Heavenly Paradise@AdelineAng.com

It only seems appropriate to talk about Tim Hortons this time of the year, when “Roll Up The Rim” contest is back, for the 25th year! It’s usually around this time of season when snow is melting, rain is pouring, and occasional speckled fresh snow on the ground and trees. It’s a mix feeling for me, the joy that winter is ending and spring is approaching, as well as a lost feeling due to the scenery change; 8-ft high snow bank is gone and the green is resurfacing. On top of that, there’s also a sense of urgency, hinting “time is ticking, and the next season is fast approaching!”

It’s almost an excitement to visit Tim Hortons nowadays, hoping to get a “winner” cup ;) From Canadian-owned to American-owned, Tim Hortons is now a stand alone public company trading on the Toronto and New York Stock Exchange. The corporate head office resides in Oakville, Ontario, Canada.

Let’s take a peek at some of the new products at Tim Hortons:

Raspberry Lemon doughnut, sprinkled with red & yellow candy bits and topped with raspberry jam in the middle.

The Caramel Chocolate muffin; baked with chocolate chips and filled with……

Caramel! Of course….

Caramel Crunch Doughnut; sprinkled with crunchy caramel pieces on a chocolate layer, and filled with creamy caramel.

Keep rolling, keep winning. Not for me though, for some odd reason, I’ve yet to receive a winning cup! Oh well…

Tim Hortons, the all-time favourite “kopitiam (coffee shop)” in Canada. I don’t visit Tim Hortons very often, but I make an effort to take some pictures when I’m there. Here are some of the pictures from Tim Hortons for the past six months or so.

The fall treats from Tim Hortons. Pumpkin spiced muffin and doughnut. There was even pumpkin spiced tea offered, around the Halloween season.

Cinnamon raisin, blueberry, whole grain, plain…. lots of options available for just a bagel. Can’t make up your mind? Try this “everything bagel.” Toasted “Everything bagel” with cream cheese (choice of plain, strawberry, or garlic & herb).

Hot breakfast sandwich, with a seasoned egg patty, a slice of processed cheese, and choice of sausage or bacon, on freshly baked tea biscuits.

Yummy breakfast sandwich!

Hot breakfast sandwich for the bagel lovers!

Candy Cane Doughnut; chocolate doughnut with chocolate glaze, and candy cane sprinkles. Needless to say, it was for the Christmas season!

Pastry filled with cream cheese and topped with raspberry jam.

Caramel Apple Fritter, made of chunks of apple and spiced of cinnamon.

Canadian doughnut, in conjunction with the Winter Olympics Games 2010 held in Vancouver, British Columbia on Feb. 12th to 28th.

Nothing beats a cup of freshly brewed coffee and a home baked muffin early in the morning. Start off your day at the Danista Cafe in downtown Fredericton. It opens on weekdays, from 7 a.m. until 4 p.m.

A simple cafe setting.

Blueberry Crumble muffins fresh from the oven.

Famous for their fresh and crispy Belgian waffles at the local farmers’ market for the past five years, the owners have recently announced a grand opening of their cafe, Sweet Belgian Desire in downtown Fredericton. Specializing in European cuisine; crepes, Belgian waffles, European-style sundaes, and cakes. On top of that, fresh sandwiches, homemade soup and spaghetti with Bolognese sauce, can be found on the lunch menu.

The menu.

Brussels. Two hot Belgian waffles with two scoops of vanilla ice-cream. Fresh strawberries, topped with homemade strawberry sauce, and whipped cream.

Crepes Nature. Two hot served crepes served with butter, brown sugar, and jam.

Crepe Normandy. A big hot crepe baked with caramelized apples flambeed with Calvados, served with ice-cream.

Chicken sandwich, served with fresh sliced tomatoes, baby carrots, Alfalfa sprouts, and Romaine lettuce.

Spaghetti Bolognaise with bell pepper.

Mrs. Hawaii. Toast with ham, cheese, and pineapple. Served with fresh carrots, sliced tomatoes, Alfalfa sprouts, and Romaine lettuce.

The food is reasonably priced; sandwiches are below $5 each, and basic crepes and waffles are well under $4, for each order. I ordered the Brussels and had a taste of the Crepe Normandy. They were ever good! The food was prepared fresh once the order has been taken. It involved a bit of a wait, but it’s certainly worth it.

Haven’t heard of this place? Give it a try. You’ll love it :)

My bubble tea story continues, after my previous introduction about hot bubble tea from the Trinitea’s Cup. A few weeks ago, I tried the so-called taro bubble tea in downtown Fredericton. Even though the “bubble tea” was tasty and flavourful, I was shocked to find out it wasn’t tea that they used!! It tasted more like taro smoothie; a blend of taro-flavoured juice with scoops of ice-cream… On top of that, flavoured jellies are used to replace tapioca pearls. Hmm… how is it suppose to be bubble tea, when there’s neither bubble (tapioca pearl) nor tea in it??

Bubble tea is 珍珠奶茶 (zhen zhu nai cha) in Mandarin, meaning tea with milk and pearl.

My taro-flavoured “bubble tea” with mango-flavoured jellies.

Then, I came up with the idea of preparing my own bubble tea! How? Check out my next post entry!!

Now, we had ourselves a good excuse for some yummy drinks. Yes, bubble tea it is!

“Bubble tea is an iced drink which originated in Taiwan in the early 1980s. At Trinitea’s Cup it is prepared as a mixture of sweetened, iced, jasmine tea, with milk, tapioca pearls and a variety of flavours. The tapioca pearls can be seen as white bubbles at the bottom of the drink and can be consumed through a wide straw served with the drink.

It is a very popular drink in East Asia as well as southeast Asian regions like China, Malaysia, Singapore etc… It is only recently that this interesting drink has gained favour in North America and Europe.”

~ From the Trinitea’s Cup

Due to the cold weather, I had a glass of hot almond-flavoured bubble tea to keep me warm… Anything special with the bubble tea at the Trinitea’s Cup? Yes, syrup instead of powder flavouring, and tiny translucent white tapioca pearls instead of the gigantic dark tapioca pearls. On top of that, my favourite taro-flavoured tea wasn’t offered! :(

Presenting to you my bubble tea galore from the past 6 months or so.

Centre: The hot almond-flavoured bubble tea (right) I ordered today and the cold version of it (left). Others: Mung bean-flavoured bubble tea with crushed ice (left) and taro-flavoured bubble tea with ice cubes (right) on hot summer days in Toronto; hot and cold bubble tea in various flavours on a freezing cold day in downtown Calgary.

Are you tempted to have a glass of bubble tea now? ;)