Bonfire Bistro

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Felt like a certified Lifehacker the other day.

Felt like a certified Lifehacker the other day. Woke up to find the only butter we had was in the freezer. Was about to give up when I thought of using the cheese grater to "shred" the butter on top of the hot toast. Worked perfectly. It grates easily and the pieces are small and thin enough to melt with the heat of the toast.

...much better than that time in university, when I tried using the heat from the toaster to warm up the butter dish directly on top of it. Let's just say that trying to clean melted plastic from the inside of your toaster isn't a pleasant task.

I love scripting up solutions to problems.

Originally shared by Alexander Lucas

I love scripting up solutions to problems. You get all the satisfaction of being lazy, but all the points for being smart :P

Sara, upon reaching the outskirts of Calgary, "Look, Nate, the mountains.

Sara, upon reaching the outskirts of Calgary, "Look, Nate, the mountains. We're going to go to a cabin in the mountains."

Nate seeing the snow capped ridges, pauses for a moment, "There might be polar bears. That could be dangerous."

Me, "No, Nate, there won't be polar bears, but maybe black bears, or even grizzlies."

Nate thinks about it for a bit, then excitedly, "I have a good idea! I'll bring a gun! ...and wear a pirate hat!"

Prolonged, and probably futile attempt to convince Nate that we don't need to shoot bears if we respect their space. Concluded by a compromise that since we're in Alberta now, bringing guns along probably is the acceptable solution.

Allow me to elaborate for a moment on the fact that I am a Computer Engineer married to a woman with a Masters...

Allow me to elaborate for a moment on the fact that I am a Computer Engineer married to a woman with a Masters degree in Computer Science. We are going on a road trip soon, and the following is our natural solution:

We are running three Android devices, one tablet, and two phones, as our mobile (in more than one sense) computing system.

My phone is the hub of the system, it provides a wireless hot spot (when needed ) for the other devices while in the car, and sits near the dash as my head's up, turn-by-turn, GPS navigation system. It also interfaces with our car's sound system, and uses our Rdio account to provide a flexible playlist as we drive. The stalwart choices, though, are the Pixar Cars soundtrack, the Vinyl Cafe series by Stewart McClean (http://www.cbc.ca/vinylcafe/), and a playlist inspired by one created by Veronica McKinnon for a joint road trip long ago (http://www.rdio.com/people/Jonathanepp/playlists/329226/Road_Trip/).

Sara's phone provides her entertainment, small games (Triple Town), plus eBooks downloaded from our local library. However, it also serves as the co-pilot computer, looking for local hotel deals via Hotwire, and nearby Tim's and play places for the kids via apps. She also uses it to text our current ETA to people we're meeting up with.

The tablet provides kid's apps, self reading kid's books, and kid's movies, for... well, the kids while in the car. When in hotels, it serves as our Netflix provider, and with the keyboard dock, a long form email and Google+ post writing device. The SD card reader allows us to easily see the photos our SLR took on a bigger screen and post them if desired.

The funny thing is, we didn't really plan any of this out, we certainly didn't purchase any of the devices or apps with a road trip in mind, it just that our (and the public's at large) "computer" usage has become so mobile in the last couple of years that this naturally happens.
http://www.cbc.ca/vinylcafe/

Took the afternoon off and went with the family to the zoo!

Took the afternoon off and went with the family to the zoo!

Nate, "All the animals are thirsty, they need to drink water. They are very thirsty. All the people get thirsty too. We need to drink water."
Sara, "Nate, are you thirsty? Do you need water?"
Nate, "No, I was just talking about how everybody is thirsty."
Sara, "Oh, okay. Why don't you tell me some more about the thirsty animals."
Nate, "No, I'm all done talking about thirsty. I told you all about thirsty."
(Nate's Mr. Contrarian now a days.)

Also, in a separate incident, we went into the monkey house, and there was a big group of people inside. They all started laughing at the monkeys, but with the acoustics inside they sounded like a bunch of monkeys. It was pretty amusing.

I often post about the boys, but I should also mention, I have the best wife.

I often post about the boys, but I should also mention, I have the best wife.

A conspiracy revealed. Preach it brother!

A conspiracy revealed. Preach it brother!
http://www.slate.com/articles/life/scocca/2012/05/how_to_cook_onions_why_recipe_writers_lie_and_lie_about_how_long_they_take_to_caramelize_.html

An unconventional pirate:

An unconventional pirate:

Nate puts on chef's hat.
Me, "Nice hat, are you a chef?"
Sara, "Are you going to cook something for me?"
Nate, "No! I'm a pirate!"
Sara, "Arrrrrrrgh!"
Nate, "No! Don't say that."
Sara, "...but, pirate's say, 'Arrrrrgh!'"
Nate, "No, I don't say that. I say, 'Please.'"
Sara, "...oh, are you a polite pirate then?"
Nate, "Yes."

Nate on the "Panda Sauce" (Schezwan peanut sauce that has a picture of a panda on it), "We kill the pandas to make...

Nate on the "Panda Sauce" (Schezwan peanut sauce that has a picture of a panda on it), "We kill the pandas to make panda sauce."