a peek inside the fishbowl

Hey Ottawa. Want some chocolate?

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If there is one thing that signals the end of summer, it’s the fall fair. I love the food, the smell, the sounds, the giant photo op. I love the agricultural traditions, right down to the tractor displays and the blue-ribbon winner of the weirdest looking potato. I love watching my girls on the rides. I love to people-watch too, but at the same time I really don’t like the crowds. When I become a cranky old woman, that will be the thing that keeps me away.

Does everyone have an agricultural fair where they are? It’s a fun way to go back in time.

This year we did the Carp Fair on Friday night. It’s neat to see it lit up. We went right after work, and stayed for dinner and the rides. It was quite the sight.

Someday I’d like to set up a photo booth and devote a day to taking photos of fair goers and carnies. This is prime people watching.

Sadly, by making our visit an evening one meant we missed all of the displays, the shows and the animals … the very thing that makes a Fall fair a Fall fair for me. Next year, we’ll rise and shine and get there on Saturday morning. I think it’s the best time to go. (Here’s a recap of our visit last year, complete with photos and audio.)

Did you miss the fall fair this year? Do you have an unfulfilled yearning for corn dogs and beignets? It’s not too late. The Metcalfe Fair (mute the your volume before clicking that link!) is still to come

Oh friends. 

Fishbowl patron The Candy Store is sponsoring this fantastic giveaway.

Have you ever been to The Candy Store? They’re one of my favourite places to visit in Westboro. Not only do they have a great selection of retro candy, but they carry a lot of very high-quality sweets AND they are solely responsible for my addiction to salty caramels, gummy bears, and fancy pistachio-studded nougats  … all of which fits neatly into my Quality vs. Quantity approach to eating.

But this giveaway is all about chocolate. The Candy Store is giving away a basket of chocolate, the likes of which Ottawa probably hasn’t seen before. :)

BEHOLD THE PRETTY:

Here’s a breakdown of what’s inside: (BTW, this has a $50 value, and the following descriptions were written by Katie, the manager/wedding & event coordinator at The Candy Store. I love how passionate she is about chocolate.)

The first four items are various bars by Galler. This is a Belgian company and they make divine dark, milk and white chocolate. They are a Belgian Royal Warrant Holder, a distinction that is hard to achieve and hard to keep. Last time I checked there were only five chocolate companies in Belgium that held the warrant, with Galler being the only one that really spends the time on making beautiful bars.

Sao Tome Tablet
Galler started the dark chocolate trend in 1993 by putting out the first 70% bar, so they know their stuff. This is another 70% bar of theirs and is a blended bar, so the beans were chosen for their flavour properties and how they intermingle. This bar literally walked in the door as I was putting together the basket, so it hasn’t been on our shelves in a LONG time.

Raspberry Galler Bar
This is a dark chocolate bar with a beautiful raspberry cream filling. It is, by far, our most popular of all the Galler flavours and when we update on our Facebook page, people make a point of coming in to buy several immediately.

Vanilla Galler Bar
This is a dark chocolate bar with a creamy vanilla filling – the filling isn’t overly sweet and the chocolate has a great mouth feel.

Pistachio Galler Bar
This bar is made with fresh pistachios and covered in white chocolate. The Galler white chocolate is not at all like the typically waxy white chocolate most people associate with low-end Easter bunnies. It’s a total experience unto itself (I have an embarrassing/funny story of the first time I ate one while sitting in the studio at the National Art Center…).

The next two are from Dolfin. Dolfin is also a Belgian company and prides itself on blending chocolate with different flavours for interesting and delicious taste experiences. Dolfin also has the distinction of being Belgium’s first CO2 neutral chocolate maker. The two bars included are from their “Flavours of the World” series which focuses on eight different areas of the world. Each flavour is paired with either milk or dark chocolate and the two included are: Milk Chocolate and Konacha Green Tea from Japan and Dark Chocolate with Lavender from Haute-Provence

The last bar in the basket is from Fauchon, a French fine food grocer whose shops are just about the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen in the area of sleek and modern – even the receipt paper was pink! Fauchon prides themselves on finding gourmet, high-end products and bringing them all into one location. Their bars are named 1 through 6, with each bar having a different flavour profile. #5 made it into the gift box and is a solid dark chocolate bar of African origin.

The remaining items in the gift box are beautiful bulk chocolates:

Dark chocolate covered ginger – a sharp and sweet experience, perfect for warming you up as the temperature starts to drop.

Cocoa dusted almonds – these dark chocolate covered almonds have the most incredible mouth feel and, we’ve recently been told, the Royal Palace in England had a case shipped in for the Royal Family.

Milkies – New York City’s high-end answer to the Smartie or M&M. These are made in Greenwich Village by Kopper’s and are a total favourite not only because they taste great, but also because they can be made in so many different colours. Nearly ever candy buffet produced by Martha Stewart Weddings and other such bridal magazines include offerings from Koppers and, almost always, Milkies.

Jordan Almonds – Again from Koppers, these are a beautiful, slightly larger almond with a decadent chocolate layer and a crisp, candy shell in a myriad of colours and finishes!

And finally, our malt balls. The two most popular malt balls are included in the gift box: Mint Cookie and Ultimate. Kopper’s makes our gourmet malt balls and they have elevated the lowly malted treat to a true experience. The Mint Cookie reminds me of a French Mint ice cream cone, without all the mess, and the Ultimate is four layers of chocolate surrounding the malty crunchy center. These two are, by far, our most requested and coveted items on the bulk wall!

Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it?

If you’d like to win this basket o’ chocolate, here’s what you need to do (please read carefully):

• You must live in the Ottawa area – or know someone who does – because the winner will have to pick up their prize at The Candy Store in a timely manner. (They’re located in Westboro at 350 Richmond Road.)
• For your entry to qualify you must leave a comment below – or on your blog – which includes a candy or chocolate-related story or memory. It can be long or short. :) Some ideas: What was your favourite candy growing up? What did you say when your husband found your emergency chocolate hidden in the oatmeal box? Did your kids catch you sneaking candy out of their kid’s Halloween stash? TELL US. (If you can’t post your comment because you’re behind a firewall at work or whatever, you can email it to me for posting: andrea at quietfish dot com )
• Subscribe to the Extra Helping if you haven’t already. (First issue is coming out next week!)
• If you’re on Twitter, good karma comes to those who tweet about this giveaway. Emailing your friends to let them know about it is just as good. :)
• One entry per person please! We want lots of people to have the opportunity to win here.

Sound good? I will do a random draw using Random.org at noon EST on Monday October 4, 2010. Please make sure you leave a valid email address. You can’t win if I can’t reach you.

Thank you to The Candy Store for hosting such a fantastic giveaway! Good luck!

This might sound cheap or declassé, but after I’ve beaten an egg and used it for an egg wash (say, for a bread or pretzel recipe) it pains me to flush the remainder down the sink. So I eat it. I throw it in the microwave for about a minute, sprinkle some salt on it, and eat it with a fork, just like civilized people would.

(After all, a pre-dinner boost of protein is a good thing, right? It prevents me from biting someone’s head off during A Very Trying Time.)

I did this again the other day. Sarah saw what I did, and asked what I was doing. So I told her about my short cut egg. This was, in fact, the way I used to make egg sandwiches in my university days. It takes exactly two minutes and makes a very cheap meal.

1. 1. Break egg in dish, add splash of milk if available (I couldn’t often afford milk so I didn’t always have it on hand.) 
2. 2. Beat it around with fork.
3. 3. Pop into the microwave and nuke until cooked all the way through (this part takes about a minute).
4. 4. Slide onto toasted bread. Top with slice of cheese (if available) and/or second slice of bread (if available).

I had a perfect shallow bowl I used just for this purpose. It was one I had, um, borrowed from the university cafeteria and never returned. If I nuked the egg in this dish it ended up round once it was cooked and fit perfectly on a piece of sliced bread.

Sarah was admiring my egginabowl so I gave it to her. She liked it, and declared it to be the best scrambled egg she’d ever eaten (?). What’s more, she made one for herself this morning. Had I known she would have liked it I would have made it two years ago. Or more. Kids are so funny that way, aren’t they?