February Photo a Day Challenge

One of my favourite iPhone apps is the photography app Instagram. If you don’t have it and you have an Apple device that has a built-in camera (iPhone, newer iPod Touch or iPad 2), definitely download it from the App Store. It’s free and a lot of fun.

Anyways, I saw a number of people I follow participated in a “Photo a Day” challenge in January and was excited to see that there was a challenge in February. For each of the 29 days in the month, you are required to take a photo of something. Here is the list of shots for the month:

Although I’m posting my shots regularly on my Twitter page and also on my Tumblr, I thought I’d share the first six days of my pictures here with you just so you have something different to look at. Before I do, though, let me warn you that I’m not a professional photographer (or professional iPhoneographer) and nor do I pretend to be. I just like these shots and that’s all that matters.

Day One: My View

This is the view from our balcony. Clearly, I was too lazy to go outside and took this from the glass door (made even more clear by the reflection of one of our lamps).

Day Two: Words

Of the shots I’ve taken this month so far, this is my favourite one. I opened the dictionary to a random page and just took the picture. I was a little embarrassed later on to realize that copulation is the word at the top of the page. Oopsie.

Day Three: Hands

This is one of the more ridiculous photos. Thankfully I got together with my friend Javier or I would have had to expose my hands – which look awful due to nail biting. But that’s for another post…

Day Four: A Stranger

No, the stranger isn’t holding the beer and winking – that’s Javier again. Check the background; that’s not one but two strangers and they are making out like the end of the world is nigh.

Day Five: 10 a.m.

This one was hard – because it was Sunday and who wants to be awake at 10 a.m. to take a photo? Regardless, I like how it turned out; one of my favourites.

Day Six: Dinner

Roast beef was part of tonight’s dinner (obviously the main dish), so here it is in all its beefy goodness.

So, there you have it – my first six days of February summed up with a few fun photos. If anybody else out there is participating in the challenge, give me a shout on Twitter or follow me on Instagram (where my username is JTerr8829) so I can be jealous of your awesome photos!

Kitchen Adventures: Making “Fried” Chicken

After looking through the stats for my blog, you all like when I write about food. So, while I assure you that I’ll continue to write about other topics, I’ll throw in regular doses of my cooking adventures as well.

Tonight, I decided to make “fried” chicken. The recipe originally comes out of a cookbook I helped promote in my last job. The recipes are from the Dietitans of Canada and are healthy. Both my roommate and I have enjoyed the Baked Fried Chicken – it’s relatively cheap, it’s filling and it’s delicious.

(I apologize that the photo is upside down – but it doesn’t change anything. This is what it looks like after 25 minutes in the oven)

I don’t use the recipe anymore, I just wing it. I use chicken thighs (with skin on, and with bones – I found it got better results than the boneless, skinless thighs).

Here’s what I use for the batter:

• White flour (about two cups for four chicken thighs)
• Dill (to taste – I use lots)
• Paprika (be very liberal with this)
• Onion powder (just a little bit)
• Seasoning salt
• Pepper

Mix the batter in a large, shallow bowl. Unfold the thighs and coat liberally. I cook the thighs at 350° for 25 minutes, before flipping and cooking for another 15 (or until crispy). I find just lining a baking sheet with foil works for cooking this dish – it doesn’t need to be oiled or anything, as I’ve always found the chicken just slides off.

As for sides? Mashed potatoes go wonderful with this dish – simple, delicious comfort food!

If you try this, let me know what you thought!

Weird Facts: Why My Food Can’t Touch on the Plate

This is a post that has been a long time coming. Not because it’s some deep secret that I’ve held back, but because nobody understands why food on my plate cannot touch. It isn’t a black and white issue; there are many facets to this rule, few exceptions and it is what it is. The photo above is an example of how I could never eat.

I don’t know where this “rule” started or why – but I know that it exists because if two things that shouldn’t touch, do? I won’t eat either thing. Before you ask: yes, I’ll go to buffet restaurants. It just requires many, many, many plates.

Some of the rules within this rule include:

• Hot and cold foods on one plate must not touch one another;
• Foods with different sauces may not touch one another, nor may one sauce touch another sauce – Thanksgiving is a big issue, what with gravy and all…;
• Certain things can touch: for example, carrots can touch corn so long as neither are in a sauce and no carrots end up on the same forkful as corn, or vice-versa; and
• Bread and buns are not devices used to sop up sauce; they are to be buttered and sit on a separate plate from all other food. There is one exception to this, at a restaurant in Oshawa that makes the most delicious salad dressing ever.

That list is by no means exhaustive, there are other stipulations and rules that come into play regularly.

Now, I know what you’re thinking: “Josh, you’re a big giant freak of nature.” You’re more than welcome to think that, but I’ve talked to quite a few people who have a similar “issue” as me. I’m used to people making fun of me for this. In fact, during Christmas 2010 my Mom bought me divided plates, thinking it was hilarious. I, however, use them regularly and think they are the best gift I’ve ever been given.

So, there you have it: now you can better understand why my food cannot touch on my plate.

Slow Cooking Round Two: Take That, Roast Beef!

No – I still didn’t take pictures because, while it didn’t look as unappealing as the stew I wrote about previously, I still couldn’t make it look pretty enough to warrant pictures. Regardless, I used the slow cooker this evening again and the results were a tender, melt-in-your-mouth roast beef.

As a sidebar, I have to say every time that I make something in the slow cooker, it seems that I’m destined to wake up later than planned. Hectic mornings don’t make for feeling great during the rest of the day. As a result, I was very confused today in regards to what day of the week it was.

Anyways, I was pretty simple with the beef; last night, I spiced it with onion powder, garlic powder and seasoning salt. Nothing particularly fancy, but it made for some fantastic results.

This morning, I threw some water in the pot and let it cook on low for 6 hours.

Now – another sidebar. The plan was to throw some potatoes in with the roast before I left for the gym at 5:30. However, much to my surprise, I opened the potatoes and found they had all sprouted, and not just a little bit: they were growing rather large sprouts. Luckily, I had went to the grocery store yesterday and picked up a delicious V8 Autumn Carrot soup. Dinner was saved!

The results, as I mentioned, were delicious. The beef melted in your mouth and the seasoning added some great flavour but wasn’t too strong. The roast had a little too much fat for my liking, but it was still tender, delicious and I’m craving more as we speak.

I said it once and I’ll say it again: I adore my slow cooker and the magic that it brings to my tastebuds.

Stew (or how I threw stuff in the slowcooker and hoped for the best)

I’ve covered music, I’ve covered books and I’ve covered TV. Naturally, food is next on the list!

Between my roommate and I, the task of cooking usually falls to me. I enjoy cooking, so it’s never an issue. Plus, I hate doing dishes so it works out quite well! Between work, commuting and the gym, I don’t have as much time to cook as I did before so these days I’m relying heavily on my CrockPot. Last week, I slow-cooked a pork tenderloin for, oh, 22 hours and it was the most tender piece of meat I’d eaten in a long time. Needless to say, I was excited to use the slow cooker again!

It’s Canada and it’s the middle of December. So, while there isn’t any snow on the ground, the temperature is beginning to drop. And what better food to eat, in my mind, than a stew! I originally was going to make it last Saturday, but I got lazy. Then I was going to throw everything together Monday morning, but I woke up late, so I decided to make it for dinner today.

I threw the beef in the slow cooker with some gravy and the potatoes to slow cook over night. I was going to post a photo, but to be honest, it looked gross. I didn’t want to share it.

I had a whole plan: I was going to wake up early this morning to put the rest of the veggies in and let everything cook while I was out. I usually leave the house around 7:40 a.m. Today, of course, because I had stuff to do and a higher power decided I needed some more sleep, I didn’t wake up until 7:44 a.m. Already late, I ran to the kitchen in my sleep attire (thank heavens my roommate wasn’t home), ripped open the bag of veggies, dumped it in, added some pepper, stirred it and booked it back to the bedroom to get dressed and get going.

The final verdict: I was disappointed with the end result, despite my roommate and a friend saying it turned out fine, with the addition of some extra spices. I used pepper, onion powder and garlic powder to season the beef and again after adding gravy and potatoes, but I think most of that flavour was “burnt” off. I think it also would have been more flavourful had I made my own gravy, but hey – when you’re pressed for time, you do what you have to do! I’ll make it again, but changes are needed to make it meet my standards for my cooking.