Last weekend of July in Toronto

Look what we were gifted this weekend! My mom and dad brought us their old bbq, all reconditioned and freshened up! We've already given it a couple of test drives. Above is a picture of lovely bok choy that hit the grill first. Shortly followed by:



Burgers! Yummy! We tried a simple recipe from Foodtv.ca. Delicious!

On Sundays when we have access to a car, we get ourselves to the Beaches (I know the area is officially known as the Beach, but it doesn't roll off my tongue or fingertips as easily as Beaches does) to enjoy Konditor. Our favourite pastry place in Toronto. There is a lot more to Konditor than their pastries; they have quiches, salads and sandwiches that are all amazing. The house coffee is to die for! We partake in little bit of everything, plus the Sunday New York Times.

Here is a picture of Hubby and our friend who also worships the Viennese pastries:



The last few times we've gone to Konditor, we've headed to the Liberty Village Farmers' Market before going home. We discovered some kick ass pickled garlic here. We've had the regular and the spicy pickled garlic, as well as the garlic relish. Incredible! I served the pickled garlic at my sister's party earlier this month and it was big hit.

Today we kept to our ritual and headed to Liberty Village. Lucky thing, too, since the garlic people won't be back in Toronto until the Cabbagetown festival. I loaded up with two kinds of relish and pickled garlic ends (they are not called ends, but I don't want to go downstairs to look at the jar right now).

A kind merchant pointed me in the right direction for pears. I've been waiting for the Ontario pears to be ready so that I could make some pear reserves. One of the farmers had lovely little sugar pears. I bought about five pounds.

Here's me after working for three hours on Gingered Pear Preserves:



A labour of love. My feet are aching and my back hurts, but I yielded eleven 250ml jars and a few taste tests to share with Hubby and friend. Not bad for being without most of my fancy canning equipment. I improvised and did quite well - no burns or scalds, only delicious preserves.