OK Tire

When I first moved here I went to OK Tire to get the wheels balanced on the Suzuki. The owner, Chuck, is so unbelievably kind and helpful. He said that I could come to him for local advice as well as car related issues, and true to his word he has always welcomed me and cheerfully provided help. One morning he switched over the tow hitch for me, he connected us with the lawyer who handled our house purchase. This week I noticed one of the tires on the Tahoe was a little low, I drove into three gas stations but the air was off in each one... So I headed down to impose upon Chuck's generosity. True to form he cheerfully came out and filled the faulty tire, then checked all the others. Not only is he a lovely man, but he has skied the wall at Kirkwood so he is proper hardcore too. Thank you Chuck!

Posted with Blogsy

Recipe: Ginger Beef - Calgary Style

Ginger Beef - Calgary Style

★★★★★

Prep Time: 2 hrs 5 mins | Cook Time: 35 mins | Makes: 2 | Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients:

• 500 grams good steak ie top sirloin, New York strip
• MARINADE
• 30 ml China Lily soy sauce
• 15 ml Sherry
• 30 ml ginger juice (grate and squeeze fresh ginger)
• 5 grams caster/berry sugar
• BATTER
• 65 grams cornflour
• 60 ml water
• 1 egg white
• SAUCE
• 30 ml sherry
• 45 ml Ketchap Manis (Indonesian sweet soy sauce)
• 30 ml rice wine vinegar
• 10 ml sesame oil
• 30 ml water
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 2 inches finely grated ginger
• 1 tsp red chilli flakes
• Plus
• 1 tsp cornflour combined with
• 15 ml water
• OPTIONAL
• 1 carrot cut into fine matchsticks
• 4 spring onions sliced diagonally
• 1 l peanut or canola oil for frying
• Plain white rice

Directions:

PREPARATION
Finely slice the steak across the grain.
Combine marinade ingredients in a shallow bowl, mix in the steak and refrigerate for 2 hours.
COOKING
Put rice on.
Combine sauce ingredients except cornflour & 15ml water.
Heat oil in wok or deep frying pan over high heat.
Whisk together egg white and water then stir in cornflour. Remove meat from marinade and stir into batter. Pour remaining marinade into sauce.
Fry meat for 2 minutes, working in batches (keeps oil hot and prevents from sticking together). Drain on kitchen towel. Repeat. Double frying makes it more crispy.
In a large frying pan bring sauce to boil over high heat. Boil rapidly for 2 minutes, then stir in cornflour & water. You want the sauce to have a honey-like consistency.
If you are using the carrot and spring onion stir that in now.
Add the meat and stir to coat completely. Serve over rice. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds if you like.

Notes:

Use fresh ginger & garlic, not the minced in a jar stuff (changes the consistency of the sauce)
Source: My Collection

Sent from Paprika Recipe Manager

Check it out!

Hello,

I wanted you to know that I just completed the following workout:

Workout: Walk
Date: January 17, 2013
Distance: 2.21 mi
Duration: 0:50:05

To view '2.21 mi Dog Walk on 2013-01-17 11:51 AM', follow the link below:
http://mapmyrun.com/view_workout?w=222821966

You can also view my profile and add me as a Friend here:
http://mapmyrun.com/user_profile?u=21854935

I sent this from iMapMyRUN+. available in the iTunes app store!

Thanks,
kabloonak


Sent from my iPhone

Calgary Style Ginger Beef

Last night we had homemade Chinese food that was so delicious I ate it right away instead of pissing about taking photos of my food ;-) Here is my recipe for two generous portions.

Finely slice 1 large good quality steak across the grain (I used top sirloin from Margetts Meats in Williams Lake) marinade it for 2 hours in 30ml ginger juice (no need to peel just finely grate about 2 inches of ginger then squeeze out the juice), 15ml sherry (I use Dry Sack), 30ml dark soy sauce (I used China Lily), 5g caster/berry sugar.

Mix together 2 cloves minced garlic, a thumb sized piece of finely grated ginger, 1 heaping tsp dried red chilli flakes, 30ml sherry, 30ml rice wine vinegar, 45ml Ketchap Manis (Indonesian sweet soy sauce), 10ml sesame oil, 30ml water. Stir and set aside.

Beat together 1 egg white and 60ml cold water, then mix in 65g cornflour to make a paste.

Remove meat from marinade and stir into the cornflour batter. Pour the remaining marinade into your sauce mix.

Working in batches (I did 4) deep or shallow fry your beef. It should only take about 2 minutes to brown. Ideally use peanut oil, I used a mixture of canola and peanut. Remove the beef to a dish or tray lined with kitchen towel. Then fry it again, this time you can work in two batches as the beef is already hot so it won't cool the oil so dramatically. Drain onto kitchen towel. Double frying makes it more crispy.

Heat the sauce mix in a large frying pan or wok over a high heat. Boil it for 1-2 minutes, then add 1/2 tsp cornflour blended with 15ml water to thicken, you want a sticky honey like thickness. Add the beef and stir to coat each piece with the sauce. Serve over rice.

Enjoy!

Posted with Blogsy

Tyee Lake to Big Lake

As promised, on Sunday morning we set out again and after several attempts we found our way... the straight line depicted is not an accurate portrayal of the route, rather I gave up trying to figure it out on Google maps. Thanks to the logging industry there are hundreds of trails all over the place. I have promised to clearly document the route before my parents arrive next summer so that they can safely head over to the pub on our side by side.

Winter Fun in the Cariboo

This morning I packed a cooler with some snacks and a couple of flasks of Sailor Jerry spiked hot chocolate while Blaine organised our fishing bucket. We drove our skidoos up to Jackson Hole and tried some ice fishing. Maybe this is a little like our clam digging failure and perhaps dogs aren't conducive to catching lots of fish. We fished for three hours trying several different spots but didn't get so much as a bite.

We gave up on fishing so drove the puppies home and left them at the house while we went for a ride. It is much easier to drive without 2 dogs as passengers. I followed Blaine along the quad trails through the forest and then over on the 1800 road towards Big Lake. Unfortunately we were short on gas and day light so came home about 4pm. We drove the Suzuki down to Deep Creek gas station and filled up all our jerry cans so we are ready to play again tomorrow.

Sent from my iPad

Cinnamon Bun Challenge Results

The Internet recipe on the right wins. The dough was much softer and had a better texture. Blaine likes his buns straight up, I like icing. I made a simple buttermilk icing instead of the cream cheese one in the recipe.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/overnight-cinnamon-rolls-recipe/index.html

Sent from my iPhone

Cinnamon Buns x2

Yesterday I decided to make overnight cinnamon buns. I used a recipe from the Internet that combines the yeast with the flour then let's the dough rise for 2 hours. After 2 hours it hadn't started to rise so I started another batch using a different recipe which starts the yeast in warm liquid. By the time I had that dough kneaded and resting, yep you guessed it, the first dough started to rise.

After rolling up and slicing the buns I left them covered with cling film to rise overnight on the kitchen counter rather than in the fridge (it is an understatement to say that our house is on the cool side). This morning I turned the oven on to 400/200 for a minute then turned it off and popped the buns in for 30 mins to finish rising. They are now in a 350/180 oven for 30 minutes filling the house with a delicious smell.

The puffier, more yellow buns are recipe #1, the paler ones recipe #2. We will probably have to eat several of each to establish which is the most delicious.

Coconut Oatmeal Cookies

I started to get my appetite back today and had a craving for cookies. Alas we had no chocolate chips left since I baked Justin a batch of choc chip pecan cookies for his drive to the island on Saturday. I also wanted something easy, using oil instead of butter or shortening. A few minutes rummaging in the baking cupboard and some searches on google and decided to try this recipe.

I used canola oil not coconut oil and I forgot the salt. I used an ice cream scoop to make even sized balls. They didn't spread out an awful lot while cooking so I flattened them a little with a spatula. The result were big hunks of deliciousness of which I ate three before they even cooled down. The true test of deliciousness was won when Blaine came home and started eating them, then announced he would take some to share with Paul at work tomorrow.

 

Posted with Blogsy

NYE 2012/13

Wow what a party! I spent the whole day in bed sick as a dog with a cold and chest cough. Blaine came home from work at 5:30 with a bag full of drugs. I got up for an hour, long enough to eat some turkey noodle soup and imbibe an assortment of drugs, them went back to bed. Blaine watched TV in bed with me while I drifted in and out of sleep.