RTW - Quick, Get Through Manitoba

RTW - Big drive out west from Toronto to Calgary/Banff/Edmonton and back. Covid means no flying or cutting through the USA, so Jason and I are taking the car and doing a road trip!

Date: Monday Oct 12, 2020 (Thanksgiving Day)

Starting Location: Cabin just north of Kenora

Ending Location: Basement Bachelor Apartment in Regina, Saskatchewan

Distance Driven: 791 km

Scenery: Farms, fairly flat, occasional river valley.

Animals: Tons of bald eagles, magpies, young coyote, big bunnies

Soundtrack: In the morning Peggy 99.1 (Winnipeg's Favourites) and then in the afternoon 96.1 Bob FM (80's...90's...and Whatever! out of Brandon, Manitoba)

Notes: We tried to limit our stops in Manitoba because they have stricter Covid rules than the rest of the western provinces, however we did need to get gas once. (And I peed on many country side roads.) I packed us a lunch, made sandwiches, roast beef for Jason and bologna with cheese singles for me. The last couple of nights we have been making Hello Fresh meals but are finished them now - for it was Kraft Dinner in the Airbnb in Regina.

Such Major Changes

As I mentioned before, I am in the process of launching a business. Well, actually, we are open and have been for over a week, so I guess we are launched (doesn't feel like it - so behind where I want to be on this.) Here are just some of the things doing that has meant
- I haven't written on Always Standing in two and a half months
- Catching a cold and wearing socks to bed to try to get over it quicker
- Going for weeks without seeing my friends (this has been the worst part)
- Having over a hundred unread messages in my personal inbox
- Not cleaning or cooking or even BEING at home
It has been a surprising adventure, nothing at all like I thought it would be. I love it but I am exhausted. Hoping to get some updates and photos onto the blog soon. Though also looking to get a blog going for the shop too. But, with what time?

Soup Selfie!

One of my Christmas traditions has always bucked the material/consumer driven holiday trend - Christmas Soup. More than a decade ago, while I was still living in Ottawa, Teri got together with a couple of her friends to make French Onion Soup. Since it is a dish that takes a long time - lots of cutting onions and boiling them down - they decided to make a day of it, hanging out together.

Every year since that start they have gotten together for an afternoon/evening in December to make soup together and then eat it afterwards. I joined the tradition a few years in and over time the group has grown with spouses and even a baby now. We just got together yesterday for Christmas Soup 2019 (see photo), made a delicious green minestrone one.

A 12-Year-Old Shopping

We pulled out chicken from the freezer this morning to make for dinner tonight. We tend to do this without really thinking about what we were are planning to do. Part way through the day we realized we were feeling lazy and uninspired - but had onions and peppers! We decided on fajitas and while we normally have a kit or two as back-up, there was a chance we were out. Jason mentioned that if we didn't have it he would run out and pick one up at some point.

The day continued, and eventually I had a short nap. Later I was woken up by Jason saying that dinner was ready. While eating dinner I asked if he had needed to go pick up a kit, and if he had gone while I was sleeping. I am always so amazed and how much happens around my while I am sleeping. Such a deep sleeper, nothing seems to wake me up. He said he had gone and I asked if he had also gotten more Cadbury Mini Eggs, which I had asked for earlier. He said, "Yes, among other things."

I was confused. We hadn't really needed anything else so I asked what else he had picked up. Sheepishly he replayed, "Salami, chips, and sour keys. It is like a 12 year-old went shopping." Yes, fajita kit, lunch meat, sour keys, chips, and a $16-bag of mini eggs - that is not an adult's grocery list.

Not Wanting To Offend

................... found online, Buzzfeed, I think

My Pickiness (from above): 
- In some cases: Blue Cheese and Liver
- If it has a head or thin/fine bones: Raw Fish and Cooked Fish

My Pickiness (not listed)
- Nothing TOO spicy

There are lots of items above that I don't really like - that I wouldn't order at a restaurant or cook with at home. However, hard to think that if I was visiting someone, and didn't want to offend them, what I wouldn't be able to just deal with and eat. The one that comes to mind is Liver, I really hate the taste of liver (and other organ meat) but in China I ended up eating it for breakfast a couple of times and got through it fine. Blue Cheese is really on a case by case bases, for example Blue Cheese Dressing is delicious, a hunk of Blue Cheese plain is uneatable.

Let me know in the comments, how picky are you?

Late Night Poem

Cereal is great for dinner.
Towels are my favourite piece of laundry to fold.
Let's face it,
You did not marry me for my domesticity.

An Adult Thanksgiving

Jason and I had his immediate family over for Thanksgiving lunch on Sunday and with a bit of pre-planning, and a lot of pre-cutting it was really easy. Though I did serve 'Turkey' from a box which was a lot more simple than a full bird - though still took a long time in the oven and involved setting an alarm to wake up early enough in the morning. It wasn't until much later that I realized it was probably the first holiday meal I have done and that Jason and I have hosted together (in our house.) Very adult.

On the same day we went for dinner and Kristen and Noah's where they had cooked a full turkey themselves, at their house. So much adulting! Also, homemade cranberry sauce which was very good. It was all delicious, and I think I want to incorporate more turkey into our normal meals moving forward.

Photo of Maya, totally not an adult! Mike sent this to me, I was sad not too see them but glad that they had a good Thanksgiving in Edmonton.

Sleepovers - Child Vs Adult

I just got back from a quick four-day trip to Calgary. Jason used his Aeroplan points to get me flights out west for my birthday, so I could spend some time with ERin and Anne. (It was going to be during Stampede but got postponed to August.) I thought I would discuss the weekend as a comparison to sleepovers, specifically birthday party ones, I had as a child:

Length of Time
Not just a single night! Since I am in Toronto, Anne in Calgary, and ERin in Edmonton, if we are going to spend time together it only makes sense for it to be a few days. I flew out on Wednesday evening and back Sunday night.

Location
Instead of gathering in the living room or basement of our parent's house, we stayed at Anne's trendy apartment in the Kensington area of Calgary.

Sleeping Arrangements
We don't need to all be in the same room, and our bodies are too old to sleep on the floor. I got the fold-out couch with some awesome memory foam.

TV
Morning cartoons, fun movies, or late night television? Nope! An episode of Chef's Table in the afternoon.

Snacks
No chips, candy, or popcorn, instead we helped ERin by taste testing some new chocolate flavours.

Meals
We traded in the pizza and hot dogs for Anne's fabulous cooking. She made us orzo salad, fennel and zucchini soup, fish tacos with homemade mango salsa, and more.

Dessert
I used to love decorating cupcakes. But this weekend we helped ERin make two different fancy cakes (I was minimally helpful.) We started with the very complicated Pacific Cake that took much of Thursday, and then quickly whipped up a modern version of an Opera Cake on Saturday.

Restaurants
Our choices for a Friday night out on the town were not kid friendly at all. First stop, for appetizers and margaritas, was Anejo, where they make the guacamole and salsa right at your table. For dinner we went to Klein Harris, where I had beet salad and hanger steak. We also made a few breakfast/brunch stops at a pie place in Anne's building - I kept getting the quiche, so good!

Daily Essential
It used to be such a regular thing to visit the corner store, usually for ice cream or candy, during a sleepover, but now that we are older - it is coffee! Made at home or quick visits to a cafe.

Amusement
Hard to remember all the things that I did as a child at birthday parties; swimming, movies, games. In Calgary we went on a road trip to the mountains, visits to ice cream shops and the grocery store, dinners out, dinners in, a cat cafe, and lots of walking around the city.

Conversation
Did we talk about boys? Yes. But also our families, friendships, pets, careers, travel, health, education, and more.

Friendship
I think it gets even better as we get older. It was a wonderful weekend, I love those two so much.

New Year's Resolutions

2017

- Eat Better (Less carbs, more vegetables!)
- Cook More (Cut done on eating out)
- Save/Make More Money (Going to need to read Gail again)
- Post Daily (Always Standing)

What are yours?

BBQ Before & After

Sunday Mornin' Coming Down - A Sunday post about my Dad, named after a song that he loved.

Housewarming Gift - A New BBQ

Back porch of Casa Verde

Jason and I used the gift cards from our housewarming towards a new BBQ. We had planned to wait until the end of the season to buy it but were really impressed with the value for this one at Home Depo today. It is actually the same brand as our old one - "Broil Mate."

The old one was a well loved BBQ brought up to Toronto on the trailer by Mom and Dad when Jason moved into Rrunuv Bayit with me. I think they had just replaced it with a newer one. My Dad was usually the one to cook on it and he wasn't great - a lot of burnt burgers and steaks growing up. (Possibly why I like my food "well done.")

Our new one is the model that is one up from the one we have been using. We saw the new version of that model and decided to upgrade, because it wasn't that much of a price difference to get 4 instead of 3 burners, bigger cooking space, better grill metal, and the side cooking element.

Dad would be very proud of the discounts we got, though we weren't really trying to get them. It is the floor model so there was that, then we wanted to rent a van and they were all out so we had to wait so there was that, and then it ended up missing a part so there was that, and it was already a good price!

I miss those burnt burgers. I wish my Dad could come see the new BBQ, use it with Jason, share his opinion on it. Hang out in the backyard with our little patio and cherry tree.

The Perfect Hardboiled Egg

I found out yesterday that Meg and I make hard-boiled eggs the same way. I think I learnt the technique from my Aunty Laura (at least in my head that is who taught me.) It is the easiest - though not the fastest - way.

-- Put eggs in a pot with water.
-- Put it on the stove and wait for it to boil.
-- Once it boils take it off the heat and let it cool naturally.

The issue is the waiting for it to cool on its own, but as that is happening the egg is still cooking so you can’t rush it along. I know a lot of people who do a timed boil and then artificially cool the eggs with cold running water (waste of water for one thing.)

I also don’t add anything to the water or do anything to make the eggs easier to peel, though I did read an interesting Buzzfeed article a while ago that tested what things made the peeling easier.

I should do a bunch of hard-boiled eggs so I always have healthy protein on hand to take for lunch. Though I wouldn’t be sure if I should store them shell on or shell off.

How do you make your eggs? 
Any tips for peeling and/or storing? 

 Side note: My favourite thing to do with hard-boiled eggs is Deviled Eggs, but that isn’t so healthy.

Stuck In The Oven Drawer

"This kid is going to be the death of me!"

Photo of Avery by Aimee

March 2016

And So I Cleaned It

Sunday Mornin' Coming Down - A post about my Dad each Sunday, named after a song that he loved.

My father did not like to buy things, well more accurately he didn't like spending money. In order to save money he always tried to keep things around the house going as long as possible so he wouldn't need to go out and get a new one. He wasn't particularly handy, but these were his techniques:

Digital - Ignore It 
If any of our digital equipment (video camera, computer stuff, VCR) stopped working, Dad would turn it off and on again. He would push various random buttons. And eventually he would just unplug it, tuck it away somewhere, and ignore it for a while. This was know as the 'fix it fairies' approach, the hope that when we next went to try it, the item would magically work all of a sudden. This actually happened on occasion so it encouraged the continued saving of broken digital things in case they starting working again later.

Mechanical - Clean It
Something mechanical that was broken (an old toaster, power tools, some boating things) required thorough cleaning (and maybe greasing) if broken. This was sometimes accompanied by some light dismantling. I never saw him really take apart anything, he wouldn't have deconstructed the entire lawn mower for example, but there would be some opening and removing things to give it a good clean. He didn't really use this to find and replace broken parts that often, partly because that would require buying something, and partly because I don't think he was very good at identifying parts that were the problem. Cleaning things does prolong their life and his focus on this type of upkeep saved us money for sure.

Physical - Tape It
If the broken or worn out item didn't have digital, electrical, or complicated moving parts, than my dad would use duct tape to reinforce, protect, and repair it. I grew up with sailboats, camping equipment, toys, and other items that featured some liberal use of duct tape. He taped up our Christmas Tree, coolers that cracked, the side of the fridge where the installation was coming out, even cardboard boxes that he wanted to keep. I have learned from his crafty duct tape skills and have employed them on occasion. Sometimes though, it just makes sense to buy a new item.

Following In His Footsteps
That is what has been happening with me over the past few months as our Tassimo machine has gradually started to break down. Jason and I use this coffee maker every single day (at least twice - a drink for each of us) and lately it has been struggling to read the bar codes, incompletely brewing drinks, and leaking a bit. I keep wanting to go out and buy a new one, but they are about $100 and I don't want to spend that to replace a small kitchen appliance right now.

I had asked Jason a bunch of times about the 'cleaning disk' that should have come with the machine and he always said it didn't have one or he had lost it. Finally I looked up how to clean the thing (with or without the disk). So today I took apart the machine, all the removable parts can be put in the dishwasher so I soaked them in lemon juice and washed them with soap in the sink. In the process of doing this I found the cleaning disk, exactly where it should have been, and ran a few 'descaling' cycles. Jason and I had to work hard to clean and clear the nozzle since it had 5 years of gunk trapped in it - the machine has literally never been cleaned, the internet says it should be washed weekly.

It works well again and I am so happy that I put the effort in. Dad would be proud, and I saved $100!

TB - Curves Diet

I discovered The Curves Diet back in Ottawa. I was working out with JennB at Curves and decided to try their Weight Management Program. It was very easy to do when I was living with JennB, who did all the cooking. During the first half of 2010, 7 months, I probably lost about 40lbs through exercise and following the diet guidelines with absolute precision. Then I went on my big trip for a month and a half, during which I lost another 10lbs from all the walking, strange food, and still adhering to the basic rules of the diet. The last part of 2010 I moved to Toronto and started my Masters at Ryerson - the stress from that pulled off another 10lbs, leaving me quite thin. Over the next 5 years I have put that 60lbs back on and maybe a little bit extra. Off and on, I would try following the program again but never with the same dedication and gusto. I do like a lot of the recipes though. I decided last week to start again and have dove into it with my complete focus. I hope to see similar results as before, but recognize that it is slow going. Today, I decided to do a throw back to all the Always Standing mentions of the only diet that I have every enjoyed or been able to follow:

The Curves Diet

- Making The Switch : The first mention of the program
- The Undiet : Too much food
- Guest Writer - Blogging - Steph : Steph mentions the diet in a Guest Writer post while I was in Russia
- Final Week : It looks like I decided to start it up again during my last semester at Ryerson
- Fuck February : I don't think I kept it going very long that Fall but decided to try again at the start of 2012
- Back Under The Threshold : 2 years later it looks like I returned to the diet

This time will be different than my previous failed Toronto attempts. I am already being stricter with myself. Not only do I plan to keep going until I reach my goal weight, but I also vow not to eat a single french fry until my wedding day (on which I will have them as part of my dinner entree at the pub.)

Two Ingredients Too Sweet

Today there was a Bake Sale at work, to raise money towards the Forrec Ride for Heart team. I don't really like cooking, and baking is so much worse. However, I thought I would put together something easy and help out. I made Rice Crispy Squares since they are my favorite quick treat. But I had also found an easy Oreo Dessert on Buzzfeed that I thought I would try, "Two ingredients, 20 minutes" seemed doable for me. Here is how to make it:

White Chocolate Oreo Bark

1. Put 15 Oreos in a large ziplock bag and crush/break them all up. I used a meat tenderizer and it was pretty fun. (I also bought 'fake' no name Oreos too.)

2. Put a bag of white chocolate chips in a bowl. (Don't go cheap on these, get a good bag of chips, my bark didn't turn out well because the chocolate was fake and sickly sweet.)

3. Melt the chocolate in the microwave using 30 second increments and stirring between each one.

4. Once the chocolate is melted add in 3/4 of the crushed cookies and stir.

5. Pour the mixture into a parchment-lined pan and sprinkle the remaining crushed cookies on top.

6. Put the pan in the fridge until it hardens - about 15 minutes. Take it out, remove the parchment paper and break up the chocolate into 'bark pieces' - I used the meat tenderizer again for this part.

Quick Kitchen Tip

I don't know how I keep forgetting about this - but it is way better to fill up a pot of water, that you plan to boil, using water from the 'hot' tap.

I remember someone once telling me (I think it was Jerrica or maybe JennB) that I should always put the lid on the pot when wanting water to warm up to boiling as it will go faster. I am pretty good about remembering to do that, though sometimes finding the right lid is a challenge. I hate that pots then have a tendency to boil over, but not if it is just pure water in it. After the water is boiling, and whatever is being added to it, I either take the lid off or put it on askew. I also turn the stove down a bit and the pot will keep simmering.

Tricks that help water to boil faster and food to cook better not only improves on the experience (faster is better in my mind because I hate to cook) but also makes the process more efficient. A more efficient (aka faster) use of the stove uses less electricity and therefore is better for the environment.

One thing I almost always forget to do though, is use hot water when filling the pot. I have no idea why, but I reach for the cold tap every time. It makes no sense! That will make it take longer to boil, the water has to heat up from a lower temperature; if I used hot water it already has a head start. It also shares the energy consumption with the hot water heater, which I assume is better than using the stove element for the entire process from cold to boiling.

I am sure everyone already knows this and I am just slow on the uptake, but I need to really watch what tap I use from now on.

Domestic Bliss

Conversations with Jason

Any of these interactions could have easily happened; in reality though, only one actually did - I will let you guess which. However, I feel like they all represent our relationship pretty accurately.

Tidy Up Time
Jason: Can you look at your stuff on the kitchen table?
*I review the multiple piles of envelopes and open them.*
Me: *Yelling to Jason in the other room.* Mainly tax stuff, investment stuff, some cards from people, and letters about magazine subscriptions.
Jason: So... what did you do about them?
Me: The magazine stuff is in the recycling and the rest is tidied up.
*Later Jason passes the kitchen and sees my neat pile of opened mail on the table."
Jason: Stacking them all together on the table does not count as tidying up!
Me: What do you mean?
Jason: Well, is this their spot?
Me: It could be their spot.
Jason: It is not their spot.
*I transfer the pile of mail to my desk in the back room which is covered in various teetering piles of similar things - the only spot I have left.*

Cooking
*Getting home late in the evening after doing a spinning class together.*
Me: Okay, you shower and I will make dinner. Do you want white cheddar or normal Kraft dinner?
Jason: I had Kraft dinner for lunch, can you make something different?
Me: Well, did you have the orange one or the white cheddar for lunch?
Jason: The orange one.
Me: Okay, I'll do the white one.
Jason: That isn't different enough.
Me: Hey, shower-ers can't be choosers. I'm cooking here.
Jason: Well, perpetual dishwashers should have a say.

Veggies
Jason: I am pulling out pork chops to defrost for dinner tonight.
Me: Okay, we should figure out a side, what veggies do we have?
Jason: Ugh, I don't know why we need to have vegetables in our lives.
Me: So we can poop.
Jason: That's what coffee is for.

Boiled Chicken

So much for Sliced Bread, the saying should be, "The greatest thing since boiled chicken!"

On the plane ride back from Edmonton my mom was reading magazines on her tablet (she is really into the Next Issue app.) I saw a recipe with what looked like 'pulled chicken' but used chicken breast. I love pulled chicken, it is always what I order at Swiss Chalet because I hate dealing with fish and poultry that has bones. (Yes, this means that I don't like chicken wings.)

Steph sometimes buys one of those cooked rotisserie chickens you can get at the grocery store and pulls apart the chicken to use in wraps and salads when she is "doesn't want to cook and is feeling lazy." This is incredible to me because it still sounds like a lot of work, I would count it as cooking, and the very idea of doing that kind of grosses me out. However, the end product is delicious.

Anyway, if you boil chicken breast it can be shredded easily with two forks to become the same texture/style as pulled chicken. THIS IS AMAZING! I told Jason I want to only cook chicken this way from now one. I guess I am pretty sick of the texture/consistency of cooked chicken breast - even cubed or sliced - I am bored of eating it (we have it a lot because it is a healthy, lean protein.)

Here is the recipe I tried last night (adjusted from the one my mom and I read in the magazine Eating Well):

BBQ Pulled Chicken Sandwiches

1. Put boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I used 3 large ones) in a medium pan with 1 inch of water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer gently , turning once or twice, until chicken is no longer pink in the middle. (About 15 minutes)

2.  Meanwhile, combine: 1 3/4 cups cider vinegar; 1 tbsp sugar; 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper, 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper; and 1/4 tsp of salt; in a saucepan over high heat. Bring to a boil. Cook until reduced by half. (About 10 minutes)

3. Shred the boiled chicken into bite-sized pieces with two forks. (I did this in a 9" glass baking dish). Add chicken to saucepan with vinegar mixture and stir until well combined. Cover and let marinate for 10 minutes.

4. Serve the chicken on buns or rolls. (I used toasted hamburger buns, also Jason added Franks Hot Sauce to his.)

I Made Food

Last night, I made food. This is another example of me throwing things together in a weird way, but even though I am older and have access to more and better quality ingredients, the end result in this case is just food. I would like to clarify that making food is different than cooking, and that I have done it before:

The First Instance Of Food Making

When Noah and Kristen started dating, Noah was still living at home with his parents in Mississauga. For him, it was a treat to have free access to our kitchen to cook. For us, it was amazing to have food prepared by anyone else, especially someone as good at cooking as Noah. Literally everything Noah has ever made has been delicious.

During this time period, on a day that Noah wasn't around, I made dinner for Kristen and I. Since Noah heavily emphasizes soy sauce in his dishes, even non-Asian ones, I wanted to branch out and use something different. I think I used a bit of garlic, but mainly, since our fridge was pretty bare, I made a stir fry of chicken, onion, and mushrooms. (Normally my stir fries contain more vegetables which help with the flavor: carrots, peppers, etc.) I tried to flavour it with things we had around that were not soy sauce, and I was too lazy to make rice or noodles to go with it.

Kristen and my reaction? "Umm, yes, this is food." and "Well, I am eating this. It will nourish my body."

It was far from disgusting, but at the same time, far from good. Just bland, boring, and a bit weird. Sure enough, the next day, Noah took the left overs and added soy sauce and served it over rice, and it was super tasty!

Last Night's Making Of Food

Last night, it happened again, and this time Noah isn't around to help fix the leftovers. I also thought I might be making something pretty good! And, I wasn't being lazy, a number of pots and pans were used and I cooked multiple things at the same time!

Tessa's Healthy Cream Sauce
- Chicken broth
- Cooked Cauliflower
- Salt and Pepper
Blended Smooth

Boil Separately (and separately from each other)
- Broccoli
- Pasta twirls

Fry Together
- White onion
- Garlic and Oregano
- Finely chopped Chicken Bacon (which is basically lunch meat)
- Cut chicken breast

In Large Pan (Wok)
- Warm Tessa's Sauce (she had given me a container of it)
- Add Broccoli, Pasta, and ingredients from frying pan
- Half a can of sweet peas (pretty mushy)
- Some tomato sauce for colour
- Parmesan Cheese

So many ingredients! It should have had flavor, but it didn't! It too was just fairly bland and quite weird. It did not work out, not gross, just not good. Jason's reaction, "Well, you made food."

Confessions Of A Backdater

Yes, sometimes I backdate my blog posts on Always Standing. This has been especially true recently since I am trying to do so many series-style posts. I haven't been consistent with Throwback Thursdays, or Wednesday's friend updates. However, I really like always doing a cat-related post on Saturday and the Sunday Mornin' Coming Down series about my dad. Cat-related is easy, but sometimes it is hard to write about Dad, especially since I am trying to keep the Sunday posts positive.

This weekend was really difficult grief-wise. I didn't think it would bother me so much on my birthday but I was really crushed. To quote Kristen, "Everything that is normally happy can now make you sad." It is true, I was devastated Friday night and most of Saturday morning. So upset that I was worried I wouldn't be able to stop bawling and would need to cancel my party. Thankfully I slowly cheered up and my birthday celebrations went on as planned.

I now have a dull pain in my heart and a permanent lump in my throat so I haven't wanted to write about my dad until today (Wednesday). But the French Toast post is true, it was what Jason and I had for dinner Sunday night and for me it was a way to remember Dad without having to outwardly acknowledge it at the time. He died 6 months ago yesterday and it still hurts so much. I don't think the pain and sadness connected to this will ever go away, but I do hope that it stops being so sharp and feeling so fresh.