Fickle Friday - Food reviews

Can you believe it is the first day of August?  This means that I have been living in San Jose for four years, that's right four years since I retired.  I have to admit that it has been an excellent transition from working hard to enjoying retirement life.  For those of you who are still working, I would really recommend early retirement if you could do it.  Just a suggestion!  It has been a week since I came back from my short vacation and I'm back to doing what I love.  Today's post is a mix up of photos that I would like to share which is why it's fickle.  I cannot decide a theme for today but I hope you will enjoy these collections.

Arugula, cranberry and goat cheese salad with grilled chicken sandwich with brie and fig paste from Earl's in St. Albert. So far this is my favorite meal as it was delicious and full of flavor.

Chicken and waffle for brunch served at Central restaurant in downtown Edmonton.  This is my second favorite.

 My cousin left me a big bowl of fresh figs(green and purple) so I made them into jam - so yummy.

KFC version of poutine only sold in KFC Canada.  It does not even come close to poutine I've had from Ottawa and Montreal. 

Spicy poutine with chicken sold at McDonald's in Edmonton, Alberta.  This was an awful take on poutine.  They should just stay with the regular hamburger and fries.

These are from Jeff's garden. It's such a treat to go out in the morning and pick them. These cherry tomatoes are so sweet and crisp and so so fresh.

Must have Monday - Team Canada hockey stick putter

OMG, you cannot believe what I saw when I was at Golf Town in Edmonton, Alberta.  There it was as soon as you enter the store.  A putter shaped like a hockey stick for Team Canada.  I had to try and use it on the putting green area and the crowd goes wild, all three tries, the golf ball went directly in the hole.  Now, I wanted to buy it but as I inspect it closer, there were a lot of nicks and scratches.  I ask the sales person if they had more and he said "that is the last one and it's on sale as it was a floor model".  Next question I ask myself, how am I going to hand carry it on the plane.  A long time ago my friend Percy ask if I could buy a special baseball bat for his daughter.  I did and when I checked it at the airport they told me I couldn't carry it on the plane as it's a weapon!!.  I thought of buying the putter anyway and just wrap it and ship it home via Canada Post.  When I told Jeff about it, he said that it's available through Amazon and it will be shipped within two days.  So I walked out of the store.  Now that I am back home and started searching for it on line,  I can't seem to find the exact same one.  I still want one and hope to find one with a reasonable price that can be shipped directly to my home.  This is what it looks like.  If any of my friends in the Toronto area reads this post, could you check Golf Town in your area to see if this is available, then we can talk.

 

Sandals Sunday - It's soooohhhh comfy

Just in case you are wondering why I did not post as many as my usual weekly post, it was because I was visiting my sister in Edmonton.  For some of you, you probably already knew that from some of post last week.  Before I left for my trip, I bought a pair of sandals from Kohl's and I decided to take only one pair of footwear.  I wore it a couple of days before the trip and I knew that this was going to be the perfect traveling sandals.  The style is a little bit different from most of my sandals or flip flops.  After wearing it continuously for two weeks during mini holiday, I decided that when I return to San Jose, I will try and get the other colors and hopefully they would still have my size and the other two colors.  The price was a little bit higher than what I would normally pay for footwear.  If you are residing in the USA and have access to a Kohl's store, I would truly recommend this pair of sandals.  It is so comfy, light and very practical.  you could wear it with jeans, shorts, skirts and even a casual dress.  It comes in black/grey, grey/olive and grey/purple.  The first pair I bought with my 15 % coupon and the other two, I bought with my $5 reward and another 15% coupon.  For now I will have to keep using my black/grey pair until it get's old and worn before I use the other pair.

 

Weather Wednesday - Long days

For the past couple of weeks I have the chance to experience long days while visiting my sister in Edmonton.  What I did not realize is that a lot of good memories but also sad memories happened here.  The weather has been perfect until the past couple of days.  We could take a walk late at night but still bright enough because the sun does not set until almost 1100 pm during my first week.  One night we were able to watch the super moon really clearly and close up just by standing in her living room window.  Here's a photo I took around 1030 pm on my second night.

It has been a really long time since I spent the winter months in the great white north and honestly I don't think I would want to even just for a day.  This is when I saw my sister's parka and it reminded me of a lot of things.  So I decided to try it, reminisce and sure enough, I was not impressed.  Here's what it looks like when you have to go outside when the temperature is freezing.

Now it's time to head back to sunny warmer weather of San Jose, California.  I am truly lucky to reside there now where you can golf and play tennis all year round.  After many many years of living in the great white north, I believe I have paid my dues.  I don't miss the weather, but I have made many friends and I am so happy I was able to reconnect with them during this visit.  

Stampede Saturday - Klondike Days

K days is what they call it now, all I remember was that when my father was alive the family would travel from Yellowknife, NWT to Edmonton, Alberta to attend a few days of this very popular event.  It usually happens after the week of the Calgary Stampede (I think we also attended this some years).  But I remember my father prefers this and it was part of their summer holiday.  This year it is from July 18 to 27.  My sister and I were contemplating on attending but due to the unpredictable weather, we might not be able to make it.  It would be nice after many years that I have not checked it out.  Although they have a great line up of artists, it would be fun to see The Village People (nostalgic) and of course Tim McGraw (if you are a true country fan).  As we are not into rides (due to the height phobia), this part will not be very exciting for us.  Their food and crafts booth will be what we will check out, that is if we are going.  I did a little searching and I believe they are not serving Beaver Tails which would be the deal breaker for me.  

Terrible Thursday - Review of restaurants

Although I am not a food critic nor an expert in the service industry, sometimes I like featuring great restaurants that we have visited and share our experience.  Since I am visiting the city of Edmonton, we have made plans with friends and sometimes just stop for a bite because it was a perfect time to have lunch.  I've taken some photos to share but would also share our recent experience.  One thing for sure is that I can't really enjoy my dinner when there's a non stop screaming of kids beside, behind or across your table.  Don't get me wrong, I love children but not when you are trying to have conversation with friends who have not seen for a while and you can't hear each other. The other negative issue about some of these restaurants is that they don't tell you right away that they ran out of a particular dish, you will order it and a minute later say that is not available.  It doesn't happen just once, twice and even three times.  Some of the dishes are expensive and some of the dishes are easy to make and my sister can cook these dishes better and very inexpensive.  So check out these foods and if you are ever in the area, you can just try and be your own judge.

My friend Patti made us her black bean spaghetti salad with greens with miso dressing.

Mixed grill (chicken, pork and beef) from Manila Grill - full of flavor and tender.

Halo Halo from Max's -we didn't order this but the other patrons allowed me to take a photo.

Crab Fried Rice from Max's - lots of garlic but great flavor.

Fried milk fish also from Max's - not greasy, boneless and crunchy.

Tasty Tuesday - It has been a while

It has been seven years since I visited my sister who lives in western part of Canada.  While visiting she suggested that we try some of the foods that I have been craving or have not tried for a while.  I took some photos to share for this post.  Most of them are not the best choice but I thought that life is too short now to have them at least once after seven years, right.

Only available at KFC in Canada

Spicy poutine from McDonalds - not even close as a poutine

Pancit Palabok from a filipino restaurant - not even close to my sister's cooking.

KFC Poutine - it's ok but not as good as the ones they sell in Ottawa or Montreal