‘Tis the season for holiday parties, holiday traffic, and a whole gaggle of germs with cold and flu season upon us… just in time for the holidays.
With our youngest hit by a pretty nasty cough over the weekend, productivity ground to a halt. You can easily take for granted how much you’re doing until something more important comes along and forces you to reprioritise. I learned over time to feel the pressure a little less and accept that my family doesn’t need me to be the best creator in the game—they need me to be present.
And so as I lay down in the bottom bunk of my sons’ bed with a kid who woke up for maybe the twelfth time that night, I put all thoughts of podcasting aside and took care of home as Dave Hollister aptly put it back in 2000.
But now that he’s up and running again, so am I, and it’s time to continue our storytelling journey with Chatting with Casey, Episode 15—I’m Where I Need to be Right Now.
Back from a weekend on Arran Lake, I’m catching up with the digital life I had on hold for a few days, too busy soaking in moments like this:
But with this urbanite back where he belongs, I’ve unpacked the bags, finished the chores, and finally getting to the pile of notes and ideas that you’ll see on my blog for the rest of 2014!
And one of these is a review of ShopBake.com—a way to get sweet treats in one, convenient place.
An hour away from big, bad Toronto is a little place called Burlington. The last time I remember coming out this way was in my early 20s to check the club scene (and girls) outside of Toronto at Big Buck’s Mountain Lodge. But nearly a decade and several nights out later, Christine teamed up with Tourism Burlington to get myself, Justin and Chris back out there for the Taste of Burlington festival!
You Fancy, Huh?
After making surprising time on the QEW/403 (yet again), with 45 minutes to kill, Christine and I figured that coming to The Martini House without trying the martinis was criminal in some social circle, so there we were getting all fancy and stuff.
Round one of the booziness!
Ingredients: SKYY vodka, X-Rated fusion liqueur, gin, sour lime, white cranberry Tastes like: Taking a delicious drink of grapefruit juice
Round Two of getting our martinis on!
Christine had this made specially, with Ovation chocolate as a garnish
Ingredients: Limoncello, Sour Puss Lemon, lemonade Wasn’t a huge fan of this. Apparently they used to make it with Europa Meringue Liqueur and it tasted way better, but the LCBO discontinued it and now it tastes way different. Thanks, guys 🙁
Let the Games Begin
The boys joined us by our second round at the bar (which is good, because we’d reached the point where Christine was calling her drink fancier than mine and calling the bartender a mixologist…), and we cozily made our way into a space by a wonderful couple (who I hope didn’t mind how noisy a night they had ahead of them!)
Remembering the awesome food I’d had when I’d visited Boston, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to have a good lobster bisque. In a mug. With a croissant. (I love croissants!) It was a big serving, delicious, and any soup I can drink with a handle is a drink that’s great in my books!
Fusilli Carbonara
organic Ontario chicken, scallion, double-smoked Ontario bacon, parmesan Could’ve used some pepper flakes, but still pretty good.
Had I known that I could replace cream corn with mashed potatoes (or “smashed potatoes” as the menu says), I would’ve definitely ordered the Smokey Beef Short Rib, but c’est la vie.
The carbonara was pretty good, but I would’ve liked it with some spice. (What can I say — my parents are Jamaican!) It was a good portion; hard to finish — I think martinis fill you up? Who knew.
Vanilla Creme Brûlée
Yes it was delicious. No I didn’t have any room left for it in my tummy 🙁
Without the capacity for cake, I was in the mood for something light — and the vanilla crème brûlée hit the spot. No complaints on this one!
If you want to check out some of the other options that The Martini House has to offer during the Taste of Burlington festival, check out the Martini House’s Taste of Burlington menu 0r some shots of other food options below!
Ontario supreme of chicken finished with Amarula drizzle, smashed potato, vegetables
Crispy calamari, jalapeno slivers, chipotle aioli
Wonton stuffed with Ontario grain fed beef, dill pickle spear. Smoked ketchup and con queso dipping sauce
Justin felt he had to be different and was the only one at the table who ordered this. Hater.
So much food, so little stomach!
The Martini House proudly communicates its vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free options, and that it uses locally-sourced Ontario ingredients.
Slow braised Ontario short rib with Dr. Pepper glaze, homemade cream corn Looked SO delicious when it came out. Had me thinking twice about my fusilli 🙁
Three Cheers for the Taste of Burlington!
They look so happy! And full.
The Taste of Burlington festival runs from February 27th through March 10th and features 23 of Burlington’s eateries with $20 lunch and $35 dinner menus. If you’re looking for a little adventure outside of your Torontonian stomping grounds, try Burlington this week! Your taste buds just might be surprised!
–case p.
[disclaimer: The Martini House comped us some delicious food and drink on the premise that we were bloggers and would cover the drinks and hijinks of the night — which caught us completely off-guard as we thought we were just getting our dinners covered — but they’re just that amazing!]
Tell your wife, tell your kids, tell your husbands:
