Day 11: Winnipeg to Eau Claire

 

Early Tuesday morning I left my friends in Winnipeg to make my first of two border crossings into the USA.  I was a bit nervous that I would have a big problem at the border because I will be travelling so much within the US for such a long period of time.  They were less concerned with me being a terrorist and more concerned about me running out of money since I am not working for 2 months.  I assure d them as I assure you now that everything will be ok on that front.  Overall I find crossing the border by bus extremely hassle free.  The customs officials didn’t even check any luggage, just asked questions and looked at my ID and papers.  I came prepared with a rough itinerary, an address of my next stop, and a date that my travels would probably end back in Canada. 

After the border crossing I stayed the night in Minneapolis, my first time at a non ‘Hostelling International’ Hostel.  It felt a bit more run down and dirty then the one in Calgary, but it was good enough for me.  I don’t have a picture of it, but it was basically an old mansion converted into a hostel with many many rooms.  I stayed on the top floor in a 15 person room with only 2 other beds filled. 

I was not planning on staying in Minneapolis but the next day I had several hours to walk around before my bus to Eau Claire.  I didn’t bother going to the Mall of America because I knew West Edmonton Mall was bigger and better ;P  I was pleasantly surprised to see some great architecture in downtown Minneapolis.  One of their government buildings reminded me of Canada:

Minneapolis is also the home to the first Roman Catholic Basilica of America, The Basilica of St. Mary.  Or, at least that is what the sign says:

After sightseeing in Minneapolis for a few hours I took a bus out to Eau Claire Wisconsin to visit my sister Emily and my brother in law John.  Emily is going to school for an education degree and is in her sophomore year.  John has one more semester to go before he is finished his English Degree.  Emily showed me around downtown Eau Claire and also where they go to school.  Later, they took me out to a unique restaurant for dinner (I forgot the name!) where we enjoyed a good meal and good conversation.  We even had pie, which was awesome!

 

Now I have just arrived in Chicago early in the morning where I continue to travel eastward and onward.

Day 8: Winnipeg

For the past few days (since Thursday night) I have been staying at a friend’s house in Winnipeg.  On the ride into Winnipeg from Drumheller via Saskatoon I was treated to a partly cloudy skies that really showed God’s handiwork in creation.  There is nothing quite like seeing an endless partly cloudy sky stretch across the prairies in every direction; it almost make me want to live in Saskatchewan.  It was awesome to see the clouds as the sun began to set and cast a pinkish hue against them.  I was afraid that it might be bad weather while I was in Winnipeg, but it turned out great.  Sunny, but a bit breezy.  The picture below is in WIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIDESCREEN in hope of capturing these clouds grandeur.

 

When I arrived at the Greyhound terminal I was greeted by my hosts and taken to their home located in the Wolsely area of the city, just west of Portage and Main (central downtown).  Wolsely is also known to the locals as ‘Granola Heights’  because it has a reputation of being very hippy and full of earth friendly people, and from a time long before that sort of thing became popular.  Many of the houses here are quite old, but the one I stayed in was in good shape.

On Friday I toured Red River College, a school that I am considering attending for professional baking or hospitality management.  It looks like a good school.   On Saturday I checked out the Manitoba Museum where there of the was ample information about Manitoba’s history.  It had many dioramas and a large (life size?) replica of the H.M.S. Nonsuch.  We also went to the science centre to see some cool activities such as this room filled with mirrors and lights.

On Sunday we went to Winnipeg’s iconic area known as ‘The Forks’.  The Forks reminded me allot about Markets found in Vancouver such as New Westminster Quay and Grandville Island Market.  It had many food shops and trendy clothing and jewellery shops.  The Forks Market has a viewpoint in it where you can get a good view of downtown and see why it is called ‘The Forks’.  This area is called ‘The Forks’ because it is where the Red River meets the Assiniboine River.  The Forks is also the original site of Winnipeg where many people throughout history would meet.  On this particular Sunday we were treated to an Aboriginal Ceremony taking place to celebrate the end of summer.

On Monday I travelled to Assiniboine Park to look at the many gardens and sculptures that they have there.  It is a very nice place to relax, go for a jog or go for a bike ride.  Although I didn’t explore the park fully, it is also the home to the Assiniboine Zoo where there is a statue of Winnie the Pooh, A.A. Milne’s fictional bear named after the city of Winnipeg. 

Also on Monday I took the opportunity to visit the area of the city where my mother’s childhood house is located, Transcona.  Transcona is located a fair distance east of downtown.  As it was described to me, not much has changed in the area except the trees are bigger.  I’m sure in 50 more years they will be large enough to canopy the entire road. 

 

Phew, long post for a good long stay in Winnipeg.  Next I’ll be going south to visit my sister in Eau Claire and then for a few days in Chicago.  Also, there are many other photos I haven’t shared on here that are eating up space on my computer; I’ve taken about 500 photos and its only been one week!

Day 3: Drumheller

After spending another day in Calgary, visiting the zoo and walking around 17 Ave. SW,  I made the short bus trip Drumheller; the dinosaur capital of the world.  Drumheller has always been on my list of places to go and I am very glad that I finally got the chance to visit it.  The bus schedule worked out so that I could arrive there around noon and leave around midnight. This turned out to be an adequate amount of time for the small town of Drumheller. 

My first priority in Drumheller was to visit the world renowned Royal Tyrrell Museum to check out some bones.  It was awesome to see such a large amount of fossils on display and read up on information ranging from the Cambrian period up to the present Holocene Period;  It made me think of the computer game ‘Spore’. 

  

My favourite displays are definitely the larger dinosaurs;  it’s hard to believe creatures like this roamed the earth and swam the oceans.  Being a bird lover I was also intrigued by the similarity and evolution between some dinosaurs and birds.

After the museum I had plenty of time to explore the town of Drumheller, specifically the downtown area.  The downtown area reminded me of the fictional town of Castlerock from the film ‘Stand by me’.  Many of the buildings were old and looked as if they belonged in the fifties.  There were more coffee/tea houses in the neighbourhood (run from people’s homes?)  but unfortunately most of them closed Gus’ Corner Restaurant’  and took in a movie across the street;  that seemed to be the thing to do on a Wednesday night.  Other than the movie theatre that ran shows at 7:30 PM Tuesday through Sunday, downtown was quite dead.  At the corner store that operated the Greyhound terminal (The only place open till 11PM) I met a cashier there who grew up in Abbotsford of all places…  what are the chances!

Day 1: Calgary

I have begun my 2 month bus trip of North America and my first stop is Calgary.  Some friends have commented that Edmonton feels like a town in comparison to Calgary.  And now that I have visited Calgary on my own since living in Edmonton, I can see why.  Calgary’s downtown has many more skyscrapers than Edmonton does and seems more dense.  Calgary definitely feels more city like. 

The first overnight bus trip was pretty good.  It wasn’t full and I managed to get some sleep.  On my first day out of Edmonton I nearly got lost trying to find the downtown HI Hostel.  I blame it completely on the quadrant system that is centered in the middle of the city.  I went west when I should of went east.  But don’t worry, I eventually found it.

Today’s activities consisted of the Calgary Tower and a self guided tour of the downtown core.  I must admit the cost to take the elevator up to the top was pricey but I think the photos and the view is worth it.  The glass floor was a lot of fun,  especially to see people who were afraid to go on it, lol.  Front the view up there I thought that many of the buildings seem to built to display their most unique sides and features towards the tower, such as roof top art meant to be seen at a distance.

I will be here to Wednesday morning when I will head out to Drumheller for a day.  Tomorrow I plan to go to the zoo and explore some other, non-downtown, areas of the city.

That is all for now!  I hope to check in again after Drumheller, but I may have to wait till Winnipeg.  We will see.

Kulfi

Working in an Indian restaurant has a few perks.  I get to eat delicious food, enjoy a cup of tea, and also I get to learn a few things about preparing Indian food.  Recently I have been asked to get more involved in desserts.  At Karma we have a few different desserts, but my favourites are definitely the ice creams and the ice cream like products; namely mango ice cream and kulfi. 

Kulfi is similar to ice cream but has a lighter texture and a creamier taste in my opinion.  It is traditionally available in flavours such as pistachio, rose, mango and saffron but can also be made using more convenient ingredients.  At Karma we make pistachio kulfi that is garnished with falooda noodles and rose syrup.

I talked to one of my co-workers about sharing the restaurants recipe, but he didn’t seem enthusiastic about sharing the recipe with everyone.  Basically Kulfi is made with cream, condensed milk, evaporated milk and desired flavouring.  Several recipes are available on the internet if you are interested.

When I made it at home I flavoured the kulfi with banana and mango.  I used 4 frozen bananas and 4 fresh mangos.  In hindsight, I suggest finding canned mango or mango pulp if you want mango flavour; peeling mangos can get messy!  I made about 2 liters of kulfi; enough for a large bowl to share with a friend and to use in a pie!

For the pie I used a pre-made pie shell, banana mango kulfi for the filling and a meringue topping.  I failed at the meringue, but it still tasted great. 

Please Sir, Can I Have S’more?

I am sorry that I have been ominously silent as of late.  I would not say that I am too busy to blog, but rather I am too lazy!  Lately I have been watching LOST (all 6 seasons), playing Starcraft II, and getting everything ready for my big trip.  But now that I am nearly done both LOST and Starcraft II I am ready to try blogging again.

I have also had some time to spend baking when I am not working each night at Karma (an Indian Restaurant).  This brings me to the tipic of today’s blog:  S’mores.  A while ago I was at a friends place and was treated to a S’more and it got my creative juices flowing.  Naturally I wanted to know if I could make a S’more themed Pie;  I made 2.  Each of them are made of the essential S’more ingredients of Graham Cracker, Chocolate, and Marshmallow.

In the first Pie, which I will call, “Fudgesicle S’more Pie”  I used a store bought graham crust, chocolate pudding and a marshmallow sauce as a topping.  The marshmallow sauce can be found here.  There isn’t really  much to this recipe other than the marshmallow sauce.  Just put it all together, put it in the oven at 400F till the marshmallow sauce turns golden/brown.  Keep it in the freezer  to make the filling taste like a fudgesicle.

 

In the second S’more pie, “Graham Crumb S’more Pie”, I again used a store bought graham crust, but this time I put mini marshmallows in it, topped with a chocolate sauce and graham crumbs.  I felt that having the pie surrounded with graham better represented a S’more than the first pie.  Like the first pie, there isn’t much work involved in assembling it other than the sauce. I was hoping that the sauce and the marshmallows would have stayed separated while it was baking so it would be while and brown inside, but they ended up melting together.

1 Graham Pie Crust

enough mini marshmallows to nearly fill the pie crust

2 Tbsp butter

2 Tbsp all purpose flour (use more as needed)

1 C. chocolate milk

1 C. semi sweet chocolate chips

Enough graham crumbs to cover the pie completely

 

The chocolate sauce is made in a roux style:

1. Melt butter, then at low heat add flour to produce a thick paste.

2.  Add chocolate milk a little bit at a time and stir it into the paste until it becomes a thick sauce.  Continue until ass the milk is added.

3. Add the chocolate chips until they are all melted.

 

Assembling the pie:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.

2. Fill the pie crust with mini marshmallows almost to the top of the crust.

3. Pour the chocolate sauce on top of the marshmallows.

4. Sprinkle the graham crumbs evenly and completely on top of the chocolate sauce.

5. Bake for 30 minutes or until the graham crumbs turn brown.  Don’t let them burn black!

6. Let the pie cool then place in the fridge or freezer to keep it solid. Also, the extra graham crumbs may be shaken off at this point.

 

Anyway, that is all for now.  I have one more blog on back log, but I will talk about it later.

I miss my IPod

Today after work I  stayed downtown for a while to see one of my favourite Edmonton bands, Yes Nice!, play at The Works art festival in Churchill Square.  I have been a fan of theirs ever since I first heard them live a few years ago.  They are a really fun and energetic band who are a real treat to see live.  I think their music is also somewhat inspired by Christianity and The Bible (at one point I attended the same church as a couple of the band members as well).

At one show I bought a couple of their CDs and loaded them onto my IPod so i could enjoy them all the time… if I wished to.  But alas, I can’t seem to find my IPod!!!  I lost it somewhere a few weeks ago and have no idea where it might be.  I hope it is somewhere in my bedroom.  If it’s been stolen or picked up by someone I hope they are enjoying my awesome tunes!