Visiting Vancouver

This weekend, Tom and I caught a flight out to Vancouver to do some visiting. Tom's brother, Andrew, moved out to Burnaby in April to do a 12-14 month field rotation at his company's pipeline terminal. We stayed with Andrew at his condo near SFU and did some sightseeing. We arrived late on Thursday, and decided to start fresh on Friday afternoon.

First we took the gondola up Grouse Mountain. The weather wasn't exactly cooperating, so it rained continuously while we were on the mountain.

Grouse Mountain Gondola Tower.

View off the mountain.

Andrew texting Ashley, while taking in the rainy view.

Grouse Mountain resident, "Grinder" the grizzly bear.

We had sushi for dinner, and let me tell you, it was DELICIOUS! Salmon sashimi was fantastic! And it was so cheap compared to at home! The three of us ate until we were completely full, and it was only $55!!

On Saturday I made a batch of blueberry lemon muffins to fuel us for the day. Then we drove down to Gastown to meet up with Heather for lunch. A jazz festival was going on outside the restaurant, so we were able to hear some live music while we ate and caught up on the latest gossip.

Later in the afternoon the clouds cleared up and we headed into Stanley Park. We walked down to the beach and came across a family of geese. This dumbass kid (pictured below) kept trying to sneak up on the geese. I'm not exactly sure what his ultimate goal was (maybe to touch the goslings?), but he got close enough that on two occasions the geese hissed at him in warning. He really didn't seem to be taking the hint, and I secretly hoped that one of the geese would peck at him.

A family of geese harassed by a dumb child.

Geese with their three goslings.

We also saw a sea otter during our walk through Stanley Park. Prior to that, I had only seen otters at the zoo!

After Stanley Park we headed to Granville Island for a seafood dinner at the Sandbar Restaurant. Tom and Andrew had salmon, and I had scallops. We also stopped at a swanky Gelato restaurant for some dessert.

Our final stop on Sunday was at Tom and Andrew's aunt and uncle's house in Richmond. Tom's Uncle Bob BBQ'd up some burgers, and despite a large amount of smoke, managed to keep his small BBQ fire contained. Their Aunt Corinne also made one mean strawberry rhubarb crips! We also visited with Tom's great aunt Marg, and his cousin (once removed) Lorraine.

Me and Peanut enjoying the backyard patio.

Peanut, circa 2008.

I had a very pleasant romp in the backyard with Peanut, a pug/mini Pincher mix. He's pretty much the silliest looking dog I've ever seen, but very sweet. He has long spindly legs and sometimes his jowls don't quite cover all his teeth, so you can see his underbite. I think if Peanut were in a children's movie where dogs talked, he would have a mobster-style accent.

And after a very satisfying weekend, we jetted back to Calgary. Thanks for hosting us, Andrew! Your condo is great!

Now it's only a three day work-week until the Canada Day long weekend.

Woo-hooooo!

Get Stuffed

The adventures in stuffed food continues!

If you we recall, we previously made wontons and ravioli. This time we decided to tackle... Perogies!

I'm not sure if I've ever met anyone who doesn't like perogies. What is there not to like? Potato, onion, cheese, bacon... Perogies are stuffed with tasty goodness! And then on top of it all, you can smother them in some tangy sour cream.

By now, we girls are getting really good at making stuffed foods. Our technique can be divided into three easy steps.

Step 1: Preparation

Mallary preparing to roll out the dough. A special thank you to Jill's Kitchen Aid stand mixer. You made our life easier!

Potato and cheese filling.

Mallary: Do you think I shredded enough cheese?

Paige: There can never be enough cheese.

Jasmine(?): More cheese! Make it atomic orange!

*General Agreement*

Bacon and onions frying on the stove.

Not featured: Paige frying the hell out of that bacon and onion mixture! Nom nom...

Step 2: Construction

Me using the giant Hurricane glass to cut dough circles.

Mallary rolling, Jasmine and Jill filling and pinching. We've got this down to an art! Construction assembly-line style.

Perfect little parcels of cheesiness.

And finally, my favourite step of all!

Step 3: Consumption

Cheesy bacony goodness.

Enjoyed by all.

*Aside* Aren't Jill's bowls pretty?

With plenty left over for later...

If you are brave enough to make perogies on your own, I share Paige's Secret Family Recipe. At least... I hope it's not a secret recipe. Because if it was... It ain't no more!

Varenyky AKA Pyrohy AKA Perogies!!!
- By Paige

Dough
3 cups of flour
1 cup cold water
1 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg

Filling:
3 large potatoes (makes a lot)
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp butter
1/3 lb of cheese (for best results, ignore this and add cheddar until it is cheesy goodness)
3 tbsp oil
1/4 tsp pepper
3 tbsp butter
onions
BACON (filling or on top)

Combine dough ingredients. Cover and allow to stand at room temp for 1/2 hour. roll dough to 1/8" thickness (NEED rolling pins!!!). Cut circles.

Boil potatoes and salt until tender. while potatoes boil, fry 2 medium onions with oil and butter until lightly browned. set aside. when potatoes are tender, mash with butter, cheese, pepper. allow to cool. place 1 tbsp filling in centre of each pastry circle. fold and pinch edges (I recommend fork). Boil in salted water for 4-5 minutes or until they float. drain. toss in onion and oil/butter mixter to prevent sticking.

Mom estimates 2 hours start to finish.

Also picked this up at a booth one year:

Butter & Onion saute for 2 dozen perogies:
2/3 cup marg
1 large chopping onion
2/3 cup whipping cream.
saute onions in margarine then pour in whipping cream. drain perogies and add to sauce. keep warming the -By combination for 15 to 20 minutes. (it is good with bacon).

Racing and Chasing

On Saturday, Tom, Andrew, Ashley and I took part in the Mitsubishi City Chase.

If you've never heard of it before, imagine a scaled down version of the Amazing Race; part scavenger hunt, part obstacle course. There are clues to 40 Chase Points around the city with various tasks to complete at each station. You must complete 10 of the Chase Points, and it is mandatory to complete certain Chase Points in different geographic locations around the city. You can walk, run or use public transportation.

Team T & A

Team Racing With a Map of Calcutta

It was my intention to document our progress throughout the day... However, after taking a preliminary picture of our teams, the batteries in our camera promptly died. Very unfortunate.

Chase Point #1

Clue: Step it up at this landmark that opened at June 30, 1968.

Task: Climb the steps of the Calgary Tower! Yikes. According the the website there are 802 steps, and about 50 flights of stairs. Tom made it up the stairs in just over seven minutes. The rest of us took less than 10 minutes!

Chase Point #2

Clue: What was your favorite Rocky movie? Ours too. Such an Impact! Head over to the boxing ring to train like Balboa.

Task: Complete a short boxing circuit. Skipping, punching bag, and various speed balls. The trainer heckled Ashley and I, and I'm still having difficulty putting on and taking off my shirts (two days later) because my arms hurt so much. *Whine*

Chase Point #4

Clue: Spiderman, spiderman. Do whatever a spide can, crawl through a web - any size. No Limits is where you ChasePoint lies, Lookout - here comes the spiderman.

Task: Try out some Parkour (freestyle running/gymnastics) moves. It took some serious upper body strength for the demonstration we saw on this peg board. Also, one of the guys that was volunteering showed us how he could do a back flip off a wall!

Chase Point # 8

Clue: Misty May and Kerri Walsh wear the crowns. Come to the court beside the Dome where they practice year round.

Task: Play a game of beach volleyball. The first team to three points wins. If you lose, play another team until you win. Highlights -- Andrew gets an eyeball full of sand and almost cries.

Chase Point # 9

Clue: Slither over to where Slider cheers for his favorite team.

Task: Among the Viper stadium seating, find the five blue baseballs (each with a number on it), and add up the numbers on the balls correctly. We found four balls quite easily that had the numbers 23, 32, 6 and 44 on them. And then we spent a long time running up and down the aisles until Tom finally found the fifth ball-- 16! For a total of 117!

And finally... The finish line!

Clearly I do not know how to operate Tom's phone camera. I managed to get one of my fingers in the way!

Overall, 33km travelled in five and half hours-- and we actually finished 11 Chase Points instead of the required 10! It was an exhausting day, but it was a lot of fun. You should think about joining the chase next year!

Special Delivery

Last week I received a package in the mail.

Is there anything more delightful than receiving unexpected packages in the mail!?

This was a little love from my friend, M, in Toronto. An adorable and cheery little sock dragon!

I love her little doe-eyes and argyle wings!

I'm planning to take her to work with me. A good reminder that friends at a distance are still thinking of you.

There's a good thought to keep with you for the day.

The Land Down Under (Part II)

At the beginning of June 2007, we headed into the Australian Outback and left the cities of Sydney, Adelaide and Melbourne behind. We embarked on a three day, two night expedition that was probably the highlight of the trip for me.

Everything in the Outback was bright red and orange.

We hiked through King's Canyon and Kata Tjuta (pictured above).

Jeff getting ready to go to sleep in a swag under the stars. It was surprisingly cozy, considering the temperature got down to about 1 degree Celsius over night.

We watched the sun set and rise over Uluru, aka Ayer's Rock.

Steve, Ashley, Jeff and I, up close with Uluru behind us.

Ashley (behind the camera): "Get closer to the camel! Touch it!"

Amanda: "No way! It's looking right at me!"

After finishing our Outback tour, we took the Ghan train from Alice Springs to Darwin. Although I can't remember the exact length any more, the ride took approximately 20 hours. This was my first night on a train. I had a terrible sleep, and it was incredibly uncomfortable!

During a four hour train stopover, we went on a short kayaking trip.

After kayaking, we saw a gigantic praying mantis in the washroom.

When we arrived in Darwin, we fed some fish at a local attraction.

We also signed up for some tours to Kakadu and Litchfield National Park. This was probably the biggest mistake on our trip. We went for the cheapest tour we could find, but it turned out to be a tour group for seniors. We were by far the youngest on the tour, and there wasn't exactly a lot of walking involved. Still, we managed to see some sights!

Crocodile in Kakadu National Park.

Giant termite mounds and pretty waterfalls in Litchfield National Park.

Ashley and I swimming.

From Darwin we flew to Cairns and met up with some long time Canadian friends, Katie and Wylie. Katie and Wylie had decided to spend a year in Australia working. To kick off their trip, they decided to get married on the beach. We spent a week in luxury sharing a giant suite in a resort and enjoyed a "hen party" (aka bachlorette party), a fishing expedition and a trip to the Daintree Rainforest.

Fishing bait in a big bucket.

Me enjoying the "hen party."

Jellyfish warning signs at Cape Tribulation.

Boulders at Mossman Gorge in the Daintree Rainforest.

Me with the bride and other bridesmaids.

The entire wedding party on the beach.

The wedding kicked off the last leg of the trip. But I'll leave those photos until some time in July.

Oooohhh the suspense!