Jer’s Continuing Adventures…

Not directly related though.

Had a lovely evening last Sunday at Rob and Amanda’s to celebrate Rob’s birthday. What fun! Fantastic food, great conversations and a few tasty libations created by DC squared. (That’s Deputy Chief Doug Chinnery). While I brought a simple Ground Venison, Beer Tomato Spaghetti Bolognese; there was a yummy Homemade Caesar Salad, Grilled Steaks and Roast Vegetables, and Grilled Prawns with Spicy Miso Sauce. Mmmmmmmmmm. And Lindy is back! She’s looking good and taking a break before her new job starts now that she’s done school. Way to go!

Speaking of bikes, this Sunday is the 4th Annual No Horses Challenge! Come on up to the top of Strachan Road at noon on Sunday to either race or cheer on the competitors! We’re expecting a few more riders this year and lots more spectators. Lee will be riding his new Banshee Wildcard and is super stoked about it! Even Arly is coming back to improve his time. Thanks to Jody and friends for timing! See you there!

Soooo yummy!

The lineup was James and Jordan, Dave Bishop, Sasha and Amy, and meselfs. With the kitchen running full tilt, and every spare inch of counter space in use it was rockin!
After the chaos had settled, the food had been et and the drinks had been drunk, we’d finished a 6 course gourmet meal.

Appetizer (James):
Italian Breakfast (Egg Poached in Red Sauce over Herb and Butter Crustini).

Appetizer (Dave):
Tomato Tartar with Crispy Shallots, Parsley Oil, Basil Creme Fraiche, Balsamic Reduction and Toasted Jalapeno Bread Crumbs.

Soup (Jordan):
Peanut Coriander Yam Chipotle Soup dressed with Cilantro and Peanuts, and served with Homemade Baguettes.

Main (Jer):
Venison Masala Curry over Smoked Couscous with Fresh Basil and Endive.

Appetizer (Sasha):
Organic Faloni with Hot Chili Infused Goat Cheese drizzled with Balsamic Vinegar and Rosemary Blossoms.

Dessert (Sasha and Amy):
Chili Infused Goat Cheese Torte on a Jalapeno Crumb Crust drizzled with Peach Puree and Chocolate Liquor Sauce.

All the while we chatted up a storm, and sampled some fine Libations; Phillips Chocolate Porter, a fine Argentinian White, Phrog Gin, Red Breast Irish Whiskey and Flora de Cana Rum. What a blast and so many wonderful flavours!

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What’s up with that? Sounds crazy, I know, and it tastes damn good! When I invited Dave and asked for suggestions for cooking the venison, he came up with pine needles in the marinade. Sweet! Let’s do it! Dave came over early and we marinaded the steaks with fir needles (no pine trees nearby) and dried cranberries. After Dan and Tereza showed up we got the steaks cooking. So yum! I’m definitely doing that one again! And the lemon meringue pie for dessert was a killer. A few beers, some very engaging conversation and I’d call that a success. I’m liking this dinners with friends thing. Got to do more of it!

Looking forward to going for a ride with Steve tomorrow. We’ll ride the sections of trail I cleared today and see how they are. Stoked! I haven’t gone for a ride with Steve for over a month. We’ll see how the young feller holds up. Just kidding, he can ride the legs off me on a good day.

With a belly full of beer, good food and sweets, it’s time to say good night. Sweet dreams and bright days, y’all!

You may be wondering about the title. Well, there was a great gathering at my place (my folks place, actually) with a Mexican theme. I provided Read more

The bottle of Tutenkahmen Ale arrived the other day. I’m looking forward to the next Supper Club to share it with Ian and Doug. And any other beer appreciators.

One of the nice side effects of Supper Club is the tasty leftovers. Angel and I had left over Nalysnyky for breakfast this morning and it was yum!

Apparently (according to the recipe Angel used) the French copied Nalysnyky from the Ukrainians to come up with crepes. Whatever you call them they are a great flavour and texture. Stuffed with either savory or sweet they were a hit at the supper last night. Amanda’s labour intensive Varenyky (perogi) were awesome, Bethany made a dreamy light bun with cheese and dill filling, and Elaine’s Borscht was a treat! And I can’t forget the very tasty Cream Ale produced by Ian and Doug. Smooooooooooth.

The highlight of the evening was making pysanky (Ukrainian Easter Eggs). What a hoot! Everybody tried their hand at it and there were some amazing designs. It kept us going till midnight before the last of us left and the hosts could get to bed.

I’m looking forward to the next adventure in dining.

Budmo! (This means approximately ‘shall we live forever!’ Usually, one person says ‘Budmo!’ and everybody at the table/party answers ‘Hey!’ (the meaning is straightforward). This repeats for up to 3 times depending on the mood of the crowd. Only then, everybody empties their glasses.)

While I was in town I picked up a CO2 tank at Northern Rope and a regulator from Dean at Accu-Tech. Now to put it together and see what needs to be fixed. After hooking it all up and filling a keg with sanitzer I flushed all the lines out. While doing that I discovered one of the tap mounts is leaking. Not a big deal as I can use two of the other taps for now. Two you say? Yup, I got the fixings for brewing my own Root Beer from Corks, Caps and Fermentalia. That means I’ll have one tap of Winter Ale and one of Root Beer.

Anyhoo, I’ve been digging around on the internet for a manual or tech specs for this particular machine. It’s a Cornelius model 28-4669. It looks very close to a Cornelius Diplomat:

I managed to download a manual for something very close and it looks like the basic internal workings are the same. With that and a spanner I can get’er pumping suds. This evening I’ve been flushing the tank and leaving it running to build up the “ice bank”. My guess is that means ice on the lines inside the unit. What do you think?

Next step is to brew up the Root Beer (two weeks till drinkable) in a canister. And I’m bottling the beer on Sunday with Trish. Two weeks till that’s ready too. Just in time for the supper club after this one.

It’s here! The fountain of youth now resides on my porch! Well maybe not the fountain of youth, more the fountain of beer.

While visiting friends on Gabriola at New Years I saw this guy’s beer set up. He had beer brewed in pop syrup canisters (the ones that are used in restaurants) and had taps set up. Sweet! Homemade beer on tap sounds very cool. Inspired by that I took a look on Craigslist for soda syrup canisters. That was where I stumbled across the 1970s vintage Pepsi soda fountain complete with 3 canisters and the lines! I love the way the universe provides! Anyhoo, after purchasing it through Angel’s cousin in Vancouver and waiting for a convenient delivery by Ed and April on a Vancouver trip it’s here! I plugged it in and she runs smoothly. I’m waiting for a quote on a CO2 canister and I ordered replacement bulbs and starters while in town yesterday. Once I figure out how to make beer in the canisters I’m set up!

Lots going on this week! Here’s a quick rundown of some of the highlights.

Supper Club was a hoot! Tapas was the theme and everyone gathered around the kitchen island to munch and quaff. Too many very tasty items showed up for me to list here. And speaking of too many, I had my share of drinks that night and felt it the next day. Ergh. More water please. I started feeling better when I got to Fire Practice and Rob was in worse shape than me. He didn’t even stick around after practice for a movie. I like his line “I’ll never drink again… until the next time” Next theme is Jamaican at Rob and Amanda’s. I get to make jonny-cakes!

Irah was up this weekend and we caught up a lot. It looks like we’re over the winter hump in the black! We’re both getting really stoked for the upcoming summer. It’s going to be fun and busy! While he was here we put in more paving stones in front of the shop and it looks good (IMHO). Check it out the next time you’re by the shop.

While Irah was here we also put on another couple batches of beer. This is perfect timing as my soda fountain system is coming back from Vancouver with Ed and April. If the parts are all there I can put some of these batches into the system and have beer on tap! With Rob’s help I will make it portable so’s I can take it to parties or the beach. Imagine cold beer on tap at Phipps Point for the sunset barbeque!

The upcoming events I’m working on organizing are coming together. The March 8th/9th Riding Skills Camp with Jay Hoots and Kelli is set up. Postering is the last thing to be done. I’ll hit the crews/shops in Comox Valley, Parksville, Shawnigan and Victoria. Kelli is spreading the word in Vancouver. It’ll be a blast to have them here teaching, riding, socializing. If you are interested sign up at Karelo.com.

I’ll tell you about the trailbuilding workshop in the next post. Promise it won’t be a week between posts again.

Bed calls loudly now, more on the morrow, mates.

Come Saturday evening I was thinking about the upcoming (April 13th) trail building workshop. I gave Doug a ring to see if he’d be into sussing out Slickrock Trail for the project. He agreed to Sunday morning at 0900 with bikes. On the hour I picked him up and we headed to the Fire hall with our rides. After a brief, and soggy, ride in we got to see how much the creek had taken over the trail. Basically the creek WAS the trail. While hiking around there we scoped out some new lines and a couple spots to cross the creek with bridges. The new section goes essentially from the start of Milo’s meadow to Colt’s Foot. I really appreciate Doug’s experience and perspective coming from years of North Shore trailbuilding and involvement. Good to have a new angle on things. We flagged the important spots to remember and headed back. Oh yeah, we found also this really deep, still pool near the trail. Beautiful!

That done, I had to get ready as Angel and I were heading to Shawnigan Lake on the train. Hans was having a birthday party and I wanted to be there. And that was going to be the first time on the train for me. $36.75 to get down to Shawnigan in comfort and style. No bar car though. The trip down was uneventful and I would have taken photos except both my camera batteries were dead. We got to Shawnigan and hitched a ride from a nice lady to the shop where the party was in full swing. Swedish candle burning, kids running around, minibike zipping by, a big hug from Kelly, Hans and Mary, hellos from Zeena and Lola. A good, Kumbruch/Noakes scene. After starting to catch up with Hans’ intoxication level (I had brought some home brew, and a flask) I gave Steve a call and he came over. Lots of great conversation and laughter. And drinks, and food, and bike talk. All in all a great night. Thanks to Hans and Mary for putting us up.