The Fly Trap: My Favourite Breakfast

Of my top five favourite breakfasts in the world, and yes I could probably list off my top five all time breakfasts around the world, the Fly Trap in Ferndale, Michigan belongs on this list.

While in Toronto, my mother and I dashed down to Michigan for 48 hours to shop for a wedding dress and managed to squeeze in a meal at the “famous” diner- it was on an episode of the Food Network’s Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.

I love their entire menu, and when it comes to breakfast, no one does it like the Fly Trap.  They even have items with tofu which is rather unexpected at a diner.  In my opinion aren’t diners all about excelling at meat, more meat, grease, cheese, butter and eggs?

While I’ve sampled several of the Fly Trap’s dishes over the years, I consistently come back for their:

Gingerbread Waffle – with Sautéed Apples and Cinnamon Syrup –

Gingerbread anything is great but gingerbread waffles are off the hook.  This tastes like warm gingerbread cookies and the sauteed apples and cherries add a nice flavour to the ginger and cinnamon.  You don’t really even need the maple syrup to enjoy this dish.

Granola – House Mixed Nuts, Seeds and Honey Rolled Oats, with Coconut, Banana and Vanilla Yogurt –

This is heaven in a bowl.  I never can finish it but always make a serious dent in the serving.  It’s not too sweet, and the granola has a great texture that is something between a soft oatmeal cookie and crunchy oatmeal.  It is artfully wrapped in thin banana slices, with a side of fanned apple slices and topped with yogurt.

Are you drooling yet?  Could someone in Prague please take note- this is how you do brunch!!!

Fun with chocolate

I am back in Prague, home from Toronto and jet lagged as ever. I had a wonderful time catching up with family and friends.  I think I had a total of 20 appointments packed into five business days, not including a two day dash to Troy, Michigan to the Somerset Collection to find a wedding dress (success- thank you to Kerri at Neiman Marcus who was super helpful).

I have lots of fun pictures to share with you from the 10 day trip that I will post throughout the week including a new food hall at the Bay, shots from the new David’s Tea at Bayview Village, our cake/cupcake tasting at Flour Studio and a ridiculously delicious breakfast at my favourite diner in Ferndale, Michigan.

In the mean time, while I catch up on a bit of “school work”, I thought I would share some pictures that I took at home the day before I got on the plane.

I tested another batch of cookies and brought them to school.

Since I had no chocolate chips on hand, I had fun cutting up a bar of chocolate.

I tried to chop methodically and neatly working my way through each line of the bar and then cutting the pieces into smaller slivers. I think the dough turned out well. I didn’t have a chocolate chip cookie left from the batch.

achatz pie company

I wrote about my trip to Michigan back in the summer.  My purpose of driving the three hours was to find decent bedding for the condo which I achieved.  My other purpose was to explore all the cool bakeries, grocery stores and restaurants in and around the Sommerset Collection and to be creatively inspired.  I finally go to enjoy one of my “finds” this past week.  I had friends over last weekend for dinner (my first official dinner party in the condo) and decided to break into the pie I brough back all the way from this pie company I read about. 

My other great find on my Michigan weekend was the Achatz pie company.  Located in a strip mall not too far away from the mall, branded with the phrase, “Pie runs in their blood after 17 years of pie making in downtown Armada,” I was pretty excited.   While in the bakery, I sampled a phenomenal slice of peach pie while my bf sampled the ever-decaden coconut cream.  The company even makes “wedding pies” that they will ship to you. 

Not content with just a sample, I decided to drive a freshly baked Michigan berry pie back over the border that I could freeze and serve at a later date.  I was a bit skeptical that freezer pie would not have the same taste/deliciousness as in-store but boy was I wrong.  I served it this past Saturday night and it was a little slice of Achatz heaven in my books.  Light, not too sweet, a fabulous crumble on top and within a day or two, it was gone (another reason to drive back to Troy and visit Achatz).  What I later found out was that Achatz was rated one of the 10 best pie companies in the states according to Bon Appetit magazine.  Can’t wait for my next trip back.

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via achatz pies

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boxed water

I took a mini vacation this weekend to Michigan.  It’s been ages since I last visited the Somerset Collection and decided to make a weekend out of it.  My find of the weekend had to be from grocery store, Holiday Market, in Royal Oak, Michigan (near Troy/Birmingham):  Boxed water.  That’s right. Water in a box.  Two young entrepreneurs from Michigan created the product and I love its simplicity and bold packaging.  I was walking up and down the aisles taking in everything new and creative in the Holiday Market grocery store when I was stopped in my tracks in the beverage section.  The white carton of water was calling out to me, literally (it says “hello” on the side of the box) so much so that I purchased two boxes of water- yet to be consumed.  Just like their website states, “boxed water is better!” Even the cashier had a good laugh.  She hadn’t seen the product yet and took a double take when I put both cartons on the conveyor belt to pay. 

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via mlive.com (pic of owners)