Thursday, February 28, 2008
Fondant Pig?
The Cake Adventures Continue!
When deciding on a plan for this cake, one recurring theme came up in our research. Fondant icing. This is the really smooth, silky looking stuff that you actually roll out with a rolling pin, then almost "wrap" the cake in. I'm never one to say no to a challenge, so deciding that fondant HAD to be part of this cake.
The only thing is, you either need to buy it premade from a fancy cake store, or you can make it yourself, but need a few wacky ingredient like glycerin and glucose which you don't just find at Loblaws! After extensive online research the conclusion was that there don't seem to be any fancy cake supply stores in downtown Toronto, so following the advice I found on a blog, I headed out to Bulk Barn way out at the far end of the Danforth subway.
Well, it was blazin' cold here yesterday, around -20 by the evening, and windy. I was't quite dressed for a long winter hike, so when I headed out of the subway station and couldn't see the mall that I was expecting in either direction, you'd think the first thing I'd do is head back into the station and ask directions...no, not me. I took a guess, and started walking...and walking...and walking. 15 minutes later, still no sign of the mall, and my face was FROZEN. So I caved in, a flagged down a passing cab and got a lift all the way back in the other direction, past the subway, up a little hill, and poof, right there - a 2 minute walk in the other direction.
Anyways, the bulk barn had everything I needed and more! About $60 more, on decorating equipment, icing colouring, fancy icing knives, the glycerin and glucose, some flavour extracts and a few cookie cutters. (this friggin cake BETTER turn out well!)
The first challenge for the night was making a Fondant Teddy Bear, following some instructions I found on YouTuber. I think my guy turned out pretty well, but i) he looks more like a pig ii) I forgot the little black candy buttons for his eyes and nose. Still, I'm pretty damned proud!
This is my fondant pig!
When deciding on a plan for this cake, one recurring theme came up in our research. Fondant icing. This is the really smooth, silky looking stuff that you actually roll out with a rolling pin, then almost "wrap" the cake in. I'm never one to say no to a challenge, so deciding that fondant HAD to be part of this cake.
The only thing is, you either need to buy it premade from a fancy cake store, or you can make it yourself, but need a few wacky ingredient like glycerin and glucose which you don't just find at Loblaws! After extensive online research the conclusion was that there don't seem to be any fancy cake supply stores in downtown Toronto, so following the advice I found on a blog, I headed out to Bulk Barn way out at the far end of the Danforth subway.
Well, it was blazin' cold here yesterday, around -20 by the evening, and windy. I was't quite dressed for a long winter hike, so when I headed out of the subway station and couldn't see the mall that I was expecting in either direction, you'd think the first thing I'd do is head back into the station and ask directions...no, not me. I took a guess, and started walking...and walking...and walking. 15 minutes later, still no sign of the mall, and my face was FROZEN. So I caved in, a flagged down a passing cab and got a lift all the way back in the other direction, past the subway, up a little hill, and poof, right there - a 2 minute walk in the other direction.
Anyways, the bulk barn had everything I needed and more! About $60 more, on decorating equipment, icing colouring, fancy icing knives, the glycerin and glucose, some flavour extracts and a few cookie cutters. (this friggin cake BETTER turn out well!)
The first challenge for the night was making a Fondant Teddy Bear, following some instructions I found on YouTuber. I think my guy turned out pretty well, but i) he looks more like a pig ii) I forgot the little black candy buttons for his eyes and nose. Still, I'm pretty damned proud!
This is my fondant pig!
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Adventure!
Laura and I are heading out to the Outdoor Adventure Show today. Should hopefully be a lot of fun...we're also in theory looking to buy lifejackets if there's any good ones for cheapish.
We went to see Hayden this week out at the newly refurbished Danforth Music Hall. It was a really nice place, all theatre style seating, but with a nice classy feel. We sat in the 10th row, had a fantastic view, terrific sound...and of course Hayden was wonderful...he even played Trees Lounge!
Went out for dinner with Sara and Dave to Mezzetta, this middle eastern tapas-style place. We tried 20 different little dishes, which was fun, although generally the food was only so-so. Still fun.
It's Laura's birthday next week....need to get cracking. I want to make a fun cake for the party. I'd love suggestions!
We went to see Hayden this week out at the newly refurbished Danforth Music Hall. It was a really nice place, all theatre style seating, but with a nice classy feel. We sat in the 10th row, had a fantastic view, terrific sound...and of course Hayden was wonderful...he even played Trees Lounge!
Went out for dinner with Sara and Dave to Mezzetta, this middle eastern tapas-style place. We tried 20 different little dishes, which was fun, although generally the food was only so-so. Still fun.
It's Laura's birthday next week....need to get cracking. I want to make a fun cake for the party. I'd love suggestions!
Labels: Adventure, Cake, Hayden, Restaurants
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Obay
Really, this post literally is for Muriel.
--
I noticed a few of these ads for "Obay" on the TTC here in Toronto this weekend. The ads are funny, but don't seem to actually relate to any kind of product / company. Must be one of those viral marketing things...get people talking / noticing, and then they'll follow up with another ad that actually advertises something.
Check out the pictures here
"My son had ideas of his own. Obay put a stop to that. From the makers of BecauseISaidSo."
--
I noticed a few of these ads for "Obay" on the TTC here in Toronto this weekend. The ads are funny, but don't seem to actually relate to any kind of product / company. Must be one of those viral marketing things...get people talking / noticing, and then they'll follow up with another ad that actually advertises something.
Check out the pictures here
"My son had ideas of his own. Obay put a stop to that. From the makers of BecauseISaidSo."
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Adopt Pinky / Snow Angels
Well, my mom is in town for the Family Day weekend. Lots of fun! We went out to Comensal for dinner last night, which was really nice. There was a jazz duet - piano + signing, and they were actually quite good! Bonus!
We went to the St Lawrence Market this morning -- I wish it was closer, because I really do love doing my groceries there, and would gladly do 80% of my shopping there if I could...a lot of the stuff is still from Ontario, whereas Loblaws everything is from Mexico, Chile, Argentina, etc. If I was on vacation in those countries, I'd certainly not be drinking their tap water, so why do I want to eat their produce?
Went for a snowy walk in the park near my house with my mom and Laura. At one point we passed a man and his son. The kid was lying on the ground making a snow angel. He looks up at his dad and says "Why would angels want to do this in the snow?"
Also, check out this video, especially Sara and any other cat lovers. It'll really make you go "awwww.....cuuuuutttteee!!!". Anyone wanna adopt Pinky?
We went to the St Lawrence Market this morning -- I wish it was closer, because I really do love doing my groceries there, and would gladly do 80% of my shopping there if I could...a lot of the stuff is still from Ontario, whereas Loblaws everything is from Mexico, Chile, Argentina, etc. If I was on vacation in those countries, I'd certainly not be drinking their tap water, so why do I want to eat their produce?
Went for a snowy walk in the park near my house with my mom and Laura. At one point we passed a man and his son. The kid was lying on the ground making a snow angel. He looks up at his dad and says "Why would angels want to do this in the snow?"
Also, check out this video, especially Sara and any other cat lovers. It'll really make you go "awwww.....cuuuuutttteee!!!". Anyone wanna adopt Pinky?
Labels: Adopt Pinky, Family Day, Market, Snow Angel
Friday, February 15, 2008
Magic Eye
I had a revelation of sorts this week, a veritable epiphany.
I had my first ever true success with one of the Magic Eye things, you know the ones that don't look my much, jsut some splotches on a page, but if you stare long enough they actually have cool 3D images hidden inside?
It honestly magical. I was just whipping through these things one after another..
I had my first ever true success with one of the Magic Eye things, you know the ones that don't look my much, jsut some splotches on a page, but if you stare long enough they actually have cool 3D images hidden inside?
It honestly magical. I was just whipping through these things one after another..
Labels: Magic Eye
Monday, February 11, 2008
The High School Daze
As I'm reading through these scholarship applications, one thing keeps coming to mind: wasn't it SO SO sweet to finish school at 2:30?
That meant that each and every day presented a viable option for "doing stuff". Sure, there was swim practice, or snow shovelling or homework that required a bit of attention, but even with me going to bed around 9pm, the world was still my oyster for a solid 4-5 hours a night.
The best part of the whole thing was that we were ALL finished at 2:30, and were all equally as unoccupied and keen on chillaxing. Compare and constrast to these days where when you factor in my commute I'm not home from work until 7-8pm most nights. I make dinner, and have at most 2-3 hours of free time, but that's usually occupied by some side project or another. Even still, these days peeps all have different schedules, live further apart, have less car access and have girlfriends/wives/boyfriends/etc.
Ah well, I sleep easy at night knowing that we did a pretty solid job back in highschool of fully maxing out of the sweet sweet hours while we could.
That meant that each and every day presented a viable option for "doing stuff". Sure, there was swim practice, or snow shovelling or homework that required a bit of attention, but even with me going to bed around 9pm, the world was still my oyster for a solid 4-5 hours a night.
The best part of the whole thing was that we were ALL finished at 2:30, and were all equally as unoccupied and keen on chillaxing. Compare and constrast to these days where when you factor in my commute I'm not home from work until 7-8pm most nights. I make dinner, and have at most 2-3 hours of free time, but that's usually occupied by some side project or another. Even still, these days peeps all have different schedules, live further apart, have less car access and have girlfriends/wives/boyfriends/etc.
Ah well, I sleep easy at night knowing that we did a pretty solid job back in highschool of fully maxing out of the sweet sweet hours while we could.
Labels: High School
Saturday, February 09, 2008
Fast Clapper
I had NO idea such a thing existed, but apparently there's a whole sport and world record category for Fast Clapping. I kid you not.
This dude can clapp 700+ times in a minute. Check it out, you'll be blown away.
The Worlds Fastest Clapper
This dude can clapp 700+ times in a minute. Check it out, you'll be blown away.
The Worlds Fastest Clapper
Labels: Fast Clapper
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
Who buys these things?
So, most of us are stuck with "low speed high speed internet". I have 1 Mbs internet, whereas most people with Bell / Rogers have 3Mbs or 5Mbs.
The reality is that with 1Mbs, Laura and I can both comfortably be online browing the web, emailing etc no problems. The only downside is that when I want to download a movie, it takes me a while. And by a while, I mean, a week.
Fear not those of you who are actively downloaders, presumably of the legal kind...the iTunes tv shows and whatnot...Videotron in the Quebecois region has introduced the ULTIMATE in blazing, incredible high speed internet.
"The new product, dubbed Ultimate Speed Internet, lets users access the Web at blistering speeds of up to 50 megabits per second (Mbps).
What that means is users won't have to wait very long to watch that new TV show or listen to that hot song. Vidéotron estimates it will take just 10 seconds to download a CD with 10 songs, and five minutes for a movie that is two gigabytes (GB). "
WOW. 2 gigabytes in 5 minutes. THAT is truly incredible. This must cost a fortune. You betcha!
Vidéotron's 50 Mbps service will cost $79.95 a month and have a monthly upload and download cap of 50 GB.
Wait, I can only upload/download a total of 50GB? At roughly 2 1/2 minutes per gigabyte, that means that for the veritable fortune of $80/month you can use your internet to download for a total elapsed time of...2 hours per month. AWESOME!!!
The reality is that with 1Mbs, Laura and I can both comfortably be online browing the web, emailing etc no problems. The only downside is that when I want to download a movie, it takes me a while. And by a while, I mean, a week.
Fear not those of you who are actively downloaders, presumably of the legal kind...the iTunes tv shows and whatnot...Videotron in the Quebecois region has introduced the ULTIMATE in blazing, incredible high speed internet.
"The new product, dubbed Ultimate Speed Internet, lets users access the Web at blistering speeds of up to 50 megabits per second (Mbps).
What that means is users won't have to wait very long to watch that new TV show or listen to that hot song. Vidéotron estimates it will take just 10 seconds to download a CD with 10 songs, and five minutes for a movie that is two gigabytes (GB). "
WOW. 2 gigabytes in 5 minutes. THAT is truly incredible. This must cost a fortune. You betcha!
Vidéotron's 50 Mbps service will cost $79.95 a month and have a monthly upload and download cap of 50 GB.
Wait, I can only upload/download a total of 50GB? At roughly 2 1/2 minutes per gigabyte, that means that for the veritable fortune of $80/month you can use your internet to download for a total elapsed time of...2 hours per month. AWESOME!!!
Labels: Awesome, Internet, Quebec
What a way to go...
Man's death linked to cotton swab use
"Mr. St-Pierre had been a frequent user of cotton swabs, which probably ended up giving him an ear infection through overuse and repeated rubbing, coroner Jacques Ramsay said.
He then used a swab "with maybe a little more vigour than usual," which perforated his eardrum, letting the outer ear's infection travel into his inner ear, the coroner said."
Let that be a warning to all you Q-Tippers out there - avoid too much 'vigour'.
--
Also, LT and I went to the free WinterCity Weakerthans concert at city hall on Saturday (thanks for reminding me Ali, or I totally would have forgotten). They put on a super fantastic show, and there was a pretty substantial crowd there to check things out! It was actually quite a surreal, if not somewhat scary set up they had going on, with literally thousands of flaming flower pots all around the stage - check out this pic to get an idea of what I'm talking about: the aforementioned flaming flower pots. In a "small world" update, I bumped into a bud from Opemikon at the concert!
I was down in Waterloo yesterday doing coop interviews. Pretty decent overall, but I was irked with the scheduling - we had to do all 12 interviews(30 mins each) back to back. 9:30 to 3:30 with no break for lunch. Oi!
"Mr. St-Pierre had been a frequent user of cotton swabs, which probably ended up giving him an ear infection through overuse and repeated rubbing, coroner Jacques Ramsay said.
He then used a swab "with maybe a little more vigour than usual," which perforated his eardrum, letting the outer ear's infection travel into his inner ear, the coroner said."
Let that be a warning to all you Q-Tippers out there - avoid too much 'vigour'.
--
Also, LT and I went to the free WinterCity Weakerthans concert at city hall on Saturday (thanks for reminding me Ali, or I totally would have forgotten). They put on a super fantastic show, and there was a pretty substantial crowd there to check things out! It was actually quite a surreal, if not somewhat scary set up they had going on, with literally thousands of flaming flower pots all around the stage - check out this pic to get an idea of what I'm talking about: the aforementioned flaming flower pots. In a "small world" update, I bumped into a bud from Opemikon at the concert!
I was down in Waterloo yesterday doing coop interviews. Pretty decent overall, but I was irked with the scheduling - we had to do all 12 interviews(30 mins each) back to back. 9:30 to 3:30 with no break for lunch. Oi!
Labels: Flaming Fire Pots, QTips, Waterloo, Weakerthans
Saturday, February 02, 2008
Like you needed another reason...
"Sugary soft drinks linked to gout, say researchers"
The headline caught my attention...I've always been somewhat proud of my resistance to the sweet appeal of soda. While most pops these days have "Zero Calorie" versions, I tell myself that aspartame would give me alzeihmers, so staying away is in my best interest even if it won't make me fat.
Seems like researchers have found one more reason to stay away: GOUT. Ah yes, a perennial favourite. "Gout is a joint disease that causes pain and swelling, brought on by too much uric acid in the blood, which leads to uric acid crystals collecting around the joints. It's most common in men over the age of 40." Besides that, gout has a kick ass name.
Anyways, my triumph was short lived. "The more sugary soft drinks, fruit juices and fruit men consume, the more likely they are to have gout, says a joint Canadian-American study." FRUIT!? FRUIT JUICES! NoOooOoOoooO I eat/drink LOTS of those : ( Looks like I've got gout in my future.
http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2008/02/01/gout.html
The headline caught my attention...I've always been somewhat proud of my resistance to the sweet appeal of soda. While most pops these days have "Zero Calorie" versions, I tell myself that aspartame would give me alzeihmers, so staying away is in my best interest even if it won't make me fat.
Seems like researchers have found one more reason to stay away: GOUT. Ah yes, a perennial favourite. "Gout is a joint disease that causes pain and swelling, brought on by too much uric acid in the blood, which leads to uric acid crystals collecting around the joints. It's most common in men over the age of 40." Besides that, gout has a kick ass name.
Anyways, my triumph was short lived. "The more sugary soft drinks, fruit juices and fruit men consume, the more likely they are to have gout, says a joint Canadian-American study." FRUIT!? FRUIT JUICES! NoOooOoOoooO I eat/drink LOTS of those : ( Looks like I've got gout in my future.
http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2008/02/01/gout.html
