Christopher's Perfect Fries

You start with a couple of potatoes.



Chop them up into French fry shape, leaving the skin on.



Soak them in cold water for 20 minutes, or longer.



Drain the water, and dry the fries well with paper towel.




Line a cookie sheet with tin foil (the foil is important), and spray it with non-stick spray.



Drizzle the fries with olive oil, and season very, very, very generously with black pepper, white pepper, and sea salt.  The two kinds of pepper really make these fries. 




Place the fries on the pan one by one, so that they are flat, and do not touch each other.




At this time, you might want to add more black pepper, white pepper, and sea salt.  Seriously, we use a lot. 

Now, place them in a oven at 375 F, and don't go too far.




We check on these quite often, but after about 15-20 minutes, they're ready for a flip.  They should be browned and crisp on one side.  Flip them by hand so that they lay flat on the other side.



Yes, we flip each fry by hand.  This ensures perfect crispiness.

Put them back in the oven to crisp up the other side, for about 15-20 minutes (but watch 'em).

Take them out and enjoy!

Do you like French fries?  Do you ever make them at home?  

What do you dip your fries in?

Thursday Things

1)  When we got home from Saskatoon on Sunday, we had an easy dinner - frozen pizza, salad, and some strawberries for dessert:



2)  Last night we went to see Chef in the theatre.  It was great!

3)  Monday nights dinner was spaghetti with turkey bolognese:



4)  I like tacos.  A lot.



They were Tuesday's dinner.

5)  Tomorrow evening we're going to see some live music, including a rapper that went to the same high school as Christopher and I, Def 3.  So excited!  Other plans for the weekend include helping family paint out in Indian Head.

What are your Thursday things?  

What do you have planned for the weekend?

Perfect Homemade Popsicles

Sometimes, you just need to be a kid again.  If that means having popsicle sword fights in the backyard ... so be it.



These popsicles bring me back to my childhood.  I remember making them with my mom, and eating them on hot summer days.  I'd slurp up the melty part that pooled in the holder if I wasn't fast enough, or the sun was just too hot.

Perfect Homemade Popsicles

(Makes at least 2 trays full - 3 if small trays)

1 small package Jello (any flavour)
1 package Kool-Aid (any flavour)
2 cups boiling water
1 cup sugar
2 cup very cold water

Mix the Jello, Kool-Aid, and boiling water.  Stir well.  Add the sugar and cold water.  Pour into popsicle trays.  Freeze for a couple of hours.





The easiest way to remove a popsicle from the tray is to run the tray under really hot water for 10 seconds or so to loosen the popsicle.



Ta-da! 



The Jello makes the popsicles easy to bite into ...

What treats remind you of summer?

Saskatoon Weekend

We try to get to Saskatoon as often as possible, which usually ends up being about once a month or so, to visit my mom who is in a care home there.  Since it's a couple hour drive, we go for the whole weekend. 

The restaurants in Saskatoon are fantastic!  We have our favourites, and they're so good, it's hard to venture out to try new places.  This trip we went to a Korean restaurant called Seoul:




We also ate at Afghan Kebob & Donair, where we shared an appetizer and an entree:




Aroma in the Radisson, is one of our favourite places, and we ate there a couple of times, as we were staying in the hotel.  They have the best spaghetti bolognese:






Complimentary macaroons, mmmmm!

What did you do on the weekend?

Spring Things

It's been a pretty nice spring so far.  We've enjoyed watching the birds bathe in the front yard:



Homemade popsicles to cool us off on a hot day:



Hearing music in the park while wandering around:



Veggies and freshly squeezed juice for dinner:



Many Screaming Daisies shows:





And delicious dinners:



Spring, you're alright.

How's your spring so far?

11 Questions

These 11 questions have been floating around the blogosphere, so I thought I'd play along.  I saw them on my blogger pal Lisa's blog.

1)  What is the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning?

Hop in the shower (on weekdays anyway).

2)  What do you eat for breakfast?

Lately during the week it's been a toasted tomato and spinach sandwich or yogurt with toppings.  On weekends we make a bigger breakfast, usually with bacon and eggs of some sort.  This past weekend I made Christopher and I overnight oat parfaits (layered with banana "soft serve").

3)  What's your go-to weeknight meal?

I don't know if we have a go-to meal.  We switch it up quite a bit, but I suppose when we don't have any ideas, and we're trying to use food up, we make bee bim bop.

4)  Do you do any kind of journalling or memory keeping?

Well, I have this blog ...

5)  How do you fix your coffee?  Or do you prefer tea?  Or neither?

I love coffee.  I like it black, or with a touch of cream.  I love tea too, usually with nothing added.

6)  What's the last good book you read?

I can't remember.  I haven't been reading as much as I used to (which was about a book a week), but this summer I plan on reading a few books.

7)  If you had a day all to yourself with no schedule, how would you spend it?

Probably not much differently than I spend the weekends - long, leisurely breakfast, maybe a walk to the coffee shop or around the lake, spend a lot of time in the kitchen and backyard.  Maybe get a massage or pedicure.

8)  What three things are on your life list?

- Earn a PhD and do interesting, engaging research. 
- Celebrate often.
- Grow very, very, very old with my sweetheart.  And still be as silly as we are now.

9)  When you really need to relax or de-stress, where do you go, and what do you do?

In the summer, the deck in the backyard is pretty much perfect.  Pour a beverage, visit and laugh.

10)  What's on your nightstand?

Lamp, clock, phone, glass of water (I bring one to bed with me each night).

11)  What's the last thing you do before you go to sleep?

Brush teeth, wash face, set alarm, listen to Christopher tell me what's happening in the news.

Now it's your turn!  

Answer a question or two (or all) in the comment section! 

Best in Chow: Pizza Wars

Today I had an exciting opportunity to be one of nine judges on Pizza Wars: Regina!  In fact, I also got to be the Super Streeter for the episode and do a little interview with the crew on Sunday afternoon.

Throughout the day today we visited three local restaurants, and tried three different pizzas.

Our first stop was at Bushwakker, where we enjoyed the pulled pork & apple pizza.  Apples on pizza!?  It works.  It totally works.

This pizza was a little bit spicy, and a little bit sweet.  It was perfectly cooked.  Check out that cheese!

Next up on our adventure, La Bodega.

We had the buffalo chicken pizza, which was a twist on the traditional pizza, with a quesadilla crust.  It was super cheesy, and the creamy buffalo sauce was a nice touch.  Mmmm, I also spot some cilantro on there!

Chris Nannarone, host of Pizza Wars, enjoying his slice:

Our final destination was Tumblers, for a full-on, manly pizza!

It was looooooaded.  The toppings included pepperoni, ham, salami, Canadian back bacon, pineapple, green peppers, mushrooms, garlic, an incredible sauce (their sauce is boss), and a three cheese blend.  Surprisingly, the crust stayed crispy, even when loaded up with so many scrumptious toppings.

Now this was a tasty day!  Thank you so much to the awesome crew of Best in Chow.  Who won Pizza Wars: Regina?  You'll have to tune in (sometime in September) to find out!  I'll keep ya'll posted.

Okay, I sort of want to eat more pizza now ...

Help.