This is by no means a cutting edge, or unique process. This is a method I had seen deployed numerous times on countless cooking shows. But I had never tried it myself.
Yesterday was the day. Father's Day. The day a man is required to grill the family dinner. At least that's the way it reads in the manual I follow. So this is that day I decide to try sodomizing a chicken carcass with a half a can of beer. That last sentence should make the results list of some rather spicy Google searches. Sorry, freak. No pictures here. Keep looking.
A simpler method, there could not be. You cover the chicken with your favorite rub, insert can, and place on a sacrificial baking sheet on the barbeque and keep the temperature slightly north of 300 degrees till it's done. Use indirect heat.
Trust me, it's amazing.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Rock Climbing
So I come home last Monday and over dinner I ask Mitchell if he remembers being at the YMCA and the rock climbing wall they have there. He assures me he definitely DOES remember. The reason for this clarity of thought is because he was not allowed to climb the wall due to the fact that he was only 5 years old when we were there last. The rules are that you must be at least 6 years old and weigh 40 pounds or more.
So seeing that he is now able to meet both requirements of the rock climbing pre-requisites, I ask them both if they would like to go back to the "Y" to try rock climbing and maybe some swimming.
A more enthusiastic yes, I could not have asked for. At least from the Mitch side of the table. Brooke chewed on the idea, along with her dinner for a couple of minutes and asked "Is there anything else that we can do there?". I kind of expected this response from her as she is somewhat less adventurous than her brother. She derives pleasure from more cerebral pursuits. Although she does have the capacity to surprise. More on that later.
We decide to go on the following Monday. This is not very popular with my wife. She can't attend on Mondays because of TOPS. Oh well. We would be sure to tell her all about it when we got home.
The concept of "next Monday" is somewhat lost on Mitch. So the use of the calendar is immediately deployed to help him visualize when exactly "next Monday" was. Until then, he was all ready to finish his supper and run out the front door and sit in the van.
It took an entire week, but eventually the day came. I put Mitch to bed on Sunday night and reminded him (unnecessarily) of the upcoming day at the Y after supper tomorrow. He was well aware, to say the least. I reminded him that the trip was not automatic. That he had to be well behaved tomorrow for mom. And wake up and get dressed when he was told to. He assured me that wouldn't be a problem.
Monday morning was interesting. Usually it is difficult to get Mitch out of bed. Well all it took was one wake up call and the next thing I know, he's standing in my bedroom all dressed and announcing "Look, Dad, I'm ready to go to school!".
I got home around 5:20. We had to be there by 6:00, so we had a frenzied dinner of PB&J's and out the door we went.
We got there and Mitch got rigged out and took to the wall right away. Brooke was happy to play on the play structure and the exercise bike. It took Mitch about 25 minutes, but he eventually made it all the way to the top of the wall.
We got into the pool for 7:00 and swam for a half hour before heading home. Right after the swim, we went in the steam room for a bit. Oh, man, I love steam rooms! I think come fall, we will likely join as a family. Now that the kids are a little older, there is sooo much for them to do there.
So seeing that he is now able to meet both requirements of the rock climbing pre-requisites, I ask them both if they would like to go back to the "Y" to try rock climbing and maybe some swimming.
A more enthusiastic yes, I could not have asked for. At least from the Mitch side of the table. Brooke chewed on the idea, along with her dinner for a couple of minutes and asked "Is there anything else that we can do there?". I kind of expected this response from her as she is somewhat less adventurous than her brother. She derives pleasure from more cerebral pursuits. Although she does have the capacity to surprise. More on that later.
We decide to go on the following Monday. This is not very popular with my wife. She can't attend on Mondays because of TOPS. Oh well. We would be sure to tell her all about it when we got home.
The concept of "next Monday" is somewhat lost on Mitch. So the use of the calendar is immediately deployed to help him visualize when exactly "next Monday" was. Until then, he was all ready to finish his supper and run out the front door and sit in the van.
It took an entire week, but eventually the day came. I put Mitch to bed on Sunday night and reminded him (unnecessarily) of the upcoming day at the Y after supper tomorrow. He was well aware, to say the least. I reminded him that the trip was not automatic. That he had to be well behaved tomorrow for mom. And wake up and get dressed when he was told to. He assured me that wouldn't be a problem.
Monday morning was interesting. Usually it is difficult to get Mitch out of bed. Well all it took was one wake up call and the next thing I know, he's standing in my bedroom all dressed and announcing "Look, Dad, I'm ready to go to school!".
I got home around 5:20. We had to be there by 6:00, so we had a frenzied dinner of PB&J's and out the door we went.
We got there and Mitch got rigged out and took to the wall right away. Brooke was happy to play on the play structure and the exercise bike. It took Mitch about 25 minutes, but he eventually made it all the way to the top of the wall.
We got into the pool for 7:00 and swam for a half hour before heading home. Right after the swim, we went in the steam room for a bit. Oh, man, I love steam rooms! I think come fall, we will likely join as a family. Now that the kids are a little older, there is sooo much for them to do there.
Monday, June 15, 2009
My 41st Birthday
It was a great weekend!
My birthday was Saturday June 13th. I had a super day, or I should say, Weekend.
Last year was my big 4-0. My wife took it upon herself to plan an extravagant party at Westhawk Lake. She invited friends to come out to camp or just to party for the day and head home. So many of my friends were there and I had an awesome time. From flying the plane in Kenora, to losing most of my frontal body hair to the Jengafire on both evenings.
This year however, I gave strict instructions. No big parties. As a matter of fact, no parties that involved people outside of my immediate family. I was intent on taking it easy this year and have a nice relaxing day with my family. No frenzied activity. No entertaining. No stress. I love to have a party. And my friends are fantastic people that I rarely get to see. But this year was going to be a quiet one. I have spoken.
As far as a gift was concerned, I asked for nothing other than a day of my family's time on my birthday and as a special gift from my wife; a day of her time so we could take a geocaching road trip together. And, she agreed. Cool. Not like she had much choice. As I said before...I had spoken.
The day began the way most household birthdays do. Breakfast in bed with all of us crowding into our bed and trying not to spill anything. Then the kids presented me with their fantastic hand made projects. The pride and appreciation I feel when I recieve the artistic results of the solitary labor of one of my children is immeasurable. As I pour over the detail of their gifts I try to imagine what they might have been thinking while drawing/painting/stapling/glueing this particular object. I imagine them sitting their desks, faces barely an inch from the paper as they fastidiously colour with crayons and markers. Their bodies shaking in time with the fervent pistoning of their little arm. These are the gifts that matter. I definitely am not looking forward to the day when they discover the convenience of exchanging money for a pre-printed Hallmark sentiment that is shared among a few dozen recipinents, who, other than the card, have absolutely nothing in common. Of course I'll appreciate them. But I'll miss the other. Alot.
So after the cards come the gifts. I truly was expecting, and hoping for nothing. But as it turned out, I got some shower products from my kids, and a surprise from my wife.
I have never owned a leather jacket. I have never found a jacket that fits and was at a price that I could justify paying. I have periodically mused aloud at how I would like to have a nice leather coat. And I have shopped in the past, but I needed the eye of my wife for final approval. I mean, lets face it, I look amazing in any coat, but she's the one that will be looking at me. I want her to swoon just right.
Well it turns out that this is the birthday I got a leather jacket. And she shopped for it on her own. And it fit me. And it was perfect. The perfect gift for a guy who wanted nothing. Get him something he didn't know he wanted. Awesome.
After that, we just hung around for a bit at the house. Later we decided to go on a picnic. So we grabbed some sandwiches at Subway and headed to Whittier Park to have a picnic and replace a geocache that I had removed while the water was high. After we did those things, we went for a 3 km walk around the Whittier and Lagimodiere Gaboury parks and walked back to the car through the streets of St Boniface. All in all, a pretty happy day.
Then we dropped off the kids at Grandma and Grampas and went to The Line Up for a yummy dinner. We had planned to go out for drinks later, but somehow that never happened. I had a great day.
My birthday was Saturday June 13th. I had a super day, or I should say, Weekend.
Last year was my big 4-0. My wife took it upon herself to plan an extravagant party at Westhawk Lake. She invited friends to come out to camp or just to party for the day and head home. So many of my friends were there and I had an awesome time. From flying the plane in Kenora, to losing most of my frontal body hair to the Jengafire on both evenings.
This year however, I gave strict instructions. No big parties. As a matter of fact, no parties that involved people outside of my immediate family. I was intent on taking it easy this year and have a nice relaxing day with my family. No frenzied activity. No entertaining. No stress. I love to have a party. And my friends are fantastic people that I rarely get to see. But this year was going to be a quiet one. I have spoken.
As far as a gift was concerned, I asked for nothing other than a day of my family's time on my birthday and as a special gift from my wife; a day of her time so we could take a geocaching road trip together. And, she agreed. Cool. Not like she had much choice. As I said before...I had spoken.
The day began the way most household birthdays do. Breakfast in bed with all of us crowding into our bed and trying not to spill anything. Then the kids presented me with their fantastic hand made projects. The pride and appreciation I feel when I recieve the artistic results of the solitary labor of one of my children is immeasurable. As I pour over the detail of their gifts I try to imagine what they might have been thinking while drawing/painting/stapling/glueing this particular object. I imagine them sitting their desks, faces barely an inch from the paper as they fastidiously colour with crayons and markers. Their bodies shaking in time with the fervent pistoning of their little arm. These are the gifts that matter. I definitely am not looking forward to the day when they discover the convenience of exchanging money for a pre-printed Hallmark sentiment that is shared among a few dozen recipinents, who, other than the card, have absolutely nothing in common. Of course I'll appreciate them. But I'll miss the other. Alot.
So after the cards come the gifts. I truly was expecting, and hoping for nothing. But as it turned out, I got some shower products from my kids, and a surprise from my wife.
I have never owned a leather jacket. I have never found a jacket that fits and was at a price that I could justify paying. I have periodically mused aloud at how I would like to have a nice leather coat. And I have shopped in the past, but I needed the eye of my wife for final approval. I mean, lets face it, I look amazing in any coat, but she's the one that will be looking at me. I want her to swoon just right.
Well it turns out that this is the birthday I got a leather jacket. And she shopped for it on her own. And it fit me. And it was perfect. The perfect gift for a guy who wanted nothing. Get him something he didn't know he wanted. Awesome.
After that, we just hung around for a bit at the house. Later we decided to go on a picnic. So we grabbed some sandwiches at Subway and headed to Whittier Park to have a picnic and replace a geocache that I had removed while the water was high. After we did those things, we went for a 3 km walk around the Whittier and Lagimodiere Gaboury parks and walked back to the car through the streets of St Boniface. All in all, a pretty happy day.
Then we dropped off the kids at Grandma and Grampas and went to The Line Up for a yummy dinner. We had planned to go out for drinks later, but somehow that never happened. I had a great day.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)