Limestone Steak House

Hello,
Long time no write.
I have been a little busy lately and a little lazy that I have not got around to writing a blog post in a really long time.
But I am back and I hope to post more regularly again.
So this post if you hadn't guessed from the title is about the restuarant/ pub "Limestone Steak House".

 

The bruschetta with gluten free pizza crust slices

This place is in Cobourg and it was amazing. They had gluten free options galore and the waiter was amazing he was willing to check everything more then once to make sure it was safe and he was willing to change some of the non gluten free menu options to make them gluten free for me. I had a very enjoyable time there. I got the bruschetta with the gluten free pizza crust as the bread and it was cut into triangles, very good. The pizza crust was one of the most amazing I have had in a really long time. The waiter was even willing to check where the restaurant got their supply so that I might go out and find it another time.

 

Gluten free pizza

Now the crust once it had sauce on it was not as good as the "Udi" version I get but it was still very delicious. I also saved half and it was still good cold.

 

Lamb Burger Special (not gluten free)

My brother got this option and he said it was alright but there was a strong spice that over powered most of the burger. However it was still good. He said though that the Caesar salad that he got was absolutely delicious. 

 

Limestone Yorkshire Bowl (not gluten free)

This was my mothers option and her and my brother shared it. they both said it was phenomenal, amazing and filling. I can attest that it smelt amazing  and made my mouth water.

As for the atmosphere. It was pretty great as well. even though it said it was a steakhouse/ pub it looked more like a fine dining restaurant, it had dark wood, ambient lighting and beautiful set up. Here is a picture of our booth

And finally for this post,  I have been trying fairly unsuccessfully to find an alternative to egg nog, due in most to the fact that I am also lactose intolerant and it is not worth the suffering to get regular nog. As I said I had tried very unsuccessfully for years, but this year my mother found me 2 different types, one is an almond nog called noel nog and the other is a soy nog. Both are found in "Sobey's"

As for the taste the Almond one (lactose and egg free) doesn't quite taste like egg nog but it does have all the spices and therefore still tastes festive. There is a lack of egg taste and it is also not as thick. I definitely enjoyed it. As for the Soy one (also lactose and egg free), it definitely tastes closer to what I remember egg nog tasting like, it is thicker then the Almond nog but not as thick as the regular egg nog. It also has a creamier flavour. I also enjoyed this one.

 

This is the almond bottle, the soy bottle

is red with yellow.

I hope you found my review helpful and I will continue to update you and good gluten free products and places to eat.

-Photo Alley

PF Chang's

Recently I went to PF Chang's in Toronto with some family, it has just opened up there, if you aren't sure what it is, it is a Asian restaurant very popular in the States, I actually believe it is the first one to come to Canada.
Anyway like I usually do before eating out I checked online to see if there was a menu I could check for gluten free items or a number I could call to make sure there would be something I could eat, well low and behold they have quite a selection and mention their process on how they keep it gluten free and how you will know it is gluten free. One of these steps is to put the gluten free items on distinctive plates. The regular food comes on white plates and the gluten free comes on a plate with the PF Chang logo, if it doesn't have a logo it might not have been prepared safe, ie with the wrong soy sauce. As well you can ask that they bring out a gluten free soy sauce to the table so you can add more to a dish if you would like (the one on the table is regular soy sauce), I didn't do this because the meals were delicious in themselves and I didn't think they needed anymore flavouring.
I completely recommend this restaurant to whoever finds themselves in Toronto with a need for gluten free, the only down side was we had about a 2 hour wait before we were seated, we weren't sure if this was because they had just opened and it was so popular or if it will stay this way as time goes by, but like I said besides the wait definitely worth the food.
I opted not to get the gluten free soup only because me and my parents were ordering a ton of other items and I wanted to save room for desert (which they had a selection of 2 gluten free). The only other thing I can mention is this restaurant serves the food in a family style so you order a bunch of dishes and then share so if you are going either go with a bunch of people who will order off the gluten free menu so you all can eat the same things or know that you won't be sharing with your fellow diners, yes they let you take takeout.
Anyway they had 3 sides, an appetizer, a noodle dish, and around 10 entrees that you could eat along with the aforementioned 2 desserts.
We got all three sides which were good but they weren't exceptional.
However we had the appetizer (lettuce chicken wraps) which were beyond delicious I would go back just for a whole meal of them. They are lettuce cups (a leaf of lettuce) with a chicken mixture and fried rice noodles that you put into the cups and then add sauce as you preferred (I didn't add anything) and then you wrap and eat. Very good, my Aunt tried both the gluten free and the regular and said yes she could taste a difference but both were good.

As for our mains we had the Shanghai noodles, the Lemon chicken, and the Moo Goo Gai Pan with steamed white rice. Oh my it was delicious, the noodles were perfect, the lemon chicken was very lemonie with fresh squeezed lemon on top (my mom's favourite) and the moo goo gai pan was beyond anything I expected. Here are a few pictures I took with my phone (sorry I didn't get a picture of the lettuce wraps I was too busy enjoying them to remember)

 

Shanghai noodles with Pf Chang logo

 

Lemon Chicken, you can even see some of the lemon slices

 

Moo Goo Gai Pan

 

Shanghai cucumbers, one of the sides ( a little strong for me

but my cousin loved them)

I ended up asking them to package up most of the food for us to take home because I really wanted dessert and I was feeling stuffed already.

So I ordered the flourless chocolate mound and boy did it live up to it's name, it was a giant mound of well... chocolate, it also came with a very nice raspberry sauce (which I wish there had been more of) and fresh blackberries and strawberries to eat with it. Here is a picture that my other cousin reminded me to take, I had been half way through when she was like you better take a picture for you post. I had nearly forgotten because it was sooo good.

 

The one thing I would say is if you also have a seafood allergy call in advance and make sure it will be safe, almost everything we ate had some sort of seafood (lots and lots of shrimp). I was very impressed and hope to go back again. I felt very safe and our waitress Tiffany was superb in making sure our meal and experience was one to remember. So I thank PF Chang's for knowing how to treat people with dietary restrictions and on making us feel safe when we eat out.

On another note after finishing the BBC Sherlock and Watson I was soo in love I had to make myself one, but why make it easy when you can make it hard, so started "Pocket Sherlock".

I finally finished him, he is made from embroidery thread and has a wire frame so that he can be moved and bent. I took breaks so often because my eyes would go so squirrelly that I wouldn't be able to see normal for a good while after I stopped, so started with his body, then his clothing and then after his jacket became mostly made I took a great long break and finally finished today with his sleeves and scarf. I think in total it took around 3-4 days but I did not work constantly, like I said my eyes were squirrelly and I tended to start work on him late at night when my eyes began to get tired (probably not my greatest move, but worth it in the end).

Here he is:

 

Without his scarf he has on a grey suit with a light blue dress shirt

 

With his scarf he is complete

 

And finally a size comparison

I hope you enjoyed and I will post again soon

-Photo Alley

GF brownies

Hello all,
I just tried a nee brownie mix by "Hodgson Mill"'s that is pretty good. I found this one at Sobey's, it took around 20 minutes to cook and it is fairly chocalatey, while it is still warm it is more cake like in texture but still tastes good and it says on the box that as it gets colder it will firm up more but I'm no waiting that long, like I said it tastes good warm as well.
We also tried the "Betty Crocker" white cake. While warm it tastes very eggy and not so much like a cake however the next day it tasted more like cake but not enough for me to buy again when there are better choices out there.
Here are a few images of the brownies:

 

I had my piece with Coconut ice cream and cinnamon.

Enjoy, till next time.

-Photo Alley

It's Gluten Free, Gluten Free Everywhere

Hello Everyone,
Long time no post.... Sorry I haven't been posting in a while but I thought to take a break and re group. And while I was re grouping I found tons of new gluten free goodness to share.

For one "Boston Pizza" now has a true gluten free menu, yes you heard right a real menu. So if you are tired of constantly having to look through the allergy book to see if you food is safe or just ordering the pizza because you know it is you now have more options.

 

So here it is 3 mains, pizza, wings, salad and 2 sides.

Yes wings, however if you choose to get the wings I suggest getting them to bake them twice that way they have a bit of a crust, while if it's done once they aren't that crispy which I don't like. I also opt to have the sauce on the side for optimum crispyness. I also tried the "Worms in dirt" dessert which is pudding and gummi worms, very good.

I then also was in Ottawa for a week and took a trip to "Rainbow Foods", they had quite a few new Gluten Free items for sale so I stocked up and decided to try a bunch of treats.

The first one was 2 chocolate bars by "Kayer", they are called Dark Chocolate Truffle Bars and I got the orange flavour and the Cran Raspberry Flavour. I would have to say they were some of the best chocolate bars I have had, they were very smooth and not as bitter as dark chocolate normally is and the flavour really came through.

Here's a picture:

 

Then there was a person selling organic tea that I decided to try. It's a company called "Martin and Stewart Teas". I got the Ginger and Cinnamon flavour and the Rooibos Chai. Both are caffeine free which is excellent for me and both tasted great with no sweetner in them or anything else for that matter (I drink my tea's "black"). I do have to say though I like the Rooibos Chai the best it has a great flavour that comes through really well and smells delicious, as for the Ginger and Cinnamon it is also good but the flavour is more subtle and it's a lot spicer then the former, I definitely felt the spice half way through and had to take a break. Both good though if you would like to try them.

Here is a picture of my Ginger and Cinnamon I had earlier in the day:

 

I also tried "La Maison Canelle" chocolate and raspberry muffins and their mini brownies. 

The muffins were good but I found no raspberries and there was only a slight taste of them in the muffin so I was a little disappointed, maybe I had a dud and the others will have some in them. As for the brownies they were delectable chocolatey goodness in one bite and to my awesome delight they had chocolate chips in them.

And as Dessert today I had "I can't believe it's Gluten Free", a part of the "Sinfully Delicious Treats" franchise, lemon cranberry biscotti. AND "El Peto"'s Lemon tart and Raspberry tart.

The biscotti was wonderful, it had just the right taste to it that I remember from when I was still eating gluten and it dipped perfectly in my hot chocolate. I also tried it with the Rooibos Chai tea and it also went well with that, and I am sure it would go great with coffee I just don't drink it.... As for the tarts I definitely liked the raspberry tart the best, the filling reminded me of jam and it was just a nice sweet, not too over powering but the lemon filling didn't taste right to me, it seemed more like the candies that have a bit of a soapy taste to them. My mom tried the lemon as well and she thought the crust was horrible. I personally didn't mind it, it's not as good as home made crust but what store bought tart is.

I give you the pictures from my dinner, including dessert:

 

Dinner: steak, beef ribs, broccoli, asparagus and tricoloured potatoes

 

Dessert the biscotti and hot chocolate

 

and the 2 tarts.

*All pictures were taking with I phone Camera*

I hope you enjoy and I hope to have some more crafts for you soon.

-Photo Alley

Chocolate Cake

Hello one and all,
I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and a great New Year's. I sure did.
My family all came over and celebrated Christmas here at my home and what made it more special was the love and understanding they all have. My mother and I decided this year because of me and my brother we would make a gluten free meal. That way when we were serving food we could have anything and everything. We made the stuffing with "Udi's gluten free bread". We had home made mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes made with "Vegan Becel margarine" and Goat's milk. Then our appetizers were home made white bean dip and veggies, some cheese and crackers and all the crackers were gluten free. In which case we tried a new cracker by "Glutino called Bagel Chips", these were by far my favourite of the night, they remind me of crostinis really. And they went so well with out cranberry and cinnamon soft goat's cheese. If you can find these ones in a store near you I highly recommend them. Now we had the whole dinner made but nothing for desert so we asked our relative's to bring something and we figured if there wasn't anything for me and my brother we would find something around the house we could eat for it. However my Aunt was wonderful, she made a gluten free flourless chocolate cake. I have to tell you this was the best chocolate cake I have ever had. It was moist, it was chocolatey. It was perfection. I would have a picture but unfortunately we ate it all before I thought about that. It didn't even make the night we finished every last crumb. If I can wrangle the recipe from her I am almost positive I will make it every day just for the deliciously goodness of it. Like I said it was nice and moist unlike most gluten free cakes that tend to dry out, it was actually better then I remember regular chocolate cake tasting.
So this cake was the proverbial icing on the cake for my Christmas.
If I find any more recipes for you all to try I will let you know about them.
Till another time,
-Photo Alley

Recipe To Riches

Hello,
President's Choice is hosting a Recipe to Riches contest and right now some of the products are in store. There is actually a gluten free cookie in the running it is called the Gluten free "Smart Cookie" and I have to say it is completely and utterly delicious and according to my mom is only 3.99 a box rather then what we normally pay for mediocre cookies at the price of 5 dollars or more. So I recommend you go to your local grocery store that carries president's choice and pick up a box to try, they are well worth it.
-Photo Alley

Alexis

Hello friends and family,
Just yesterday I had the chance to photograph a friend's daughter and I think it went quite well. I have to admit I was nervous at first because I usually photograph adults and heard that it can be difficult with children because they get tired or you have less time to shoot them so make it count and all this. I am hear to say I had a wonderful experience, She was a pro she took direction well and we ended up take a full hour and around 600 images in the day. I have gotten permission from my friend and her husband to show you some of the photos we took that day, I hope you enjoy them.

 

On another note I finally was able to try the Gluten free rice krispies by Kelloeg's and they taste just like rice krispies so I would recommend them if you can get your hands on some.

Till next time I hope you keep warm in the cooling weather.

-Photo Alley

Milk & Cookies

Hello,
So I recently went up to Ottawa but between visiting friends and feeling ill I wasn't able to go out and shoot, however I got home and tonight I had a click of inspiration from my cookies. So I went and I shot milk and cookies, of course these are gluten free cookies ("Kinnikinnick" chocolate chip cookies) and almond milk ("Silk" True Almond Milk), but still it was fun to shoot so here are 3 edits I just did really quickly of the best images:

 This was my lighting set up, a desk lamp that is fairly powerful and a piece of paper towel as a small reflector.

 

On another note my parents were out for breakfast at a restaurant that sells and serves gluten free  meals and they brought me home Real Kelleog's Rice Crispy's. Now I haven't had a chance to try them so as soon as I do I will let you know how they taste, but unfortunately right now they are only available in the states, the owners husband brought them up with him from his last visit. Fingers crossed that they come to Canada soon.

That is all for now, my next post will hopefully have some shots of the Lotion, body wash and fragrance my friend got me for my birthday from "Bath and Body Works". They came in a mailbox and I feel they will be just the thing to photograph next.
Enjoy the sunshine while it lasts, I hear snow is coming soon.
-Photo Alley

A Walk Around With Cupcakes

****Photo Heavy****

Hello again,
This past week I went down to Guelph to help my brother in law with some of the work he was doing and while there I got to walk around town a bit and take pictures.
Here are the images that I liked the best:

 

The 3 pictures above are of the Church of St. George

 

These above pictures are of the Church of Our Lady

 

@ Exhibition Park

 

And tonight I decided I was going to make cupcakes for mine and my mom's birthdays so I took out the "Something Good " Cupcake mix and made 2 batches that I then went one step further with and dyed with food colouring. I made both large cupcakes and mini cupcakes.

Here are the pictures of my cakes (yes they are green and purple cupcakes with blue and pink frosting):

 

They are very delicious

 

I thought I would also take some pictures of our dinner, 

Butternut squash soup and mashed potatoes with sweet potatoes

 

And this my friends was the defuser I used on my camera's pop up

flash, an empty margarine container with 3 pieces of paper towel inside.

That is all for now I hope you have a lovely weekend.

-Photo Alley