Cravin' : Corn Dogs!

One of the perks of having lived on different continents and travelled to many countries is tall the tasty
morsels I've managed to eat!

Things such as :
- homemade empanadas from a little boy who would come by the dive shops with a massive pot of them when I lived in Roatan..
- curry udon in Japan..
- tasty tagines in Morocco..
- delicious roadside schwarmas in Oman..
- corn dogs at Capital Ex in Edmonton...

@Capital Ex, Edmonton '08
I love Fair food! Well, I love Fairs in general!!

The downside is, once I'm away from these delightful places with their decadent delights, it can be hard to come across these taste morsels again!!

A few weeks ago, I had a hankering for corn dogs.. but as hot dogs (the kind on a stick) are pretty hard to come by in the UK.. I knew I'd have to make my own corn dogs if I really wanted to eat'em... so I turned to the trusty interwebs and let my fingers do the walking...

I found this recipe and was super stoked when I realised I actually had all the ingredients necessary.. apart from the hot dogs and skewers.. oh and milk.. (we usually have rice milk as regular milk doesn't always get along with my stomach...) I text the mister to find some hot dogs on the way home (and milk) and he did not disappoint!

These were seriously so easy to make, the hot dogs took less time than the curly fries I threw in the oven to go with them! If only hot dogs weren't so hideously bad, I'd probably make these all the time... oh... and the deep frying.. that bit's not really good for you either... damn...

what I used : (for 6 hot dogs)

1/2 c cornmeal
1/2 c plain flour
1/8 t salt
couple of twists with the pepper grinder
1/8 c golden granulated sugar
2 t baking powder
1 egg
1/2 c milk

vege oil for frying
6 hot dogs/frankfurters
corn flour for dusting

what I did :

1. Dry hot dogs and roll in a thin layer of cornflour in a shallow dish.
2. Combine dry ingredients.
3. Stir in egg and milk.
4. Preheat oil in a deep saucepan over medium heat.
5. Roll franks in batter until well coated.
6. Fry 1 or 2 corn dogs at a time until lightly browned, around 3 minutes.
7. Drain on paper towels.

8. Enjoy!!

I had some batter leftover, so I diced up some onion, dropped it into the batter then dropped spoonfuls of the onion batter into the hot oil and made myself some hush puppies!! I didn't get any photos of the hush puppies... but they were deeeelish!!

They were so super simple and were pretty darned tasty and totally satiated my craving for Corn Dogs! If I can find better quality hot dogs around town, then I might make them again... As a little treat to myself... :]

And because corn dogs remind me of fairs and carnivals... Here's a picture of some carnie folk...

@Capital Ex, Edmonton '08

Happy Eating!!

Summer Funventures!

Hi there!!
Do y'all still remember me??
I can't believe it's been almost 2 weeks since I posted something on this little blog'o'mine!!
My Summer Vacay has been busy busy and since the mister arrived a bit more than a week ago, it has been super duper insane busy!
I haven't even had time to get my photos off my camera! Which I should really do..

We have been having loads of funventures around Vancouver Island... we spent a weekend at Strathcona Park Loge for KV&JH's GORgeous wedding... cabin 11, which we shared with 9 of my beautiful friends had its own little beach and firepit... the view was stunning and the entire weekend was the most amazing time... there's nothing quite like spending your evenings in front of a campfire!

Cabin 11 Crew

We have eaten our way around my fave spots in Victoria and took a day to tour Salt Spring Island where we hit 2 wineries, a few local artists studios and ate lots of yummy samples at the farmer's market!

We are now back on the mainland... after a major EPIC FAIL wherein I sent M to Horseshoe Bay to pick us up but we actually arrived at Twsawwassen.... if you look up the distance on google maps you will understand the epicness of my FAIL.... then he sat in traffic for two hours to come get us to take us to the airport so we could pick up our hire car then for us to follow him home, but he dropped us at the airport, then left... and it wasn't until I saw him driving off that I had the brainwave that.. HEY... he's suppose to wait for us!! FAIL FAIL FAIL!!  ANYwhos... we found them eventually!!

After our adventures picking up the hire car and a night spent in Maple Ridge with M&T  we are now up in Whistler...

Well... the mister has just woken up... so I guess I should be getting on with my day! I hope y'all are having a great summer (or winter for those in the southern hemisphere)!

Hopefully I will be back soon with photos of some of our funventures!!

Canoe Brewpub, Victoria, BC, Canada

It was a long weekend a couple of weeks ago and three of us made the most of the 1st August on the patio of "Canoe Club", Brad was already there and advised against the chicken breast sandwich... but even with that off the list, there was still plenty to choose from...

I started with a Caesar (I was on a mission to only drink Caesars when I was out during my entire Canadian holiday....) - they garnish their Caesars with a mini pepper and cocktail olive...

Gareth & I shared the Ploughman's Platter ($16.50) - Oyama York Prosciutto, Dry Cured Salami, Duck & Pork Rillettes, Hilary's Cheese, Pale Ale Cheddar, House Pickled Veg, Onion Jam and Toasted Bread .. we were originally going to order just the Pork & Duck Rillettes ($6.50) (what you see in the ramekin) but our server suggested the Ploughman's instead and we were stoked to have gone with his suggestion... the soft cheddar was super yummy.. we needed an extra side of bread ($1) to go with all the yumminess on offer!

I had to switch to Mojitos after two Caesars as the salt content in the Caesars was just too much on a hot sunny day... their house Mojito is made with Havana Club and hibiscus syrup and on Mondays is on special for $6 (2oz pour)... I had absolutely no trouble downing a couple of these!!

At about the 4 hour mark, we decided we were all still a bit peckish so decided to get the Flatbread to share among the three of us...  we went for the Galloping Goose Italian Sausage & Cherry Bomb Peppers option ($15) and it was the perfect amount to nibble...

As the sun started to dip below the horizon I wanted a sweet treat to wrap up our fabulous 6 or 7 hours spent in the sun, we had seen plate after plate of the Ice Cream Sandwiches go by but they were huge and I wasn't in the mood for that much sugar after a couple of Mojitos, the server gave their Creme Brulee ($7.50) the thumbs up and that was all the encouragement I needed.. the sugar top was toasted to perfection, crunchy with a bit of caramalisation without being burnt..  I wrangled Gareth into sharing and it was the perfect amount to satisfy the sweet tooth!

I think the fact we were there for about 7 hours is testament to how enjoyable it was to spend a sunny day on their patio! Add my 4 cocktails and Gareth's 5 or 6 pints and our final bill came to just over $100 after tax.. throw in 10% tip, $55 each for 7 glorious hours of great service and fantastic food = well worth it in my mind!

If you find yourself in Victoria on a hot sunny day, definitely check out Canoe Brewpub!! Even on a not so sunny day, drop by and dine in the "designated heritage building that underwent a $6,000,000 renovation in the late 90′s. The soaring timber frame and rustic brick architecture create a vibrant atmosphere and provides a setting just as beautiful, albeit different, than the patio outside." - extract taken from Victoria Explorer's review on Canoe.

From Vancouver Airport to Victoria....

So after my already eventful trip to Canada... 

{via}

I got a decent grilling by the border patrol man about "the purpose of my visit" as a warm welcome to a country I lovingly called home for almost 3 years... at one stage I thought I was going to have to invite him to the weddings I'm going to just to prove that I wasn't lying! After assuring him that yes, I do indeed have a plane ticket outta here... it was time to navigate my way to the Canada Line.. I had read online that if you buy a booklet of "faresaver" tickets, it's cheaper than buying a ticket from the machines as they add on a $5 airport levy or something... a quick trip to the visitor information revealed that I had to get to the domestic terminal to get said tickets.. (apparently this airport levy is to mine money from the tourists!?!) After trapsing from one side of the airport to the other, I had said tickets in hand, it was time to check out this new skytrain.. it was clean and air conditioned but there was nowhere to put luggage that wasn't the middle of the walkway or in front of the doors!!

A 15 minute ride got me to Bridgeport where I had to change to get on a bus.. I had missed the previous bus by 20 minutes (so I probably woulda made it if it weren't for having to trapse to domestic to get my tickets!) so I had a 25 minute wait for the next bus... again, the bus had nowhere to put luggage.. so I ended up taking up two seats, I'm sure some people thought I was a douche considering the bus ended up being full.. ah well, it was that or putting my suitcase in the aisle for people to climb over.. probably garnering me the aforementioned douche status regardless!

The ferry ride was fairly uneventful and the lovely LB and JB were there to pick me up in Schwartz Bay and save me from the fate of the #70 bus into Victoria!

We stopped in town for a bite from the Bard & Banker and I consumed my first caesar in over a year! Yummo!! Then it was back to their place for a nap and some downtime before being handed over to JGP to head to HQ.. to unpack, shower, eat a yummy dinner, meet his fab new lady, then we all pretty much crashed out before midnight! All in all a good first day back on the rock!

It's looking like a fairly sunny day outside, so I will endeavor to venture out and grab a few supplies.. or I may snuggle back down into the couch and have a little nap... It's only 9am.. it's unnatural for me to be up and out at this time when I'm not needing to be at work! 

Jetlag + sleeping on couch of people waking up at 6.30am to go to work = Caz being awake freakishly early!!  Tho JGP bringing coffee = not overly cranky Caz considering the early start! Can't say he doesn't know me well!

Happy Thursday folks!!

Greetings from Victoria, British Columbia, Canada!

Howdie from the Land of Moose and Beavers!

I hope you've all had a good weekend and start to the week.. while I have been busy packing, toddler proofing my flat and travelling! I am well behind on my blog reading... but hoping to remedy that today!

Can't believe it was less than a week ago that I finished up at work.. I was there till 7pm on my last day (as in everyone else left and I was still there!) making sure everything was done and leaving a note for the temp coming to take my place.. coz I hate arriving at jobs feeling like I just don't know anything.. it's always nice to arrive to some cliff notes to ease into a new workplace.. (for me anyways)

Then the weekend was spent running some errands and doing some last minute shopping and Monday and Tuesday were spent tidying up the flat and packing.. the mister's sister and brudder in law are visiting with their toddler in a few weeks.. so I had to pack away any potential health and safety hazards.. (of which there were LOADS!)..

Yesterday we left at quarter past a sparrow's fart to drive to Glasgow... the plane was delayed by an HOUR.. because a) they somehow managed to double book some seats.... b) there was a guy who's seat was broken - a guy came on with a hammer to fix it... eep!? and c) they were having "minor technical difficulties" - which they seemed to fix with the age old... "turn it off then on again" trick!

I moved seats to help remedy the double booked seats problem as they were a family with young children who couldn't be separated.. but ended up sitting next to an arm rest hogging man.. which is fine.. apart from he seemed to think the armrest extended halfway across my seat and spent the majority of the 8.5hrs flight time with his elbow either in my ribs or in my arm... g.r.e.a.t... not so much..  I started watching Love and other Drugs but somehow managed to break my headphones.. I think I must have caught the plug when I stood up and bent it or something.. then was told that if I wanted crappy airline headphones I would have to pay £2.50 for the privilege, so decided that my sudoku book would have to do to pass the time.. Thanks for nothing Thomas Cook!

At least the food was erring on the side of edible!

Tales of my adventure to continue in the next post!