As an ice cream lover at heart, it’s always a mind boggling experience when it comes to deciding which ice cream flavour would be the next victim on my shopping list. With the vast array of 20+ sorbet, frozen yogurt and ice cream flavours available in todays grocery store freezers, I’m stuck standing in the aisle browsing from left to right opening one fridge door to the next. So, it is nice to know that gourmet ice cream giant Häagen-Dazs has gone back to basics with their new line of five which are a series of ice creams made from only five of their purest ingredients! Ingredients include skim milk, sugar, egg yolks, cream and your choice of mint, ginger, coffee, vanilla bean, passion fruit, brown sugar and milk chocolate flavours. I can’t wait to try them all!

…to drool in your sleep!!!! (don’t lie, I know many of you do).

Check out what we came across from Sofa Garden! I simply lovvvve these! Not sure how comfy they would be, but who wouldn’t want to wake up with breakfast in bed!

There is also the meat medley at Sweet Meats!!!

The American Design Club (AmDC) is holding its 3rd exhibition known as Hue Are You? which will be opening on March 20th, 2009. The AmDC, was founded last year, with aims of bringing together American designers. The predominant theme of the exhibition will revolve around colour and will be held at the Future Perfect in Brooklyn, NY.

For those of you who will happen to be in Brooklyn from March 20th to April 30th, definitely check it out and let us know how it is.

Hue Are You?
The Future Perfect
115N 6th St.
Brooklyn, NY 11211

As seen via Coolhunting.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day from all of us at Vidafine. Cheers!

…iPod speakers?!

500x bigger than the earbuds that come with your iPods, 500x cooler than any other USB-powered speakers. Now the Mac Fanboys can hook these up to their MacBooks and enjoy the latest season of the Get a Mac ads in superior sound quality.

500XL now available at the Vidafine Shop!

Want to show your guests your obsession with pasta? There is no better way than to immerse your home with Pasta Mats and Pillows designed by Keith Mascheroni. Available in different varieties, makes me kinda hungry.

So if you thought the iPod Shuffle couldn’t get any smaller or simpler, you were wrong. And the new voiceover function sounds kinda cool too. See more @ Apple.

Throughout the recent cold days of winter, I had a craving for something sweet. So I managed to head out on a rather mild day for my first dessert tasting tour around mid-town Toronto! I made three stops.

(t-b: Ba-Ba au Rhum, Treasure Island)

1. La Patesserie Cigogne- 1626 Bayview Avenue Toronto, Ontario. M4G 3B7
Started by a pastry chef who has apprenticed in Strasbourg, France and taught various pastry classes at George Brown College here in Toronto. This elegant little shop reminded me of a quaint cafe in Paris. Bustling with customers eager to try out their mini cakes and purchasing larger cakes to bring home to their friends and family, here I got to taste the Ba-Ba au Rhum (not too sweet, soft spongy cake with heavy rum flavour) and Treasure Island (a mango mousse cake filled inside a dark chocolate shell with a fresh piece of mango right in the centre of it all). Both were delicious!

( The Pompadour)

2. Rahier- 1586 Bayview Avenue Toronto, Ontario. M4G 3C1
Just a few blocks away from La Patesserie Cigogne, I came across Rahier. At this joint, I tasted not only their dessert but also their quiche! The ham and mushroom quiche tasted great, but was nothing special that I couldn’t find elsewhere. The Pompadour (which was a layering of pistachio buttercream, praline buttercream, pistachio dacquoise & chocolate praline crunch) had a creamy texture but also had a nice crunch in every bite. I found however, there wasn’t much pistachio flavour with this cake.

(The colourful assortment of pastries and desserts)

3. La Bamboche- 4 Manor Road East Toronto, Ontario. M4S 1P8
By the time we made our way to our last stop, the skies were starting to darken. Either way, we managed to head on inside to get a taste of what they had to offer! French trained Japanese pastry chef wow’d me with the assortment of goodies on display! There were way too many to choose from, I finally decided on two. The Mont Blanc (which was made up of chestnut cream, negrita rum and dacquoise chocolate) and the Vanille Fromage (made up of vanilla, cheese, fresh cream, raspberry jelly and genoise). Though both were presented very very nicely, I found them to be a bit sweet for my liking. I didn’t get a chance to try their macarons yet, but maybe next time!