I’ll have a Veinte, iced, cinimon, spilt shot espresso, mint, mocha frappe, latte, crappe, dappe, with a hint of a frothy loan, thanks…

The times they are a changing, we all need to get out there and help our local little guy and BUY! BUY! BUY! All the grassroots protestors need to ban together and hit the streets to get the word out. Signs need to go up, flyers must be passed around and for the love of god let the press in on it.

The issue? There is a company that is in dire need of our support so that it can continue to exist on the small scale that it has for years. Already jobs have been lost and stores have been closed. We need to make sure this does not continue or the company will tank for certain. It is our duty to help out these individuals…

Oh no wait sorry my mistake must have been the cold I have and the breakfast martinis I consumed with my lucky charms this AM. The profits are falling as is the status as one of the most affluent companies in the U.S.

That’s right Starbucks is having trouble. My thought; good, for a few reasons 1. it annoys me that I see one on every single corner when I go to work. 2; they are not a very good role model in the areas of environmental stewardship nor are they to be revered for their treatment of those who pick the addictive coffee bean. 3. Their utter monopolization with cut throat (smart business) tactics of buying out leases of their smaller competitors and adding a shop every few hundred meters to not allow others to open shop. Good business for them bad for the little guy and the market as a whole.

But in all honesty who would have thought that we would be reading an article like this; "SO the froth has been blown off Starbucks' profits." Although it is a cheesy play on words it is still the bold (sorry couldn’t help myself I guess) truth that is now facing the gargantuan Starbucks franchise.

The article itself outlines how the Coffee juggernaut has actually lost 97% of their profit in the fourth quarter. The company has attempted to mitigate this loss by "…cutting nearly 1,000 non-retail jobs and closing 600 outlets, including 61 of its 84 cafés in Australia.

This seems to be interesting trend that is affecting many larger corporations and many having their starts in the U.S. Obviously the markets volatility is not helping anyone but usually the big guys are not hit this hard. In this case that isn’t the only factor. It seems that many individuals have simply lost interest as research is showing less traffic to these outlets.

Regardless I personally attempt to stay away from Starbucks and purchase more fair-trade an help out local coffee shops but must admit the Grande bold pulls me in from time to time.

Sauce Junky

Ok I know it is the Ottawa chicken and rib fest and I know that they're a "must try" but if you really want good chicken and ribs that actually have flavour and don’t taste like 10lbs of sauce, then the Fortier Boys’ smoker is the best.

Pulled pork, ribs and chicken are addicting at events like these b/c they are marinated in sauce then covered in sauce and then drenched with more sauce. The sauce is filled with butter and sugar resulting in many calories. Not saying these guys and gals can’t cook. They are some of the best smokers and griller's around. Just the comparison, to me, is night and day.

See chicken and pork or both great sources of protein. Chicken being the leaner healthier of the two but pork has received a bad rap that is unjustified. If you choose lean cuts of pork, and eat in moderation, it can be a great source of healthy protein. Of course pork ribs are not the ideal cut if they are done properly and a proper portion is consumed, not the hungry man special, then you can have a relatively low-calorie meal.

But the best option -to me- is what we do as you get the best of both worlds. Marinate chicken, ribs or beef in usually a homemade sauce (my father has a new bourbon sauce recipe that is awesome) with a sparing amount. The idea is just enough to infuse flavour -not overpower- and tenderize. Then if it is a smoker pick the wood chip flavour that will do just right, start the fire close the lid and let them cook. Roughly 8 hours and a few beers later, you have smoked to perfection meat that tastes like meat. The added bonus there isn’t a ton of unhealthy sauce dripping down your arm and face.

That being said chicken and ribs at these events are a great treat to try once and a while in moderation. Just stay away from the 'Hoggers' special that included three different forms of saucy pig. I contemplated sharing half a rack with my wife just to try them but for the price health wise and they are not cheap either ($13 for half). We decided to have a coffee, veggie wrap and Bridgehead's Tuna sandwich, that is a must try, and sat by the canal. Much healthier with lots of flavour and it just seemed to be what I was in the mood for at the time.

Friday was a complete day of rest with the plan to golf. Although they forecasted for rain in many areas I was confident that the course -St. Lawrence University- we were going to that it would be fine. And it turned out that I was right. We had a couple scares with some cloud and drizzle, but for the most part it was sunny.

For our first round of the season, and not even having a chance to hit some balls at the range, we both did rather well on a course we had never played. And the shoes worked out extremely well. Really comfortable and gave me the traction I was missing with my old ones.

Due to the long day of golf Friday, several beverages Friday night and finally travel and errands on Saturday, it too became a rest day. I hate taking two days off in a row but with a few possible overuse injuries it was probably for the best. Except that with the bug to golf we decided to walk a 9 hole round yesterday afternoon.

The weather was perfect and the golf was extremely better then just the day before. Our drives were long and straight and short game was coming together nicely. Plus we had the added bonus of walking the entire course for some exercise. Add to the the previously mentioned fact that I did not indulge in the ribs it allowed us to enjoy our vice with a few refreshing beers after the round and while we BBQ in the sun.

This morning it is back to the gym and I am happy to be back. I will post my workout later. It also had another tee-time this afternoon with a few buddies but with the on and off hard rain we are having this morning I assume that will be a rain cheque for this week. But with 27 holes down in the first weekend of golf I can not complain.

Whiskey and Fruit Infusion.

Although my wife is the food blogger I had to post my latest food and drink adventure. I love to cook and try all kinds of new recipes on the grill or stove top alike. When it comes to drink I am not usually a big mixed drink fan. I will have the odd gin and tonic, rye and ginger or glass of scotch on the rocks. But other then that when I want a refreshing drink at home or out with friends it is usually a pint. But I happen to come across a recipe that I just felt I needed to try for the summer.

I was reading one of Tracy’s LCBO magazines and came across an interesting article about the ability to infuse a couple fruits with Canadian whiskey. The smooth flavour of Canadian whisky was said to accent certain fruits well especially when infused. I thought that this might make an interesting mix and the summer is always a good time to try something different for the fun of it with some sun and friends.

The drink I was looking to have is a Cherry Sour. Like most sours they are whiskey and a small amount of lime juice or sugar, very simple drinks but often sweet in nature hence why I am not usually a fan of them. This sour would have a slight twist the whiskey will be infused with cherry and apple first. I chose Gibson’s Aged 12 years whiskey 750ml, 1 golden delicious apple and half a pound of cherries. The recipe calls for 2 cups of apples and 2 pounds of cherries in 750ml, I personally believe that this would have been far to much and would have made the mix too have too much of a cherry taste for my liking.

Pour bottle of whiskey into a jar that can be sealed well. I chose a mason jar as it seemed appropriate. Core, peel and chop the apple into cubs. Seed the cherries and chop as well. Oh by the way if you happened to have went out the night before -as I had went to a friend’s wedding which was a great time but did not get in till late and had several beverages- you make this concoction be sure to put the lid on the jar when the whiskey is in it and while you are chopping the fruits. The scent of the whiskey was making me a little nauseous and making my head swim.

Ok so now dump the fruit into the jar of whiskey seal it and let sit for 3 to 10 days. I am going with the 10 days as first I am in no rush to have this plus I think that it should have the ability to proper infuse and figure I might as well leave it for its full length.

Once it is ready for the sour the infused rye will be poured into my rocks glass along with the juice form half a lime and some ice. Many recipes call for powdered sugar but don’t think that will be necessary and would actually make it far to sweet. Nice and simple but all those flavours together I believe will deliver a refreshing drink.

They say to pour the alcohol to your mix before discarding the fruit. I am really curious to know what the fruit will taste like at the end of the 10 days? Probably just pure alcohol and will be tossed immediately, or I could really play with someone and make them an alcohol induced fruit salad without telling them, that would be a little mean though I suppose.

Not sure why I was prompted to make this yesterday but as my wife made homemade healthy granola bars I decided to infuse whiskey with fruit. But I thought that it might be an interesting drink to share with a few friends. We will see in over a week how it turned out and how many people actually liked it. Now to find some taste testers who actually like whiskey?

Come on Snow! Ok not just yet.

Although there is no snow to be had I was in need of a project and decided to complete my ski conversion. Well I wasn't really in need of a project I merely wanted to do a fun one as opposed to packing or cleaning the house. Thanks to my wife I received an awesome pair of Rossi's for Christmas. This meant that the bindings from my old skis could be now used on a pair of backcountry skis that I received for free from a friend that had no use for them anymore.

The process was rather simple as first I simply removed the old bindings. Of course I hit a snag while doing so as a screw became progressively stripped and I had no choice but to bore a hole directly into the screw past its head and was then able to simple snap the head off. The binding was now free and I was able to move onto the mounting.

This is a rather simple procedure. One thing that helped was that I had installed x-country ski bindings at Trailhead in the past so I had an idea of what I was doing. To my knowledge no one came back with complaints, although that could mean they never made it out of the bush...

Any way the toe piece is the hardest part as it needs to be so many inches fore of center. Once the toe piece is in place simply line it up left to right so that it is completely center and merely use the mounting plate to mark the holes. In the case of dark skis, which I have some black on mine, simply start the hole with the drill bit. Remove the mounting plate and bore each of the holes, warning; measure how long the screw comes through the plate into the ski. Once you know this depth mark it on the drill bit with some tape as to not go directly through the ski!

Once the toe piece is mounted it is as simple as sliding the boot into the toe piece locking it into the heel portion of the binding and marking where the binding meets the ski. Remove the boot, align the heel piece to the line on the ski and mark or bore the holes as required.

Apply appropriate glue to the holes and never use epoxy as it will dry out the foam core of the ski and you will end up with a binding attached to your boot as your ski slides down the mountain and you into a tree or hopefully fluffy pile of snow.

Now the test. Put your boots. Clip into your bindings. Stand in your skis like a dork in the living room or area where there is a decent amount of space. Now jump around, lean and arch to make sure they will actually hold. If you wake up with a gash on your head from where you cracked it off the coffee table and have snapped the bindings clear out of the ski you obviously didn't do a very good job. If all goes well and the skis hold it is finally time to open a beer and admire the hard work you have accomplished. Ok not hard work but there was some work involved so enjoy the beer anyway!

For a project such as this I would personally recommend something from a small brewery or a microbrew. Sam Adams always comes to mind, McAuslen's Appircot is decent but a little on the sweet side after a couple. A new one that I might be attempting this afternoon will be Mill Street's Organic Ale or possibly their Best Bitter. Regardless of which I chose I will be sure to pass on what I thought of it.

Now to find some backcountry snow???

Choke

Although the movie Choke isn’t being released until August, I finished the book within a couple weeks as I could not put it down. The book: Choke by Chuck Palahniuk, author of Fight Club.

I will not ruin anything for those who might chose to read this book. The most inspirational thing for me was concerning his writing style. It is not the average book that fits into the ‘normal rules’ of writing, if you will. It seems similar to that of older literature (Kafka comes to mind) from the late 1800’s and/or early 1900’s where for example; one word -if used properly- could be an entire sentence to describe an event, person or what have you.

His humour and overall feel of the book are honest, bold, dark, and dramatic. The main character, along with some secondary characters, gives you a range of feelings from frustration, anger, disgust and empathy. They are those people we don’t think much of in life that often surprise us in the end. Palahniuk implements time shifting and leaves the reader in the dark until the moment to let you in is ideal. Description is key and as a good author he enables you to envision what your imagination believes the scene looks like as opposed to over explanation or attempting to force a specific image in your mind.

But I think what really spoke to me was Palahniuk’s ability to write openly and honestly no matter the subject. And from reading other things he has written like ‘Guts’ it truly seems -to me- that his underlining message in some of his writing is that the majority of people hide from things even if it is put directly in your face where you will turn and ignore it. Many will criticize that it is merely a way of shocking to be shocking. Although some of it is shocking -especially Guts- I truly don’t see it that in Choke.

Basically the idea with the honest and open writing style I sum it up this way; humans ignore discussion or will not face things, let’s call them ‘taboo’ in ‘polite society’, which exist b/c of the way we have been taught over time. We were told to react to these issues, like sex, or being to embarrassed to get checked for colon cancer or masturbation just for a few examples, in a certain way, yes this is to help with development, protect us and respect others which is all good, but can shape our mind and make us withdraw.

So when it comes to a book like this it is nice to read something that does not hide from things that might make us blush. Essentially we have all experienced the same or similar things and he merely uses extreme cases to make the point that we can not ignore what we all experience, "Tyler and I just gave it a name."

The negative issue for me was an overwhelming feeling, in certain parts of the book that made me think it could have been called "Sex Club" and been in a series with Fight Club. Only b/c there are similarities in characters and overall feel. Which -from my experience- most authors have generally an ongoing feel to their books b/c these characters are those they relate to.

The other thing was that it left me wanting more. But this can quickly be seen as a positive b/c I didn’t feel that the book was unfinished because he ran out of creative juices but actually b/c I just liked it so much.

Great Weather, Being Active and BEER.

I had written a post about the book Choke that I have just finished. But there seemed to be something wrong with the explanation and the point I was trying to make. So instead of trying to do it half ass now I will wait till tomorrow.

The other reason is that it is just to nice out to be inside writing right now. After work Tracy and I completed our long wrong of the week and are rather beat. The heat was a new change and the 14km seem a little grueling in the end. But after some water when we got in and some relaxing we are now able to enjoy a few beers. Speaking of which I have tried a new discount beer -which I usually stray away from. Priced at $26.00 it is a buck-fifty cheaper then the Keiths I drive to costco for and waste the gas. So for now my new beer will be James Ready.

Get out there and enjoy this weekend as it will be a stellar one. I know I am planining on some muddy trail mountain biking sunday and we will see what else comes my way. Enjoy your activities and come home to your favorite beverage.

Hike For the Cure, Update

As I stated in a previous blog, that from 2008 on, the Hike for the cure would now be renamed; The Marjolaine Perras Hike for the Cure. Although that has not changed I have been struggling with something and have realized that it is the best decision for this year. So with out waiting anymore I am very upset to state that the donation drive and hike will be postponed to 2009.

You can not imagine how disappointed I am in this decision but due to many, many things that have come up in the last few months it is just not feasible. To truly put the effort into soliciting donations, working with the Canadian Cancer society on media and other things, along with planning the route and doing the hike itself could not be done this year.

I will continue to make my donation this year and encourage anyone who is interested in doing the same and I can take donations from people. What I might do is try and collect some donations stating that Tracy and I will be hiking the Alps for 7 to 8 days in September and the donations that I will try to collect will be put on a sheet under the hike for the cure name. Same thing applies donations of $20 or more get a receipt but all donations no matter the amount are always welcome.

I am also working on a tribute page on the Canadian Cancer Society website. This will be a tribute site for the hike to explain more about it and a way of honoring all those touched by cancer. It will also allow for donations to be made from those who may be further distances away but would still like to help out.

In continuing with our fight against cancer we constantly look for ways of maintaining our health. Tracy is always making great meals that keep us extremely healthy. She has entered a recipe to "Cooking to Combat Cancer #2". Here recipe, Mexican Black Bean Salad, is posted and was the recipe she finally decided to go with-not that she was going through a hundred recipes over and over again for the last few days, no she wouldn’t do that.

So to all those who are interested in donating please contact me anytime. One thing that I had said was that I was challenging everyone to get out to the 2008 hike and do a distance that was comfortable for you. This will not change. Just b/c I am not having the event this year does not mean that you are off the hook. Get out there, be active, be healthy, enjoy life, explore and do something that scares you. -This is meant to be encouragement please don’t take it as preaching.

We only get one life to live and at the end of it when we are at our last moments on this earth we only regret the things we didn’t do. So I say this b/c I care and want others to be healthy and happy; Keep up with your daily activities, hobbies, physical activity and what not, but always remember to just GET YOUR ASS MOVING.

Grab a Beer and Take a Hike!

When finishing a full day of physical activity be it hiking, mountain biking, skiing or whatever your passions are, there is nothing better then rewarding yourself with a fine beverage. Usually in the summer when long days of hard hiking in extreme heat end a refreshing beer is first on the list. In Canada it’s pretty easy with Becks, Corona, Keiths but most of my big hikes are in the U.S. in the Adirondack region. So the choices range from Rolling Rock, Sam Adams and so on. MGD and High life get throwing in there from time to time as they go down like water.

I drink the two latter beers for three simple reasons they are a) cheap, b) cans get colder in a cooler, and c) CHEAP. A case of 30 cans works out to 26¢/can with mail in rebate and without it is 39¢. I have no side affects that I know of yet but I will keep you posted. I have no side affects that I know of yet but…sorry seem to be repeating myself what was I talking about?

But when the cold winds of winter blow in, snowshoes, skis, skates come out and winter activities fill our days. After a day in the bitter cold a tasteless cold beer just doesn’t cut it. There is need for malt, caramel, chocolate, and bitter flavours. There is a need for a hardy beer, which although served cold, will take the chill out of those cold nights. From years past I have enjoyed Guiness, Kold (which I can not find any more), by Big Rock breweries, Upper Canada, Creemore, Sam Adams and so on.

But while skiing in Vermont last week, I required a stop at the Jay Country Store, in Jay VT. I saw the Bud and MGD cases lying there with cheap stickers on them for 12 and 18 can packs. I saw the regulars Sam Adams, Becks and so on. But then I made an amazing find when I came across some of Vermont’s own Long Trail Brewery selections. They have several regular beers they produce along with some seasonal selections. I will get back to the beer in a second.

Long Trail is a great brewery for many reasons, one in particular that I enjoyed learning about when I returned home, is that they pride themselves on being and ‘Ecobrewey’. They use a smaller area to manufacture their ales taking up less space means more green space and less energy something Vermonters’ strive to conserve -also stating it is less costly.

They use 1/3 the water to brew then the industry standard and on top of that the water they remove from their bed rock they replace the water only after it has been treated properly as to not pollute the water source. Most companies that state they ‘replace’ the water they use usually do not treat or test the water before they do resulting in shocking the water and killing anything that was once healthy in it to turn it to a polluted mess of water. For more take a look at the link here.

Ok back to their seasonal brew selections. While in the store I could not resist trying the Hibernator. The picture on the side of the case is honestly what sold me. The bear maxing out with a book and a bottle of the Hibernator as his daily trophies hang above the fire place. So always hesitant with new beers I was hoping it wasn’t just a funny picture that I would end up with.

Back at the condo I popped the cap off and was amazed by the flavour. Hibernator is a truly delicious beer containing a malty, caramel and chocolate finish that removed the chill from the long day of skiing. The price at ~$8 a six made an excellent beer that much better. I rank it up there with Sam Adams as one of my top favorites. My only regret is that on the way home I didn’t stop it and get a case of this tasty beverage. If you are ever in Vermont grab some Long trail Hibernator, it alone is worth the four hour drive, believe me.

Hmmmm Cider I mean BEER!

Not really sure how this happened, but I have become a fan of cider. Maybe it has something to do with me getting older and my taste buds have matured along with me -yeah right. But it is true I was out with a few friends drinking pints on a hot Saturday afternoon when a few of them ordered a strong bow. To which I correctly asked "why are you pansies drinking cider?"

They all quickly told me that I had to try a pint of cider in-between ‘regular’ pints on a hot day as it is refreshing, blah blah blah. As the day grew longer and the afternoon became unbearable my mouth grew dry. I was drinking water to maintain hydration as it was going to be a long day, but the water was not appealing.

Finally I decided to see what the fuss was about. So after I finished my pint of Guinness I ordered a Strongbow. I couldn’t believe that they were right, but they were. Extremely refreshing and I was completely rejuvenated.

It is not something I will have often and maybe one if I do as I do find it too sweet, plus they will also catch up on you if you have too many. So I guess I was wrong and those who enjoy cider can go on and do so, not that it mattered what I thought of it anyway, just trying to make myself fell better.

I have always loved trying all different kinds of beers over the years, and have found that my palate truly enjoys a good bitter, stout, and skunky lager. While reading a few new things at ratebeer.com, I came across some fun and interesting things.

For example when I was looking at the 50 top worst beer I came across a beer that can’t be worse then its name Lucky Lager Force 10, way to go Labatt. Another was the list of strongest beers around the world and taking #1 is Hair of the Dog Dave with a mind numbing -literally- 29% alcohol. I would probably not want more then one of those bad boys, but I have to say I am intrigued and would love to try it or some of their regular beers.

http://www.hairofthedog.com/

While looking at the top beers fighting for the best American brew, I was really surprised to see that SA Boston lager was not on the list. It is such a great brew. I must be honest though I have not had the chance to try a lot of the beers on the list of top American brew. I have tried some and must say they are good but I can not say anything for the others.

There are all kinds of fun things at http://www.ratebeer.com/

Maybe this will require some research, I guess the best way would be to try as many as possible at differing establishments in the US, or at least heading over the border and buying as many as possible at a store and coming back to see what the big deal is from the comfort of home. Hoho either way sounds like an outstanding idea to me, anyone interested?

Knowing me this will result in heading to the IGA right after crossing the border and finding maybe 5% of the special brews I am looking for and saying "Forget it buy the few special beers they have and grab that 30 case of MGD cans for $10" why not I haven’t went blind from it yet. But I think there is road trip potential here.

Res Ipsa Loquitur

An interesting discovery

I am usually not one to buy American beer unless I am in the US for a weekend or longer and have no choice. When I am there I usually stick to the cheap beers MGD 30 cans for $10cdn. Or if I want something that actually has flavor with a decent price I usually get a twelve of Rolling Rock. I usually prefer beers in a green bottle to get that almost rotten “skunky” taste you get like beck or heiny.

While picking up some pints I was a little bored and needed a new taste. I happened to see a six of Sam Adams. I have heard that they pride themselves on having a kind of micro brew taste and I am always up for a micro brew especially bitters. Plus they were founded and are still located in Boston, MA how could I go wrong everything green and Irish.

Quick history Samuel Adams Beer Company started in 1985 by the great-grandson of some guy who was making beer under a different name in the late 1800’s. The grandson -Jim Koch- teamed up with the Doctor, Dr. Joseph Owades, who created light beer in the 70’s, wow a beer Dr what a great job. He was actually a PhD in Biochemistry and after WWII he started working for a Yeast and brew company in Boston. Here he tinkered with all those bubbly molecules and ended up creating BEER’S weaker and dimwitted brother light beer. They have 10 regular beers and make a few seasonal brews.

Back to the task at hand. I grabbed the last six of Samuel Adam’s “Boston Lager” and was on my way. Warning!!! No twist offs and unless I happened to have a bad batch or didn’t know my own strength, I snapped the top off of three of the beers and lost half of the brew each time my six was down to a four. Second warning!!! I should mention that not only do you not want to consume broken pieces of glass, the consumption of alcohol should be done in a responsible manner, of course beer is not alcohol so consume as much of it as fast as you wish.

Ok, First things first; like most beers this one needed to be really cold and the first one I had was not exceptionally cold. But the flavor was excellent. Nice bitter flavor, full, rich malty and hopy with a caramel flavor similar to that of “Griffon Pale ale” and a light Guinness. The lager has a great amber colour and a soft white head that if poured properly –not out of a broken bottle- is rather small. All in all a great tasting beer for $11.50cdn which is a decent price when you consider that Keith’s is $12. They are the smaller 330ml bottles which it shouldn't matter but always seems to.

While on the topic of beer I use to buy a beer magazine just before college partly for the knowledge of beer but mainly for the great pubs and bars around the world and their unique attractions like one that I think it was in Nevada or something and had over 125 taps of beer, and it was self serve.

You paid a fee and were able to try any beer that you wanted. Tracy remember the other day when you asked me what I believed was in heaven –bc of my strong catholic background and it was a good question- well heaven is somewhere in Nevada and I am sure that if I went there for the brew I would end up meeting my maker.
Any way to substitute this magazine I have now found a couple decent websites on beer and beer related activities and products. I have become more of appreciative the many differing tastes of beer and ‘ratebeer’ is more of people posting about beers.

http://www.beer.com/
http://www.ratebeer.com/

So if you enjoy a bitter beer that is a little heavier then your average lager but lighter then a stout you would enjoy the Samuel Adam’s Boston lager. Come on only great things come out of Boston right, The Drop Kick Murphy’s, their MLS soccer team - New England Revolution- are excellent, Boston College and their athletics, and of course the Bruins, oh wait scratch that last one dammit…

Forts –music- I had to listen to the Murphy’s while writing this…

P.S. For anyone interested a road trip to Boston when the Murphy’s are playing as well as the New England Revolution, or the Bruins and a tour of the brewery of course.