working only in the front desk – some more can buy quiche from the cake shop to eat – muahahahah!!   Anyhow, I haven’t been able to find the same kind of quiche ever since Marco Polo Hotel closed its down many years ago – so when I saw some from the famous M & M meat shop in downtown Starrs Road – I had to get some and try.

The quiche was frozen – but you only need to microwave it for 15 minutes and it’s all ready to eat – pretty convenient if you asked me.  The taste – pretty good? albeit a bit expensive – but very closed to the Marco Polo Hotel’s cake shop.  But be warned a piece of this quiche is about 450 calories – so i can’t eat a lot of it.