Dumpling? Dumpling!

Dinner today -> Dumplings
Hung out with Julie tonight.  We went to "Dumpling? Dumpling!" for dinner (Great name.  Note the punctuations).  I used the "meal for two" Groupon I bought last week.
Julie started with the wonton soup.  The broth was very savoury.  The wontons had a good taste and the skins didn't fall apart and not too thick or rubbery.  I got the hot and sour soup.  It was also very good.  Abit on the spicy side, but good.  Alot in the bowl too.

Wonton Soup and Hot and Sour Soup.

For the rest of the meal, we ordered beef and curry onion dumplings (left), and pork and chives dumplings (right).  The beef and curry onion went perfectly with the vinegar dipping sauce, while the pork and chives went well with the hot sauce (sriracha).  We steamed both orders, but I think next time we will fry one of them.

We also had spring rolls and bubble tea included with our Groupon meal, but we also added a large beef brisket.  The spring rolls had alot of ginger taste.  Abit too much for my liking, but otherwise standard.  The bubble tea was better than the last time I was there, but this time I got the strawberry milk tea.  Julie got the honeydew milk tea.  The brisket was good.  The waiter said the small only had about 5 slices of meat, so we got the large which came with about 16 slices.  It came with a spicy red powder dip. 
We are definitely going back.

Crispy Pizza

Lunch today -> Pizza.
Picked up Little Caesars Hot 'n; Ready Pepperoni pizza for lunch.  The pizza was alittle over cooked in the salamander.  BUT when I ate a slice it was actually very good and crispy.  It was a good mistake.

Crispy Pizza.

Dinner today -> Pork Backs.
Bought some pork backs from T&T last week.  I boiled them with some onions and potates yesterday and re-heated them today for dinner.  The broth absorbed alot of the gelatin from the bones and was very tasty.  Good amount of meat on the bones too.  It was only $3 and I got about 15 back pieces.

Pork Back Bones and Potatoes.

Useless Softball News:
Strike Fighters were home to Accelerators tonight.  We played pretty well most of the night and beat them 19-13.  Marc hit 2 homeruns!

Gary Pitching.

I hit 2-for-2 with a single, walk, and single.  Still batting .1000 this year.

Weekend Report -> Red Lobster Birthday Party

Ben was so annoying on Sunday.  He acts and speaks like the world revolves around him.  On top of that, he drives like he can't buy anymore gas.  Everyone passes him (on both sides), super slow acceleration, and he leaves so much space infront that everyone cuts infront of him.  Exactly like him driving his Yoshi avatar in Mario Kart (all average stats.)

Food this weekend ->
Went to Red Lobster for Julie's Birthday dinner on Saturday night.  It was a fun gathering.  I started with the loaded seaside fries (basically fries and razor clams covered with cheese and clam chowder) and a tall glass of strawberry lemonade.

Red Lobster Starter.

My main course was a Lobster Bake.  It had linguini topped with mussels, scallops, shrimps, and 1.5 lobster tails in a white wine with diced tomato sauce.

Lobster Bake.

After dinner we all went to DQ.  I got a strawberry shortcake sundae.  I forgot to take a pic but it is so good!  There was shortcake botttom topped with a generous amount of softserve ice cream and then covered with strawberry sauce and 4 big blobs of whipped cream.

I was thinking of going to the Kanata Ribfest on Sunday night for dinner, but I was too lazy to go.  Instead I made steak with some garlic cheese bread.  Pan fried the steak and topped it with a big blob of Farmboy garlic dressing.  I broiled the bread abit too long in the oven so it was blackened abit but still tasty. 

Steak and Garlic Cheese Bread.

Happy Birthday Julie!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JULIE!!!

Meow! That's Hot Tasting

When I was making my salt & pepper shrimp on the weekend, I had splashed hot oil on my fore-arm.  It hurt at first but I thought nothing of it until this morning, when one of the burn spots burst in the shower.  Now that spot is really tender.  Julie says it's a 3rd degree burn.

Oil Burns.

Lunch today -> Beef Empanada.
Lunch trucks started today at the Kanata Hub.  Only 1 truck today, but it was a good one.  It served Ecuadorian fusion food.  Peter, Katie, and I went today.  I got a beef empanada with guacamole. 
Very good.  The orange stuff is a spicy carrot salsa.

Beef Empanada.

Snack today -> Meow! That's Hot sauce tasting.
Becky's niece makes the local hot sauce called "Meow! That's Hot" and now they have their own bistro on Bank Street.  Becky brought in 4 sauces to try: Fire Kitty, Bengal burn, Siamese Sizzle, and Ghost Cat.  They all have a great taste and good heat, not like others where it all heat and no taste.  I really like the Bengal Burn and Ghost Cat.

Today's Hot Sauce Sampling.

The Bengal Burn is fruity and medium hot (to my taste).  We were discussing that this would be great in a burger or as a topping over cheesecake.
The Ghost Cat has ghost peppers in it, but I didn't find it that hot.  It has a nice sweet flavour and a good steady heat afterwards.  Definitely good with meat.

Useless TV News:
Watched the latest 2 episodes of iZombie tonight at Julie's place.  I think it is 1 more episode left this season.  Good news is that it got renewed for Season 5 :)

Crystal Fish Egg Balls

Stressed all weekend about an issue, but it got resolved this morning with an OK resolution.

Dinner today (part 1) -> Crystal Fish Egg Balls.
I got these fish balls from T&T awhile ago, but didn't get around to eating them.  They are teardrop shaped fish balls filled with a creamy-yolk like filling and with little bits of fish roe (1 is sliced open in the pic).  I dipped them in a sriracha, hoisen sauce, sesame oil mix.

Crystal Fish Egg Balls.

These fish balls are amazing!  As you chew them, the little fish roe pops with little bits of flavour.  Ben/Susanna you have to try these!!!  I want to go to T&T and get more now.  The package looks like this and I found it in the freezer across from the BBQ pork chopping station.

The Bag.

Dinner today (part 2) -> Steak.
After softball today, Marc and I went to Loblaws looking for discount stuff.  I found some berry muffins (which I'll save for Wednesday) and got some steaks that were on sale.  Made 1 for dinner.

Steak Dinner.

Useless Softball News:
Strike Fighters hosted Big Hitties tonight.  We played the complete game and squeaked out a win 14-13.  Very good game tonight and I was sweating like a pig as it got humid.
I hit 3-for-3 tonight with 3 singles.  I made another error tonight throwing to 1st base.  Exactly the same error I did last game too.

Long Weekend Report -> Victoria Day.

Food this weekend ->
Picked up some 50% off mini-croissants filled with nutella Thursday night for breakfast on Friday.  They weren't that good.  Definitely tasted like they should be 50% off.

Nutella filled Mini-Croissants.

Friday was also Jim's retirement gathering.  He had a great presentation and we had cake.  It was both chocolate and vanilla cake.

Jim's Retirement Cake.

Went to see Avengers: Infinity War Friday night with Peter.  We went to Moxies for food before the movie.  It took a little while so we had to eat fast to make the movie time.  I got the hot beef sandwich with fries.  It was good, but alot of meat.  The fries were excellent.

Hot Beef Sandwich.

Ate fruits, veggies and fish for dinner on Sunday night.

Healthy Bowl.

I was satisfied for a little while, but was still hungry.  I quickly defrosted some shrimp and made salt & pepper shrimp.

Salt & Pepper Shrimp.

Monday, I made stew: stewing beef, yellow potatoes, organic baby carrots, garlic, and red onions.

Stew.

Useless Movie News:
I enjoyed Avengers: Infinity War.  Everyone had a part and only 1 slow part.  It leaves alot of questions and watched like a "part 1" (aka Empire Stikes Back).

Fettuccine Sila

Got my winter tires taken off today.  I also finally got my driver-side window fix.  The master control switch was worn out and the window didn't connect to roll back up sometimes.  All good now. 
Thanks Katie for driving me to lunch and again to get my car! :)

Lunch today -> Fettuccine Sila.
Today was June's retirement lunch.  (Congrats June!)  We went to Fratelli's for the get together and meal.  Pretty nice place.  The food was good, but abit expensive.  I got the Fettuccine Sila.  Very good, but I found the cream sauce abit watery at first.  It did thicken up after sitting for abit.  May have been due to the mad rush of orders.  Will give them another shot sometime.  Lots of mushrooms and prosciutto too.

Fettuccine Sila.

Useless Food News:
Went grocery shopping with Susanna after work.  We discovered that Loblaws now sells goat's milk!  If they had a smaller container I would have gotten some to try.

Goat Milk.

Big Error

Dinner yesterday -> Spaghetti and Meatballs.
Got 50% off meatballs from Loblaws on Sunday.  I microwaved those while I boiled fresh spaghetti to make spaghetti and meatballs.  It was very good and satisfying.

Spaghetti and Meatballs.

Dinner today -> Honey Italian Sausages.
Marc and I went to Loblaws after softball tonight.  Not much on sale today.  I did pick up a family pack of honey Italian sausages for 50% off.  Pan steamed and fried.  Very good.

Honey Italian Sausages.

Useless Softball News:
Strike Fighters played the Bad News Beers tonight.  It was a really fun game and very close.  We entered the last inning leading 17-16, but lost 17-20.
I hit 2-for-2 with a walk, single, and a double.  I also caught 2 pop-flys.  On top of that I made a huge error throwing to 1st and threw the ball into the ground.  2 runs came in on my error :(  I think it's my first error in 3-4 years.

Useless Lego News:
Got the Lego Ideas: Ship in a Bottle for Gordon's Birthday.  I also picked one up myself.  Need to find a bit of time to build this.  It looks really cool.

Lego Ship in a Bottle.

Weekend Report -> Yakiniku

Didn't do very much this weekend.  I spent more time than I expected at work to get some things done, but I did get to have a little fun.  

Food this weekend ->
Made a lemon cheesecake with toasted coconut sprinkles on Saturday. 

Lemon Cheesecakes.

I had enough filling left to make 4 mini lemon cheesecakes.  Topped these with some fresh sliced strawberries instead of the coconut sprinkles.

I got really really bored Saturday night.  So I called up Julie and we went out for a late dinner at Yakiniku One on Merivale.  It's all you can eat Japanese BBQ.  A bit pricey bit really good, so only go if you are really hungry.  The service was excellent. 

Yakiniku.

The short ribs, squid, chicken hearts, and pork belly were the best items we grilled.  The other meats were good too, but these could have been overcooked and still be tasty with the charred bits.  Their fruit salad was excellent too.  Made for a nice pallet cleanser.  The lamb was so-so, and the beef tongue was way too chewy.  We ate soooo much meat :)

The Grill.

Useless Gaming News:
3-player gaming at Brian's Friday night.  Just Brian, Gordon, and myself.  We played Rescue Polar Bears (and we almost beat it).  We also played Sitting Ducks Deluxe and Rooster Rush. 
I like the duck game.  Simple but lots of randomness. 
Rooster Rush is a reaction game.  Quality was good, but the game is more geared towards kids.  We even made up our own rules the 2nd round of the first game.

Giant Nut

Useless Bird News:
Went out with Julie after work today to run errands and shop for her birthday present.  We were going to go to Kinaxis for the job fair and free food, but decided against it because of all the bad reviews and people I knew weren't going.  Anyways, while in the parking lot I saw a real red cardinal!  I've never seen one in real life.

Red Cardinal.

Dinner today -> Sansotei Ramen.
We went to Sansotei Ramen for dinner.  There was a short wait but it was worth it.  Julie got the Miso Black ramen.  I sampled the broth and a baby shitake mushroom.  The broth was very good with a nice peppery taste, and the mushroom was very soft and marinated in a sweet sauce (maybe mirin and light soy sauce?).  I'll have to get it next time.
I ordered the Tonkotsu Black.  The ramen bowl was delicious.  Broth was very flavourful, the egg was perfectly cooked, and meat was tender with a nice roast flavour.

Yummy Ramen.

Only drawback was that our table was very sticky.  They need to wash the tables more.

Useless Shopping News:
Julie and I went shopping at Value Village to see if they had any neat and cheap stuff.  Julie got some neat clothes and I found a giant nut!

Giant Nut.

It opens up to store normal nuts and has place holder for the nut cracker and nut picks.  Really cool and I had to buy it.  Plus it was only $4.99!

Nut Bowl and Tools.

Busted

Useless TV News:
Hung out with Julie after work today.  Watched the latest episode of iZombie and then a new Korean variety show called "Busted" on Netflix.  It has Yoo Jae Suk and Lee Kwang Soo in the show.  The show is similar to Running Man, but the members solve crimes and there is no name tag ripping.  They have to do "missions"/puzzles to get clues.  The flow of the show is abit sloppy compared to running man where it flows well, but the flow should get better with more episodes.  Only 2 episodes are out, but new episodes every Friday.

Dinner today -> World Burger.
We went to World Burger for dinner.  I got the Paris Burger combo.  This burger was GOOD!  It was sweet and savoury at the same time.  The poached pear works so well on this burger.  BUT our fries were super salty.  I couldn't finish the cup.  We also got root beer floats to wash it down, which were very satisfying on a warm evening.

Paris Burger.

Happy Birthday Ben!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BEN!!!

New Softball Season

Dinner today -> Discount Fried Chicken.
Went to Loblaws after softball with Marc and we picked up discount food.  I got some 50% off 10 piece Fried Chicken for $5.

Discount Fried Chicken.

Useless Softball News:
1st game of the new softball season tonight.  The CMC Strike Fighters played host to GDC.  We played reallly well and won 19-7 in 6.5 innings. 
I hit 3-for-3 with 2 singles and a double.  Drove in 2 RBI too.

Black Panther Movie

Lunch today -> Pizza.
Becky went to pick up lunch for me today at Dagwoods.  But she brought back pizza from Willy's because the meat slicer at Dagwoods was broken.  She brought me back a chicken, bacon, and pineapple pizza slice.  I hate pineapple on pizza, but this one was OK because the pineapple used wasn't overpowering sweet.  Plus the bacon flavour cancelled it out too.

Pizza Lunch.

Dinner today -> Fettuccine and Brisket.
Microwaved some instant Fettuccine Alfredo.  It wasn't very good.  It's a cheap Walmart 1lb of pasta brand.  I also microwaved some 50% off brisket from Loblaws.  The brisket was too lean and tasted like jerky.  Together they were OK.

Brisket on Pasta.

Useless Movie News:
Watch Black Panther today.  This movie was way over hyped.  It was not that good.  At the climax of the movie I yelled out, "This is a stupid movie!".  It used alot of cliches to move the plot.  The movie scenes also flowed like this: Lion King scene -> James Bond scene -> Fast and the Furious scene -> any civil war movie (ie The Patriot).
Anyways, I'm ready for Avengers: Infinity War now.  But Katie says it watched like a "part 1".

Weekend Report -> Star Wars Day

Food this weekend -> 
Celebrated a somber Star Wars Day at work on Friday.  We had already bought the food so we put it out anyways.

Steve, Ed and I went to KNH for lunch on Friday.  The place was packed.  We all got the same dish: Chicken Pad Thai.  It was very good and I could only finish half my plate.

Chicken Pad Thai.

On Sunday, the family celebrated Ben's birthday early.  We went to the Supreme Kabob House (by Ikea) for lunch.  I got the Sultani combo with beef.  It was so good and the naan bread there is made fresh and so good.

Supreme Kabob.

Useless Gaming News:
3-Player gaming at Brian's on Saturday night.  We only played 2 games.  We started with "Rescue Polar Bears" Chinese version (KickStarter has/had the new english version).  We thought it was going to be an easy kids game, but it's not.  We played it 4 times and couldn't beat the game!  It's a cooperative game where each player controls a boat with special abilities to rescue polar bears.

Rescue Polar Bears.

Then we played "The Little Flower Shop".  I like this game alot.  It's very similar to Sushi Go but with slight differences and it plays quick.  There are 3 round and each round you draft and play a card from a hand of cards, and then pass the remaining cards to the next player.  The object is to build up a flower shop to collect points.

The Little Flower Shop.

Useless M:tG News:
Picked up a box of the new M:tG Relic Tokens.  They are pretty nice.  A sturdy token tile with 2 wheels that show can show power/toughness or use as a life counter  I got a full set and just missing a Dragon token to complete a 2nd set.  Didn't get any rare or uncommon foil tokens.

Magic Relic Tokens.

Century: Golem Edition

Dinner today -> Meat and Vegetables Bowl.
Nuked some leftover roast beef and added some broccoli, grape tomatoes, cucumber slices, and an avocado to the bowl.  Quick and simple meal I threw together.

Useless Gaming News:
After work gaming today.  Only James, Peter, and I tonight.  We played Century: Golem Edition.  It's a card drafting game to collect gems to buy point cards.  Pretty good game.  Short game (45min max) with straight forward actions that involve some strategy and a little bit of luck. It reminds me of Splendor.