Dessert... How I Love to Hate You

Two words... Twix Cheesecake!

While trolling around the internet like a fiend for recipes and food porn, I happened to chance upon an interesting love story between Twix chocolate bars and cheesecake. At first, I thought, "no... this is a joke..someone's toying with me"... then, I couldn't believe it... it was true... chopped Twix chocolate bars embraced by the loving creaminess that is cheesecake (sidenote: cheese + cake = genius = nobel prize recommendation). Oh...to top it all off... Oreo cookie crust (NOT crumbs.. I'm talking 22 cookies crushed and mixed with butter baby) and individually sized into cupcake liners! So. Evil.

I'm not going to get into all the detail of ingredients this, mix that, wait this... just know.. it can be done! Don't ever doubt what food porn on the internet has to offer. Never.

Fin.

Kara Qué? Karaage!

Make way KFC there's a new friggin' chicken champ in town and it's about to go japanese all over you! What the heck am I babbling about? Hello?! I just might be talking about the most amazing fried chicken EH-VER!

Chicken Karaage (I don't even care how you want to pronounce it) is a japanese style of making fried chicken. It was by far the easiest thing to pull off and had the most amazing flavour.

The very first time I laid eyes on this concoction was on an episode of the Food Network's Eat St. (sidenote: one of my favourite shows on Food Network). This particular episode featured a food truck called the East Side King in Austin, Texas that boasts a true asian fusion menu (not those bulls#i& places that throw soy sauce and sesame seeds on something and call it asian fusion). Needless to say, it opened my eyes to so many wonderful food adventures that I am about to embark on - which will include beet fries dammit! But... I digress...

So, get to the point you say... what is in the Chicken Karaage and how did I make it? Patience friends..patience.. Start off with boneless, skinless chicken thighs... cut into bite sized pieces. I don't care what all you chicken breast lovers say but chicken thighs are the BOMB! I created a brine that I marinated the chicken thighs in overnight... equal parts white vinegar, sugar and fish sauce (don't even think of leaving this out or substituting this... if you even think it... stop reading this post and leave), and chopped fresh garlic. In this trial run, I used 1 cup of each and a whole head of garlic. I reserved a full cup of the brine for later... SIDENOTE: This brine is now my most coveted condiment ever. I placed the reserve in a squeeze bottle and now douse everything with it. Rice..splash that... noodles...splash that... salad... yeah! POW! SP-LASH THAT!

After marinating overnight, I drained all the liquid out and prepared a pan with just enough oil (high heat) to cover the beautiful nuggets of goodness. Using a cup of corn starch, I coated all the pieces of chicken and fried them for a few minutes for each batch.

Believe it or not... you do NOT need to add any spices, salt or anything to them afterwards. They are great on their own or you can "splash that" with some more of that brine.. which..yeah.. you guessed it.. I DID!

If you don't believe me when I say how good these things are, let's just say, I have been eating the (small amount) of leftovers in the fridge cold. I open the fridge to grab a glass of juice and I catch them out of the corner of my eye taunting me... seductively teasing me to take one of them... it's okay to eat some at 9:00AM, right?

Well, after a bit of a hiatus, I hope that this post on Chicken Karaage will get me through. Despite getting weird looks from my supposed better half every time I take a picture of something I cooked in obvious victory, I continue to document and hope to get some more free time to post.

"We listen a book a day, we speak a book a week, read the equivalent of a book a month, and write the equivalent of a book a year."
- K.L. Erickson

Winner winner...sandwich dinner

I have various ups and downs when it comes to food. There are times when I can literally go for days with having dinner as fried eggs and baked beans, and other times where my refrigerator can barely keep everything I need for all the recipesI want to try out (these are also the times that I weep quietly with my debit card).

A few months back - when I was missing Pho from Mee Fung in Ottawa, I had purchased a vietnamese cookbook that I read many good reviews on via the internet - Pleasures of the Vietnamese Table by Mai Pham. The cookbook regales stories for each of the recipes, bringing you to where her inspiration comes from. I'm drooling again.

Leafing through thebook - still not having the commitment and determination to make Pho from scratch - I came across a promising vietnamese sandwich recipe: banh mi thit. The sandwich consists of a crispy baguette, pork, fresh herbs, jalapeno and marinated daikon and carrots - or cu cai ca rot chua.

I followed the recipe to the tee, with the exception of substituting white turnip for daikon as the local grocery store here didn't have any (surprise surprise). The result? A wonderfully savoury delight far from your normal western sandwich. I will admit that the ground pork didn't add much for me aside from the juices that sopped deliciously into the baguette; however, choosing to grill the steak of pork shoulder made up for it. The next day, I made half a sandwich with the leftovers and dared to add mayonnaise and it bridged the gap where I was sensing something was missing.

With a few tweaks here and there and the addition of mayonnaise to the sandwich, it's a sandwich that I will be repeating again.

A few lines...

you never know what to say
you never know how to make him stay
your hand reaches out but he is never near
you're pulling at emptiness you fear

you never knew what to do
never knew how to think it through
now it's loneliness and goodbyes
that stain your lips and sting your eyes

Poetry Break

She sometimes lives inside a dream
of candy coated miseries
Lying deep within the snow,
her prideful, lonely spirit grows
Embedded deep in the cold embrace
of an empty heart without a face
She somehow whispers happy times
turned echoed beats and hollow rhymes

Soon deep beneath her eternal stare
A hit of memory slashes there
She thinks of things she can never be
and buries herself in insecurity
Give her a chance at content
let her inhale the familiar scent
of your fragrant kindness that she believes
that she yearns and longs to retrieve

Tell her that you love her so
Tell her that you'll never let her go
Whispers of silence make words go cold
Thoughts kept inside soon grow old
Humble yourself and throw down your pride
Give her yourself to stay by her side
Living there inside her dreams
lights of hope but darkness gleams

Relay for Life 2011

My second year participating in CFB Petawawa's Relay for Life was a great success! With all the generous pledges, I was able to more than double my goal to raise money for cancer.

The Canadian Cancer Society's Relay for Life is an event that is near and dear to my heart as my father passed away of cancer in 1997. To be able to do such a small thing as raise money by walking around a track overnight makes me feel like I've contributed something.

The event was filled with the camaraderie that I anticipated, and the evening began with the survivors' lap. A wave of yellow shirts held up faces of strength and determination – old, young, happy, proud.

As the evening progressed, the track at CFB Petawawa echoed laughter, music and general disdain for the mosquitoes. With the sun going down, the dedication luminaries lit the track – all representing names, faces that we may or may have not seen throughout our lives.

Also very proud of my offspring lasting well into the midnight. While his intentions to stay all night were very sincere, the offer from dad to take him home to sleep at 11:00 PM was more than enough to lure him away. He was, however, kind enough to leave me his Spider-Man sleeping bag.

As the sun came up, our team did the final lap together at 0645h with sore calves, sore hips, bloodshot eyes and mosquito bites. We did it!

Until next year!

B-U-N-C-O

The anguish, feverish sweat, the cramped anticipation of the squeal of "Game!"... it's all in the wrist baby.. Tennis? No. Golf? Not even close.. it's Bunco baby and you have to be in it to win it.

Ok ok.. maybe it's not as heart pounding as it sounds but tonight sure proved that it can be fast paced and can cause numerous palpitations (and maybe heartburn from overeating and too much wine).

I looked up Bunco in Wikipedia tonight to find out that it is actually a game that originated in the 18th century England as a "8-Dice Cloth"... whatever the hell that's supposed to mean. It also said that while it lost popularity, it had a resurgence in the early 21st century.

Amongst the community of the military wives, Bunco is revered as a social event to get together and meet ladies within the batallions. I frankly think it's an excuse to get away from your husband and kids, drink wine and yell - all while letting your frustrations out on the poor tiny innocent dice that get slammed around.

Tonight's Bunco was a good one. A full game of 12 ladies and definitely a good share of screaming...and not to mention food. I think I'll be eating desserts, chips and dip for the next few days.

So, if you're in the mood to try something different to do, give Bunco a shot... and honestly, it can easily be turned into a drinking game. ... and honestly, it should be.

Triple 6's.. shots for everyone!

Almost Summer Lovin'..

In the same fashion that winter did not want to let go, spring (or do I dare call it summer) has come in like a wave of saturating heat. The days are finally here where I can not gauge how to dress for the outdoors without preparing myself for the humidity outside. I may as well get dressed - or undressed - outside because the temperature inside is just a tease. I have probably changed my clothes three times a day and showered twice a day this week.

Definitely not complaining .. but..here is the but... it's hard to enjoy the outdoors when the builders in the neighbourhood are blaring the local rock station all day long. It would be okay if I liked the music, but I can only take listening to one Nickel Back song per day (is that how you even spell it?). And it would be okay if the sights were even remotely appealing but, sorry ladies... these guys definitely do not care about their appearance.

So, how to cope with this surge of humidity without resorting to hibernating in my basement? I've stocked up on my Bud Light Lime and have pilfered the LCBO for the newest summer drinks in hopes that inebriation might appease the heat.

What the heck is the purpose of this post anyways? The wine dammit! The newest trend for wine this summer... Moscato... a deliciously sweet white wine. The alcohol and acidity level is so low and the sweetness so prominent that it's like I'm drinking a mixture of Welch's white grape juice and pears... at the most beautifully chilled temperature. The only one so far that I have tried has been Barefoot's Moscato from California... Deeeelish!

Anyways, just a little blurb to share... Cheers!

"What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world remains and is immortal."
- Albert Pine