An evening on Whyte Avenue ... Accent European Lounge and Block 1912

I am seriously behind in posting ... honestly just getting back into the swing of things after being sick for a couple months ... so I am going to start off with posting about a recent evening we had.  Kevin and I are part of a group of awesome folk who attend plays, movies, theatre events, and other drama / art related activities all around our city.  Recently we joined an evening that took us to the Old Strathcona district of the city and Whyte Avenue.  We were going to a movie called "Upside Down" in the historic Princess Theatre.
  
Accent European Lounge 
8223-104 Street
ph: 780-431-0179
We also had the opportunity to join some of the group members and go for supper beforehand ... the restaurant that was chosen was the Accent European Lounge - just off Whyte Avenue.   We have had the pleasure of dining a few times with our theatre going group ... in big and smaller numbers (blog posts yet to come) and I find it can be a great experience as long as we do a little work ourselves as Celiac and Gluten Intolerant before we go out.  This was our first time dining at Accent European Lounge so as I always do when dining out at a new restaurant I called the restaurant beforehand to see if they accommodate eating as someone with Celiac disease and having to have a gluten free meal.  The young lady on the phone knew at once what Celiac Disease meant and let us know that the Accent European Lounge definitely had options for us.  We decided we would then go with the flow and decide once we were at the restaurant and what was presented to us what we would eat.  The waitress once I identified that we were celiac with a gluten free requirement for eating, was able to go over the menu with us ... give us a few options and let us know that the chefs were knowledgeable and able to make adjustments to most entrees on the menu.  We decided to go with the special of the evening - it was a "New York Tenderloin with a Peppercorn sauce and a side of vegetables" - once the waitress checked with the chef she came back out and let us know that the sauce would have to be omitted because of a gluten thickener but that the rest of the dish would be ok.  So we stayed with that order.

  We were not disappointed ~ the steak was done medium rare with a tasty seasoning.  We were pleasantly surprised with the awesome vegetable side to accompany our steaks ~ roasted potatoes, broccoli, zucchini, carrot, pepper, cauliflower and a lovely little fresh tomato cucumber garnish.  The vegetables were cooked very well, and seasoned nicely.  It was a great steak and awesome dish.  Beautifully presented.

We then went to the movie "Upside Down" at the Princess Theatre (built in 1914) - sat in the upper balcony it was a neat experience.  While it may not be a theatre for big action films, or ones that you would want a big screen production, there was a welcoming warm quaint feeling about sitting there in this almost a century old theatre and watching the film.





Afterwards we decided to head to a local Cafe to discuss the movie and for some coffee/tea and sweets - so we walked a short distance down the block to the Block 1912 - A European Cafe - This is a very cute and trendy coffee house on Whyte Avenue, totally set up so that groups of all sizes can enjoy chatting and sampling the delicious fare.  As it was later in the evening our group of theatregoers decided to stop for coffee/tea and sweets ~ At first Kevin and I were only going to get a couple cups of Soy Chai Latte ...

Soy Chai Latte ... spicy and but not sweet - we had to add sugar. :)

... but as some of the group came back to the table with yummy desserts we were wondering if we should go and take a look to see if Block 1912 had any sweets to accommodate Celiacs ;)  Well when our friend Steve came back to the table with a delicious looking chocolate cake and then announced to us "know what this is also Vegan and Gluten Free they told me" well then of course (for the blog post of course) we had to try a piece for ourselves.  So Kevin went up to see what they had that evening, and brought back to the table a piece of heavenly (and rich) chocolate cake, and a hot mixed berry crumble.
The chocolate cake was not really sweet - which was nice, and very smooth and rich, I could not finish my piece and it would have been good getting half the slice ha ha ~ delicious.  Kevin's hot mixed berry crumble ... was amazing (and he is lucky I had my own piece of cake to finish) it had a crumble on top that was mostly nuts.  Definitely will go back to the Block 1912 and see what other tasty fare would be on the menu for Celiacs and Gluten Sensitive folk ... and report back - it's the least we can do.  ;)

Block 1912- A European Cafe
10361-82 Avenue
ph: 780-433-6575

Busy Busy Life ...

Well I have been ill for about the last three weeks now ... actually all that is left of the flu head and chest cold I started with is a nagging and irritating cough that just does not want to go away ... now most of the time it is bearable until I want to do something important like rest or sleep ha ha ... then it is not a pretty sight or sound, my son "lovingly"(?) said yesterday "I think it is time mom to take you out back and shoot you" ha ha ... nice kid lmao but he is right it can get downright annoying when listening to me cough and cough ... ah well I will appreciate my health all the more once I am done with this little sickness ... and then back to just dealing with all the fun stuff that comes along with being a celiac ha ha.  Right?!  Fun?!  Right?!

Well I have to say a few things that are most awesome about being diagnosed with Celiac Disease ~ yes I do have some ha ha ...

I have met, worked and volunteered along side, and follow (blog wise) some really amazing people.  Good hearts, down to earth, wanting to help others people ... from being involved with the Edmonton Chapter of the Canadian Celiac Association - to meeting amazing bloggers such as Gluten Free Edmonton to volunteering along side some amazing folk from Kinnikinnick's ... and many more.

I have enjoyed getting out into our city and trying out new cuisine's and new places to shop ... found some amazing places to eat - favorite restaurants like Pearl River and Matahari and have found some seriously awesome places to shop such as Rio Vida Bakery, Kinnikinnick's ~ I love living in Edmonton and having all the resources we do so close by ... and the great support system we have in our own Association and all those involved in the Celiac and Gluten Intolerant world.  I wish I could be out and about more, and find more ways to get involved but there are only so many hours in the day, and days in the week and when working full time, and trying to balance life well ... we all just do what we can.  I am in great awe of those that manage to blog on a regular basis and have some much information to share ... seriously admire their dedication and time management skills and thank them dearly for the inspiration to keep at my own little corner of the blogging world.  I would love to blog on a daily basis, I would love to be creative on a daily basis ... but I have come to realize I have to be realistic and just do what I CAN DO ... and take care of all my various parts.  :)   I have of late gotten back to exploring my Artsy side as well ... trying to balance as I said ... so life is busy.

Life is busy and life is good busy ... so no time to be sick ... no time to let it slow me down ~ so much to enjoy and do. :)

Speaking of enjoy ... my guy Kevin stopped into Rio Vida Bakery last night to pick up some of her amazing soup/buns and perogies that we ordered from her, also Green Onion Flatbreads (I have become quite addicted to these - crave them all the time ha ha) and brought a new flavor of flatbread home - Spinach (oh awesome).

 She wanted us to try out a seasoned breading mix - for like coating fish or chicken and we decided we had to try that right away.  So last night for supper we made chicken strips and they were delicious! er soup is amazing.  The Chicken Vegetable is my favorite!  So good ... I have a question for my readers if someone can help me???  When using the seasoned breaded coating on the cut strips of chicken breast I found that the coating did not moisten in a lot of the strips - still tasted great but looked powdery?  What steps do I need to take to make the chicken moist so that the breading crisps better - I dipped in egg mixture then the seasoned breading mix ... should I have marinated or somehow added something?  I would love to hear what others think.

So bottom line is life is busy ... and though I would love to blog all the time in reality I don't have the hours in the day to stretch ... I haven't even been on my twitter in the last weeks because of feeling ill - Pinterest I can look at pictures ha ha - twitter I had to read but again love the inspiration we can glean off of Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest ... so enjoying the social media age we live in.

That also is a plus of being diagnosed with Celiac Disease - it has had me researching and reading so much more ... and then you come across amazing sites like "Gluten Dude" - he has recently re-formatted his whole website - amazing!  My world has definitely been a better place since following blogs like his and Gluten Free Edmonton - so much talent in this world and glad we can share a little in it.

So I haven't really blogged for a while and this one is a bit of a mishmash - but just to say I am still around and busy "living" life ... I have a Facebook Page I would love more people to like and follow and there is always my twitter feed @highonlifeandgf ~ now that I am on the mend I hope to be more active on both ... Take care everyone and thanks for reading!  :)

Brown Rice Crisps

I had to post about these awesome rice crisps that I enjoy.  I am glad that they named them so well because seriously they are not a rice "cracker" so to speak ... they are a rice crisp .. the texture is very light and crispy and they have a satisfying crunch.  They are a rice cracker that I enjoy all on their own ... which I can not say for a few other brands, because the are so thin and with none of that chewy styrofoam feel you can sometimes get with a rice cracker.  They are delightful.

We have picked them up at London Drugs in the past, but also this last few boxes we have purchased have come from our local Safeway ... I will keep my eye out for other places that might carry them as well and update this post.  :)

Seriously good ~ even if you haven't cared for rice crackers in the past ... these are certainly different and quite a refresh on the rice "cracker" .... THEY ARE CRISPS!  :)