Polling for a new Name

Well here is the situation, I have grown tired of the segment title “Cooking Concoctions” and I have decided it is time to change it up a bit. This does by no way mean that I have gotten tired of hitting the kitchen to try new things I just don’t like the name anymore. So I came up with a couple of other names for this segment and would like you all to vote to decide the new segment name.

None of these names I am a hundred percent sold on ether but I do like them way better. To be honest I had a brilliant Idea last night right before I fell asleep but alas when I awoke this morn it had escaped me. So I have included my email address so that if you have a better idea for it you can send me a message telling me.

To help with this I have come up with a brief description to explain the segment.

I am a self taught cook learning from the internet and trying to make new things. I am the cook in my family and am always trying to expand my skill set. I am a hardcore geek and as such sometimes like to pose my toys with the food I make. I one day hope to make my own cook book outlining what I have learned and the recipes I have made. A lot of the time I will mash up two different recipes I find online to make my own just so I am not accused of copying.   

So if you got a great name for me give me a shout out otherwise the poll will close at the end of the month. Happy Voting

Cooking Concoctions: Canada Day A Little Late

I realized that while I took my break I missed out on being able to post one of the things that I cooked up. I missed out posting for Canada day and for this I feel very ashamed of myself that I fell out of my groove and was not able to post one of my recipes. Now I suppose that I could put this on the back burner and save until the next go around but I feel that would not be in my best interest.

So here it is My awesome Canada Day Dessert

I just call it a dessert because I don’t know what else to call it and it is a treat for even the pickiest of sweet tooth. It is possibly one of the easiest things to make and the only negative part of it is that it takes a fair amount of time to actually make it and that is mostly due to the time it takes for the jello to set. This does not have a whole lot of ingredients needed to make it so it is pretty good on a budget

Before I get started bear in mind that I made a double recipe so mine turned out a lot bigger than the one I am describing.

1 Pack of Cherry Jello

2 Packs of Strawberry Jello

2 Cups of strawberries (maybe more depending on the size of the strawberries)

1 tub of Cool Whip

Water as described on the Jello Packs

Step one in all of this is to take one cup of strawberries and cut them into small chunks. I know what you are thinking one cup but you said two so shouldn’t I be cutting all of them. The answer is NO those will come into play at a later point so put them aside and gently set the knife down so as not to hurt anyone.

Ok now that the knife is out of reach of children let us begin Step Two, make BOTH packages of the strawberry Jello as instructed on the side of the box minus the part about letting it set. Before we get to the letting it set part add the cut up strawberries to the mixture and spread it evenly into a rectangular casserole dish.

Now put it in the fridge and let it set, this will take some time so don’t sit there and watch it. Leave it alone go away somewhere and do something else for about an hour to an hour and a half. Now whatever you do, do not put it in the freezer this will not end well I know what you are thinking but wont that make it go faster. The answer to that is NO all that will happen is the water will freeze and separate from the Jello.

Ok so once that is nicely set you can start Step Four, yes Step Three was the waiting in case you are keeping track. So now we are going to make the Cherry Jello packet similar to the previous jello in a separate mixing bowl follow the instructions except for the part about letting it set. This time however we are going to add half of the cool whip use your best judgment to measure this it doesn’t need to be exact. Using a whisk beak the two components together until it is nice and frothy then add it on top of the already set jello and spread it out evenly. Now once again put it in the fridge to set.

Here we go some more time on your hands to go and do something else might I suggest doing some of those chores you have been putting off OR you could continue to put them off and watch some television. TV is more entertaining anyway and the vacuuming can wait another day.

After about another hour and a bit you can resume this at step Six so before you go to the fridge and retrieve the jello parts stop. Pick up that knife that we put aside earlier and now take that second cup of strawberries and cut those into slices length wise you want to cut it so that they are shaped like tear drops not circles.

Let us put all those nicely cut berries aside and now is the time to go and retrieve the jello to begin Step 7. Now take the last half of that tub of cool whip and spread it evenly on top of the already set components. until the top is all white.

Time for the Final Step place the cut strawberries on the top of the cool whip to make your Canadian Flag. Remember that the maple leaf will have twelve points if you include the stem at the bottom one for each province and territory, this is obviously not including Nunavut but this is something from before they became a part of it.

Now lastly cut, eat and enjoy this yummy celebratory dessert.

What Did I Just Watch?: The Other F Word

Over the weekend I sat down with one of my good buddies to search through Netflix to find something to watch. We began scrolling through all of the films that they have for our viewing pleasure when we came across a documentary the we both wanted to watch. First off I do actually enjoy a good documentary and after watching one I usually feel better about myself. I think part of the reason that I thoroughly take pleasure in these features is that the make me take a step back and evaluate my life then I realize it could be worse.

The documentary that we watched is called the other F word. The main idea of the film is about punk rock figures and idols who became fathers and the experiences that came with fatherhood. Some big names in the industry such as Jim Lindberg, Flea, Art Alexakis, Tony Hawk and many more lend their names and share their stories of being fathers who the world looks down upon.

This is quite an interesting and very easy to relate to film and a lot of what was said by these ironically rebellious gentlemen have to say reflect my own feelings of fatherhood. Now me and Wify and a couple years from even considering bringing a child into this world but the things that worry me about my capabilities of being a father are expressed in this film. Also some of the stuff  they do makes them Rad Dads and I can only hope to be that sort of awesome father when I have children in my life.

Check out the trailer if my review is not enough to sway you:

This movie was defiantly a good watch and I recommend it as sort of an eye opener for all those rebels out there who may one day be a dad. Check it out, it is on Netflix and defiantly an excellent take on parenting and how it changes things.

9 Days left and look at the Table Toppers

9 days left till my big shin-dig goes down there is still a lot to do and it is getting to be down to the wire. After so many years of being together and talking about doing it, finally tying the knot is kind of a big relief and is super exciting. Tensions are high, nerves are going at full tilt and the sense of excitement resides in the air being in crunch time we are now fretting and sweating over the little details that are left to do.

All and all my bride to be is a super planner and this does not leave me with a lot of responsibilities to do. Trust me I am really ok not having a whole ton of stuff to do, this is her dog and pony show and I am happy enough to step aside at let her go to town organizing everything. That being said it is not like I didn’t step up to the plate and leave everything to her, she did actually give me the privilege to do some things.

One of my talents resides in the graphic arts and therefore I got the task of making some of the visual elements of the wedding. The biggest thing that was assigned to me was that I got to make was the table toppers. Most of the time people go with basic numbers to make it easy on their guests, but I don’t think it is fair to assume that the people I have invited are stupid so we made it a little more challenging. My Wify and Me are big geeks for film, comics and literature so we thought we would incorporate those interests into the wedding by making them the toppers. I tend to be a little bit obsessive compulsive and like things to be uniform in set up so I took it one step further.

The theme for our toppers is….

ORGANIZATIONS WITHIN OUR FAVORITE FICTION

I sat down with my beautiful bride and came up with a list of our favorite movies, comics and books to come up with a list that include both of our favorite organizations within them. It was fun, at first we had a large list and it was easy to cut it down because we had a couple of specifications for the group to make the final list.

1.  Has to be an organization
2. Has to have a logo…this was challenging for some of the novels
3. The logo has to work with the feel of the wedding

After we came up with our list I set out making all of the table toppers.

The final list of tables is as follows

1. The Empire (Head Table)
2. Aperture Science
3. Blue Sun
4. Umbrella Corporation 
5. Camp Half-Blood
6. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
7. Cherub
8. State Alchemists
9. S.H.I.E.L.D.
10. Wayne Enterprises
11. The Mandalorians
12. The Xavier Institute
13. The Fellowship
14. The BPRD (Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defence)
15. Weyland Corp
16. Corvinus Clan  

I have a couple more cool things that I made for the wedding but more on that as we grow closer to the date.

Amazing Movie Math

Movie Test

Try this test! Scroll down do the quiz as it instructs and find out what movie is mathematically your favorite. It really works! This amazing math quiz can likely predict which of the 18 films you enjoy the most. Don’t ask me how.

Pick and number from 1-9.

Multiply by 3.

Add 3

Multiply by 3 again.

Now add the two digits together to find out YOUR predicted favorite movie in the list of 18 movies below.

Mine was “Star Wars” – exactly right! So be honest do the math test before your scroll down to see the list below.

Now look up your number in the list below…

11.     Gone With The Wind

22.    E.T.

33.    Beverly Hills Cop

44.    Star Wars

55.    Forrest Gump

66.    The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

77.    Jaws

88.    Grease

99.    The Joy of Anal Sex With A Goat

110.  Casablanca

111.  Jurassic Park

112.  Shrek

113.  Pirates of the Caribbean

114.  Titanic

115.  Raiders of the Lost Ark

116.  Home Alone

117.  Mrs. Doubtfire

118.  Toy Story

It is Really AMAZING, isn’t it?

Wedding Bells and Yeti Yells

Two weeks from today I will have the pleasure of watching the love of my life walk down the aisle to me. Where upon our meeting we can exchange words of love to each other and promise to support one another in front of our gathered loved ones. For me in my personal life this has been the primary topic of discussion that everyone inquires about, a mass majority of my conversations have been lead by this.

To be honest I am very excited about this for it has been in the works for a couple years and my favorite part about this entire shin dig is that we decide to have fun with it. Like everything that I do I put my own style and finesse into this. At first we thought about doing a pirate themed wedding but after much consideration we decided that was not the most appropriate representation of the both of us. So after returning to the drawing board and a fair amount of brainstorming we came to the conclusion of doing a steampunk style wedding.

That’s right Steampunk!

This means that there has been a whole bunch of really cool things I have had to hunt down and find to pull together the theme of our special day. On top of me securing a collection of awesome gear that would make cosplayers and photographers drool, I also go to express myself and utilize my creative side to make center pieces and display items. I put to good use my Photoshop skills to design signs to be placed upon the tables alongside the centerpieces. The best part I had an excuse to go explore kitschy knick-knack stores and scour through unwanted goods in garage sales and thrift shops, one of my favorite things to do.

To be fair however this is not the reason I am excited, sure this helps add to the excitement at hand, but not the only reason. The foremost reason that I am excited for this is because after six years of being together and a long four year engagement I will finally lawfully be wed to my love. This single event signifies the start of our future and our life of adventures and discovery together and once it is done we are on our way to infinity and beyond.

After the vows are exchanged, the food and drink consumed and the cheers of rejoice have died down I will begin uploading all the things that went into this grand event. Not before because I don’t want to ruin the surprise.

Sincerely

Urban Yeti

Lets Do This

Alright I am back and I am here to make this work, I took some time to re-evaluate my priorities and where blogging sits for me. In the grand scheme of things it falls into a category of importance, but not in the way I thought it would be. For when I sat down to decide where I wanted to be in a couple of years and where I wanted this blog to be I realized that the direction I was heading in was not in the plans. I had started to make the blog my primary focus when in the master plan it should only be a tertiary priority.

Ultimately I had started this blog to record my progress in building a web-comic I have had in the making for years and some where along the way I lost sight of that.. Me and my wify sat down and discussed where we wanted to be in five years and I realized that I had put my goals on hold. I decided that it was time to focus myself.

Don't think however that I am putting this blog to the way side oh no not at all I am merely honing it in on to what my interests truly are. so instead of being about a wide range of topics I will be using this to recap my urban exploration, as well as teaching my self to cook. I will also continue to post helpful tips for the inevitable zombie apocalypse and perform the occasional movie review. I am also planning to begin working on and posting my personal projects.

So I am pulling out all of the old designs that I have put on the back burner with self promises to return to it at a later date and making that date today.

Hard at Work
The Urban Yeti