Author Archives: dlau

I've got this whole salmon fillet…

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What can I do with it?  It’s pouring rain so I don’t really want to fire up the BBQ or soak some cedar planks.

Here’s a recipe we got from ‘BC’s best salmon recipe’ book and have used it quite a few times with great results.

You make the BBQ sauce first, then pour it over the fillets and broil on high (top rack) 10 min per inch.

The sauce consists of:

  • 2 TB melted butter (or more)
  • 2 TB lemon juice
  • 2 TB ketchup
  • 1 TB Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 TB minced onion
  • 1TB brown sugar
  • 1/2 tsp dry mustard
  • 1 tsp salt

Pour the ingredients into a saucepan and heat until it starts to bubble.

The key is getting the cooking time right, and tucking parts of the filet so that the thickness is more uniform.  Time counts, an extra 45s can make a difference, so keep a fork ready to test if it is done.

crack some pepper and lemon juice over the fillets, and serve!

Best of… Pork ribs!!!

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Baby back ribs, succulent and moist.  I remember the first time I made ribs.  I (shudder) boiled them for hours and did something with a roasting pan.  Needless to say, the method underperformed.

awhile back, I came across a very easy recipe that guarantees fab results.  Basically you create a dry rub using the following:

  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1 tsp coarse salt
  • 1 tbs garlic powder
  • 1 tbs paprika
  • 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

For the ribs, ideally you use baby back ribs, but I have used side ribs.  Remove the membrane from the ribs (I found using an oyster shucker works well for this) and rub the dry rub all over (the amount is enough for 2 full racks).  Wrap each rack in tin foil, ensuring the seams are tightly sealed.  I generally put it back into the fridge to allow the rub some time to do its magic.

When it comes time to cook, place the ribs in the oven or BBQ at 300F for about 2 to 2.5 hours, meaty side down.  Once done, carefully open up the foil and you should see nicely done ribs with the meat shrinking a bit from the ends of the bone.

Next, get a cup of BBQ sauce.  I like Cattleboys Original.  Brush on a good amount and place under the broiler until the sauce bubbles and has nicely melded with the ribs.  Portion the ribs then flip them over, cover with sauce and broil again.

When done, the ribs will be juicy (from being cooked in foil), tender, and favorful.  No boiling required.  The best part is that on sale, 2 racks are about $10, and it easily feeds 4 adults.

Sammo- finding help

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I have to say that we’re so thankful to Emily, the speech path that first saw Sammo.  She told us about Monarch house, wrote a letter to them on our behalf, and guided us through the early stages and gave us a lot of reassurance and helpful advice.

After we got the diagnosis, we then got busy learning about autism, telling friends and family the news, and went about figuring out the next steps.

If you break a leg, there is an established process and treatment.  You get referred to a specialist who takes X-rays and comes up with a treatment and rehabilitation.  With Autism, once you get a diagnosis, there is a myriad of treatment options ranging from nutrition, alternative therapies, behavioural therapies, diet supplements, hyperbaric chamber treatment, speech pathology, occupational therapy, etc.

In BC, we had to find a behavioural consultant, who would come up with a plan implemented by Behavioural interventionists or BIs.  A behavioural consultant may use ABA or some other form of treatment, but ABA is the only officially recognized form of treatment with scientific backing.

That said, parents are free to choose their BC, and may hire their own BI to implement the intervention, which could be from 8 to 40 hours per week!

Going back to our analogy, we are not experts in helping kids with autism, but yet we needed to make some key decisions about what direction to take for treatment.  If I broke a leg, the process would already be laid out… But now we needed to become experts on the difference between ABA, RDI, Floortime, and a bunch of other therapies… And make a crucial decision.

In the end, we found that we had to be Sam’s primary advocate and make the best decision we could.  Again, based on a recommendation, we checked out Reference and Regulate, sorted by David Loyst, a former speech path.  We just didn’t think that ABA was best for Sam, and found that r and r just made better sense in terms of getting to the core problem and would likely be a better option than having Sam sit at a table and learn things through ABA.

So we did our homework, asked our questions, and by November, had selected a behavioural consultant.  There was a lot of paperwork to go through with our family doc and the ministry to get funding sorted out, but by December Sam had started his first session…  3 months after he was officially diagnosed.

Sammo- the diagnosis

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When Sammo was about 2, we noticed that he didn’t have as many words or communication as Erica at the same age. For Sam, we attributed his speech delay with the fact that he was the second child, boys talk later than girls, and he heard 2 languages while growing up, which may have confused him.

However, looking back, there were a few other personality quirks- he liked lining up his toys, spun the wheels on his toy cars, loved to run up and down ramps, and looked at his toys, especially airplanes at certain angles.

Just before his 3rd birthday, my dad suggested a speech pathologist to help Sam kick start his speech, so we looked into a) what is a speech pathologist and b) how do you go about finding one. After some searching on the web, we got some information and started to contact a few speech paths about coming in for an assessment and the possibility of working with Sam for a few sessions. It turns out that going the public route meant waiting lists, up to 4 months, so we decided to go the private route, at least for the first assessment. We found a speech path, Emily, that was willing to come out and work in our area, so we invited her out to come see Sam.

When she arrived, she had a few games which she brought out and engaged Sam with.  At the end of the session, we had a talk and Emily said that she saw enough red flags that she recommended we test Sam for autism. As a parent who knew next to nothing about Autism, this came as a shock to the system, although by this time, we saw enough to know something was amiss.

The troubling thing was that everything was ‘normal’ for the first 18 months or so.  I have a number of photos where he was making direct and sustained eye contact like a normal baby his age should.  I remember he had lots of babbling, but then there were a few signs.  First, he would be laughing up a storm in his crib in the middle of the night.  Second, he did have a few single words, and did seem to learn new words, but he never really could build on the vocabulary and form longer phrases… And although he liked being around other kids, he didn’t really interact with them or have much imaginary or novel play with his toys.

The next step in our journey was to find out how to get him tested for autism.  Again, we ran into the public/private system where the former meant long waiting lists (up to a year!!) and so it was an easy decision to go the private route through Monarch house. I remember we took a short vacation to Whistler to get away and try to make sense of all this. The hard part was not knowing what this meant and what the future holds for Sammo.  Could he live a full life and have a family of his own?  Could he attend post secondary?  Could he become self sufficient?

When Sam took the tests, it was over 2 days, first with a speech path, then a child psychologist, and finally a paediatrician.  It was hard watching him do the tests as it meant he was stuck in a small room separated from us (although we could still watch) which made him very upset.  He was asked to do tasks which we knew were beyond him, and this was tough because every parent wants to help and protect their child.

By the time it was done, we pretty knew what the results were…

Best of… Roast Chicken!!

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Another recipe we really like is a roast chicken that is moist, flavorful, and pretty easy to prep and cook.  We’ve tried it with a non-stick pan and a cast iron pan, and I can’t say there’s a huge difference, although I do prefer the cast iron pan for cooking in the oven.  I like that it cooks in the same amount of time that it would take to cook a leg/thigh. 

 

1.  Heat the oven to 425 F.

2. Place the chicken on the cutting board breast side down. Use sturdy kitchen shears to cut down the length of the spine on both sides. Discard the spine. Turn the bird breast side up. Gripping the 2 cut sides where the spine used to be, open up the bird, pressing down firmly at the centre to flatten it.

3. In a small bowl, mix together the salt, garlic powder, thyme and pepper. Rub the mixture evenly over the entire chicken.

4. Set a large cast-iron skillet on a burner over medium-high. When the skillet it hot, add the chicken breast side down. Let the chicken brown for 5 minutes (or less), then use tongs to carefully flip the bird so the breast side is up. Set the skillet in the oven and roast for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the thickest part reaches 165 F.

 

For the rub, use:

 

1TB coarse salt

1TB garlic powder

1/2TB thyme

1/2 TB pepper

 

Adjust the rub to your liking, I think I’d reduce the garlic powder a bit and maybe try adding some other herbs like Sage?

Best of… Lemonade!

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I’m going to post a few recipes which we’ve tried and refined until we came out with some pretty good results.

  First up is a simple lemonade, but with a couple of modifications.

  You’ll need:

  2 lemons (enough for 1 cup of lemon juice)
1 lime (lime juice)
1 1/4 cup of simple syrup (1 cup of sugar; 3 tablespoons brown sugar; 1 1/4 cup of boiling water)
6 cups of cold fresh water from the fridge!  We have a large juice jug that we fill up, seems to be about the right ratio

  I like using the hand juicer to get the most out of the lemon, including some pulp.  

  The lime and brown sugar adds to the overall flavor.  Sometimes I’ll increase the lemon/lime ratio and reduce the sugar a bit, but that probably depends on the size of jug you have.   

learning to ride a bike

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Here’s another story of “the kids these days have it so easy, when I was a kid…  <grumble grumble grumble>

  For e’s 5th birthday, we got her a bike and scooter.  Finding a bike isn’t as easy as it seems.  Sizing is now based on the diameter of the wheel, so in her case, a 16″ bike is apparently the right size.  When I was a kid <grin> it was “hey let me borrow your bike and see if I can reach the pedals!”

  There’s also a wide range of bikes to consider… Tinkerbell bike, princess bike, Bratz bike, cream soda bike, etc.  When did bikes become cross promotional marketing material?  When I was a kid- it used to be “girl bike or boy bike?”  “1 speed, 3 speed, or 10 speed?”

  We also had to get her a helmet, elbow, knee, and hand protection.  Ok, I understand the safety aspect.  It saved her from tears after falling- the pads did their job and took the scrape instead of her knees and elbows. 

  I learned to ride a bike being pushed down a gravel alley… no helmet or pads, no training wheels, and needless to say I fell and got scraped up pretty good.  I remember picking bits of gravel out of my scraped up elbow/knees, pushing my bike back up the alley and trying again.  Maybe part of the motivation of learning to ride quickly (without protection) is that falling hurts so I better master this quickly! 

  I’m sure it’s more sheer luck, but I’ve done so many stupid things on my bike (without a helmet) that it’s a miracle I didn’t break my head or any bones… and become a poster child for the pro-helmet supporters.  But it’s a different world now, and if I can spare my kid a scraped knee or a bonk on the head, then that’s a good thing.

  I’ve taken e out a few times, and each time she’s gotten better and stronger.  I just might be able to bring my bike out and ride around with her instead of trying to chase her around.  There are a few things for her to master however, and near the top of the list is to never let go of the handlebars, even if there is a wasp flying by you!

Santuko

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Sometime in the mid 90s, i remember seeing my cousin’s friend do a Cutco demonstration.  I remember thinking that it was a bit unusual for a company to sell ‘door to door’- basically recruit kids to go and make a sales call to their family and friends… not unlike some life insurance companies where the idea is to build a network of clients starting with family/friends.

Anyways, fast forward to a few months ago when our neighbour, who’s a really nice guy, called to see if he could do a demonstration, with no obligation to buy. Sure enough, it was Cutco.

The demonstration was pretty standard- what are the qualities of a good knife, the warranty, ergonomic handle, the 3 sided serrated edge, cutting tomatoes, etc.  The big test is where you pit your best kitchen knife against the Cutco to see which can slice or saw through a corded rope the fastest.  I picked our standard 6″ straight edge knife, gave it a few with the steel hone, and of course the serrated Cutco kicked its butt.

The whole demo took about 2 hours, which is about 1h 30min longer than it should have been; but he was new and had to walk through the demo step by step.  Of course when it came time to buy, we took a look at the premium prices and the various packages, and tried to pick something that wasn’t too expensive and something that would be useful, given the fact that we already have a full set collected over the years.

Paring knife- got one… Chef’s knife- check… boning knife- check… utility knife- check… bread knife- check… steak knives- check… cleaver- check…  Small Santuko- check…

In the end, E selected a vegetable Santuko trimmer as she does a lot of that sort of prep work.  I will say that their scissors is pretty kick-ass, but it was about $115, which is a bit much for a pair of scissors.  

We got the trimmer, and tried it out for a bit, but she wasn’t happy with it.  There wasn’t a lot of space for your fingers when chopping; unlike a true Santuko or chef’s knife.  Imagine chopping with a steak knife- every time you pushed down, your fingers would hit the board.  The blade, handle, and overall construction were pretty solid, but I decided to do some research into what else you can get at this price point… and we returned the Cutco.

I read that Cutco is a decent product, but at their price point, you can start to get into some really fine blades- Global, Wusthof, higher end Henckels, Kershaw Shun, MAC, and a few quality Japanese brands that I had not heard of before (Misono, Sakai Takayuri, Moritaka, etc).  It was a bit of an eye opener for me- learning about the qualities of higher end blades and how it makes kitchen work that much easier.

I learned that there are differences between the steel (Carbon steel, molybdenum, blue carbon steel, damascus steel, VG10 stainless steel, etc), the way it’s sharpened (some edges are 50/50, meaning it’s a v shape if you look down the blade.  The Japanese blades can be 70/30 or 0/100 so that one side is straight, and all the sharpening is done on one side).

One very cool thing is a Damascus blade.  They are made by folding steel, hammering it flat, and folding it again so that you end up with layers.  This technique goes back centuries and so when you sharpen a Damascus blade, there’s this unique wavy pattern when you view the blade from the side.  Anyone who watched “Highlander” will be familiar with this concept 🙂

After doing the research on the technical stuff, we ordered a Misono 7.1″ Santuko from a Canadian website- http://www.paulsfinest.com/Misono-Knives-Canada/ for a few bucks more than we spent on the Cutco.  When we received the knife, it was apparent that this was different from anything we currently have.  You can feel the difference in your hand, and when I looked at the blade, it was scary sharp!  Very much like a 7″ razor blade.  E uses the Santuko the most, but when I tried it, it slide effortlessly through any vegetable- with the real test being carrots and potatoes. 

In turn, it made me think about my preference for using the paring knife and 6″ utility for all the prep work. We have a larger 8″ and 10″ Chef’s knife, which I previously thought was too big for everyday use.  I was wrong.  I tried the 8″ Chef on carrots, and I diced it all in record time, with a LOT less effort than using the smaller knives.  I admit I suck at dicing/chopping, but I found using the Chef’s knife or the Santuko made a difference in the effort, precision, and time it took to do Onions, Carrots, and potatoes… to the point where it’s almost enjoyable!

No disrespect to the Cutco, but there are other options at that price point… and I didn’t know the difference a quality blade can make in kitchen prep until I tried one.  We highly recommend the Misono!