Armchair Dining on DP

Everything what you need for a healthy diet

 

Exactly! All the food groups. Go ahead and post a picture of your favorite "health" food.

 

Shawarma it’s a heavenly food of gods. It is contains everything that is necessary for the life of athletes, cosmonauts and DP members. Grilled meat is heart of Shawarma. Vegetables and sauce create a taste. Lavash allows you to put it all in your mouth…

Perfect..

 

Wow, that looks great and seems to be a complete meal, as you say! It is making me hungry!

 

So, I have been on this miserable diet now since January 2 and there is still a loooong way to go.

However, this week is my daughter's birthday and she has requested a birthday "cake" from Allies Donuts whom I have posted about before in this thread. Here's a picture of what I believe she will be getting (something close, anyway)



May have to break the diet for the first time in 2018 to get at least a small taste of this amazing confection. There is something about a donut that is larger, thicker, etc., that makes it better than the normal sized donut. Highly recommended if you are ever in South County in Rhode Island.

 

Being from New England, with our great selection of fresh seafood, it takes a lot to impress me with fish or shellfish. However, I was in Chicago this week on a business trip and we went to a steakhouse (what else in Chicago) and ordered an appetizer that was basically cold shellfish on ice. Well, I have had all size shrimp/prawns from very small all the way up to Extra Jumbo. But I had never heard of the Madagascar shrimp which get a ranking of "Colossal Shrimp." To put it in perspective, here in the US, Extra Jumbo shrimp are 16-20 shrimp per 1-pound bag. Colossal shrimp are 5-7 shrimp per 1-pound bag. The ones I had must have been on the 5 per bag side of things as they were monstrous. Here is a picture of these beauties:



Note that it is a full-sized lemon next to them. They were excellent and if you get the chance to try a Madagascar shrimp, I highly recommend them!

 

As summer approaches, my thoughts turn to fried seafood. I love fried shrimp and fried clams; however, I am thinking that my favorite fried seafood is fried oysters:



Had some last weekend and they were great. A much more delicate taste than clams. I do dip them in tartar sauce, of course. If you have not had this dish, you are missing out.

 

So, I am taking the family up to Montreal for a few days vacation next week. Any tips on foods that we should make a point to try? Will post pictures, of course, once we are back. Thanks!

 

My favorite restaurant in Montreal is a place called "Mazurka". It is a Polish theme eatery on Prince Arthur street in the McGill University ghetto area. Be sure to check it out, the food is amazing!

 

Wow, sounds great! Will add it to the list. Thanks much @Spoiltdiva !!!

 

So, we arrived in Montreal Wednesday night (returning Saturday) and I have been able to try a few recommended foods. First, had to try Poutine:



It is a simple combination of French fries and cheese curds swimming in a brown gravy. I was skeptical, but pleasantly surprised that it tasted better than I expected. Had it twice, in fact, so far. Then, we had to try Montreal-style bagels which claim to be better than NYC bagels. We got some from St-Viateur Bagels which are supposed to be one of the best places to do so:



The above picture is from their website and are sesame bagels which they say are one of their most popular. Had it and it was good. I am not expert enough to say whether they are better than the NYC bagels I have had, but they were very good. My daughter thought that NYC bagels are better.

Then we had to go to Dunn's Restaurant which is famous for their smoked meat. I had their smoked meat and fried rice:



It was okay with a unique taste, though I was expecting bigger chunks of smoked meat when, in actuality, it was very small shreds of meat that really only flavored the rice. But it was a unique taste to me and that is always a good thing.

Late last night, we went to Juliette & Chocolat for snacks and I got the Dark Chocolate Dome cookie which has a chocolate and raspberry filling:



It was very good. The only bad thing was that we had a pretty big and pricey "to go" order for quite a few snacks and when we got back to the place we are staying at, we discovered that they did not give us everything we paid for (mistake, of course.) It was too far and too late to go back, so despite the sweet things we did bring back, it left a slight bad taste for me.

@Spoiltdiva the Mazurka Polish restaurant you recommended is still on our radar screen, despite the fact that we are leaving tomorrow. Stay tuned!

 

So, my birthday is coming up and I have put in my request with my wife for the birthday cake. Instead of a "cake" from Allie's Donuts (see previously posts on this thread) I have asked for a dark chocolate cake with vanilla frosting and chocolate chips. I expect it to look something like this:



Can't wait. Would love to hear from DP-ers what their birthday cake was or will be this year!

 

I do not like anything chocolate (except real chocolate). My fav one. Try it, you'll get hooked.

 

Hey @qwikad.com it is great to hear from you. Been a while. I LOVE just about all chocolate and am always open to try something new. Will see if I can find some of what you recommend and report back. In the meantime, what would be your ideal birthday cake?

 

Strangely enough only ALDI carries it around here. There are about 7-9 different kinds (with nuts, caramel, 30%, 60%, 90% cocoa, mint and so on). Do you have those in MA?

 

Well, I live across the border in RI, but, no, we do not have ALDI's in New England, as far as I am aware. However, I am assuming that I can order it online. I tend to prefer dark chocolate, so that would be the type I go for.

 

Thanksgiving is just a couple of days away. Might be my favorite holiday because it is mostly about eating and eating and then eating some more. Eating is generally only interrupted by non-strenuous recreational activities like watching sports on TV, playing cards or board games, etc.

While the turkey is the main component of the meal, I look forward to the stuffing/dressing as much if not more. A good cornbread and sausage stuffing is a great option:



Put some turkey gravy on it and the dish is fantastic. Would love to hear others' favorite holiday sides.

 

There has been some talk about chocolates on this thread. Recently I discovered a chocolate that is to die for. It is Whittaker's peanut butter bars.These chocolates are imported from New Zealand and are double size bars with 33% cocoa and do not come cheap. But you only live once, right?

 

You are stoking my addiction. I LOVE chocolate. Found a picture of this treat:



Here's hoping that they can be acquired on Amazon! Thanks.