Hey all! Last night, we had a spectacular sunset here. here are a few pictures we got from our deck. As always, pictures of sunsets never show the depth that you see with the naked eye, but it’s still pretty none the less.
All posts by Scott@SCK
The Sunday Post for August 23rd
Greetings there my intrepid readers (both of you!)
In an effort to redeem myself for my slacking on the site the last few weeks, I have added a couple of recipes and a post or three for your reading pleasure.
On the recipe side, Cornbread Muffins are now up, as are Green Eggs and Ham. I still have a list of other recipes to do up, and will get on them as I can. If you have a recipe that is of your own creation and wish to share it, let me know and I am happy post it up and credit to you!
On the posts side, I have reviewed our visit to The Burning Barrel Cookhouse, a Roadside Picnic, Ribfest and some killer Lemon Meringue pies from the Bohemian Bakery found only at the Kamloops Farmers Market.
And then there is a short story about true puppy love…
Thanks to all who come visit, I hope you will come back again sometime soon!
Scott
A short story of true puppy love…
You know your puppy loves you true and strong, when he bounds into the living room and jumps up on the couch beside you all excited like. Then he turns, looks at your laptop (ironically, on your lap) and pukes on your leg, just missing the computer.
That is true puppy love…
Romantic Roadside Picnic Dinner
Last night Kathy had a Miche order to deliver to some great folks in Vernon. She had to work, so it was to be an evening run. Dinner would be something along the way.
Now, the road between Kamloops and Vernon is a beautiful drive, but there really isn’t much as far as dinner choices along the way. There are a couple of small joints, not outside of consideration, but I decided I wanted to do something a bit different.
Along the route is pretty little body of water, a place called Monte Lake. There are a few roadside pull outs along the lake, and being it was a gorgeous day, it struck me that it would be a neat spot to stop for dinner. And with that thought, a plan began to take shape. In the morning I had made some cornbread muffins to test the recipe for the site, so they would become part of the meal. I just needed something suitable for a roadside dinner entre on a warm summer’s night.
After thinking about it a bit, I settled upon the Shrimp Cocktail Entre as it was a one plate meal, could be prep’d ahead, assembled easily roadside, and fit in the picnic backpack without issue. Then a couple of Ginger Spice cookies from a small vendor at the Farmers Market for desert, a bottle of chilled wine (a de-alcoholized Shiraz Rose – which was quite nice actually), and some browned butter spread for the muffins and we were good to go.
When Kathy got home from work, she could smell the garlic, onions and bacon, but when she came into the kitchen there was nothing to be seen. Before she could ask any questions, I got her in the car and on the road for Vernon. She had no idea that I had squirrelled away the picnic dinner and folding chairs in the trunk of the car.
As we were passing along Monte Lake, I pulled off into one of the pull outs. Kathy looked at me and asked why we were stopping, ‘was it for a roadside pee break?’ I responded that no, it was dinner time. She got a quizzical smile on her face, as she started to realize that I was up to something. She followed me to the back of the car, and when I reached in and handed her a folding chair, she beamed at me with a huge smile, and just said “Really?!?!”.
I proceeded to turn the hood of my car into a picnic kitchen. I unpacked the containers with the food, dressed the salad greens, plated them and topped with the bacon and prawns. I spread a bit of butter on some cornbread muffins and poured the wuss-wine. We sat our chairs at the top of the bank above the lake, basking in the sunlight glittering of the water, the car shielding us from the roadway behind. It was silly, romantic and one of the most special dinners we have had in recent memory. The smile on Kathy’s face made all the work and scheming worthwhile, the sun glowing off of her face as she enjoyed my little surprise was really cool.
After a really fun and relaxing dinner, it was time to pack up the picnic and get back on the road. We shared the cookie dessert as we drove, and just enjoyed the glow from our romantic roadside dinner.
I share this just to share how a bit of creativity and planning can result in a really special experience. If you don’t have a picnic basket/bag/kit, it really is worth getting one or making up one for yourself. It lets you take your dining experiences to new and unique locations, where special memories can be made.
Here are a few tips for things to add on to your picnic supplies list:
- Heavy Duty paper towels, one or two dry for each person, and one or two wet in a zip lock
- Disposable gloves to wear while putting your food together
- A bag for garbage
- A bag or two for dirty dishes
- Salt and Pepper just in case you didn’t nail the seasoning during cooking
I really encourage you to try out your own romantic picnic for two sometime. It can be a fun and memorable experience. Think of a special place you both would like, then put on your sneeky hat and pull off a special surprise. I find the planning and scheming the surprise to be a lot of fun for me, and the reward of the look on Kathy’s face is really cool.
Happy Picnic’ing!!
My latest excuse for lack of recipe testing…
Hi there my intrepid reader!
I am going to try and make some progress here with the site this weekend. We have finally completed the work getting the house ready to sell, then the long weekend and Ribfest passed so it was just looking like I would be able to get some work done in the kitchen, and some posts done here.
Not so fast it seems… I am a tech nerd in addition to being a foodie, so when Microsoft offered a free upgrade to Windows 10, I was all about it. Now, given that I was going from Windows 7, it was asking a lot of my laptop. However, I did the tests and it showed that it was good to go.
I ran the upgrade, and it went swimmingly. I had a few days of working with Windows 10, and really liked it. Then it hit…
Upon a cold boot up, I was greeted with a black screen with a white cursor arrow – that was it. Out comes the tablet so that I can do some research, and ultimately I settle on resetting the machine back to Windows 7. That went relatively uneventful, but a few hiccups did result. So I decided to wipe the laptop, and start clean with Windows 7 from a factory image.
Sounds time consuming, doesn’t it? That’s cuz it was…
Now, I am not only a foodie, and a tech nerd, but I am also a stubborn cuss (and all those that know me are all yelling in unison the letters O, C & D). I really did like Windows 10, and I am not reasonable enough to just give up and run on Windows 7. So, back to installing Windows 10 again…
Sounds time consuming, doesn’t it? That’s cuz it was…
So, the laptop is currently back running Windows 10, and so far so good. I do really like 10, almost as much as I hated Windows 8. Well, probably not as much as I hated Windows 8.
Sounds like I really hate Windows 8, doesn’t it? That’s cuz I do….
I am going to try and get back in the kitchen here over the next few weekends, and get some of my recipe’s back in testing. Hopefully the laptop stays operational, and I can get back to the project here, instead of indulging my computer mechanic alter ego!
More to come!!
Kamloops Ribfest 2015
For the last few years, the weekend after the August long weekend has been big doing’s here in Kamloops. We have a trifecta of events – Music in the Park, Hot Nights in the City, and Ribfest. It is a great weekend of music, classic cars and BBQ – and BBQ – and more BBQ.
Now, I am a devout Meatatarian. Green ‘stuff’ is my foods food. And at the pinnacle of the meat pyramid, is Prime Rib, but that is a subject for another day. Right under Prime Rib, is any suitable cut of meat that is cooked low and slow, and in the presence of copious amounts of hardwood smoke. Done properly, cheap tough cuts of meat come out tender, juicy and full of all sorts of flavour. This is the world of BBQ.
Oh, I should probably explains something first – that propane box on your deck is not a BBQ – it doesn’t do BBQ, and while it can grill up some great food, it is just that, a Grill. So, what is the difference? Glad you asked! A BBQ is a cooker box that cooks meat, preferably over indirect heat, at around 220 degrees, for hours – and hours – and hours. It is what they call “Low and Slow”. This breaks down the connective tissues and turns them into a juicy flavourful addition to the meat they are in. Combine that with the smoke from the hardwood of choice, and a rub for the meat, maybe a mop for while it is cooking, and you can start to see where BBQ is much more an art than a science.
BBQ really is an art. Every region of the south has its own take, and despite the competitiveness that comes from the sense of local pride, each has its own amazing flavour. Each Pitmaster has his or her own way of preparing the meat, seasoning it, and cooking it. At Ribfest, a half dozen of these meat artists come together with their huge smokers and all the supplies to compete in front of judges and us common folk to take home the trophies for best in a variety of categories.
For me Ribfest represents two things. First, it is a weekend to indulge in the amazing food put forth, and to use my taste buds to learn from what each of the teams is doing. Secondly, it is a chance to (over, way over)indulge in BBQ without having to do anything more complicated that pull out my wallet. No cleaning the smoker, no rubbing down ribs, no brining chicken – just go eat. And by saying over indulge, I mean to the point of ridiculousness (and infamy at work).
Ribfest starts on Friday at 11:00 am. Perfect, make it a Brisket sandwich from Prairie Smoke and Spice for lunch. Then let’s see – what should we have for dinner? Oh look, there are ribs over there! And chicken… and cornbread… and beans!
Saturday ends up being a carbon copy of Friday, just different competitors offerings. Sunday, we broke with the pattern and went for a single rib tasting meal, with half a rack from 5 of the 6 competitors. We had ribs, chicken, brisket, pulled pork, beans, slaw, cornbread, ice cream and mini donuts – at least those are the things I remember.
Now, I have to stop and this point and express my love for a very special lady, and her son Steven and his sweetheart Merq. They, without complaint, followed Sir Pork of Gluttony from booth to booth for 3 days, consuming a slightly less ridiculous amount of Q than I did. I normally do the cooking for us, and this is my weekend off, so they were great sports to allow me this indulgence.
I could spend pages and pages going over the offering each competitor put forth. Fortunately for you, the pages of my notebook are stuck together with BBQ sauce. And besides, if I have to explain what good BBQ is (if I could), you won’t understand. I just have to point you in the direction of your local Ribfest, and let you discover the amazing textures and flavours that you can create with brisket, ribs (beef and pork) chicken and pulled pork. Only then will you understand the attraction and addiction of real BBQ. And if after you experience it you don’t see the magic, that is fine cuz it means more for me! 😉
As mentioned, Ribfest in Kamloops combines with Hot Nights in the City. This is a car show that stretches for a dozen blocks or so in downtown, the streets are closed off and there is every type, size and shape of vehicle you can imagine. Oh yeah – and if you show up at night for Hot Nights in the City, you will be SOL – it happens in the daytime. I don’t know, I just report the news <shrug>.
And throughout the event we have Music in the Park. Sponsored by BC Lottery Corporation, this is summer long live concert series that takes place each and every night in the Riverside Park. The stage is concert worthy, and the variety of music over the season encompasses every kind of music you can imagine. For Ribfest this year, we had tribute bands on Friday night covering Pat Benatar and Heart, and then a Tom Petty tribute band on Saturday. Perfect for the Ribfest happening in the same park space.
If you’re new to Q, or just love good food and like trying new things, you have to hit your closest Ribfest. If you’re near Kamloops, you need to come here and experience not just Ribfest, but all of the other things that the weekend has to offer.
Hope to see you here next year!!
The Burning Barrel Cookhouse
UPDATE:
On October 14th, Cat and Joe announced they have parted ways with the Burning Barrel. I don’t know what the reasons were, but we are sad to hear this as we know how excited that they were with the restaurant. We wish them the best, and time will tell how the BB does without thier passion for the Q and customer service.
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In our hometown of Kamloops, like everywhere these days it seems, we are overrun by McRestaurants of every description. Chain restaurants abound everywhere, some of which are decent enough, but all seem to be generic and not really offering much originality or character. Many have a shtick of one sort of another to try and stand out, but the food is pretty much the same. Good locally owned restaurants struggle against the name brand recognition, and all too often we as consumers pass these local eateries by because we want to play it safe when spending our hard earned money on a meal out.
This really is a shame, because we tend to miss out on some amazing food. Food made with love and pride, by people who call our home town – home. It might be local fare, or food from another region that they are bringing to a new home, but it can be creative, unique and just different to what the chains offer.
A great case in point is The Burning Barrel. Cat and Joe started their adventures on the Kamloops food scene with their rockin’ black food truck serving amazing authentic southern BBQ food, the smoking done right on the truck. Many a lunch was planned by looking our office window and seeing The Pig Rig parked at 2nd and Seymour… There was always as a crowd, and the food was always excellent.
Based on the success of the Pig Rig, Cat and Joe decided to go to the next stage and open a year round brick and mortar restaurant. I had opportunity to chat with them a few times last year, as they were dreaming and planning their new baby. It was so neat to be able to see the enthusiasm and excitement as they shared bits and pieces of the plan they were nurturing.
After an unimaginable amount of work, they have brought forth their creation, The Burning Barrel Cookhouse. It opened a couple of weeks ago, and unfortunately I have been slow getting my gastric system back to normal after Meatapalooza (Ribfest) so we haven’t been able to stop to check them out until tonight.
Kathy and I stopped in for dinner on our way back from some errands. We parked and walked into the restaurant, and immediately we were enveloped by the wonderful smell of BBQ. The room is the perfect size, and every table has a great view of the Thompson River valley to the north, and tonight we even got a beautiful sunset reflecting on Mt. Paul.
Cat met us at the door, and seated us at a table right by the window. She told us we had just missed the dinner rush, so our timing was perfect. We pulled up at our table, and our drinks orders were taken. We took quite a while going over a really well put together menu, offering not just amazing BBQ, but dishes to accommodate kids and those for whom the pleasure of BBQ is lost (not going to try to convert you folks, cuz it means more Q for me!!)
Now, as previously mentioned, we are still working off of the effects of Ribfest. As a result, we chose to go with pasta based dishes, but mine still got in my BBQ fix. Kathy had Smoky Gnocchi, and I had a Pulled Pork Mac ‘n Cheese. To go along with the dishes, we went with a square of cornbread to give that a try.
Our orders were taken, and while we waited we had a nice visit with Cat. She works the front of house like a proud matriarch, making sure that everything is just right. Joe was in the kitchen making sure that things back there were just as perfect as she had things out front.
Our meals arrived in a very reasonable time, hot and looking very appetizing. We tucked in, and they didn’t disappoint.
The Gnocchi was really, really good, and the smoky tomato sauce was chunky and flavourful.
The Pulled Pork in my dish was perfectly done, mixed with elbow mac done to perfection, homemade cheese sauce and a healthy dose of melted cheeses on top. It was homey, hearty and a great way to indulge a BBQ fix without going ‘all in’. And I promise Joe, next time we are by, your ribs are on my plate. The corn bread was a great touch, and remarkably close to my own recipe. Not too cakey, not to dry, just sweet enough… just the way we like it.
At the end, we were completely satisfied, and that is going some because we had some lofty expectations based on my experience with Cat and Joe and the Pig Rig. We have nothing but kudo’s for both Cat and Joe for coming out the gate with a great product and a super experience for our dining dollar. Awesome food and great local people combine to give Kamloops a specialty eatery deserving of your dining patronage.
Please check them out, enjoy an awesome meal and let Mr. Mike McEarls know that these local restaurateurs are here to give them a solid run for our money!
Smokin’ good eats!!
Lemon Meringue Pies
Today I went for a walk at lunch in downtown Kamloops, as I tend to try to do on busy days. Gives me a break from the phones and emails, and lets me just relax for a few minutes.
Wednesday is a Farmers Market Day in Kamloops, a great little event that is held on Victoria Street. Todays was actually a bit bigger, they had shut down a couple of blocks of the street to expand the market. The selection of fresh produce was spectacular (if your interested in that kinda thing), and there was a great variety of wares, meats, foods and baked goods available.
In my wandering, I stopped in at a booth for Bohemian Bakery. This is a small family bakery, specializing in wedding and special occasion cakes. They had an awesome selection of baked goods, buns, cookies, breads… and individual lemon meringue pies.
Now, I love lemon meringue pie – we both do. I have sampled many a pie, and worked on a lot of recipes over the years. So, given the chance to take home yet another version to my Chief Food Taster (CFT), I was up for it. Two pies to go please…
After dinner tonight, I got one of the pies out, and being quite big enough for two I figured we could share.
Fast forward 15 minutes, and that plan has gone down in flames. Both pies are gone, and I have a new favorite lemon meringue pie.
The meringue was perfect, really and truly flawless. The lemon curd was beyond description – huge citrus flavour, perfectly tart and sour without being bitter, with a consistence that was thick and smooth. This was the pie I dream of making.
If you find yourself in Kamloops, and have a chance to catch the Farmers Market either mid-week or on the weekend, you owe it to yourself to pick up a couple of these little gems!
Meatapolooza
Well, it has been a busy time in our home the last couple of weeks. That combined with a crazy week at work, and I haven’t had much chance to do anything here.
Kathy and I have decided to sell our home, and downsize a bit. Anytime one makes such a decision, there is a lot of work that comes along with preparing for listing. Oh… and I guess we need to find a new home too. It will (may) all happen in good time, but at the moment things are just a bit busy.
One of my periodic projects, is to cycle thru the contents of the deep freeze. Frozen prepared meals resulting from past projects and experiments, as well as ingredients for something yet to be created hang out in the cold waiting to be called into action. As most things only last so long before the process of freezer burn renders them less than useable, I do try to work thru the contents from time to time.
Then once the space is created, it is back to stocking the upright freezer with new creations and ingredients. For the last week or two we have worked thru the meals, and this weekend is ‘Meatapolooza’ – the celebration of taking various meats out of the freezer and running them thru the smoker. Todays projects were pork chops and chicken thighs, as well as a couple of sausages that were left over and begging for a hit of smoke. Tomorrow will be a dozen of my Italian burger patties and a handful of Turkey Burger Patties. Then I have about half a prime rib roast that will see some smoke, just not this weekend.
Part of the motivation for doing a Meataplooza is that I need to begin to prepare my digestive system for next weekend – Ribfest!
I will post from the Ribfest, as my gooey fingers allow. We have two major events next weekend, a great car show called Hot Nights in the City, as well as Ribfest which I refer to as Meat Sweats in the Park.
Alright, off to pull the chicken from the smoker. Take a minute if you have time and check out todays culinary creation, Savor Apple Sauce.
Enjoy!
Trials in puppy potty training…
Or – When ya gotta go, ya gotta go…
We are currently going thru stage 2 of puppy potty training. Harley is now 9 months, and he has had the whole ‘I should go outside to do my business’ thing down pretty good for a while now. We add an extra degree of complication, in that we have a concrete ‘Pee Patch’ in the yard that is where they are supposed to go. It allows us to sanitize the area, and keeps damage to the grass to a minimum.
Harley has been resistant to using the patch, and today I fenced in a section so that we can put him in it and he can’t escape. That just ratcheted up the battle of wills – he will sit and look at me, but will not go. Eventually I let him out, because hey, we don’t always have to go.
After dinner tonight, we settled into a movie and surfing while Harley and Eve played in the dining room adjacent to our living room. They were roughhousing about as they so often do, when suddenly Harley appeared at the door with a panicked look on his face.
He had to go, and as they say – ya gotta go when ya gotta go, cuz if you don’t, when you do you will find you’ve already gone. He turned and made for the back door and the urgency of the matter hit critical mass. Unfortunately, while he did make for the back door, things were already in motion.
I have never seen so much come from so little – of a dog. There was no need for a correction, he knew that what was happening wasn’t good and we were laughing so hard at the entire situation we couldn’t have even if we wanted to. Not that we did want to, this was just one of those things that happens with a new puppy in the house.
We’ll get there… eventually… And we now have a squeaky clean country kitchen floor.
S
A little update…
I have just posted a Beef Queso Sauce recipe, something that takes Nachos to a whole new level. It is quick and easy, and keeps in the fridge very well.
I have also completed the final test on the Fish Taco’s. I made a couple of minor changes, so if you have copied it down before today, you will want to do so again.
As with all of the recipes, these are made to our taste. There are countless variations possible, and I encourage everyone to add to or change the recipes, and share the result!
All the best,
Scott
Recipe update
Well, as I think I’ve mentioned previously, many of my ‘recipes’ are not a lot more than a list of ingredients in my notebook. As part of assembling them for posting to the site, I am having to create directions for what to do with said ingredients.
In doing so, I am finding that I need to ‘proof’ many of the resulting recipes one more time, just to make sure that nothing got lost in translation. This is slowing the process of getting recipes on the site, due to limitations on time and caloric intake capability.
I will be proofing these recipes in the weeks to come, and adding them as I do. In the meantime, as some member of Royalty once said “let them eat pancakes”.
Stay tuned, there’s more to come!