Belicia joins our family

At the end of the summer Joanna and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary, and our awesome friends Ang and Leigh got all our other amazing friends to pitch in to buy us a new computer (the screen died on our old one).
But not just any computer... A BRAND NEW MACBOOK PRO! Her name is Belicia, which means "dedicated to God." Needless to say, we feel incredibly blessed and we have the greatest friends in the world. I thought that you might like to watch this... (it was made on the new computer)

New Kilt!

So as you all know, I entered a video contest this summer with some of my buddies to make a commercial for Utilikilts and I won a mess o' kilt in exchange for my excellent video. Today, the last of my kilt booty arrived in the mail... a special limited edition Mockumercial kilt (only 17 of them exist in the entire world). And the best part is yours truly is silk screened right on the front.
Word to your entire extended family.

This one goes out to my buddy, Filter

Being the parent of two small children, I am having difficulty finding the time to post. I have at least 10 amazing recipes that I want to tell you about, but right now I am just trying my best to keep all my girls fed, cleaned, and clothed. However, the other night Joanna stumbled across this and I wanted to dedicate it to Filter and anyone else who wants to rock... and subvert the dominant paradigm.

Missing Moaike

This weekend we are are visiting Joanna's acousins at their amazing winery. (Check them out at www.joie.ca) We are having a great time and the scenery is stunning, but our lovely Sandra is supposed to be with us but she couldn't come because she is sick. Today was awesome but it just wasn't the same somehow. Sandra, this one goes out to you...

Rainy Day Soup

It is probably no surprise to anybody that today was absolutely miserable in the fine city of Vancouver. It was actually raining tigers and wolves. In spite of the torrential downpour and all the racket of the old, crazy Jewish guy next door hammering away on his boat project and rounding up a bunch of stray animals, I actually gathered up the courage to venture out and buy groceries for an amazing feed of Chanko Nabe, which I believe is the perfect thing to eat if you are wet and cold and worried that God is going to wipe the face of the earth clean so He can start all over again.

Quite simply, Chanko Nabe is sumo soup / stew and it is simply ridiculously tasty. I also figure that if it is good enough for this guy...

...then it is good enough for me.

Here is an interesting story if you dig reading extended prose about Asian soup. I know I do! Enough of the jawflapping... on with the recipe!

2 1/2 tsp. instant dashi flakes
1 lb. thinly sliced pork belly
3 tbsp. sake
2 tbsp. mirin (sweet rice wine)
3 tbsp. red miso
3 tbsp. white miso
1 medium carrot, trimmed, peeled, sliced crosswise on the bias, and blanched
2" piece daikon, peeled, halved lengthwise, sliced crosswise, and blanched
1 medium waxy potato, peeled, halved lengthwise, sliced crosswise and blanched
1 medium yellow onion, peeled, halved lengthwise, sliced crosswise, and blanched
10 oz. firm tofu, Cut into 2" cubes
8 shiitake mushrooms, stemmed, caps halved
2 oz. enoki mushrooms, trimmed
1 2.8-oz. package abura-age (deep-fried tofu), cut into 1 1/2" pieces
1/4 head napa cabbage, cored and cut into large pieces
16 bunch nira (flat Chinese chives)
4 cups steamed Japanese short-grain rice or 1 lb. udon noodles (optional)
2 eggs, lightly beaten (optional)

1. Bring 10 cups cold water to a boil in a wide medium pot over high heat. Add dashi flakes, reduce heat to medium, and simmer, stirring until flakes completely dissolve, about 1 minute. Add pork, sake, and mirin to dashi and simmer, skimming any foam that rises to surface, until pork is tender, 15-30 minutes. Dissolve red and white misos in 1 cup broth from pot in a small bowl, then stir back into pot.

2. Add carrots, daikon, potatoes, onions, firm tofu, mushrooms, fried tofu, cabbage, and chives, in that order, and simmer until vegetables are just soft, about 5 minutes. The hot pot is now ready to be eaten "self-serve" style in medium bowls.

3. Once all the pork, vegetables, and tofu have been eaten, use a small sieve to pick out scraps. Bring remaining broth in pot back to a simmer, then add rice or noodles, if using, and stir in eggs, if using. Simmer until broth is absorbed by rice, about 5 minutes, or until noodles are cooked through, 6-8 minutes. Divide between bowls, and munch away until you weigh 400 pounds and have the desire to wear a giant diaper while beating the crap out of someone.

Isn't it great when someone says something nice about you.

If you are a faithful reader of DIY Gourmet, you are well aware that I got second place in a Utilikilt video contest.


It was really fun to win the prize but it was even better to read their monthly newsletter. Check it out here and scroll to the bottom.

A Wise Man Once Said...

This one goes out to my YWAM Seattle friends and anyone else who feels like life has got them down.

...I love you guys.
~pw

Hey YWAM Seattle, you're so fine, you're so fine you blow my mind, YWAM Seattle

Hey Seattle types,

Today I was reflecting on what a great weekend we had with y'all and how you have enriched our lives with your collective passion for life, relational integrity, and generous friendships. Jo and I are better people because you are our friends.

Hey, keep your heads up. Don't let the pursuit of truth and beauty drag you down. You guys are great at what you do, just don't forget to be yourselves. And don't let anyone push you to be something that you are not. Remember that the world goes not well, but the Kingdom comes.

there is a town in North Ontario...
~pw

Roasted Garlic and Herb Focaccia for 50 people

I found this recipe online. Serve it with the Pepper steak and Honey dijon carrots. It is from Chef John Yamin of the Circadia Cafe in Seattle. Thanks, dude!

Don't even try to attempt this if you do not have access to a Hobart. If you don't know what a Hobart is, then stick to lame Costco garlic bread...

Yes, Ryan and I really are this sexy.

Yield: 12 lb

Bread starter (recipe follows) 1 recipe Warm water 4 cups Onions, diced, caramelized 1 cup Garlic, roasted, chopped 1/4 cup Dried herb blend, such as rosemary, oregano and thyme 1/4 cup Salt 3 Tbsp. Olive oil 3/4 cup High-protein bread flour 12 cups

1. In mixer with paddle attachment, mix starter, warm water, onions, garlic, herbs, salt and olive oil. Add flour 1 cup at a time. When dough thickens, change paddle to dough hook; add remaining flour 1 cup at a time until dough pulls away from side of bowl. 2. Knead dough by hand 5 to 10 minutes. Divide into 4 pieces and place in oiled containers. Cover and let rise 11/2 to 2 hours. 3. Punch down dough, cover and let rise again until doubled, 45 minutes to 1 hour. 4. Punch down dough and shape into rounds. Refrigerate at least 12 hours and up to 36 hours. Remove from refrigerator at least 1 1/2 hours before use, place on floured surface and cover. 5. Shape into 4 oiled sheet pans and proof 30 to 45 minutes. Bake at 425F for 15 to 20 minutes until golden brown.

Bread starter

Combine 1/3 cup honey, 1/3 cup active dry yeast and 4 cups warm water; let sit until yeast has dissolved and top is foamy. Blend in 2 cups high-protein bread flour; let mixture sit until bubbly and rising. Refrigerate until use.

Honey Dijon Carrots for 50 people

Serve these carrots with the Creamy Tomato Pepper steak recipe below.

Honey Dijon Carrots
3 large bags baby carrots
1 large jar (800 mL) Dijon mustard
3 cups honey
1/3 cup brown sugar
¼ cup lime juice
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
1 bunch fresh dill, chopped

Mark, the Dijon sauce sensei.

Prefill large pot with ample water to cover the carrots. DO NOT PUT THE CARROTS IN THE POT YET. Cover pot, bring water to a vigorous boil (might take 1 hour), and turn off heat. In sauté pan combine mustard, honey, sugar, lime juice, and fresh ginger. Simmer over low heat. Reboil water again judging time so that boil is achieved 15 minutes before serving. Once water is boiling vigorously add carrots and cook 5 – 8 minutes. DO NOT OVERCOOK! (Unless you're English and like mushy, flavourless vegetables) Carrots should be cooked but should still have some snap. Drain carrots and toss with mustard mixture and fresh chopped dill.

Creamy Tomato Pepper Steak for 50 people

This summer for the youth missions program that I work with I volunteered to be head chef for our final fancy dinner of every 10 day program and I developed this recipe. If you every need to feed about 50 people and you are sick and tired of Costco lasagna and garlic bread, this one is for you.

Steak Marinade
2 enormous Costco sirloin roasts (??lbs) cubed
2 L cheap cola
1 large can (700 mL) tomato sauce
3 cups vegetable oil
1 cup red wine vinegar
1 cup white vinegar
1 cup garlic puree
½ cup lemon juice
½ cup Worcestershire sauce
¼ cup Club House brand Vegetable Seasoning
¼ cup Club House brand Italiano Seasoning
¼ cup Club House brand Garlic Plus Seasoning
1 cup ground pepper
2 Tablespoons salt

One day in advance combine meat and all ingredients in large non-metallic container and mix. Cover with cling film and refrigerate.

Ryan demonstrates his mastery of the grill.

Creamy Tomato Peppercorn Sauce
2 cups margarine
2 cups flour
1 L heavy cream
1 L half and half cream
½ cup beef bullion
6 cups hot water
6 small cans tomato paste
4 Tablespoons brandy extract
3 Tablespoons pickled green peppercorns, chopped
½ cup garlic puree
½ cup ground pepper
¼ cup red wine vinegar
1 Tablespoon salt

Melt margarine in large skillet on medium low heat. Once melted, add flour. With whisk, stir constantly, so that mixture doesn’t burn, until it is golden brown. Slowly stir in both containers of cream to avoid lumps. Dissolve beef bullion in hot water and slowly add to mixture whisking out any lumps. Add tomato paste, brandy extract, pickled peppercorns, garlic, and ground pepper, vinegar and salt. Stir and simmer on low heat and keep warm.

Onion Pepper Mixture
12 sweet peppers (mixture of red, green, and yellow)
4 giant white onions
1 lb fresh mushrooms
2 dozen fresh tomatoes (Roma)

Slice mushrooms. Slice peppers and onions into half moons. Put peppers, onions, and mushrooms into same container. (can be done one day before). Slice tomatoes into large chunks. Set aside. Remove steak cubes from marinade and drain. Oil grill or very large skillets. Sauté pepper/onion/mushroom mixture over medium heat until onions are translucent. Set aside and keep warm. Add more oil to grill or skillets. Sauté steak cubes on high heat draining liquid as it cooks so that the meat browns on all sides. Be careful not to overcook. When meat is medium rare, combine meat, onion/pepper/mushroom mixture, and fresh tomatoes with the creamy peppercorn sauce in large steam pan. Serve with Honey Dijon Carrots and Focaccia Bread.

Craig and Jamie Rule!

Yesterday my friends Craig and Jamie sent me an email telling me about how they tried the BBQ corn recipe. They even improvised a bit and... THEY SENT PICTURES!
Ladies and Gentlemen, this is precisely the kind of behavior that will get you widespread DIY Gourmet praise, exaltation, internet 2.o fame and general props and shoutouts. Faithful readers, feel free to learn from Craig and Jamie's example, get cookin', and send me pictures.
Peace.
~DJ Dread

Make your own DIY Sushi

The last couple of days I have had a powerful hankerin' for sushi, but I have also been rather financially limited. So tonight I made a rude gesture towards the surly teenage Asian waitresses and blind peasant woodsmen hacks at a certain Commercial Drive budget sushi establishment, I sharpened my knife, summoned my inner samurai, and I made my own delicious sushi.

I decided to make 3 kinds of vegetarian sushi because I also couldn't afford any deluxe fish. My trio of Japanese yumminess was comprised of miso roasted eggplant rolls, roasted yam with lettuce rolls, and good 'ol kappa maki (that's cucumber roll for all you Philistines out there). Hey ho, let's go!
Ingredients
4 cups of short grain sushi rice
enough water to cover using the Mount Fuji method

1/3 cup rice wine vinegar
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt

1 large yam peeled and sliced thinly lengthwise
1 Japanese eggplant sliced thinly lengthwise
1 cucumber, julienned
small lettuce leaves

2 tablespoons miso paste
2 tablespoons mayo
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 clove garlic crushed
Directions
Prepare rice using sushi method described here. Mix vinegar sugar and salt in small saucepan. Heat and stir until sugar is dissolved. Sprinkle over rice, mix in, and fan to cool to room temperature.

Mix miso, mayo, oil, and garlic. Brush on yam and eggplant slices. Roast on cookie sheets in 400 degree oven for 10-15 minutes until golden brown and tender. Let cool and julienne.

Roll sushi using cucumber, yam, lettuce, and eggplant as fillings using method described here.

Itadakimasu!

BBQ Corn with Lime Spice Rub

This is a summer favourite of ours and I think it is definitely the best way to eat corn on the cob.
Ingredients
1-2 ears of unshucked! corn per person (ears closed tight)
1/2 lime per person

1 teaspoon onion flakes
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
2 teaspoons brown sugar

lime / spice technique

Directions
Preheat BBQ on high. Combine spices together and mix. Divide equal portions of spice mix into enough ramekins for each dinner guest. Cut limes in half. Put unshucked corn on BBQ and turn down to medium heat. Grill for 5 minutes then flip over and grill other side for 5 minutes. Remove from BBQ and shuck burnt corn ears using oven mitts. The corn inside will be perfectly cooked and tasty. Serve hot with spice rub and lime halves by dipping cut lime face in spice mixture and then rubbing and squeezing on corn.

Kilt Commercial Video Awards

My mates Leigh, Hillary, and myself made this video for a commercial contest run by Utilikilt and we got second place. We were pretty stoked. Here it is for your viewing pleasure...

Chicken Fried Bacon

I am so jealous that I didn't think of this first, and I got to get to Snook, Texas...fast.

Sezzie's Lemonade

We started Sarah's birthday celebrations with these yummy summer drinks. I call it Sezzie's Lemonade in honour of her special day.

Sezzie's Lemonade
1 shot tequila
1 squeeze of fresh lemon
high quality natural lemonade (like Santa Cruz Organic) or sparkling lemon soda like San Pelligrino Limonata
fresh mint for garnish
lemon slice for garnish
sugar
ice
Sugar the rim of a 12oz glass. Over ice combine tequila, squeeze of lemon, and lemonade to fill. Garnish with fresh mint and lemon slice.

It's Your Bithday! Bring on the Kotopita!

Yesterday was Sarah's birthday so we had her and Ang and Leigh over for a big yummy birthday bash. We started with big glasses of Sezzie's Lemonade, (see next post for recipe) and then moved directly to the main course of Kotopita (Greek Chicken Pie) served with Lemon Garlic Potatoes and Greek Salad. I found the Kotopita recipe online at this great site, but I tweaked it a bit to make it more interesting.

Kotopita (Greek Filo Chicken Pie)

INGREDIENTS	PREP	AMOUNT
Water		3 cups
Chicken thighs	boneless,	2 lbs
Butter		1/3 cup
Flour		1/3 cup
Onions	sliced	3
Garlic cloves	chopped	5
Spinach	chopped	1 bunch
Feta cheese	crumbled	1 1/2 cups
Dill, fresh	chopped	1 cup
Parsley	chopped	1 cup
Mint	chopped	2 Tbsp
Nutmeg		1 tsp
Salt & pepper		to taste
Oregano		2 tablespoons
Lemon juice and zest		1
Filo dough		12-14 sheets
Butter or olive oil		1/2 cup

METHOD

Basic Steps: Poach → Sauté → Thicken → Mix → Form bottom → Fill → Form top → Bake

1. Put the water and the chicken in a large saucepan. Add a little salt and pepper and simmer on med heat for about 30 minutes. Remove chicken to a plate and set the chicken and the broth aside to cool. Remove the chicken from the broth and shred.
2. In a large skillet or sauté pan, heat the butter over medium-high heat. Add the flour and stir in well. Reduce heat to low and continue to cook and stir another 5 minutes until the mixture is golden brown.
   
3. Pour the poaching broth all at once into the skillet and whisk together well to avoid lumps. Bring the liquid to a boil and simmer for about 5 minutes. It will thicken during this time.
   
4. In another pan add some oil and the onions and garlic and sauté quickly, stirring, for about 2 minutes. Add spinach and saute until wilted.
   
5. Remove from heat and cool.
6. In a large mixing bowl, mix together the feta, dill, mint, parsley, nutmeg, oregano, salt and pepper. Add the chicken and the thickened broth and the onion spinach mixture. Stir together well. Taste and adjust seasonings. Stir in the eggs.
7. Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a 9"x9" baking dish or a deep-dish pie tin. Lay a layer of filo over the dish and brush with oil or butter. Add 5 or six more sheets of filo, each at a different angle to cover the dish well. Brush each with oil before adding the next. Press the filo well into all corners of the dish.
8. Add the chicken-cheese filling to the dish and spread out evenly.
9. Repeat process with the remaining filo to form a top to the dish. Trim the edges of filo that are hanging over the edge to about 1 1/2". Roll them together toward the center to form an edge.
10. Place the dish in the preheated oven and bake anywhere from 45-60 minutes, or until center is bubbly and crust is nicely browned.
11. Remove from the oven, let cool about 15 minutes and serve with a salad.

BBQ Mustard Dill Salmon

This evening our friend Laura came over and wanted to learn how to BBQ salmon. She was excited about a mustard / dill groove so we invented this fabulous wet rub...

Laura rocks the mortar and pestle

BBQ Salmon Dill Mustard Wet Rub
1 teaspoon ground mustard powder or yellow mustard seeds
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon peppercorns
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1 teaspoon powdered ginger
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 handfuls fresh dill
zest and juice of 1 lemon
2 cloves fresh garlic
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 small thumb fresh ginger
1 big tasty salmon fillet, skin on one side

Throw all ingredients into mortar and bash to oblivion with your pestle while singing the Ramone's - Beat On the Brat. Or if you haven't just returned from Cambodia with a huge stone mortar and pestle that cost you $2.75 you could use a blender; although it is not nearly as satisfying in that culinary violence sort of way. Make thin slices into the flesh of the salmon and massage your dill mustard goo all over the flesh side deep into the cuts. Stroke it, love it, caress it!

Oil the grill and preheat your BBQ on high for 5 min and then turn it down to low. Rip a piece of tinfoil twice as big as your fish and fold it over so that you have a 2-ply fish-sized piece of foil. Put your salmon directly on one half of the grill, skin side down. Close lid for 3 minutes. Wait patiently. Then place tinfoil on other side of grill and with 2 flippers carefully transfer fish directly onto the foil. Close lid again and let fish sizzle on the foil for 3-5 minutes until flaky but not dry. Bon Appetit!

Joanna's Amazing Margaritas

Last night Leigh, Ang, and Sarah came over. Joanna made margaritas and let's just say that my beautiful wife is pretty dang handy with a blender and a bottle of tequila. Good times.

Joanna's Amazing Margaritas
1 can frozen concentrate limeade
1/2 can frozen concentrate berry punch
big handful trimmed fresh strawberries
1 tray ice cubes
1 cup of tequila

Toss all ingredients into your trusty blender and frapperoo. Adjust tequila potency according to taste. Pour into fancy glasses rimmed with sugar. Garnish with a fresh strawberry. Makes one full jug of summery happiness.

The Tuk Tuk Boom Boom

Speaking of refreshing cocktails by the pool, here is what Phil is drinking today. He thought this one up with our friend Zack and called it the Brazen Hussy, but in the spirit of our fabulous Cambodian adventures we have decided to rename it the Tuk Tuk Boom Boom, because it goes down fast but it will hit you hard, just like the traffic here in Phomn Penh.

The Tuk Tuk Boom Boom

1 oz vodka

1 oz Cointreau

juice of 1 lime

Combine with ice in a cocktail shaker. Shake it like the turbulence on a transpacific EVA Airlines flight. Serve in a chilled martini glass. Sip and repeat until you forget how hot it is.

Drinks by the Pool in Phomn Penh

Tomorrow I fly back to Canada for a triumphant reunion with my schmoopie and very cute family. The only thing that is keeping me sane right now after a very successful, although ridiculously hot and sweaty, 3 weeks in Cambodia is sipping refreshing cocktails beside the pool at my favourite hotel in the entire world. Today's current favorite beverage (I've had 3 so far) is essentially a mojito slurpee. Here is my rough guess of the recipe just like they whip it up here at the Billabong Hotel, deep in the heart of Phomn Penh.

The Mojito Slurpee

1 cup ice cubes

juice of one lime

2 oz rum

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1/2 fist of fresh mint

Combine, blend the crap out of it, and sip beside the pool. Kampai!

jo hijacks the blog

Greeting! It's Joanna and I am highjacking the blog. I thought all you dj dread fans would want another update, so here are some excerpts from Wade's email today:

I am in Siem Reap (tourist town closest to
Angkor Wat temples) and my net connection is awesome
but my keyboard sucks. It's like playing a really old
piano where you need to hammer each individual key
down really hard just for it to do anything.

phil, l. and dj dread at angkor watt

Yesterday we had lunch at a great Thai place.
In the afternoon we prepared for our time in
S'ville. I taught my usual balloon ninja skills.
Then we gave all the balloons away to the
neighbourhood kids so of course in a few minutes their
was a small riot in front of the house. It was
pretty funny.

This morning we left at 6 am for Siem Reap. The bus
was air conned but no leg room. Our driver is also the
slowest driver in all of Cambodia, which i think is
rather ironic. We stopped at a 'rest stop' and Phil
bought a bag of toasted crickets for everyone to try.
I ate a BBQ'd tarantula again. It was a lot bigger
than the one i had last year, and was honestly tastier
and way better than the crickets.

last year's tarantula

We had about 3 1/2 hours to see the temples. we saw
Angkor Watt ( the biggest one) and ta phrom (the jungle
one) everyone really loved it. Phil took a bunch of
pictures of me in [my utili] kilt so I can try and win a free
one. because we are in a tourist town We took
everyone out for pizza for supper and we are going to
a breakfast buffet before we leave tomorrow. We are
definitely in everyone's good books right now.

Soph, dj dread & the utilikilt

Tomorrow we go to Sianookville and we will be in the
bus for at least 11hrs, maybe 15 the way our driver
seems to take his time. There is no leg room so
please pray that I don't go insane.

The dread sensei probably will be out of touch for the rest of the trip, but returns home on the 20th...stay tuned! Love Joanna

Tuk Tuk Lunch Adventures

Well I am in Cambodia and so far loving every minute of it. Yesterday Phil (most of this text is lifted directly from his blog), Rachel and I spent the day with Darah, our tuk tuk driver that we hired for the day. He took us all around the city of Phnom Penh showing us all the non-touristy places. It was so cool just to hang with him and hear about his family, his job, and his life.

We wanted to go for lunch at a local, non-tourist, Cambodian place so he took us to Mekong Island. And so the adventure begins...

We thought that it was going to be totally touristy and developed by the pictures that we saw on a billboard, but it turns out that the guy who took the picture is a liar and also a ninja master at Photoshop. When we got there we hopped on the ferry (less glamorous that it sounds, imagine a rusty, diesel belching, floating hunk of scrap steel) and headed across the Mekong to the island. The island paradise was a bunch of sketchy 6 foot high bamboo huts, mostly under water with grass roofs on them. We walked along the littered beach to the huts all the while being mobbed by sweet people asking us to buy their scarfs that they made. When we got to the huts the 4 of us sat down in confusion for lunch.

People were surrounding us the whole time asking us to buy stuff and we almost fell into the Mekong as the bamboo floor we were sitting on broke through. We waited for a while for lunch (they needed to kill the chicken and catch the fish), still not knowing what was going on, but having a great time talking and hanging out with Darah, and all our new friends trying to sell us their stuff. When lunch came we were not let down.

A whole fried fish, ungutted, served with fresh chili sauce: the scrawniest, most pathetic (although organic) chicken I have ever seen, served with lime rock salt; a mango chili salad finished with fish sauce; and a huge pot a of rice. All washed down with bottled water and weak beer served over ice. We ate until we were full and also shared our food with 3 kids and a one-eyed dog wading in the river. We all agreed that this was the best Asian lunch we have EVER had, even though a few times we were seriously wondering what we were getting into. Good times in Cambodia.

Airplane Pork Congee (with 1000 year old egg)

I may not be able to post many recipes over the next few weeks because I am currently in Cambodia sampling the amazing food over here (and doing a bunch of other stuff as well.) On the flight over here I had my first ever congee. It was so delicious and warm and gingery and smooth and soul satisfyingly tasty (even though I have no idea what a 1000 year old egg is, and I'm not sure I want to know). Even though I can't guarantee it's yumminess, here is a recipe I found for pork congee. I mean if EVA Airlines can make a great congee, how hard can it really be?

INGREDIENTS
1 cup long grain white rice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
5 cups water
1/2 pound boneless pork loin roast
1 1/2 teaspoons oyster sauce
1 salted (hard-cooked) duck egg, chopped
1 hundred-year egg, minced
1 (1 inch) piece fresh ginger root, thinly sliced
1/2 cup chopped green onion
ground black pepper to taste
soy sauce to taste
DIRECTIONS
Rinse and drain the rice, and place in a large pot. Stir in the salt and oil, and let stand for 5 minutes.
Add the pork to the rice, and stir in the water. Bring to a boil, then simmer over medium heat for 15 minutes, or until the pork is cooked through. Remove the pork from the pot with a slotted spoon, and set aside. Continue to simmer the rice for 20 minutes. Chop the pork into small cubes, and mix with the salted egg and hundred-year egg.
After the 20 minutes are up, stir the pork and egg mixture back into the congee along with the oyster sauce. Serve in bowls, and garnish with ginger and green onion. Have soy sauce and pepper on the side for seasoning.

Ultimate Mega Extreme Wings of Death

My brother-in-law is staying with us and he is a hockey fan. Quite frankly, I could care less about hockey but I love Matt and tonight I made him hot wings to enjoy while watching the game. I personally think that these are THE BEST FREAKIN' HOT WINGS I HAVE EVER MADE! ...and believe me, I know my way around raw meat and hot fat.

Coating
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons chili powder
2 teaspoons paprika
2 teaspoons oregano
1 teaspoon powdered smoke
1 teaspoon mustard powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons flour
1 batch of chicken wings

Sauce
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 can tomato paste
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons whiskey
1 cup of your choice of hot sauce
(I suggest 1/2 cup Tabasco Chipotle, 1/4 cup Tabasco Habanero, 1/4 cup SriRacha Rooster)

Mix dry coating ingredients together in a large plastic bag. Add wings and shake to coat. Deep fry in small batches for 8-10 min. Meanwhile add all sauce ingredients to saucepan mix and heat. Pour sauce over wings and toss to coat.

If you want wimpier wings, use a lame hot sauce or just go to Earls with your tail between your legs and never read my blog ever again. If you want hotter wings, then you are my kind of people and you should use more Habanero and / or add 2 teaspoons of cayenne pepper to the coating.

The Best Waffle Recipe, EVER!

Now I am a man who appreciates a fine waffle. I even convinced and won over my wife to my bacon waffles (yum!) So when I found a waffle blog I was a little skeptical about their recipe for amazing crispy waffles. Long story short, this morning I made easy crispy waffles and the scales fell off my eyes and I saw the light. What makes this recipe amazing and easy is that it is a yeast batter that you make the night before and then it rises overnight in the fridge. When you get up you stir to deflate it and I added just a tiny splash of milk to get it a bit thinner (it thickens up a bit overnight). Pour it into your waffle maker and prepare to receive a divine revelation.


Easy Crispy Waffles
2 cups flour
1-1/2 tsp instant yeast
1 stick melted butter (1/2 cup)
2 cups warm milk (heated to about 110 degrees)
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt

The night before:
Combine and whisk together the dry ingredients in a large bowl: flour, yeast, sugar and salt. Combine the melted butter and milk. Add the mixture to the dry ingredients. Whisk eggs and vanilla together in a separate small bowl. Add the egg-vanilla mixture to the other mixture, and whisk until well-combined. Cover with plastic wrap and stick in the fridge until tomorrow morning.

The next morning:
Prepare waffle iron as usual. Stir the batter to deflate it (it should be puffy and frothy). Add to waffle iron the same way you would other batter, keeping in mind that this batter will rise more than batters that use baking powder instead of yeast.

Random Recipe Generator

Do you ever stare into your fridge which is jam-packed with stuff, but nothing edible, and wonder... "What am I going to eat?" Are you ever so tired, or so hungry, or so overwhelmed with life that you have no idea what you are going to make for supper? Well friends, the answer is here! Introducing the... Random Recipe Generator.

Lately I have been at a loss to try to think of amazing recipes and finding the luxury of time to blog amongst the daily duties of fatherhood has been difficult. Yesterday, our friend Puff (one of my most faithful blog readers) called to chat and mentioned that although she has enjoyed my endless ranting about the Godless, Evil Coffee Empire, she does really miss the good recipes.
Sorry Puff, 'cuz you're still out of luck. Although it is humourous, I certainly wouldn't call the following recipe any good...

Apples Supreme
Serves 1

You will need:

• 80ml vinegar
• 150ml tomato ketchup
• 150ml water
• 110g anchovies
• 5 apples

Preparation:

• pre-heat the oven to 310 C
• fry the apples
• add the apples
• sauté the anchovies
• defrost the water
• fry the anchovies
• fry the water
• eat the water
• fry the apples
• fry the vinegar
• heat the apples
• mix the anchovies in
• simmer the anchovies gently for 20 minutes
• put the tomato ketchup in the saucepan
• bake for 30 minutes and serve hot

What? You don't like the recipe? No worries, just click on the Random Recipe Generator for a new recipe. Let's try it right now. Ta dah!

Mushrooms Creme Brulee

Serves 3

You will need:

• 40g mushrooms
• 10ml soy sauce
• 120ml coffee
• 70ml essence of vanilla

Preparation:

• fry the essence of vanilla
• microwave the essence of vanilla
• microwave the mushrooms
• fry the coffee until browned
• grill the soy sauce
• order out

Yum. I think the last step in the preparations of this one is the way to go. Well, there you have it friends. Play with the Random Recipe Generator as much as you want until I can post something that is actually edible. Have fun and remember, if the Random Recipe Generator actually spits out something resembling food, I'm sure it is only a coincidence. DIYGourmet assumes no liability or responsibility for any harm or medical conditions resulting from eating ANYTHING generated by the Random Recipe Generator.

Wade vs. Joanna Blog Counter Wars

Lately Joanna has been very pround of the fact that the counter on her blog overtook mine. Everyday she usually has 1 or 2 hits more than me and we have been neck and neck for over a week. But now the gloves are off. Things have escalated to a point that our friend Sandra has even promised that she would practice Pallister equiblog surfing. But for those of you who are not as nice as Sandra, I challenge you to choose your favorite Pallister and show your support via blog hits. This current blog rivalry reminds me of this Simpson's episode where Bart and Lisa are on different hockey teams. I hope that you enjoy. Let the gratuitous blog hits begin! As Homer says starting at 02:20 in this clip...
"The winner will be showered with praise! The loser will be taunted and booed until my throat is sore!"

Social Revolution Through Pillow Fights

Resistance is Futile. Prepare to be Assimilated.

Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse...

How to Roast Your Own Coffee Beans.

My mate Stu sent me this link and I only wish that I would have thought of this first. On this video they use a hot air popcorn popper to roast green coffee beans. COOL! The Wayne's World wannabe production values are also so bad that this video has gone to the next level of awesomeness. Party Time, Excellent!

You're joking, right? Please tell me you are joking.

For yet another sign that something is seriously wrong with this world click here.

Make Your Own Vanilla Syrup and Give Starbucks the Shaft!

Lately in our house 5 pm - 11 pm has become the crying-child-don't-get-anything-done-bedtime-hour. It seems that Eleanor has decided that she will only be soothed if you hold her and bounce on the giant exercise ball for all 6 of those hours. Now I love holding and snuggling my daughter, but after about an hour on that stupid ball your mind starts to wander.

Photo courtesy of Sandra Vander Schaaf Photography. Copyright 2007

Please don't have your family picture taken at Walmart ever again. Please. For the love of all that's pure and holy, please hire someone who knows what they are doing. Like Sandra. She's nice. She takes good pictures. And she doesn't wear a stupid blue vest and a name tag. 'Nuf said.

I have tried reading while bouncing but that seems to be a one way ticket to a migraine. Of course you can watch TV, but we don't have cable, or more importantly, the Food Network. Drinking coffee while bouncing results in 3rd degree burns, and typing emails is next to impossible. All my ball time has done wonders for my spinal alignment but it has seriously cut into my computer time.

Today I decided to forgo the ball and to stand and do the baby sway while I read some blogs. I like to check out this food blog that I found. They have this great post about making your own vanilla syrup. Now if you make your own vanilla syrup then you can make your own amazingly yummy lattes at home and then you can boycott the Evil Empire. I haven't made the syrup yet but I was just happy to find someone else who hates Starbucks as much as I do. Of course, because I wasn't bouncing, Eleanor got seriously ticked and woke up. Oh well, I hope that the vanilla syrup is worth it.
To check out more people who hate Starbucks, click here. Fight the power.

Do it Yourself Ipod Battery Replacement

I have had an incredibly hard time posting frequently with my current endless duties of superdaddy, soapmaster, and hard-working roadie extraordinaire. But just ten minutes ago I had a giant personal triumph.

I replaced my Ipod battery (to quote my daughter, Sophia) "all by myself." And let me tell you, it was not without trial. First of all, the instructions that came with my third party replacement battery weren't all that helpful, and of course the photos were minuscule and fuzzy. I also found out that Ipods are stinkin' difficult to get into. I guess that is a good thing, but just to make things even more challenging, one of the special plastic prying screwdrivers included with my new battery snapped in the middle of the ordeal. At that point I wanted some better instructions so I got online and found this incredibly helpful web page.

Once I took a deep breathe and chilled out it wasn't even that hard. However, if you have just had a quadruple iced mocha latte, and have a serious case of the shakes I wouldn't recommend trying it until you have a steady hand. My new battery is currently charging and I am stoked that it cost me $33 and a half hour of my patience as opposed to $99 and shipping and handling that Apple Inc. wanted to charge me. Smell you later, Steve Jobs...

My New Favorite Restaurant

My birthday was on Sunday and due to babydom and my work schedule it passed almost without me knowing it, except for a fabulous breakfast and amazing espresso ice cream pie lovingly prepared by my foxy wife. So tonight I wanted to go for supper and I wanted it to be asiany and fabulous fresh and cheap and groovy and independent and family owned and Vancouver-y and within walking distance and I wanted my family to be the only white people in the establishment. Asking too much perhaps? Heck no!

Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like to announce that my new favorite restaurant is the...

Hollywood Cafe Restaurant
2128 East Hastings, Vancouver BC
604 251-3322
Open 7 days a week 11 a.m. - 11 p.m.

An online restaurant review is here. (Did I forget to mention that the review is mostly in Chinese? A very good sign of excellence if you ask me.)

The Hollywood specializes in Malaysian / Nonya / Hainanese food at amazing prices and huge portions in a clean family diner-type setting. How can you argue with that?

We ordered the Malaysian Dinner for 2. It was Roti Canai, Chicken Satay, Tom Yum Seafood Soup, Sweet and Sour Chicken, and Garlic Green Beans with Sambal Prawns and rice and dessert, and was it ever tasty... and cheap! Sophia loved everything and ate her face off. Joanna and I ate until we were stuffed and we took away a small container of leftovers. So three of us had a great meal all for $35 including tip.

Sophia partying down on the Malaysian feast.

For all my faithful readers who live in Vancouver, get over to this restaurant as soon as you can. Here is a map. For the rest of you, get on a plane to Vancouver as soon as you can and go to the Hollywood Cafe. Your transit directions from the airport are as follows...

Depart: 9:02a - VANCOUVER INTERNATL AIRPORT LEVEL 1
On route: 424 AIRPORT STN
Arrive: 9:08a - AIRPORT STN BAY 5

Transfer: 9:11a - AIRPORT STN BAY 1
On route: 98 BURRARD STN / B-LINE
Arrive: 9:35a - NORTHBOUND SEYMOUR ST AT W GEORGIA ST

Transfer: 9:37a - NORTHBOUND SEYMOUR ST AT DUNSMUIR ST
On route: 16 29TH AVE STATION
Arrive: 9:55a - EASTBOUND E HASTINGS ST AT LAKEWOOD DR

Joanna and Eleanor basking in the Combo-Meal-for-Two induced glow.

When you are done your meal, it is only a short 10 minute walk to our house to pop by for a quick post-birthday visit. And remember, meat and beer are always appropriate gifts.

p.s. I just answered my front door and Ang and Leigh just dropped off a birthday present of a package of pork ribs and some raw bacon... before I even uploaded this post. They are so cool!

A Beautiful Day for a Heart Attack

The other day I whipped up this tasty little a.m. treat because I was starving after being awake most of the night with my superdaddy duties. If you have a heart condition or any other medical problem, I highly suggest that you stop reading now lest you fall into greasy temptation.

Ingredients:
1 fresh Portuguese bun
Dijon mustard
mayo
sliced fresh tomato
1 fat, fabulous sausage (chorizo or something of the like)
2 slices bacon
1/2 small onion, sliced
1 potato grated or leftover baked potato deskinned and chopped
2 cloves of garlic
handful of fresh Italian parsley, chopped
1 egg, whipped with fork
a few slices of cheese
salt and pepper to taste
hot sauce

Start by frying the sausage and bacon in one frying pan. In another pan, slowly fry the onion and garlic in a splash of oil until soft and buttery. Keep meat and onions warm in oven. Fry potato into hash browns with oil and garlic. Once browned, toss in parsley. In other pan, pour in egg and sizzle into omelet, add slices of cheese on top. Meanwhile slice open bun, do the mayo and mustard thing, and add tomato, maybe a bit of fresh ground pepper. Now comes the fun part. Carefully remove cheese omelet from pan. Wrap sausage and bacon in the omelet like a burrito. Place into bun. Ladle up fried onions and hash browns. Add a splash of hot sauce and warm up the defibrillator. Consider yourself warned.

Sushi Samurai

The other day Soph and I were playing toddler computer games on the CBC kid's website and I found this awesome game. Of course, I can only play it after she has gone to sleep.

In the game you are this little Japanese dude who climbs ladders, drops slices of fish and cucumber to make nigiri, and throws wasabi at your enemies (shitake, diakon, and fugu). Fun all around and just the thing for a good 10 minutes of distraction.

(Local) Food for Thought

I haven't been cooking a lot lately because it taken all my energy just to keep things barely resembling normalcy around our house. Many of our friends have also brought over meals for us which has been a tremendous help. Thank you so much all of you.

I am also getting emails and comments from many of you who are really enjoying the blog. Once again, thank you for all your encouragement. But just because my life is now firmly entrenched in new parent craziness and I am not cooking as often as I usually do, I still don't want to disappoint my faithful readers. So I was thoroughly interested when our friend Audra (oops, I mean Guerrilla-Love-Hands) sent me this link.

Apparently these people are all about eating only locally produced food. I read though their page and it is a very interesting idea. The following explanation is taken from their web page (www.100milediet.org). Check it out...

About

When the average North American sits down to eat, each ingredient has typically travelled at least 1,500 miles—call it "the SUV diet." On the first day of spring, 2005, Alisa Smith and James MacKinnon (bios) chose to confront this unsettling statistic with a simple experiment. For one year, they would buy or gather their food and drink from within 100 miles of their apartment in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Since then, James and Alisa have gotten up-close-and-personal with issues ranging from the family-farm crisis to the environmental value of organic pears shipped across the globe. They've reconsidered vegetarianism and sunk their hands into community gardening. They've eaten a lot of potatoes.

Their 100-Mile Diet struck a deeper chord than anyone could have predicted. Within weeks, reprints of their blog at thetyee.ca had appeared on sites across the internet. Then came the media, from BBC Worldwide to Utne magazine. Dozens of individuals and grassroots groups have since launched their own 100-Mile Diet adventures. The need now is clear: a locus where 100-milers can get the information they need to try their own lifestyle experiments, and to exchange ideas and develop campaigns. That locus will be here at 100MileDiet.org—turning an idea into a movement.

Why Eat Local? 13 Lucky Reasons.

1. Taste the difference.

At a farmers’ market, most local produce has been picked inside of 24 hours. It comes to you ripe, fresh, and with its full flavor, unlike supermarket food that may have been picked weeks or months before. Close-to-home foods can also be bred for taste, rather than withstanding the abuse of shipping or industrial harvesting. Many of the foods we ate on the 100-Mile Diet were the best we’d ever had.

2. Know what you’re eating.

Buying food today is complicated. What pesticides were used? Is that corn genetically modified? Was that chicken free range or did it grow up in a box? People who eat locally find it easier to get answers. Many build relationships with farmers whom they trust. And when in doubt, they can drive out to the farms and see for themselves.

3. Meet your neighbors.

Local eating is social. Studies show that people shopping at farmers’ markets have 10 times more conversations than their counterparts at the supermarket. Join a community garden and you’ll actually meet the people you pass on the street. Sign up with the 100-Mile Diet Society; we’ll be working to connect people in your area who care about the same things you do.

4. Get in touch with the seasons.

When you eat locally, you eat what’s in season. You’ll remember that cherries are the taste of summer. Even in winter, comfort foods like squash soup and pancakes just make sense–a lot more sense than flavorless cherries from the other side of the world.

5. Discover new flavors.

Ever tried sunchokes? How about purslane, quail eggs, yerba mora, or tayberries? These are just a few of the new (to us) flavors we sampled over a year of local eating. Our local spot prawns, we learned, are tastier than popular tiger prawns. Even familiar foods were more interesting. Count the types of pear on offer at your supermarket. Maybe three? Small farms are keeping alive nearly 300 other varieties–while more than 2,000 more have been lost in our rush to sameness .

6. Explore your home.

Visiting local farms is a way to be a tourist on your own home turf, with plenty of stops for snacks.

7. Save the world.

A study in Iowa found that a regional diet consumed 17 times less oil and gas than a typical diet based on food shipped across the country. The ingredients for a typical British meal, sourced locally, traveled 66 times fewer “food miles.” Or we can just keep burning those fossil fuels and learn to live with global climate change, the fiercest hurricane seasons in history, wars over resources…

8. Support small farms.

We discovered that many people from all walks of life dream of working the land–maybe you do too. In areas with strong local markets, the family farm is reviving. That’s a whole lot better than the jobs at Wal-Mart and fast-food outlets that the globalized economy offers in North American towns.

9. Give back to the local economy.

A British study tracked how much of the money spent at a local food business stayed in the local economy, and how many times it was reinvested. The total value was almost twice the contribution of a dollar spent at a supermarket chain .

10. Be healthy.

Everyone wants to know whether the 100-Mile Diet worked as a weight-loss program. Well, yes, we lost a few pounds apiece. More importantly, though, we felt better than ever. We ate more vegetables and fewer processed products, sampled a wider variety of foods, and ate more fresh food at its nutritional peak. Eating from farmers’ markets and cooking from scratch, we never felt a need to count calories.

11. Create memories.

A friend of ours has a theory that a night spent making jam–or in his case, perogies–with friends will always be better a time than the latest Hollywood blockbuster. We’re convinced.

12. Have more fun while traveling.

Once you’re addicted to local eating, you’ll want to explore it wherever you go. On a recent trip to Mexico, earth-baked corn and hot-spiced sour oranges led us away from the resorts and into the small towns. Somewhere along the line, a mute magician gave us a free show over bowls of lime soup in a little cantina.

13. And always remember:

Everything about food and cooking is a metaphor for sex.

... well then, at least you are still paying attention if you have read this far. Heh, heh, heh, heh... they just said "sex".

So anyway, that is something to think about. Now, I'm not about to give up olives, or especially coffee just because it is not grown in the Lower Mainland but I am definitely going to sign up for their newsletter. I dare you to as well. I double-dog dare you.

The Trials of Bedtime and a Good, Stiff Drink

We are all slowly adapting to life as we now know it with our latest family addition. Sophia has been doing awesome and loves her little sister, but as expected, has been testing all of our parenting boundaries and rules. In my pop psychology, touchy-feely, I've-read-all-the-right-books, birth prep class intellect I know that this phenomenon is called "normalizing" but the rest of me wants to call it "Do as I say or I will shake you like a British nanny!" (That was a joke everybody. It is a little device we call... sarcasm. Please don't call any child protection authorities, ((by the way, Maria doesn't work there anymore.)) I'm not going to shake a specific cute little girl, although it has been very tempting the last few days.)

I have found the perfect device to get me through the preparing-for-bedtime-tribulation. It is called... the evening cocktail, and last night I perfected my recipe. I call it...
The Burning Ring of Fire. It is essentially a tequila martini, and here is the recipe for all you parents of toddlers out there.

The Burning Ring of Fire

1 shot tequila
1 shot vodka
juice of 1/4 lime
1 dash Tabasco Chipotle sauce
1 dash Tabasco Habanero sauce
1 drop liquid smoke (mesquite if you can)
fresh ground pepper
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
slice of lime for garnish

Mix chili powder and salt on shallow plate. Use this mixture to rim a chilled martini glass. In a cocktail shaker toss in ice cubes and add tequila, vodka, lime juice, hot sauces, and liquid smoke. Shake like a disobedient toddler. Pour into martini glass, garish with lime slice, and finish with a smidge of fresh ground pepper on top.

Warning: This is not your average pastel-polo-shirt wussy martini. It does not come with an umbrella. It tastes like kerosene distilled through a sulfur-fired blast furnace. It is deliberately designed to be strong, harsh, and uncomfortable to remind one that just like life, somethings are hard to swallow but the pleasant, lingering warmth afterwards makes it all worthwhile.

Cute Girls and Guns.

Today I was emailed pictures of my 14 year old niece at her junior prom. She looked absolutely stunning and I was once again reminded that all too soon I will be in the position of dealing with prepubescent boys, up to no good, sniffing around my daughters.

Yo, zitface, don't even think about even looking in the direction of one of my little princesses. Or else.

And thanks to our friend Audra, I have a plan. DIY crossbow. Oh yes, my friends, check it out here or here. Apparently, you don't need a license for a crossbow and they leave a much more ragged, brutal, less surgical wound than a 9mm. And isn't that just what you want when dealing with horny teenage boys? This is what the DIY revolution needs. Brutal handmade weapons! To arms comrades! Next target... McDonald's!

The Embodiment of the DIY Spirit

As some of you know, it has been a busy few days around our house. Our daughter Eleanor was born at home at 9:25 pm on Feb 12. We are ecstatic and overjoyed. In a few days the grandparents are going to show up and our house will be baby-centric for quite some time.

So, I wanted to take some time to brag about my eldest daughter Sophia and how awesome she is. On the weekend we were doing some errands and we stopped by the Evil Swedish Empire. They had a special Valentines' Day craft organized for the kids, but rather than let some giant multinational corporation tell us how to have fun, in a flash of parenting genius I took Sophia over to the help-yourself-packaging-and-packing station and we made a very stylish crown for her to wear. Check it out below! She breathes the DIY ethos.

Soph Does It Herself

Sophia stickin' it to the man!

Laptop Techno Will Rule the World.

I finally managed to get my own songs onto this blog. It took me a while and a great recommendation from my friend Ben, the greatest laptop DJ in the world. He specializes in caffeine-fuelled, rain-drenched glitchcore. Check him out here and get your DIY groove on.

So scroll down and click on the mp3 player on the right, download my tunes, and tell all your friends. Rave on!