Happy Halloween!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Decorated the break room with Halloween treats and a jack-o-lantern voting area this morning.

Halloween Decorations.

There were only 6 entries for the carving contest, but we had a good voter turn-out. 

Jack-o-Lantern Entries.

It was close between 1st and 2nd place: 16 votes for #6 and 12 votes for #1. 
I won :)  The prize was a $25 Tim Horton's card.

Jack-O-Lantern

Dinner today -> Cold-Cut Trio
Long day at work today.  I decided not to cook and get Subway for dinner.  I got my usual Cold-Cut Trio, but today there was a new guy working there.  He stuffed so much of the vegetables on my sub that it almost didn't close!  It was very good.

Over-Stuffed Sub.

Useless Halloween News:
There is a Jack-O-Lantern carving contest at work on Halloween.  I'm part of the Social Committee so I have to carve one.  BUT, I didn't carve just one, I carved 2!  And carved into mini-pumpkins too.

2 Jack-O-Lanterns.

They look better in the dark.

In the Dark.

AND when the 2 jack-o-lanterns unite, they form Super Jack-O-Lantern!

Super Jack-O-Lantern!

I hope I win, and not win because then it will look like it was rigged...
Did you also notice the flaw.  The head has the pumpkin parts as solid, but the body has the holes as solid.  I inversed it in my head when carving.  Oops.

Weekend Report -> Mario Odyssey

Food this weekend ->
Went to Fusion on Friday for a late lunch with Peter, Ed, and Steve.  Our plan was to go late so we could get the best service and a quick order-to-food turnaround, but at 1pm there were alot of people still in the restaurant!

Sushi.

We ordered alot of meat and sushi.  Stuffed ourselves silly :)

Useless Garden News:
Picked more of the ripe cherry tomatoes.  About half of the plant has died from frost, but the tomatoes are still growing on the vines.  I still have alot of orange and green cherry tomatoes.

Cherry Tomatoes.

Useless Gaming News:
After Fusion on Friday, Steve and I didn't have to go back to work.  We went to Toys R Us instead to buy Super Mario Odyssey on the Switch.  It's an amazing game.  I played that the rest of Friday and most of Saturday.  Lots to do and very fun.  The main path of the game isn't hard and the bosses aren't hard.  Finding and getting all the moon pieces is the hard part.  You have to look around everywhere.  You can even travel between the 3D world to classic 2D levels in the game!

2D Part of World.

I went out Sunday and found the new Mario Odyssey Amiibos: Wedding versions of Mario, Peach, and Bowser.  The key one is Peach.  She grants a life refill of 6 every time you use it.  Mario gives invincibility, and Bowser shows where regional coins are hidden.

New Amiibos.

Super Pretzel

Lunch today -> Super Pretzel
Found a box of Super Pretzels at Sobey's.  I decided to get it and try it out.  The instructions were to wet the frozen pretzel, sprinkle some salt on it, and then microwave it for 30 seconds.

Super Pretzel.

It's not bad.  Might be better if dipped it into some mustard.  BTW: don't microwave the Super Pretzel on paper towels and let it sit to take pictures.  The paper sticks to it!

Dinner today -> Leftover Roast Beef.
Microwaved some leftover roast beef and veggies for dinner.  I added a bag of instant butter & garlic rice to soak up the drippings. 

Dinner.

The instant butter & garlic rice is kind of mushy and very strong with garlic flavour.  Probably won't get this kind again.  The chicken wild rice one is better.

Useless Food News:
Ed's Apple Pie from Monday's post was actually created from Steve's recipe, and Steve wants credit.  He wanted named Steve's Amazingly Delicious Apple Pie (aka SAD AP) too.  I still need proof that Steve can make SAD AP as good as Ed :)

FlipSides

Lunch today -> FlipSides.
Got these crackers from last time I was at Ogdensburg.  It's called "FlipSides".  One side is a salty pretzel and the other side is a cracker.  It's pretty good, but abit on the salty side.

FlipSides Lunch.

I ate these FlipSides topped with some sliced Polish sausage and Havarti cheese.

Useless Food News:
A "loud birdy" told me to state something about yesterday's post.  Something to do with Ed and his tasty Apple Pie... I don't quite remember ~_o 
So I'll just post this joke I found that had me laughing out right, and snickering when I think about it.

Tan Magneto.

Ed's Apple Pie

Useless Food News:
Ed made and brought in his home-made apple pie today.  Steve ate half and I got about a quarter.

Ed's Apple Pie.

This was the BEST apple pie I've ever eaten!!!  The flavour is smooth and has a good cinnamon kick, but not overpowering.  The apples were soft and sweet, instead of store bought crunchy and sour.  The crust is the only thing that could be better but what he used works, a soft but firm pie crust that blends into the filling.  I only regret not having any vanilla ice cream to go with this.  I only had chocolate and it doesn't work.  People should get Ed's recipe, like right now, and make this apple pie!
BTW: Ed's Apple Pie >>>>>>>> Steve's Pumpkin Pie.  Completely destroys it! :)

Weekend Report -> Cooking at 2am.

Food this weekend ->
Made a roast beef on Saturday night.  I had taken a nap after getting home, but woke up around 11pm and felt like cooking a roast.  I finished it at 2am.

Cooking at 2am.

It came out much better than last time.  I dry rubbed it with salt, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and dry rosemary.  I surrounded it with mini yellow potatoes, organic carrots, and a really big red onion.  Dressed the veggies with leftover rub and olive oil.  I didn't use a rack to raise the meat this time.  This way the veggies got to soaked in the drippings.

Finished Roast Beef and Veggies.

It doesn't look like it in the pic, but roast came out a nice medium.  I let it cool over night before cutting it.

Medium Roast Beef.

Useless Garden News:
The lavender (I think it's lavender) in my garden exploded with growth during this warm week. 

Garden Growing and Dying.

My cherry tomatoes are still growing, but a large patch of it took alot of frost damage.  I'd say my cherry tomato plant is at 40/100 hit points left.

Useless Toy News:
This is the balloon I got Katie for her birthday.  It's a cube balloon.  Got it at the Party City on Merivale/Hunt Club where the price and selection is way better than the Party Mart at Centrum.

Katie's Birthday Balloon.

Steve got jealous, so now I have to get him a balloon on his birthday.

Found Blitzwing and Slugslinger at Kanata Toys R Us on Sunday.  I should have went Saturday night, when Octane was there too; and I would have gotten 10% off with my R Club membership.

Blitzwing and Slugslinger.

Happy Birthday Katie!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATIE!!!

I hope you like the balloon :)

Egg on the Burger

Lunch today -> The Works.
Went to The Works for Katie's birthday lunch with Katie, Peter, and Warren.  Lots of different burgers to choose from, but I felt like one with a fried egg on it, so I got the Hamburger Mary.  I guess I could have chosen any burger and added a fried egg, but I didn't think of that at the time.

Beautiful Egg on the Burger.

I got my burger with elk meat and with a side of sweet potato fries.  We shared a Tower of Rings to start, and I also ordered myself a 16oz peanutbutter, bananna, and coconut milk shake.  I couldn't finish the fries or the shake :(  I was soooo full.

Useless Gaming News:
Ordered a bunch of boardgames on Saturday from Meeplemart and I got the shipment today! 

New Games.

I got all my missing expansions for Smash Up!, Deluxe Pairs, Betrayal at Baldur's Gate (new version of Betrayal at House on the Hill), Running with the Bulls, and Beeeees!

Useless Toy News:
Toys R Us has 15% off your entire purchase today and Thursday only!  I didn't find my missing Transformers :(

Everything Bagel Chips.

Useless Food News:
Susanna found some Lays Everything Bagel chips in the US on Sunday.  I tried it out.  It tastes pretty good.  Similar to sour cream and onion, but it has that bagel taste.

Lays Everything Bagel.

Useless Transformers News:
Found Cosmos on the other day at Toys R Us.  Just a re-release with slightly different paint job minus the minicon.

Cosmos.

Still missing Octane, Blitzwing, and Slugslinger.

He-Man Geico

Useless TV News:
Saw a new commercial on TV on Saturday.  At first I didn't know it was a commercial, but then...

WOW, they got the rights to use He-Man!
YouTube link here.

Weekend Report -> Gravity Falls Books

Food this weekend ->
Got some groceries Saturday morning and I grabbed some 50% off sliced steaks and 50% off mushrooms.  Quick fried the steaks and mushrooms in a pan with just salt and pepper.  Nuked some instant broccoli & cheese rice to go with it.

Steak, Mushrooms and Rice.

Made roast beef on Sunday night.  Dry rubbed it with salt, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and ginger.  I also surrounded it with some red potatoes, carrots, and sweet potatoes.

Roast Beef.

Cooked it abit longer than I would have liked.  It came out medium to medium-well.

Medium Roast Beef.

Made fresh rice to eat with the roast.

Sunday Dinner.

Useless Gaming News:
3-Player gaming on Friday night.  We played a new dice rolling game called Beeeees!  There no turns and constant rolling.  The object is to gain flowers to build your hive.  It's a really fun game and I had to order it the next day.

Beeeees!

Next was Stop Thief!  It's an updated version of the classic original.  Pretty fun.  I'm considering getting this too.

Stop Thief

We finished the night with Ghostbusters 2 and Splendor.

Ghostbusters 2.

Useless TV News:
I finally finished watching all of Gravity Falls.  This is an amazing cartoon by Disney.  The show follows the adventures of two 12 year old twin brother and sister during their summer vacation at their Uncle Stan's Mystery Shack in Gravity Falls.  In the show, Dipper (the boy) finds a book describing the mysteries in the town. 

Gravity Falls Books.

They released the exact same book in stores (middle book).  I picked it up on Saturday, along with a couple other books related to the show.

Happy Birthday Emi!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EMI!!!

Autonomous Vehicle Demo

Dinner today -> Shwartz on Toasted Rye.
Nuked a pack of frozen Shwartz's Montreal smoke meat for dinner.  I toasted some slices of rye bread in the toaster, buttered and squirted yellow mustard on it to make 4 sandwiches.

Shwartz on Rye Sandwiches.

Useless News:
Went out this afternoon with most of my coworkers to watch the live autonomous vehicle demonstration.  I thought they were going to drive the Phase 1 loop, but they just blocked the road and drove small section of Legget Dr.  Wasn't that interesting.  It just stopped at a stop light and made a couple turns.  Paraphrasing Robin, I wasn't over-whelmed, I wasn't under-whelmed, I was just whelmed.
Here's a pick of the car driving by.

Auto Car Driving By.

I had a video, but I did the laundry tonight and I accidentally washed the USB stick with the video on it.  There's water in the stick and I'm hoping it dries out and still works.

Repugnus

Useless Transformers News:
Ben picked up for me, the last of the Titan masters: Shuffler and Repugnus.

Shuffler and Repugnus.

October USA Trip Items

Useless News:
Susanna and I went to Ogdensburg on the holiday Monday.  Stores in the US were open while everything was closed here.  We hit the Walmart and the Price Chopper.  I was hoping to find alot of different stuff than what I have here, but I didn't find too much on this trip that caught my eye.

Latest USA Items.

Highlights:
- Halloween Popcorn Balls.  Never seen this up here, and I've never tried it before.
- Ranch dipped hot wing Doritos.  New flavour I need to try.
- FlipSide pretzels.  One side is pretzel and the other side is cracker.
- Mint chocolate chip gum.  Tried it today.  Not good.
- I Can't Believe it's Not Butter Spray.  Had this before.  It's handy and tasty.
- $3 for 12 pink snowballs!
- Elf Snot.  It's a bottle of green slime for gifting gift cards in :)  They also had Reindeer Poo, but it was just brown slime.

Long Weekend Report -> Happy Birthday Uncle Chin

HAPPY BIRTHDAY UNCLE CHIN!!!

Food this weekend ->
Picked up a Jerk Chicken dinner meal from NU Caribean on Friday night.  Excellent meal and very filling.  The chicken is very good. 

Jerk Chicken Dinner Meal.

Went to Montreal for the Canadian Thanksgiving long weekend, but we went for our uncle's birthday.  We had a whole roast suckling pig at lunch time.  It was good and juicy with lots of crispy skin.

Whole Roast Suckling Pig.

Soon later we went out for dinner at Chinese restaurant for a big meal.
Started with fish maw soup.

Fish Maw Soup.

Deep fried shrimp and pork sausage wrapped in tofu, with pickled daikon and carrot.  The pickles worked perfectly with the meat.

Shrimp and Pork Sausage.

Birds nest.

Birds Nest.

Seafood with Chinese greens.

Seafood and Greens.

Steamed fish.  I found it over cooked.

Steamed Fish.

Shrimp paste patty.  So-so.  Needed more sauce.

Shrimp Paste Patty.

2 Lobsters in lobster sauce.  The lobster seemed small, but the sauce was very good.

Lobster in Lobster Sauce.

Sweet and Sour Pork.  Standard dish, but came too late.  We were all already pretty full.

Sweet and Sour Pork.

Fried rice.  I was near full when the fried rice showed up.  BUT I ended up eating 3 bowls of rice mixed with the lobster sauce.  It was a perfect combo that was really delicious and made me (and Linda) eat more.

Fried Rice.

Chow mein.  The must-have birthday noodle dish.

Chow Mein.

Dessert was next.  Cakes and fruit.  Dino got 2 cakes from Les Delices Lafrenaie.  She got a Chocolate Strawberry Shortcake and a Lemon Raspberry Cake.

Dessert!

I tried both.  I prefer the Lemon Raspberry, but both were good.

Cake Cross-Sections.

Useless Toy News:
Picked up some Lego sets on Friday because I wanted the exclusive Bricktober Lego Batman Movie set that was only available this weekend and limited to 50 per store.  It good that the gas station set was 50% off, so I didn't have to pay full price for Lego.

Latest Lego Additions.

Useless Transformers News:
Picked up the Walgreens Exclusive Titans Return Clone set from EB Games.  Got the last set out of Kanata.

Exclusive TF Clones.