Archive for May, 2005

Toronto Girl Wins Miss Universe

// May 31st, 2005 // No Comments » // Events

*woohoo* That’s pretty special, I guess… a Toronto girl is now Miss Universe. She’s not from Toronto though. She’s a Russian girl who moved to Canada when she was 12.

I watched the show (there was nothing else on TV), so I saw it happen. I couldn’t believe it.

I thought that there were some very attractive women there. I especially thought that Miss Switzerland would win it.

Miss Canada looked a little “Shania Twain-ish” to me.

Maybe I’m too critical, but I certainly thought there were other, better looking broads there.

Read the story here.

Darth Vader Takes Up Flashing

// May 29th, 2005 // No Comments » // Just Stuff

Check this link

Company’s Coming

// May 28th, 2005 // No Comments » // Just Stuff, People

I just got back from Tim Horton’s. So I’m sitting here having my coffee.

For those of you who don’t know, Tim Horton’s is a coffee/donut shop where they have the best coffee, and locations can be found all around Ontario (perhaps all around Canada, I’m not the world traveller).

I had to run out to Costco to pick up batteries for my webcam. So I bought two big packs of AAs and AAAs to have on hand.

Costco memberships cost about $50/year and you get access to all this bulk stuff, e.g., 16-packs of Duracell batteries. They also have non-bulk items, such as appliances, computer stuff, widescreen TVs, but I don’t happen to need any of those.

Tonight we’re having company, so I should probably get off my ass and clean up a bit. One of the guests does not eat beef, so we’re having this chicken and pasta fiesta dinner dish that I’ve never tried before. I got the recipe off the milk calendar, BTW. Here’s the recipe:

Chicken & Pasta Fiesta Dinner

Ingredients:

2 tbsp butter, divided
1 lb boneless skinless chicken, cut in strips
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, chopped
1-2 tbsp chili powder (to taste)
1 tsp each, ground cumin and salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 cup chicken stock
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
4 cups milk
3 cups fusilli, radiators or tubetti
1 sweet green or red pepper, diced
1-1/2 cups corn kernels
1-1/2 cups shredded Canadian Monterey Jack cheese, divided
lime or lemon wedges

  1. In large pot, melt half the butter over medium-high heat; brown chicken on all sides, in 2 batches, adding more butter as necessary. Transfer to bowl.
  2. Add remaining butter to pot; reduce heat to medium. Cook garlic, onion, chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper, stirring for 3 min. or until softened, adding a little chicken stock to prevent burning, if necessary.
  3. Stir in remaining chicken stock, scraping up bits stuck to pot. Whisk flour into milk; gradually stir into pot.
  4. Stir in pasta and chicken with accumulated juices; bring to simmer over medium-high heat, stirring often.
  5. Cover, reduce heat to low; simmer for 10 minutes, stirring often, or until pasta is almost tender and chicken is no longer pink inside.
  6. Stir in green pepper and corn; cook, uncovered, for about 5 minutes, stirring often or until pasta is tender and sauce is thickened.
  7. Remove from heat; stir in 1 cup (250 ml) of the cheese.
  8. Season to taste with salt. Serve sprinkled with remaining cheese and lime/lemon wedges to squeeze over top.

Preparation time: 10 to 15 minutes
Cooking time: 25 to 30 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
Nutrition: Excellent source of calcium, folate and iron

UPDATE: After trying the recipe, I suggest that you double up on the spices.