YULeat 2017

This past weekend, the YULeat festival was hosted at the Old port of Montreal. My family got tickets for my dad's birthday and we had so much fun! YULeat is an annual event that celebrates food - so guests just walk around and visit little booths or food trucks to try different food. Today, I'm recapping our day at the Old Port!

2017 is Canada's 150th birthday, so there several little patriotic displays around the old port!

There were huge YULeat signs around the entrance - so fun!

As soon as we got in, there was a Gold Peak Tea booth, so we stopped to try some Iced Tea. I tend to stick to water, but if I have a sweet drink, it's iced tea all the way! They had a few different flavors for us to try. I've never heard of Gold Peak before, but their iced tea is yummy!

Our second stop was at the Natrel tent - we got to try several different kinds of milk. I taste tested milk chocolate milk, dark chocolate milk and maple milk.

Once we tried a few flavors we got to pick one to have mixed into an iced coffee. As much as I loved trying different flavors, I picked the traditional chocolate to mix into my iced coffee.

The girls enjoyed iced coffee, but my dad is all about hot coffee! He headed over to the counter serving hot coffee to pick up one of these scrumptious looking drinks!

We stopped by a little tent where they were quizzing people for prizes - every member of my family answered a question and we won 4 wooden spoons! We weren't low on wooden spoons to begin with, but I'm pretty sure we're covered for a long time now!

My parents got in line to have my dad's face drawn in coffee (more on this later!), and the Bean was all kinds of antsy! She wanted to move! Her and I walked around a bit and spotted some macaroons! How pretty is this display!? I had a chocolate one and the Bean had a strawberry one - so good!

By this point, I had enjoyed iced tea, coffee and a macaroon - talk about caffeine/sugar overload! I am so not used to drinking a lot of sugar and I was feeling it! I needed something of substance and I needed it fast! The Bean and I walked by a Liberté yogurt booth and a little greek yogurt is just what I was needing!

We got back to the Natrel tent just in time to see my dad's face get drawn in the foam of his coffee. The Natrel Tent hired Michael Breach, a barista and artist to decorate people's coffees! He is so talented and this was such a perfect birthday gift for my dad!

My dad loves coffee - if I am looking for him, I always check the coffee machine first! There is a good chance he will be in the kitchen making himself a coffee! I am so glad we were able to visit this fun booth on his birthday!

When we were done at the Natrel tent, we walked over to the Notre Dame Basilica for a light show. The line was long, but it moved fast and before long we were in the basilica!

We walked around the church to look at the little displays of lights, then there was a big light display on the ceiling! It was fascinating to see how the lights brought such a dark room to life!

After the light show, we walked back to the YULeat festival for dinner. On our way, we passed a shop called 'Noël Eternel' and I could hardly contain my excitement! It was full blown Christmas in this store - I mean, Christmas music playing and Christmas candles burning! I was ready to move in!

Once we got back to YULeat (after thoroughly browsing through the Christmas store!), we looked around for dinner! When I spotted a Mandy's truck, I looked no further!

I grabbed a Mexican salad from Mandy's, while the rest of my family hit up 'Wings n' Things' for some chicken wings and fries.

After dinner, we tried a fleur d'ognion - I don't know if this treat has an English name! It's an onion deep fried (similar to onion rings, but less breading) with a little spicy mayo for dipping and it is heavenly! A friend told me about this years ago, and I had never heard of on before! I was so excited to try this and discover how good it is!

The Bean was not a fan of the fleur d'ognion so she chose a different fried treat - churros!! The Bean loves churros! She let me hold them just for the picture but I had to hand them over to her right after! She let me try one and they were pretty darn good!

I was so full after this day! It was so nice to get home, put my feet up and drink mint tea! Do you have any food festivals near you? I highly recommend checking them out!