Always read the directions!

I'm not always the best at following instructions/directions exactly as they're presented and, more often than not, things still work out just fine. Today, however, I learned a hard lesson in what can happen when this doesn't turn out to be the case. 

This afternoon I picked up a new President's Choice product called Flammekueche, which is basically a very, very thin-crusted pizza-type product. It looked tasty and half of one whole Flammekueche - try saying that five times fast (or even once for that matter) - is only 300 calories, so I figured I'd give it a try. The directions said to wait until the oven had preheated and then put the pizza thingy directly on the lowest oven rack. I did not wait until the oven had preheated, and I did not put it on the lowest oven rack. 

When I first saw the results, I was not happy. I went to my laptop, all set to write a tersely worded e-mail to President's Choice. I felt quite strongly that Galen need to know about this culinary injustice, without delay. But then I thought, maybe I should take another look at the directions before I get too carried away. You know, just to make sure. As it turns out, I REALLY should have paid more attention.

And here's why ...

Oven goo courtesy of my own stupidity

How yummy does that look, right? Now, I can't say for sure that things would have turned out better had I followed the directions to a tee, and I don't plan on trying another one of these suckers just to find out. I mean, it's going to take me a week to get the goo off the bottom of my oven. What I do know, however, is that, short of the oven catching on fire, it could not have turned out worse.

And so, my friends, I beg you, learn from my mistake. Always, always, ALWAYS read the directions on the package. You'll thank me later. 

Until next time, this is Curvy Canuck, signing off.

Not everybody loves Rice Krispie treats

I have the privilege of working with horses on a regular basis. They're smart, amazing creatures and being around them is like therapy. I learn something new about them almost daily. One thing I thought I knew is that they will eat just about anything you put in front of them but, as you will see from this short video, I could not have been more wrong. Notice how Cowboy pins his ears back when the treat comes out. I hope you enjoy his reaction as much as we did. That's me laughing in the background.

Don't worry Snap, Crackle and Pop, I still love you. You make marshmallows edible.

 

photo courtesy of RiceKrispies.com

Choosing the right hobby – harder than it looks

Before I begin, I would like to state up front that I am not about to write about how to pick the best hobby to match your personality/lifestyle.  In fact, I am the last person anyone should ask for advice on this topic. Unless running through hobbies like paper towel somehow makes me an expert.

I’ve tried … knitting, crocheting, scrapbooking, painting, drawing, photography, cooking, baking, reading, wine-drinking (it’s a hobby!), tweeting … anyway, you get the picture. And during these many, many attempts to find the hobby that suits me best, what have I learned?

1. I have a rough time sticking to any one thing for longer than a month at a time.
2. Hobbies, even the ones that keep you at home most of the time, are expensive.
3. Doing a hobby that you love can make you a more well-rounded individual, and
4. I still really, really want to find a hobby that I can stick with.

And so, as part of my quest to find the perfect hobby, I did one of those on-line surveys this week that’s supposed to help you pick the best hobby to suit your personality. Yeah, I know, lame. That fact notwithstanding, I took the survey and the result that came up was ‘travel writing’. Sounds pretty freaking great, right? Well yes, in theory travel writing would be the ideal hobby for me as travelling is my one true passion. I should point out, however, that not all of my travel experiences have exactly been five-star. I’ve:

Train Station - Amsterdam

•  slept on a concrete floor in a train station in Amsterdam on New Year’s Day,
•  witnessed people having sex/playing chess in an outdoor therapeutic bath in Budapest,
• peed in a unisex toilet with no stall doors at a 100000-capacity football game in Kiev,
• had my ass groped by three different men during one subway ride (again, in Kiev),
• been forced to sleep in snow pants in a hostel in Rome,
• discovered “unidentified street smell” in New York,
• gotten painfully lost and communed with pigeons in Venice,
• stayed in the ‘hood of Paris,   
• taught English to teenagers in Odessa (Ukraine, not Texas) and, last but not least,



Dynamo Kyiv
Kiev, Ukraine's football team

• been stranded for HOURS in various airports.

I know. That last one’s a real shocker. Yet there is nothing, and I mean nothing, that I would rather be doing. I share this with you to drive home the point that it’s hardly a surprise that an on-line survey would show travel writing as the best hobby for me. But here’s the thing - who do you know that can afford to do travel writing as a hobby? Anyone? Anyone? That’s right. Pretty much the only individuals who can afford this type of hobby are the 1% of the population being targeted by the Occupy Movement… and I’m thinking they have other things going on.

Where am I going with this? I have no idea. I guess that remains to be seen. For now, I will continue on this quest to find the perfect hobby and maybe, just maybe, I’ll write about my next trip to the Super Walmart in Presque Isle, ME. 


You’d read about that, right? Right?

Product Review: PC Chicken Grenades

This past weekend I tried a new President’s Choice product from one of the winners of Recipe to Riches. For those who haven’t heard of it, Recipe to Riches is a one-hour show on the Food Network where, each week, a group of average people from across Canada compete to have one their signature recipes turned into a PC product. The recent winner was a gentleman by the name of John Grass, a former pro football player. John’s winning recipe, Chicken Grenades, was intended to be a spin on the traditional meatball. 

I was excited to try the Chicken Grenades for a couple of reasons. One, I LOVE appetizers. I’m not sure I’ve met a cheese puff, mini quiche or pot sticker that I did not love, and President’s Choice typically knows how to do appies up right. And two, John Grass happens to be a fellow New Brunswicker. What kind of Maritimer would I be if I didn’t support my homeboy?

Now, before I go any further, allow me to share with you the product description from the box:

“Each of these flavour bombs is made with a slice of bacon, wrapped around a piece of seasoned chicken breast fillet with shredded pizza mozzarella and Monterey Jack cheeses and jalapeno peppers, glazed with apple pepper jelly and dusted with a barbecue dry rub”

Sounds pretty freaking great, right?  You’d think with so many layers of complimentary flavours that John’s recipe would be a tasty touchdown (pun intended). Plus, I’m a big fan of food that manages to incorporate sweet, salty, savoury and spicy into one bite, so I’m not exactly sure what happened with these little guys. The best I can figure is that it was a bunch of small things:

1. The bacon didn’t cook properly. I like my bacon crispy and it was nearly impossible to get the bacon the way I like it without turning the chicken into little poultry pellets.
2. The cheese oozed out and onto the baking sheet as the Chicken Grenades (CG’s) cooked, leaving very little left in the CG’s themselves.
3. The little skewers that the CG’s came on burned as they cooked. ‘Nuff said.
4. They were just a smidge too spicy. It kind of overwhelmed the other flavours.
5. A package of 10, one-sometimes-two-bite grenades costs $8.99. When you consider that this is a new product, the price tag seems a bit steep to me.

To sum up, I’m sad to say that I was disappointed in these little concoctions. Maybe if they had been grilled on a BBQ or had been made from scratch my opinion would be different but, as it stands, I’ll be giving the Chicken Grenades a pass when it comes time to stock up on goodies for the holidays. That said, despite my disappointment, I will continue to purchase and, undoubtedly, thoroughly enjoy President’s Choice products for many years to come.  

Keep the good eats coming Galen!

Oh, the simple things

Am I the only person who experiences unadulterated joy at the prospect of sitting on my couch on a Sunday morning, sipping coffee and watching Corrie? For me, there really is nothing better. Well, except for maybe waking up each morning to the sound of ocean waves rushing up on the shore, just outside my Malibu beach house. But since my boyfriend’s name isn’t Ken and I don’t drive a pink corvette, I’ll stick to the joy that comes with the simple, somewhat boring things in life.

Today, in honour of my very first random blog post, I will write about ... well, nothing in particular. I've tried writing about my adventures in weight loss, my professional life, and even my opinions on the state of our planet, but each time I did I got so bored with myself that I abandoned the idea altogether. The truth is, I really enjoy writing but I can't honestly say that there's ever going to be one thing I like to write about more than anything else. It's just not my style.

Therefore, I'm going to give into the randomness that is my mind and just go ahead and write about a little bit of everything. Perhaps this won't earn me many followers. Or maybe it will. Who knows! I guess we shall see. 

Okay, enough rambling for today, or at least for this morning.  

Until next time, this is Curvy Canuck, signing off.