Hoping to squeeze into Canoe this Winterlicious? You’re out of luck (Image: Jen Chan from the Torontolife.com Flickr pool)
With the end of Winterlicious in sight, we got curious about how this year’s prix fixe madness was going. “Stronger than last year,” said Pangaea owner Peter Geary, who credits social networking with driving last-minute reservations throughout the festival. “Even last night, you could see people taking photographs of their meals and tweeting,” he told us (apparently phones at the dinner table are no longer a faux pas). The folks over at Canoe also noticed the impact of word of mouth, saying, “As soon as we change our voice message to say we have some availability, the phones go crazy.” While quick-fingered foodies have snapped up all of Canoe’s remaining tables, there’s still hope—the people at Scarpetta, Biff’s and Jump all advised diners to call last-minute, since no-shows are still very much a Winterlicious tradition. We also talked to the 10 restaurants whose menus got the most hits from our list of the 61 best bets to find out whether and when tables are still available.
The arrival of TIFF always demands answers to three crucial questions: which celebs are coming to town, what are the best flicks to see, and where can we get inebriated at ungodly hours of the night? The first two we’ve taken care of 
• What is the best way to get rid of unwanted Halloween candy? Serious Eats recommends burying it in a shallow grave—a pie shell—and making candy pie. The dessert is exactly what it sounds like: simply melt the candy in the crust for 30 to 40 minutes at 350 degrees, let cool, then serve. The site advocates a chocolate-heavy filling (Tootsie Rolls, Snickers, M&Ms, Kit Kats and candy corn) that reduces in size when it melts. The final product is sure to make guests frightened and dentists wealthy. [
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