Around O Town: Mini Photo Blog

Trees growing over an old bomb shelter

Parliament

The Art Gallery

Sunset behind the Parliament Buildings

NOM NOM: Apple Pie Crumble

Apples...delish with peanut butter, but even better as apple crisp, am I right?? This no fail recipe is sure to warm you up and impress your friends.

What you need:

- 3 to 4 Apples, preferably a mix of Granny Smith and Gala...or whatever you prefer or have on hand.
- 3/4 Cup Soft Butter
- 1 Cup Flour
- 1 Cup Brown Sugar, slightly packed
- Two big handfuls of Quick Oats
- Allspice, Nutmeg, and Cinnamon

What to do:

1. Peel and core apples. Slice in half  down the middle and slice again with the flat sides down (...geeze, this is kinda confusing, so just slice the way you like 'em! haha.). Place in baking dish.

2.  In a bowl, combine flour, oats, brown sugar, and soft butter. The key is to make sure the butter is soft enough to mix into the dry ingredients, but not melted. Your apple crisp wont turn out if the butter is melted.

3. Spoon some of the dry mix into the apples to coat. Sprinkle cinnamon and a LITTLE bit of the allspice and nutmeg on top. Do the same with the remaining mixture in the bowl. The cinnamon should be the most spice put in...the allspice and nutmeg make it taste like more of an apple pie, but don't go crazy with these ones otherwise they over power the cinnamon. Combine the rest of the mix from the bowl on top of the apples evenly, making sure you don't mix it again.

4. Dot butter on top if you prefer and pop into a preheated oven at 350 for 40-45 minutes. Enjoy!

NOM NOM Food Review: Mango's Fine Lebanese Food

Last night, we were craving shawarma and were disappointed by the last place we checked out. We live in the east end  of Ottawa and drive by Mango's  on St. Laurent often, so we decided to check it out. So far, the best Lebanese place for me was La Shish on Merivale but after eating here, I think I've changed my mind.

We picked up two chicken shawarmas, and noticed the strawberry passion smoothie sounded pretty good. Then we saw garlic potatoes on another customers plate ...and ordered that too...haha. The shawarma was delish and right off the bat, you tasted the lemony zip of the creamy garlic sauce. The bread was soft and the pickles were crispy. Chicken wasn't dry, which was a bonus so overall it was a great wrap. The smoothie didn't disappoint either. You could taste the fresh bananas and strawberries and adding honey to sweeten was a nice change.

Personally, garlic potatoes make it or break it for me in terms of who is good and who isn't. Like I touched on before, the last place we went, the potatoes were AWFUL! they were cold and too lemony. Mango's potatoes were nice and hot, cooked through (I don't know why but some places cook potatoes too short and you can literally feel it go down..gross eh?) and Droooollllll, it had a good dollop of garlic sauce on top. Veryyy tasty and not too greasy.

A great place to check out if you are new to Lebanese food. Oh, and on a side note, the layout of the restaurant was nice and spacious, not to mention clean!! :)

** Sorry for lack of pictures, the food was eaten pretty fast lol

NOM NOM: Melt in your mouth Shortbread Cookies

With Christmas around the corner, I figured I would make sure my recipe for shortbread cookies still worked...yeah..that's it..lol. Anyways, below is the BEST and EASIEST recipe for shortbread cookies. With just 4 ingredients and at total bake time of 15 minutes, these treats are hard to beat! From the "Canadian Cornstarch" box.

SHORTBREAD COOKIES:

- 1 Cup Flour
- 1/2 Cup Cornstarch
- 1/2 Cup Icing Sugar
- 3/4 Cup Butter, Softened

How To:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, sift together flour, cornstarch, and icing sugar.

2. With freshly washed hands, knead butter into dry mix, working slowly so you wont get covered in powder. Dough is ready when it looks crumbly.

3. Gently roll a quarter size ball and place onto cookie sheet. Dip the bottom of a small glass in milk, and press down onto ball. If you want, try rolling out the dough onto a floured surface and cut with a cookie cutter.

4. Bake for 15 minutes, checking after 12. When the edges are golden brown, remove and let cool.

TIPS: Try melting your favorite chocolate and dip the cookies in. Let cool on parchment. You can also try drizzling chocolate for a funky design.

Makes about 25 rolled cookies.

Remember 11/11