Monday, February 11, 2008

Two unrelated things that are making me smile today

(I wrote this on Sunday and forgot to post it until today)

First: While I was in Vancouver, Meg and I got our invitations for our ten year high school reunion. They booked it for a weekend when we will both be in Regina! And it sounds quite nice: formal-ish evening event (dressy but booked at a curling club) and then the next morning there's a family pancake breakfast on the lawn of our high school.

I didn't realise that I'd be so excited. I think it helps that I had such a nice time at the wedding of two high school friends, last summer. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone again, and it's nice having something to look forward to. (Face it: we all knew that I would be the sort to attend the reunions. I was also the Assistant Editor of the yearbook!)

Second: I have been cooking a bunch with my two favourite toys in the kitchen -- my KA mixer and my well-seasoned cast iron frying pan. I stole the frying pan from my Mom, and had it in with my camping gear for years. My Mom took it from Grandma. Seriously: it's well-seasoned. Everything cooks so nicely in it, and it's surprisingly non-stick.

My friend Rebecca got me digging out my frying pan from the camping gear after she demonstrated how wonderful popcorn tasted when popped in cast iron. And now I use it for everything. (My favourite: marinating chicken breasts in "Sweet Saskatchewan Heat" hot sauce and then frying them up on the pan. I tried it first on a camping trip, and now I crave it all the time. Chris's favourite: we made our best nachos ever by putting them in the oven in that skillet.)

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

curling! what is curling, anyway?

Queen of West Procrastination said...

You are clearly not Canadian, and especially clearly not Saskatchewanian. (Which I knew.) It's a huge sport in that home province of mine.

Here's the Wikipedia entry on it. Check out the section on "Curling Culture" where it talks about how huge the sport is in Saskatchewan. Seriously, Regina named streets and buildings after our gold medal-winning skip after she passed away.

In any city or town in SK, curling clubs are the most likely large halls for events. I've been to at least one small town grad at a curling club, and the Tartan club is the one that we briefly considered for my wedding reception.

Anonymous said...

a. I didn't know that curling was invented in Scotland, but it makes sense.

b. I didn't know that Sandra Schmirler's funeral was broadcast nationally on tv. She's like our Princess Di, but with less scandal.

PG said...

Sure..there's a big curling culture in Saskatchewan...but Winnipeg has more curling rinks than the entire United States. Sorry, I could resist some prairie competition. I recently did a post explaining curling here

Sweet Saskatchewan Heat...never heard of it. What is it? I just finished the last of my Saskatoon Jam making this. Going to need to find a way to get some more.

Queen of West Procrastination said...

Sweet Saskatchewan Heat is a hot sauce made for the Roughriders and sold at the Rider Store. It's a mild green jalapeƱo hot sauce with lime. It's my favourite.

And I'll let Chris respond to your Manitoban comment. Because he's the one who cares more about curling.

Queen of West Procrastination said...

I love how all of the comments are about curling.

And also to psychgrad: I know that in Victoria I've found saskatoon berry jam at Safeway.

The Wisper said...

Tag!