Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend 2013

During the Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend, I covered the 10k, half and full marathon - mainly from the trunk of the lead cars.

I arrived downtown a few minutes before the first 5k started. The second 5k group left the start line as I made my way to the media room in City Hall. 

After I picked up my credentials, I had a snack (catered by Thyme & Again) of red grapes, cheddar cheese, and what seemed like a grilled chicken club sandwich. Once I was finished, I then headed outside to find the race vehicles. 

There, I met Gord and Scott, from the Ottawa Citizen, and Javier who were riding the mens 10k lead car as well.

Here are some of my favourite photos from Saturday. You can view more of the photos I took that day here [link].

Some young kids getting ready to cheer on the 10k runners.

The lead pack running down Elgin Street.

Leah Larocque, Myriam Grenon, and Liz Maguire run together during the 10k event.

The lead pack run along a bend of the road. El Hassan El Abbassi, the eventual winner of the 10k event can be seen behind last year's winner, Geoffrey Mutai, who finished third this year.

I found myself laughing when I took this photo. It looks like Natasha Fraser is running comfortably while the elite mens' lead pack struggles to keep up with her.

Rediscovering Some Foods

There are three foods that I've happily rediscovered recently.

1 - Mac and cheese


Or at least a twist on the dish. It started with a wicked mornay sauce and penne. I got a sudden craving for baked cheese as I was making it. And then, on a whim, I checked the fridge and found some maple ham. Everything was mixed together in a casserole pan and then I topped it all off with a bit more cheese and Italian breadcrumbs. It. Was. Amazing.

This was the elevated version of the sometimes-monotonous flavour of mac and cheese; the layers of flavours: cheese sauce, fragrant baked cheese, sweet maple ham, and Italian breadcrumbs. I'll try to keep this in mind the next time I make another batch of mac and cheese.


2 - Bread, eggs, and bacon breakfast


Our family rarely eats breakfast. The first meals that we eat are closer to snacks than anything. We do have pancake breakfasts on occasion. But our first meal of the day usually consists of eating some yogurt with cereal, toast, baked goods, and/or oatmeal with milk or hot caffeinated beverage (be it coffee, hot chocolate, Ovaltine, Milo, or milk tea). Nothing substantial.

I picked up some Portuguese rolls from the Lisbon Bakery (2563 Baseline Road), popped some bacon in the oven, and poached some eggs. The thing that took the longest to prepare was the bacon. I have no idea why I don't eat this kind of breakfast more often. I used a aluminum foil-lined tray to bake the bacon for two reasons: firstly, I didn't feel like standing over the stove as the bacon cooked in a pan; secondly, I didn't feel like cleaning the stovetop post-bacon-cooking.


Fluffy carbs from the Lisbon Bakery made a great vehicle for the eggs to my mouth. Mmm! A strong cup of G7 Instant Coffee rounded out the meal.


3 - Club sandwiches


Thinking back, I haven't eaten many club sandwiches at all. My first taste of a club sandwich came in an emergency room. It was late. I was sick. My mom was given a voucher to the (now closed) coffee shop and came back with a club sandwich and chocolate milk. I was really hungry and managed a few bites of the odd sandwich before falling asleep from exhaustion. The sandwich was comforting because it wasn't jello, popsicle, or ice chips.

I've tried to make club sandwiches at home but it just doesn't taste the same. I don't like to order simple sandwiches when I go out because it's so easy to make at home. But I ordered the triple decker turkey club at O'Connor's Irish Pub last week. I didn't regret my choice one bit.


Before that, VN and I shared a plate of sweet potato fries. These were the best sweet potato fries I've had. I find that the fries that most establishments serve are too thin. Because their fries were larger than the typical sweet potato fries that are served, there was more soft sweet potato to enjoy. The ratio between the interior and crisp exterior were just right.


These three dishes made me quite happy. I'm debating whether I want to add these into my food rotation or to only enjoy them once in a while. Do you have any nostalgic foods that you'd want to rediscover?

Toronto Marathon Weekend 2013

My weekend was spent in Toronto for work. I helped cover the GoodLife Fitness Toronto Marathon as a sports photographer with the MarathonFoto company. You can read more about what it's like to work the event [link]. This post is about all the food.

*Updated* Covering a Marathon as an Official Photographer: My Experience

This upcoming Sunday is the GoodLife Fitness Toronto Marathon 2013. I'll be joining a wonderful team of MarathonFoto photographers to cover the event. It will be my fifth time helping out with the amazing event.



Grab a cup of coffee, or in this case -- a caffé macchiato -- and read how the upcoming weekend typically unfolds for me, an official marathon photographer for the day. There won't be any food porn. I'll write about the food later. Continue if you'd like.

Lunch in the Lovely Byward Market

Last Saturday was a beautiful sunny day. VN, KN, and I headed to the Byward Market for a relaxing lunch.

First up: Awesome La Bottega Italian sandwiches. 

These were so good! You've gotta get the spicy eggplants and dijon mustard. It just elevates the already tasty sandwich to something better.

For dessert, we headed to Le Moulin de Provence. This photo was taken back in 2007 when Lucy, JT, and I met up for lunch.

KN mentioned that their almond croissants were heavenly, so I had to check it out and find out if it was as good as she described. I made a scouting trip earlier last month and got some sweets for Lucy's birthday. The almond croissants were simply divine. 

Hahaa! Like I said, the almond croissants were divine. Even Mom liked it -- the same person who likes to nitpick everything and is a major buzz kill.

We had to go and have some. Had to.

We got some coffee and asked for the croissants to be warmed up.

Chance of survival: 0%

We were on a high after lunch. The endorphins were pumping. We were so giddy that we couldn't even talk properly.

Address:

La Bottega

64 George St.

Ottawa, ON

613-789-7575

Le Moulin de Provence

55 Byward Market Square

Ottawa, ON

613-241-9152

Sticky Toffee Pudding at Moxie's Grill & Bar

We had plenty of time to grab dinner before a Sens game last week. We weren't craving anything in particular so we just dropped by the Moxie's at (Kanata) Centrum.


Can I just say that I absolutely love the spotlights at the center of each table? Just awesome.

VN had a sandwich with a greek side salad. My main was the linguine with bocconcini-stuffed meatballs with grana padano cheese. I rarely order pasta when I do find myself dining at a north american restaurant/bar & grill. Why overpay for something that isn't very satisfying when I can just make the same dish better at home? I found the pasta and meatballs on the salty side.


Though I admit that it didn't take much at all, VN talked me into having dessert. She highly recommended that we order the sticky toffee pudding so that we could replicate it in the future. We shared the mini portion. The caramel sauce was overkill. Instead of sliced almonds, I would've liked larger chunks of toasted/roasted almonds. Maybe all the sugar from the caramel sauce and the sticky toffee pudding killed my taste buds, but I felt that the vanilla ice cream needed more vanilla flavour.

The Sens ended up losing. It was a frustrating game. Dinner was satisfying though.