Silly words from silly folks

Battle chicken has been an ongoing project for the past 1-2 months. We were at the grocery store buying a whole chicken and saw a bag which included 3 whole chickens. That’s when battle chicken popped into my brain.

You see when packing our stuff in Calgary I realized that we had one of those ‘beer chicken contraptions’ which had never used. We also purchased a new BBQ when moving to Kelowna which has a rotisserie…. Hence, Battle Chicken!

The specifics
All chickens were seasoned with a peeled onion inside and rubbed with a ‘blackened’ seasoning. Basting might have been required or recommended but that sounds like a lot of work so was avoided.

Here’s how the chickens were prepared.

Oven Chicken

• Put Onion in Chicken.
• Rub seasoning on outside.
• Place in roasting pan
• Cover with aluminum foil
• Cook at 350F till done

Beer Chicken

• Open beer can and drink half the beer
• Put Onion in Chicken.
• Rub seasoning on outside.
• Place beer on “beer chicken contraption”
• Place chicken on “beer chicken contraption”
• Place on BBQ
• Cook with indirect heat till done

Rotisserie Chicken

• Put Onion in Chicken.
• Rub seasoning on outside.
• String together legs
• Place on rotisserie centering the chicken as much as possible…
• Cook with rotisserie burner till done

Note: DO NOT put on the bottom burners as that causes really cool flames that blacken the chicken….but are also a bit of a fire hazard.

The winner?

Taste
1. Rotisserie
2. Beer
3. Oven

Ease of preparation
1. Beer chicken (although, drinking half a beer is tough)
2. Oven (it’s probably simpler than the beer chicken but you aren’t rewarded with half a beer)
3. Rotisserie (centering the chicken is actually kinda tricky)

Funsies – ie: which one was the funnest?
1. Rotisserie – It’s fun to be a carnivore and watch your meal cook over an open flame.
2. Beer – You get half a beer
3. Oven – not really that fun compared to the others.

Jeff and I had a fantastic time in Toronto (well, Jeff less than me since he had to be at the conference). We normally don’t stay downtown as we stay with family in the burbs. This time we stayed at the Delta Chelsea right downtown in the heart of the action. We’ve stayed there once before for Canadian Ultimate Nationals in 2007, but we never saw much of downtown as we were busy playing. Staying at the Delta again brought back bad memories of losing a few key games and finishing a sad 9th at Nats.

We got to see a few of friends and lots of family. All visits were really short, but sweet. Thanks to everyone for the hospitality! Unfortunately there were a couple of friends we didn’t get to see as they were off playing at world ultimate in Prague.

We managed to find some time to go to Toronto Island for a round of disc golf with our friend Deb. The course is fantastic and a must-do if traveling to TO. Just hop on the ferry and you feel like you’re out in the country. I only made it through 13 holes as I was having a super low energy day. Must have wore myself out walking around the city in the days before and staying up too late….with the 3 hour time difference I felt wired every night at around 11pm (which was 8pm in BC). We’ll have to go back some other time when I’m not carrying a 20 lb weight and can enjoy the beautiful course a bit more.  I highly recommend an ice cold beverage at the marina after disc golfing as you enjoy the view of downtown as it lights up at dusk.

On Thursday afternoon we went to the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO). We should have gone on Wednesday night since visitors get in free. It was neat to see, especially the contemporary exhibits. It is very interesting what is considered art.

We spent Monday and Tuesday in Scarborough visiting my baba, gido, aunt and cousin on my dad’s side. After Jeff presented on Friday we headed out to Whitby to visit my nana, aunts, uncles and cousins on my mom’s side. Jeff did a fantastic job at his conference presentation. It was neat seeing how his research has progressed as it had been 5 years since I last saw him present.

I brought my camera everywhere and totally forgot to take pictures of my friends and family. We did get a few pictures of us enjoying the festivities at Dundas square:

My outdoor office at the hotel

It’s been about a month since our last post and the subject line describes what we have been up to.

My mom came for a visit and brought a little pug named Dexter that she was dog sitting. We didn’t mind having the little guy around as he pretty much just followed my mom around everywhere she went. Willow however DID NOT like Dexter. She spent the weekend in the basement or upstairs in our room, on top of the dresser, behind the TV, just to be sure that she was out of harm’s way.

Our very unimpressed cat

Dexter

It was a busy weekend. We took my mom to the beach, the goat farm, the farmer’s market, Art Knapps and the bingo hall. Jeff and I have been to bingo 3 times in the last 10 years and that’s about often enough. I find bingo really stressful. So many different shapes, numbers and utter chaos. I think I have attention span issues. It didn’t help that the minimum number of cards they would allow me to play was 6…1 would have been better. To think I have a university degree and find bingo challenging. Wouldn’t you know that the only thing we won was a free bingo night, which I quickly gave to the little old ladies next to us. The expiry date wasn’t 3 years so it was of no use to me.

At the end of June I flew to Vancouver for work for a day and then headed to Calgary for a whirlwind work trip. I got to Calgary in time to catch the semis and finals of ho down. On Monday evening I went bowling with Rheanna, Matt and cute little Ava. She truly is adorable and was so well behaved at bowling. It’s really neat to see how much she grows and changes from month to month. I spent Tuesday night working (reporting deadline – bleh) and then met my dad, Susan, Rheanna and Ava for a quick bite to eat before catching my flight on Wednesday. Didn’t get to do much catching up with them as we all pretty much stared at Ava the whole time.

Adorable Ava hanging out with her favorite toy

After Calgary and Vancouver I was exhausted and slept for a few days to recover. We checked out the festivities down at the waterfront on Canada day. We also spent the long weekend kitty sitting. Willow DID NOT like the kitten Minou (I see a trend here). Instead of hiding like she did with Dexter, she stalked Minou like she would a mouse or a bird. We have raised a spoiled, jealous monster. Having a baby should be interesting.

Minou playing with the flipflops for 2 hours

Minou

Last weekend Jill, Mark, John and Aniko (Jill’s bro and wife from Hungary) came to Kelowna for a visit. We went for a tour at the brewery and wine tours aplenty of course. Played a fantastic game called Solo from Hungary. We even found time for a few art galleries. We’ll definitely have to go visit John and Eniko in Hungary as it sounds like they come from a wonderful city and it was so nice to get to know them – such nice people.

Now we are in Toronto for a work conference for Jeff, but more about that (and our landscaping updates) later!

Today marks the half way point for Hip Hip…the first half seems to have flown by, but at the same time we are excited and wish Hip Hip would hurry up and get here so we could find out what we are having.

The second ultrasound was last week. The baby was super hyper and wouldn’t pose for the pictures. The technician tried for about 45 minutes to get the measurements she needed. It felt like hours since she was jabbing the ultrasound wand into my full bladder. They make you drink a liter of water an hour before your appointment and you aren’t allowed to pee so that your bladder is expanded and clear so you can see the baby better. We were able to count all 4 limbs, see a spine and a heart, as well as the baby’s full bladder. Everything was a blur since it wouldn’t sit still. We didn’t find out the sex and I don’t think we could have if we wanted to.

Here are some pictures of my belly. It is growing daily!

Belly at 10 weeks (3 months)

Belly at 10 weeks (3 months)

Belly at 20 weeks (4.5 months)

Belly at 20 weeks (4.5 months)

The disc golf tournament turned out to be very challenging. It would have been better if we could have played the course a few more times. That way, I could have taken out a few more branches instead of hitting them on game day. I hit A LOT of trees. After driving my disc into a tree off of the tee box for the third straight time I said “this must be a fun sport since I still have a smile on my face”.

I played the first round at Logan Lake with 2 of the top disc golfers in the world (one of them is currently ranked 7th). Unfortunately they were taking it WAY too seriously and were both disappointed with their play so it was a pretty silent round. I’ve never played at that level where money was involved and it was much different than a casual round at shady lurkerville. As a start, I really should have read the rules before playing. Oh and maybe played more than a handful of times this spring.

Needless to say, I kind of got dominated. Finished sixth in the pro women’s division…sounds good until you find out there were only six women. I did finish only 2 strokes behind the fifth place lady, who had a home course advantage. I give credit to Hip Hip for the loss since I hit my belly twice while putting, which makes up the 2 stroke difference. Hip Hip was a pretty good sport during the tourney since the courses were really hard and long. Apart from stealing all my food and water all day, Hip Hip was a star.

Speaking of stars, Jeff and Mark played incredibly. They finished 10th and 12th in their division (out of 25). Jeff won some discs and a hat. Mark should have won a prize as well but some dude submitted the wrong score so Mark got scooped on the swag.

The Friday night clinic with Feldberg was excellent–he’s a great disc golfer and a good teacher. My only complaint was that the clinic wasn’t long enough. We learned a new style of putting. The timing of the clinic wasn’t so great…I ended up combining new and old for a very interesting putting style…but it will definitely be effective after some field practice.

This past weekend was frisbee-filled as well, but this time we were spectating. The men’s team from Calgary/Vancouver representing Canada at Ultimate Frisbee Worlds in July in Prague were in Kelowna for a training camp. It was great to catch up with friends from Calgary and watch some high level ultimate. We biked down to the fields to watch on Sunday. 15km there downhill meant 15km home….all uphill. The last 2 km were rough – straight up in 30 degrees, after having biked 28km already. Luckily we took lots of breaks for ice cream and swimming. We stopped at two beaches along the way. The lake was chilly but refreshing. So awesome that it’s only June and we are already swimming in the lake

We spent the May Long weekend in Alberta. I had to go back to Calgary for work so Willow, Jeff and I flew there. Willow loves the plane (much more than the car) and she got to see her boyfriend Bob. Us parents spent the weekend in Canmore and the kitties had the whole weekend for some unsupervised playing. Bob was showing off his new trick to Willow – he has learned how to open the door. It is quite entertaining to watch and more intelligent than I’ve previously given him credit for. Luckily he hasn’t figured out the lock yet.

We got a chance to visit a few friends and also popped by Rheanna’s to visit her and Ava. Ava is soooo adorable!!! Being as competitive as I am, I better have a darn cute baby to be able to compete with hers. She’s asked me not to post Ava’s picture all over the internet, but I can’t resist putting up this cute picture my parents sent me from their recent visit.

We were joined by Heath and Brei in Canmore (congrats on your recent engagement!!!). The men played in the Canmore disc golf tournament while us ladies hung out in our tacky condo. We rented a place that had very interesting decor. I’m sure some people would like it, but it wasn’t for me. Every piece of furniture was hand crafted from sticks and chunks of wood. Nothing like kicking back for a relaxing evening with branches and wood knots poking into your back. Although, the highlight was definitely the very exposed toilet in the loft bedroom. I think they should have used some of the wood to build a door. We spent the evening playing Pit…I love playing it although I was the most sober one and couldn’t win a hand to save my life. A game is good when you lose and still had a ton of fun! We got back in time to spend Monday in Kelowna and got in a good bike ride in.

Last weekend we went to Kamloops to play disc golf. They are having a tourney there this weekend and we wanted to practice up on the courses beforehand. I’ve registered in the pro division (so now Jeff is calling me “Prego Pro”). It should be really great to play against really good women. For most tournaments I end up being the only female registered and am always guaranteed first place. For this tourney, they have a large purse for cash prizes, so it draws all the big names in disc golf. One of the top players in the world David Feldberg will be there and he’s holding a clinic on the Friday night so it will be neat to see what he has to say. There are almost 80 people registered and 8 pro women.

The tournament takes place at 3 different courses in Kamloops. We played one of them on Friday night and then went to dinner at Pete’s Pasta. The course was really hard and I worked up an appetite. Jeff has been telling me about Pete’s Pasta for 9 years. Every time we have tried to go there in the past something always came up. It was so nice to finally go. The food was good, but by no means was it incredible. However, the experience itself was incredible. Pete is the owner and does everything – seats guests, takes your order, brings out the food, rings in your bill. He’s a machine and such a friendly gentleman.

On Saturday we played the course Copper Ridge just outside Kamloops in Logan Lake. Another tough course. We had a brief delay as we had to wait a while for the deer to move out of our way. They were grazing in the middle of the fairway. I had great focus both days until about hole 12 when my legs and lungs decided they were done. At one point I wasn’t even really lifting my legs. Jeff was a good sport and was nice and patient. Not sure what I’ve signed up for since I get to play both courses in one day this weekend.

We headed back to Kelowna as Andy and Sandy were passing through on their way to Vancouver. They are also expecting (3 weeks before us) so they were just as happy as we were to have a relaxing evening watching the hockey game. On Sunday, they took us on a blind friend date. Friends of theirs (Mel and Daniel) had just moved to Kelowna and have similar interests to us, so Andy and Sandy set us up. We all went biking and then had a nice dinner out downtown. They are really nice so hopefully they thought the same. We’re thinking about calling them but should probably wait the standard 3 days.

It’s been a while since we’ve posted something completely unrelated to everything and anything. So if you’re looking for something related to either of us than this might not be the best post for that…. The upside is that it all came from our brains.

Eggs
What a weird food eggs are. You cook them and they’re hardboiled and taste completely different. What if you used hardboiled eggs in a muffin recipe? It called for 2 eggs, why didn’t it specify? It’s not like water, ice and steam.

I Need To Start Brushing My Teeth
Once when I went to Dr. Good he said that “wall squats” are like brushing your teeth and said, “are you still brushing your teeth?” I kinda chuckled and he said, “No seriously, are you?” …. Anyway, I need to start doing wall-squats again.

Picture a Day
From Sunday to November we’re taking a picture a day of Linds’ belly. It should be a neat transition from now till massive! We’ll keep you updated with some pictures along the way.

Due Date Pool
We’re definitely organizing some sort of due date pool. We’re still working out the details but it should be up soon and will include date, gender and weight….

Survivor
Can you believe they just finished the 20th season? I (and I’m sure most of us) remember watching the first survivor. I was living in Northern Ontario and we had survivor parties each week… Who would have thought a naked gay guy and old army guy could propel a series into 19 more seasons. I sorta kinda watched this past season only casually but still…. Awesome Surviror tip: If you’re ever on Survivor try to be quiet and even a bit useless so that you just get brought to the finale and then you’ll win…. of course, I haven’t watched the other 18 seasons so who knows! (can you tell I wrote this blog on Sunday night while watching the show?)

Kraft Dinner
Is it weird that the most stressful meal that I make is Kraft Dinner (and i use the term “meal” very loosely). I have no concerns or worries whipping up a batch of muffins sans-recipe. But Kraft dinner… I follow those directions to the letter. I think the worry comes from the fact that Lindsay and I have differing opinions on the amount of sauce required. Still… very stressful.

More updates on relevant things like our trip to Calgary and more coming soon.

With the Canucks sadly out of the playoffs, I have jumped onto a very full Habs bandwagon, probably along with every other Canadian. Hopefully tonight wasn’t an indication of how the series is going to go. Jeff and I have been participating in the CBC Hockey Playoff Pool, and by some miracle I have been ranging between 40th and 100th place, which is crazy considering in past years I’ve spent the season tied for 20,000th. When picking for the remainder of the playoffs I picked all players from the Hawks and Habs…no guts no glory.

We were pretty bummed out about the Canucks losing. It’s one thing to lose and feel that you gave it your all, but I’m not sure they would agree that they did (good on Kesler to step up and admit that he should have played better). I guess there’s always next year. I was somewhat lucky enough to be in Vancouver this year during the playoffs. I went there for a work conference and was so tempted to get a ticket to game 3. I am so glad I didn’t since they lost badly, and I would have been in a work meeting at that time but instead came down with the flu. I missed a bunch of the conference and spent 2 days in bed alternating between shivering and sweating. A horrible feeling in a strange hotel room. I wish I could have teleported my body to my own bed. I haven’t been sick for a year and a half so I was due for a flu and I’m sure my body was rebeling after having to play an ultimate tournament at 3 months pregnant.

Upon arriving back to Kelowna, we were visited by my dad and Susan. They were really patient with me as I excused myself to nap all weekend as I fought off the flu. We spent Saturday at the farmers market, the guys did some work out in the yard and Susan made us a wonderful dinner that night. It was an Italian seafood stew called cioppino – delicious. Here’s a recipe to give you an idea of what is in it, but this isn’t the particular one Susan used. It’s great since it’s versatile and you can add all of your favorite seafood. Great served with fresh bread from the market.

For dessert Jeff and I made crepes. We (Jeff) used authentic copper french crepe pans that Susan gave us and it made a huge difference from last time when we used teflon.

A post about family wouldn’t be complete without a photo of our cute cat who was nice enough to allow us to use her table to have a nice dinner:

It’s been a while since our last Q&A, so we thought it might be fun to do it again.

Q: What the heck does the title of your blog mean?

A: The title describes Lindsay’s recent cravings – for those of you who haven’t heard the Sill’s are expanding their family!!! (Lindsay has always loved her sweets – chocolate, cookies, sugar of any sort and especially cake. Since getting pregnant she really doesn’t like the taste of sugar. She’ll take cottage cheese, pepperoni or fresh veggies/fruits over sugar in a heartbeat).

Q: When are you due?

A: November 11th. Should be an easy date to “remember”.

Q: Will you find out what the sex of the baby is?

A: No way. Will be way more fun on the day of to see what we are having. Plus, we really like yellow and green.

Q: Do you have any concerns about having children?

A: Just a few. For one, we are hoping the ‘different sized foot’ gene isn’t genetic (paternal) (along with the stubborn and competitive ones) (maternal).

Q: Where will the baby sleep? Are you sure you have enough room to expand your family?

A: We will have to make some sacrifices and perhaps share an office.

Q: What does Willow think of all of this?

A: Meow.

Q: How has Lindsay been feeling?

A: She was feeling great for the first 3 months, until she started bragging about how great she felt. Then bam! she got a migraine that put her in bed for 3 days and then the flu. Word got out around her workplace once people began speculating that she was missing a lot of work and might have H1N1. “She just has hormones, not H1N1″.

Q: How has Jeff been feeling?

A: Great, thanks for asking.

Q: Did you get an ultrasound yet? Can we see it?

A: Here is little “Hip Hip” at 12 weeks. The ultrasound was really neat. Hip Hip wouldn’t sit still for a second – scratching his/her head, drinking amniotic fluid, bouncing around. No doubt about it that Hip Hip has Jeff’s genes.

Q: Why do you call the baby Hip Hip?

A: It needed a name, instead of being referred to it all the time. Unless we came up with something better, the KDs were determined to call it “Cream Puff”. We always joked about naming our first kid Hip Hip as it’s cute and so upbeat when sung by Weezer in Island in the Sun.

Q: Will you keep the name Hip Hip?

A: Not sure. Most likely not but we won’t be naming him/her till it comes out.

Q: Have you picked other names in case Hip Hip doesn’t suit the baby?

A: We haven’t settled on names but we have ruled a few out: Bill, Jill, Window and Will.

Q: Are you planning on having more than one child?

A: The original plan was to have 4 boys and 3 girls (enough for an ultimate team), but we’ll start with one and see how it goes.

Well, Sunflicker has come and gone for 2010 and was a blast to say the least. It was so great to see a TON of friends and our house was PACKED. Friday night we hosted 18 people and Saturday was 16 people…. the beds, carpet and hardwood were packed with people and hopefully everyone had a good nights rest. Can’t wait for next year! All are welcome again!

Pi did pretty good and most importantly we had a good time. A tournament like this with great friends and some ulti is the reason Lindsay and I love the sport so much. There’s not a lot of other places and sports where you can get that sort of exercise, enjoyment, friends, frisbee and fun. Here’s a little pic of the Pi crew.

Then Monday, Scott and I hit the BGolf course for a round. Unfortunately a wind-warning was issued for the Okanagan. Needless to say it was a little windy…. Which made it cold and interesting. It’s always neat to be on a course with almost zero people on it. After that we headed to the H2O waterpark for a much needed hot-tub. It also had a flo-rider. The flo-rider is basically a simulant of an ocean wave…was much trickier than it seemed and Scott and I entertained the kids with some solid wipeouts.

See you all next year!