Happy Birthday Mom!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JEREMY!!!

Dinner today -> Ratatouille with Shrimp
Since my mom didn't plan anything on her birthday, I went to Jeremy's Birthday dinner.  His gathering was at Savoy Brasserie.  Nice place.  I wanted to try the Ratatouille au Poisson, but it was changed to Ratatouille au Shrimp.

When everyone else was getting their food, they had huge plates of food.  When I got the Ratatouille, it was small :(  I should have gotten the braised lamb shank.  It Ratatouille was good, but I was still hungry.  Still, I'd like to come back and try a different dish.

Long Weekend Report -> Happy Birthday Dad!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!

Food this weekend ->
I poached a couple whole chickens in teriyaki marinade, mirin, and corn syrup on Saturday.  The process to make the chicken really soft and juicy is to boil it with the lid on for 10 minutes, then turn off the heat and let it sit for 50 minutes.  Doing it this way the chicken was just cooked.

I chopped up half and poured sesame oil and oyster sauce on it.  It was really, really good.  I'm totally making chicken this way now.

On Sunday we went to the Kanata Noodle House Buffet for my dad's birthday  It's the only Vietnamese buffet in Ontario.  It's all the way out in Gloucester on Innes, near Big Al's Aquarium.
It's got a very good selection of food.  I got a alot of meats on my first plate: Shrimp rolls, pork rolls, salt & pepper shrimp, salt & pepper fish, shrimp on a stick, grilled beef, grilled pork, vietnamese egg rolls, salt & pepper calamari, and meat pancakes.

The problem was when I chomped down on the shrimp on a stick, I crack my tooth that I just got my root canal on.  At first I thought it was a piece of shell stabbing my gum but it was a third of my tooth pushing around.  I ate soft foods after that, and ate with the otherside of my mouth.
There are 5 different pho broths at the pho station.  You can add alot of different meats and seafood to the bowl and they add the noodle and broth (but no tripe or tendon).  Ben made a bowl.

Good desserts too.  I made a red bean, green bean, and jelly bowl with coconut milk.  Sweet and yummy.

Useless Gaming News:
Gavin was in town this long weekend.  Ben, Gavin and I played Magic and Camel Cup on Saturday night.  Ben won 3 of 4 games and all 3 wins were due to him playing his new dragon, Drakuseth, Maw of Flames.
Then on Sunday, Gordon was free and we played 4 player Magic and JackBox (mostly Fibbage2).  It was a blast.  "towelette" LOL

Happy Birthday Will!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WILL!!!

Weekend Report -> Happy Birthday Grandma!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA!!!

Food this weekend ->
Made a big pot of casserole to eat all weekend. 

Casserole.

Some ground beef, mix vegetables, garlic, onions, pasta and a can of cream of chicken soup mixed with a can of cream of mushroom soup as the binding sauce.  I bought cheese to add to it too, but I forgot it.

Went out for dim sum on Saturday for my grandma's birthday.  We went to the Beijing Legend on Bank St.  The food there is excellent.

Dim Sum Food.

The egg tarts are Montreal style with the crust very flaky.

Egg Tarts

After lunch on Saturday, Susanna and I went for abit of shopping.  It was so hot, that we stopped at IKEA on the way home to get some frozen yogurt cones.  This hit the spot on such a hot day.

IKEA Frozen Yogurt.

Weekend Report -> Happy Birthday to Me

HAPPY BIRTHDAY FONGPAY!!!
 
Food this weekend ->
Took Thursday and Friday off to have an extra long weekend for my birthday.  Met up with Julie on Thursday to see "The Secret Life of Pets 2" at Coliseum.  The movie was alright.  Wasn't as good as the first one, but fun to watch.
Went back to Julie's place afterwards where she had made me Black Forest cupcakes (my favorite cake) with cherry cheesecake filling!  They were topped with Cool Whip and maraschino cherries.  These cupcake were so good!  Thanks Julie! :)  (I took home a bunch of them)

Black Forest Cupcake.

Had Hawaiian pizza from Willy's and 30 chicken wings from Costco on Friday.  The wings are a great deal as they are fresh and big.  The pizza had tons of cheese and lots of bacon.

Hawaiian Pizza.

Costco Wings.

I had to bring the car in on Saturday to get it fixed.  A shock had broken off one of the rear tires and was flopping around making really loud bang noises whenever I hit a bump.  There goes my birthday money :(  Waited 1.5hrs to get it fixed.  Then I headed off the Lowes to get some stuff but it was out of stock in Kanata.  I hit Hunt Club Lowes to get it, and since I was there, I got some Captains Boil takeout.  I got 1 order of mussels, 1 order of shrimp, and 2 orders of potatoes.  I made some white rice at home too, and then feasted.

Captain's Boils Mussels, Shrimp, and Potatoes.

Cool Note #1: One of the mussels had a whole baby crab in it.
Cool Note #2: Most of the shrimp had 2 layers of shell.  I think they were just about to shed the hard outer layer as there was a soft inner layer already on the meat.  These shrimp were almost softshell shrimp.

Happy Birthday Julie!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JULIE!!!

Also Kanata Ribfest starts today!!!

Happy Birthday Ben!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BEN!!!

Dinner today -> Guacamole
Made fresh guacamole for dinner today. 

I mixed 4 mashed avocados, 1/2 diced red onion, 2 diced tomatoes, 1 chopped jalapeno, 1 juiced lime, 1 tsp of salt, and 1/2 tsp of cumin all together in a bowl.  I dipped pita chips into it and ate half for dinner.  I think I'll add garlic next time.

Weekend Report -> Alirang

Food this weekend ->
Family went to Alirang Korean Restaurant on Sunday to celebrate Ben's birthday early.  We ordered 7 dishes:
Appetizers:
Pajeon (seafood pancake), Tangsayuk (sweet & sour pork), Tteokbokki (rice cakes).

Starters

Main Dishes:
Army Stew,

Could make this myself for way less.

Jajangmyun (black bean noodles),

OK, But Needed Salt.

Bulgogi Bibimbap (stone bowl rice),

OK, But Difficult to Share.

and Bossam (steamed pork lettuce wrap)

Very Good.

Then we had cake.  We had a Trinity Mousse cake from La Provence.  The cake was very good and chocolatey.

Trinity Cake.

Useless Transformers News:
Found Transformers Seige Ironhide at Kanata Walmart on Friday.  Very solid transformer, unlike Prowl.  Ironhide or Sixgun is the best of this wave.

Tough-Bot.

Happy Birthday Steve!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY STEVE!!!

Weekend Report -> Happy Birthday Gordon!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GORDON!!!

Food this weekend ->
Got The Fry on Friday.  I got my standard order of: half-and-half chicken with sauce and with garlic & soy, and an order of rice cakes.  It's abit expensive but worth it.

The Fry Chicken and Rice Cakes.

Julie and I went to the Spring Craft Show on Saturday.  We bought alot of meats from Carmichael's Meats.  I got some honey garlic pepperoni sticks.  Nobody else has this flavour and they are so good.  I also got a wild boar sausage and a spicy camel sausage.  Camel is very tender and had a good taste.
Afterwards we picked up food from T&T (BBQ pork buns, onigiri, sesame sticks, and Portuguese tarts), Franks (#1 on cheese bread), and Farmboy (cheese balls and ice cream sandwiches).  We ate/snacked while we binged watched all of The Tick: Season 2.  We binged all of Santa Clarita Diet: Season 2 last week on release day.

Made fish for dinner on Sunday.  I pan fried a rainbow trout filet.  While it was cooking, I blanched garlic chives in boiling water and then added them to the pan.  I added a few grape tomatoes too.

Rainbow Trout with Garlic Chives and Grape Tomatoes.

Happy Birthday Ed!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ED!!!

Dinner today -> Fork & Knife Burrito.
Today was Burrito Day.  I found that out when Becky sent me a coupon for Lone Star.  It was for purchasing their "Fork & Knife Burrito" for only $10 (reg price: $18.49).  I went and got 2 and shared it with my parents. 

Big $18.49 $10 Burrito.

It's pretty good and big.  It's filled with beef, rice, and beans, topped with cheese, salsa, avocado, jalapenos, and sour cream.  Definitely worth $10, but $18 us abit much. 

Useless News:
Stopped by LCBO today and found the Game of Thrones "Mother of Dragons" Beer.  Tried to find the best looking bottle but all the labels were peeling off or scratched up :(

Mother of Dragons Beer.

Happy Birthday Linda!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LINDA!!!

Useless Food News:
Got some "Partly Popped Popcorn" from Canadian Tire.  It's called "Frank pops his top".

Partly Popped Popcorn.

It's very tasty.  It's like a corn nut but with a softer crunch.  Not sure how they half-pop a corn kernel, but it's good.  This one (blue bag) is just lightly salted.  There is a cheese version (orange bag) too.

Useless Gaming News:
Our 1st Tuesday of the Month gaming club meeting was tonight.  6 of us tonight at Peter's house.  We started with a big meal from Big Bone BBQ: ribs, wings, pulled pork, corn bread, fries, beans, cole and slaw.  Dessert was mini chocolate croissants and Farmboy ice cream sandwiches.
For games, we played Azul, 7 Wonders with Leaders expansion, and Dominion.  I lost every game, but made it close.

Weekend Report -> Happy Birthday Grandpa!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDPA!!!

Relatives from Toronto came up this weekend to celebrate my grandfather's birthday. 
We had a huge takeout order of Rideau Restaurant dishes for dinner on Saturday.  I think we only got through half of the food pictured.

Rideau Takeout.

Then we had 3 birthday cakes: matcha cake, chestnut cake, and my homemade lemon cheese cake.

Birthday Cakes.

We had dimsum for Sunday lunch before my relatives went back.  Between meals Susanna, my cousins and I played Azul and Quacks of Quedlinburg.

Last week was Bob's retirement lunch at Fratelli.  I got a carpaccio and arugula salad.  I got it on Becky's recommendation.  It was very good.  The raw thinly slice beef went well with the mushroom, arugula, and cheese. Good dish, but also expensive.  $22!  I had to try it once, but the $20 lasagna was huge and the better deal.

Carpaccio Salad.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GAVIN!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GAVIN!!!

Food last week ->
Tried the new Strawberry and Cream Filled donut last week with Ed and Steve.  It's a Boston Cream donut with a strawberry dipped top instead of the chocolate.  It's pretty good, but compared the original Boston Cream; I still prefer the Boston Cream,

Strawberry Cream and Boston Cream Donuts.

Dungeness Crab was on sale this weekend at T&T.  I decided to get one.  I tried to pick out a female one, but all the ones in the tank were male :(  No crab roe this time.

Dungenous Crab.

To cook it, I just boiled it in salty water.  I ate it by chopping it in half, pulling out the bladder and dumping it.  Then slowly disassembled it with my hands to eat all the meat.  The meat was nice and sweet.

Halved Dungenous Crab.

Made chicken soup on Sunday night.  I chopped and boiled some white potatoes, carrots, and garlic in water, salt, and dashi.  Then I added the magic soup mix: 1 can of cream of mushroom soup and 1 can of cream of chicken soup.  Stirred in the soups with about 1 can of milk (1/2 can of milk in each can to get the can bits) and then added black pepper and dried chives.  Brought it to a boil and then reduced it to a low simmer.  I then deboned 6 halal chicken thighs and sliced it into big chunks and added it to the soup when it was simmering only.  I recently learned on a cooking show that chicken meat seizes up and toughens when it is boiled.  It should be cooked without bringing the liquid to a boil to keep the meat smooth and tender.

Chicken and Vegetable Soup.

The soup came out good and delicious.  I made a big pot and ate more today for dinner.

Happy (belated) Birthday Kaitlyn!!!

HAPPY (belated) BIRTHDAY KAITLYN!!!

Dinner Saturday -> Rideau.
Been super busy with work the past few days and doing some late nights.  Picked up Rideau Saturday night.  I got beef chow mein, dry fried rice noodles with beef, and salt & pepper squid.  Even with the quality of their other dishes going down or changing flavours, these 3 are still the same and very good.

Rideau Takeout.

Dinner today -> Sushi.
Left work late and went straight to Bayshore tonight.  I got there at 7:45pm and the sushi was already BOGO!  I got 2 Bento boxes and 4 regular boxes.  I ate BBQ eel and the salmon avocado boxes tonight and saved a Bento and Combo box for my lunch tomorrow.  Ed wanted me to pick up some for him, so will have the other Bento and Combo box.

6 BOGO Free Sushi Boxes!

Happy Birthday Susanna!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SUSANNA!!!

Weekend Report -> Happy Birthday Jeff!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JEFF!!!

Food this weekend ->
I was off on Thursday and Julie and I spent the day shopping at Adonis, Trainyards, and at Costco.
From Adonis I picked up a few bags of fresh pita bread, some salmon mousse to dip it, duck in a can, L'Orange Maison juice, and a big slice of a Mille-feuille.

Mille-feuille.

We went to the new Sansotei Ramen location on Merivale for a late lunch.  Julie got the Spicy Tantan (Can't see anything in the bowl.  Everything was under the broth).

Spicy TanTan Ramen.

I got the Shoyu.

Shoyu Ramen.

These were ok, but we both agree that the Tonkotsu/Tonkotsu Black is better than both of these.

I got a pack of wings from costco.  I pan fried about 70 wings with just salt & pepper; then I finished them in the oven on broil.

Wings.

Ate some plain and some dipped in sour cream mixed with hot sauces from Meow! That's Hot.  I have the Lynx Lava (watermelon flavour) and the Bengal Burn (berry flavour).  The Bengal Burn is uber good.

Happy Birthday Katie!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATIE!!!

Happy Birthday Ethan!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ETHAN!!!

Happy Birthday Mom!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!