Archive for April, 2007
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fondue party?
By Karen | Sunday, April 22nd, 2007 | 1 Comment »
After the excess of April’s Deep Fry Fest, it’s been suggested that the next Hamilton House potluck be a little more civilised and a lot more healthy.
Fondue is the main contender. If we could add 1-2 more pots to the one we have at home, we could have cheese, chocolate, and bouillabaisse stations and wash everything down with wine. We’ve already got a tried-and-true Toblerone fondue recipe.
What say you?
six degrees of (salsa) separation.
By Karen | Monday, April 16th, 2007 | 3 Comments »
My daily routine of scouring the interweb consists of:
- checking facebook (darn it)
- checking work email
- checking personal email
- checking my RSS feeds on Bloglines
My uncle Reno has a photography blog which is included in my feeds. What do I find in my feed today but a number of his shots of salsa dancing at the Howard Johnson hotel, which has become my Thursday night salsa haunt of late…
My guess is that he knows Susi, the instructor giving lessons last Friday, and thus came out to take photos. I would have been there too, had a few of my friends not convinced me to check out the opening night of salsa at Diavolo.
Small world.
easter weekend goings-on.
By Karen | Sunday, April 8th, 2007 | No Comments »
I thought Easter long weekend was going to be pretty low-key, but we managed to cram a lot of events into 4 days, considering. I’ll let the photos and video do the talking:
Holy Thursday
- Easter potluck at work, organized by Dean
- Amazing dinner at Kingyo Izakaya, a restaurant recommended by Dean and yet another tapas restaurant where my brother is a VIP
- Salsa Passion Thursday at the Howard Johnson Hotel
Good Friday
- Extended afternoon slacking off with Bruce at Mel’s Diner, La Boulangerie Parisienne, and Ganache (and the inanity that resulted from it)
- Dinner at Yaletown Brewery with Kurt, complete with personalized magic show (strangely enough) and free “I’m with Bob” t-shirt
- Salsa dancing into the wee hours of the night for Diego’s birthday
Easter Vigil
- Watched 300 violent, well-oiled muscle machines…mmm, spartans…
- Took a Robson stroll and gawked at a few concept cars that were oh-so-casually parked along the strip
Easter Sunday
- Got treated to a bacon and pancake breakfast by the husband
- Pointed out Kurt’s uncle and cousin watching Stuart Appleby miss a birdie putt (oh, the wonders of HDTV)
- Ate like a pig at the family’s monthly potluck and watched the “Pussycat Dolls: The Search for the Next Doll” marathon with the aunties
- Had our 2nd annual husband-and-wife easter hunt (my stomach’s gonna be sick of chocolate by the end of the week!)
Volveré (DLG)
By Karen | Friday, April 6th, 2007 | No Comments »
La conocí en la taberna,
la ví pedí una copa de vino,
me dijo vente a mi mesa y
yo le dije vente conmigo
Subimos al viejo cuarto los dos
hasta el alma nos quisimos
me acompaño hasta mi barco y le dí
como recuerdo mi anillo
Volveré, volveré
porque te quiero hasta tu puerto volveré
volveré, volveré
serás mi estrella
si tú me esperas yo volveré
No he vuelto por la taberna por mí
pregunta a los marineros,
se sienta frente a la puerta y allí
suspira por mis recuerdos,
si alguno le da una copa se va
porque le muestra mi anillo,
es una promesa rota, es ya
la historia de un compromiso
Volveré, volveré
porque te quiero hasta tu puerto volveré
volveré, volveré
serás mi estrella
si tú me esperas yo volveré
I Love Salsa! (N’Klabe)
By Karen | Friday, April 6th, 2007 | No Comments »
I love salsa!
n’klabe!
se escucha de puertorro hasta new york
no importa generacion
entonan esta cancion, i love salsa!
se escucha de puertorro hasta new york
no importa generacion
entonan esta cancion
de colombia a venezuela, de gapon a panama
todos lo dicen de su manera de una forma peculiar
esto es un ritmo muy contajioso que a todos lleva a bailar
si la gente me pide salsa, salsa les voy a dar,
i love salsa!
se escucha de puertorro hasta new york
no importa generacion
entonan esta cancion, i love salsa!
se escucha de portorro hasta new york
no importa generacion
entonan esta cancion
de puerto rico el gran combo,
de cuba benny more
de colombia el grupo niche tiene su salsa tambien
de venezuela un sonero el gran Oscar De Leon
y ahora la salsa la trae N’Klabe pa esta generacion,
i love salsa!
se escucha de portorro hasta new york
no importa generacion
entonan esta cancion, i love salsa!
se escucha de portorro hasta new york
no importa generacion
entonan esta cancion
mientras haya gente joven que entonen esta cancion
siempre vivira la salsa en cualquier generacion
a mi me gusta el merengue, la bachata, y el reggaeton
pero el sabor que tiene mi salsa la llevo en el corazon
i love salsa!
se escucha de puertorro hasta new york
no importa generacion
entonan esta cancion, i love salsa!
se escucha de portorro hasta new york
no importa generacion
entonan esta cancion
todo el mundo pa la pista que ya mi salsa salio
i love salsa!
y esta bailando la gente porque sienten el calor
I love salsa!
de colombia a panama
de portorro a nueva york
i love salsa!
ya se mueven con el ritmo que los saca de control
i love salsa!
i love salsa!
i love salsa!
N’Klabe te esta tocando con estilo sin igual
i love salsa!
somos la nueva cosecha nena,
llego la oportunidad
i love salsa!
y esto que te traigo esta! N’Klabe!
ya se escucharon de quien era,
y repite mi pregon
i love salsa!
y avisale a mi vecina que aqui estoy yo
i love salsa!
mi respeto a los mayores a la hora de cantar
i love salsa!
juan abel y tito puente con su timbal
i love salsa
que han hecho salsa pal mundo
y N’Klabe continuara
i love salsa!
con este ritmo que enciende
se que tu vas a gritar,
i love salsa!
I LOVE SALSA!
Read the rest of this entry »
return to salsa.
By Karen | Tuesday, April 3rd, 2007 | No Comments »
I think I do this every year: I go for a few months of the winter being sick of salsa, only to be rejuvenated by the onslaught of spring and spurring a hectic schedule of dancing non-stop. 2007 is no different. I was working overtime, had started to miss swing, and was getting tired of hearing the same old music, so before I knew it, 3 months had gone by without going to the usual salsa haunts. Then came, in some order, 1) a stupid chest infection that also gave me cabin fever 2) a renewed confidence in driving our new car around town and 3) the realization that salsa night at Atlantis is free before 10.
Consequently, the past two weeks have been chock full of salsa. 4 days last week; workshops galore; new dance lessons; and awesome new dance partners. However, it does come with a cost–especially tonight. I have just arrived home from 3 hours at Atlantis sporting an uber-collagenesque lower lip and a bruise and cut on my right shin that looks suspiciously like a man’s dance heel. Each wound bled a good 10 minutes but neither are serious. I guess things like this just come with the territory!
On the plus side, got to dance with my favourite old and new dance partners, and was dipped over and over again by this wicked Montreal dancer that Lumi knows. Oooh…that dance gave me shivers!
Looking forward to yet another week of salsamania…
menudo (filipino pork stew)
By Karen | Monday, April 2nd, 2007 | No Comments »
- Dish: Menudo
- Serving Size: 4
- Source: Family recipe
- Photos: see photo album
Review:
Having recently reconnected with my mom, she and I have started to trade foodstuffs. My mother is an incredible cook but it’s difficult to get a recipe out of her. It’s not that she doesn’t want to share–she just doesn’t measure her recipes. It’s mostly done from memory. This recipe was therefore shared with me a week ago as she dropped off a sample and rattled out the ingredients and steps from what she could remember.
When I attempted this dish last night, there was, sure enough, ratios to edit and a few time estimates to adjust. Below is what I think the baseline recipe should be to get your menudo tasting like my favourite filipino stew from my childhood.
Essential Ingredients:
- 1 lb of pork (preferably boneless sirloin roast), in 1″ cubes
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 carrots, cubed
- 1 red bell pepper, cubed
- 1 small yellow onion, cubed
- 1 large russet or idaho (white) potato, cubed
- 1 small can of tomato paste
- 1/2 cup dark soy sauce
- 1/2 – 2/3 cup water
- salt to taste
Optional Ingredients:
- 1/4 – 1/2 cup large, light-coloured raisins to taste(the more you put in, the sweeter it gets)
- 1 “small handful” of chickpeas to taste (adds texture)
Directions:
- Boil pork in the soy sauce and water in a medium-sized pot, covered. [Add enough water to cover all the meat. There should be roughly a 1:1 ratio of soy and water, but more water is okay.] Boil for 30 minutes or until meat is fork-tender. Set the pork aside and reserve the sauce.
- In a large, deep saucepan, saute the garlic and onion in a little bit of oil.
- Add the pork, potato, carrots, and chickpeas (optional) and saute until the meat is browned.
- Add the tomato paste and half the reserve broth until you achieve a thick, dark red sauce. It should not be overly dark and have the consistency of thick spaghetti sauce. Adjust with more water or more reserve broth to taste.
- Cover saucepan and simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 10-20 minutes.
- Add the bell pepper and the remaining optional ingredients of your choice and simmer until these are tender, about another 5-10 minutes.
- Add salt to taste and serve over steamed white rice.
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