Cafe Rio recipes

Sorry there will be no pictures on this post, but it's just a list of ingredients to make things everyone already knows about... so why does it even matter?

Cafe Rio Sweet Pork
3-5 lb. pork shoulder roast (I found the ones with a bone still in, sometimes called 'pick-nick roasts', work the best)
2-3 cans of Coke (non diet) or Dr. Pepper (I think I like Dr. Pepper better, but husband likes Coke better)
1 cup of brown sugar
1/2 cup of enchilada sauce (I think salsa works good, too)
1/2 cup of molasses 
1 glove garlic, minced (you can opt to leave this out)
salt and pepper to taste

In a crock pot or slow cooker, place roast and set timer/heat for 6 hours. In separate bowl, mix all other ingredients together and pour over roast. Cook for 5 hours, then shred meat and continue cooking until 6 hours is up!


That really good ranch dressing:
1 package ranch dressing (and the ingredients to make it)
2 tomatillo's, chopped (green tomato like vegetable with a brown husk on them)
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 bunch of cilantro
Juice of 1 lime
1 jalapeno (I prefer to use a few drops of green Tabasco sauce instead)


Make the ranch as per package, and pour into food processor or blender. Add all other ingredients and blend until well incorporated, you can add more or less of cilantro to get it juuuuust how you like it!


Cilantro Lime Rice:
2 cups of rice (non instant is best)
2 cups of water (for the rice)
4 teaspoons of chicken boullion (or chicken broth is fine, too)
4 teaspoons of garlic, minced
1/2 bunch of cilantro (more or else to taste)
1 tablespoon of butter
1/2 onion (I didn't use any and it turned out just fine, I didn't really use chicken  broth either)
salt to taste
Juice of 1 lime


Blend in food processor the garlic, onion, cilantro and lime. Add water, rice, butter, and broth in a pot and then add mixed ingredients from the food processor. Once to a boil, reduce heat, cover and cook for 30 minutes or until rice is cooked and fluffy.


Mmmm chicken:
1 small bottle of Kraft Italian Dressing
1 tablespoon of cumin
1 tablespoon of chili powder (instead of adding these two spices, you could use a little of the enchilada sauce from the sweet pork recipe)
3 cloves of garlic, mined (more or less if you'd like)
5 lbs. of chicken breast.


Add all ingredients into crock pot and cook for 4 hours, the shred the meat and cook additional hour. 


Now that you have all the key ingredients... and you know how to ensemble the rest of it, so... Voowala!

Just keep swimming

Today was supposed to be a monumental day.

Why? Well, the final form, a big ugly tax form, the last form we needed for my immigration papers, a form that we waited 7-10 business days for, finally came in the mail over the weekend. So today, I had the car, and it was my job to send off my papers! Ah, but... wouldn't ya know it... I found another big fat ugly problem.
As I was getting ready to head out to the bank to pay the ridiculous fee for these idiotic papers (wearing a skirt, mind you), I got this notion that I should re-read over the website, and make sure I had absolutely everything. Plus, I had been a little unsure how this fee thing was supposed to work. I thought I just had to go to the bank and tell them what I needed- there is nothing that states how much your fee will be, so I figured the bank would be able to do that for me, right? Well, as I started reading, I read over the payment process/fee's FAQ, and as it turns out, I have to apply for the form, which is a receipt of payment, for the bank. If you're confused, don't worry, so am I. So, I did what it said after I read everything there was to read, and after I hit 'submit' it said it would be processed in approximately 2 weeks. 2 weeks?! Warren is going to be so mad at me. He's already mad that I have taken this long getting the papers done, but can you blame me? No one is helping me do this, and hello, Canada is a foreign country to me, like I'm supposed to already know everything?! I swear, if I could go back to last April when I suggest moving to Canada, I would stop myself and say 'I will never live in Canada', instead.

 But, with everything curse, there is a blessing. At least that's my motto when I'm trying to be positive. As I was reading, I noticed the fee's are determined by age, and the cut off between child and adult is 22 years old. If you didn't know, I just turned 22 a mere 4 weeks ago. So, I guess taking my time has it's benefits, a benefit that saves us an additional $475.

So, moral of the story is that you just have to (in my mother's words) take everything with a grain of salt, and just keep swimming. I know Warren will be beyond furious with me, two weeks is a long time to wait to send them, after we've already waited so long for everything else.  

But, I will butter him up by cleaning the car... and maybe wearing heels when I pick him up.

Fiesta's and Fairbanks's's's's's

This was quite the weekend for the Fairbanks family. By Fairbanks family, I mean the entire Fairbanks clan that rules Alberta, not myself and Warren- though we are included in the clan, and we too, had a busy weekend. I apologize for the oodles of pictures this post will contain. I will try to keep the writing to a minimal.
Friday:
I decided to throw a fiesta! I made Cafe Rio style food- I have been craving it so much. I have really good recipes for the sweet pork, the ranch dressing, and the rice- if you are interested, I kid you not, these recipes are so exact you will think it's really from Cafe Rio. Warren even told me, mine tasted BETTER! My fiesta was a smashing success!

These are tomatillos- which to me look like a tomato mated with a green apple. They are the key ingredient in Cafe Rio ranch dressing

T

This is my 7 layer dip I made, which BY THE WAY was gone in 10 minutes! It was so good, I impressed even myself.

W

After wards, we played Balderdash. This is everyone laughing so hard the room is silent because no one can breathe

This is the after math of the fiesta... a big fat siesta! (which means, nap) The only people not asleep were me, and the two on the couch (Will and Tania)

 Saturday:

These pictures are actually from a previous night, but we played the same game with Graham and Stefan, but I have no pictures of that game. So these will have to do!

Agricola- my new favorite game... it looks hard, but it's not. It's seriously so fun!

This is my lot- and this is also the lot that gave me my FIRST win! I usually lose hard core, but no, not this time! I kicked BUTT!

 Tania holding the newest O'Brien! He's so cute, sporting green socks on St. Patty's Day! This was during our game night, and I just had to put it up because of how cute they both look. Plus so many of my friends are announcing that they are expecting, I figured it was only necessary, right?

Sunday:

Earlier this week, TWO Fairbanks cousins returned from their missions. They are from the same family, not just the Fairbanks clan- they are brothers, for real. Crazy huh? One served in the Ogden North Mission, which BTW includes Logan. We even ran into him before we moved to Calgary, at the DI soaking up the wonderful air conditioning. You think I'm joking, but I'm not. The other served in North Carolina. So we had a big family reunion almost, at their house- they also served Cafe Rio style food. Their's was even better than mine! So I have recipes for that, too! I apologize for some of the pictures, I'm still a nobody in this family, and I couldn't really get anyone to look at me when I snapped the photo's. But here ya go!

 These are the two who just returned. John on the left, and Ben on the right. Yes, they are wearing matching ties.

This is only a select few of the 30+ cousins within the ages of 18-30. Seriously, there are so many of them, and they all look alike.

This is Warren with Tyler, another cousin...

As you can see, there was a lot going on. Again, sorry for all the poor pictures... I wish I had a better excuse, but I just don't have one... Anyways, thanks for reading!

Uneasy feelings

The other day I found a bum in our ally going through our neighbors recycling bin.

I don't think I'm okay with this. I'm all for implementing city wide recycling, but when I am finding bums digging through it and taking everything out (a service we are paying for, btw), I start to have a hissy fit. In case you are confused as to why I have an ally (allies always sound shaddy to me, I figure it sounds shaddy to others, too). I will explain it.

Many of the houses here in Calgary don't have attached garages, instead they are in the back of the house. Thus, the entry to said garage is behind the house- so there are a lot of allies leading behind houses to drive ways. This is also where the trash/recycling pick up trucks travel down. We park our car in the driveway which is located in the ally behind our house.

I don't like the idea of going out to my car one day and finding another bum digging through MY recycling that is usually not more than a few feet from my car, and just a couple more feet from the gate leading to my backyard. I have no problem with bums, I think it's very unfortunate that they live this way- but at the same time, bums get in your way, beg for food, and go through your trash. It's unsanitary and a little scary if you get cornered by one who is begging for food or money. We live in the one of the safest areas of town, far away from the crime of the North East, and even farther away from the downtown areas. I'm just not okay with this. I think I should be allowed to carry mace in my purse. I don't feel safe here, and I'm just a little guy, there is no way I would be able to fight off an average size man.

I'm just not okay with it. That's all.

Ya know what really grinds my gears?

When people complain.

Not just complaining about anything though. I had some weird dream the other night, and somehow Warren and I got talking about it yesterday during church (we are not very reverent people...). My dream was about a tornado (my number one fear in life, next to death). I often have nightmares about tornadoes.

 'Don't worry Honey, I'll wait for ya down stream!'

I remember when Katrina hit the Gulf of Mexico, I was a senior in high school. I remember hearing all these people complain and whine about how FEMA didn't do anything to help them. Is it wrong that I had no sympathy for people living there? My problem isn't with southerners, it's with how they complain so much about hurricanes. So why don't you move?!  Hurricanes are not things that are man-made... you idiots, just move!

 Does this not scare the crap out of anyone else?

I also don't understand why in the world people want to live in Oklahoma and Kansas. No mountains, it's not near any oceans, it's seriously the middle of nowhere, right? Worst of all, it has tornadoes! And then the people complain about how traumatizing it is to lose your home to a tornado, yet they refuse to move out of tornado ally. This drives me nuts. If you don't like the weather patterns and are paying more money to fix your home than you would pay for the cost of moving, perhaps you deserve it. No one likes a whiner!

Same with Canadians. Yeah winters are cold, and you live in Canada- what do you expect?
No sympathy I tell you, no sympathy.

Me n' Sara... la la la la

Gangsta

 Finally someone else in the world who doesn't wear matching socks either

 We mean no disrespect. After I uploaded this, I realized it could be considered offensive, but rest assured that we were just messing around.

I'm so hungry right now... I just want broccoli and cheese!

Last night, around 10pm, I really wanted some cookies...

You are probably asking yourself, "Kelsey, why is the icing not green since it's so close to St. Patrick's Day?" Well, I'll tell you... I ran out of green food coloring.

And last but not least...

The box that holds but half my Scentsy wax collection. The other box isn't finished yet. I got bored one day while scrapbooking, and I looked up and saw my Scentsy box and the it just dawned on me that I should decorate/label it.

 

This is what happens

And this is why we change our clothes before we clean with bleach

favorite brown shirts end up getting ruined

 Also...

I'm in love with strawberries lately. These look so good I don't think I can eat them!

:)

Peter's Drive-In

This week I went shopping a lot. I've found some really nice stores here in Calgary, at 5 different malls. I love living in a city with more than a couple of good malls. The first mall I went to, is called Holt Renfrew.

This, of course, is a mall I can only go to when I have a lot of money and am dressed like a model. It's where Gucci and Louis Vuitton are located. It's also downtown in the big buildings with the one way streets and the bums. I've also gone to all the other great malls here in town; Southercentre (I know it's spelled weird, huh?), Chinook (pronounced shin-ook), Market Mall, Cross Iron Mills, and Sunridge Mall. I've had a lot of fun shopping lately, because A.) I love shopping, and B.) because I have a new best friend. I never thought I would ever have a best friend here, but I was wrong. Her name is Sara. On Thursday, we journeyed up into the north west, up by the University of Calgary to go to Market Mall... I found a lot of good stuff. I wont show you because I know you are already bored with this post. On our back to her house, she told me that her and Chris (husband) were moving to TORONTO at the end of the month. I about died. I wanted to cry, but I tried to look cool in front of her, you can't ruin a new friendship by suddenly turning into a weirdo freak. When I came home, I found Warren in the same exact place and position I had left him in... plastered in front of the TV with this little bluetooth headset and controller in hand, unaware of his surroundings entirely. Something I am not fond of. I really wanted to talk about my day and my shopping adventure, the fact that I drove on streets I'd never been on before, and how we got lost a lot, and all the things I saw at the mall and wanted to buy... I wanted to be a girl. I also wanted to cry on his shoulder because Sara was moving away. I guess now I know what it feels like to be abandoned by your best friend. Not that they are moving for no good reason, in fact I'm happy for them. Chris got a promotion, plus Sara's parents live there. I'm glad they will be close to family. It's just bittersweet; I was finally enjoying living here. I like being close to Warren's dad, he's become almost like a dad to me as well, but it's just difficult when you don't fit in, and everyone else around you knows you don't fit in.The worst part is that Warren couldn't even look up at me he was so involved in shooting people. Does anyone else have problems being married sometimes? I do. Does it ever get better? Why does life always have to be hard?
On Friday, we (me and Sara) wanted to go this famous diner on the Trans-Canada Highway. It's famous for it's milkshakes. This is the place to be, every night it seems, it's always busy! And sooo good! I've never had a burger that good before. And the fries... just look at the pictures.

 Back seat, middle, feet on the hump!

I told you it was packed, can you see the people?

 Famous milkshake

This is a large fry. It feeds 6 people.

They were SO HOT they steamed up my camera lens immediately.

I also felt the need to take pictures of everything I found interesting...

For example, you know you're in China Town when...

  I've become obsessed with taking pictures of the tall buildings. I just love architecture.

On Saturday, for Warren's dad's birthday, we got him the movie The Rocker. It's pretty funny, Rainn Wilson is a hoot! We also went to Dairy Queen and watched movies and played with the cats. And tomorrow we get to come over for Turkey Dinner... which is just like Thanksgiving... my favorite foods! Bring on the cranberry sauce! YUM! 

Input, please

I am looking at putting a quote of the day at the bottom of my blog (so not to annoy anyone with dumb gadgets)... but I am having a hard time deciding which TV show to add. Here are your options, your objective is to tell me which one to use. Ready, go!
The Office
It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia
Gossip Girl
I Love Lucy
Harry Potter
Flight of the Conchords
Arrested Development
Boy Meets World
Gilmore Girls

Fun little date night

Holy cow, is it really March already? February just flew by! I'm up at 2:30am because I can't sleep, it happens often so don't think of it as anything big. I'm usually up during the nights. So I'm watching season 4 of Gilmore Girls. Does anyone else like Jess better than Dean? I do. Anyways, Warren and I had a fun little date night tonight. It wasn't planned or anything.

In case you can't see what this is, it's fondue and a game of Scrabble. I don't really like Cadburry chocolate very much, actually at all... and the only fondue mix I could find was down the Easter isle at the store,and it's Cadburry... so it wasn't great. I think it might be better to just make my own. But anyways, it was fun.

The game of Scrabble didn't last long... once the scores hit 138 to 83, we decided to just watch Scrubs.

Just a bit of rambling here, I'm soooo glad the Olympics are over. They are fun for the first few days and then once your favorite shows aren't airing at normal times (or at all) you get a little bugged. It also sucks being a in a different country and everywhere you go, people are talking smack about your home land. I lost my mind and had to take a break from Facebook because some Canadians just would NOT shut their mouths. Who even cares about hockey? I sure don't. ERG. Sorry you had to read that. It just needed to be said. Speaking of Canada, I'm feeling homesick again. Not the same though... it's more like, 'okay, I'm bored of this place caaaaannnn we go back to Logan now?' type of thing. I'm not home sick for Boise, which is strange. I'm homesick for Utah. Which is even more strange. I hated Utah when I lived there, but now I miss it and call it home. I'm going to stop rambling now. Sorry I just bored... boreded? ... um, made you more bored than you probably already were. Have a nice day... or night!