Yes, another burger

I opted to grill burgers last night for girls night - I figured we wouldn't be off the golf course until around 10 p.m. so wanted something easy. Boy was I wrong. Twilight/sunset golf is the thing to do! We teed off at 6:40 and were off the course and back at my house by 9 p.m.! We played 16 of the 18 holes - the only reason we scrapped 2 holes was we didn't want to wait for the people to play on them.

And maybe....a few minor mishaps with the golf cart. You know you are having too much fun when you are laughing so hard you can't see where you are driving. K just about tossed me from the golf cart once and we almost lost her blackberry into the slough when I was barreling the wrong way over a bridge.

As for these burgers, another Bobby Flay recipe. I love turkey, brie and apples and thought this burger would be a hit. I substituted arugula for the watercress for a peppery kick.


I thought the burger was just okay. We didn't grill the apples - opting to have some crunch in our burger. I think if I was to do anything different with these, I would:

a. not use a chunk of brie in the center, but put a thin slice of brie in the middle and work around it.

b. make some sort of sauce to go with it. Maybe a roasted garlic aioli or feta aioli.

You can see the little hunk of cheese in there - not nearly enough for my tastes. I will attempt this again with the modifications and see where I fare.

Off to study - or at least make it look like I've been studying before S gets back from the lake.

You can find the recipe HERE.

Finally....girls night and tulips

Update: Add some hot sauce to the crab dip - it was a little bland. I blended in 1/4 cup of thai garlic chili sauce and it was much better. And the sangria...............this recipe may have knocked my beloved watermelon sangria from first place!

The other night while I was golfing with some co-workers, my phone beeped on the 6th hole. When I opened the attachment that S had sent me, it was of my tulips...they had finally opened that night! Since he knew I wouldn't be home until late, he wanted me to see how they looked since they'd close up again as it cooled off!

It's about time is all I have to say! Nothing like waiting until the end of May for your tulips to bloom.

I need to work on getting filler plants for in behind them, but for now, I'm happy to have tulips! Also happy to report that damn tomato plant is sprouting new buds and has a new vine coming up too.

Now on to girls night!! I arranged a playdate for S at the lake with our friends this weekend to allow me time to study and work. I quickly threw together a girls night for tonight to offset potential lonelieness (haha). My day was spent getting my office in line for whatever could potentially happen with the GM bankfuptcy on Monday - no sense trying to get my month end done AND deal with potential panic amongst employees. Tomorrow will be spent studying my ass off for exams in 10 days.

So girls night starts in 45 minutes - twilight golf first. Gotta love that it stays light here until after 10:30 at night at this time of year so twilight golf is always a great "bargain" for us. Then back here for dinner, drinks and probably a movie. You know, those girly movies that you just don't watch when the husband is around.

Since I obviously can't blog yet about our delicious Bobby Flay burger we are having after golf, I can at least show you the appetizer and drinks!

I have blogged before about how much I adore dips! And I was going to make my tried and true smoked salmon dip when I realized I had some canned lump crabmeat I wanted to use up. I decided to go with this recipe HERE. I can tell you that this dip tastes great! I've already helped myself to some - both with tortilla chips and creamy dill pickle chips. I'll have to try this one out on Shawn one night too. I love dips that come together quickly without any baking or lengthy prep work. It just means I can get to my deck to relax with it and a glass of wine on a Friday easier!

To show my solidarity, support and silliness (great alliteration here), I opted to make a white wine sangria with a bottle of wine that has an old Chevy pickup on the front of it! Thankfully my friends are used to my oddball ways and they will be amused that we are drinking truck wine.

I spend an inordinate amount of time finding, making and testing sangria recipes. Everyone has just a slightly different way to make one and it's got to be one of my all time favourite drinks. I can remember an evening in my early 20's that involved a few jugs of sangria and an eventful evening after with my best friend and the National Guards (that's a story that will NOT be on my blog since my mom reads it!).

Anyhow, I stumbled across The Tipsy Hostess' blog last week. Besotted with her title, I was excited that the first post I read was for white wine sangria.

While I haven't had a glass yet, I can tell you the smell is out of this world. I can't wait to tuck into this after golfing tonight!

Too bad you missed it S ;) Hope you are having a fun time at the lake!

My Tried and True White Sangria (adapted from The Tipsy Hostess)

1 (750 ml) bottle dry white wine, like chardonnay
1 (6 ounce) can frozen lemonade concentrate
1/2 cup light rum
1/2 cup Triple Sec
1 (15.25 ounce) can pineapple tidbits packed in juices
1 large apple, cut into chunks
Starwberry slices, cherries, orange and lime slices or anything you'd like to use as garnish.
2 cups of lemon lime soda

Combine all ingredients in a pitcher, except for the soda, and refrigerate for at least a couple of hours or overnight. When your first guests start to arrive then you can add the soda. If you like a less sweet drink, use club soda instead of Sprite.

I think I may end up only blogging about burgers for the next month

It seems like during this economic recession the good, cheap meals are getting more notice than the fancy meals.

Case in point - my new favourite restaurant in the city is AnJu - a fusion Korean place that is all small plates. I was there last night with a friend after golf (my best game ever if I'm going to gloat a bit)- it was probably the most reasonably priced meal her and I have ever gone out for. Anytime you can eat and have a couple glasses wine for under $100 in this city you are doing good. And trendy burger and hot dog joints are popping up all over the place around here. Burger cookbooks (a la Bobby Flay) seem to be popular and really, there is nothing easier to make at home.

One of my biggest pet peeves is ground chicken. Yes, it's supposed to be healthy, but like ground turkey, you don't really know what parts they are grinding up. The fatty stuff? The thighs? You know it's not nearly as healthy as they portray it to be.

So when I came across this recipe that called for you to make your own ground chicken I was excited (and slightly amazed I had never tried this before on my own).

1 pound of cut up skinless, boneless chicken breasts into your food processor along with some flavourings and you get ground chicken that looks like this in patty form:


This burger has an asian style peanut sauce to go with this. I thought it was ok, maybe lacking a bit of something. S though that it was great?! I think if I had added a bit more garlic chili sauce it would've tasted better.

The recipe also called for sprouts (alfalfa or bean). Oddly enough when I swung by the store after work, they only had radish sprouts - something I've never tried. Oh my god - these things are amazing! They are peppery and way better than alfalfa sprouts. Excellent flavour in these little things. If you can find them, give them a try.

The chicken doesn't take long to grill - about 4 - 5 minutes a side and you are ready to kick back on the deck with a glass of wine and a great tasting, healthy chicken burger.

You can find the recipe HERE.

Creature of habit

Every now and then I step back and reflect on who I am, or rather, who I portray myself to be. It's a daunting task I think for anyone - to step back and look at yourself objectively. I know what those close to me will say - the usuals about being funny and outgoing and a people person. Intelligent, confident and adventurous.

And then there is my reality.

I am pretty sure I am funny (or there is a lot of people laughing at my jokes who do it to humour me).

I am actually quite shy but I ignore it when I have to. It'll take me a lot to come up and talk to someone I don't know.

I am not particularly a people person, but my job forces me to be.

I don't think I'm all that smart sometimes, I've just learned to fake it til I make it.

I used to say I was not confident, but there's been a shift in that lately to where I think (ha ha, I know) I am. I think that a lot of this comes with age - I used to be considered very young to have the career that I have and that took a toll on me. I used to second guess myself and my decisions, but now I move forward with gusto. I don't over-analyze every little thing I do. And if this is what maturing does, bring it on!! (ok, maturity minus the one silver freaky long eyelash I have).

And then there's the adventurous scenario. I am definitely a try anything once kind of person - be it food, experiences or whatever else comes my way. BUT...and this to me is the amusing part - I am actually a creature of comfort. Those close to me will say that I am extremely predictable in my actions and reactions. I am the first to get an odd sense of humor (I can find a way to make any statement seem sexual). I am usually angling to get a laugh.

And then there's dinner - we'll go out with friends and I will peruse the menu and everything will look great. There will be things I've always wanted to try but haven't had a chance too. And then inevitably there's this comment from me: "oooooooooh look...risotto". Seriously - risotto is everywhere. Hell, I'm surprised McDonald's doesn't over the McRisotto Ball or something along those lines.

So my mid year resolutions (another post on these later) will encompass one more thing - no more risotto at restaurants (S and K will have to police me on this one). Risotto will be relegated to home cooked meals only and I will stretch beyond the "I'll have the seafood risotto please" when I am out.

So on that note, I made risotto for dinner to celebrate it only being an at home meal for the next 6 months. And in reality - I think homemade risotto always tastes so much better! This one is a greek risotto with asparagus. I love the addition of the salty feta more than I have ever cared for the addition of parmesan. This one is a keeper. You can find the recipe HERE.

The 3 steps of communication

Does anybody else have a husband who morphs into a little kid when they get new to them electronics? Due to a a bit of luck (and a fluke) S has come to own a Play Station 3. I've successfully avoided buying said machine for him for quite some time. And then he came home with a box...and a look in his eye. That look that screams "PLEASE DON'T COME LOOK IN THE BOX". You know....THAT look.

So in a great exchange for helping a friend with some work, S walked away with the guys PS3 and a ton of games. Good deal since it only took him 3 hours of helping the friend (all my economics about the time value of money seems to be working for him!).

I digress.....my evening has been spent repeating every conversation we are trying to have 3 times as he's engrossed in his toy. I'm not complaining (although I suppose it sounds like this), but I actually find it rather amusing at the 3 steps to making S listen to me.

Step 1 - I start the conversation (ie/dinner is ready). I think this step is purely a warmup for wives. Kind of a test drive to use a car metaphor. You know, decide if "dinners ready" is really what you wanted to say. Maybe you meant to say "look dear, I'm naked!"

Step 2 - This is when you think perhaps your husband has become hard of hearing over night. It happens. So you walk a little closer and repeat "Hon, dinner is ready". At this point, you have not gained auditory access to your husband. You have visual stimulation only (yes, men are visual). They have seen you in their peripheral vision. They have registered somewhere in the back of their brains that their BETTER half has breached the no contact zone. So they look at you and smile.

Now ladies, do NOT be fooled by this smile. It is not, I repeat not, a smile that acknowledges what you have said to them. It is the smile of recognition. Much like what you do when an old 2 Live Crew song (if you are a teen of the 90's) comes on the radio when you are in the car. You smile and nod your head...yeah I remember this! This is what your husband is doing. Allowing that he recognized you and yeah..{nods head}, he remembers he liiiiiiiiiikes you.

So you walk away again thinking that against all odds you have made contact in under 3 steps.

Step 3 - this is the important step. This is the contact point where it's now or never - either they respond, or they are a lost cause. I suggest taking a measure that is somewhere between June Cleaver, "Honey, dinner is getting cold", Betty Boop (short skirt and heels in front of them) and the Uma Thurman character in Kill Bill (you know, the yellow pantsuit girl with the gun). You will know which level works best on your man.

As for S, he is usually a step up from the June Cleaver level - a little more forceful (think Claire Huxtable) and he will be up and at 'em - but I have been know to break out the Betty Boop and Kill Bill on his ass occasionally ;)

Once you have their attention, feed them this excellent Caesar Potato Salad that was in this months Bon Appetit magazine. If you like caesar salad dressing, or are looking for a non-mayonnaise potato salad, this one is for you!



You can find the recipe HERE.

More flank steak goodness

As I worked through my package of flank steak that I bought I couldn't help but be amazed by how much beef I now eat. When we lived on the coast I was a chicken and seafood person - you would never see me order a steak, let alone buy them to cook.

When you move to the prairies, aka cow country, it seems that chickens double in price and beef gets cheaper (and tastier).

Like last weeks flank steak recipe, I marinated this piece for about 12 hours before we cooked it.

S says he likes the flavours in this one better than the Asian one from last week. I'm indifferent - they both tasted really good. There is nothing better than 10 minutes of prep work for marinating and then 10 minutes of bbq'ing later in the day. I wish we lived somewhere where it is summer ALL the time.

Mustard Garlic Flank Steak (adapted from Canadian Living Easy & Healthy Summer Meals)

2 tbsp dijon mustard

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp vegetable oil

3 cloves of minced garlic (I put it through a garlic press)

1 1/2 beef flank marinating steak

4 sprigs fresh rosemary

1/4 tsp each salt and pepper

In glass baking dish (I used a ziploc bag), whis together mustard, vinegar, oil and garlic, add steak, turning to coat.

Place 2 sprigs rosemary on top of steak and 2 underneath. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or up to 24 hours. Discard rosemary sprigs.

Place steak on grill set to medium-high. Grill, turning once for 10 minutes for medium rare.

Transfer to cutting board; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Tent with foil and let stand for 5 minutes before thinly slicing across the grain.

Dead tomato plants and a day on the deck

Yes that's right....dead. My tomato plant is dead in 6 days - pretty impressive hey? S is enthusiastic in his belief that it will come back to life, but it's dead. And it's sitting on the deck taunting me. And phooey to the suggestion I should stick to chia pets....I'm sure I can learn to have a green thumb. There is nothing like fresh grown fruits and veggies straight from your own garden to make your summer dishes taste that much better. Tomorrow I will go buy another tomato plant and maybe, just maybe this one will live for 2 weeks!

So to ease the painful loss of my first tomato plant, I made another batch of watermelon sangria that I had previously blogged about HERE. This time I got pictures before we started drinking it!


It looks like summer is here for us to enjoy. 22 degrees and sunny today - we go from winter to summer without missing a beat around here. Spring (as my boss once told me) is for the weak (I happen to really like spring, but figured it was not the time to point that out to him).

Dinner was nothing special tonight - we had planned on going golfing when S got home from work, but his back was sore and he wanted to just relax. We threw some chicken thighs on the bbq to grill and they were made better by the addition of..........

Homemade bbq sauce. I must have about 200 recipes for bbq sauce and I love every last one of them! This recipe is actually from a Tyler Florence recipe for chicken and pineapple skewers. We skipped the skewers and just grilled the chicken and pineapple seperately this time for ease.

This sauce is supremely easy:

1 cup ketchup

1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce

1/4 cup honey

1 tbsp yellow mustard

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 whole garlic cloves, peeled

1 lemon, juiced

Combine in a saucepan and cook over medium heat. Bring to a simmer and cook gently until thickened, about 10 minutes. Set aside to cool.

And yes, they mean gently! Last summer I walked away from this and came back to a volcano pot with lava bbq sauce shooting all over the kitchen!

This sauce is also great on ground turkey or chicken burgers with a pineapple slice.

Perfectly grilled chicken (thanks S), and watermelon sangria - a great evening on the deck! And to make it more entertaining for S - he got a new bug zapper tennis racket - he's still out there swatting at bugs and watching them sizzle.

The 2 truths of grilling season....

The 2 truths of grilling season (at least for me):

1. You can never have enough burger recipes in your arsenal. There is nothing better than a freshly grilled homemade burger, whether it's beef, pork, salmon or turkey.

2. You will undoubtedly run out of propane half way through grilling when you've had a few glasses of wine and shouldn't drive to the gas station. It's a mystery why you can't run out at the very beginning of cooking...it's always mid-flip of the steaks or burgers that the whole thing fizzles out.

Thank goodness the neighbors usually go to the lake on the weekends...we can (and did) sneak next door to "borrow" their propane tank to finish off supper.


As for me, I've had a week of eating shall we say, less than stellar food options. All of this up and down with our domestic automotive industry has finally taken it's toll. Thank you to S, K and the neighbor husband for taking turns to talk me off a ledge this week. It helps to have friends in the industry - there is only so many days I can take of being the positive, upbeat manager until I crash and burn.

That being said, since my eating was kind of meh, this week, I figured we'd round off the week with a fabulous burger.

In Canada, bourbon is not a big deal....the drink of choice on the prairies is Canadian Rye. We always have a bottle of rye on hand, but I keep a small bottle of bourbon in the cupboard for when I want a drink (not a rye fan) or if I'm roasting turkey (bourbon for basting and gravy...trust me).

So imagine my delight when I came across a bourbon burger recipe tonight! A quick stop at the store on the way home for some ground beef and we were set!

First, I don't care if the burger sucked (it didn't), the bourbon caramelized onions were out of this world. They made the burger, and they would be a stand out with a bbq'd rib eye steak as well.

The burger was tasty - I really liked the addition of bourbon and worcestishire sauce. I could've done without the cumin though - or maybe half the amount as that was all I could taste in the burger.

A trick I read from Bobby Flay (who in my mind is the king of burgers) - a burger shouldn't have stuff in it - no eggs, breadcrumbs etc. Since I've been trying to adopt this thinking, I have found that my burgers do not fall apart. Now I'm all for seasoning (hence the bourbon and spices), but since I've stopped with the bread crumbs and egg, my burgers are turning out 100 times better than before.

You can find the recipe HERE.

I don't wish often to win the lottery.....

but when it hits $49 million, I do start dreaming of all the fun I would have! And tops on the list....unlimited easy to find ingredients for cooking...and all the time in the world to cook them in!

Alas, I won $10...it was enough to pay for my monthly package of prosciutto ;) So to celebrate my big win and another crazy fun-filled day working for a domestic car dealership, here's tonights under 20 minute pasta dish!

This dish actually turned out half decent. I really enjoyed the addition of the capers...although I quadrupled them to finish off my bottle. I also love that I can sneak in zucchini and peas and S ate them willingly!

You can find the recipe HERE.

If you have time to remember to marinade....

I am, the worlds most amazing procrastinator. I leave everything to the last minute and then run around crazily trying to get things accomplished. This has the effect of making people think I am busier than I really am :) And about 4 times a year I try to turn over a new leaf and get organized.

This week is one of those weeks! My office is clean, my papers are filed and I actually had the druthers about me to marinade my steak for 24 hours before cooking.

If you love asian flavours, this is the steak for you! I love the salty taste of soy and the flavours of ginger. And to make it even better, 8 minutes on the grill and you have a steak cooked to perfection!

You can find the recipe HERE.

I jinxed the weather

Yep, that's right...I jinxed it. 23 and 24 degrees respectively Saturday and Sunday. Monday is the holiday...woo hoo a long weekend! Off we went Sunday to have lunch downtown by the river...nothing like sitting outside sipping wine and chatting. And then I did it....I stopped by the nursery on the way home. S wants to take out our pine trees in the front of the house and replace them with something that flowers.

So after perusing and acknowledging that it's too early for annuals and I'll buy my herbs to plant next weekend....I came home with a tomato plant.

I am very excited to see if I can grow heirloom tomatoes - my parents grew their own last year and they were delicious. And then as I was getting ready for bed, my blackberry beeped. My wonderful weather app was letting me know there was a frost warning. So I dragged the plant into the kitchen.

And I woke up to an inch of snow covering the lawn this morning. *#^%^## Summer is never going to get here.....ever.

Because we went for lunch late yesterday and then had a few margaritas when we got home, neither S or I felt much like making supper. I had thawed some puff pastry in anticipation of making dessert and decided that dessert was exactly what we needed.

I love pie but I am still struggling with making pastry from scratch. Not sure if it's the high altitude we live in or if it's the recipes I tried, but I just can't do it. This strawberry pie's use of puff pastry was an ingenious way to quickly whip up a dessert with the leftover strawberries we had.

We served it with some cool whip (the store was closed and I couldn't get any real whipping cream to make). And...3/4 of the pie was gone ;) We ate it warm....and I honestly think that is the best way to eat pie. If you want to impress anybody who is coming for dinner, make this dessert. Pop it in the oven when you sit down to eat your main course and you'll have a delicious dessert at the end.

You can find the recipe HERE.

Just a note - Mine was cooked in 30 minutes at that temperature so be sure to check on it at the 30 minute mark. I also used raspberry jam as a topper instead of apricot.

First golf game of the season!

The in-laws came to visit this weekend and Saturday was the perfect weather for golfing. We loaded up the cooler with some arctic berry coolers and beer and hit the golf course 5 minutes from our house.

I am determined to improve my game this year. I have been improving over the past 3 years and on this first game S only beat me by 4 strokes! I swear it's the stupidest game ever and I don't know why I torture myself with it. I make one amazing shot and it makes me go back the next week for another 5 hours of torture. Being a perfectionist and playing golf do NOT go hand in hand.

I think S stole the camera for cleavage shots...or to show my sunburn. No matter how much sunscreen I wear, I end up lobster like a few times a year. This time it was my chest and my feet (stupid sandals). I look like I have zebra stripes and I know they will look like this for the rest of the summer.

After golfing we set about bbq'ing some t-bone steaks. I broke down and bought the Emeril at the Grill cookbook and decided on the Bacon Potato Salad. After this recipe I cannot wait to try more.

The addition of the bacon and mustard in this potato salad really made the dish. There were no leftovers at the end of the evening - I'd say it was a winner!

Bacon Potato Salad adapted from Emeril at the Grill

2 pounds small red potatoes, quartered (I used baby whites)

3/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp black pepper, ground

2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

1/3 cup finely chopped celery

1 chopped green onion, white and green parts

1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley (omitted)

4 hard boiled eggs, coarsely chopped

3/4 cup mayonnaise

1 1/2 tbsp creole or whole grain mustard

4 strips crisp-cooked bacon, crumbles

1. Place potatoes in a saucepan, add water to cover, and bring to a boil. Cook, partially covered, until the potatoes are fork tender - apo. 10 minutes.

2. Drain the potatoes and transfer them to a bowl. While the potatoes are still warm, season them with the salt, cayenne, black pepper and lemon juice. Toss well to combine. Add the celery, green onion, parsley and eggs.

3. In a small bowl stir the mayonnaise and mustard together. Add to the salad. Sprinkle the bacon over the salad and toss gently but thoroughly to mix.

4. Serve immediately, or refrigerate, covered and serve slightly chilled.

Season finale

I am not a TV fan. Like I said in yesterday's post I prefer reading a book to watching TV. But I confess there are a few shows I love to watch.

The Big Bang Theory is up there as my favourite right now. It's about nerds...'nuff said. Heroes and NCIS are on the list but only because S watches them religously and I am now addicted. And Mad Men but I miss too many episodes to really follow along.

And Grey's Anatomy. Now, I've thought it has only been a so so show the past couple of seasons...but I keep watching because you never know what's going to happen. So the point of this post is I needed a fast supper tonight - I've worked late and the season finale is on in 10 minutes.

Another pizza night for us tonight.

This time though it was an arugula and prosciutto pizza. S was a little dismayed at me putting lettuce on the pizza, but it gave a nice peppery flavour to it. This is a definite repeat dish for me. The only thing I would maybe do different is add some roasted garlic to the onions and prosciutto before baking. You can find the recipe HERE.

On a side note: Chrysler closed 789 stores in the US today and they are announcing GM's dealership closures tomorrow. While I have the utmost faith that my 2 stores are not in the cut, my thoughts are with all those struggling over the loss of their stores today. It's something that is deeply ingrained in us and hard to walk away from. Look onwards and upwards and keep smiling! When one door closes..... hope to hell your skirt is not caught in the door and the vehicle is speeding away ;)

Weather nerd

It's a well known fact that I have been called a nerd my entire life. I loved school; excelled at math and science and still choose books over TV any day. It's a wonder I'm in the car industry - the most un-nerdy profession there is.

But....I have recently been called a weather nerd (or geek...can't remember how I was referred too). And that made me think....how much do you talk about the weather? I know that when I'm on a call with an acquaintance in another city we always ask after each others weather. Or you make fun of the weather with people (as in it's snowing again....6 months straight). And if you are the tall, gangly sort you will often be approached with the phrase "How's the weather up there?".

Perhaps this fascination with other people's weather is purely a way to connect with someone you love who is far away or a tool to connect with someone you barely know to make it seem like you have something in common.

As for me, I'm sitting here listening to a doozy of a thunderstorm and drinking a glass of wine. As for the weather nerd part...I have downloaded an app on my blackberry that allows me to glance at my phone and see what the weather is doing outside (it changes from sun to rain or snow or a moon at night). Geeky....but very cool!

How's your weather??????

Tonight's meal was not a burger. I say this because I really wanted a burger. I've been thinking about a nice hunk of meat (hee hee) for 2 days now and still no burger. And there is no burger on the horizon either (the in-laws are here this weekend and I will attempt to cook to impress). So tonight was a very quick salmon dish with rice. Nothing exciting, but it filled the void and I finally salted the bok choy the right way.


You can find the recipe HERE.

Huli Huli and a birthday present

No, that's not some weird Vulcan greeting that I'm practicing for the Star Trek movie (groan..I did promise S he could pick the next movie and Star Trek it is)....Huli Huli is a Hawaiin bbq sauce.

But first, my present. Along the way of raising us kids, having a marriage and working, my father picked up a woodworking hobby. He has built dining room suites, bedroom suites, clocks, etc. And this year for my birthday he built me a little wine rack for my dining room. It is absolutely beautiful and my picture does not do it justice. It looks like a tiny Japanese temple.

And see Dad...I put wine on it ;) I just didn't have time to pick out the wine while you guys were visiting. I love it - like everything Dad makes, it looks truly amazing! He does great work and is extremely talented (you should see my bed that he made me!) We've been trying to convince him for years to sell his work, but he just doesn't seem to want to!

Now back to dinner. I am always on the hunt for a fast meal on the bbq and picked up a couple of grilling magazines this weekend. Cuisine Tonight - Grilling had a delicious picture of bbq'd chicken on the front...and a whole section on 30 minute meals. S quickly zoned in on the picture of the Huli Huli pork with pineapple. I omitted the peppers that went with it - mostly so I would not have to stop at the store.

The sauce was a snap to make and true to their word, dinner was on the table in around 30 minutes tonight.

There is nothing better than bbq'd pineapple - I could eat just this fruit for the rest of my life.

Sauce

1/4 cup ketchup

2 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp brown sugar

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tbsp minced garlic

1 tbsp minced fresh gingerroot

1 tbsp fresh lime juice

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

4 boneless pork top loin chops - 1 inch thick

Pineapple slices

Preheat grill to medium-high heat.

Combine sauce ingredients in a small pan and simmer until sugar dissolves.

Cook pork chops 6 - 7 minutes per side, brushing with the sauce.

Cook pineapple rings 2 - 3 minutes per side.

Mother's Day Dinner

Sorry to be away from posting for so long...feels like I desperately need to get back in the swing of things with cooking!

My parents came to town for Mother's Day :) We were very happy for them to finally see our new house...and even better Dad always comes loaded with tips on how to fix stuff that is broken! Too bad he lives a 10 hour drive away - it's a long way for me to go to borrow tools and expertise! And mom got the Il Divo CD she wanted and a great bbq meal cooked for her last night.

First we had coleslaw....2 nights in a row! Dad seemed to really like it (we gathered this by when we'd come back in from the bbq he'd be standing there eating it out of the bowl.



My homemade coleslaw dressing is super easy....1/2 cup light mayo, 2 tbsp vinegar and 1 tbsp or so of sugar. Chop up an apple and toss with a bag of coleslaw mix. Done...tastes great on it's own, on top of burgers or on fish tacos.

We opted for chicken last night as well.

This recipe again is fairly simple. Note the shiny aluminum foil. Best bbq trick for chicken or fish ever. Heat your bbq with the aluminum foil over the grill (spray it first with non-stick cooking spray). Then when you place your chicken/fish on the aluminum foil you do not get grease flare-ups (if you are flame adverse) and in the case of fish, it will not fall apart between the grates.

This chicken dish is super easy. One boneless, skinless chicken breast per person. Butterfly the breast and pound it out until it's 1/4 inch thick. Do this in the morning as the chicken needs to sit in the fridge for a few hours.

Spread 1 tbsp (or more) of herb and garlic cream cheese over the chicken. Roll it up and wrap with one or two slices of bacon. Secure with tooth picks if needed.

Cook on medium heat for 30 minutes, turning every 5 minutes or until cooked through.

Happy mother's day mom! Glad you and dad made it out!!

I want to go to Japan :(

Somehow last night we ended up going out for sushi after our Costco run?! I had a meal planned and everything, but yeah, it just didn't work out. And tonight...supper club at a Korean restaurant.

So the only pictures I have of anything cool is the gift K brought me when she came back from Japan. When she left I explicitly told her to look for Kit Kat's, wasabi preferably.


Japan has an amazing array of oddly flavoured Kit Kat products. For those on the hunt in Canada, I know that Japadog in Vancouver sometimes carries these products too.

Unfortunately K couldn't find wasabi - she did find some flavours I've never had before.

I can't remember what all the colours were. I can tell you I did NOT like the cheesecake flavour. The fruit flavours were good (cherry, Strawberry), cafe au lait was also good. And the surprise hit?? The one that I wasn't sure I'd be able to bring myself to even try? Koi. That's right....fish kit kat. And I think it may have been my favourite. I even convinced S to try a piece by telling him it was the cheesecake one. After exclaimed his appreciation for it I told him it was fish :)

They're here!!!

I came home tonight to see this......

After digging the tulips up last weekend so they were closer to the top, one good dump of rain and they are sprouting! I cannot wait to see what they look like when they open...I've never had a garden before. Granted, the list of things you can grow here is very limited (the short growing season doesn't help). I'm holding out hope that these little puppies make it through the first big hail storm.

So after a busy evening getting a mani/pedi (technically I was still working as I carried on 2 very lengthy work conversations), learning how to use the new crackberry and driving home late, I had to come up with something fast with the chicken I took out for dinner.

Inspired with it being Cinco de Mayo, I tossed the chicken in a pan with peppers and an onion for a fajita based.

I added some salsa toward the end of cooking and then dumped the contents onto a plate of lettuce with some cheese and homemade ranch dressing. Voila....a fajita salad.

Now I need to learn how to take photos and upload them to my blog from the blackberry. I love new toys ;)