El Sol... looking bright!

The amount of sunlight emanating from the ceramic suns inside El Sol was enough to light up any cloudy day as I met Amy for a "senior citizen" (4:30 pm!!!) dinner hour catch-up.  With Evy, her beautiful infant daughter at the hip, we were lambasted with a gallery of hand-crafted pieces for sale as we entered the cavernous restaurant.  Bossa Nova was playing in the background as we were greeted with a warm, "Hola", from our server.  We started with an El Sol, (of course) and a virgin concoction of Pineapple and Orange Juices with Grenadine and a touch of Sprite.  We chose the El Sol, platter for two (34.95) that came with, drumroll please, 2 tacos dorado (chicken and potato), 2 tostadas nortenas (machaca), 2 tacos aguilenos (chicken marinated on achiote and potatoes), 2 taco sonorenses (chorizo). What a feast!  Although the service was slow, it allowed ourselves to reminisce over past loves, and current conundrums... the tacos were a pleasant treat, as the ceramic sunlight lit up our conversation and shone on future projects.  Note: no dessert served that evening, sorry sweet tooths!

Check out El Sol here:

http://elsol.ca/

Nibbles and Nails at Hot Tamale's

The sanctity of Girls Night - sassy ladies, crazy cackles, empty glasses of vino around a table at Hot Tamale's that unites us all - nibbly appetizers from wedges of brie, Balderson white cheddar, McEwan crostini (thanks Gourmette Tang!), frozen PC finds of sausage rolls, mini spanikopita and the piece de resistance: the heaping Nacho Platter!  Without men, we seem to let it all spill out - raunchy stories, funny tidbits and cultural queries abounded all while snacking and laughing and eventually doing our nails in the latest fall colours.  Here's a recipe for the nachos we feasted on - a hit at any old party and super easy even Hot Tamale handled it with cool:




Hot Tamale's Easy Nacho Platter (appropriated and "interpreted" from the back of the Tostitos bag):

The goods:
1 bag of Tostitos (Hot Tamale preferred the small round, fits in your mouth in one gulp variety)
1 small jar of salsa
2 green onions chopped
1/2 tomatoes chopped
1bag of Kraft Tex Mex pre-shredded cheese

The demarche:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and put the broiler on

Place one layerof Tostitos on a foil-lined baking pan

Add one layer(two handfuls)of cheese

Add one layer of salsa

Add a sprinkling of green onions

Repeat with multiple layers until Tostitos are finished, leave a handful of green onions to garnish

Place in oven for 10 minutes

When cheese is melted, take out of the oven and top with green onions and tomatoes

Serve with sour cream and guacomole (if you're lucky, the home-made variety)

Enjoy Ladies!