Since I now have my own website hosted,

I have moved all of my posts to…

http://oshawalaser.com/Blog/

Please click on the above link and visit me there,

Thanks

Wilfred Reinke

aka Oshawa Ogre

After watching an episode of  The Shark Tank I was intrigued by a product called Grill Charms made by Charmed Life Products LLC, according to the show Leslie Haywood, it’s inventor had come up with a great way to know which steak, burger etc. was Rare, Medium Rare, Medium or Medium Well Done.  

She had invented these little charms that you stick into the meat before cooking and your then able to quickly see which piece of meat was to be done to which doneness.  

As with any pictures on my blog, if you want to see a picture in it’s original size just click on it.   

I found a Canadian distributor, Ontario Gas BBQ just North of Toronto http://bbqs.com/ which by the way is a HUGE BBQ Supply store that I could spend hours in, but about them another day.  

The charms were right by the cash register on the main counter. The cost I paid was $19.95 Cdn.  

The first thing I noticedwas that the packaging is well made and re-usable in the sence that you can take off the lid from the package, take out the charms and use them for your cooking and after cleaning return them to the package for storage in your cupboard or drawer.  

To test out the effectiveness of these Grill Charms I pulled out three steaks to grill on my BBQ, I wanted to cook one Raer, another Medium Rare and the last was to be Medium.  

The Grill Charms Steak Collection set comes with 2 each of R for Rare and MR for Medium Rare and then one each of  M for Medium and MW for Medium Well.  

They are made from well made Stainless Steel and are sturdy along with being very easy to read.  

Now to be perfectly clear, these charms do not tell you when the food is cooked to perfection, they are only meant to distinguish one steak from another during cooking and plating.  

As the steaks are flipped the charms are now on the grill side of the steak, since there was 2 of each of the R & MR Charms I could of inserted on both sides of those ones, though this time I had not.  

A couple of days ago I received in the mail two packages of Herman T’s BBQ Sauce Mixes, one in the Original “Mild” Blend and one package of their Spicy “Hot” Blend. These were sent to me as a trial package. 

I could not wait to try this sauce, I was intrigued by the fact that is a sauce mix rather than out of a bottle. In my house I have four or five different bottles of BBQ sauce open in the fridge at any one time and space becomes a premium. having a sauce that I can keep in the spice cupboard and use only what I need for the meal I am preparing made perfect sense. 

I originally found Herman T’s on twitter   and from there I visited their well designed website  that has a warm and friendly feel to it complete with history and video. 

My first choice was to try the Original “Mild” blend 

Impressive Packaging

I was impressed on the quality of the packaging which is a thick foil based packaging that you cut the top off with scissors but you are left with a ziplock style closure so that it can be resealed to keep the product fresh. 

The company claims that the mix has a shelf life of 1 year, I am not sure if that is one year after opening or from manufacture. If it is from manufacture it would be nice to have a manufacture date on the package. 

The size of the package is 4″x7″ x 1 3/4″ thick at the base. 

The ingredients are listed on the label the “Mild” has… 

vinegar, honey, sugars, pepper, garlic, chili powder, chipotle powder & citrus powder. 

Very easy directions are also on the label, which read… 

In sauce pan combine: 

1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup of Ketchup along with 1 tbs of the sauce mix, whisk to a boil reduce to a simmer for 5 minutes, best served warm. 

There is 10 Tablespoons of sauce mix in the package enough for 10 cups of sauce

I cooked up some Chicken strips on the BBQ that all I did was add a little bit of oil and salt & pepper to the chicken . 

I made up the sauce as directed while grilling the chicken. 

I found that the sauce mix was well mixed within the package. 

Some chicken I left plain and brushed some of the chicken a few minutes before removing from the grill. 

Fresh tasty BBQ sauce in less than 10 minutes

I thought that it had a sweet taste, and very pleasant that did not leave any after taste. 

served on BBQ Chicken Strips.... Yum!

Since the sauce was served warm it was a very satisfying taste that would go well with just about any dish. 

Next up was the Spicy “Hot” BBQ Sauce Mix 

Oddly enough the Ingredient list for the Spicy “Hot” mix is the same as the Original “Mild” now maybe the proportions of the spices are different which accounts for the different taste. 

Time to try some Spicy "Hot" Herman T's BBQ Sauce

I really like to put BBQ sauce on a pepperoni Pizza, I find that BBQ sauce will bring out more flavour from the Pepperoni. So I wanted to try this sauce on some take out pizza. 

Easy to mix, 1/2 cup water + 1/2 cup Ketchup + 1 tbs sauce mix

The directions are exactly same as the “Mild” from above. 

Regular take out pepperoni Pizza

Ready in about 6 minutes!

Sauced up Pepperoni Pizza that has kick!

I have in the past stuck mostly with mild sauces , I do like some kick but not that my mouth is on fire, I lathered the sauce on top of the pizza slices and I found that it definitely could taste the heat, by the time I was finished the 3 slices of pizza I found that I was sweating and I was inside my air-conditioned house! 

In conclusion I would have to say that I really like the fact that it is easy and quick to prepare. These sauces would be great as a dip for chicken wings on football night. 

Cost for the sauce online is $7.95 for each 6oz package or you can buy a 2 pack for $15.00 considering that each package can produce 10 cups of sauce I would say the price is a bargain. 

Shipping in the US for a two pack is only $4.00 and to ship to me in Canada is $6.00 

I will be using more of this sauce mix for future meals, There are many many different BBQ sauces on the market and everyone has their own tastes but I am confident that this will appeal to the majority of BBQ cooks and their family’s.

A while back I saw a video by the BBQ Pitboys that encouraged me to try a recipe on my Gas Grill that sounded crazy but was so good that friends have asked me to make for them too.

It has been called many things I have called it a “Monster MeatLoaf Supreme” but I consider it to be the best Meat Lovers Pizza ever made!

This recipe can be changed to your own tastes but this is what I came up with.

I mixed together 4 lb.s of Ground Beef along with 2 lbs. of ground Turkey and added 2 packages of Onion soup mix as a binder.

Sometimes I will add in some Soya and or Worcestershire sauce.

Then I grabbed a cookie sheet and placed the beef on it and spread it around so it was about 1 1/2″ thick, leaving about one inch of space between the beef and the edge of the pan.

To that add your favorite BBQ or Tomato sauce and then a good helping of shredded cheese (I like to use a mix of Mild Cheddar and Mozzarella)

Next I cut up and piled on some onions, green and red peppers & mushrooms.

Not enough meat? take some sausages and squeeze them out of their casings and into a skillet, cook it about half way, then spread over top of this monster of a pizza, and then add some sliced tomatoes.

Wait we need more meat! fry up some Bacon Mmmmm Bacon!

I did not add Pepperoni to this one, but if I had it it would of made it to the top!

Time to take a can of Pineapple slices and add them to the top and covered with some more cheese!

To cook this baby, set your grill to cook indirect

If you’re using charcoal then put the coals to the side and place the pan on the other side.

If like myself you cook with gas then turn on one burner on one side and place the pan over the unlit side.

Look for a temperature range of 225 -250 F

This should take anywhere from 1 hour to maybe 2 hours, you want to be able to stick an instant read thermometer in and get a reading of 160 F.

You can also add a few chunks of hard wood to the coals or in a foil pack on the gas grill for some smokey flavour.

The reason for leaving space around the pizza is that as it cooks you will get fat draining from the meat and pooling around the pizza, just use a turkey baster to suck up the grease when needed.

When it is done it will look something like this!

Now you can either just slice it up and serve or put it on a bun as a burger, but I like it by it self, and no need for any other toppings except maybe some more BBQ sauce drizzled on top.

A lot of you maybe think that this will be not healthy, but the fat does drain off, and one or two slices will be very filling.

Next time your wanting  to grill something try this Meat Lovers Pizza, it will not disappoint!

You can also see my YouTube videos making one of these last winter, yup I grill in the winter too!

BBQ Monster MeatLovers Meatloaf Part One

BBQ Monster MeatLovers Meatloaf Part Two

This past week-end was the 11th annual edition of Canada’s Largest Canada day celebration.  

Hosted by the Rotary Club of Etobicoke Over 100,000  people go through the gates to enjoy fantastic ribs and entertainment from 13 Professional International Ribbers from both Canada and The US. Joining them are 20 food and 70 specialty Vendors along with a  midway for children of all ages.  

I attended on Saturday July 3rd along with my friend Joe Simeunovich, both of us having a longing for some good BBQ and this day did not disappoint.  

First off it was a fantastic day weather wise, we arrived around noon. ( the location is a huge area called Centennial Park which is just south of Pearson International Airport in Toronto)  

Parking was free and generous spots were available, though we parked about a 3 minute walk away we could of found spots a lot closer as well.  

Admission to the park was also free, with the option of donating a toonnie ( $2.00 Canadian coin) which is given to that big Pink Pig pictured below, and a couple of the 600 volunteers handed out programs at the door and had change available for those that only had bills in their pockets.  

For our donation we also received a free cloth bag to carry our goodies in, which was a nice touch that I had not seen before at a rib-fest.  

As soon as we entered the grounds there was a young lady having an animal balloon hat made for her by a fun gentleman that was entertaining us right away.  

An unsuspecting Joe posed for this picture next to this sign which had me chuckling to myself.  

Joe you fell for that one!

We were drawn to the booth by some wonderful Latin music that had us in the mood in an instant.  

What the sign was actually for was for this pig that was being roasted during the day to be given away at the end of the night in a draw. Another first for me seeing a Whole Hog being cooked at a Rib-fest.  

 Generally a rule of thumb that a lot of people use is that get in line for ribs that have the most people waiting in line, but Joe liked the fact that Bad Wolf BBQ had the nice Music going and at that moment no one was in line there so he bought a 1/2 rack of their ribs for $13.00, we both shared the ribs and they were wonderful the sauce was a perfect blend of sweet and smoke flavour and the meat was nicely cooked., while eating those we got in line at Crabbys BBQ shack out of London Ontario (there are a fair number of teams that come out of that area and do the Ontario circuit)  

This time I bought and we had about a 15 minute wait in line with maybe 10 people in front of us but the time went by quickly as we chatted with a father and his two daughters behind us. This is a nice thing about Rib-fests, that people are friendly and everyone just wants to enjoy the day and pig out on summertime food (yes pun intended)  

After getting our ribs we stopped by Pappy’s Original Soda Pop Stand where we both ordered a mug of Cherry Soda which comes in a tin Mug that you get to keep for $7.00 and you also get some refreshing ice  and then you pull the tap on your favorite flavour, as you can see it is large mug and you get your monies worth as the soda is refreshing and the perfect taste, though we did find that later in the day when we went for a refill (only $3.00) Joe tried the Orange Soda which was to sweet for his liking. For my refill I tried the Mountain Mist (similar to Mountain Due) which was also refreshing but I think I would stick with the Cherry.  

Our Next stop was the “Bob’s Bloomin Onions” booth, I have had a Bloomin Onion once before  2 years ago in Bomanville, and today a lot of the visitors were getting this wonderful snack, though snack may not be the right word since the serving is large enough to feed a whole family!  

Kat about to dig into her Bloomin Onion that matches her hair perfectly

A Bloomin Onion is cut in away and dipped in a batter then deep-fried which opens it up like a flower and served with a wonderful dipping sauce for $8.00, extra sauce for only .50 extra, While in line the lady behind me had this hair style that I told her was perfect since it reminded me of what we were about to get. Just have a look for your self. I spoke with Kat while we waited for our orders and she had a fun personality, here with some family members having a great time.  

Bloomin Onion and Cherry Soda from Pappy's... great after Ribs!

I also had the pleasure of sitting down for a moment with Bob Steckly the owner operator of this Bloomin Onion that is based out of Fort Erie, he has been running it for the past 6 years or so, Bob told me that the Bloomin Onion started about 15 -20 years ago at an Outback Steakhouse location in Florida and has become a staple food product at Rib-fests ever since. Mr. Steckly was happy to see the superb weather of this season since 2009 was  a very rainy summer and was not the best of seasons for his bank account.  

Bob Steckley of Bob's Bloomin Onion and myself

Time to check on our little miss Piggy, she is getting a bit of tan!

From Honey Mustard to Ragin' Cajun Camp 31 has flavourful sauces and rubs

BBQ'd Chicken and Ribs Oh My!

Camp 31 is one Ribber that I have seen at every Rib-fest so far this season, and as I read on their sign the were voted to have the best ribs at Woodbine Beach Rib-fest that I reviewed just a couple of weeks ago. which can be read here  

Woodbine only had 5 Ribbers compared to 13 here at Centennial Park but the overall rib-fest at the Beach was a complete success.  

Camp 31 had out their Sauces for sale and one thing I liked about most of the Ribbers here was that they allowed for samples to be tasted of the various sauces for those that wanted to bring a taste of the Rib-fest home with them to use on their back yard cookouts.  

Wherer there is smoke there is fire!.... You hungry yet?

The line ups are getting deeper! but worth the wait

So you like Southern food? Here is an American team that has the goods!

All of a sudden Joe calls me over to try some BBQ Mushrooms that he had bought from Jack on the Bone, and I was blown away  

BBQ'd Mushrooms, Rubbed, Sauced, and sprayed with Jack Daniels... Yum!

After trying the Mushrooms Joe and I chatted with the son of the owner of Jack on the Bone Jamey Groetz out of Massilon, Ohio.  

Jamie was on the front line bringing people towards their boot with free samples of their Pulled Pork and sauce to try, and it was working well for them as their line was getting longer and longer. I was very impressed with Jamey, he was very friendly and knows his business and took the time to answer all questions with interesting answers.  

The coolest thing about Jack on the bone is exactly what the name says, just before serving whether it is Ribs or Mushrooms they have a bottle of Jack Daniels Whiskey with a spray attachment and the food gets a healthy spritz of Jack, the alcohol evaporates away at 100 degrees but it leaves behind a splendid taste sensation!  

These mushrooms were fantastic, who needs ribs.... ok I still like ribs too!

Joe having a conversation with Jamey Groetz of Jack on the Bone BBQ

It does not hurt to have the ladies wearing snappy outfits to promote the team! I also got a laugh out of the sign too.

Some teams were able to take a needed break in their busy days

"Remember tipping is not just for cows!" helps to have a sense of humour

No problem finding places to sit to eat their meals and relax for a bit

Lots of entertainment coming from the stage, to keep the guests in a great mood

Having been at the park for close to 4 hours now, and the heat of the day was staring to take its toll, but there were a number of ways to cool down with plenty of water and Ice cream type products to refresh you.  

Even though when I snapped this picture the Horn Dawgs Smokin BBQ team was also enjoying a few minutes of well deserved break time, they were getting ready for the next rush of customers, I did not even know til now that the Horn Dawgs are based out of Oshawa, I hope to have a chat with them when they are in the Uxbridge Rib-fest coming up July 16th weekend.  

A few minutes to catch their breath before the next rush

While having a chance it was time for some grill cleaning

Such a popular place that people would use of their day passes to head to Rib-Fest

Who needs a mechanical Bull when you have a mechanical pig! One of the girls from Thirsty Cactus and a couple more from Bloomin Onion taking a break to have some fun.

Our little Miss Piggy forgot her sunblock today, Only thing missing is an apple!

The day was a complete success, lots of happy visitors, fantastic food and booths and vendors that had fun with customers that were gladly opening their wallets, and it is worth every penny.  

Next up, there are Rib-fests to be held in Mississauga with 14 Ribbers   and Uxbridge with 6 Ribbers  both Rib-fests to be held July 16th – 18th 2010 so if your anywhere close to either city make plans to attend.  

London Ontario and Scarborough will hold their Rib-fests July 29th – Aug 2nd  

And I am looking forward to when Rib-fest comes to my home city September 11th -13th 2010  

If you’re not local to any of these areas and you want to find a rib-fest to attend try this handy link I created just for you….  

It seems that in this Small Town area of Ontario the Dibbits workers must have a lot of time on their hands since instead of using the machinery it appears they decided to excavate this hill of dirt by hand. And look what they found?

a bit of a close up

This will show you the size of this compared to one of their trucks next to it

As you can see this is formed out of a pile of Top Soil not sand as most skulptures would be.

Here is a shot of the rest of the machinery they have there.

I enjoy going on this drive (go about once a month) it is a nice drive and there are many things along the way that will catch my fancy.

For instance I also passed a farm along the way and in front he had this full size  statue that was interesting.

Betsy is made of Cast Iron I think, and she watched me drive in and leave without blinking an eye, Most people would have Gargoyle’s to protect their property but not this place.

I also passed a fresh Raspberry stand , box for $3.00 so I thought that would be a nice snack for the trip home, I stopped and got out of the car and on the table was 3 boxes of raspberries a cash box and a sign reading Self-Serve, I opened the cash box added my $3.00 took my berries and left, now the cash box had $20 or $30 in there, I know that if that stand was in the big city the box would have been empty., It is a different life in small town Ontario, a lot more trust and honesty.

Last winter I made a couple of new friends at the side of the road, to bad I did not have a sugar cube or an apple for them.

Here are a couple of old classics that were in the front yard of a house, when I stopped to take the picture one of the residents came out and we talked for a few minutes and I was told that some day they wanted to rebuild their “babies”

this was one of my favorites though that I took in October 2009 on another drive to the same area 1946 Chevy truck that i thought was just gorgeous and it is a pic that turned out really well considering that I used my cell phone on that one.

I wonder what I will find out there next month?, in the city I tend to be more in a hurry to get where I am headed do my business and get back asap but when I go out to the country I am more tempted to take my time and enjoy the scenery all the while enjoying the tunes on my cars stereo, for my trip today I listened to the Guess who and Gordon Lightfoot, very relaxing.

Make sure that when your out on your travels to take the time and enjoy our world, it can be a lot more interesting than the concrete jungles of the big city.

It is time again that I make Beer Can Chicken aka Beer Butt Chicken, I have made Beer Butt at least 5 or 6 times in the last couple of years and we have never had a bad bird done that way.

Of late a lot of the meals that I have cooked on the BBQ have been the types that are well for the lack of a better term, Un-Heart healthy, Ribs, Bacon Bombs, MOINKS etc., all very tasty to be sure but not something to eat every day.

I had two plump chickens in my freezer ready to bend over for some beer but alas I forgot to take them out the night before  to Thaw, so off to the grocery store (No Frills) to buy a couple that were on sale this week for under $7.00 each.

I also noticed that I was all out of canned Beer, (nothing like being well prepared eh folks?)

So over to my local Beer Store to pick up a 15 pack of Bud.

I started out with the plan to prepare both birds for the Beer Butt method of cooking on the BBQ the only difference between the two would be the spices.

Both birds would get their skins poked with a few tiny holes which will allow the skin to be a little more crispy and both received the intrusive treatment of sliding my fingers under the skin in order to get some dressing and spices under the skin.

For the dressing I use oil based salad dressing and today I decided on Kraft’s Roasted Red Pepper with Parmesan but first I take some salt, pepper and garlic powder that I pre-mixed and poured it into my hand and get in under the skin and spread it around, try to get in under the skin everywhere you can even the thighs.

Next I coat the birds inside and out with the salad dressing.

This is where the birds got a bit of personality though, Bird #1  (which because of its personalty we will call her “Frank” )  got a healthy dose of the rub that I bought from the Thirsty Cactus BBQ team at the Toronto Beach Rib-Fest last week-end.

Bird #2, lets call her “Emma” she got some Old Bay Seasoning  all over her body.

Following their rubdowns Frank and Emma were slid into locking plastic bags and placed in the fridge for a couple of hours to let the dressing and spices mingle.

It was at this point I also remembered that I had run out of propane the night before do another trip out in the car last-minute, If I had stayed in Boy Scouts longer as a child maybe I would of been better prepared!

While marinating I went on Twitter to chat it up with a few of the #BBQclique and I mentioned that I was making Bee Can Chicken (yes it was a typo but I think everyone understood what i meant) all of a sudden @SpiritBBQ mentioned to me that Beer Can Chicken is a waste of good Beer and even directed me to a website that talks about the Myth of Beer Can Chicken

Now many people are believers in the Beer Can method, including myself as I also tried it with Cola, Ginger-ale and water, and my family all concur that the Beer based has the best taste and the Chicken is very juicy as well.

After reading the article from @TheNakedWhiz
website, I was sent yet another page from @SpiritBBQ from his same friend suggesting that Spatchcock method is better than Beer can.

At first I thought well that is all fine and dandy but I have already started  and had my mind set on two beer can chickens so I said, thanks but I will have to try that another day.

Then I thought hold on now, maybe I can make one of the birds in the Spatchcock method and be able to compare the methods side by side in a fair battle of the methods.

So on Emma I used the Spatchcock method which is to simply cut on both sides of the birds backbone, remove it and then flatten or kind of butterfly the chicken.

Frank was going to stay whole and sit on the Beer.

As you see in the picture above I have a stainless steel stand to pour the beer into and have the chicken impale itself onto, you can also sit the bird right over the Beer can directly, but if you do it that way it is best to make a few extra holes in the top of the can so that the moister / steam can rise out of it at a better rate, I have used an instant read thermometer point to make the holes in the past.

Before putting the beer in the tube I also added more of the rub that I used on Frank earlier into the tube first for some extra flavour.

after the birds have been cooking for 30 minutes I apply a garlic butter and soya sauce basting sauce every half hour as the skin starts to crisp-en.

At 8 pm I use my instant read thermometer to check the birds progress and they had only reached 135F you want to get at least 160F in the breasts and close to 180F in the thighs. it had been raining for a while and the rain hitting the lid of the BBQ had reduced the temps so I boosted up the flames (ordinarily I would have the left burner on low and the right side off, with the birds cooking indirect).

I put the corn on the grill (open the husks and clean removing the hair, brush melted butter on and cover again with the husks) hoping that the corn would be done at the same time as the chicken, but they finished much earlier, As you can see here the weather conditions were not perfect for doing BBQ

Looking at the temps of both Emma and Frank I was finding that Frank (the Beer butt Bird) was cooking faster than Emma so I decided to switch them around on the grill to try to achieve some even cooking, it was only after taking the next picture and seeing it on my computer (was wanting to post a couple of shots on twitter) That I had a ROFLMAO moment. I did not place the birds in this position on purpose but they Frank sure did appear to be enjoying herself while Emma assumed the position!

Instead of having two Dancing Chickens for dinner I had two Chickens Dirty Dancing

o

The Beer Butt Chicken Frank was ready to come off the grill almost an hour before Emma, which seemed strange to me since Emma was split and had more surface area to cook you would think faster, but maybe because Frank was standing up and had more air around her the meat could cook faster in the indirect method.

So Frank came off the grill to be wrapped in foil and rest. As for Emma I slid her over to the direct side of the grill for 5 minutes and then back to the indirect side for another 45 minutes or so.

Conclusion

Both Birds were delicious both were juicy, Emma her legs were wanting to fall away from her body, and took very little effort to pull them off, Franks pork style rub added some nice flavour as well.

Considering that the rain extended the cooking time to over 3 hours I think that cooking both bird styles together at once was a fair test.

Do I have a preference now?…. no, both styles work just fine, but I will continue to do the Beer Butt but I will use the spatchcock method again as well.

A big shout out to @SpiritBBQ and @TheNakedWhiz
for their tips and making this blog post a little more interesting than just doing the Beer Can chickens recipe!

The first was my very much requested http://oshawaogre.wordpress.com/2010/06/13/world-cup-recipes-german-pancakes-aka-dutch-babies-with-sweet-apple-filling/

This time around let’s have Breakfast in Denmark shall we?

These are Aebleskiver (please note it is the same single or plural, you do not add an s on the end)

Æbleskiver

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Æbleskiver Danish meaning apple slices (singular: æbleskive)) are traditional Danish pancakes in a distinctive shape of a sphere. Somewhat similar in texture to North American Pancakes crossed with a popover, Æbleskiver are solid like a pancake but light and fluffy like a popover. The English spelling is usually aebleskiver or ebleskiver.

In the United States, a version of æbleskiver is sold with a commercially repackaged pan, branded as “Pancake Puffs”.

These are very easy to make and normally I make these on my stove top but today I decided to give it a go on my Gas BBQ

Before you attempt to make these you need an aebleskiver pan I bought mine off the auction site eBay but they can also be found in a European delicatessen and cake shops.

If you have trouble finding one here they are on eBay This is what my pan looks like. You may also be able to get away with an egg poaching pan, you will notice that the cavities have rounded bottoms, you do not want a flat bottom as the balls will not turn out as round. Also mine is made of Cast Iron which is the best for retaining even heat. A well seasoned pan will not have many sticking issues.

Now for the recipe……

Makes about 7 batches of 7 Aeblekiver
(49 balls)

2 eggs (separated)

2 cups buttermilk

(if you do not have Buttermilk you can put 2 Tbs of lemon juice or vinegar  into a 2 cup measure and fill with milk of any kind … I used 1% and let sit 5 minutes)

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp salt

2 Tbsp sugar

Beat the whites stiff and fold in last.

Allow batter to set for 20 minutes
to let baking powder work.

Now that the batter is made, lets start the grill.

Within 1 minute Twitter messages were popping up like crazy!, post like :,ok what just happened” and “WTF”, people were feeling it from Ottawa to London (Ontario) to Sudbury and into Michigan too, From what I gather it originated north of Ottawa and was a 5.5. (may have been downgraded to 5.0)

I am so glad that I am on Twitter, since news of this spread across the globe, I had friends in Holland message me to see if we were ok and this is within minutes and the news wires did not even have it yet.

Thank goodness everything here is ok, it is still early but hearing reports of minor injuries and ceiling tiles falling in some buildings in Ottawa. I hope that is the extent of it.

They say it occurred 15 km below the surface and was felt for a 500 km radius but remember a lot of the first news is not confirmed.

The last time I felt an earthquake was perhaps 20 years ago sitting at the dining room table  I noticed our spider plant swaying back and forth about 6 inches. and we were on the 15th floor where it is felt stronger than at ground level.

But today being in the basement and feeling it was a little spooky, one of my Twitter friends mentioned how it is a common thing in Southern California and that is true but up here when it happens we get a little rattled (pun intended)

Mother Nature is playing some games around the world of late. Meh lets blame it on BP

Hmmm It is really hot today and the Earthquake has made me hungry, what shall I make for dinner?……. I know Shake & Bake

Wilfred

Update….

a couple of things I found out since posting…..

No serious injuries but some buildings damaged and a road on a causeway collapsed

you can read about it here http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/ontario-quebec-tremor-reflects-potentially-disastrous-fault-lines/article1615540/

Further Update ….

Saw this from one of my facebook friends thought it was funny

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/6mbaJj/xkcd.com/723//r:f

and see a video

of government session while the earthquake happened, is it just me or is the guy sitting down just totally oblivious to what is happening around him?

Having 2 weeks before attending the Rib-fest in Bomanville and having a good time and having gone there all 3 years that is has been held, I was not sure what to expect out of the big city of Toronto which is about 45 minutes to the south-west of here.  

Having also being  disappointed to hear that the Canadian Open Championships were canceled (without any notice on the website by the way) I wondered if any of the Rib-fest would still be on, how ever after checking the face book page for Ted Reader he posted that he was grilling there all week-end so that was enough for me, I was going!  

I called my good friend Joe Simeunovich (we go back in the Printing trade 30 years) and asked him if he would be interested in going. He was excited to say the least, Joe recently bought a Pellet burning grill that he loves so this kind of show would be of great interest to him.  

At first the plan was to go on the Saturday but the weather forecast was for 70% rain with Thunder storms so I put it off till the Sunday morning, for which I am glad, it was a glorious day to spend in a park. The doors opened at 11am and we pulled in around noon, Now we thought that parking would be nightmare but there was parking for $10.00 right beside the park and it was a huge lot with lots of open spots to park.  

That is my friend Joe in the Black shirt about to get his Cream Soda

As soon as we got in, Joe went straight over to Pappy’s Soda Pop booth because he had one of their “Collectible” aluminum cups at home but wanted a second to make a matching pair so he bought a $7.00 cup of Cream Soda (refills are only $3.00)  

Please note anytime you would like to see more detail in the pictures just click on them with your mouse and you will see them full size.  

Here is Joe and I just sat down to eat, we had met a very nice gentleman named Richard at the table that we shared and we talked for about an hour, Richard took this picture of Joe and I and then I took a picture of Richard and Joe, I wrote down my information along with my blog address so I hope that Richard will get to see this.

And here is what my meal looked like (but not for long) I found the sauce really nice, the ribs themselves were very much fall off the bone, which many people like but if it is a competition they would not of scored too high. But heck I am not a judge  looking for a perfectly presented ribs, I was after taste and these ribs fit that bill.

2-3pm-3:30-4:30pm: The Dream Band
5-6pm-6:30-7:30pm:  Lazo & The Radikals  

(note we ended up leaving at 4:30 pm so we only hear The Dream band play but they were very good and did a great version of Whiter Shade of Pale which I will link here on YouTube,   but do not expect great video, the sound is good but the video was shaky as I was trying to film with one hand)  

Here are some random pictures that I took within the park so that you can see the space and how clean it all was, and how relaxing a day it was, It was really nice that there were a lot of people but we all had the space to move about freely and any lineups were fast, even the washrooms on site (portopotties) were quick to access and were clean, Bravo to the organizers for making the weekend pleasant that way.  

At this point Joe and I started getting hungry again so over to get a Corn on the Cob and an Iced Tea for $8.00 and I will tell you that Corn was a delight!, dipped in melted butter and i could see that a lot of kids in the park were enjoying the corn as well.  

There was also a Beer and Jack Daniels Tent but neither Joe or myself are big drinkers and plus I had to drive back to Oshawa so no grown up drinks this time around.  

Now for a great part of the day, One of the reasons I really wanted to make the trip was to meet Ted Reader, he was there with Napoleon Grills and Jack Daniels and his own tent for TedReader.com and he has been in the news a lot of late when he BBQ’d a 590 lb complete burger!, you can read about it here (video too)    

I already have Ted as a friend on Facebook but I thought it would be nice to meet him in person.  

Ted is a very friendly man he engaged in a nice 10 minute conversation with me before he was to do a demonstration for a Toronto Sun 3 team Grilling competition on Napoleon grills.  

And following are some pictures all taken from the Ted Reader area of the park, including a couple of shots of Joe discussing the features of one of the Napoleon BBQ Grills that they were showing to the public, thanks to Courtney (The Blond Girl) for spending some time with us and answering our BBQ questions with skill and knowledge.  

As Ted started to do his demonstration There was a person sitting in the front row eating a Harvey’s Hamburger  

Ted gave him a hard time on that wondering why he would come here with all of that great food around him and he is eating a fast food burger!, that cracked us all up.  

He showed us how he makes burgers using a lot of meat and cheese on Cedar planks (which he sells) along with a lot of Southern Comfort, yup you heard me Southern Comfort he also show us a great way of making Beef burgers wrapped in a butterflied Chicken breast, the idea being that he would show us and then 3 teams would compete making similar burgers and after 45 minutes they would be judged by Ted. by the way you should also check out Ted’s website here   

The flames you see are just after he poured booze all over the meat, it was just for a few seconds, he had also used his finger to put a hole in the top of the burgers when he made them and poured Southern Comfort in the hole and later when almost cooked he added a big slab of butter in each hole, may not be the best thing for being heart healthy but great taste once in a while should not kill you.  

After the demonstration. ( I did not stick around for the cook off, though maybe I should have found out who won) Joe and I wandered over to the area that was for the amateur cook off, which when we arrived they were in the process of preparing their ribs for judging  I did take a bunch of pictures but they were so focused on their work I did not dare ask them for any comments that I could have used for the blog. Maybe next time I will be a little better prepared to do some reporting as well as being a photographer.  

Here are the teams, note the various types of BBQ’s used, Eggs, Charcoal, Gas & Wood Pellet Traeger Grills  

Again, if I had stayed longer maybe I could have found out who one, but Joe and I were really wanting to get one of Ted Readers monster burgers. even though we were still full from lunch.  

on the way over to Ted’s booth I took a couple more pictures of the rib shacks and as you can see the lines were getting longer and longer, this was at about 4pm.  

So here we are back at Ted’s Burger booth, and we wanted to try to taste as much as we could, so Joe ordered a Beef Burger and  ordered the Pulled Pork burger and we asked to have them cut in half so that we could share the burgers. Ted had a total of 3 choices , Pork Beef and Chicken, they all looked so good although we wondered if we could eat at all we were so full.  

Ted was offering a Burger and a Coke for $10.00  

And add a really nice BBQ Spatula for $5.00 more (Stainless Steel with Wooden handle)  

and his cook book which retail was $30.00 was on sale for $20.00  

But the deal of the show was all of the above for $25.00 which both Joe and I took advantage of. He was also selling his Sauces for a great price of 2 for $5.00, other vendors were $6.00 each or 3 for $15.00.  

Funniest moment of the day happened when they called Joe’s name to pick up his order, he took one look a this massive burger and said out loud, Holy F***!, He quickly apologized to the girl who handed him the burger and she said, That is ok, it is the best compliment that we had all week-end! and they had plenty let me tell you.  

Below is my 2 halves (pork on left beef on right) and the extras that came with it.  

The Cookbook is a fantastic read and I will review the book on its own in a future blog posting.  

Both Joe and I could only finish part of the burgers, not because of the taste but that we had no empty parts of our bodies to put the food. Overall the day was a complete success, Joe and I had a great time, and some greater food, I will be back again next year.  

If you’re in the Southern Ontario area this summer or next look for a Rib-fest to visit, you will have a wonderful day.