1st Loss

Dinner today -> Sticky Rice.
Nuked some sticky rice wrapped in leaves for dinner today.

Stick Rice.

Inside was a mix of sausage, pork, salted egg, and green beans. 

Sticky Rice Insides.

Useless Softball News:
CMC Strike Fighters played GDC tonight.  We lost 22-7?  I lost track of the score after the 6th inning.  We played our worst game of the year tonight.  Marc made alot of errors, which is very unlike him to make any.  Also, both Gary's and Mark's pitching was not in control.  They kept throwing easy down the middle pitches for GDC to hit.  Very unlike both of them to be off their game.  Hopefully we'll restart the win streak on Thursday this week.

Poor Defence Tonight.

Idol Air

Snack today -> Pretzel MegaLoad.
Opened the MegaLoad I got the other day.  There are 3 peanut butter cups topped with a milk chocolate pretzel, a white fudge pretzel, and a peanut butter fudge pretzel. 

Pretzel MegaLoad.

The white fudge pretzel was the best one.  The other 2 don't make sense to have.  The default peanut butter cup already as chocolate and peanut butter, so those chocolate and peanut butter pretzels are moot.  They just blend in and you can't really taste them.

Dinner today -> Pasta.
Made spaghetti for dinner.  I mixed it with king oyster mushrooms and chorizo sausage and topped with 3 cheeses.  It was very good.

Spaghetti with King Oyster Mushrooms and Chorizo Sausage.

Useless Idol News:
Saw this article today about winning AKB48 cans of "Idol Air".  I kind of want one... :) 
This reminds me to order the new single out this week, which includes the AKB48 election ballots.

Weekend Report -> Shrimp Eggs

Food this weekend ->
Loblaws has a sale on smoked salmon this week (only the small pack).  Cream cheese was also on sale, and some bagels were on 50% off quick sale.  These were the ingredients for making a good sandwich.  I made open face smoke salmon and cream cheese on toasted bagels.  Washed it down with pink lemonade and frozen pineapple chunks.

Smoke Salmon and Cream Cheese on Toasted Bagel.

Chicken drumsticks was $0.99 lbs at the SuperStore.  The family pack were about 24 drumsticks for $5!  Susanna and I picked up a pan each, another one for Ben, and fourth for our parents. 
I cooked 6 of them in my rice cooker.  I just marinated the drumsticks in salt over night and then plunked them in the cooker.  The rice has a slight salty chicken flavour and the chicken comes out smooth.

Chicken Rice.

Useless Gaming News:
Impromptu gaming at Jeff's house on Saturday night.  We started with The Game.  It's easier with 3 players and we finished it twice.  Then we played 4 player Broom Service.  Very close game.  We were all grouped in the 70s at the end.  Anthony and I tied for first, but he had the most resources tie-breaker to win it.

Broom Service.

Useless Transformers News:
Found Sky Lynx at Kanata Toys R Us on Friday.  Gordon got the last copy later.  I think I have everything that is out right now.  I also picked up a couple the blue MegaLoad peanut butter cups.  These are new and are topped with chocolate covered pretzels.

Sky Lynx and Blue MegaLoad.

Useless Aquarium News:
I notice on Saturday that one of my big ghost shrimp had something on her back legs.  They were eggs!  She was fanning them about, I guess to provide oxygen to them?

Shrimp Eggs!

This is really cool.  I could soon have alot of baby ghost shrimp in my tank!

Shrimp Eggs! (Another Angle)

Happy Retirement Peter!!!

Went to Peter's retirement party after work today.  It was held at Graffiti's.  It was a well attended event.  Alotof ex/retired CMC attendees were there too, including Jim.  The food table had some decent snacks on it, but it was blocked by people standing in front of it, but they weren't eating any of it.  They were just blocking it.   Eventually Ed and I forced our way through and blazed a path for others to get some food :)  The deep fried shrimp were good and went fast.  The dip for the veggies was good too.  Also the watermelon was very sweet.

Blocked Food.

Cat Tracks

There is a new orange and white cat snooping around my neighbourhood.  Apparently this cat likes to walk on my car.  I found it's tracks starting on the hood of my car, all the way up to the roof, and down the back window and trunk.

Cat Tracks on My Car.

Lunch today -> Bacon and Cheese Sandwich.
My pre-lunch gaming meal today was a couple of bacon and cheese sandwiches on toast.  They hit the spot and gave me energy to lose today's Dominion game.

Bacon and Cheese Sandwiches.

Dinner today -> Expired Steak and Veggies.
Sliced up some 2 day expired steaks today.  The package said it had expired on Monday, but they smelled only a little funky.  They still tasted fine after cooking them, plus I live by the Conan rule: If it doesn't kill me, it'll make me stronger.  I also cooked up some broccoli and sugar snaps in the meat drippings.

Expired Steak and Veggies.

Undefeated After 4 Games

Lunch today -> Short Ribs with Broccoli and Rice.
Went home for lunch today.  I cooked some short ribs I kept from cooking on Sunday.  These were the pieces that fell apart when I washing the Costco marinade off.  I'm surprise Costco actually packed these short rib slices in the pack.  They were barely hanging on by the fat.
I pan fried the short ribs with left over rice and the broccoli I forgot to make on Sunday.  It was good mishmash of food.

Lunch Medley.

Snack today -> Watermelon.
Sliced up half a watermelon into sticks and brought it to work.  Still have another half to get rid of.

Watermelon Sticks.

Useless Softball News:
CMC Strike Fighters defeated Big Hitties tonight 18-17.  We were both undefeated until tonight.  We are not 4-0 this season.

Maureen Popping a Foul.

I hit 1-for-3 tonight with a walk and a single.
MVP tonight: Jeno.  2 home runs, a single, and a triple on errors (probably counts as a single.)

Useless Bathroom News:
Roger noticed my 3 sea shells in my main floor bathroom on Sunday.  I'm pretty sure he is the only one so far to know what they reference. 

3 Sea Shells.

Happy Birthday Julie!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JULIE!!!

I ordered Julie a parasol as a gift (with free fan).  I wasn't too impressed when I got it, so I also got her the Lego Movie and one of my spinning D20 rings.

Parasol.

Long Weekend Report -> Baseball Nut

Food this long weekend ->
Went to a farewell lunch for Sarah at the Cheshire Cat Pub on Thursday.  I wanted to order the elk, wild boar, and mushroom tourtiere, but we were only allowed to order from the group menu.  So I got the Hot Beef and Yorkshire.  It was very good.  A satisfying dish, but could use abit more meat and gravy.

Hot Beef and Yorkshire.

Saturday was Jeff and Linda's dinner potluck.  I made mussels and oyster mussels in black bean sauce.  It was good, but I over cooked them a little.  Ben made fish (not shown), and Linda made veggies, a yellow curry, and a red curry.  I really liked the red curry.  Had a nice kick to it.

Party Food.

Dessert was homemade cake, fruit, and 2 pies.

Dessert Part 1

Dessert Part 2

On Sunday, I host a Birthday BBQ for Julie's birthday.  It took awhile, but I got the main floor and the basement cleaned for the BBQ.

Cleaned Up Main Floor.

We had alot of snacks, drinks, cheese (Goat Brie is really good), and BBQ meat.  The BBQ incluced 6 different kinds of sausages, steak, and korean short ribs (I washed off Costco's marinade and put my own on them).  I didn't have my phone with me while BBQing so I didn't get any pics, but here was my 1st plate.  Julie bought the sausages.  They are very good.  I need to get some more.

BBQ Plate.

We played a few board games including Lords of Waterdeep.  Jeremy and I finished tied with most points.  The tie-breaker was most coins and he won because on my last turn, I had just given him 4 coins from completing a quest, and I lost by 3 coins.  D'oh!

Lords of Waterdeep.

Dessert was ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins.  The ice cream flavour was "Baseball Nut".  It was a tasty flavour Julie picked out for the cake.

Ice Cream Birthday Cake.

Nova Cry

Start my 4.5 day vacation tomorrow.  I'm already in vacation mode, so I should have just taken the whole day off.

Useless Gaming News:
Got my KickStarter copy of Nova Cry a little while back.  I'm hoping it'll be a good short game.

Nova Cry.

World Baking Day Treats

Snack today -> Baked Treats.
Today was World Baking Day.  So I got up early and baked a spinach and feta filled Kihi.  From my oven to work, and the pastry dish was still hot.

Spinach and Feta Kihi.

Sampled a few of the baked goods.  The gingerbread cookie was really good, but I really like Ed's lemon rice crispy squares.  I ate 3 of those.

Baked Goodies.

Dinner today -> Steak.
Had a late dinner today.  Too late to BBQ, so I made steak and veggies in a pan.

Steak Dinner.

Useless Gaming News:
Gaming after work tonight.  We played 4-player Dominion again.  James won both games tonight.  He found a good combo with the random cards early in both games and pulled away.

3-0 and Almost a Home Run Again.

Useless Softball News:
Another softball win for the CMC Strike Fighters.  We defeated Saved by the Ball 10-7.  We are now 3-0 for the season.
Tonight I hit 3-for-3 with 3 singles.  I could have had a double for the last hit but I was admiring my deep hit that hit the fence.  I was so close to a home run again.  I just need to follow through with my swing.

Dinner today -> Gyoza
Susanna made some pork and nappa gyoza on Sunday.  I made them tonight.  I pan fried them until the bottom was golden brown, then poured half a cup of water and steamed them for 10 minutes. 

Cooked Gyoza.

They were very good.  I pour abit of red vinegar over them for a sour kick.

Gyoza with Red Vinegar.

Weekend Report: Cleaning, Mussels, and Psych

I took Friday off, and I tried to spend my long weekend cleaning the house, but I procrastinated and only cleaned abit.  I wanted to finish my garden too by buying some little plants and herbs, but it was way too cold.  Instead I got mussels from costco and finished Season 1 of Psych. 

Food this weekend ->
Steak was on sale at Basics.  Cooked one up on the BBQ.  Quickly made some king oyster mushrooms on a pan with just olive oil and abit of salt & pepper.  Mixed in some leftover sugar snaps too.  Also microwaved some broccoli and cauliflower.

BBQ Steak.

Got a 2 pack of mussels from Costco.  The first pack I steamed in some black bean sauce, white wine, king oyster mushrooms and abit of water. 

Mussels with King Oyster Mushrooms in Black Bean Sauce.

The mussels were really big and plump.  Destroyed this bowl while watching some Psych episodes.

Mmm... Plump Mussels.

I made the second pack of mussels in just black bean sauce and water.  After I cooked the mussels, I poured them into a bowl with uncooked ramen at the bottom.  When I got to the bottom of the bowl, the ramen had softened and soaked up all the black bean and mussel flavour.  It was good :)

Mussels to be Poured over Ramen.

Diefenbunker Escape Room

Dinner today -> The Works.
Julie, Gen and I went to The Works for our pre-escape room meal.  I told them we had to leave in 35mins so they were able to rush our meal out.  I got the Hunka Hunka beef burger.  It was a beef patty topped with peanutbutter, bananas, and bacon.  It was really good.  Could use just a tad more peanutbutter, but was still very peanutbuttery.

Julie got a really good milkshake combo too.  It was a mix of peanutbutter, banana, and coconut.  I tried it and you taste the peanutbutter immediately followed by the banana.  Then the aftertaste was a light coconut flavour.  I got the disappointing strawberry banana milkshake and Gen got a pineapple slushie.

Useless Escape Room News:
Ben organize a 12-person escape at the Diefenbunker.  The objective was to deactivate the bomb and escape in 60 minutes.  We were broken down into 3 teams and Jeff, Julie, Gen, and myself were on Team Alpha.  I won't give anything away but we slaughtered our Alpha puzzles with 24minutes left.  We were well organized and didn't rush or get too excited.  Ben was on Charlie team, and it looked like they were having troubles.  Ben was dripping sweat too :) 

In the end we successfully escaped, eventhough more than half the team ran away early because they thought we had deactivated the bomb, but we didn't yet *cough*Ben*cough*LeadingTheRunners*cough*.  Jeff, Gordon, Julie, another guy, and myself stayed back to shut down the bomb and then escape.
Overall this was a fun escape room.  I would recommend it.  Julie and Gen really liked it compared to their last escape at the uber-diappointing FunHaven escape "experience".

Cheddar Jalapeno Cheetos.

Finished my Census.  I'm pretty sure I got the long version.  It took me almost 1hr to finish.  So many questions and some I had to look up the answer.  Not sure why the government needs to know how long it takes for me to get to work or what time I leave.  They can't really change any of that.

Snack today -> Cheddar Jalapeno Cheetos.
I've never had these cheddar jalapeno Cheetos before, and apparently they've been around for atleast a couple years.  They are really good.  A good crunch followed by satisfying kick from the jalapeno.  Not too hot, but spicy enough.  I need more and everyone should try it.

Cheddar Jalapeno Cheetos.

Dinner today -> Baguette with Pate.
Went with Susanna to by some river rock tonight.  We went grocery/dinner shopping afterwards.  I got a baguette to go with some discount pate for dinner.  I got a Mr.Big chocolate milk to wash it down.  It was on sale for $1.

Simple Dinner.

Happy Birthday Nathan!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NATHAN!!!

Almost a Home Run

Useless Softball News:
CMC Strike Fighters played FP Edge tonight.  We won 18-8.  Our bats are hitting really well, but our defense needs abit of work, especially in the last innings.  We gave up 5 runs in the last inning.  We are now 2-0.

Shanan hitting deep to the fence.

I hit 1-for-3 tonight with a single.  My first at-bat was a really high flyball out to the center field fence.  If I got a little less under the ball, it would have been a home run.  I was so close.  My 2nd at-bat was another high flyball out to middle of right field.  That one was only a half-swing too.

Dinner today -> Hot Dogs.
Made hot dogs on toast after softball.  Just abit of Miracle Whip on the toast.  Washed it down with some Strawberry Yop.  I found this large sized Yop at Walmart.  I didn't know they made these bigger versions.

Hot Dog Dinner.

Loblaws Discount Food

Dinner today -> Fried Chicken.
Went dinner shopping with Susanna after work.  I picked up some fried chicken from Loblaws for 50% off.  It was only 6:30pm and it was already on discount?!?  We also grabbed some pate, cheese and sausage platter, baguette, and pork ribs.  All for 50% off.

Loblaws Fried Chicken.

Happy Birthday Ben!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BEN!!!

Weekend Report: New Garden

Put together my garden on Friday afternoon.  I built it in the front yard with some simple cinder blocks and filled it with soil.  I've planted some tomato plants in the middle plot.  Not sure what else to plant there yet.  For the little soil pockets in the cinder blocks, I want to get some herbs to plant in there.

New Garden.

Food this weekend ->
Peter, Ed, and I went to the new "Ox Head Restaurant 2" on Carling (by Wendy's).  We got there at 11:30 and the place was already packed.  Peter got some A4 beef rolls.  They were pretty big and looked good.

Beef Rolls.

Ed and I got the usual V17 Ox Head Special vermicelli.  It was very good and filling.  I think there was more meat than the one at Centrum, but I also think there was less noodles too.

Ox Head Vermicelli.

Barbequed some Korean short ribs on Saturday.  I had marinated them since Monday.  These were so good and the flames caramelized the marinade nicely. 

Korean Short Ribs on the BBQ.

I also made some white rice, broccoli, and cauliflower.  Julie came over to hangout and join me for dinner.  We watched a Chinese version of Running Man on TV while eating (one mission was to play Dance Dance Revolution on acupuncture mats!) and then we watched some original Sailormoon episodes to almost 3 in the morning.

Short Rib Dinner.