The Renaissance Guy

Beef Stroganoff?

2009-12-27T09:46:00.001-08:00

I don't know what I was thinking. I had some beef and some mushrooms, so I made up a recipe. Will let you know how it turns out:

1 kg (2.2 lbs) stewing beef
650 g (1.5) lbs button mushrooms
1/2 onion
300 mL beer
500 mL mushroom stock (can use beef stock)
2 strips pre-cooked bacon

Braise the beef in a bit of oil in small batches until brown on the outside. Throw into slow cooker. Saute the mushrooms and onion and mix in with the beef. Add beer and mushroom (beef) stock. Heat the bacon to remove the fat, chop into small pieces and add to the stock pot. Mix. Cook on high for 1 hr, then low for 3-4 hours.

What One Year in Triiibes Has Meant to Me

2009-07-29T06:00:00.000-07:00

(graphic courtesy of wordle.net)

Previous Post <-------> Next Post

Think

2009-06-03T19:17:00.000-07:00

We "do" a lot these days. We rush from one activity to another. Yet we don't often slow down enough to think. Life has become so hectic that we can't focus on one thing for very long without being interrupted by email, cell phones, doorbells.

I've been trying to do some personal work focusing on goals and what I want to be when I grow up. It is almost impossible to get 30 mins of quiet time to just think. I no longer wonder why people have breakthroughs on vacation of after a walk in a snowstorm...they are some of the few times when an individual just gets time to run ideas through their head.

Wait a minute. It's suddenly eerily quiet. The kids are in bed (well supposedly...likely have flashlights under the covers reading) and the wife is studying...I'm alone and it is quiet and it's not 3 AM. Gotto go!

Advice for Gen Ys in a Down Economy

2009-02-25T07:00:00.000-08:00

As someone who fits into all of the Boomer, Gen Jones, and Gen X categorizations (who makes this stuff up?), and has seen both ups and downs in the economy, I offer the following advice to Gen Y folks who are trying to make it in the corporate culture. Take it with a grain of salt.

Most corporate management today will fall into one of those "old" categories - likely a Boomer or Generation Jones. They grew up in a different environment than Generation Y's. But they've heard about you Gen Y'ers with your high expectations, need for work/life/play balance, and your different attitudes towards work. They've brought in sociologists and HR professionals who have warned them about you folks and your different ways. In many cases they're worried about hiring you.

In a crummy economy, you can protect your position by standing out. Seth Godin calls them "Purple Cows"...basically you want to be remarkable and different and noticeable. (See also a great guest post on Chris Brogan's blog:
http://www.chrisbrogan.com/guest-post-are-you-anonymous-at-work/) Here's the secret - it's easy. Just do all the opposite things than what your manager is expecting from you as a Gen Y:

- Work really hard, sometimes later at night or on the weekends
- Take on extra assignments, put in extra effort without expecting anything in return
- Worry about the company's success as much as (or more than) your own

In affect, show them that you're just like them. It'll help you, your company, and the overall economy.

Seth Godin and Suction Cups

2009-02-21T04:22:00.001-08:00

In this video, about 9-10 minutes in, Seth relates a story about suction cups on kids toys:

At my first job, one of my co-workers (Bill) came in with a huge bruise on his forehead one day. We asked what happened and he said he had banged it on a cupboard door. Only it didn't look like that. In fact one of my other colleagues (John) mentioned that it looked an awful lot like the blood blister he had gotten after he had stuck one of his kids bathtub toys with a large suction cup onto his forehead. When he had pulled it off it burst all the blood vessels.

Bill started to laugh. He had been victim of the same type of suction cup on his sons's toy...he hadn't wanted to tell us.

Those things should come with warning labels!

Are You Minding the Gap?

2009-01-27T18:19:00.000-08:00

This blog post was inspired (i) by a tweet by Gary Vaynerchuk tonight where he said "If we all did what we loved to do for our careers I have a feeling everyone would be "RICH" . By this he meant "RICH" = "HAPPY" and he did have to clarify for some people. My response to him was "it's the gap from here to there that scares most away from doing what they love"

Then I started to think that this is what prevents many people from doing what they really want to do. As if the fear of the unknown future of that change was far greater than the unknown future of whatever role you are in now. And of course if you have ever been to London and taken in the Tube, you'd be familiar with the phrase "Mind the Gap" (I had to find a video to embed).

The gap there is worrisome. You could fall onto the rails and get crushed or electrocuted, or something worse. It would be nasty and yucky or both.

Of course getting to where you really want to be is neither of those.

So what's holding you back?

The Wine Bong

2008-12-28T03:35:00.000-08:00

One of the guys in our wine club did a blind tasting of three wines. Here's the summary of the tasting (I'm not about to start my own review blog as you can tell):

Wine 1: No nose. None. Zero. Zilch. Nadda. This wine was dead. Followed by a taste that had the same qualities as the nose. Nothing? Was this corked? It was terrible. Could not tell what it was supposed to be at all as there was nothing to go on. My guess? A corked Cab Sauv.

Wine 2: Wow - full fruity nose, intense aromas. Taste again followed the nose with a huge bounty of "slap you in the face" fruit. Big. Bold. Definitely an Aussie Cab Sauv.

Wine 3: Interesting nose on this one. Not nearly as strong a bouquet as the second, but more than the first. Flavours were subdued, but at least present. Almost seemed like a French Cab but the nose was definitely Australian.

Now here's the cool part. When he uncovered the three bottles, they were all the same wine! He had chosen an Australian Cab Sauv that was about 2-3 yrs away from when it should have been ready and served them through different means. All of them were opened at the same time. Here's what he had done:

Wine 1: Straight from the bottle.

Wine 2: Using a wine aerator (what I like to call the "wine bong"):

3) The Magnet (a magnetic base that is supposed to age the wine by drawing the tannins to the bottom...I think).

Conclusion: The wine bong really does work to enhance the flavours and nose of the wine. I got one as a gift (mine is the one from "Final Touch" )I haven't had a chance to compare it against a large surface area decanter, but the fact that you can aerate as you pour makes it pretty convenient. The magnet did do something but it's pretty expensive and if it doesn't work as well as the "bong", why bother?

White Chocolate Bread Recipe

2008-12-15T19:21:00.000-08:00

I found this recipe in a pile of paper in the basement. I think it was from a resort in the Caribbean of all places. Makes about 4 small loaves.

Ingredients:

1 kg (2.2 lbs) white flour
20 gm (little less than 1 ounce), or about 4 tsp) yeast
10 gm (little less than 1/2 an ounce, or about 2 tsp) puratos (or gluten)
600 mL (2 1/3 cup) water
20 gm (little less than 1 ounce, or about 4 tsp) salt
450 (1 lb) gm white chocolate chips

Directions:

Mix together yeast, water, gluten, and flour.

Add salt. Mix. Add white chocolate chips. Mix.

Cut dough into 4 loaf-sized portions and roll lightly to resemble a french loaf (not a baguette). Let sit 20 minutes.

Bake at 225 Celsius for 2 minutes on wax sheet and flat tray.

Featherstone Estates 2007 Gemstone

2008-12-15T19:14:00.000-08:00

We tried this wine on the weekend. I don't remember it being that good, but it was the 6th (of 7) vineyards we hit, and we'd already been drinking for 6+ hours when we got there.

This wine has a ton of body and a deep plum colour unlike anything I have seen out of Ontario. It's a blend of Baco Noir and Cabernet Franc and captured a gold medal at the 2008 Ontario wine awards.

We only bought 2 bottles of it...I think I am going to have to order more as it was a mere $13.95 Cdn (that's about $2 US).

http://www.featherstonewinery.ca/

Dripit

2008-12-03T13:59:00.001-08:00

Dripit.org is a little group of folks from triiibes that wanted to make a difference. Some interesting articles, and content changes fortnightly (that's every to weeks for us people that don't speak proper).

Each main story ends with actions YOU can take to effect change:
Drip = small actions
Trickle = medium actions
Flood = harder actions

They are always looking for contributors (they were desperate enough to take contributions from me even!), so take a look, and then Drip, Trickle, Flood!

Seth's New School

2008-12-01T08:02:00.000-08:00

Seth Godin is offering a new type of schooling for those that dare to make a difference. Do you dare? Could you? Would you?

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2008/12/if-you-could-ch.html

Would you install apaving stone driveway today?

2008-11-26T05:25:00.000-08:00

Take a look at the photo in my previous post. We've got close to 8" (20cm) of snow in the last 36 hours. As I am leaving my subdivision today, I see an interlok (interlock) paving stone company clearing a driveway to install paving stones.

Besides the fact that there is 3-4" (7.5-10cm) of frost in the ground, does this instill confidence in you? I wouldn't want to see what the driveway looks like in the spring- it is not going to be pretty.

Nature Rules

2008-11-26T05:22:00.001-08:00

It's beautiful here this morning...

What's In a Name?

2008-11-25T14:11:00.001-08:00

I hate this. I finally get off my butt and decide that this blog (I've started a couple others) will be the one. The one I will write in regularly. And then...I can't find a name that isn't taken. Like when you have a really great company name and some soulless corporate domain squatter has already take it.

I hate that too.

Welcome to the blog.