Tuesday 31 May 2011

Thursday 26 May 2011

Birthday burger at Red Robin

I like the birthday club at Red Robin.

And I like Red Robin food. They serve gluten friendly meals that taste just as good as their regular menu items.  I can order and not worry that I'll have to stay close to home for a couple of days just in case.

Lettuce wrapped burgers are refreshing, and tasty.  Fries were HOT and crispy today. Service from Jacqueline was just enough, not too little, not too much. (She's new from Vancouver, hoping to study wildlife biology.)

Restaurant was pretty quiet until the homeless couple came in and set up shop at the next table.

Ran into my friend BB - Biker boy (David) coming in on our way out.  Nice surprise, it's been a while since we've run into each other.

Our neighbourhood is a nice 'hood.

Wednesday 25 May 2011

Tackling a project


Well, I know I have a bunch of cleaning up to do, but in light of the rain, and the fact that I have a giant box still sitting in my dining room since a couple of weeks after the bike show… I think I'm going to tackle installing my very spiffy Coocase on the Vino.

Ordered it from TwistedThrottle because the chap at the bike show didn't have stock to sell. Shame, but for $126 I ordered it from Ontario after the show. :-)

It lights up.

And it has an alarm.

And did I mention it auto-locks and has a remote to lock and unlock it?

Perfect! Storage, electricity and a built-in humdinger alarm for my scoot.

Now, there aren't a whole lot of instructions to get this baby bolted on, so I'm going to take a few photos and hope I can help out some other soul making this their "fun" project.
I'm betting on, ohhhh, 2 hours. You?Coocase

UPDATE: 90 minutes on the base plate mounting. Electrical… that's going to take a bit of thought.  Check out the document I created for the next poor person trying to get this thing on without a clue.

Update #2: I popped the case on tonight (Thursday night) and it sure is pretty.  My one concern is that if I leave it on the scoot, there is nothing really to prevent anyone from popping it off the base and walking off with it. You can't lock it to the base Not that it mentions it anywhere, but yes, when the case is locked, either with the key or remote, it does indeed securely latch to the mount on the scoot. Hmmm.  Guess we're having an impromptu scooter fix-up at John's Saturday 10am to finish the wiring. NICE.

Update #3: Electrical done! Not that I did any of it, but I have to thank jbcollier of many talents, day job at the Sport Car Shop with a bad back who tinkered and toiled away for two and a half gruelling hours to tap in to the little Vino's electrical system with the teeny tiny battery to get the brake lights on the case to work.

And work they do! Some comments in forums around the interwebs say they aren't really bright enough, but the Vino has a honking big bright tail light, so it's just an accessory.

We had the opportunity to go out for Motorcycle Monday Madness where The Bear radio station gives away gas to 2 & 3-wheeled scoots. We filled up the scooters, but next week might just fill the big bikes. While we were out, my S.O. asked if I locked it, does it lock the box to the mounting plate. I don't know - it doesn't say ANYthing about that in the teeny tiny manual or the electrical diagram, or on the website.

Well darned if it DOES!  My worry about leaving it defenceless on the scoot are all gone.  It's the shiniest nicest part on the scoot now!

NEW! Chopped Leaf in DT Edmonton - Review

My friends at Gluten Free Edmonton (@gfreeYEG on Twitter) have blogged about the newest restaurant to open in Edmonton.

Check out the review here

The Chopped Leaf
Can't wait until I can take a zip over to try them out! Sadly it's raining pretty good, and being a big sail in my rain cape on the scooter isn't on my fun list today.

Via Twitter:
Hours: MON-FRI 7am-6pm,
SAT 10am-3pm, SUN Closed. Thanks!

Update! 10% off for Card-carrying Celiac Association members, gluten free cookies, and on Saturdays $6 salads!!

Woah, it's a great thing.

Edmonton

Light Rain
9°C

Sunday 22 May 2011

Long Weekend - Victoria Day

So what are you doing this fabulous long weekend?

Yesterday we visited the outdoor opening of city-centre market on 104 Street.  So fabulous to see all the vendors out, and so many sold out, or nearly sold out.  Prairie Mills bread was almost sold out, bagels sold out, no more raspberry wine from to buy from Barb… booth after booth. It seems Edmontonians are really taking to eating local food.

Today, my S.O. worked at the new Concordia Slave Lake emergency centre, I had planned on doing a little wardrobe renovation, but ended up at a Crude City Scooter Club shop time working on Bjorn's vintage Vespa.

Now, I think it's time for some BBQ fish in pouches and a few marshmallows. Maybe if we can keep the mosquitoes away, some hot tub time.

Friday 20 May 2011

My Favourite Crispy Not Fried, Fried Chicken

I love this recipe.

I think I've almost become obsessive. I want this chicken every week. Twice a week if I can convince someone to share it with me. However, I've discovered if you leave the leftovers in someone's fridge thinking there'll be some for you to come back to another day… forget it.  It isn't going to happen.

Oven-Fried Buttermilk Chicken Recipe from chow.com

Yes, I'm aware Kellogg's® Corn Flakes® may or may not be considered gluten free, not that their website mentions it. Checking the site under the Allergen tab for Corn Flakes®, gluten is not mentioned but there is still malt flavouring. Shaking my head. Perhaps they'll see the light and make it gluten free – as the Rice Krispies® cereal now available gluten free spring 2011.  If you can tolerate them, great. If not, substitute.  There are other brands of corn flakes available that are GF, or substitutions with Kinnikinnick Panko bread crumbs, Rice Krispies® Gluten-Free or Chex Gluten-Free cereal blitzed in the food processor or crushed in a baggie with a rolling pin or canned goods.

More after the break.

Monday 16 May 2011

Alberta on fire

It's been a crazy crazy couple of days.

Yesterday I was enjoying the fact that there was little in the twitter feed from news outlets. Must not be much bad news to report - peace has finally taken hold.

I was wrong.

Floods in Manitoba, Fire in Alberta.

By suppertime yesterday (Sunday May 15th) a Wildfire had forced the evacuation of the entire northern Alberta town of Slave Lake - about 7,000 residents.  (For my friends not educated in Canada, slavery has nothing to do with the name. The town is named according to Aboriginal tribe name, quoted from Wikipedia sources, summed up in this twitter post by @Damian6218 Cree word (sounded like slavey) became Slavé became Slavey became Slave #Linguistics)

It is estimated that there was less than an hour to evacuate. Some people had barely enough time to grab their kids, pets and leave.  Minutes!  I read one account where the family had prepared in advance when they received the initial warning, (not evacuation). Packed up all their precious goods, and supplies, and when the fire did come, they did not have enough time to even load them in the vehicle before they had to escape.

The photos are not just devastation, they are complete incineration.  Mother Nature is incredibly powerful. We think we've done our best to "manage" Mother Nature with controlled burns, but when humans are careless, none of the efforts expended matter - tragedy results. Looking at the Provincial Active Fire Report statistics and a Provincial Government map Wildfire status report (sorry it's flash, not my choice), and another pretty good map here.  Not ONE of the fires they are tracking was set by lightning.  Although investigations are ongoing into causes of igntion, at this time it's thought that 100% are human caused.

There is some good news - apparently there are no residents deceased, missing or unaccounted for. The other not pleasant news, some residents interviewed recounted the cries of the forest animals. No doubt there will be many unhappy endings.

NASA had a satellite take photos of the area. Incredible.

The present estimate is 30-50% of the town has been razed - photos here and here. Aerial tour images here. Not just damaged. Gone.  Erased. And across the street in some areas - untouched homes, green lawns.

After the jump, there are some links for agencies assisting the human and animal residents of Slave Lake.

Monday 9 May 2011

What do people live for.

And off on a random rambling…

You may know I ride things with two wheels, motors and two wheels, occasionally jump out of perfectly good airplanes (and some not so perfect!).

Been thinking about this, and this link jumped into a discussion I read from the Northern Stars of Alberta (started out as a Yamaha riders group, and it's now open to everyone).

Rather touching video to watch if you have a few seconds to spare.

Great Food Truck Race - gluten free options!

Thanks to Gluten Free Steve and his curiosity to hunt down the food trucks in Denver, we hear about a gluten free food truck in Colorado!

Queiro Arepas has gluten-free offerings and they look mighty tasty.

Not that I'll be in the area to try them out, but if you are, let me know how you like it!

BAGELS! From No Gluten, No Problem

Folks, if you haven't checked out this blog before, now is a great time.

A shared recipe for Gluten Free Bagels is a sure winner for me to try it. Some things just don't beat a bagel. Especially a warm fresh one.

Cheers!

Friday 6 May 2011

Alleyburger NEWS for #YEG - 10pm tonight

Update: Blog post of his "Review" and photos from Chris (Eating is The Hard Part) who didn't make it in time for a burger, but joined us for the after burger hush.
 =-=-=
Hear ye, Hear YE!!

Tonight, 10pm, in the alley behind 100 bar | kitchen will be an event that has happened only twice before in Edmonton's history!

Look for the RED door in the alleyway, beneath a bright light.

10009 101A Ave NW, Edmonton, AB T5J 0R6 (780) 425-0100


View Larger Map

Thursday 5 May 2011

100 (Hundred) Bar | Kitchen Gluten Free offerings

Chef Cowan (@chefcowan on twitter) let me know they now have Gluten-Free BREAD! Kudos to the chef for being open and having options for those of us who are unable to enjoy the usual delightful offerings.

I took a quick drive through the regular menu, and while I'm sad I can't have the Bacon Cheeseburger Perogies, or the Lobster variety, The Gluten-Free Lunch and Dinner menu is really nice!

I can vouch for the Truffled Popcorn, Creme Brulé (IT'S HUGE), and the photos of that King Crab that Chef has on his seafood platter is awesome.

To be honest - EVERYTHING on the Gluten Free Lunch and Dinner menus looks excellent and succulent.

Stop by the restaurant website for the Gluten-Free Lunch menu, and the Gluten-Free Dinner menu.

100 Bar | Kitchen
Located at: 10009 101A Avenue Northwest
Edmonton, AB T5J 0R6
(780) 425-0100

Walkabout Pub - Walk on, folks.

UPDATE: My other half was contacted by Michael Brown, owner of Walkabout Pub and has asked for another opportunity to enchant us.

Look here for a followup visit & review.


We had tried to visit the pub on Sunday, the Website said they were open, but sadly, the door was locked.

So, we made it out last night, (a Wednesday night).  Arriving by 8pm, we sat and waited for service a really really long time. Waitresses came to the table next to us, cruised past to the patio out back, table across from us, even cleared the glasses from the people who had been at the table prior to us - WITHOUT EVEN LOOKING AT US.

I believe multitasking just isn't within their abilities. After 15 minutes, one came by and said "Do you need something?" Seriously?!  We ordered beverages and menus.

Another 10 minutes goes by. Drinks arrive, no menus. Menus finally arrive and we decide what to order, and wait. By now, I've pretty much decided it wasn't worth it, but my other half really wanted to try the exotic meats.  So we try to order a Kangaroo burger, I ordered a Chicken Avocado sandwich - no bread after explaining to her "Celiac, no wheat" I'll tell you later what came about that.

She returns to the table - sorry, I can get you the chicken, but not the Kangaroo.  "Ostrich?" he asks. No.  She goes away to let him decide on something else.

On her return he asks for a beef burger.  The menu clearly says "burgers made fresh daily" and they've only been open for 3 hours today so far. Let me check.  No, there are NO burgers today. ARE WE KIDDING HERE?!

So we ordered the Gator bites, and a steak sandwich. "What's that marinated in? Oh, I'll Check" - she never gets back to us.

The meals arrive, and my dish has fries that are clearly coated in some kind of flour. Great. They have no idea what celiac, gluten free and no flour means here.  Well, I'm not bothering to send it back - just feed it to my partner.  The salad was wilted into the plate, and the avocado on my chicken (dry, well done), had brown spots of ugly. Ranch? The sandwich was supposed to have Ranch dressing.  "You want Ranch?" It was pretty much a toss and run when she brought it.

She did check back to see how it was. I told her so-so and I meant it. Didn't matter really.  They were short 2 waitresses, and speaking to the manager - I don't think that would have had any benefit.  This pub is here for the drinkers - I'm surprised they got their drinks at all, but I suppose they did, and wings since it was Wing Wednesday.\

We should have checked the Urbanspoon reviews before we went, but the lure of exotic meats was too good to pass up - take our advice - PASS.

I discourage anyone with special food needs to do anything but order a beverage here - if you can get one without having to charge the bar yourself.

Walk on past Walkabout Pub. It's not the experience you think it will be.

Walkabout on Urbanspoon

Wednesday 4 May 2011

Gluten Free Poutine - but in Calgary

One of the blogs you might see on the left there, is the Celiac Husband. A Great read, and often the best Gluten-Free food recommendations.

He's posted a great article on their search for Gluten-Free Poutine, and on a Calgary eatery called The Big Cheese.

I shared the info with La Poutine - we might be a little closer to having Gluten-Free Poutine in Edmonton.

I highly recommend checking out the article and if you happen to be in Calgary - drop by and say HI!

$2 Tacos for Cinco de Mayo Thursday!

If you haven't heard the buzz on Twitter, Tres Carnales is serving up Tacos for the People!

$2 tacos - 4 varieties from their menu will be served at Red Star Pub at 9pm Thursday May 5th, 2011.

With the opening of their Restaurant just on the horizon, they are hosting a feed-up and gathering (with Drink Specials from Red Star Pub).

I know a few celiacs will be in line, and a bunch of good food lovers too.  Don't be late - there's sure to be a crowd!

Here's the link to the Map And the address: 10534 Jasper Ave NW Edmonton, AB T5J 2A3 - (780) 428-0825

International Female Ride Day - Friday May 6th!

Coming Friday is the day all ladies should get out and ride! Sadly, in Alberta, it's pretty much rained every year I've tried.

Check out some Canadian promotions for the ride here. I'll post more when I track it down.

Next question to solve - which to ride? Scooter or Big Bike…Hmmmm.

Tuesday 3 May 2011

Exciting Tasting at Kinnikinnick this Saturday!

Tweet from Kinnikinnick (Twitter: GF_Insider)

Attn #YEG the Kinnikinnick Retail store is having a #GF chocolate cupcake tasting this Saturday to celebrate Mom's Day. Stop by for the yum.
(#YEG is the airport code for Edmonton, AB)

Pizzaria Prego

So we had Groupon coupons for Pizzaria Prego and decided to use them last Sunday night.  The restaurant is about 2 blocks from my other half's house, and we weren't feeling like cooking after our stint trying to eat at Walkabout Pub on Sunday, (website says open, door says no). We decided to order a couple of pizzas on their in-house made gluten-free crust using our Groupons, in spite of the in-store promo (buy one, get one half price).

Spudizza and the Spolumbo sausage.

I'm not an expert food reviewer.  Just an expert food consumer. (That might be why I don't have a swimsuit photo on my profile ;-) )  My other half is "normal" and eats gluten.  However, he'll try the GF options so I can have the leftovers too.

I'll talk about the crust first, since it's the same on both.  It's definitely OK and edible.  It wasn't soggy, stayed crispy, didn't crumble at all, and it wasn't a strong flavour.  Held the pizza toppings just fine.  You can order any pizza in 8 or 10" size gluten free, or freestyle it yourself.

So, the Spudizza - it's a take on perogy pizza.  No sour cream included, and it usually is. We picked up our pizzas right before 9pm at closing (he seemed a little annoyed), however, sour cream would have been nice to have.  The artificial bacon bits - the red is a little frightening, however, he generously covered the pizza with bits.  I might take my own home-made or the Costco real bacon bits in a bag variety next time.

The Spolumbo sausage pizza was my favourite. Surprize! Cheesy, meaty enough, and was good reheated.  I don't particularly do well with green peppers, but they weren't plentiful enough to cause me an issue. Not as meaty as I thought it might be, but suited me just fine as it was.

On the wall there was a list of Gluten Free items as well…spaghetti, lasagne, chicken nuggets and strips, elbow pasta, ice cream cones (oh yeah, they're not the easiest to find, but they're around), cookies and granola bars.  Prices - I'll call them average, maybe a teeny bit more than some places in town, but it's convenient.

I say decide for yourself.  Some folks on UrbanSpoon have been vocal, but I can't say I haven't been treated worse by other shopkeepers.

Ohhh. I'm bad. May is National Celiac Month

And I knew this was coming up. Happens every year too.

Guess I forgot to put it in the Calendar. Shoot.


There's a National Conference May 13-15, 2011 in Ottawa if you can get away - it might be fun to go! Deadline to register May 10, 2011.

Welcome back Gluten Free Steve!

Oddly enough, I was updating the blogs I scan (when I remember!) and noticed that Gluten Free Steve hadn't been updated since Dec 2010, but I'd kept the feed just in case…

Well, after I finished updating and sorting the links - there was an update! How mysterious! He's decided to come back and blog a bit!

Nice.

Well, a heartfelt thank you and a warm welcome back Steve!

Cheers!

P.S. Check out his links of blogs on the right of his site. There's some good ones there. I'm not sure how I'm going to list the ones I like, but I'm guessing I'll start compiling a separate page. Eventually.

Funky things you can buy

Well, again Holycool.net finds the oddest things.  And Amazon sells them.

iPad stand the iLog

Check out the Tea Diver
Believe it's a tea ball?

Pulses! Both yours & the edible kind. Don't know what a Pulse is? Read on!

Browsing through twitter, Edmonton Journal tweeted a link to this article by Mari Sasano. In turn that brought up the fact that there is the Savouring Pulse festival coming up at some local eateries, (some of my favourites), May 9-15th! I can't wait to try out their creations.

Mari's article covers excellent reasons that pulses and Gluten Free eating should go hand in hand, but in our western culture, we just don't know what to do with them!

So what's a Pulse? Start off with a definition well-put by the Edmonton Journal article: Pulses — beans, peas, chickpeas, & lentils.


I'll say honestly, I like good peas and beans, but before I met lentil pulses used well, I didn't like them one bit. However, my friend, Dr. Janice Dacyshyn, N.D. introduced me to eating salad with either a small can of flavoured tuna, or some canned lentils (or dried if you planned ahead and soaked them overnight - hahaha). Lentils provide protein and many other essential nutrients. I've been known to put both tuna and lentils on my salad at the same time. CRAZY!

Did you know that pulses make a great snack too? Packing in great nutrition, in a nice handful. Crispeas (available in 4 flavours - Hot BBQ, Ranch, Salted & Wasabi) are locally grown (Grassy Lk, AB) and produced. Available through Kinniknnick (online and in store) and Growing Nuts at the 104 St Downtown market in Edmonton.

Alberta Pulse Growers released a FREE downloadable PDF cookbook for you!

Click here to download Pulses and the Gluten-Free Diet
compliments of Alberta Pulse Growers

Great for your health, great for the environment, we should all eat them more often, even just adding them to a regular meal is a step in a great direction.

UPDATE ALERT! There's a link on here somewhere about how to not pre soak your dried beans AND use them right away. Several options in fact. 


1) From Bonappetite.com Place beans in a pot and cover with water by three inches. Bring to a boil and simmer briskly for two minutes. Remove from heat, cover, and let stand for one hour. Drain. Your beans will be ready to use in your favorite recipes.–Kay Chun  

2) Pressure cooker! If you have one.

3) Buy an electric bean/pressure cooker! Amazing object. You might find you use it more often than you thought.

Monday 2 May 2011

Time to VOTE Canada

Update: Got permission to use the image a little late, but here it is.

Ok Canada.  I have some strong opinions about voting.

If you've met me, you'll know why.

For the rest of you out there, some Coles' notes so you can remember why it's important even if there isn't a single darn candidate you feel you can support.

My Grandfather passed away last summer.  I admired him.  And I miss him. He is one of my heroes.  Flawed, but strong and committed to the ideals that built our great country.

He served overseas in WWII, and was injured not once, but twice fighting to preserve our right to CHOOSE.

Don't waste that right.  If Derek can get out of his house, as ill as he is, to vote, YOU CAN TOO.

Image used with permission Flag, hand dropping envelope in slot.

New to Gluten Free Eating? Check out this site

The W.H.O.L.E Gang has posted an article on Easy Gluten-Free Grocery shopping   Yes, it's U.S. blog, but has great info and recipes. Highly recommend following this blog for the next 30 days as they kick off the 30 Days to Easy Gluten-Free Living series of articles.

I have Voted!

by 7:50am, I had walked the half block to the polling station, and cast my ballot.

Literally 15 minutes for the entire process.  It took longer to walk.

Excellent.

Please get out and vote today.

How big would your back yard have to be? And Emergency Preparedness week.

Infographic: How Big a Backyard Would You Need to Live Off the Land?

Seriously interesting way to visualize boring statistics.

I've longed to be "off the grid" and quit paying for utilities that only make other people wealthy. Don't get me started on high voltage transmission lines.

Besides, there was a time, not too long ago, barely a generation ago in my family, where they didn't have electricity or telephone service on the farm.

Speaking of self-sufficiency - did you know it's Emergency Preparedness Week?
May 1-7, 2011. Check out the links and great tips on these websites:




Emergency Preparedness Week

May 1 – 7, 2011
Emergency Preparedness Week (EP Week) is an annual event that takes place each year during the first full week of May. This national event is coordinated by Public Safety Canada, in close collaboration with the provinces and territories and partners.

The City of Edmonton, also has an annual event coming this weekend.

This Saturday, come and join us for Get Ready in the Park 2011 on May 7th, 2011 from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m

Sunday 1 May 2011

La Poutine is OPEN!

Sadly, they were closed when we came back.  Open until 8 on Sundays!

UPDATE: I have sent an email asking if either of the gravy options happens to be Gluten-Free/Wheat-Free.  Stay tuned!
UPDATE May 2: I have received the response!

Hi Monica,

At the moment none of our gravies are gluten-free. We are currently trying to find the best one and hope to have a gluten-free gravy in the near future.
We hope to see you soon for a poutine!
La Poutine


I also spoke with Sarah from Luzzara and she has also had a chat with the folks at the store and offered to sample their potential choices.

Information

Address
Website
Hours
Mon - Wed:11:00 am-10:00 pm
Thurs:11:00 am-11:00 pm
Fri - Sat:11:00 am-2:00 am
Sun:11:00 am-8:00 pm




BulkBarn Gluten-Free products on sale this week!

If you haven't visited Bulk Barn in Edmonton yet - you should.

And as a BONUS - this week, they have coupons (many many!) and Gluten Free bulk items are on sale, as well as the El Peto products are 25% off with the coupon (at the checkout) until May 12, 2011.

I love El Peto - one of the first gluten free suppliers I found years and years ago.  They have powdered soup bases that I really really like, and lasts…well, forever.  They also have corn-free mixes - something that is really hard to avoid if you have that as an added challenge to being Gluten Free.

I sadly forgot that one of the coupons on the front expires today… $3 off purchase of $10 or more before taxes.  Hmmm Can I buy $10 worth of bulk corn snack sour cream and onion rings?