Countdown to 40! Food Network December Cooking Challenge

Sundays are relaxing and culinary adventure days.  In my countdown to 40 years old, I have 26 more days.

I'm a big fan of Food Network Canada and every month they have a Cooking Club Challenge.  First they choose three dishes for the first week of the month and you can vote which dish you want to cook for that month.  After the week is over, the votes are tallied and the one with the most votes win.  

This month I voted for Chicken Cordon Blue, however, my choice didn't win.  Instead it was Bacon Pork Roast Tenderloin.  

The recipe looks simple enough so I bought the ingredients, preheated my oven to the highest temperature and put the roast together.  

Firstly when set the oven to the high temperature, it first began to off gas the oven cleaner or something.  That was strange but I have never cooked anything at such high heat.  I shrugged it off as that.  Then I put the dish in the oven, set the timer, and literally watched it cook.

This was the longest 20 minutes ever.  The bacon started to cook and the oils on the tray started to heat up and sputter.  Last night I heard about a cooking mishap where a friend almost burned down her kitchen so I imagined the oil flying up to spark and light a fire in the oven.  Now I don't know if it would have made a difference to use parchment paper instead of tin foil.  Tin foil seems to collect the oils.  So I reduced the heat to 450 degrees and cooked the meat longer.  When I couldn't bear to watch myself boil oil in oven, I took out the roast.  It looked down from the outside.

But when I made the first cut, I was so wrong!  the meat was red inside.  I replaced the tin foil and decided to cook the meat again at 400 degrees.  Within 5 minutes, the oil was spurting again.  Gosh, cooking bacon is cooking a lot of fat.  At this time too, I had my windows open since the smell of bacon was filling the house.  This isn't your morning bacon smell, this is that smell on steroids.   I couldn't stand watching the oil sputter and without the meat getting cooked.

I pulled the meat out and cut it into slices and put it in a glass baking dish.  Then I cooked it again for another 30 minutes at 350 degrees.  In the end after a frustrating evening of uncooked meat and bacon headache, it was finally done!  I had my Bacon Roast Tenderloin but the experience was not as simple as the recipe.

I'm not sure if my flaw is that I don't have a convection oven or that I wrapped too much bacon or that I didn't line with parchment paper.  All I know is that this was truly a challenge that I do not wish to repeat!  

Countdown to 40! Iron Chef Dinner Party

Yesterday was Iron Chef so I was busy drinking, eating and being merry. Countdown to 40 has 27 days left.

I've watched Iron Chef before and was amazed at what the executive top chefs could do with a secret ingredient and a time limit. They could create masterpiece culinary art in short periods of time. This concept is wonderful for your foodie friends who will love an Iron Chef party.
We chose a day for Iron Chef. There were 4 participants. Each of us chose 3 secret ingredients to be listed. On the day of the party at 10AM, everyone came available online and we used a random word picker to choose the secret ingredient.

It was: BUTTERNUT SQUASH.

Then each person was given a random dish from: 2 appetizers, 1 main dish, 1 dessert.

At 6PM we met with our dishes for a unique dinner party with an elaborate 4 course meal.

1st course:  Butternut Squash Spread on Croutons
2nd course:  Roasted Butternut Squash Salad with Warm Vinegrette
3rd course:  Butternut Squash Enchiladas with bacon, hazelnut, and cheese topping
4th course:  Butter Squash Cupcake with Cream Cheese topping


Cocktail of the Night:  Lime Pomegranate White Wine Spritzer
Wines:  Road 13 Pinoir Noir, Pacific Breeze GSM
Coffee:  Carolan's Irish Cream Coffee

Countdown to 40! My Card Game Obsession

This year I'm missing out on an advent calendar so my blog posts are my countdown to 40!  29 Days til my Birthday!

My latest obsession are board games and card games.  I work with international students from different countries and my latest activity was playing "Speed Scrabble" during a lunch hour.  It was so much fun that I was inspired to do more board game or card game themed activities.

The dilemma was the cost of the games.  I luckily found the scrabble games that someone was throwing away and freecycled them.  I've tossed around the idea of a Chess Tournament or UNO Challenge.  New board games can range anywhere from $10 - $20 per game.  I decided that I would wait to see if I could borrow, beg, or  shop at thrift stores to find games.  Another challenge I had was that students have busy lives and short attention spans so I wanted games that could be played in 30-45 minutes.

Then one day my husband brought home MONOPOLY DEAL Card Game.  I looked at the box and couldn't believe that the average play time was 15 minutes for 2-6 players.  We played and it was easy to learn.  It has good mix of strategy and chance.  Card games are much more affordable at less than $10 each.  I may be borrowing this game to play during a Card Game theme afternoon with the students.  MONOPOLY Deal Card Game would go well with UNO Card Game and Skip Bo Card Game.

MONOPOLY Deal Card Game

Countdown to 40!

Countdown to 40!

I've always wanted to write a blog but have struggled with topics to write about during the past few years. I've grown tired of staying on topic and writing about things to do in the city. NOW I've decided to revamp and rebrand by updating my blog to talk about my LIFE and THOUGHTS. And I'm going to break all of the blogging rules by writing about whatever I WANT. This is what happens when you're going to be 40! Cause life begins at 40!

During this time of year everyone is counting down til Christmas and I've decided to count down to my birthday when I'll turn 40! It's 30 days until my birthday and just starting talking about it is revitalizing me. I don't want to be a 40 year old woman who sulks and is depressed because she's going through a mid-life crisis. That is not worthwhile. That's not who I am.

All through my life I've lived with the motto of living life to the fullest! This means laughing out loud, saying what you think, spending time with those you love, and going on adventures. Don't feel guilty about not having kids or not having a husband, or not having a house! WHO CARES? What's important is that you have your health and you want to live and do great things! The only question that you want to ask yourself is what do you WANT to do and then most importantly JUST DO IT!

Come join me on my countdown to my life after 40!

Burnaby Metrotown: Stayfree Ultrathin

Metrotown in Burnaby is one of the largest shopping malls in the Lower Mainland.  Everyone goes to Metrotown to spend money, but you can also save money there as well.  That's what happened to me tonight as I was leisurely passing by on my way home from work.

I went down the escalators and saw the Stayfree test stations which naturally caught my eye.  Of course I am a sucker for freebies so I have to admit seeing women walk away from the counter with a package of ultra thin maxi pads was attractive.

All I had to do was fill out a simple questionnaire on thte touch computer screens so I could enter the prize draw of $200 gift card from Metrotown.

Then when that was complete, I was ready to go to the testing station.  It's exactly how you see the test stations on commercials, the stayfree expert showed me three pad and poured 5 ml of liquid on each of them.  Then I felt the samples to see which was the softest.  Then she put a block on each of the test pads so I can see how the water is saturated and after she tests it again with paper to see which ones leak through.  It's amazing to see the difference and I really did not believe that the test would work but I choose the right one at the end.  That shocked me!  It's really the reaction that you see on commercials.  Wow, I will try your product now that I see how it performs.

After they give you a package of Stayfree Ultra Thins with a coupon.  Fun Freebies at Metrotown!  Just follow the blue butterflies.....

Vancouver: That Barista Thing

That Barista Thing is Vancouver's international latte art competition held at Library Square downtown Vancouver.   Even though it's been running in its 4th year, I had never been and this year I decided to bring my niece there to enjoy in the festivities.

First we stood in line at Blenz for our free hot chocolate and latte.  It was busy but we were lucky because the line moved quite quickly.  People were grabbing their drinks and leaving making room for others to come through.  Hot chocolates were not as popular and so my niece got her drink sooner.  She had the choice of dark, white, or milk with whipped cream.  Of course the whipped cream topping was the first to disappear.

After we had our drink we walked past the crowd of people watching the Latte Art Competition stage so we could go over to the activity tables.  Since this event was downtown it wasn't crowded with kids so we didn't have to wait long to be able to do some of the activities.


The first activity that we did was the Cup Mug Painting.  For a minimum $2 donation, you can paint and keep your own painted coffee mug and all of the proceeds are donated to Make a Wish Foundation.  Now if you have enough drinking mugs, you can do what my niece did which was think of an alternative use, she made her mug for her lip gloss.


 
After that activity we headed over to the button making activity table to make your own button.  They had pictures you could colour or you could make your own.  My niece decided to make her own.  Making buttons is fun and doesn't take long.  Great for decorating your purse or handbag.

Emi & Aki were great button making hosts.

 There was also a formal matcha tea ceremony table where  you can watch them make traditional Japanese matcha tea so that was interesting to watch.  The hosts were dressed in kimonos serving the tea in pottery.  Another table had regular tea samples.

The last activity we did was the temporary tattoo which looks real. There was also a public art canvas that you can paint a square and a cartoonist drawing free caricatures.  That was the longest line up.  Since we went straight to That Barista Thing without eating lunch, we decided to not wait for the cartoonist and instead go off to lunch.

It was a great way to spend the afternoon with my niece.  There were lots of activities to keep her busy.  I would return again next year and definitely go early.

Surrey City Arena Roller Skating Adventure

Take yourself back to the 80s with a fun night with friends roller skating disco style.  Public roller skating is every Saturday night at Surrey City Arena from 8-10pm.  I have to admit that I was hesitant at first because I didn't know what to expect.

But I dusted off my roller blades and ventured to Surrey.  Disco roller blading or skating is totally different than rollerblading around the seawall.  It's dark with disco lights flashing that sets you in a club mode and the top 80s music is blasting in the arena.

Everyone fits in at public roller skating.  There are teenagers hanging out with their friends, parents teaching their kids how to skate, the professional roller derby gang, and middle aged skaters.   You will always have those who skate well and fast, and those who cling to the walls.  No matter what your level you can find the space.  Or you can take a break at the picnic tables or at the benches along side the rink.  While you take a break from skating, people watch.  You won't be able to take your eyes off the professional roller derby girls who skate around with speed and some were even doing jumps and tricks in the center of the rink.  Of course you also see their falls but they just jump back up with speed. 

The folks are Surrey City Arena are pretty easygoing and friendly.  It's a comfortable roller skating community and definitely worth a try! Cheap entertainment with friends for $10 including rentals.