Everything Living

Toronto Eaton Centre: Celebrating 35 Years of Memories

Carrie Anne — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 08:35:38 +0000

Zipping through the dark tunnels of Toronto’s subway system, my sister and I embarked on an adventure with my Grandmother. Emerging from the subway into the bustling Toronto Eaton Centre was awe-inspiring for a nine year old new to the big city. We walked from one end of the Eaton Centre to the other, peeking in the window of each store on every floor. We rode the escalators up and the elevators down and grabbed something in the food court before heading home.

I’ve visited my Grandmother a few times as a child but our visit to the Toronto Eaton Centre, just to window shop and eat lunch, is one of my fondest memories.

It’s hard to believe the Toronto Eaton Centre is celebrating its 35^th Anniversary on Friday, February 10, 2012. Opened in 1977, the Toronto Eaton Centre greeted style-seekers in the city, welcoming over four million visitors in the first four months. In 1979 the Toronto Eaton Centre expanded, opening the southern portion of the mall, and continues to adapt and grow with its current $120 million renovation that includes the addition of new stores, like Juicy Couture and J. Crew, and the new Urban Eatery food court. A lot has changed within the mall – new stores and restaurants, an updated look – but it will always be the center of Toronto to me. I’m not the only one who feels this way. Visit the Toronto Eatons Centre's facebook page to see the video of others sharing their Eaton Centre memories. It might bring back your own feelings of nostalgia.

To celebrate the Toronto Eaton Centre’s 35^th Anniversary, we have five (5) $35 Shop! cards to giveaway. I can’t think of a better way to wish the Toronto Eaton Centre a happy anniversary than by visiting the Centre for a little shopping. For a chance to win one of the five Shop! cards, share your fondest memory of the Toronto Eaton Centre. Perhaps it’s where you had your first job? Maybe you were visiting with some girlfriends for a shopping weekend? Whatever the memory, we want to know how the Toronto Eaton Centre fit into your life.

The best five memoires will be chosen to receive one of the five Shop! cards. Let the stroll down memory lane begin.

This contest is only open to EverythingMom members. Not a member? It’s quick and easy to join. Contest is only open to Canadian residents and ends at midnight (EST) February 10, 2012. We will choose the best five (5) entries from the EverythingMom members. Please see full contest details

This post is sponsored by Cadillac Fairview in support of the Toronto Eaton Centre’s 35^th Anniversary celebration.

Winterlicious: Savouring the Best in Food and Friends

Carrie Anne — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 08:39:59 +0000

Now enters the long, cold, drawn-out part of winter, the time when we dream about escaping to a warm beach or hibernating in front of the television at home. Instead of trying to avoid the season, why not laugh in its face this year with some friends, food and fine wine.

Winterlicious, presented by American Express Canada, celebrates its 10^th year of bringing people out of their homes and into some of Toronto’s best restaurants. Running from Jan. 27 until Feb. 9, 2012, guests can enjoy delicious, three-course prix fixe menus at appetizing prices, like $15, $20, and $25 for lunch and $25, $35, and $45 for dinner. Diners can choose from 175 of Toronto’s top restaurants.

With prices like that, there’s no excuse for not getting some of your friends together and heading out for a night of fun. That’s what I’ll be doing on Feb. 3, 2012 at Estiatorio Volos. Along with dining on what promises to be a delicious Greek-inspired dinner, I’ll be hanging out with some local ladies who have been an amazing source of support to me and EverythingMom. Enjoying dinner and drinks with friends seems like a perfect way to kick-off our year by focusing more on our heart and soul, as well as embracing the moment.

Why not join us? For just $35 (plus taxes and gratuity) you can enjoy a choice of starter, entrée and dessert (see the menu here), along with some fabulous company including myself, Tamara (@WonderMoms_ca), Christy (@IMFreckles), Caroliine (@ParentClub), Sara (@InfoSara) and Maria (@BOREDMommy). The more the merrier. To join our party, call Volos at 416-861-1211 or book online.

Even if you can’t make it out to dinner, you can join us virtually as we tweet from our table on the evening of Feb. 3, 2012; just follow along with the hashtag #DineWithAmex.

Plus, American Express Cardmembers can enjoy additional benefits during Winterlicious. Visit two of the participating Winterlicious restaurants and pay with your Card for a chance to win $2,000 in American Express Gift Cards, plus a surprise VIP concert experience for you and seven friends. An amazing dinner out, plus the chance to win? Being an American Express Cardmember has its benefits. Visit DineWithAmex.ca to learn more and to enroll your card.

This post has been sponsored by American Express Canada in support of Winterlicious.

Chinese New Year: Books, Crafts and Menu Ideas

Carrie Anne — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 21:45:05 +0000

Whether you live in a big city or small town, it’s important to expose your kids to different ideas, experiences, and cultures. You may not have a Chinatown or Little Italy in your city but you can bring a little cultural experience home with a family celebration.

Due to my oldest daughter’s fascination with Asian culture, we have held a Chinese New Year celebration in our home for that last few years. January 23, 1012 marks the Year of the Dragon and we’ve been getting ready to celebrate.

Chinese New Year Books

Books are always a great way to share new experiences and traditions from other worlds. Barefoot Books publishes a number of stories that do just that, expose kids to stories from lands they may have only heard of. Lin Yi's Lantern: A Moon Festival Story, may not be specifically about Chinese New Year but it's one of our favourites because of the lanterns (it offers instructions on how to make the lanterns at the back of the book too. You can read our full review.

Some other great books to share during your Chinese New Year celebration:

A New Year's Reunion
My First Chinese New Year
Sam and the Lucky Money
Round is a Moon Cake

Chinese New Year Crafts

Crafts are a great way to get the kids involved with any celebration; I believe there’s a stronger connection to what is being celebrated. A really easy craft is Paper Lanterns. Kids can colour and decorate a piece of paper (construction paper, leftover computer paper, even newsprint).

Once the lantern design is done, fold the paper in half and cut strips all the way up, making sure to not cut through the top. Unfold and warp the paper around so the edges touch and staple.

These are easy for even the youngest family members to decorate. When done, the paper lanterns make a nice decoration for your Chinese New Year’s Dinner.

As this year celebrates the Year of the Dragon, we wanted to do incorporate dragons into our celebration. Chinese New Year parades usually end with the Chinese Dragon Dance. Performers, who walk underneath a colourful dragon costume, raise and lower the dragon’s body to look like it’s dancing. We wanted to have our own Chinese Dragon Dance so we created our own dragons.

We have more pictures and instructions on how to create your own dragon here.

Chinese New Year Dinner

The main part of our Chinese New Year is the food and ribs are a must for our menu. Love this asian-inspired rib recipe from VH Sauces

Chinese Honey Garlic Spareribs

Ingredients

1 1/2 lb (700 g) whole back ribs or side ribs cut lengthways iinto two
1 bottle VH® Honey Garlic Cooking Sauce (half for marindate and half for basting)
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tbsp. (30 mL) vegetable oil
1 tsp (5 mL) chili flakes
1/4 cup (125 mL) water

Preparation

In a large baking dish stir together half bottle of VH® Honey Garlic Cooking Sauce, minced garlic, oil and chili flakes. Add ribs and marinate in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours.
Preheat over to 350F (170C)
Place a large sheet of aluminum foil on a baking sheet. Place all of the ribs and marinade on sheet. Add ¼ cup (125 mL) water and enclose everything making sure to seal it well.
Bake in oven for 1 1/2 hours, basting occasionally with marinade.
Open pack and bake for a further 20 minutes, basting with the second half of bottle
Serve hot, brushed with sauce from the foil package

Serve that with a mound of sticky rice and lots of napkins. My kids love them.

For the rest of your Chinese New Year menu try adding a variety of tastes, including items such as:

Spring Rolls. I haven’t figured out how to make these yet so I usually buy them premade and serve with a plus sauce, like VH Sauces Plum Dipping Sauce
Tempura Vegetables. Thanks to the addition of our Hamilton Beach fryer, we’ll be doing our own this year, though you can make them with oil in a deep pan
Fried Rice. The nice thing about fried rice is you can toss anything in it: vegetables, tofu, chicken. We love adding shrimp. VH® Sauces has a Healthy Mixed Fried Rice recipe that looks good.
Lychee. We’re fortunate enough to live in a city with a Chinatown, so finding lychee in the Chinese supermarkets isn’t that difficult. However, many large chain grocery stores have also started carrying these. These fruits are a favourite with my kids, both peeling the hard skin off and chewing the sweet fruit off the large pit.

For other great recipe ideas, visit VH Sauces Chinese New Year’s Recipes section on their Facebook page.

Fortune cookies are a great way to end your Chinese New Year celebration; everyone loves to crack them open and share around the table their fortune for the year ahead. While I was searching for a roll recipe for a Midieval Feast (that’s a different article),what luck when I stumbled How Does She site’s dinner roll recipe and the gratitude idea. What a perfect alternative to fortune cookies. Fortune Rolls. They were easy to make; even my 5-year old got her hands floury helping me kneed the dough. I typed up some fortunes and baked them right in. The rolls turned our great and the kids loved finding their fortunes buried inside.

With bellies full, the kids grabbed their dragons and did their own Chinese Dragon Dance right up to bed. Another Chinese New Year success.

To encourage you to add a little Asian-inspired fun into your mealtime, enter our VH® Sauces giveaway. Click here for details.

This post was sponsored by VH Sauces. The Chinese Honey Garlic Sparerib recipe and images have been reprinted with permission.

Traditions: Remembering Christmas

Carrie Anne — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 09:02:11 +0000

The holidays are filled with traditions that make the season more memorable: visiting a tree farm to pick the perfect tree, taking family photos for the holiday cards, baking cookies for Santa. Maria talks about some great holiday traditions that are probably on your own list. But not all traditions have to happen BEFORE the holidays. What about a tradition to help you remember the holidays when they’re done and gone?

8 years ago we moved into our current home and at the time we felt that it would be our home for a while. To mark the Christmases we spend in our house as a family, we have started a new tradition that first year: a tree display.

When Christmas is over and we’re taking the tree outside, my husband cuts off the bottom of the tree and dates it. Now that my son is older, he actually enjoys helping his dad with the saw and adding to our display. I love the idea, especially with all the stumps at different heights, and it always keeps our Christmas celebrations in my heart. I’m looking forward to creating a whole forest in this house.

Do you have any traditions to help you remember the holidays?

New Year's Tradition: First Footer Superstition

Carrie Anne — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 23:01:17 +0000

As many people recover from their New Year’s Eve celebrations, my family is already on the doorstep of my mother-in-law’s home. There’s more to our visit than just a social call. You see, my mother-in-law is a superstitious person. She will scolded you if you put new shoes on the table (as in a recently purchased pair still in the box). Don’t even think of having an open umbrella in the house, not even the front hall . New Year’s Day, the start of a brand new year, brings a whole new expectation when it comes to superstitions.

On New Year’s Day it’s all about the First Footer, a superstition that believes the future of your year ahead is based on the first person to cross your threshold on the first day of the New Year.

Usually my husband is very polite, holding the door open for people at the mall, helping an elderly person up the stairs or letting someone with one item go in front of his two shopping carts full of stuff. But all this changes on New Years Day.

When we arrive on New Year’s morning at my mother-in-law’s house, my husband dashes in front of everyone on the walkway to get to the door first. Not to open it for us, but to make sure he's the first one through the door, that he’s the first footer (or lucky bird). And if you want it to be a lucky year that person needs to be a dark haired man. A blond or red-haired person is bad luck and a woman? Well, let's just say historically people were encouraged to deter woman from crossing the threshold first, even if it meant using a gun. Thank goodness my mother-in-law likes me.

So every New Year's Day, my husband is the first one invited into my mother-in-law’s house before anyone else. Thank goodness New Year's Day is only one day. Are there any New Year superstitions you or your family believe in?