THE NORTH BY pulled pork + grilled pineapple + corn relish + cheddar

It's basically like my favourite week of the year here in Toronto. No, it's not Christmas/NYE, or my birthday. It's NXNE (North by North East). It's like a prolonged Wednesday-Sunday weekend of running around the city (read west end), going to an obscene amount of shows, as if for sport. There are awesome shows going on in all the dozen of usual venues, and like 30 others I don't go to, free concerts at Yonge + Dundas square, so many bands, free in-stores at record shops, and lots of official/unofficial events like the Toronto Island Vice takeover, or the many years running Great Heart Festival, which is pretty much a big park concert where bands do semi-acoustic arrangements of their songs, and it gets filmed and put online for everyone to relive the greatest time of year all year round. 

North 'By', as it's generally called is always an amazing time, some unforgettable sets, but a general blur of a weekend, what with the constantly jetting off to see another band somewhere, and continually evaluating whether you're too day-drunk to bike. It's something my friends and I highly anticipate, some of us months in advance, but come festival Sunday, no one wants to do anything but shovel BBQ and tacos into our mouths. The crowds at Sunday shows can be pretty sparse.

Anyway, this year I was pretty lazy and only went to like 2 shows a night, and none of the daytime parties or house shows. And I had a blast. Here's my NX Sunday sandwich special. If you're in Toronto and you've been "festive", you know this is what will keep you going, just one more night folks!

THE NEIGHBOURHOODWICH pork sausage + roast fennel + mushroom pâté

So, basically every day for the past year, I wake up, eat one of 3 rotating breakfast options, later I eat a salad, and by the end of the day, I'll probably have eaten a same-ish version of a vegan, viet-style soup. I didn't used to be like this! I used to make the same thing no more than 3 times. Then onto the next idea. My eating has become so routine, that even the things I do to break the routine, like occasionally making sandwiches for blog purposes, and eating things like, *gasp* bacon, have become routine. So I went into my local deli/sandwich supply magical happy house, determined to try something new. They make these really nice sounding apple and sage sausages ('cause who really thinks sausages look all that appetizing), and this weirdo mushroom pâté that just sort of spoke to me. It was nonchalantly crying out "why not?" And then I went out and bought fennel. Because honestly, fennel kind of scares me, as my only encounter with it had been one time using someone's strongly fennel flavoured toothpaste in the morning without realizing I was not to be expecting mint. Anyway, there's really nothing better in life, in general, than breaking routines, exploring, and finding out there are all these other things you can add to your life that you can enjoy, along with all the things you already have to do so. Which I guess is really the point of this blog. Yay for more things in life that are nice. Especially when they are things that you can eat!!!

RAMEN GRILLED CHEESE

GRILLED CHEESE SANDWICH MONTH POST #6

HEY GUYS. Fuck, as usual, I have like 10 entries all photographed and ready to be posted, but I got mega behind on writing... because I hate writing... and also, this 10 week and counting housing search continues! It's so distracting, it's like having a second job! Or in my case, a job. J/k prospective landlords, I am self employed, and I make an income, it just can feel like I do nothing sometimes, because I am always at home, and usually avoiding working, or feeling like I'm not working enough. Shit, I watch too many foreign affairs journalism shorts. Maybe that's why I'm in a constant existential crisis. I need more doughnut and cake blogs in my life or something. ANYWAY, so me and my future roommate have been really picky, and it's like it's impossible to find a decent 2-3 bedroom in this city for less than like $900/room. Because we've been looking for so long, and I really have to move out of my glorious loft this week, we actually found this incredibly cheap and awesome sublet, which will hopefully be home for the next few months, maybe even the whole summer. Look out for a new backsplash, and some really awesome sandwich collabs with the new roommie. And you'll see how behind I am by counting how many entries it takes for the backsplash to change...

THE ALSACE pork schnitzel + apple + cabbage + grilled cheese

GRILLED CHEESE SANDWICH MONTH POST #2

Ok, so I've never been to Alsace. But Official International Grilled Cheese Sandwich month continues with this this awesome sandwich, what I consider to be the perfect blend of my acquired French and German food influences. I had never been the biggest pork fan, but when you're broke, and sort of living in a squat, and maybe cooking off a hot plate... you get resourceful with what you've got, and I definitely believe that I can enjoy pretty much any food, in the right context. Wait, what? Yes, it was an INTERESTING time in my life, ok? Actually, probably the best, and it reminds me of a great quote I saw on Humans of New York recently: 

"I think I’m happiest when I’m broke.""Why’s that?""Because I can always find a good meal. But when I’m broke, I can’t afford to do the things I shouldn’t be doing."

THE HOGTOWN ham, just ham.

Sometimes I'm unimpressed with the sandwiches I post, or I spend an hour making a sandwich, and just never post it at all. Usually what goes wrong is it just gets overcomplicated, and loses focus. This post is all about simplicity, because appreciating food has very little to do with what goes into making it, it all comes down to whether it satisfies you. And I've been pretty good at applying that nugget of wisdom to life too lately. I don't overthink things too much, and the simple shit is really the best. Making new friends. Asking old friends how their day is going. Spending some time by yourself doing something that makes you happy.