I was reading an article on BlogTO about the Urban Design Streetscape Manual when I saw an advertisement for Winterlicious 2012. This year, Winterlicious will run from January 27 to February 9. Restaurants have been taking Prix Fixe reservations since January 12, so book your places now!

A couple years ago, I tried to put together a list of restaurants that offer vegan and vegetarian options for Summerlicious. It’s been a while since I revisited the ‘Licious menus and I noticed that the City of Toronto offers more informative restaurant listings.

 In 2012 Winterlicious celebrates 10 years as one of Toronto’s favourite culinary events. There are 10 restaurants participating this year who were part of the inaugural promotion in 2003. Congratulations to these 10 and all Toronto restaurants who have served more than 3.2 million meals over the past nine years and have worked to make Winterlcious and Summerlicious such successful programs.

 Those restaurants with a leaf icon offer a vegetarian option as part of their menu.

 These restaurants are serving menus with at least one dish in each course made with local Ontario produce, meat and food ingredients.

 Each restaurant and event venue was asked to identify whether their location is fully barrier-free and wheel chair accessible. Look for this icon throughout the site.

There are over 90 restaurants that offer vegetarian options this year. Happy hunting for a Winterlicious restaurant you like!

I went down to the festival after work on the Friday to take a look around and eat some good food. I’m clearing my side table of all the business cards, brochures and pamphlets and I’m making a list of some of the companies and other stuff that were at the Toronto Vegetarian Food Festival this year.

• LPK’s Culinary Groove
• Apiecalypse Now! Vegan Bakery
• The Simply Bar: Protein bars
• Girlnola Gluten-Free Gourmet Goodness
• Marni Wasserman
• Meatless Monday
• Veggie Challenge
• Vegucated
• Vegan Outreach

Nothing like a potluck to get the cooking wheels going again.

Brought to you by Veggie Might

Pumpkin Orzo with Sage
Serves 4

8 oz orzo
3 c vegetable stock
3 c water

1 1/2 cup pumpkin puree (or squash of your choice)
1 1/4 cup vegetable stock
1/2 cup rice milk
30 sage leaves, cut into ribbons
1 shallot
1 tbsp vegan nonhydrogenated margarine
3/4 tsp salt
20 grinds fresh black pepper
3 tbsp Parmesan cheese (optional, but oh so good)

Pumpkin Puree
1) If you’re starting with a fresh pumpkin or squash, slice in half (lengthwise for butternut and its ilk) and place cut side down on a lightly oiled baking sheet. Bake at 350º for 30 minutes or until tender. Allow to cool and scoop out with a spoon. Puree in a food processor until smooth.

The Sauce
2) Sauté shallots and sage in margarine for 5 minutes over medium heat. Add 3/4 cup of broth and 1/2 cup of rice milk. Allow to simmer for 5 minutes or so.

Meanwhile…The Orzo
3) In a large saucepan, bring 3 cups of broth and 3 cups of water to boil over high heat. Add orzo. Return to a boil and cook for 9 minutes or until pasta is al dente. Drain and set aside.

Back to the sauce…
4) Add pumpkin puree to simmering broth and stir well. Add salt, pepper, and remaining 3/4 cup of broth. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 more minutes on medium low.

5) Stir in Parmesan cheese (if you so choose).

6) Toss over orzo and serve hot.

7) Melt with delight.

Approximate Calories, Fat, and Price per Serving:
290 calories, 1.7g fat, $.73
(With parmesan: 305.6 calories, 5.2g fat, $1.01)

Calculations
8 oz orzo: 840 calories, 4g fat, $.50
3 c vegetable stock: 36 calories, 0g fat, $.39
1 1/2 cup pumpkin puree (or squash of your choice): 73.5 calories, 0g fat, .93
1 1/4 cup vegetable stock: 15 calories, 0g fat, $.16
1/2 cup rice milk: 45 calories, 1.75g fat, $.20
30 sage leaves: 10 calories, 0g fat, $.40
1 shallot: 40 calories, 0g fat, $.20
1 tbsp vegan butter: 100 cal, 11 fat, $.12
3/4 tsp: salt negligible calories and fat, $.02
20 grinds fresh black pepper: salt negligible calories and fat, $.02
(3 tbsp parmesan cheese: 63 calories, 4.2g fat, $1.11)
Totals: 1159.5 calories, 16.8g fat, $29.4 (1222.5 calories, 21g fat, $4.05)
Per Serving: 290 calories, 1.7g fat, $.73 (305.6 calories, 5.2g fat, $1.01)

I missed making cupcakes that I used to pass out in droves. My old cupcake recipe used buttermilk so I do not make them anymore. Living in China without an oven at my place has made my heart grow fond of baking again. I started tested out a couple cupcake recipes since I got back and I found one that I like so far.

Some of the recipes were a little too dry probably because I left them in too long because I was watching a CSI marathon on Spike while I was baking. The recipe I liked the most was a Carrot Cake Cupcake recipe from the Tiny Vegan Kitchen. Vegan carrot cake always tastes great. The icing is yummy too but I can only take icing in small quantities, it gets too sweet for me. The recipe calls for crushed pineapples and grated carrots, it’s not wonder why it is so moist. It’s a really yummy recipe. You should give it a try.

In Japan, they were getting ready for Valentine’s Day. The Japanese tradition is to have the ladies give men chocolate or other goodies. Some buy brand-name chocolates and others make their own. There were a bunch of stores selling silicone molds for chocolates and cakes. I bought a whole bunch because they were so adorable. They also had pre-made mixes for things miniature cheesecakes, miniature chocolate cakes, biscuits, and sugar cookies. I wanted to buy them all.

It’s not all about Summerlicious in the summer. There’s lots to do in Toronto during the summer months that involve yummy food. A Bread & Honey Festival this weekend, Toronto Drinks Show the following weekend (June 12-13), Toronto Taste (June 14), The Cooking Fire Theatre Festival (June 17-21), Taste of Little Italty (June 19-21), Father’s Day Brunch Cruise (June 21), Toronto Ribfest (June 26 – July 1), Strawberry Festival (June 28)

Fresh Wednesdays
Date: Every Wednesday (July 15 to August 26)
Time: 8 A.M. to 2 P.M.
Location: Nathan Phillips Square

Starting on July 15 until the last Wednesday of August, you can shop for fresh fruits and vegetables at the Farmers’ Market at Nathan Phillips Square and enjoy some live music. The Farmers’ Market at Nathan Phillips square will run until October 14–there’s just no live music.

Tasty Thursdays
Date: Every Thursday (July 16 to August 27)
Time: 11 A.M. to 2 P.M.
Location: Nathan Phillips Square

Starting on July 16 until the last Thursday of August, you can taste foods from some Toronto restaurants. Samosas, mango salads, vegetable spring rolls, and vegetarian sushi. All for $5 or less! This year they are starting to serve their food in eco-friendly containers.

Mariposa Cruises’ Fireworks Dinner Cruise
Date: Sat, June 27; Wed, July 1; Sat July 4
Time: 7:00 P.M. to 11:30 P.M.
Location: Toronto Harbour

Cruise around the Toronto Harbour on Captain Matthew Flinders for four hours while you enjoy the fireworks and a buffet-style dinner.

The 43rd Annual CHIN International Picnic
Date: July 1, 4, 5
Time: Noon to 11 P.M.
Location: Canadian National Exhibition

A music festival, picnic, sporting events, Mr. and Mrs. CHIN International Bikini Contests, petting zoo, K-9 Dog Challenge, and a 100,000 square foot bazaar at the C.N.E.It’s a great excuse for the family to go out and enjoy the sun.

Taste of Lawrence
Date: July 3-5
Time: 8 A.M. to 11 P.M. (Fri), 11 A.M. to 11 P.M. (Sat), 11 A.M. to 6 P.M. (Sun)
Location: Lawrence Avenue East (Warden Avenue to Pharmacy)

Enjoy Lawrence Avenue East without the smelly traffic and replace it with great food and lots of things for the kids to do.

Mariposa Cruises’ Fiesta Friday Dinner
Date: July 10
Time: 6:30 P.M. to 10:00 P.M.
Location: Toronto Harbour

Sail around the Toronto Harbour on the Mariposa Belle for three hours. Enjoy a Mexican buffet-style dinner with DJ, dancing and a cash bar.

Live Green Toronto Festival
Date: July 25-26
Time: Unknown
Location: Yonge Street (Dundas to Queen)

This festival will showcase hundreds of green products for work, home and play. Browse around and taste some local foods and listen to some live music. You can even get information on how to organize a project that will turn your neighbourhood green.

Irie Music Festival
Date: July 30 to August 3
Time: See Schedule
Location: Nathan Phillips Square and Queen’s Park

There are a whole list of events for the festival. The main events of the festival are reggae and world music performances but you’ll find lots of other things to do as well, including art vendors, Caribbean dance showcase and food.

Toronto Festival of Beer
Date: August 6-8
Time: 4 P.M. to 10 P.M. (Thu, Fri), 1 P.M. to 7 P.M. (Sat)
Location: Exhibition Place

Beer, BBQ, beer, live performances, beer, grilling demos, and more beer.

KRINOS Taste of the Danforth
Date: August 7-9, 2009
Time: 6 P.M. to 11 P.M. (Fri), Noon to 11 P.M. (Sat), Noon to 8 P.M. (Sun)
Location: Greektown; Danforth Avenue (Broadview Subway Station to Jones Avenue)

The ever populaire Taste of the Danforth takes place in the heart of Greektown. Enjoy music and food in the world’s largest Greek festival outside of Greece!

This year, Summerlicious runs from July 3 to July 19. Reservations will be taken for Summerlicious starting June 18, 2009. I’m told the “good” restaurants fill up quickly. By your standards, I’m guessing those are the restaurants that offer steaks and seafood, so I’m pretty safe.

I always say I’m going to go to Summerlicious, but I never end up going. The restaurant listing still lists which restaurants have vegetarian courses. This year, they’ve even included which courses are vegetarian in the menu. It might have been my wave of emails to every vegetarian-friendly restaurant to ask what was in each dish that didn’t look like it had meat, egg or cheese in it.

Summerlicious 2009 Restaurant Listing

Who knows? Maybe I’ll go this year. Has anyone seen a vegan list somewhere online for Summerlicious?

The Dragonboat Festival is on Thursday and it’s a statutory holiday–our day off from school. We pulled some strings and got Friday off so it was suppose to be a 4-day weekend. That’s not the case anymore. On Saturday, the students are going to be performing again at Lǔ Xiàng Square (鲁巷广场) again for the Guānggǔ Music Festival (光谷音乐节). They made it to the finals. We were told that there will be five children acts and five adult acts. The winner of the music festival wins ¥5000! We weren’t told if the students were competing against the adult acts, we assume we’re not. It would be unfair, the children would win based on the cuteness factor.

We don’t have a 4-day weekend, but we still have time to travel. Some of the teachers and I are going to head to Hángzhōu (杭州) to do the tourist thing. I really don’t know what we’re doing when we get there, but they have it all planned. We’re taking off by plane tomorrow after work and then coming back by train Saturday morning, just in time for the music festival. I did some digging around and Hángzhōu happens to be the home of the Lóngjǐng tea or Dragonwell tea (龙井茶). I’ll have to buy myself some of that. It looks like it will cost me about ¥300/box. o.O

Every Monday, we have flag ceremony in the morning instead of homeroom. After standing at attention for the Chinese national anthem a student stands under the flag and says a speech about a relevant topic for the week. This Monday, it was the Dragonboat Festival. Crystal talked about the best-known origins of the festival, the story of Qu Yuan.

Qu Yuan was a scholar and a minister to the King from the Southern Chu during the Warring States Periods. The King from the Southern Chu allied with a stronger state. Qu opposed the alliance and was banished and accused of treason. Years later, the alliance state conquered the Chu capital. After this news, Qu committed suicide on the fifth day of the fifth month by drowning himself in the Mìluó River (汨罗江).

The story says that locals that admired Qu Yuan tried to retrieve his body from the river by paddling out on boats. This is said to be the origin of the dragonboats. In hopes to stop the fish from feeding on his body, the locals threw rice into the river to feed the fish. This is said to be the origin of the rice dumpling, zòngzi (粽子) that is commonly eaten during the festival. I have some in my fridge right now. They’re so teeny tiny and cute.

I just looked up Freeganism on Wikipedia and it is not the definition I know it to be. The Wikipedia version is some sort of dumpster diver. I laughed when I read it because if someone else looked it up they must’ve thought something very wrong when I said I was a freegan. I first heard my version of “freegan” from a vegan cookbook, it’s definition was someone that tries to minimize their intake of meat and other animal by-products. It was a pretty old cookbook, maybe dumpster diving didn’t exist then?

The question of July: What are you going to eat in China? It’s a valid question. I don’t eat meats, fish, fowl, eggs, or dairy anymore. Seafood’s suppose to be big in Wuhan. But it doesn’t mean I’ll starve. It’s ordering the dishes I want when I’m at a restaurant that will make it difficult. Of course, I’m not the only one that has this “problem.” That means the leg work is already done for me. Vegetarian China has a short list of phrases that you can use to tell the waitress/waiter your diet. There’s a couple more at HappyCow.

我吃素
wǒ chī sù
I eat vegetables

我吃斋
wǒ chī zhāi
I am vegetarian

我不吃…
wǒ bù chī…
I don’t eat…

… 鸡蛋
… jī dàn
… (chicken) eggs

… 鱼
… yú
… fish

… 海鲜
… hǎixiān
… seafood

Time to get the travel guides out. I wonder if I’ll have time to go see everything.

• WuhanTime.com – Best Wuhan guide I’ve seen so far.
• Wuhan.com
• Map of Wuhan, China – In English
• Map of Wuhan – In Chinese
• Virtual Tourist’s Wuhan Restaurants
• Wuhan East-Lake High-Tech Development Zone – Where my school is located.
• Wuhan Economic & Technological Development Zone
• China Planner’s Hubei Cuisine an Restaurant – A few more restaurants than China Highlights
  
• China Highlights’ Wuhan Restaurant Reviews – No reviews, just names.

There’s two vegetarian restaurants listed on Vegetarian China, you know where I’ll be going when I’m in Shanghai. If you’re a vegetarian traveling in China, there’s a restaurant guide at HappyCow for Beijing, Changchun, Fujian, Guangdong, Guilin, Hong Kong, Macau, Nanjing, Shanghai, Shanxi, Sichuan, Tibet, Xiamen, Xinjiang, and Yunnan. A blog post on WorldFoodieGuide about vegetarian food in Hong Kong and Macau. One vegetarian shared her vegetarian experience in China and how accomodating they were. Is you just want eye candy, here’s a photo gallery of places in Wuhan.

Green Earth Vegetarian Cuisine
385 Broadview Avenue
Toronto, ON M4K 2M7
Canada
Tel: 416-778-9199
Open: Mon – Sat, 11am to 9pm; Sun, 2pm – 8pm

A new veggie restaurant just opened last weekend. I tried to go with PH on Saturday but it was packed when we got there and it was almost closing. So we went yesterday to give it a try. It was pretty good, I’m definitely going back to try out more of their items. They don’t have a web site yet, so I can’t send you anywhere to take a look.