Irresistible finger food - Bacon wrapped sausage

The 1st time I had a bacon wrapped sausage 1.5 years ago, I fell in love with it. Since then, I never have another chance to try it again.

Somehow, a couple months ago, we were having a spring picnic. I decided instead of waiting for the next chance, why not create a chance by myself.

I challenged making bacon wrapped sausages for the first time.

Jo kindly told me the recipe. It was actually very easy to make. I did a modification as I have two Turkish friends that could not eat pork. It was a pleasant surprise to see "beef bacon" and "beef cocktail sausages" on the shelves. Just the perfect ingredients I needed.

I also bought a pack of brown sugar.

Then, just follow the simple few steps.

1. Cut each slice of bacon into 3 portions.

2. Coat the bacon with brown sugar.

3. Wrap one bacon around one sausage and hold it with a toothpick (100 toothpicks cost me US$2, si beh expensive!!).

4. While wrapping in progress, preheat the oven to 325 degree F.

*Note : Try to be patience when doing the wrapping. Can take up quite some time.




Tralala~~~ input with a lot of love by fish fish.

After 45 min of baking (time is variable with your oven and the degree of crispiness you want)...




Tralalalala~~~ these sweet and salty blood clotting appetizers were such an evil temptation.

The bacon was soft yet crispy in some part, with the succulent tiny cocktail sausage, just the great thing to go with your cold beer or bubbling soda.

So, the next time if you are tired of making salads and you have extra time in front of the TV, try to challenge this. Look good, smell great and taste awesome!!

It will definitely be a nice surprise for your guests. ;)

ps: It is the last day of June. Officially, 1/2 of the 2008 will be gone. *gulp*

pps: Posts in Quebec will resume when I have long time for photo editing and brain-squishing writing.

Altador Cup III Fever

A few of you must have been wondering what is wrong with fish fish this time, why hasn't she been updating her blog for a week. She is having a very serious fever, which is causing her sleeping for only 4 hr per night. Have to drink teh tarik daily to keep herself alert for her daily 10 hr work.

Errrr... the truth is, I was very busy chasing the balls since last week.

Nope, it is not the Euro 2008. The only thing I will watch that is some nice 6-pax hunks.

It is Altador Cup III. It will be on until middle next month.

Ok, I doubt any of you know what it is. It is my Neopet event again.

It is like an annual world cup in a virtual neoworld. The ball that we are chasing are much more interesting.

It is called Yooyuball. A ball that is transformed for a petpet (A pet's pet). There are a few kinds of Yooyuball. Original, fire, ice, darigan, clock, faerie and the unpredictable mutant.

The players are Neoworld pets.

I am a hardcore of Krawk Island team. Last year, because of our neglect, we ended up at No.4. We learnt that very painful lesson.

This year, we come back as too fast too furious. In fact, I was so bad in kicking those yooyuballs last year. However, things are totally changed this year, I am turning into one of those "pro". LOL Imagine 3 min I managed to shoot in 14 goals in 3 min. *damn proud of myself*

I have many unknown teammates, but it seems like we are heading the same goal, to be the champion 2008.

My Ancient Canadian awesome dining experience, will have to on hold until this weekends.

Just in case if you are curious, this is Altador Cup III. ;) I better start to kick the ball for tonight now.

My degree is recognized

Due to the visa application procedure, my degree is required to be recognized by the USCIS. It cost me US$75 to get the evaluation done.

After waiting for 4 working days, I finally received it.

Anyway, let me retype the first paragraph of the evaluation. It is quite fun to read.

"The following is an analysis and advisory evalutation of the academic credentials of Fish Fish. As discussed herein, Fish Fish completed a program in the field of Agronomy and Horticultural Sciences at K University, in Japan. Based on the foregoing academic credentials, I find that Fish Fish attained the equivalent of a degree in Food Science and Agronomy from an accredited US university."

I love the way they judge my degree is equivalent to a degree in Food Science and Agronomy in the U.S. Lalala~~~ now I can officially call myself a Food Scientist. LOL As though I was not one already.

I don't know why I was excited about this. To recognize my degree does not mean I got the degree. They just merely recognized it. In fact, I have earned it two years ago. I was very happy that time too, but it was different. I just don't know why I was feeling happy this time, to an extent feel like crying.

Strange me.

First lunch with SG

The 6th day morning in Quebec, I joined a technical visit to Laval University. More on that next time.

We reached back to our hotel before noon. I hugged Justyna and said goodbye to her.

After checked out from my room, I stayed in the lobby to wait for my next companion for my remaining days in Quebec.

It was only after 75 min then SG arrived. Wah~~~ I was severely suffered with hunger by that time.




We decided to drive away from the old Quebec area and simply found a place for lunch.

The place looked good. However, it was hard for me to look for the shop name, hence no name.

We ordered 4 dishes.




Escargot grilled with a lot of cheese!! Too cheesie for me.




The deshelled escargot itself was pretty good. Well, I did not have much experience in eating escargot, so this for me was fine.

However, SG who had much more experiences in eating escargot thought the escargot was just ok.




I saw the veal tortellini in the menu again. Being a stubborn me, I decided to give it another try despite my not good experience with it a couple days ago.

Big CROSS!! This was enough to make me confirm that veal tortellini is not a yummy food.

In fact, we only finished 1/6 of this plate.




I ordered frog legs for my main dish.

I liked the crispy texture of the lower part of the legs, but that was the only thing I liked about them. These frog legs were tasteless, I could not detect sweetness of fresh frog meat. I am very sure these were frozen frog legs. The texture was horrible too.

As a girl who grown up catching my own frogs at nights with my daddy in paddy field when I was 2-4 year old, it is very easy for me to tell you whether they are premium grade frog legs or not. Ah~~~ so missing those days.

Mum said my good skin condition nowadays was owing to her weekly frog soup. LOL She should have seen the now me, sleeping at 2-3 am daily have really deteriorated my skin condition.




SG chose mussels.

A bad dish again.

The best part of this dish was unfortunately the fries.




Well, some of the mussels were quite ok. However, about half of the mussels have stale taste.

We did feel very full after the lunch. Paid about Can$120 dollar for the whole thing. Definitely overpriced and not worth it.

We avoided fusion looking restaurants after this not-so-good start.

I envy my boss

For the reason he is going to Singapore tomorrow as one of the invited keynote speakers.

:( I am like a sour grape now.

He will be only 1 and half hour flight away from my home!! Only an extra three minutes drive, I will reach my home sweet home!! Eating kuey chap, kiaw, kolok me, sarawak laksa, rojak... mom's cooking.

But all these, can only be a wishful thinking in my dream now. :( :(

It will be his first time to the Southeast Asia. For a person who runs two hours per midday, I hope it will not be too hot and humid for him.

I am one of the two co-authors listed in his talk. ^_^ Another thing to add into my resume for my next job hunting.

Despite a super heavy duty schedule, he somehow manages to balance in between work and fun. His achievement in Marathon annually is around 3.5 hours.

As one of his "little leg", I am so shameful to say I am nothing near that. I can feel that he is training us to become like him though. For the past two days, I have been working for 14 hrs daily. Online 4 hrs. Only slept 6 hrs. Today, I feel the tiredness already. Where have all my stamina gone??

Yeah, the really bad thing of having internet at home. Youtube, Animefever, Bloggers and Neopets. I wish I have four cloned me to do these for me while I sleep for 24 hrs.

Learning new analytical instrument today. I was totally excited.

Before my boss will be away tomorrow, he has past a few tasks for me to accomplish while he is not in. One of them - another paper writing. A review type. My first review paper to be with him and my coworker. *sigh* Going to retrieve those heavy stack of journal papers again. But at them same time, I know I will be happy when it is published as... one more thing to add to my resume for future job hunting.

Talking about self-conflict - I am indeed now.

I am just hoping all the effort I have put on, will promise me a better job future.

Festival Du Homard

Workload have been heavy lately, so I am going to on hold those scenic photos until the weekends.

Meanwhile, let me talked about something exciting in that evening.

After lunch, my coworker at distance, Justyna and me went to have a nice walk around the old Quebec. Very beautiful city. Although once a while some unpleasantly loud tourists polluted this beautiful place.

We walked for a few hours before we finally decided to go back to the hotel to rest for some time. That evening, we accompanied each other once again for dinner. LOL




I was actually the one that decided which restaurant to go for the dinner. Our late lunch made us very full, Justyna was planning to have salad only that evening.

However, there was one special dish on the menu that attracted me very much. It was not as expensive as compared to the U.S. standard too.

We were lucky actually as it was the show time for homard.




We came to a very nice and quiet restaurant. The interior was a good place for nice and relaxing dating.

But... uh uh~~~ not for these two ladies. We were up to something more extraordinary. A one date that neither one of us would forget. ;)

This type of date could only be done with a female friend, preferably a beautiful, witty and fun to be with lady like Justyna.

I confirmed with our waiter that it was "a whole pound from head to tail".

Then I said, "One please."

The person who was supposed to eat salad, "I'll have the same thing." *naughty smile*

While we were waiting...




...first, the oh so predictable bread to make you more patience while waiting for the real thing.




The waiter came again, but with two white packs. Some unusual utensils inside.

Hehe... have you guessed what we were ordering??

You probably knew it already if you know the meaning of "Homard".

Tralalala~~~ may Miss fish fish proudly present you...




... our "Wah~~~~ so big" expression of Lady Justyna and a whole pound of boiled fresh lobster.

Justyna had never eaten any lobster, needless to say a whole lobster. She was so excited.

"Oh my god!! How are we going to eat it? Where shall we start? Oh my god!! I have I done to myself~~~ I couldn't believe I actually ordered this!" It was full of entertainment just to watch Justyna expression at that time. For Malaysians, to eat something from its original form are pretty common. However, it is very different for the western part of the whole. Majority just eat their meat and fish that required minimal handling by themselves.

I salute Justyna actually, for taking up this challenge.




I used my hand to reach to the huge claw and said to her, "Pluck it off and we are ready to get dirty. Very very dirty." *smirky smile with my eyes*

She followed me, but somehow it took her a while to eventually pull out the claw too.

Then, our first bite almost at the same time.

Oolalala~~~ who needs sex at such a time? This warm claw was fantastically orgasmic. The firmness of the juicy flesh, the sweetness from the salty sea and the full and bouncy texture in the mouth - unbeatable.

It was so good. The chef just spent the time to boil it to the right degree, not over-cooked. The remaining job was left to this quality pound of lobster.




You could tell how good it was when fish fish even forgot to take the first picture before eating. The big claw have reached my esofagus by the time I took this photos. LOL

Sprinkling some lemon gave different sensation to it. A slight dip into the salty melted butter gave a richer flavour to it. Eating with rice matched the quality flesh perfectly. Or, even one bite of the flesh, one chomp of the fresh and bittersweet sprout played harmonically with each other.

Whatever way we ate it, it was great! Simply awesome.

It took us whole hour to finally finish it. It was a bit too cold at the end, but still it was such a satisfying meal.

Luckily, there was only another table of guests at that time. The remaining were upstair having some kind of party.

It gave us such a freeway to eat the way as we like, in an upscale restaurant like this, it was totally fun, exciting and absolutely a priceless memory. Crackling the hard shell never been more fun than this.

The meal cost Can$35 per person (tax and tips included). I would say it was a pretty reasonable price considering that a lobster tail in similar standard of restaurant in U.S. would cost about the same price already.




The lobster put smile on both of us. To celebrate such a good evening date, Justyna and me went to the pub next door to experience a "unique" beer moment. The strange tall looking glass somehow made the hoppy local beer more tasty.

Look how happy the look of Justyna, you knew that evening was indeed a great one. ^_~

Thank you Justyna. I am looking forward to seeing you again in Indianapolis. Now, it is my turn to relax and enjoy your presentation. *evil laugh* Let's go out for some fun time again.

*hug*

胡言乱语

麻将脚们久没搓牌，会浑身不自在。 小伲子我好长的一段日子没写中文了，手痒难耐。麻烦各位乡亲父老让我在这写一写，过个瘾。

这几天的天气，简直要闹死人的热。我突然好想念冬天的冷。恨不得裹在千里外送来的鹅绒被底下，痛快地冬眠一番。事实正好相反。

好想再像日本留学时期，一丝不挂地挨过这残酷的炎夏，却多了一份顾虑。身材走样得离扑，连自己都觉得刺眼。老天，我干嘛变得那么不长进！

换个话题。

2005年，网缘巧合， 我开始阅读"想不出要叫什么名字"。第一次就把这不落客加在我的喜欢网址里。

断断续续读了好长日子后，才知道这才娘出自古晋。喜上加爱，一拔不能收拾。连带把她的老大和小小也一块迷上了。

她神秘老头最爱的余兴节目是睡懒觉。 偶尔因伊娘的嘈声，单眼旁观。

老大这问题少年，偏爱在伊娘因台湾偶像剧场快要到达高潮的那一秒，把她从沸点剧降至冰点。

伊娘恋女成癖，自家美胜妹妹们的小小，频以女装头现众。

这家人的故事，在伊娘的笔下，比看连期漫画还精彩。

只是啊，伊娘，你该不会是想把小小真变个女生吧！

胡言乱语完毕，谢谢读完。

Day 5 lunch

Hot hot day again today. As a result, I only went to work around 4.30 p.m. Still it was HOT! Worked until 10 p.m. Rushed to buy food before the supermarket closed at 11 p.m.

Now, I am feeling good with a full stomach. *burp*

Read news in Malaysia lately about the 40% increase on the petrol price. Mom told me filled up 1/3 of her car's tank cost RM60++. In N.C. now, 1 litre of petrol is equivalent to RM3.40, and it is going to be more than RM4.50 in the summer. It is going to be a burden for the average income Kuching citizens as somehow, unlike other big cities in Malaysia, Kuching's monthly salary in general are much lower.

Ok, back to my Quebec talk.




After the conference ended with a nice closing dinner, the next day I still have to wake up early to come to this place for a technical visit. It was ok.




But the place was located in a very rural area. It took us more than 1 hr to reach the destination.

By the time we reached back to the hotel, it was already lunch time. It was not as easy as we thought to find a place for lunch. Even though it was over 1 p.m., they were still people eating lunch here and there.

Our first choice turned up to have an idiot as a waiter. When we requested for the English menu, he used a very arrogant way to say "Oh, in Quebec, no English menu. It is the city rule. We only use French. But I can translate it to you."

Grrrr... Justyna and me changed eye signal with each other.

He then came back with a menu written on a chalk-board, with only about 8-10 choices. "So, what languages you want? German? Italian? Russian?" I never seen a guy as "ugly" and "disgusting" as him.

Justyna said, "How about Polish?" and I said, "Japanese?"

He said, "Sure, no problem. Errrr... I don't know both." Then, he laughed at his own "humorous joke".

We decided to let him explain the menu one by one. After he ended, Justyna and me change eye signal again. "We wanted to discuss a bit." We said to him. "Sure, no problem." He walked away.

Almost the same time, behind the chalk-board, we whispered to each other, "Let's find somewhere else."

"Well, there is nothing in the menu that we like. Sorry." We said to him. Then we left.

Seriously, a tourist place like old Quebec, saying that no English menu as the city rule was one of the ridiculous reason. Oh well, at least we did not eat there and spoil the remaining of our day.

Ok, enough for the story.

Let see what was the place that we decided to take our lunch.




Forgot the name. Not many people inside, only two waitresses taking care of the whole restaurant. We were led to this area with less people. She gave us the menu with "bilingual".

Hmmm... interesting, I thought the idiot earlier said it is the rule not to have English menu.

I feel sorry for him, to be such a narrow-minded Homo sapiens.

Both of use chose lunch set menu which came with appertizer, coffee and dessert.




Justyna chose a clam chowder. She didn't like hers. It did not look like a clam chowder to me.




I never tried a pea soup before, so I chose it. I didn't like mine neither. This might be one of my non-favorite soup.

Justyna liked my pea soup more and I prefered her clam chowder.

We ended up finishing each other bowl of soup. LOL




For main entree, I had Calf Liver. A pretty disappointing dish. The vegetables tasted as sorry as their look. The mash potatoes tasted exactly like it was just rehydrated from those freeze-dried potato powder.

The calf liver was too thin and overcooked. They should learn how to make one like Mama Dip's.

This was a dish just for filling up my stomach.




Justyna had a penne with lamb sausage. It was so so. The sausage did not taste good. Neither do the pasta sauce. Oh well, another fill up the hunger thing.




Probably the dessert was a slightly better one. Especially after a whole piece of calf liver, this sweet piece of cake did taste pretty ok.

Despite not a delicious lunch, both of us were fully charged with whole lots of calories. We were ready to explore the old Quebec scenic spots. ;)

A closing dinner at le Capitole de Quebec

I am back to blogging. Slept at 4 am, and woke up at 12 pm. 8 hrs of sleep, feel good. Seriously, I need to change my sleeping habit, it is sooooo bad.

The weather outside is 100 degree F now. Tomorrow will be 102 degree F. It is a crazily hot weather for an early June. Went out clubbing with friends last night, ate too much carb, so cooked bittergourd and tofu as my lunch.

It is good to stay in my little room with cool air calming me. My migraine will attack me if I am "over-heated".

So today, going to take a few hours to edit photos in Quebec, hopefully this week I can blog in a daily basis. LOL

The meeting that I attended in Quebec was highlighted with a closing dinner.




Took place in le Capitole de Quebec.




My ticket for the evening. Cost US$100.




Before the real event, we went to the upper floor for socialising time.




The moment was good with a nice glass of welcoming drink. Sweet, refreshing champagne-like drink. I was adored by the tiny bubbles that were dancing inside the glass. However, my curiosity was more on the yellow mysterious plum-like fruit at the bottom.




My dinner partners for the evening - Justyna from Poland who is working in the States and Sandra from Bolivia who is working in Quebec.




Another dinner partner of mine, Vincent from Quebec. He is still a student, having the opportunity to help in this meeting, he managed to meet many people. Not to mention that he got the chance to join this banquet for free. ;) He was also the camera man for the event.

I was very impressed with his English, considering he grew up in a very french speaking part in Quebec. I was pleasantly surprised when he told me he went to Malaysia before too. Not to Kuala Lumpur, but Pulau Perhentian. Yes, he knows where is Sarawak. ^_~

He was the only guy on our table, once a while have to endure the ladies teasing. LOL




The interior setting of this theatre immediately soothed me.




I was facing these box seats. One day, when I have the money to afford all the luxury, I want to sit in one of these to enjoy a good show. ;)




The dinner menu was in bilingual.




While thinking what to eat, the live performance started to entertain us with the traditional music in Quebec.

Beautiful sounds.




Bread to start the eating session.




For appertizer, we had "Terrine of venison with green apple and hazelnut".

It was my first encounter with a venison terrine, what more with hazelnut to give a different contrast of taste and texture. Unique.

It was also my first time to try preserved carrot. Sweet, soft, yet goes pretty well with the savoury terrine.

Next, for main dish, we were given three choices, which I made the worst choice. You will know why.




The first option was "Supreme of Poultry with raspberry vinegar". I was tempted with the raspberry vinegar, but I past.




Then, it was "Salmon with pesto, tomatoes a la Provencale, honey-mustard sauce".

Once again, I was attracted by the "pesto" and "tomato that cooked in Provecale style". I past this too mainly because I am not a fan of salmon (except for smoked salmon).




Instead, I went for this. "Veal Tortellinis Sophia Loren".

I was curious to know what would a combination of "Veal" with "Tortellinis" with "Sophia Loren" taste like.

Since the main dishes were more of Italian style, I thought their pasta would impress me.

Bad bad decision.

Let put it this way, it was "not hard to swallow", but it was a dish that easily be forgotten.

I did not sense the veal sensation in it. The Jambon chunks was dominating the delicate taste of veal. The sauce was nothing to shout about. Creamy tomato sauce, the last option I want to taste the real flavour fo the tortellinis. (Is this Sophia Loren style?).

Oh well, damage was done. I "learnt my lesson".




Fortunately, the cheese-plate was better. Not so much on the crackers, but the three types of cheese (sorry, another one was covered under the crackers, which I only noticed today.)

This plate was named as "Special creation from our master cheese maker".

The plate contained all the local cheeses, namely grand cheddar, oka classique and champfleury.

Cheddar cheese dominate 70% of the market in Quebec. It was stronger and more intense than the cheddar in U.S. I prefer white cheddar more than yellow American cheddar although this version was a bit too strong for me to take more.

However, my favorite for that evening was the oka classique. Soft and creamy cheese with a very unique out layer crust. The sensation was memoriable. It was similar to Port-Salut cheese, but softer and stronger smell. The flavour was milder than its smell. (I am not a big fan of strong cheese such as camembert and bleu cheese.)




Our dinner ended with this "Bois-Franc Cake". It was more than a short cake with white chocolate coating to me. Usually I do not like white chocolate, but this has pretty good flavour to it, except it was a bit too sweet.




If you noticed the last two plates, they were garnished with cute little yellow cherry.

I was told this is "Brown Cherry". I tried to look online, however I failed to find any information about it. Hmmm... if anyone out there knows about this magical little fruit, please tell me ok.

"Mamabok?"

This "cherry" was awesome. Sweet and sour, not so cherry-like texture. More like in between cherry and tomato.




Once again, we were entertained by good live performance while eating the cake.




The closing dinner ended with a short ceremony to show appreciation to the lady had put a lot of effort to make it a success.

Thank you Ms. Lagace, you surely have done a splendid job.

It was a great evening. That night, I slept like a baby.

I hate visa procedure

As my current visa is going to end in another three months, I need to change to another visa. The problem is, I only have my degree certificate, but not my transcript. The evaluation committee needs the transcript. Or else, they will not recognized my qualification. (Which mean I will not getting the pay I am supposed to get. Worse, my qualification will not equal to the job description they are "looking for".) Grrrrr... So these few days, going to be busy trying to get that from my alma mater in Japan.

It was "funny". When I applied for my current visa, they didn't even ask for my degree certificate. Only when I started to work they wanted two reference letters from me. Yeah, I know it should be other way round. Somehow, everytime when I am dealing with something more important, the progress does not go the normal path for me. Too many to name.

That explain why I don't have the mood to do serious blogging these few days.

Friday, after my long-hour working, went to my Turkish's friend house for dinner. She knew I was busy, so prepared dinner for me. *touched* Then, went to a late night movies with a few friends. By the time reached home, I was too tired until didn't even bother to turn on my computer.

I even forgot to return my books to the library. Just hope that I will not be fined. :(

Slept for 10 hrs. The moment I woke up, it was already noon. Ate lunch, online and slept another hour. Went out to join some cook-out fun with the residents in my neighbourhood where I am staying. At least that made me feel a bit more relaxing.

Today, went to work again.

Tomorrow, I hope things will turn out better. I hope to see my sensei's reply soon. *pray pray pray*

PS: Garu-guru, gerai nyamai. Selamat Hari Gawai! Dear Sarawakians!!