Jonnies Sticky Buns

I have walked and driven past Jonnies Sticky Buns probably 100 times but haven't stopped in.  I like cinnamon buns but it isn't my first choice when I want something sweet.  A friend of mine mentioned she liked the place and her son is under the weather so I thought I'd pick her family up sticky buns today.  Nothing like dessert at the door to cheer anyone up.  I was VERY surprised how many ways you can do sticky buns.  They even tempted me so I ended up getting four for my family too.  I didn't know what my friend's family would like so I got them the straight up Leroys....the classic fluffy white cinnamon buns (vegan).  Since I know my family's likes I got a Carrot Ginger Sticky Bun with Cream Cheese Icing for myself, BAM bun (bacon, apple, and maple syrup) for my guy, and little pull apart sticky buns for the kids.  They were obviously yummy or I wouldn't be writing a post on them.  :)  I would definitely recommend popping in for a treat.  They have daily sticky bun specials and they seem to have pretty much anything you can think of made into a sticky bun.  There are vegan, gluten free, savory, and sweet sticky buns with bacon.  Being a veg head myself I don't get the appeal with bacon but it seems that the omnivores in the world can't get enough of it.  ;)

I do have to agree with Jonnies Sticky Buns that they certainly have local, organic, original, tasty little buns.  They also brag that they are deceivingly healthy so I guess it wasn't an indulgence but a healthy snack.  ;)


Jonnies Sticky Buns
941 Portage Ave (Between Lipton and Banning)
415-7287
Facebook Page
Tues-Thur 8am-5pm
Fri 8am-6pm
Sat 9am-3pm
Sun 9am-2pm

Exchange District Revisited

I spontaneously took the kiddos to the Museum of Man & Nature today.  We were heading to the park and then turned the other way to catch a bus downtown.  It felt like a day of exploration.  ;)  After the museum we followed the music to Market Square and had some delicious and very bad for me vegetarian poutine from Smoke's Poutinerie while listening to a musician playing some classic hits.  After that we of course ended up at Cake-ology for a chocolate imperial cookie and peanut butter and chocolate cupcake.  The imperial cookie was all chocolate with chocolate ganache inside and blue icing.  It was $1.50.  For 3 imperial cookies and a cupcake it was just over $8. Why are all the bakeries so much more money??
After we were full of fat, salt, and sugar we walked down Arthur for a play at Toad Hall Toys which happens to be my favourite toy store.  :)  We are home an lazy now and I was checking my Facebook and my status quote from last year was that I visited the museum with the kidlets and then visited Cake-ology.   I am guessing it wasn't spontaneous...it seems to be in the cards that August 30th is reserved for Museum and cupcakes and my subconscious makes sure I get there somehow.  ;)



 

Stella's Bakery Super Yummy Treats & Crafty Minions Likes

I have been looking for local brioche and I found it today at Stella's Bakery along with a loaf of marble rye.  I love living in Wolseley where it seems nearly everything is a bike ride away.  They have a showcase of all their delicious slices, cookies, and muffins and the window is filled with rustic looking loaves.  I bake bread in the winter but why do I when I have Stella's and Tall Grass minutes away?  I guess I am preparing in case we lose our mind and move to the suburbs.  ;)

I hope you are all having a great weekend!  I have had a fantastic weekend.  Firstly, the rain has pretty much stayed away.  Secondly,  I went to three church rummage sales yesterday sans kids.  Thirdly, I was the first person to walk into the Crafty Minions sale.  :)  I did buy my shirt from Lady Tees and ordered 2 more.  I bought Li (my girl) 3 pairs of earrings from Midkid: apples, birds, and hearts.  I also found a great vintage shirt for Li from Marathon 1981 or I should say her new Etsy shop named The Young Team, and a set of melmac plates for my deck from Bitchin' Kitsch'N'Kitchen.   Definitely a successful day.

This afternoon we biked to Stella's for bread and to Olmand's Creek to see if the lake has receded (it hasn't).  Tonight,  once our little mini ones are asleep, we get to sit on our deck and listen to the U2 concert.  :)  We have been hearing them practice and sound checks already.  Not a bad weekend I'd say.  Have a great week folks!!

Lilac Bakery Made Our Snack Time AWESOME!

The kids and I were heading to a friends for a playdate and I happened by Lilac Bakery and asked Li if we should pick up some treats for snack time.  What nearly 4 year old would say no to that.  :)  Actually, I don't know very many women who would say no to that either.  Definitely not I.  I got the kids out of the car and all ran in with glee and excitement in our eyes at what treats we could get.  ;) We divided inside.  I went towards the cupcake counter while Li diverted for the other counter with the colourful slices.  She was instantly drawn to the pink iced Dream Cake Slice.  I, to the peanut butter iced chocolate cupcake.  Joni, being a boy was much more interested in climbing on the window ledge.  ;)  He did seem interested in the peanut butter marshmallow slice that also happens to be my Grandma's specialty.  We ended up with 2 cupcakes (Peanut Butter Chocolate and Cookies and Cream), the Dream Cake, and the Marshmallow Slice.  I wish I had thought to take some photos of the box of treats so I could post them here.  I have a few photos here from their website but not of what we had.  :(

They all were all AWESOME.  The Dream Cake was pretty and delicious too.  It had a shortbread bottom with a cherry, nut, and coconut gooey center, and pink buttercream on top.  My kids and friend went ape over the peanut butter marshmallow slice.

Lilac Bakery is definitely the place to go for slices.  They had a huge selection of slices and a yummy selection of cupcakes too.  I love having children and being able to use them as an excuse to go to bakeries.  ;)

They are also participating in Ciao! Magazine's Chocolate Fest from April 1–30. Visit them and receive a slice of their Classic Chocolate Cake (moist dark chocolate cake covered with a decadent chocolate frosting) for $5.00.

http://www.lilacbakery.com/

Family Fun in Winnipeg's Exchange District

This afternoon my hubby and I took the kids for a family fun day in The Exchange District and we had a great time.  We parked on Arthur and played and shopped at Toad Hall Toys for an hour, went to The Line Up for an early supper, and then stopped in for cakettes at Cake-ology.  Toad Hall Toys is obviously the best toy store in Winnipeg with such a great selection of everything.  I could spend thousands of dollars there and I am in my 30's so imagine what a kid could do with a full wallet.  ;)  We ended up getting birthday gifts for three friends and found some birthday ideas for us too.  

I actually haven't been to The Line Up for years but it was a great place for kids.  We got pizzas, fries, and my hubby got some pita thingy.  The food was all good, especially the pizza crust.  The prices were great and the service was super good.  My pizza had a bit of burnt part on it and they had a new pizza cooking before they even brought out the first pizza to me.  Now I got left overs for tomorrow.  ;)

I have reviewed Cake-ology before but I don't think that I have been there since my last post.  We stopped in after supper to take home a few cakettes for dessert and a red velvet cupcake to share tomorrow at snack time.  I like Cake-ology because it is timeless.  It feels like a little shop that could have existed at any time over the last hundred years.   Their cream cheese icing is worth the trip and I have so many friends that crave their little chocolate cakettes.  I cannot wait to eat my 1/2  of the cupcake tomorrow afternoon.  I am sure I will dream of it tonight. 

I know that many people are scared of downtown Winnipeg.  There may be a few scruffy people here or there but I find The Exchange District is such an adventure for all ages.  We got to visit three local businesses today in a community with beautiful character buildings and we didn't have to walk more than a block.   I am so glad that I live in central Winnipeg.  There is so much good stuff here.  :)

Cake Studio's Beautiful Custom Cakes

Gold Medal Pastry Chef Nina Notaro creates custom designed wedding or celebration cakes at Cake Studio on Wellington Ave.  She uses only the finest and freshest ingredients available to ensure that she has a heck of a good cake for you.  Nina specializes in many different medias such as sugar, chocolate, and sugar paste which allows for amazing details.  Have a peak at her website and think of Cake Studio for your next celebration!!

Cake Studio
http://www.cakestudio.ca/
1483 Wellington Ave, Winnipeg (Btn St.James & Empress)
204-775-9378

A Great Day For The Museum Followed By A Little Cake-ology!

Today my kidlets and I had a fantastic morning visiting the Museum of Man & Nature with friends.  My little Lu is only 3 1/2 so I hadn't tried out the "big" museum with her yet.  All the kids had a blast running through all the displays especially the Bison (Buffalo), the panorama video of the ancient sea life, Nonsuch Ship, & the urban village at the end.  My girl was very disappointed to have to leave the movie theatre where Charlie Chaplin was making a mess of a movie set.  I think I may have to download some Chaplin for her.  The kids really had a great time.  I was afraid it would be above their heads but they ran around with their eyes bugged out smiling from ear to ear.  We will definitely make the trip again!

So....I had said Museum and Cake......

I finally visited Cake-ology on Arthur St.  I have been meaning to get there but have been so busy this summer.  Sandi, a friend in my baby group, recommended it a couple months ago.  She is due any day with baby #2 and had been a frequent visitor of Cake-ology.  Andrea of Cake-ology did add a warning to all pregnant moms out there;  "We cannot be responsible for causing cakette addictions in unborn babies!!!  :)"  She was very considerate to think of the poor unborn babies.  ;)  Well, I am very un-pregnant so I figured I could easily eat one of everything and did.  My kiddos and I shared a saskatoon imperial cookie, a chocolate caramel cupcake, a red velvet cupcake with cream cheese icing, a chocolate cakette, and a vanilla cakette.  They were all polished off before we even got out of the car.   For some reason neither of the kiddos wanted lunch when we got home....hmmmm.......I wonder why?  It was yummy!  My favorites were the chocolate cakette, which is a little chocolate cake ball like a rum ball dipped in chocolate.  The cupcakes were delicious too.  The caramel buttercream tasted like a roasted marshmallow but the cream cheese icing on the red velvet cupcake "took the cake".  Oh my.  I actually moaned in the car during the first taste.  I am an icing girl.....but only good icing.  Grocery Store cake icing does not do it for me.  I was scooping the icing off the cupcakes while I drove.  Their cream cheese icing is to die for.

The kiddos ate most of the cookie but I did enjoy the little taste I had.  I love good imperial cookies nearly as much as icing and the saskatoon jam centers added a little change to the standard raspberry jam used.    Most imperial cookies are dry, almost stale tasting but there are a couple bakeries in town that make them really well.  Cake-ology is one of them.  The vanilla cakette was also polished off by the kids pretty fast but I sampled a small taste and it was ok.  It had no chocolate so I was not as excited about it obviously.  I did not share my chocolate cakette!!

The butter cream icing was a little sweet for me.  I think bakeries have to make it sweet so it can keep the shape they want.  I like butter cream icing to taste more buttery and not be hurt your teeth sweet.  The kids did not share this opinion with me.  They ate all the icing before they even tasted the cupcake hiding underneath. 

Overall I think it is obvious that we had an awesome visit at Cake-ology.  The prices were decent too.  For all we munched, or should I say inhaled, it only set me back $9.25.  Not a bad lunch for 3.  ;)










Cake-ology
85 Arthur St
204-612-YUMM
http://www.cake-ology.ca
http://cake-ology.blogspot.com

#4 Local Baby Shower Gift: Shower Sweets & Caterers

I know that this is not really a shower gift feature but anyone who has been to a baby shower knows that it isn't only all about the gifts. A bunch of women close to the mom are of all ages and are there to show their support and guidance. Lately, the newest trend are Jack and Jill showers. Jack and Jill showers are even more about the party or get together. Lots of shmoozing and eating. Regardless of what kind of shower is chosen for the mom the food will be the center of most of it, especially the sweets. Cupcakes, cookies and cakes are normally the center of the meal. Little sandwiches, dips, and other savory snacks may start the meal but the attention stays on the desserts. If home made is not an option, I know most people go to one of the large grocery stores for their desserts. They are typically made with horrible ingredients and are rarely fresh. One thing Manitoba, especially Winnipeg, has for it are dozens and dozens and dozens of bakeries. These bakeries can be chosen to cater the savory dishes and some specialize in the sweet treats. Here is only a small selection of what Manitoba has to offer. If I have missed a bakery worth mentioning, please email handmadeinmanitoba@gmail.com.

Anna's Cakes
Anna Wall
Winkler
aewall17@hotmail.com








































Sugar Cookie Shoppe
Kristina Currie
Winnipeg
www.thesugarcookieshoppe.com























Lilac Bakery
920 Grosvenor Avenue
Winnipeg
www.lilacbakery.com





























High Tea Bakery
2103 Portage Ave
Winnipeg
204-775-0264
www.highteabakery.com











































C-Cups Bakery
2B-1565 Regent Ave.
Winnipeg
204-654-2877
www.ccups.net






















Eat Bistro
274 Garry Street
Winnipeg
204-949-1231
www.eatbistro.ca
















Constance Popp Chocolatier
1853 Portage Avenue
Winnipeg
204-897-0689
www.artisanchocolates.ca












Chocolate Zen
553 Osborne Street
Winnipeg
204-287-2253
www.chocolatezen.ca















Cupcake Corner
439 Stradbrook Ave.
Winnipeg
204-453-CAKE (2253)
www.thecupcakecorner.ca























Belle Cake and Candy
Unit 10 - 1604 St. Mary's Road
Winnipeg
204-255-8727
www.bellecakeandcandy.com
















Cakes By Shelley
Winnipeg
204-803-2145
www.cakesbyshelley.ca





























Sweet Impressions
Suite A-268 Tache Ave
Winnipeg
204-237-0743
www.sweetimpressions.ca






















Dessert Sinsations
505 Saint Mary Avenue
Winnipeg
204-284-4661
www.dessertsinsations.com











Others to look to for catering of the savory or sweets:

Tall Grass Prairie
Winnipeg
www.tallgrassbakery.ca

Bread & Circuses
238 Lilac Street
Winnipeg
204-477-4555

Peppercorn & Co Personal Chef Service
www.peppercornchef.com

Harvest Bakery & Deli
Winnipeg
www.harvestbakeryanddeli.com

DeLuca's Specialty Foods
www.deluca.ca

Mondragon Cafe & Bookstore
www.mondragon.ca

La Grotta Mediterranean Market
www.lagrotta.ca

***All photos belong to the businesses and artisans featured here.