It's another Election - Will you Vote?

I hope you do.

Every year, every census, every election I'm reminded about the privileges we have and the sacrifices made for our Country by service men and women, (like my Grandfather), thoughtlessly putting themselves in harms way so we can enjoy the freedoms that make Canada a society to be proud of.

If you aren't sure it is worth it, or just plain weren't planning on voting, here's an archived blog post by the deceased Derek Miller - a friend of a friend who passed away last year. Terminally ill with Stage 4 colon cancer, he researched the issues, the candidates and made the herculean effort to get himself to the poll to vote, knowing it would be his last opportunity.

I'm sure you'll be able to take the time to mark your ballot on April 23. Won't you.

http://www.penmachine.com/2011/04/to-vote

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Register yourself online at www.voterlink.ab.ca or call the toll-free number 310-0000 (then dial 780-427-7191)

For more information regarding Election 2012, check the Elections Alberta website <-click for the link

Watch for Advance Polls if you can't (or don't want to) vote on election day.

Opinion time!

Weigh in everyone.

I recently discovered that the search widget on this site won't work if I don't turn on PUBLIC in the settings and let Google crawl it.  So I removed it. Muh. That didn't make me happy when I wanted to share a link with someone and had to go fishing for the page by hand.

I didn't want to make the blog a search engine destination, trying to avoid the bots and other unnecessary hassles of blog monitoring, but, well, without me telling you where to find something, or you using the listings by tag and filtering through them on your own… it's going to get messy.

What say you?

Hilarious! Eat it don't Tweet it.

Oh my.  Well, it's a problem for some of us.

We aren't allowed to eat!

Not one bite.

Until the photo is taken.

Heaven forbid the phone or camera has a low battery, or chokes up and has to be rebooted. HORRORS!

If you've had the urge to capture that cupcake, you might think …a little more about it now!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukdoK3l4aM4&feature=youtu.be

Trying out a new layout and template.

Tell me how you like it - IF you even like it.  Let me know what you don't.  I'm not talented designing, so I rely on the skill of folks who make stuff look good.  There was another template that caught my eye, so if this one doesn't cut it, maybe that one will.

Comments? Crazy ravings?

Toss your Toaster! New Products From Kinnikinnick

Smashing news! If you haven't heard yet - Kinnikinnick has launched a new product line! Available nationwide this month. I have to say, I've been privileged to try the bread a bit in advance, and I was thrilled. You'll see why in a bit.

To check it out, go to Get it Fresh!  If you're from outside the Edmonton area, visit www.kinnikinnick.com.

I'd heard some whispers about a "new" product coming out, last fall. I know product development takes time, and maybe it wouldn't even make it to retail - some products resist all efforts at consistency, and all the will in the world to be…well, GOOD. I didn't want to get excited about it until it was real. Well, around Christmas, I'd heard it was VERY real. I was gifted a loaf. I was very honoured to receive it.  I shared it with my family, and did some taste testing of my own.

Living in the same city as the bakery (bakeries, actually) and the storefront, I admit it's a bit unfair, if I time it just right, I can get it fresh, barely cooled, sliced and bagged.

credit: Kinnikinnick website

And is it good? QUITE!

Soft White Bread! It's HUUUUUGE! A FULL sized loaf - just like regular bread! (You can it on the right, see the comparison on this page.)

And it IS soft.  Do you remember that mass-produced white junk in a bag - how it squished? Well, this bread squishes - AND springs back! It doesn't crumble and fall apart.  It makes beautiful, toasty grilled cheese - but wait!

IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE TOASTED TO TASTE GOOD!

Gluten Free at Lit Wine Bar tonight!

104 Street Look out! The Gluten Free Supper Club is heading your way!

Lit Wine Bar -> Uh-Oh. You'll need to check it out later - apparently someone let their domain lapse while they rework the site.  Don't worry - they know, and they're excited to be creating a new site for you to visit.



We're excited to go visit and we'll let you know all about it after.  Better still - come join us! 6pm!

The Mixer of My Dreams

I've been putting off writing this post…  Not procrastinating because it was difficult, because I didn't have a NAME for it! It needs a name… RIGHT?  Came to me making a double-batch of chocolate chip gluten free Nestle Toll-house cookies day before yesterday.

Yes, Ok. It's a bloomin' stand mixer. Alton Brown would probably laugh…or not. Wade Chi has a great photo of AB and his "Fireball" on his Blog post Tyrannosaurus Mixer?

I didn't do any real research before Orangey arrived.  I just knew I didn't want a cheap, disposable ornament in my kitchen. And yeah, I wanted a lift-bowl  Kitchenaid. In hindsight, the flip top wouldn't have been bad either.  I know, I know, brandname hype - right? We didn't have a big-name mixer when I was growing up. I'm thinking my mom might still have that old Braun kicking around.  It was a versatile workhorse.

If you want to do some research, this page has some good info for you.
The Only Stand Mixer You'll Ever Need | Reluctant Gourmet

I'm quite glad I didn't have to pick a colour, that was the lucky lot of the handsome Christmas fairy.  There are (at least!!) 25 colours, check it out!

With this much choice, I would have been paralyzed standing in front of the colour book, but sometimes, the universe makes the choice for you. Don't mess with Karma. Tangerine it is!

I admired Alton's Fireball for years on Good Eats - if you haven't seen the show, you should. He mixes great cooking with interesting delivery, recipes, common sense, facts, history (mostly American), and costumes.

So, I guess I should tell you a bit about this new family member.  In lieu of a name, "Orangey" seemed appropriate. It's the 4KB25G1X, Deluxe 5 Edition Mixer. 450 Watts of power (but if you read the article above, the watts aren't the whole story), the box says it has "Flour Power". Well, that was a giggle. If you know me, I've eaten gluten-free for 20+ years, so "Flour Power"… a bit of a misnomer for me, but some of the doughs I've made have been…strong.  6 3/4 loaves of bread, 1 dozen cookies, or 7 pounds of mashed potatoes! Accompanied with a "wide-chute" pouring shield (splash guard), a flat beater (which you'll see isn't getting used), a wire whip, and a dough hook.

One of the first things I bought Orangey was a flex-edge spatula blade so I didn't have to scrape the bowl down every couple of minutes.  67-point planetary mixing is all fine and well, but… the reviews on the internet (and the manual), still involved scraping the bowl.  I did a bit of research on the internet and found out that there are Kitchenaid accessories, and third-party ones that "might" void your warranty! YIKES!  Bed Bath and Beyond was my first stop, their website advertised they had them, but apparently none in stock. They had the third party model…I wasn't buying that. Then, checking out the website, Sears is a good place to shop for Kitchenaid accessories. Although not always the best prices online, check in the store.  Amazon is another good source online to check for comparison shopping. (Although I admit, I prefer the .com to the .ca site for pricing.)

Soooooo, I've been putting Orangey to work these past few weeks, but… it still didn't have a name. Until I made those cookies. Are you excited yet? Drumroll…

Roadrunner!!  

Meep Meep! Orange like the Roadrunner's legs, AND it makes a sound like running, running, running, running when it's under the load of a double-batch of cookies!

My latest accessory acquisition for Roadrunner is a Mixer Attachment Pack.  There was a great sale at Sears online that caught my eye, I thought they had a good price, until I checked Amazon.com, $104US - which somehow works out to $107.10 Cdn! Shipping was $29, and an import fee of $6.96 on the whole order (I'm guessing GST), not bad!  The parcel arrived at work last week while I was under the weather, so I just got it home yesterday, and I haven't opened it yet. Perhaps on Saturday I can try out the meat grinder, sausage stuffer, grater, slicer, strainer attachment so I can purée some tomatoes and apples. Riiiiiiight. That's optimistic.  I might grind some meat…

This countertop wonder is quite the workhorse. I expect many years of service from it - heavy, so it won't walk around on it's own, sturdy, metal gears, and accessories out the wazoo, (there's even an ice cream maker… but I already have one - and he's handsome too). ;-x

Although, I still have my mom's 30+ year old Sears hand mixer (successfully patched back together after it's "episode") for the small jobs…tucked in it's little case in the drawer, but haven't had call for it yet.