Good Food, Great Friends

Now that Mac and I are less than two months till our departure date, we’re trying our best to squeeze in as much time with friends as we can before we leave. This past week was awesome because we managed to grab dinner with two sets of friends and we had fantastic meals both times!

On Thursday, we had one of Mac’s old housemates from university and his girlfriend over for dinner at our apartment. With school, work and general busyness, we don’t see these guys as often as we’d like, so it was great to have a whole night catch up with them. For dinner I made Andrea’sSweet Potato Chana Masala which couldn’t have been easier. Roast potato. Sautee onion. Add a can of diced tomatoes, some coconut milk, chickpeas & spices, and the sweet potato and simmer for a while. Serve over rice and voila! A comforting, delicious & super hearty meal to warm us up after the sudden appearance of snow that fell this past week.

For dessert, I made Lime & Avocado Tarts from Eating Bird Food. Again, these were super simple to make and tasted amazing! I used a mix of maple syrup & brown rice syrup instead of the coconut nectar/agave that is suggested in the recipe. Due to the coconut oil in the tarts, they firm up quite nicely to a mousse-like consistency in the freezer. Next time I’ll take them out a bit earlier because they were almost TOO hard, but they were still super tasty!

On Friday, Mac and I met Chelsea and her boyfriend downtown at Son of a Peach Pizzeria. Having opened in May 2014, this restaurant is fairly new to Burlington, but as you could see from the constantly full tables and fairly consistent line up, this place is here to stay! Mac and I each sampled one of their unique beers on tap – Silversmith. I had never heard of it, but it was pretty similar to Guinness (for which I found a new appreciation on my trip to Ireland this past May).

For dinner, our table of 4 ordered 3 pizzas. Chelsea & her boyfriend split the Spicy Salami & Wild Honey while Mac and I each got a pizza to ourselves. Mac got JJ’s Hawaiian Pizza and I ordered the Wild Mushroom pizza without cheese. The general consensus at our table was this: “OMG THESE PIZZAS ARE DA BOMB”. What can I say, we’re pretty literary people.

The fresh dough made in-house was just the right thickness with the perfect amount of crispiness, and the toppings were all fantastic quality. Though they weren’t cheap, they were totally worth it – you just can’t beat the exceptional quality & fresh ingredients that they use. I’m definitely going to try and make it back here at least once more before we leave! Mac and I later devoured some of our leftovers while watching the Toronto Raptors crush Milwaukee!

I’m hoping we’re able to fit in a few more of these types of dinners with friends before we go. Catching up with awesome friends alongside delicious food is always guaranteed to be a fantastic time and I want to take advantage of it for as long as we are still within driving distance (and not a plane ride.. or two.. away).