david.segonds.org

Yes, it has been a while since my last post. Nothing much is going on here. I am guessing that routine has pretty much settled.

Last week I was in the Disney World for adults, namely Las Vegas. This was my first time there and I have mixed feelings about that town. Buildings are huge and everything is expensive if you are not a gambler. Some of the hotels are really architecturally beautiful and I have found there the best French restaurant I have ever had a chance to dine at in the whole USA. It is called Bouchon.

Anyway, we started to have some snow. In Calgary, you have to shovel your sidewalk within 24 hours of the snow fall so that pedestrians have a fighting chance to stay upright with all their bones intact while they are walking pass your house.

Snow fell yesterday and tonight I went out to clean things up. The only problem is that the snow was trampled over all day long by a lot of foot traffic and believe me, I had to remove ice rather than snow.

So, my first lesson is : Don’t wait 24 hours before removing snow on your sidewalk or the job will be more difficult.

November 20th, 2008 | Tags: food, las vegas, snow | Category: Adventures | Leave a comment

The curse is over. I finally managed to cook a Tarte Tatin without alerting the fire department. It tastes very good too!

November 2nd, 2008 | Tags: dessert, recipe | Category: Cooking | Comments (1)

Tonight, Melissa and I participated for the first time in the Scarboro dinner club. Scarboro is the name of our Calgarian neighborhood. Couples get together once a month and while hosts prepare an entrée (a great BBQ salmon tonight) guests bring salad, appetizer, and dessert.

Couples rotates every month and you never dine with the same persons twice for the duration of the program. I was impressed by all well travelled all the individuals at the table were. We talked about Egypt, Germany, Tanzania, Russia, Poland, Australia, Italy, New Zealand, France, Panama, and many others country that I don’t recall.

I was tasked with the dessert and not wanting to repeat my springform pan experience, I decided to got with another burnt dessert. Here is the recipe for your enjoyment.

For four servings:

• 1½ cup of heavy whipping cream
• 1 tea spoon of pure vanilla extract
• ½ tea spoon of orange extract
• 4 egg yolks
• ¼ cup of granulated sugar
• ¼ cup of brown sugar

1. Bring the whipping cream, vanilla extract, and orange extract to a boil. Let it rest
2. Beat the egg yolks with the granulated sugar
3. Pour the whipping cream into the egg yolks and mix well
4. Pour the custard in four individual dishes
5. Put the individual dishes in a pan and pour water between the dishes so they barely float in the pan
6. Cook for 30 to 40 minutes at 350F until custard is set
7. Let rest at room temperature for four hours
8. Sprinkle with brown sugar and broil (using the oven) for a couple of minutes. Make sure you keep you eyes while it broils or you going to burn more than the cream! In my case, I keep the fire extinguisher at hand but this may not be necessary in your case.

Serve cold.

November 2nd, 2008 | Tags: dessert, recipe | Category: Cooking | Leave a comment

All right, I have now been in Calgary for four months and I can tell you right now, without hesitation, that Houston is a much better place to be. This is based on my own experience, do not believe anybody else since I am the quintessence of objectivity:

• In Calgary, my commute is so short that I barely have time to listen to my IPod. Houston is much better from that standpoint because I enjoy listening to my IPod.
• I have to commute by bike, this is not as comfortable as a car, especially in my body most sensitive parts. It takes me a while to change when I arrive at work. This is clearly not efficient and sometimes my legs hurt.
• My trousers are too loose, no longer fitting and I will soon need to add an extra hole on my belt. I clearly did not have this problem in Houston. Loosing weight can be troublesome.
• I now enjoy Sushi because it is very difficult to find a TexMex restaurant around here. I used to avoid Sushi because it was not nutritious enough. Now I love it. What’s wrong with me?
• Wasabi green color is not as nice as Tabasco red color. Which reminds me that I need to try Sushi with Tabasco.
• Chopsticks are not as convenient as your hands when eating.
• Last time I ate Salmon it had been caught in Alaska by the cook’s husband. This is less convenient than going to Rock Fish Seafood Restaurant.
• There are no Becks Prime in Calgary.
• I have trouble finding Tabasco in stores and many restaurant do not serve it.
• Food portions are smaller in Calgary
• There are too many pedestrians in Calgary and I have to stop for them when I drive my car. Houston is much simpler from that standpoint. You don’t have to stop for pedestrians and this greatly simplifies driving.
• I feel unsafe in Calgary because there are no police cars at every street corner.
• The sky is often without clouds and the air is quite dry. This is disturbing because I like clouds and humidity.
• You barely notice when there is a federal election in Calgary. In Houston, you at least know two years in advance that something is coming up.
• There are many political parties in Calgary and the Green party is growing in size. It is much easier in Houston where you only have the republican party.
• George W. Bush is from Houston and John Harper is from Calgary. I guess we have a tie on that one.
• Calgarians insists on recycling. In Houston, it is much simpler to trash your stuff.

Please comment if you have additional useful comparaisons that shows how Houston is so much better than Calgary.

October 25th, 2008 | Tags: food, houston, politics, tabasco | Category: Tourism | Comments (2)