ALL the Food

Last week I posted about the creamers we got to take home from my sisters-in-law's wedding. We are still working through them, but it was premature of me to only tell you about that one thing. We actually brought home ALL THE THINGS from the wedding (mostly food with a few non-food items).

The abundance of leftovers was due to family + friends catering the wedding and buying way more than enough. There were also leftovers from the cottage the brides rented, as it had a full kitchen and they lived there for two weeks. They had multiple friends/family staying with them for a week around the wedding, so the fridge was kept pretty full. They couldn't really take it back on the plane to Vancouver, so all the food came here. It is one of those 'best of times/worst of times' situations. So. Much. Food.

So here is a #ListPost about all the amazing things we've been working our way through since the wedding.

Food - Fruits & Veggies

9 assorted peppers (red, green, orange, yellow)

4 cucumbers

2 bags of mini carrots

1 head of celery

2 giant onions (Vidalia and purple)

Package of sliced fresh mushrooms

A bag of mini potatoes

A container of pre-washed spinach

Head of broccoli

An avocado

A pineapple

2 lbs of strawberries

1 pint of blueberries

3 nectarines

Green and Purple grapes

A mango

Foods - Assorted

2.5kg (5.5 lb) bucket of potato salad

2.55kg (5.5 lb) bucket of coleslaw

A bag of deli style ham

18 pack of eggs

A bag of brown sugar

A bag of garlic salt

2 bags of fusilli pasta

A bucket of Feta cheese

A brick of old cheddar cheese

Various salad dressings and BBQ sauces

Full ketchup, mustard, and relish

2 giant jars of dill pickles

4 small jars of bread and butter pickles

A giant jar of olives

Cakes (assorted)

1/2 an ice cream cake

Bottom tier of Black Forest wedding cake

Drinks

2 jugs of Arizona ice tea

2 boxes of orange pekoe tea

Non-Food Practical Items

A multi-purpose 20'x10'x13' canopy

A giant tarp

1 box of Nag Champa

4 vegetable serving trays

6 assorted serving trays

1/3 bottle of sunscreen

Mondays and Cars in July

Well for the third Monday in a row, my car was in the shop. The day after I was home from getting a new gas tank (and gas lines), we heard the horrible screech of the brake pads going. I already had a car repair anxiety headache from multiple car incidents in July, and the screeching sound made it piercing.

I've now added new brake rotors and pads to the list of things repaired or replaced in July (previously we fixed a hole in the muffler and got a new gas tank/gas lines). My Mom says it's like I got a whole new car. Hopefully she's right and these repairs last me for some time yet. Not sure what the repair cost limit will be for me, but I'm pretty sure I'll know the number when I hear it. Just don't want it to be anytime soon.

I wasn't the only one experiencing car grief this month. While waiting for my gas tank to be repaired, I borrowed dad's car, with the hope of catching a movie with my brother in law. The first stop I made (at the end of the driveway) the brake pedal went all the way to the floor...and the car did not stop. I hit it again and it still did not stop, so I looked down to see if I was accidentally hitting the gas (it is a very disorienting feeling not having the brakes work). I gave the brakes a third pump and the car stopped. I threw it in reverse and parked it and then got a really intense headache. Adrenaline is funny like that. Dad ended up needing entirely new brake lines, and we got to bond about all the money we were spending on our used cars. (I much prefer when we are bonding over music.)

Another car incident happened with John's aunt, who had her muffler detach on the way to his sister's wedding. His aunt had his mom in the car, so the Mother of the Bride was half an hour late to the ceremony. Never a dull moment!

With July ending, I now declare that weekly car repairs end with it. I've reached my quota of car stress for the year, and would now like to enjoy using it for a while before I have to worry about it again. Got that, Car???

Dragon Wok Lunch Combo #FoodPornFriday

A few months ago my Mom got a take out menu for Dragon Wok Chinese Restaurant in her mail box. After going through the menu, she texted me all the different dishes and specials that we could get if I came over. By the end of the day, I think I had received the entire menu via text. I guess she was pretty excited about it!

So we finally went over to Dragon Wok last week and I got myself a lunch special. For $5.50 I got a good sized portion of food, really tasty chicken fried rice, Kung Pao chicken, and an egg roll. While I was there I noticed they also have some walk in specials, so we'll definitely be back for more sometime soon.

This post is part of Big Dude Likes Food #FoodPornFriday link up. Feel free to head on over to his blog and link up an awesome food post!

Wedding Winnings

We had a family wedding on Saturday, held at a lovely cottage in Victoria Harbour. Family and friends helped cater a buffet, and after dinner coffee was provided by Tim Hortons. The awesome thing I learned about getting Timmies coffee catered in, is that there are loads of creamer, milk, and sugar leftovers. Which are all now in my house. Awesome.

Coffee is going to taste even better for the next little while. My usual coffee has whitener or milk, and on those rare occasions I use cream, I use the 5% kind. This stuff is 18% and it's adding some yummy bliss to my mornings. 

Maintaining the Car with Helpful Mechanics

We are a few months away from the third anniversary of purchasing our used car. We are also coming up on the car's tenth birthday. Our Mazda Protege is the first car I ever bought, I still love it immensely, and we are doing what we can to maintain it so we can keep driving it.

We purchased our car on a tip from a Mazda mechanic friend of my brother's, who let us know about a car his friend was selling. We got a super deal and a trusted mechanic in the process, and have been taking our car to Mazda for service and repairs ever since. We sometimes go to specialist mechanics (Tirebuster for tires) but we really love the service at Mazda, and they have a 'service rewards' program so all of our repairs usually end with a free oil change coupon.

We had an exhaust leak over the past few months, which presented itself in both sound and heavy exhaust fumes in and around the car. We booked a diagnostic last Monday for Mazda to check it out and they provided me with some pretty stellar customer service. Instead of advising that Mazda fix our muffler (of which they quoted me parts starting at $500 and labour that would add many more dollars to that), they recommended I go to a muffler repair place, and gave me directions to the one they trusted. They even told me to use them as a reference and said: "this is the most cost effective way for you to repair your vehicle". It blew me away that they recommended a more cost effective repair than they could offer, especially since that meant they were recommending I give my money to someone else!

So I took directions and went to Carline Muffler, who were able to check out my car within half an hour and fix it in about the same time. They quoted me "about sixty bucks", which sounded much better than the upwards of $1000 repair job I was looking at through Mazda. Plus everyone was super nice and I've now made some muffler mechanic friends, which will come in handy as my car continues to age. The muffler mechanic also noticed that I had a fuel leak, though he couldn't tell where it was coming from and recommended I get it checked out. He even let me know he had to remove my muffler to weld it "safely", as welding under a car with a gas leak is pretty dangerous.

So my inexpensive muffler repair directed me towards a new problem. So the excessive exhaust smell in the car was actually the exhaust leak AND a gas leak. Double the fun.

With my muffler repaired, I stopped it at Mom and Dad's to figure out my next car repair move. Dad recommended I go to The Gas Tank Doctor, a specialist mechanic he trusted. It was a little after 4pm, but I gave them a call and asked if they could check it out (they closed at 5), and they told me to "come on over".

Turns out fuel is leaking from the seam of the gas tank and we need a new one. Everyone was really nice and I was quoted a good price from my new gas tank mechanic friend. All told, the muffler repair and the gas tank replacement are going to be cheaper than the original muffler repair quote that Mazda steered me away from. How about that. I'm taking the car over this afternoon and I'm looking forward to driving it home with that new "doesn't smell like gas fumes" car smell.

I have to say that everyone who helped me or offered advice last Monday was super nice and doing their best to save me money. I know as my car ages I will have to periodically take it in for repairs, and it is very comforting to know I have a number of different mechanics that I can trust (and who are also super nice!). I know they can help me keep this car running for as long as possible.

Gary liked the car repair deals too. She had a nice nap on the receipts.