...After Coffee

Social Cycling

2010-05-31T13:09:00.002-04:00

Event #1 - Get dressed up and go on a bike date.

We made it to the Ward's Island beach just in time for the sunset and cat party. We wore hats! (Under our helmets, of course.)

LGRAB Summer Games

2010-05-17T15:51:00.000-04:00

Let's Go Ride a Bike has launched it summer games, and they sound pretty darn fun, and the prize sounds pretty darn awesome, and we are pretty darn competitive so... let the games begin!

Read about them here.

How to play, you ask?

It’s easy. There are three main categories, and six events in each category. Complete events in each category over a three week period, and tell us about it via blog post link or email, plus photo addition to our Summer Games Flickr Pool. Entries must include a story and a photo of each event you complete. If you enter via a post on your own blog, please link to this announcement in your entry, include one of our badges and let us know via email.

Anyone who completes at least two events in each of the three categories will be entered to win the Batavus BuB by random drawing. We’re also giving away prizes as readers complete each category.

May 17-June 6: Social Cycling

Go on a group ride
Leave a nice note on a bike, or say hi to a cyclist at a red light
Schedule a bike date with a friend or partner — dress up!
Recruit a non-biking friend for a ride
Ride with your family

June 7-June 27: Learning Experiences

Perform a maintenance task — big or small!
Decorate your bike
Read a book about cycling
Carry a load on your bike — groceries, etc.
Test ride a different type of bike than you normally ride

June 28-July 18: New Territory

Ride a greenway
Have a bicycle picnic
If you don’t normally ride to work, commute by bike, or by bike/train or bike/bus
If you do commute, take the long way home: add distance to your usual ride
Explore a new part of town by bike

We will be completing every event ourselves and sharing our adventures here, of course.

A huge thank you to all of the companies that donated prizes! Click on the images below to visit their websites. This is all for you, loyal readers and fellow bike lovers.

The Weekend

2010-05-02T21:58:00.000-04:00

Friday night dinner on the patio at La Mexicana II to celebrate the end of Bryan's first year. Chile rellenos, pozole, sopa de lima and a burrito, enchilada and quesidilla combo platter. Drunk patrons with obnoxious, mid-forties laughs were also included! We had a pitcher of steam whistle, but were extremely tempted to try their avocado-based drink. Next time.

Bowling at Danforth Bowl. Cheap drinks, rock 'n' roll, 6 lanes, 5 pins and manual scoresheets.

A trip to the Sunday St. Lawrence Antiques market yielded a book on the history of Kingston, Ontario (guess who bought that!), some buttons, and this antique crate to store our many living room blankets in. $55.

Other weekend highlights sans photo included:
The Designer Cookie

Tonights Dinner

2010-03-08T01:39:00.001-05:00

I made burgers with ground pork and various spices but the adventure of the night was making my own buns from an Italian loaf recipe I have.

Italian Egg Rolls

2010-03-07T17:02:00.001-05:00

These egg rolls are great as an appetizer or finger foods for a party. This was also my first ever shot at making a recipe. I can't remember the exact reason for creating this but the first time I tried it out on people was for an Italian birthday party I catered in the spring of 2006.

Ingredients

- Egg Roll Wraps
- Italian Sausage removed from casing
- Red Pepper julienned
- Red Onion julienned
- Fresh Basil
- 1 tsp. Dried Oregano
- Mozzarella cut into 1/4" thick strips

Directions

1. In an oiled frying pan over medium heat, cook onions adding a pinch of salt until translucent.

2. Add red pepper and oregano and cook until peppers are tender, onion near caramelizing. Remove to a bowl.

3. In same pan cook sausage, break up into pieces as small as possible. Remove from heat when cooked through, about 10 minutes.

4. Assemble egg roll according to directions on package. Place small amount of sausage, onions, bell pepper, 1 strip of Mozzarella and basil leaf onto egg roll wrap, be carefull not to overfill. Use flour diluted in water as a 'glue'.

5. Deep fry at 350 until golden brown, about 1:30 to 2 minutes. Remove and dry on paper towels and season lightly with salt or Italian seasoning.

Serve with your favourite marinara sauce.

Sweet Potato Mac 'N Cheese

2010-03-07T16:59:00.001-05:00

I thought this one up because I was tired of having plain baked sweet potato. The blue cheese and sweet potatos are a perfect together and really tie everything together. Even those that are not big fans of blue cheese could find this enjoyable as the sharp flavour gets cut by the ricotta and sweet potato.

Serves 8
Ingredients:
1 Pound Sweet Potatos
450 g Ricotta Cheese
150 g Blue Cheese broken into small chunks
500 g Penne or other favourite tube pasta
1 Cup Milk
Pinch All Spice (you could also use nutmeg or cinnamon, or all 3)
Salt and Pepper to taste
Topping Italian Seasoned and Parmesan Breadcrumbs (Store bought, nothing fancy)

Directions:
In a 400°F oven roast the sweet potatos until tender, approximately 40-60 minutes depending on the size.

With about 15 minutes left on the sweet potatos cook pasta in well salted water until you reach desired tenderness. Don't worry if the pasta finishes cooking before the sweet potatos. Just drain and rinse with water to prevent it from sticking.

Once the sweet potatos are finished, leave the oven on, peel the skins off and mash in a mixing bowl with the ricotta. If the ricotta is very smooth add all of the milk, if it's a bit watery you may not need all of the milk. You're looking for a consistency slightly creamier than a traditional whipped mashed potato. Add salt, pepper and all spice to taste. Once everything is combined stir in the pasta and make sure everything is well coated. Then stir in the chunks of blue cheese. You want to have to little chunks of blue cheese scattered throughout once finshed.

Transfer to a casserole dish, I use a lasagna tray, and spread evenly. Top with bread crumbs and drizzle with olive oil.

Put back in the oven for 10 minutes at 400°F and then switch to broil until the top is crispy.

Enjoy!

Venison Meatballs

2010-03-07T16:58:00.000-05:00

Serves 4

500g Ground Venison
2 Slice Stale Bread
1/4 Cup Parmesan Cheese
1 Clove Garlic
1 tbs Fresh Thyme
1 Egg, beaten
Salt and Pepper
1 tbs Oil

In a food processor add bread, parmesan, garlic, thyme and salt and pepper to taste. Pulse until you have a nice bread crumb.

Add bread crumb mixture and egg to venison and mix thouroughly. Form into balls roughly the size of a golf ball.

Add oil to frying pan over medium heat. Cook meatballs about 6 minutes per side until golden brown all over.

Serve with your favourite pasta marinara sauce over pasta.

Cheddar and Bacon Muffins

2010-03-07T16:02:00.000-05:00

These muffins take center stage on Christmas morning in my family. Relatives have been known to travel through bad weather and traffic jams just to get their hands on them.

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
½ vegetable oil
¼ cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup grated cheddar cheese, be generous
½ cup cooked chopped bacon

Preheat oven to 350° F

Grease and flour 12 large muffin cups

Sift together flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl.

In a separate bowl beat oil and sugar until creamy. Add eggs and beat well.

Gradually add flour mixture and milk to oil mixture alternating between each.

Quickly fold in cheddar and bacon.

Spoon batter into prepared muffin pan and bake 30-35 minutes.

Remove to a rack to cool.

Yields: 12 muffins

Time to make: 1 hr