Taste of Little Italy

This past weekend was the Taste of Little Italy, an annual street festival along College, featuring all sorts of tasty food. College Street is closed down to cars, and fills up with tents and smokey barbecues and crowds of people. Jon and I had been before, but it was Caleb's first time, and it was also our first year experiencing it as a local shop, although the shop is slightly tucked away from the main thoroughfare. There's music, which I think really ramps up in the evening, Cafe Diplomatico closes down part of Clinton to show the World Cup on a big screen, and I saw a clown on stilts walking around, but of course, it's all about the food. We've already tried a few of the restaurants around, but there was a lot of street food just for the festival: lots of grilled things off smokey barbecues, skewers, fruity things. Some of the lines were a bit intense, so the family mostly hunkered in the shade while Jon fought his way through. Following this lovely photo was the sad event of an empanada on the ground. I've had Caleb in my life for almost four years now, so we have a lot of experience with the 3 second rule (5 seconds? 10 seconds?) but this one was beyond saving. The most exciting part of Caleb's day was getting invited to check out the inside of an ambulance. Caleb and I were outside, and he was trying to convince me that I should knock on the door and ask the driver if we could take a look in the back, and I told him no dice, he had to ask himself. He was saved by Glen, possibly the nicest paramedic ever, who came around and ended up asking Caleb if he wanted to take a look inside. Glen explained all sorts of things to Caleb while Caleb looked on in wide-eyed silence and awe. We then received some good life advice to not forget the sunscreen and drink lots of water. However, the real highlight of the day was this giant lemonade stand. Apparently these lemonade stands make their way across most Toronto street festivals and events, but it was my first time. A relatively late life discovery for me has been a love of limes - I put triple the lime juice in my guacamole - and this giant lemon had some excellent limeade, which I honestly didn't even know was a thing. I was so into it that the next day I dragged the whole family on a trip to the grocery store so I could buy some limes (and also lemons) to make my own. It turns out there's a limit of 24 on limes at Fresh Co (who knew??), and I was forced to give up seven at the check-out. The man behind us in line ended up buying five of my sacrificial limes, and it was all I could do to stop myself from looking at them longingly, while he tried awkwardly to avoid eye contact with this crazy Asian lady and her dozens of limes (and eight lemons).     Currently reading: Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Currently eating: chocolate with salted caramel toffee Current writing tools: Parker Sonnet Cisele (Sailor Grenade), Custom 74 (Sailor Sky High), Rhodia No.19 yellow pad, Mitsubishi 9852EW pencil, Traveler's Notebook Currently looking forward to: new Blackwings coming in Current analogue project: knitting a dishcloth (my first one!)