Battle of Ingredients: October 2019 Fall BBQ

Its been a long time since our last Battle of Ingredients! To be fair, we did have a dinner outing (or two) during this hiatus but it wasn’t nothing that I particularly wanted or had time to write about but the group got back together on the last weekend of October to get in a final little BBQ session. Phoebe made a few version of ribs and brought some assorted veggies while I did some drumsticks and butternut squash for the grill and brought some extra stuff to pad the menu in case there wasn’t enough food.

Drinks

As usual, our friend provided the beverages. This time, he went for the assorted pack of Pepito’s Sangria which had three varieties: Sangria Blanca, Sangria Rosada and Bella Sangria. It had different non-alcoholic wine bases although there was still 4% of alcohol content in it so its a bit odd. Its light and fruity. I only had the Sangria Blanca and Sangria Rosada because the other one was the red wine base so while its non-alcoholic, it was more of a precaution. Sangria Rosada definitely had the berry flavors more while the Blanca was more the harvest fruits like apples and pears.

Main Dishes

Kim

To kick things off, the first thing I made was Chicken Drumsticks. They are covered with the Dim Sum Dry Rub that I had bought previously and had already used before. It was a busy weekend so still working with the more familiar recipes. The last time I had used it on chicken wings and it still worked really well with the drum sticks. We had given it a little time to sit covered between tossing it on the grill.

Butternut Squash seemed like a nice fall addition to the menu. Squashes are in abundance now so its always great to add them in. Its hard to cut but then I had done a similar recipe from Goodfood before in the oven and decided to give it a shot on the grill. This is done really simple. We just peel and then cut it into pieces, remove the seed and then sprinkle with salt and pepper and then its ready to put on the aluminium plates to grill. I forgot to add some honey to give it some sweetness at the end but that was supposed to be the plan.

As the additional stuff in case there wasn’t enough food, I went out to M&M Food Markets and picked up the veggie burger patties (because they were on sale) and also the dinner rolls. I can’t say that I liked either of these very much. The dinner rolls turned hard really fast and the patties tasted a bit odd so still on the hunt for a good veggie burger patty.

Phoebe

Lack of pictures on my part but Phoebe did make two types of ribs. The one above is the Korean Galbi style attempt which turned out pretty good. I eat rather bland food so I thought it was a little on the salty side however, for normal people who eat regular flavored food, this was pretty on point.

Her second style which is not here because it came off the grill after we started eating was a Honey Soy Sauce which is her little one’s favorite.

Finally, the last dish to show itself is an assorted veggie platter to grill. It had both yellow and green zucchini, asparagus and Portobello mushrooms.

Overall…its a bit of a normal little Battle of Ingredients but as a little BBQ to get back into the routine of things, we had a lot of fun. Everything turned out pretty good and we had a nice balance of vegetables and meat. The alcohol was also very light and fruity.

Next up in the Battle of Ingredients is our normal November hiatus as we go and explore MTL a Table offerings. Right now, we have 3 booked in (and shouldn’t have more than that on our side at least). With that said, the first one has already happened as this post goes up so that’s coming up very soon.

Hiking: Owl’s Head

More hiking was set for us on that week of staycation we had. With a little research, we found our second location which is rather nearby to Montreal also at a offseason ski resort, Owl’s Head. I’ve only ever heard of it before. Owl’s Head, just like most ski locations but hiking spots in the summer/fall, are really another type of beast. They have some designated paths but mostly, its a free walk uphill. Owl’s Head was no different. In fact, the trek up was pretty intense. it was incredibly steep and pretty tiring for such a short walk. We didn’t make it all the way but we did get almost there except for a winding path that went up to a booth or ski station or something. However, the view along the way opened up over a lake and with the leaves changing colors, it was really breathtaking.

Here are some shots of what we saw. It gives an idea of how steep it was and also the views we saw. On our way down, we actually encountered a cute little fellow and I took a little video of it.

And for our little porcupine encounter. This porcupine is definitely not full grown but then I’m not a porcupine expert. It was adorable as heck as it walked around forward and in circles and forward more and then went up the hill. It was a slightly windy day so sorry about all the windy  noises.

A lovely  little location for a short but challenging hike. It was getting cooler that day and on the hills near where we saw the porcupine, there was frost forming on the grass. Still, we enjoyed it a lot. Sometimes, hiking can really get to us and we want to give up but when we turn around and see all the natural beauty around us, it gets us all pumped up again to go higher and makes it all worth it!

Fall Decor!

Its a gloomy and windy Sunday! We have a few plans but Fall is among us and we’ve been preparing for winter’s arrival which is supposed to be incredibly harsh this year. Wood is stocked up and windows are cleaned (mostly).

Today’s post is simple! I’m slowly figuring out how to breathe some life into the house with just more colors. When I do make it all lively, it also keeps me motivated to keep it clean all the time! Plus, some of this isn’t exactly fall decor but more just closing the garden outside and bringing stuff back in.

A nice trip to Michael’s came up with some fall fake flowers (on sale!) and first bouquet we put together in the den is this cooler tone one. The pumpkin is actually a real decorative pumpkin that I bought at the Atwater market. A few more in the decor in the dining room.

A little shadowy but here, we got a new plant stand from IKEA. Very much needed since my cat is a plant eating monster and we need to prop plants up as much as possible. Below is a little experiment I’m trying with oregano to grow it in water since I read a few posts on it on Pinterest. So far, its doing pretty good. As of yesterday, it grew out roots already. Maybe I’ll try to do that with basil and have better luck. Its just with this, changing water regularly is going to be the hurdle to remember.

Next decor, is this fall bouquet that we put together from that Michael’s trip mentioned above. Also with decoration squashes from Atwater Market trip. My mom gave me some lovely apples and we’re working on eating those and making pies (recipe coming up).

In the yard,I took the picture a little late yesterday after some vicious rain that ended this morning so the flowers are not looking as good but very nice chrysanthemums! I bought this just a few weeks ago so they should be around for next season as well.

Finally, I cut in some fall flowers from the yard and put them next to the computer (aka my workstation). Its been my companion along with those cranes sitting on my light which was my first wedding anniversary gift from my husband. He made ten and that means a lot because he isn’t very good at origami so he added a cute note giving them a really creative name that I want to use for something. I’m working on figuring out how to put that either as a segment here or a change in the Youtube channel name is it has a lot of unboxing and gaming material mostly. I’ll see if it can come into use.

A simple post for today. It was supposed to go up yesterday but I took a day to just relax and catch up some movie watching and all that wonderful stuff as I face the reality that NaNoWriMo starts in a little over a week and I need to start not only getting ahead with posts for Halloween but start preparing for posts in November to not get in the way of trying to be on track or ahead with my word count.

Happy Sunday, my lovelies!
Hope you enjoyed this extremely random post! 🙂

Announcement: Halloween Month!!!

October is here! You know what that means? The official announcement for the start of Halloween/Autumn month!!! 

I have a ton of fun stuff planned for this Halloween month. Let’s start it off!

Horror marathon: SCREAM franchise & EVIL DEAD franchise

We are continuing this year with the Wes Craven franchises and doing Scream! I’ve only ever seen Scream 2 before and I don’t remember much. However, I am a little nervous about Evil Dead. I hear its pretty scary. Still, I’m going to be put on those big girl pants and give this a go.

Horror Marathon: Other Movies!

Of course, my movie marathon will never been just 8 movies! I have been neglecting my own movie collection so I pulled out a few movies that I haven’t seen yet either because its from my husband’s collection when we moved in together or just movies we bought that I haven’t had the time to watch yet.

However, I do have a few titles I want to look at as well from Netflix! I doubt everything I post here will be seen. As you will see, I have a lot planned and there is only 31 days of this month so I just have to keep it balanced. For Netflix, here is a quick list I’m looking at.

• Sharknado 3
• Bone Tomahawk
• Insidious: Chapter 2
• Sinister
• Scouts Guide for Zombie Apocalypse
• Extraordinary Tales
• and more….

Which of these or any other ones currently available on Netflix do you suggest I watch? I’m totally up for suggestions.

Books & TV series

On terms of books, I have a few selections in my Kindle that I wanted to get to. I already started reading it and the first of the reviews will be coming around this week. Since reading takes a bit more time, I’m doing shorter reads like graphic novels and novellas. If I do manage to get through a full book, that would be great. For this one however, no suggestions. I already have a general list slated out from the current books I own. I need to keep my own promise to clean out the Kindle before buying more books.

As for TV series, we’re doing a few TV binges. I can’t promise how many there are however. For now, the first to show up will be a mini series that I kind of started but didn’t finish before because I got distracted by other things. Other than that, I’m aiming to get Scream Season 2 done and of course, Scream Queens. We’re going to be screaming a lot. 😉 And yes, I am debating Stranger Things. Its not listed as horror but it is considered scary on Netflix.

On a side note: If  I do get Scream 2 done, then I will be launching the new segment I’ve been thinking about for a while. I’ll be talking about that a little more if that does happen.

Autumn themed segements: Food & Crafts

I know some of you aren’t exactly horror fans so for that, I promise you that I’ll keep it entertaining. I have some baking projects planned so recipes will be up. I’ll try to keep it assorted from desserts to breakfast to dinner and maybe even fun cocktails or drinks.

Also, I’m going to try my hand at some crafts. Recently, I got a few decorative pumpkins so I’m going to try to do something with them if I can. And other decorations to get back into doing these fun, creative bits. Crafts are time-consuming and special so I usually reserve it for themed months like October.

Segments that won’t stop because of Halloween month

I know that Autumn and horror might not even be your cup of tea. That is okay. If you come here for travel, the Vancouver and Kelowna weekly travel posts will continue. If there are restaurants to review, I will do so as well and those days will be double post days. Also, Game Warp Podcast announcements will continue. This month happens to be Halloween themed and darker tones. On top of that, we have a special day coming up which is my 1st Wedding Anniversary so maybe I’ll do something with my husband and that day is non-horror for us and on the blog. Before that, we also have the Unboxing and Recap for Miss Fresh somewhere in the month. I can’t remember if Meowbox is also coming this month or next. And tomorrow starts off with a horror-themed unboxing as well!

Unfortunately, after going through my schedule, I decided that Netflix A-Z will resume in November. November is also NaNoWriMo and I’m debating on whether to join or not. I am a little overloaded this year but I do have some really great ideas so we’ll see how well things go. 🙂

Gaming and Twitch Streams

Some of you aren’t exactly interested in the gaming segments but if you are and happen to stop by, I will be streaming horror games on Twitch. My highlight will be Until Dawn which I’ve been meaning to be play forever. I actually have an early access point and click adventure as well which I may be streaming soon (like in the next few hours from when this post goes live). You’ll have to check out the Game Warp Podcast Facebook or Twitter (@GameWarpPodcast) to get those streaming hours. For now, I usually stream sporadically over the weekend. If I finish it, I might do Slender: The Arrival or maybe start Outlast. I haven’t quite decided yet. Or just follow me on Twitch and you’ll get the notification when I start a stream. My Twitch channel is HERE! Actually if you can help me out, I’m trying to get at least 50 followers so if you are interested in game, help me out!! 🙂

That’s it for the Halloween/Autumn month Announcement!
It replaces the Weekly Adventures segment.

Have fun and enjoy! 🙂
Please drop any movie suggestions!

Montreal & Autumn Events I’m Looking Forward To!

We had our Midautumn Festival yesterday with my mom otherwise called the Moon Festival.  Some of you may have went out to check the lunar eclipse and the Supermoon hanging in the sky.  I did look out and watched the moon for a little while but I have a perfect view sitting in my office chair in front of the computer at home so it works out just fine as I was drafting up posts.

Regardless, that is the sign that Autumn has arrived for us at home.  Its time to make all the seasonal changes and its with this I introduce to you this new seasonal segment (that I hope I’ll remember to do at the change of every season…)

As most of you know, I like to cover some Montreal events and some in the surrounding area. I figured I’d do it in seasonal doses. Usually, I do some research overview once per season to get a good idea of what to visit and try to make time especially for the big events.  These are the selected few that I’ve decided to try to make time for.

21 Swings at Quartier des Spectacles
(August 6 – October 18, 2015)

I’ve talked about going to this event for years.  And I never managed to get there even though its literally just in my backyard since its just a few blocks from where I work. We did drive by it recently.  So that is something.  I did finally see the structure so that’s a start.

Foresta Lumina (Website)
(now – Oct 11 weekends)

Focused on highlighting the park, its natural beauty, and its mysteries, Forest Lumina is a night-illuminated pathway created for one of the most-travelled trails in Quebec, famous for its suspended footbridge, the longest in North America.-Foresta Lumina website

This one might be a little hard to find time to go do since its only two more weekends available.  But we will try and hopefully it will make a return next year if we miss it.  Its been in our plans for the entire summer and time just flew by and we never got the chance to go. Hopefully, we will find time.

Halloween La Pocatiere (Website)
(Sept 15 – Oct 31, 2015)

I’ve never seen this one before. It could be that I never searched so much further for a Halloween adventure.  But since we do have some time off, it might be a good idea.  A little Halloween labyrinth in the corn fields sounds like lots of fun.

MTL a Table (Website)
(Oct 29-Nov 8, 2015)

I went to three of the participating restaurants for this event last year. It was a blast to try out new places and spend some time with friends. This year, I’m not sure who is going with me but the menus have just been released along with the restaurants, so I’m going to give that a look and book a few 🙂

La Grande Degustation (Website)
(Nov 6-7, 2015)

Last year, I went to La Grande Degustation.  This event is a wine festival and last year’s highlight country was South Africa so it was a lot of dry white wine.  Honestly, I’m not a huge fan but there were some really great finds there.  This year, I haven’t quite figured out who is going with me.  My best friend said she might but the featured country is Spain.  It could be fun to try it out and see what new tasting experiences await.

Honorable Mentions:

• Montreal International Black Film Festival (September 29-Oct , 2015)
• Cinemania: French Film Festival (November 5-15, 2015)

Are there any events near you that you look forward to attending this Autumn?

That’s it for this new seasonal segment.  
Next one will be in December for Winter/Christmas events! 🙂

All in A Week(end)’s Work (plus some blogging help please)!

I have no idea how to title these things anymore.

My highlights of the week are so similar that they really don’t have any titles.  Maybe I’ll just give it a segment name, once I figure out something witty and fun 🙂

Moving right into  this past week..it was a short work week because of Labor Day weekend and the weekend came incredibly fast with a few little fun things!

1) Completing Nike Training Club program on Saturday night

Its been hard to get back on this whole working out routine.  The first was the hardest of the program where I felt my body didn’t belong to me.  I could barely do push-ups anymore and every move was a mega chore.  By this last week, I was able to pull off a good bit of burpees, push-ups, even figured out the whole plank row deal once and for all.  I’ve sweated buckets and buckets of sweat over the last few weeks and although I did the Getting Lean (Intermediate without running) program and I’m not sure I got that lean but it sure did make me feel absolutely fantastic 🙂

Now its back to one or two weeks of self-disciplined workouts.  If I can keep it up for a month thats great, if not, I’m jumping back into Nike Training Club for the Getting Toned program.

2) ARROW Season 1

Montreal Comiccon is this coming weekend and for that, I went on the mission to binge-watch Arrow Season 1. Arrow is amazing.  I love the main character but everyone else is fantastic.  Its absolutely fun to watch and I’m pretty sure I’ll be done in a night or two at the pace I’m going 🙂 I’m going to admit that I love watch Stephen Amell as Oliver Queen doing those crazy workouts (shirtless of course), I also love the rest of the cast. Everyone is just so awesome! 🙂

I think the CW dishes out the most series that I like. Its pretty amazing!

3) After Work Adventures: RedBall Project

“ Through the RedBall Project I utilize my opportunity as an artist to be a catalyst for new encounters within the everyday. Through the magnetic, playful, and charismatic nature of the RedBall the work is able to access the imagination embedded in all of us. On the surface, the experience seems to be about the ball itself as an object, but the true power of the project is what it can create for those who experience it. It opens a doorway to imagine what if?…That invitation to engage, to collectively imagine, is the true essence of the RedBall Project. The larger arc of the project is how each city responds to that invitation and, over time, what the developing story reveals about our individual and cultural imagination.”– Kurt Perschke 

RedBall Project is travelling the world to spark imagination.  Has it landed in your city yet? You can check it out: HERE

4) After Work Adventures: Fountain House

Fountain House is a temporary exhibit on the streets on Montreal.  Its built on the concept of water flowing throughout and the idea to celebrate drinking water.

The Fountain House is first and foremost a space open to the public, like a park. Inside, at the centre, there is a basin with water flowing in it. Why did we choose to celebrate drinking water, a public good that might seem rather mundane? Precisely because we take it for granted, and we tend to forget the previous generations that built the infrastructure that now allows us to benefit from this resource.- Quartier des Spectacles

Its open to the public till October 26th.  It has water flowing down the center, the plants on the side grow (I presume), and they have stairs to go up where you can look out into downtown around us.  I love water so this was a pretty sweet concept.

5) Getting out right in time

On Friday evening, the sky went dark shortly I left work.  Taking my time, I’m walking to the bus terminus, hoping that it doesn’t rain.  And then it does.  I feel the first drop and then the drops come a lot faster right when I spot where I am and dash up the stairs to the OACI building, which is part of the underground passages in Montreal.  As I went in, I got out of the rain right in time.  Another 10 seconds and I would’ve been completely soaked.  Yay to perfect timing or should I say, being at the right place at the right time 🙂

6) Saturday: Friend’s Birthday Brunch and Shopping Ventures

Saturday was one of my very good friend’s birthday.  He’s almost like my brother and we hang out quite a bit.  For his birthday, I usually offer to take him out for a meal, this year it was at this brunch place in Old Montreal that he’s been talking about forever called Le Cartet

Pastries to start!

Green Jasmine Tea

Cappuccino

Brunch des Cantons

That was possibly the best brunch I’ve had ever.  For one, the coming in the cast iron pan made it so delicious and a very unique experience.  Plus, everything was cooked in duck fat which just melts in your mouth.  Except it also means, I probably won’t eat this all the time, for my health’s sake.

After that, he wanted to go shopping so we went on a little venture around town and ended up in Mountain Equipment Coop out across town since that one is gigantic.  I managed to get my boyfriend and I a new hiking backpack and got myself a yoga brick because I’m not flexible and to avoid injuries. One of the few purchases that day, along with a few movies: The Shining, Moon, Weird Science.

A very fantastic day with good company and nice chats! Hanging out with friends is really quite awesome! 🙂

7) Sunday Gardening 1: Fern 

Everything deserves a chance.  With that in mind, I decided to give my fern a second chance.  It was looking monstrously huge and just totally out of control.  I gave it a little trimming and pruning.  Took some branches out (dead and alive), shrunk its size and gave it some structure and voila! I think its looking pretty nice! 🙂

8) Sunday Gardening: Autumn Flowers

I haven’t quite finished with fixing up the side area in the front yard but I pulled out the frustrating vine plant and now the area is completely clean after I cut a part of the tall stems that are done blooming.  Things are starting to look good.  This week, Rona had a fantastic sale on Autumn Chrysanthemums so I thought it’d look nice in that spot. After a lot of pulling and cutting and shovelling, these two got planted and ready.  The one on the right is coral and the left is orange chrysanthemums 🙂

I can’t wait to see them bloom!

Now to end this off, there are a few highlights which I’m going to give an update for some coming blogging stuff!

• I have drafted a general list of movies that I’d like to watch for Halloween marathon but I’d also like to give you all a chance to choose what you’d like to see so I’ll be putting together a small poll soon.
• The original plan to do recommendations month in September is not happening as I want to continue to put extra focus on books so BRING ON MORE INDEPENDENT WRITERS! 
• Pinterest Therapy session coming up!
• I owed you all a review showing my new movie crush. That did not happen last week unfortunately since I’m shifting my schedule a little, but it will go up in the next few days 🙂
• Following that, I’ve been thinking of making a new segment either for Crush of the Week (or something along those lines), highlighting an actor (or sometimes actresses). Maybe it’ll be a monthly basis.  It really depends how impressed I am with what I’m watching. Is that a yes or no for you?

To recap, a few questions this week:

Do you know where to find online yoga routines?  Have you seen Arrow? Have you started fall gardening yet and what are your favorite autumn flowers?

What do you think about a new segment for sexy actors or beautiful actresses? 

Thats all for today! Happy Monday! 🙂