Red Lobster Crabfest #FoodPicFriday

I had lunch with Mom earlier this week and she treated me to Crabfest at Red Lobster. As a seafood lover this lunch was over the top and really hit the spot. It was messy to eat, but that is half the fun.

What I ordered was called the Crab and Roasted-Garlic Seafood Bake. It contained: crab legs, shrimp, bay scallops, corn on the cob, and potatoes. Everything was roasted in a garlic and white wine broth, which was excellent for dipping the signature rolls into. This lunch was a mega hit and I remained happy and full all day.

Photo Bouquet

I recently got a new (to me) camera. Hand me down from my brother to my Mom, and then re-gifted from Mom to me. My digital camera has become increasingly unreliable, shutting off randomly, freezing with the shutter open, corrupting files. It could be a battery issue, but replacing the battery is at least $30, and because the camera is over seven years old, I'd rather put that money towards a new camera (probably an SLR). Until I take the plunge and buy a new camera, I'm playing around with my hand me down one and it's pretty great. It's a point and shoot like my old one (same brand as well), a few years newer than mine. I'm taking lots of pictures and having fun with the new functions.

I did some practice shooting on a bouquet of flowers and I think they turned out pretty well. Going to keep practicing until I figure out all the best settings. I love this bouquet - just gorgeous.

Winging Wings

I got an excellent deal on chicken wings on Monday and John quickly made them into a mouth watering meal. He works without a recipe, so I'll give you a rough idea of what he did, but mainly he just sort of winged it. (Bad puns for the win!)

First he split the wings. We had 14 full wings which made 28 split. He put them in a bowl and sprinkled them with olive oil, pepper, and Montreal steak spice (our go-to spice mix).

He spread them on a baking sheet and cooked them at a high heat (450°F) until fully cooked (about 40 minutes), flipping once. 

Once fully cooked, he added the wings to a bowl for tossing.

John made an amazing spicy BBQ sauce for them that included: prepared hickory BBQ sauce, Sriracha sauce, vinegar, chili powder, and salt + pepper. Not sure of the exact amounts of each, but it was damn good! Here are the wings right after the sauce was added. Look at them steam! It had a wonderful smell.

We snacked on wings strait from the bowl while watching the Emmys Monday night. Quite fun. The coriander seeds from the Montreal steak spice added an amazing flavour to these crispy and saucy wings.

80s Synth Pop Break

I am so excited for my brother-in-law Tab who is heading to Toronto tonight to see one of his favourite artists live in concert. Tom Bailey, previously of The Thompson Twins, is currently on tour playing Twins hits, which included tracks like "Hold Me Now", "Doctor Doctor", and "Love on Your Side". This is the first tour of Twins music is over 25 years and this will be the first time Tab will be seeing these songs live. The tour has been on for the past few weeks, and there is already some footage on YouTube and it looks like Tom Bailey puts on a pretty good show.

So for your 80s Synth Pop Break today, here are a few Thompson Twins songs to get you into an 80s groove.

"Hold Me Now" (a classic favourite)

"Love on Your Side" (Tab's favourite)

Have a great time Tab!

Cheater Baked Beans

Summer BBQ's are great for catching up with friends and family, but they are even better for all the amazing food! We went to an over-the-top BBQ at Bryan and Betony's last weekend that went beyond typical hamburgers and hot dogs (though we ate those too). There were also crab legs, lobster, shrimp, corn bread, and some home cooked baked beans. All the food was delicious and I took my hamburger up a notch by topping it with baked beans. Yum! Betony shared the baked bean recipe, which turned out to be made with canned beans instead of dry. I had two cans of beans on hand so I made some up at home. They are easy and delicious (although they do take some time in the oven).

The recipe is Simple Baked Beans from allrecipes.com.

In a large bowl, mix together two cans baked beans,1/4 cup molasses, 1/4 cup chopped onion, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1 tbs mustard, and 2 tbs ketchup. That's it.

Put mixture into well greased baking dish (I used an 8x8 disposable one). Cover and bake at 350°F for 3 hours.

The beans thicken up beautifully and have a really sweet and smoky flavour. They are also a bit sticky and little chewy which gives them a stick-to-your-ribs feel. I served them with a bacon and egg bagel for an epic breakfast-for-dinner. So good!

At some point I still want to try making these with dry beans, but this was a fun and easy first try at this yummy dish.