Just as I was winding down at the office today, I decided to check the CBC website for my daily dose of Canadian news and saw that there were reports of the power going out in Toronto's downtown core. I thought: "Self, it's a good thing you don't travel down the Lakeshore to get home anymore. Cause that would suck."
Famous last words!
I get on the highway at the 404 and Sheppard to head home only to find that my exit to the 401 has come to a complete stop. Hazarding that some kind of accident has happened, I switch over to the DVP south instead. And lo, there was indeed some kind of massive accident that had caused the entire westbound 401 express to be closed off. So I missed a bullet that way, but I knew I was still in for some pain because I was heading directly through the heart of Toronto, where none of the stop lights were working. :(
Most of the intersections on the Lakeshore were being directed by police but still... INCREDIBLY FRUSTRATINGLY SLOW. But when I went to take my usual "EFF YOU LAKESHORE" detour, I suddenly found myself surrounded by really high fences, concrete barriers and a massive grandstand hahaha! I was basically racing through the Indy track all on my own and although I wasn't going very fast, it was still hilariously awesome. It was like a real life Gran Turismo, LOL.
By the time I got to my subdivision, I assumed all was well because the stop lights were working at all nearby intersections. But when I drove into the parking garage, I was treated to some extremely weaksauce emergency lighting and basically pitch black darkness, because the power was out in my complex. Turning my high beams on in the underground did NOTHING. And then when it was time to get out of the car, I couldn't see A THING! Like I said, PITCH BLACK. It was like a real life Resident Evil, as I strafed and stumbled towards the tiny, tiny sliver of light in the distance that indicated where the exit was.
Thankfully, the power came back on half an hour later, so I have air conditioning and a functional fridge. And that was my day.
Showing posts with label hijinx. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hijinx. Show all posts
Jul 5, 2010
Oct 20, 2008
Misadventures In Cooking
Or would that technically be "Misadventures in Baking"? Ah well, it was a misadventure in any case. ;P
Here's the story. A few weeks ago I was watching the Food Network and I saw someone do the following:
- melt a saucepan full of sugar
- add red wine and let it boil off a little
- add some kind of herb
- add olive oil and butter
- cook leeks the resulting mixture
I thought it was an interesting concept and wanted to mold it to my own preferences today. I would melt the sugar, add the red wine, add in some ground cardamom, add the olive oil andbutter margarine, and cook sliced pears in the resulting mixture. No problem, right?
BUZZT! WRONG. Hahahahaha.
I guess when I added the red wine to the sugar, the sugar hadn't completely melted yet, and the red wine was room temperature and caused the sugar to solidify. To my saucepan. Also, the sugar had been gradually melting at an even keel but when the red wine hit the pan it started bubbling in a rather violent way. So I had to take the whole thing off the heat to prevent the red wine from going crazy. But that meant I was stuck with big chunks of solid, slightly caramelized sugar sitting in the pan. In the end, some vigorous stirring at low heat kept the red wine happy and the sugar eventually melted. Eventually. After eons of stirring.
Adding the olive oil and margarine made the concoction easier to deal with, but I realized I had put a tad too much red wine into the concoction; I wanted to sear the pears, not poach them. But it was too late to change that, unfortunately. Also, by this point I was stressing a wee bit and did not have the patience to grind down some cardamom, so I went a different route: imitation vanilla. After adding the vanilla I just let the damn thing simmer for long time. In the end, it didn't taste too bad. The combination of red wine and vanilla was great. But the pears were indeed poached and not seared; I didn't get that touch of caramelization I was looking for. Next time, I will probably start with a smaller amount of the wine (a white one so that the pears don't look weirdly coloured) and add in less sugar as the wine heats up, cause damn that liquid was insanely sweet. And I'll use both cardamom and vanilla to flavour.
Here's to hoping my next attempt won't be so hilariously chaotic.
Here's the story. A few weeks ago I was watching the Food Network and I saw someone do the following:
- melt a saucepan full of sugar
- add red wine and let it boil off a little
- add some kind of herb
- add olive oil and butter
- cook leeks the resulting mixture
I thought it was an interesting concept and wanted to mold it to my own preferences today. I would melt the sugar, add the red wine, add in some ground cardamom, add the olive oil and
BUZZT! WRONG. Hahahahaha.
I guess when I added the red wine to the sugar, the sugar hadn't completely melted yet, and the red wine was room temperature and caused the sugar to solidify. To my saucepan. Also, the sugar had been gradually melting at an even keel but when the red wine hit the pan it started bubbling in a rather violent way. So I had to take the whole thing off the heat to prevent the red wine from going crazy. But that meant I was stuck with big chunks of solid, slightly caramelized sugar sitting in the pan. In the end, some vigorous stirring at low heat kept the red wine happy and the sugar eventually melted. Eventually. After eons of stirring.
Adding the olive oil and margarine made the concoction easier to deal with, but I realized I had put a tad too much red wine into the concoction; I wanted to sear the pears, not poach them. But it was too late to change that, unfortunately. Also, by this point I was stressing a wee bit and did not have the patience to grind down some cardamom, so I went a different route: imitation vanilla. After adding the vanilla I just let the damn thing simmer for long time. In the end, it didn't taste too bad. The combination of red wine and vanilla was great. But the pears were indeed poached and not seared; I didn't get that touch of caramelization I was looking for. Next time, I will probably start with a smaller amount of the wine (a white one so that the pears don't look weirdly coloured) and add in less sugar as the wine heats up, cause damn that liquid was insanely sweet. And I'll use both cardamom and vanilla to flavour.
Here's to hoping my next attempt won't be so hilariously chaotic.
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