Author: idonthaveacoolname

I have been really busy, hence the lack of posts.

The snow has fallen! It really looks like Christmas now! I cannot wait to grab some photos!

I had a fantastic time over at T&Ks last night! We had an early Christmas dinner with Darren, Katie and family, and another friend in from Toronto (who totally lucked out on his choice of days to visit T&Ks!!)

we started in the early afternoon… see photos below… and early apologies for the shaky iphone images… ill blame the wine 🙂

Marion made a hearty soup made from roasted winter squash with almonds and sunflower seeds.

That was for us while we prepared for dinner!

The starter was a warm beet salad on baby arugula and toasted almonds. Beets were, as usual, a pain to cook and Tristan’s idea of a pressure cooker is on point for next time.

I decided to cook a Beef Bourguignon. Go big or go home.

That’s right. I channeled my inner Julia Child and downloaded a few recipes and watched some videos. I made a point of reviewing the stages and planned out each step. It paid off!

I got 5 pounds of beef from the butcher and asked him about the salted pork needed. He called in the back for his grandmother who happily explained the process and key points of perfect Beef Bourguignon and sauce. It pays to be nice and ask questions!

Anyways, on to the photos!

This is the three of us busy in the kitchen. We had christmas carols playing and wine flowing. The snow was already beginning in the early afternoon so it was nice to be inside!

Yup. That was the hunk of beef prior to Tristan’s samurai skills with possibly the sharpest knives ever.

#Best.Bacon.Ever.

and then the diced beef was added to cook in the bacon grease (and butter) …. yeah…. my friend RP was probably pleased with how healthy my cooking was last night 🙂

That is me hard at work!

Tristan and Marion starting on the desert (I did take some of that home!). Amazing!

And in went the meat. That process itself took almost 25 minutes to cook the beef sections in multiple rounds, carefull not to crowd the meat!!

Oh… thats the soup that we had during the prep!

Then the cook down with the wine and the carrots. Pearl onions. Several hours of cooking. Beef Bourguignon, complete:)

I had a fantastic night! It was really great to cook with my friends and laugh while eating WAY too much. Merry (early) Christmas!

Ho Ho Ho!

A friend asked me about what apps I currently use on my iPad so here are my favorites.

It is rare that I will pay full price for an app, most I get for free or from a price drop here.

1. FileApp Pro: I use this app to transfer books to my iPad. I created a network drive on my computer so after I turn the file sharing function on my iPad, I can simply drag and drop my books right to my iPad. The PDF reader is quite good but no sepia tone so it can be quite bright when reading. I can, of course, also just open them in iBooks. More here.

2. WordPress: I use WordPress for this blog and while I code javascript and HTML and all that great stuff it is really great just to be able to click on my WordPress app and I can upload my photos anywhere in the world as long as I have access to the net. I am certainly no super-user but it is really quite intuitive! And because it is open source, there is lots of documentation and updates! More here.

3. Splashtop: I was looking for an app that would allow me to control my desktop PC and Mac. This scans my home network and then mirrors my desktop on my iPad. That way I can use my iPad to control my main home network computer. Very useful since my desktop is my media centre. My iPad controls my media! More here. Oh, and I received an email with detailed instructions on how to fix my particular issue literally minutes after I sent an email to the developer.

4. AirVideo: I want my iPad to be my device that can stream audio and video from my main desktop computer. This app connects to my computers and allows access to my entire folder structure so I can stream and use my iPad as my monitor. More here.

5. VLCRemote: And finally, for today, VLCRemote mirrors my running version of VLC on my desktop. It gives me a complete playlist and the ability to control VLC on my desktop. Great app. More here.

I will continue with Travel apps and others tomorrow!