Why I will never give money to a panhandler.

I believe that everyone deserves to the right to eat good food.

I was just going to meet up with someone for coffee yesterday but I had an experience that made me think about people's choices about food and life.

I will never ever give money to a pan handler ever in the future because of the reaction I got from a rude and ungrateful man on the street.






Although I spend a lot of my time working on this blog it doesn't earn income and I have been looking for a paying job for a while.  It's tough without a degree, at my age and the fact that I am not a super model who can get paid to just smile.  But I have been spending a lot of my time involved in the food blogging community over the past year and have been going to all kinds of food events around town and this has helped me get by.  Even though the restaurant community don't pay very well they are still very generous people in other ways.  I have been invited for dinner menu sampling and I have had lot's of free samples to try at various food shows and festivals.  I never take it for granted and even if I don't like the food I understand the fact that it's costing the food service industry money to be able to do that.  Not all of these food vendors have McDonald's budgets.  So the food service industry has been very good to me over the past couple of years.

Yesterday I met with a rep from Aroma Espresso Bar for coffee and to check out the new mural that just went up at the Aroma in the Annex on Bloor Street.  She told me that the franchisee commissioned the artist to cover the pillars around the restaurant in beautiful artwork that represented the Aroma and Annex communities.  It was an attempt to fix the tagging/graffiti problem they were having at the store.  It really is unique and beautiful art.  During our coffee meeting my lovely new friend from Aroma generously gave me a couple of gift cards so that I could continue to enjoy the great food and drinks at Aroma anytime I wanted to.  I enjoy going to Aroma because it's not just coffee, they have great healthy food too.

But then my mood shifted because of one rude man.

After our coffee as I was walking back to the subway a man on the street beside the store was asking people walking by for money for food.  I told him I didn't have money but I had something that would help.  I thought I would pay the generosity forward and if this man was truly hungry it might help his day.  The interesting thing was that the man just gave me attitude.  He flung his hand like naw naw, I don't want that.  I told him he could go into the store next door and get free food.  What was even more interesting was the reactions of 2 other women on the street.  One lady just rolled her eyes and just looked annoyed and another lady was saying take it to the guy.  I started to walk away and then he decided to take it I guess after the other lady insisted.  He didn't say thank you and I started to walk away to the subway and I could hear him not 2 seconds later asking more people for money for food.  What I probably should have done is walk back to the guy and take the gift card back but then I thought if this guy was truly hungry he would go and get a sandwich from Aroma.  I will probably never know if he did but I tried to help and was given attitude instead.  Now I must say that I didn't willy nilly just push a gift card on some random guy.  This guy stopped me and asked me for money for food.  I don't have money but I had a card that could get him food but I guess what he probably should have been saying is that I just want money.

I don't normally give pan handlers for money as I have heard stories about people who abuse the system to get disability cheques and then pan handle to get more money and then they just blow it all on booze and drugs and do the same thing repeatedly each month.    I haven't had a job for a year but I have never begged anyone for money.  I always believed that you earn money for doing something.  Even though I was given a gift card I am blogging about it and I like to tell people about Aroma so there is a trade off and mutual benefit for it.

I know it's not good to make assumptions about all of the people on the street but you don't know their story from a 5 second interaction and I don't believe in supporting people that are just out to scam people out of their money.  Although the welfare system and community housing systems are broken I don't believe that giving a guy a couple of bucks on the street is going to fix the system.

People need jobs that pay enough to get housing and food and clothing.  Anything else is up to individuals as to what any extra money is spent on.

I have to say though that a few months ago I had eaten at a new restaurant and had some fried chicken and had a couple of pieces that I couldn't finish so I got them to go.  I saw a lady on the street who was very thin and pan handling and I told her I didn't have money but I could give her the box of chicken that I had.  She said yes and thanked me.   She was obviously in need of food but I don't know if that's the case with all of the people that ask for money on the street.

In another case a friend and I sat at a Starbucks on the lakeshore for a while in the summer chatting and sipping on some cold drinks.  All the while we watched some guy standing on Lakeshore Blvd with a sign asking for money.  He was there for a long time and a few people gave him money.  When I drove home a while later I saw that he had moved a couple of blocks away but was still out there panhandling.  I went to visit my friend a couple of weeks later and saw the same guy doing the same thing.  This guy was just standing out in the hot sun for who knows how long asking for money.  He was obviously fit enough to work so what is the reason he is standing on a major street just asking people for money.

I have to also note that as I walked from the Bathurst station subway to meet my friend a block away for coffee I passed one man who seemed to have mental health issues, he was extremely overweight and his pants were all ripped and dishevelled.  He obviously hadn't had a shower in a very long time and he was just standing in front of the station mumbling something.  Then I passed a lady who was standing on her shoes barefoot and clapping and I don't know what she was saying.   And another person also asked for money as I walked by.   I don't know what is going on with that area but there clearly is a need to make some changes.

People need help and I will continue to donate to specific charities when I can but this blogger will never give money to a panhandler ever again because of this one rude man.

Please comment below if you have any similar experiences.

Aroma espresso bar adds Freekeh superfood to Toronto's menu

Aroma Espresso Bar is constantly trying to do what most other cafe's or coffee shops in the city don't do.  They listen to their customers and are trying to constantly add fresh new foods to their ever expanding franchises.  Most of the other coffee chains in Toronto have prepared food trucked into their stores to put on their shelves but what sets Aroma Espresso Bar apart is the fact that there is a kitchen in every store where most items are prepared fresh.  Fresh breads, fresh salads, fresh real iced drinks.  You can really taste the difference between a salad that is freshly  made versus one that has been sitting in a package for hours and that's only one of the differences that makes Aroma stand apart.

This June Aroma is adding a Superfood grain that isn't very well known in Canada but is more known to European palates.  It's an Ancient Grain called Freekeh it comes from the Middle East and is made from fire-roasted wheatberries.

They are adding the Freekeh Salad to their new SAVOUR SUMMER seasonal menu.

The Freekeh salad contains a blend of freekeh, black quinoa, sprouted brown rice, baby kale, tomato, cucumber, carrot, pickle, red onion, parsley, and topped with za'atar seasoning, and labneh cheese and a light dressing of olive oil and lemon juice.

It's a cross between their chopped salad and their quinoa salad in style and texture.

There are so many benefits to this superfood Freekeh including:

• Low in carbohydrates
• High in Fibre ( 4 times the fibre of brown rice)
• Low glycemic index
• Good probiotic properties
• Rich in amino acids
• Vegetarian and vegan
• Kosher

only downside is that it isn't gluten free.

Chef Geoff Scott and Nutritionist Jaime Slavin developed this salad for the menus at Aroma cafe's.   Chef Scott was on hand at the lunch I attended to explain what went into the salad and the benefits of the Freekeh grain and the freshness of the salads.

There are 28 Aroma Espresso Bar locations across Toronto and the GTA and they will be the first stores in the global chain's 165 locations to carry the signature salad.  If Aroma's customers respond well to it then it may be rolled out to other global locations.

The salad sells for roughly the same cost as a fast food lunch at $7.95 which is really a great thing when you consider that it is all fresh and healthy and there are many different ingredients in it but it is still considered to be available in a quick service chain outlet.  The only thing missing is the drive through.

My friends think I am pretty fussy when it comes to choosing places to eat but I have to say that Aroma constantly impresses me with the direction they keep moving toward.  I had the idea to have fresh food brought into a fast food concept for a long time so it's nice to see the choices that Aroma are making to move the brand forward into the future.

My only wish is that they had late night hours because it seems like all you can get after a movie in this city is a drink, a pizza, street meat or if you are lucky a sub sandwich.

If you are wondering what the Freekeh grain tastes like,  it's very nutty tasting and similar to a quinoa, or rice blend.  The lebneh in the salad adds a nice creaminess that really makes it a satisfying and filling meal.

Aroma would also like to showcase their Ice Mint and Ice Aroma drinks along with their Coconut Orange cake and other fresh made pastries.

If you are looking for a light summer meal for lunch or dinner but still want to eat healthy then this is a great option for you.

I also had their grilled chicken sandwich with red peppers, arugula and mozzarella cheese.

The Aroma espresso bar's are clean, bright and comfortable and the staff are great too.

I may be a bit partial to Aroma as they have been good to me in sponsoring my Food Revolution Day event but I wouldn't have approached them if I didn't believe they were a company with Integrity and a had a great social conscience.

This is the way of the future.  Good food, good for you and good for the world.

If you would like to see what else is on their menu visit their website at www.aroma.ca

Food Revolution Day Thank You!

THANK YOU

Another year of Jamie Oliver's Annual Food Revolution Day events is now over but all of the Ambassadors and everyone involved with Food Revolution Day want to continue the momentum and keep cooking skills alive and help drive more food education in schools for the rest of the year.  

If you haven't signed Jamie Oliver's Petition it's not too late.  

Take a minute to go to change.org/JamieOliver and sign  the petition.  Signatures will be collected until October and brought to G20 leaders in November.

I want to take this time to thank all of the sponsors and people that assisted in helping me make my Food Revolution Day event a very successful one.

Photos provided by my photographer friend Alex Tsang @hypebelly

First I want to thank Alissa from Hendrix Restaurant Equipment & Supplies for organizing all of the tools needed in their amazing new test kitchen and the rest of the staff for going above and beyond what I expected was possible.

Martina, Susan, Alissa, Linda, Jenny, Lisa

I would also like to thank fellow Ambassador Susan Ng (dough making machine), Jenny Roger (mandolin master), Martina Kelly and Lisa Swainston my Food Revolution greeters or supreme welcoming committee.

I would like to thank Sobeys who provided a gift card for food supplies for the event and also provided gift cards for prizes and also aprons, measuring spoons, pens and notepads for the attendees.

I would also like to thank Richa from Good Food For Good who provided the sauce that I used to make the Spicy Carrot soup.  I used the Chiltomate or now known as the Tacos sauce.  She was also in attendance at the event to provide support and speak about her line of sauces.

Fresh City Farms also helped out with fresh vegetables for the recipes and also gave me vegetables that I used for our group photo and I donated the rest to fellow Ambassador Dorothy Pang's Cooking Challenge.  They also provided 2 Gift Certificates for 1 Fresh City Farms bag of groceries to get a couple of lucky people started with their delivery program of fresh local foods.

I also want to thank Aroma Espresso Bar who donated gift cards to some lucky attendees so they could try some of their fresh healthy foods.

Jennifer from Pluck Teas also sent over a last minute bag of AFTER EIGHT teas for guest to sample during my event.

And A.Vogel Canada who provided Sprouter kits to all of the Ambassadors across Canada.  My sprouter arrived after my event so I am going to be doing a giveaway for one of them soon.

I want to thank everyone that attended.  The feedback from everyone has been great and a few people have already made a couple of things at their homes.

And Congratulations to the Winners of the 2 Gift Baskets.  Leo(I think on left and Fabian on the right).

Thank you to everyone that contributed in some way to make this a fun event and to everyone that came to participate I hope that it was inspiring and fun and everyone comes back again next year.

Photo credit for all of the above photos by Alex Tsang.  Thank you Alex for the great pics.

Help Jamie Oliver and WIN!

This is my 4th year being a part of Food Revolution Day and participating by hosting events and spreading the word.  Food Revolution Day events are happening all over the world this week leading up to Food Revolution Day on May 15th.   I am hosting my event the day after Food Revolution Day and it's already SOLD OUT!  I will have over 80 people attending my event but there are larger and smaller events happening everywhere.

This year Jamie Oliver is on a mission to get everyone to sign his PETITION to get G20 leaders to put Food Education on the curriculums of schools all around the Globe.

I have signed the petition.  Have you?  Please SIGN IT and SHARE IT and help Jamie reach a MILLION signatures before Food Revolution Day on May 15th.   www.change.org/jamieoliver

What's in it for you?  Well you can help future generations live in a world without kids having Type 2 diabetes because of their diets.  You can help future generations live healthy and productive lives and not drain health care costs to society.

Just to make it worthwhile for you if you SIGN the PETITION and SHARE IT.

Take a selfie like this or one at an Aroma Espresso Bar in Canada and tag me on Twitter & Instagram @lindamatarasso and HASHTAG it #FoodRevFoodie 

Thank @aromaespresso on twitter and  @aromaespressobar on Instagram and say hello to my great sponsor partner.

I will pick ONE person with the best photo to WIN an AROMA ESPRESSO GIFT CARD for $10

You have until MAY 15th!

The WINNER will be notified on MAY 17, 2015 through social media

(no purchase necessary)

Aroma Espresso Bar is supporting #Foodrevolutionday with this special offer.  

Drop into any Aroma in Canada and order this special DOUBLEUP combo.

www.foodrevolutionday.com

Food Revolution Day Plans

This past weekend some of the Food Revolution Day Ambassadors in Toronto got together for Brunch to chat about all of our individual Food Revolution Day plans.

Food Revolution Day -  15 MAY 2015 

We have lot's of events leading up to the day and afterward.

This year we have a lot of different things on the go.

1.  The first one coming up is Dorothy Pang's Vegetarian Culinary Competition at Nella Cucina  on Bathurst Street in Toronto on Sat. April 25th.  I will be one of the judges along with fellow ambassador Carol Harrison.  

2.  Susan Ng will be getting my Grade 13 school Northview Heights involved on May 15th with some cooking classes.

3.  Mardi Michels and Mary Catherine Anderson will be hosting a parent and child hands on class at Royal St. George College on Food Revolution Day.

4.  Chef Mary Hulbert will do a cooking class for an after school program at St. Alban's Boys and Girls Club on Food Revolution Day.

5. Christine Barisheff will have events at Jean Augustine Centre for Youth Empowerment and also and adult event at Cirillos Culinary Academy.

6.  Jen Farr will be hosting a Food Revolution Day party at her home on May 16th.

7.  Carol Harrison is going to be doing a cooking demo with her kids on Rogers television and has plans to do some in school cooking classes.

8.  I will be doing my Wonky Veg cooking demo at Hendrix equipment on May 16th.

We all volunteer our time and couldn't do these events without the assistance of great partner sponsors.

Thank you to our Host venues:

• Hendrix Restaurant Equipment
• Nella Cucina
• Cirillos Academy
• Northview Heights SS.
• Royal St. George's College
• St. Alban's Boys and Girls Club
• Jean Augustine Centre for Youth Empowerment

We also rely on assistance for our food, supplies and prizes to make these events successful.

My sponsors include:

Sobeys for food donations and prizes

Fresh City Farms with generous support of fresh vegetables for the photo above, cooking demo and gift certificates for a prize draw. 

Good Food For Good for fabulous products for recipe demo and prize draw

Aroma Espresso Bar for having a special Food Revolution Day Special on May 15th which includes a Chopped Salad, Mediterranean Sandwich and a free Mint Tea.  They are also providing gift cards.

Other sponsors contributing to other Ambassador Events include:

Chef Susur Lee

A.Vogel

The Detox Market

An easy way for you to participate without leaving your chair is to Sign Jamie Oliver's Petition for Food Education here:  www.change.org/jamieoliver  Sign it!. and Share it!

For more information about Food Revolution Day on how you can join us check the website at:

www.FoodRevolutonDay.com

Follow the global hashtag feed #foodrevolutionday

and the Toronto team at #foodrevTO

Follow me @lindamatarasso on Twitter and Instagram

or Join the Toronto Facebook Page. https://www.facebook.com/FoodRevolutionDayToronto

Food Revolution Day TO Event

Here's the newly designed flyer by Hendrix Toronto for my Food Revolution Day Event that I am hosting there.  Hope you can drop by and check out some great Wonky Veg food.

Please share this flyer with all your foodie friends and culinary challenged ones too.

Register on EVENTBRITE for a chance to Win Prizes at the Event,  here's the link:
http://www.eventbrite.ca/e/food-revolution-day-to-wonky-veg-cooking-demo-tickets-16377411278

Aroma Espresso opens Kosher cafe

Aroma Espresso Bar is a Cafe that goes above and beyond what a lot of cafe's do.  They really listen to their patrons and provide a place and food that they are looking for.

Aroma was founded in Jerusalem in 1994 and in 2007 they opened in the Annex on Bloor St. in Toronto.

This month they listened to their customers in the Jewish community and opened a Kosher Aroma Espresso Bar on Bathurst Street just north of Wilson Ave in North York.  This area has a high density of people that follow Kosher practices so it is a really great thing that they are now able to meet up with friends and family in a space that serves their needs.

I dropped in this week on my way home to check out the space and pick up an Ice Aroma, one of my favourite things there to take it to go.  It's a good thing I planned to take it to go because every seat in the place was taken.  It was a monday night even, so obviously this is something people are happy about.

What I really like about Aroma is the Mediterranean menu of fresh made in house dishes.  They have fresh salads, the chopped salad is a great one in the summer.   They also bake fresh bread on site and serve up massive slices with their fresh sandwiches.  They also make fresh Mint using real mint tea and not the stuff in tea bags.  I doubt you will find that at any other chain coffee house.  Also their Ice Lemon Mint is also made with the fresh mint.  I love to have these in the summer when it is really hot outside.

They have also launched a new BOLD coffee recently. Although I haven't tried it yet I am sure it fills the need of coffee lovers who like choices.

Their Hot Chocolates are made using real chocolate.  You will find actual melted chocolate at the bottom of the cup.  No pre packaged powder mixes. They also have delicious pastries to go with your teas, coffees and hot chocolate or cold drinks.

There are about 20 locations in Toronto and ever growing.  They will be opening one very close to me soon on Yonge Street near Mel Lastman Square.  I am sure it will be a busy place and I am sure I will stop in with friends.

For locations near you check out their website: Aroma Espresso Bar with this link.

And for a bonus when you order your drinks they give you a tiny piece of chocolate.  Who doesn't love chocolate at the end of their meal.

Entourage Oscar Party

The Academy Awards have become a bit of a marathon of for those binge TV watchers just a normal viewing time.  You start watching the red carpet arrivals at 6:30pm and the show doesn't end until after midnight usually.  I watched the hours of pre Oscar shows on E before I headed out to the Restaurant Bar Drums and Flats in North York to watch the show with my fellow Film Festival Entourage Team.  We were light on our usual team's attendance so one of team members brought a bunch of his friends who may not be as interested in what is being said on the show as we were.   We take our viewing pretty seriously because we all participate in the Oscar Pool and also because we may or may not have seen or met a lot of the celebrities that are up for awards.  We try and see as many films as we can during the Toronto Film Festival and we try and get together to see as many nominated films as we can during the lead up to the awards.

This year we switched venues because our usual spot wasn't available.  The event manager Lisa at Drums and Flats was very accommodating with our group and I think she really enjoyed the whole Oscar Theme Party in the Bar.  I arrived early to set up some of the decor and props I had and Lisa had already had gold balloons scattered around the bar and the entrance and had hanging decorations strung up from the ceiling.   I added my red carpet at the entrance and another one in front of a photo wall that I set up for a bit of fun.  I took a bunch of photos but I think I missed a few people.   I also brought a film real, fake Oscar, and had some bags of popcorn and gold glitter decorated sugar cookie stars.  You can see them in the previous blog post.   I had set up the bags of popcorn along the very long 20 person deep table that we had and people munched on it after their dinners.  At that time of the Oscars when everyone starts to get bored and the energy level starts to dwindle I brought out the sugar cookie stars and some gold chocolate coins to get everyone's energy back up.

Drums and Flats is a bit of a sports bar that has only been opened for less than a year or so.  They have pizza, wings and various other bar style foods on the menu.

I ordered the Chicken Tenders and had onion rings on the side.  The chicken was very tender and I think it was made from fresh chicken.  It didn't seem to be frozen ones.  I have to admit that I enjoyed it but was still a bit hungry afterward and probably should have ordered something else to go with it.  My friend Lisa ordered this pizza and she could only finish half of it.

And now to the Awards.  I couldn't decide on a few picks so I did some research which all failed me so I only got 15 right this year.  So I didn't win the Oscar Pool.

But Norma from our Entourage Team won the Big 1st Prize which included the Oscar Pool money, we each contribute $5 so she won $85 and also got gift cards donated by Aroma Espresso Bar and I filled up a gift bag with some other swag and more cookies.  Unfortunately she wasn't feeling well and left early so she wasn't there to get the prize at the end of the night so we will have to get that to her this week. 

Brian who arranged the venue and brought a bunch of friends won the 2nd Prize of a $50 gift card for Drums and Flats and a Gift card from Aroma Espresso Bar and I put in some cookies as well.

Unfortunately I don't have a photo of Lucy who won the 3rd prize of a $25 gift card for Drums and Flats and Aroma Espresso Gift Card and cookies.

Bur here's a photo of Lisa our great Drums and Flats Host who helped me make the place look like a Hollywood Oscar Party.

Thank you very much to Drums and Flats and Aroma Espresso Bar for providing our Oscar Pool prizes and to Drums and Flats for providing their great space for our Oscar Party.

Maybe I will win the Pool next year.  It's always a crap shoot, you never know who's going to take all the unexpected wins until the last minute.

More Oscar Fun same time next year.   Now it's back to real life until September when it all starts to rev up again.

Food News you can use.

I want to start a new Blog Theme starting with this one.   

NEW BOLD PRODUCT

I will try and post any new product launches or events that are current and timely.   
I have 2 items for you today.

The First one is for you to be BOLD.  NEW at Aroma Espresso Bar

When did you last try something BOLD? Be among the first to experience our new signature dark roast coffee blend, aroma BOLD, available now at six aroma espresso bar locations across Toronto and the GTA. You’re invited to#bebold. 

Exclusive to the Canadian market, aroma BOLD boasts an exceptionally richer and more robust taste than our brewed coffee, with a bold and full-bodied flavour, an alluring aroma, and strong hints of a bittersweet chocolate finish.

Participating stores are offering samples of aroma BOLD at breakfast and lunch through Friday, February 20. Feel free to share the news with your friends and followers with the hashtag #bebold.

SPECIAL EVENT

Are you looking for something fun to do this weekend besides the typical Valentine's Day things?
Are you a Mardi Gras loving person but can't go to Mardi Gras?  Then this is the event for you.

Here's an idea.   Meet your friend for coffee and then head over to Southern Accent for some fun.

Hope you enjoy these two things and hopefully more good food news you can use to come.