French onion soup

I promised home made French onion soup, if I recall.

Well, here it is. A couple nights ago, after the stupid amount of shrimp, we decided to make French soup. From scratch. This was done with little effort on my part, as Pearce was the one who practically made it all. But, he took an inside beef loin, added a cup of wine (in this case Wild Horse Canyon), Oxo beef powder, sliced onions (a lot), added the whole thing to a slow cooker and let cook for a few hours.

Before the beef loin was put in, it was flash fried on both sides.

Once the cooking was done, it was the serving. The pork loin was removed, to be used in another recipe. Topped with a slice of bread and melted cheese, this was an incredible meal.

Next up, a great chili made from the left overs from the French onion soup.

Until we go hungry...

...keep 'em flyin'.

You have to be this awesome to get on this ride

So, my vacation came at the right time.

Saskatoon Ex!

Rides, food, exhibits. The whole deal. The day was a hot one, too, getting up to 31 Celsius. A very hot day indeed. But not muggy. Granted, going on a ride would have been difficult. I'm not that good at rides, really. I get sick very easily. Even on the ferris wheel. Yes, call me a wimp, but I like the bumper cars.

Inside the Jubilee Building were the exhibits and displays. Among them was the reptiles, the World Junior display, as Saskatoon is vying to get the World Junior Championships, and the very interesting CSI: Live. It was, I am assuming, more geared to kids. It was very kid friendly, it would seem.

At the grand stand was the music of Jully B. Rhythm and blues and a lotta soul. A large crowd showed up for it, but the show was cut short as the rain, thunder and lightning started up. It was announced that things were wrapping up, and rightly so. No one needs the fear of being struck by lightning. Even the rides were closed down during the downpour. Back into the Jubilee building we went.

Fortunately, we managed to find a nice cool area to stay, as the massive crowd had made things not only hot, but humid as well. It was in the cooler of the halls that we saw the most amazing thing. If you've never seen Saskie before, you should. Back in 1980, Saskie was created as a mascot for Saskatchewan's 75th anniversary. A gopher with a cute hat. This needs mentioning, because one of the exhibits was a collection of stuffed mascots over the years, and it included Saskie.

Words can say a lot, but pictures can say more. Here's this year's Saskatoon Ex.

One final note. The fireworks, they were pretty good too.

Until next time...

...keep 'em flyin'.

Panoramics

One thing great about Saskatchewan is the fact that it lives up to it's nickname, land of living skies. These panoramic shots are examples of that. All taken from a balcony at a friend's place in Saskatoon, these were taken over a period of five hours.

A stupid amount of shrimp

One great thing about vacation time is food. And in this case, a stupid amount of food. Over at a friend's place during this vacation, we decided it was time for a little seafood. In this case, shrimp. We went to a local fish market (yes, an amazing thing in the middle of a landlocked province like Saskatchewan) and picked up two trays of shrimp kabobs.

Roasted over the grill, and laid over rice, it was indeed a stupid amount of shrimp. Each tray contained 25 shrimp. It was filling to say the least. And cheap. Normally a meal like this would come to 17 bucks at a place like Red Lobster, complete with extra trimmings. For each plate, of which, we came out with two plates of 25 shrimp and rice. We paid a total of 19 bucks. For everything.

Five minutes per tray on the grill and it was all done, then the rice added. What a meal.

Later, great home made French onion soup.

Until the cheese hardens...

...keep 'em flyin'.

Painted Sky

I find this entertaining, I blog more on holiday than I do when I'm at home. But I also manage to take more photos on holiday, too. These are great sky pictures that came out awesome. Painted sky, nothing more needs to be said. Enjoy.





Until the sky falls...

...keep 'em flyin'!

Rollin' along

Okay, been a while since I posted. And been a while since I posted anything regarding the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Since my last update, the Riders have improved to 6 and 0. An amazing start to the 2008 season, considering the number of injuries they have suffered. DJ Flick, Wesston Dressler, Andy Fantuz, Matt Domingez, Darian Durant. The list goes on. But still, with the number of injuries, they manage to find ways to win. The last win came thanks to a lucky break, as Calgary, on the last play of the game, missed a field goal to give the Riders a 22-21 victory. The rematch is this week in Regina.

The weeks to come will prove interesting. One game against the Edmonton Eskimos. The Eskis have resurged and seemed to have rallied themselves around injured receives Jason Tucker. Tucker suffered a neck injury against the Hamilton Tiger-cats.

Back to back games are on the horizon for the Riders against the hapless Winnipeg Blue Bombers, who have struggled out of the gate, sitting tied for last in the entire league with the Ti-Cats at 1 and 5. There's a good opportunity for the Riders to pick up two wins to improve to at least 8 and 2. I doubt the Riders will lose at home to Calgary, so the front half of the season could look to become 9 and 1. Only Edmonton looks like they could hand the Riders a loss at this point.

Until the first loss for the Riders...

...keep 'em flyin'!

Buildin'

One of the joys of gaming happens to be the building that comes along with it. In many games, you can create your own content, and add a bit of your own flavour to the world you play a game in. One such game is Neverwinter Nights from Bioware. Based on the pen and paper game, Dungeons and Dragons, Neverwinter Nights is set in a fantasy world. There is a single player campaign, plus you can go online to find what are called persistent worlds. These are servers that are constantly up, and constantly maintained. I currently play on one called Legacy of the North. It's a nice server with a decent population of players.

And I am on the building team.

I take a bit of pride in the things I build. Each thing that is added to the server is seen by the players, and I can sit back and say "hey, I made that, and people really like it." So it is true with the current area I finished. I like making social areas where players can gather to just talk. And I've currently finished a halfling village. Think of the Shire from Lord of the Rings. Filled with little people, it's a fun little place to go and have fun.

For me, building happens to be a relaxing past time, and an enjoyable hobby. It's a digital way of making model railroads and villages.

Until I find the one ring...

...keep 'em flyin'.