So I had created a map of road closures for the Toronto Goodlife Half Marathon 2013, but I totally forgot about it! 

I got totally screwed (read:I was an idiot and didn't plan ahead) when I ran my first half at the Scotiabank Half Marathon last year and trying to figure out what roads were closed/open near Spadina with 20minutes to go before my race was a complete nightmare. Fortunately my bf is great at keeping calm, while I tend to panic and flail my arms. More on that story another day.

Here's the link - hopefully it serves useful for someone! Also, the list of closures shows up on two pages which is kind of confusing - anyone know how to change it so it shows up on one page?

https://maps.google.ca/maps/ms?msid=213059616540420689750.0004d6ac07f25db0600dc&msa=0&ll=43.755473,-79.394417&spn=0.129198,0.291481

They have it written out here but looking at the map might be more useful? Anyways I'm planning on exiting an exit or two east of Yonge (Leslie or Bayview, probably Leslie) to try to avoid being late (again). Then we're gonna skitter through some side streets to get me as close as possible. The only bummer about this race is that the start and end are no where near each other so you or someone dropping/waiting for you has to drive/travel so far! That's one reason why I like the SWTM a little better.

3 DEAD, HUNDREDS INJURED IN BOSTON MARATHON EXPLOSIONS

No words come to me. I am filled with anger and shock.
What kind of sick fuck would do this?

I went for my run outside today and my head was a foggy haze. These events were unfolding thousands of kilometers away from me. But it hurt a community that I belong so close to. There was no religion, no politics, no ethics involved. It was just people running a fucking marathon. 

Why?

3 dead. Hundred injured. I'm not religious, but I truly pray for Boston. My heart goes out to you.

What a sad sad day for the culinary world. 

http://www.thestar.com/life/food_wine/2013/04/01/toronto_soup_master_dies_suddenly.html

When my bf first got take out from RaviSoups, I was blown away at how delicious the soup and veggie wrap was. I've had a few of the other soups and wraps and they all have been yummy.

RIP Ravi, you will be missed, but your legacy will live on.

Comparison of energy chews and gels

Running is my thing now-a-days. It doubles up as my workout most days, and I've found it also serves as a way for me to vent the day's stress away. 

I only started running a few years ago. I had always been one to do the yearly charity run with friends, and one year I thought to myself that I could do a little more than 5K. So I signed up for an 8K. And then a 10K. And then a 16K. And then a half marathon. And here we are! [Just to give credit, if it wasn't for my awesomely supportive bf, I'm not sure if I would be this far into running. He's run with me through just about all my races leading up to where I am now. Even when he vehemently declared he hated running after I made him run a 16K with me, he still proudly waited for me at the finish line for my other races (in cold, crappy weather. And finding/paying for parking). He's a gem *little hearts fluttering from my head*.]

Anyways, back to this post. So when I started running longer distances, my morning bagel wouldn't be enough for me and I needed to fuel up along the way. Cue in ... energy chew and gels. Here's my take on them:


Energy Chews

GU Chomps


These guys are my tried and true - I carried these through both my half marathons. I've tried just about all the flavours and all are great. Shaped like simple cubes, they're easy to pop out of the package, and easy to eat. Taste good, to boot! You get unique flavours instead of the standard orange and berry. I've had the Peach Tea and Watermelon and both are great. Have yet to try the blueberry pomegranate  but I'm pretty sure it'll taste good too. The chewiness of these are a lot better - not like taffy but it doesn't cut through like jello, and some chewing is required to break these things down. I have to admit they're a smidge big for my liking but I'm just nit-picking now. The smaller packaging allows me to fit two of these guys in my SPIbelt (as long as you rip it open and squish all the air out)

Taste: 4.5/5
Chewiness: 4/5
Packaging/ease of use: 4.5/5
Overall feeling: Tried and true. 


Honey Stingers

I've heard these are pretty popular because they're organic. I've had them once back last year but I probably didn't get many of these because I mostly got GU Chomps. Decided to give these guys another try because I had a gift card to a sports store and they carried these. The time that I did crack a pack open during my run, I was pleasantly surprised at how easy they were to eat - it really does cut like jello, and you can probably eat these while running (well, at least for me, I can't multitask and chew/run at the same time). I guess the reason I didn't quite like it was because of the flavour (pomegranate) - just wasn't my thing. But I stocked up on a few other flavours this time so I have higher expectations this time round. 

Taste: 3.5/5
Chewiness: 5/5
Packaging/ease of use: 4/5
Overall feeling: Will get these when I want to switch it up.



Sharkies

These chews were the first chews I bought when I started running longer distances. It was appealing, because they were organic, and shaped like sharks! But, upon trying it for the first time, I was instantly turned off by it. The reason - the chewiness. I slowed down for a rest during a run, pull out the package and pop one in my mouth. I'm instantly hit by how difficult these things are to eat. It's like eating taffy or something. They are so chewy that I can only shovel 2 in my mouth to chew before rest period is over. Even then, most of it is still stuck in my teeth and I have to pry them out with my fingers while running.

I don't think it mattered what flavour the package was - I wasn't going to buy these again (for some delusional reason I did, and regretted it when I ate the first piece). Not only that, the package is unneccessarily big - when I run outside, I need to shove all my stuff in my SPIbelt and this thing just takes up space (I have to rip the packaging open then fold it). Not only that, because each of the chews are small shark-shaped items, they get bunched up together in the packet and you really have to fumble with it to push them up to the opening.

Taste: 2.5/5
Chewiness: 1/5
Packaging/ease of use: 2/5
Overall feeling: Will not purchase these again. Chewiness was the biggest factor.


Energy Gels

I have to admit, energy gels were the first things I used when I started running. It was just easy to have a one time use thing. So I bought a couple and realized not all energy gels fit your personal preference. Like energy chews, my biggest thing is chewiness/viscosity. Most of the energy gels I found were too viscous (GU, PowerBar, ClifShots) - I just find it much harder to eat and wash down with water. The only one I've really stuck with for some time is Carbboom because the consistency is "thinner". Not only that, but it's not sickeningly sweet like the other ones (strawberry-kiwi seems to be my favourite). I recently bought a pack of eLoad because when I was energy chew/gel hunting I spotted it and it was of good "squishiness" from what I could tell from the packaging and am still waiting for a chance to try it (I bought so many different kinds of energy chews so I'm trying to get through most of those first, sorted by expiry date!). I have high expectations for it because I know someone who's used it and liked it (granted, she used the eLoad powder but hopefully it will be similar).

The biggest downside of using energy gels is that it gets sticky. And if you botch the opening, be prepared to run with sticky hands AND carry a sticky tab/package for the remainder of your run! Or if you're lucky like me, I time it so that I eat it a block or two before I know there is a garbage can on my route.


MEC has a wonderful assortment of all the energy chews and gels that I mentioned - it's where I usually stock up. They had the SPIbelt for some time and I was lucky enough to snatch one up before they removed it from stock. Greatest $17 I ever spent! Had a friend tell me she uses it as a money holder for travelling too!

I'm halfway through my HM training for the Toronto Marathon - ran 13K on the weekend and it felt great. My long run this week is supposed to be 16K. But, there are a few worries I have:

• running inside vs outside.
  My first few HM's that I ran were in October, when I was able to do most of my training outdoors during the summer. Other than my disgusting runner's tan, running outside is so much nicer than inside in every aspect.
  With the Toronto Marathon being in May this year, most of my training has been indoors on a treadmill. With the weather hitting 10C yesterday, I laced up for my first run outside and definitely noticed a difference in my breathing. My lungs hurt. And my single UA shirt wasn't warm enough for the first half of a quick run. I'm hoping the weather warms up asap since there's only a month left before the race!
• Hoggs Hollow hill.
  I hate hills. They're evil. Period. And this race has a dreaded hill, Hoggs Hollow. I mean, I've ran races with hills before. The first race I ever signed up for was the Harry Rosen in High Park. I had no idea what I was signing up for and there was this evil 90degree incline (ok not vertical, but you get my point) in the first few KM. At the end, when the volunteers are cheering you on that there's only 500m left to the finish line, you look up and realize that you have to run up that bloody gawd-forsaken hill again. I mean, talk about deflating your spirits. Damn
  Ok so back to Hoggs Hollow - from the pictures it doesn't look THAT bad. But I've driven on Yonge st before and you realize it ain't that easy. And reading up on some other blogs, this is scaring me. Because 1) I hate hills, and 2) I haven't incorporated much hill training in my routine.

This post has been very helpful about breaking down the Toronto Half Marathon into noticeable sections. In the past I've never really paid too much attention (or remembered the course in THAT much detail) - it's nice that someone actually has and shared it! 

T-38 days! 

Today, one of my male colleagues personally bought and hand delivered a lovely flower to all the women in the office to mark International Women's Day.

I just wanted to post about how thoughtful it was, and how a small gesture really goes a long way.

Thanks Sami! You made my day!

It was hella cold the other day. The only thing that really fixes that is having hot pot. But that wasn't really an option so I went for the next best option: chili.

Yup, the yummy comfort food that you want to eat curled up under a fleece blanket with your kitty at your feet while watching hockey.

Normally I'm one of those people that need some kind of recipe to follow when making something I don't usually make, but soup/stew is one of those things where you can be really flexible and throw whatever you have on hand into the pot and it'll still turn out awesome.

I also needed to make enough so that there was just enough for the two of us and not the usual leftover portion to feed another army. You'd be surprised how much finished product you get after you throw in everything even though it doesn't look like it!

Here's what I used (a rough estimate, since I was just guestimating at the grocery store):

------------------------------------
Chili (ali edition) - 3ish servings
------------------------------------
1 large can diced tomatoes (28 ounces I think)
1 medium can of mixed beans
1 small (read:DINKY) can of tomato paste
Ground beef. Whatever kind you have on hand. 300g should be enough
Seasoning spices - black pepper, paprika, chili powder
1/2 cup diced carrots
1/2 cup diced celery
1/2 cup diced onions
2 tablespoons oil
3 large round buns
Just a whee bit of cornstarch


Why do we need round buns? Because I went the extra mile and made an edible serving bowl! YEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAA. More on that later.

--------------------------
Putting it all together
--------------------------
Heat the oil in a pan, and add the diced onions. Cook until translucent, and add the beef. Cook for a few minutes on medium heat, and add whatever seasonings you like. I usually throw in black pepper, paprika and chili powder. When the beef is almost done, add in the diced tomatoes, beans, tomato paste and diced veggies. 

Turn the heat down to somewhere in between low and medium and simmer for about 30-45 min. Meanwhile, go enjoy the hockey game

*during intermission*

Come back and check on your chili. If it is a bit watery (I added the entire can of tomatoes including the water), then add some cornstarch dissolved in cold water. It should thicken up. 

With the round buns, about 1 inch from the top, cut off the top. Scoop out the inside bread guts - I like to use this as filler with extra meat I bought from the store to make meatballs! But that's for another day. Like I was saying, scoop out the bread guts so that the inside of the bun is hollow. 

The chili should be done now, and give a hearty scoop of it into your newly created bread bowl. Oh, we went back for refills a few times using the same bowl but there was enough leftovers for one REALLY hearty lunch.






















Enjoy!

Puff pastry with beef filling

I love Foodgawker. It's a mish mash of wonderful food ideas submitted by people all around the world. Granted, all these delicious looking posts may not actually taste delicious, but it's sure helluva fun time staring at all of them!

Lately most of the new things I've tried have come from this website. The latest experiment? Puff pastry with beef filling, from A Bit of This and A Bit of That. No, there is no official name for it. At least I couldn't find it on the website.

Here's the picture of what it was supposed to look like:  

Did mine turn out looking like that? Nottttttt quite. But I tried. 

Anyways that's besides the point. The point is that it was quite straight forward to make (with some oopsies thrown in) and it was helluva yummy. Even the bf enjoyed it (he IS too nice to say if something does taste bad tho .. but the compliment seemed geniune so I'LL TAKE IT!!). It was fun listening to him guess on what on earth I was trying to make.

Here's my take on it:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Puff pastry with beef filling (ali edition. Adapted from original posting)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This wonderful snack, if you could call it a snack (it feeds like a meal for two people), has two parts - the pastry and the filling. It's not really puff pastry (it's healthier!), but you could probably use store bought puff pastry instead.

------
Pastry
------
300g white flour
125g butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup + 3 tablespoons water
1 egg yolk + 1 egg white
1 tablespoon milk

*Notes: I used butter instead of shortening/lard because that's all I had on hand. 

----------
Beef filling
----------
200g cooked ground beef
Pinch of salt, pepper, paprika, chili powder, whatever you feel like seasoning your beef
2 tablespoons oil
1/2 cup diced onion 

*Notes: You can optionally add some ginger, diced celery, cabbage, capsicum. I didn't have any of that stuff but I guess it would make it yummier. Also, don't be too generous on the beef. I estimated about 300g raw beef but after assembling it all together, I found there was TOO much meat. I also used extra lean ground beef, but you can use whatever you'd like. Fattier beef makes for a yummier end product :P

---------------------
Putting it all together
---------------------
You're going to want to make the beef filling first. Add the oil to a heated pan and cook the ground beef, breaking up the pieces as best as you can. Cook the onions (and ginger if you're using it), and throw in the beef. Add the spices, and cook for about 5 minutes. Try not to dry out the meat as it'll be sitting in an oven for some time. It probably wouldn't hurt to undercook it a bit. Once it's mostly cooked, transfer it to a bowl and set aside.

Now sift together the flour and the salt. Mix together with the butter (I melted it in the microwave straight from the fridge - don't make it too hot tho). Add the water in and start to knead together into a dough. Once it's a nice ball of dough, let it sit for about 15min

*fast forward 15min*

Sprinkle some flour on your work surface and roll out the dough into a rectangle-ish shape. I got no idea how big but the recipe said to smush it out so it's about 3-5mm thick. I just kind of guestimated.

Cut the dough into three progressively bigger rectangles. Roll the first rectangle along its length (rolling like it like it's a sheet of wrapping paper). Place this first roll at the bottom of the next larger rectangle (kind of like joining them) and continuing rolling so that the first roll is enclosed in the second one. Now do the same with the third. Tuck the ends of the roll inside and press firmly. At this point you're supposed to refrigerate for 2hours but I totally missed that step while making it (oooopsie) so I just stuck it in the freezer for about 10 minutes.

Here is a very helpful picture from the original posting:
















*fast forward 10min*

Take the dough out from the fridge (or freezer), and roll it out into a 15x6 inch rectangle (personally, I just rolled it out into a rectangle until it was thin enough). Spread the filling out lengthwise over the dough. Fold the left part of the dough over the filling, and spread some egg white over the edge before folding the right part of the dough on top (the egg white will help it stick together). 

At this point, you should preheat the over to about 250F.

Bend into a "U" shape and move it to a baking sheet. THIS is where some blunders happened. My overestimation of meat meant that it was so bloody hard to bend it into a "U" shape (ended up being just a "bend" lol). That, and I probably didn't make the dough long enough to make it bend into a "U" shape. Oh, and you SHOULD use a cookie sheet instead of a lame aluminum foil baking sheet because the thing is DAMN heavy (you'll have to use hands to support the bottom or else byebye snack!). 

Before transferring to the oven, mix the egg yolk and the milk together to make egg wash. Brush the egg wash over the top of the pastry so that it will give it a nice brown top and will help prevent it from burning. Take a sharp knife and make cuts into the pastry that are around 1-1.5inches apart.

Originally, I baked this blob for about 40min at 200F. BUT, I did notice that after 40min, it didn't look like it was really browning, so I jacked up the heat to 450F and let it cook for another 10min and it became a nice brown. Next time I will probably bake it for 30min at 250F and see how brown the top gets and crank up the heat to give it a nice brown top for a few minutes.


And here is how mine turned out:

I know, I know, it doesn't look nearly as nice as the original posting. But it was hella good. And I'd totally make it again.

Enjoy!

Can't you see there is no logic to love
And we're lost just like the stars up above

If the compass breaks then follow your heart
And I hope it leads you right back into my arms

Eyes on fire 
Eyes on fire 
They burn from all the tears

Do you ever feel like you're slow in life? That you haven't reached all those "milestones" you figured you would reach in life by a certain age?

Yea? Yea. 

I feel that way too right now.

RIP Grandma.

I know you're happy you're with grandpa now.

I will never forget you.
I love you.

Phone reminiscing

I still remember my first cell phone. It was a still foreign concept to me, even though everyone kept saying this was the future of communication. I was just a teenager, but when there was a cell phone up for grabs in the house, I said sure, and lo and behold, it was mine.

It was a Nokia. One of those generic black, rounded things with a neon green lit screen. I think I was one of the few kids in high school that had a cell phone.

Looking back at it, it was a pretty good design. I mean, it did the job, it was a simple design, and it still fit in your pocket. Better than the Motorola bricks that my parents used to carry around. This thing survived sooo many drops, being thrown in my bag, on my desk, being sat on, you name it. The best thing about it? I could play Snake on it all day.

I don't remember what phone I got after this. I think I ended using a few hand me downs. Some flip phones. A few Motorolas. And then I remember getting one of the smallest handsets ever. I don't remember the model, but everyone had it. And it was a Nokia. A beautifully designed phone. Even my Uncle was using it a good 6 years later when everyone had moved on to a Motorola Razr.

I had been using a Motorola flip phone for about a year in uni. I had my eyes set on the Motorola Krzr, a beautiful black little piece of technology that I had seen in Hong Kong some years earlier, and it was finally making its rounds in North America. I wanted it. I was set on it.



For my birthday that year, my boyfriend got me a cell phone. A Nokia. A bronze Nokia. Not a Motorola Krzr. I opened it on the subway when we were going home, and I didn't know how to react. I knew it wasn't cheap, but it wasn't my black Motorola Krzr.

That night I popped out my SIM card from my old phone and plunked it in the new one. I had to start using the new phone, since my other one was static-y during phone calls.

Huh. A bronze Nokia.

Slowly, my love for this phone started to bloom. It hadn't left my side for a solid 3.5 years. Yes, three and a half years. When was the last time your phone lasted that long?

As time went by, I began to figure out that Nokia's were solid. Robust. Reliable. I had never had a problem with this cell phone. I loved it so much that I refused to get a new one, even if it was given to me. Which actually happened. My contract renewed, and I picked a new Sony Ericsson ($0). But I had no desire to start using it. I had my life in this phone and I didn't want to part with it. It survived uni with me, my first job, a few trips, even a swim in the toilet (that was unintended, but she survived). I loved the soft shell case it came in, and it fit like a glove. People would be so amazed at how thin my phone was.

Last last year, she started to sputter. The battery started rapidly dying, and she would turn off periodically. Even texting while keeping it charged could suddenly make it turn off .. sadly I had come to the realization that our relationship was ending and that I would have to start using a new phone.



My quest for a new cell phone was not easy. I wanted to do so many things with it, and for it to look a certain way that I had convinced all my friends that I was looking for something that did not exist. Some of the biggest hurdles during my search:
- I wanted a numeric keypad. Sure, touch screen was nice, but I was pretty proficient at churning out texts using T9.
- No QWERTY keyboard. I didn't like those
- It had to be a Nokia. This phone made me so loyal to the brand that for the first little while, I wouldn't accept anything else
- I didn't want to spend more than $300-$350 on a phone. HA! Good luck. But I tried.
- It had to be compact. I don't like oversized phones.

Then other factors started to come into play ..
- Nokia was going to start churning out Windows OS phones. Err.
- All the Nokia phones that were actually decent looking, were models that were at least 2-3 years old.
- Everyone told me that browsing on a numeric keypad phone was hard as hell. Yea yea, I learned. Eventually.

Finally, I think it finally hit me. Nokia didn't provide me with what I wanted anymore. I had to convince myself that I wouldn't be happy with a Nokia. Browsing around Pacific Mall, glaring at all the fones in the display, I had to pick something .. and I did:


Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini Pro.


It's a small phone. It's Android. It's got a QWERTY keyboard.
Yup, I had to do a lot of compromising with myself. But after owning the lil guy for some time, I'm quite please with it.

More to come!

Everything will be okay in the end. If it's not okay, it's not the end

- Paulo Coelho

Wow. This is f-ing awesome

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1103024--kmart-layaway-accounts-paid-off-by-mysterious-donors

What a brave soul .. this is touching.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdkNn3Ei-Lg

Iowa's House of Representatives is planning an amendment to repeal marriage equity in the state.
This young man's speech is very touching. I know that at 19, I would certainly have loved to had his character - kudos to him for speaking out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=FSQQK2Vuf9Q

Food Algebra - Dumplings

So we ventured into new territory and tried to cook something out of our comfort zone (pasta, steak, general gwai-lo food).

Him: What are we having for dinner?
Me: I want to try something new!
Him: Uhh .. ok .. (worried look)
Me: DUMPLINGS!

It was actually really fun! Honest. I had scoured for dumpling recipes, combing through the websites with the nicest looking dumpling pictures (biased, I know) and seeing what combination of ingredients we would use. We settled for the following (mainly because it was whatever was in the fridge)

- store bought dumpling wrappers (too risky to mess up if made from scratch)
- lean ground pork
- green onion
- shittake mushrooms
- egg wash (for the wrapper edges)
- sesame oil
- soy sauce
- chicken broth
- salt
- 5 spice powder
- black pepper

I kind of wanted to document the process, but he's not exactly one of those ppl who snap pictures of food on a minutely basis like me so I ended up snapping a few photos (read:took 3 pics in total) of the process. In the process I came up with ... FOOD ALGEBRA! Lo and behold, my brain child creation. Mash 2 things together and end up with an end result:




How did they turn out? Not bad, for a first try. But a few things to change up for next time:
- Cornstarch. Or flour. The filling ended up too dry
- Seasoning. More. Lots more. Salt really does do wonders, no matter how much I try to erase it from my diet. Could have used a bit more of everything
- Better proportion. We couldn't really taste the veggies. It should be like, 2 parts veggie and 1 part meat! That, and you don't want to taste all meat and no wrapper. Need to half the amount of filling per dumpling. A few were really beefy (well, porky)

Early on we realized that assembly line formation would be the best way to do this. He would plop the filling in and grease the edges, and I would fold. My origami skills from way back seem to have paid a helping hand, since they looked pretty presentable. It was a fun couple-y experience!


A side note: My Photoshop skills are pretty lame. But I get around. The above Food Algebra pic was put together with Photoshop 6 (yup, ancient stuff). Pics were taken with my Canon P&S and the background was created by DragonArtz (based on their Creative Commons License)

Uhhhh ..

There's something seriously wrong with this.

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1095633--afghan-president-pardons-woman-serving-time-for-being-raped

I love this pic