As long as he has his sticker, he is happy.

It was a pretty bad ear infection. He had a fever for a couple of days, then it suddenly went away. Boo’s pediatrician was on vacation, so we had to take him to another doctor.

His fever had broken because his ear infection popped. As a child with a ton of ear infections, I can definately relate.

Another round of “med EE cation!” and all seemed well. I took Boo to the pediatrician, and while we were waiting, the kind nurse gave my son a sticker.

Boo paraded that sticker around like it was a gold ring.He took it off, put it on the other hand, on mine, and various other places in the office. That sticker came in handy when the doctor had to look into his ear. (Boo is never impressed with that.)

How amazing is it that a sticker can evoke that kind of imagination? When did we lose that child-like amazement at a whole sheet of stickers?

Better yet, given a huge sheet of Disney stickers, and you could ONLY pick one, which one would you pick?

Transform a boring crudite plate with this awesome dip!

Can you dig this? When you are thrown a curve ball in life, catch it and run with it.

My life has been up and down over the last few weeks. It is hard to hear that something is wrong with you. Life seems unfair at points.

Then you hear about another friend who is in a far worse situation than you. (My prayers are with you Voula!)

Roll with it. I have even heard the words, “At least you don’t have cancer.”

True.

I went for a follow up yesterday and some tests. It turns out that I am passing ketones in my urine. That could mean that I am type 1, but we are going to look at it for a week or two. Right now it is important to get those numbers down.

I am the proud new owner of another type of fast-acting insulin. That beauty gets injected before every meal. The idea is to allow the pancreas to rest and heal, (if there is even any function left.)

It was also surprising to hear that given my numbers, the nurse extrapolated that I have been a diabetic for at least 4 to 5 years. They say that 1 in 10 people are diabetic, and over 60% of those people DON’T KNOW IT.

If you even think you may be, get tested.

I am having problems with my vision right now, it is all blurry and it is hard to concentrate. That leads to fun. It is attributed to my sky-high blood sugar. What happens to your sight is not unlike what happens when you salt meat; it draws the moisture away. The blood vessels get saturated with water and your vision goes blurry. How about that for fun? Now I am questioning my Blackberry love.

Anyway, enough about me, let’s get onto today’s picture:

I snapped this beauty when I was sitting down to have a snack. I recently received a couple cases of Mascarpone that were getting close to date. I wanted some veggies, so I thought about using the Mascarpone instead of cream cheese. The flavor was awesome! An intense creamy mouth feel, with just the right acidity to deliver the lemon zest and spices. Think of this as ranch dip on steroids.

Crudite with Mascarpone Ranch Dip

Serves 2 people, or 1 hungry Well Done Chef

Ingredients:

• 250 g Mascarpone cheese (should be a 1/2 tub)
• 125 g sour cream (should be half a container)
• 1/2 bunch parsley, chopped, washed, and dried
• 1/2 bunch chives, clipped
• 7 mL garlic powder
• 7 mL salt
• 7 mL cracked black pepper
• 15 mL fresh lemon juice (and go ahead and zest that lemon into the dip!)
• All the vegetables you can fit on a plate

Method:

1. Combine Mascarpone, sour cream, parsley, chives, garlic powder, salt, pepper, lemon juice and zest together in a bowl.
2. Taste the mixture; adjust the seasoning. (I now have to TASTE things instead of eating them. That’s your prerogative, I won’t tell!)
3. Refrigerate for a couple of hours to meld the flavors. (Or be like me, and eat it right away.)
4. Serve with fresh cut vegetables for the dipping.

I love dipping the vegetables in the dip, and it tastes darn good. Now, I have purposely left the veggies open for you here.

What veggie is your favorite for dipping? I would love to hear about it in the comments.

Waiting ... and still waiting

Have you ever had to hurry up and wait?

This is a picture of a catering event that we did.  We had rushed like crazy to get to the finish (or start) line of the beginning of the event.

It turns out that the hype was a little too much for the event, as no one showed. Okay, maybe about half of the people showed. The service was excruciatingly slow.

The point is that sometimes we rush into things, worried about the final outcome. We plan, we “get it done.” Then we wait.

I saw a person today weaving in and out of traffic, only to get to a red light. I was laughing as I pulled up behind him. Look where your rushing got you today buddy!

The same goes with our food. We rush to get it out, then we wait for our family to mosey on to the table. We rush to eat, then we “wait” in front of the television.

Sometimes we need to enjoy the process as well. Why stand around waiting twiddling your thumbs when you can enjoy the road there? Why rush to the grocery store when you will just have to wait in line?

Sorry to go all philosophic on you there, but I was thinking today that the rushing is the root of our society today. Our health problems, our political problems. We want everything NOW, no – 5 minutes ago.

That is why our rates of disease are going through the roof. Diabetes, Thyroid, obesity, heart attacks, strokes, kidney problems. Our life is full of stress – and usually it is self-induced.

Take a second today and enjoy the sunshine (if you have it.) Slow down a bit. It could be healthy (not hazardous) to your health!

Delicious with a capital "D"

Do you work with someone who just blows your mind with what they can do?

I work with an amazing pastry chef. She is very talented, imaginative, chic and hip. I wish that I could introduce you to her through Facebook or Twitter or some other form of social media, but she has none.

While I may not be able to much on thousands of her pastry arts, our clientele certainly gets the benefit of her labours.

Here you see a mocha chocolate cheesecake with maple caramel popcorn. Bite sized, it is. I tell you what, if that does not get you going, there is plenty of other creations she has on the go.

I count my blessings that she works with me, because as we say in the business, she is the shit. I suck at pastries compared to her, so she is a great compliment to what we have to offer our guest.

Do you have anyone at your work that compliments what you do? I would love to hear about it.

Testing, Testing, 1.2.3

What would you like me to do now?

That question is very general, vague – so let me explain myself further.

I took the last few days off to reflect. I have just been handed a big old bag of fun called Diabetes.

There are so many questions that I have, and the Internet is too big. The funny thing is I have always been a fan of information. I once skipped school for 3 weeks to hang out in a library. (My mother does not believe me on that, but that is the honest truth – the library was full of things that they did not teach in school. Kind of like a modern day Internet.)

There is so much information out there that it is hard to know where to turn. You have major sites and little guys all touting thier information like gospel.

“Follow us – and get a grip on your diabetes!”

It would be easier if all of them were in agreement about things. That is where the decision gets harder. Diet on Diabetes is a VERY controversial thing.

There are conflicting schools of thought on what causes Diabetes type 2, and what you should do about it.

Do I count carbs? Limit my sugar? Eliminate carbs? Cut out all fat and salt? Go on a caveman diet? Do the hokey-pokey?

I am a chef with a bit of skill in the kitchen. I am a chef with a bit of an opinion. I am someone who can help.

Do you all want it? If I can boil it down simply for you, if I can help you change your lifestyle to get a grip on Diabetes, will you listen?

That is my hope. I will beat the disease and control it like nothing before. Follow me, and I promise that I will do what I can to help you understand. As I learn something, I will pass it on to you.

Look at all that... sheesh!

I have been slacking lately. Fear not, I have been taking photos. I just have not had the umph to put them up.

I have been battling malaise and fatigue for the last few months. For those who know me, I have lost a LOT of weight over the last 7 months. I had it chalked up to quitting soda, and watching a little more closely what I eat.

Then I failed the insurance medical exam. Okay, not too bad…

Then I failed the second, and the blood test after that. I freaked. My wife could barely calm me down.

I turned to the Internet to find out what the hell is wrong with me. I *could* have gone to the doctor, but he lost his license to practice. (Damn!)

So I have been rolling it through my head as to what is wrong. Meanwhile I have been drinking like a horse, and peeing a lot.

Then the sight started getting wonky. Great! A guy who has 20/20 vision…

Finally, I was able to get in to see a doctor at a clinic. I asked for a diabetes test. (See, it runs in the family!)

Well, the score was 18. A normal blood glucose level is between 4 and 7.

Now I am the proud owner of a blood glucose tester, pills, needles, and insulin. Sweet.

I have no idea how to process this right now, except I am kind of mad. I am the guy who NEVER has any health concerns. Well, no more.

Looks like my lifestyle just changed… for good.

Have you had a medical issue come up that affects the way you will eat? Tell me about it, I would love to know.

In his 40 years of experience, he has never seen anything like it

Have you ever had to deal with a lemon?

You might have bought a car that seemed like a great deal. Or a house that was awesome with all “new” renovations.

You know the pain when you are stuck with a shitty stick in your hands. What can you do?

In this case, the prior owners of our house installed the new shower all by themselves. I figure the guy must have been retarded. There are several reasons I think this:

• He installed the shower with plywood behind the fiberglass.
• He was too cheap to buy a full sheet. Indeed, he recycled pieces together in some form of mad puzzle.
• He left the Styrofoam under the base of the shower. Why? Probably because the instructions were not retarded enough.
• He cut the tile around the shower to install the base on the wood sub floor. You heard that right.
• The floor and joints all around were mouldy and had to be replaced.
• He clamped the drain so tightly that it cracked the base and the drain sat at a 75 degree angle. (Opposed to 90 degrees.)
• He covered up the crack with epoxy.
• He caulked the entire thing up and down with OUTDOORS window caulking.
• He bought the shower before measuring, so he had to construct a mini-wall to hold the dang thing.
• He installed the door backwards.

That is quite a list. I am sure that I am forgetting something. We had a hell of a time fixing and installing the new shower but it looks a lot better now.

The man that helped me install the shower has been in the renovations business for over 40 years. He was astounded by the job the previous owner had done. That is something, isn’t it?

My advice, when you are buying a house and someone tells you that they renovated “by themselves,” take a VERY close look at the job done. If it looks like mine, RUN AWAY SCREAMING.

All Abord!

Blink, and it’s gone. You don’t have a lot of time to get those memories on camera.

When your child yells, “Come quick, Daddy!” You need to go.

Children can take the most mundane things and make them into something magical. Here you see my son in his Choo Choo train. His job is in the caboose, you know, directing traffic and all.

Never blink, or you could miss it.

All this for a song. Not bad

Have you ever come across a deal that was too hard to pass up?

When we were renovating the kitchen area, our kitchen table took a beating hard. It lost a leg in that battle, and it was time to put the old table to rest. See, it was a hand-me-down from Nonna. While the table was not bad in itself, it had paid its due a long time ago.

I was hunting on the old Craigslist for Montreal when I came across what seemed a super deal. (Okay, I came across 5 or so super deals and the Boss and I had to choose one.)

Everything was perfect for this deal. A table and a buffet with hutch for 900$. The only catch? It was located in Boucherville. (For those of you not knowing what I am talking about – I live on the North Shore, and Boucherville is deep in the South Shore.)

We needed to rent a truck to get this. We also needed to be able to transport Luca. Fun times.

We ended up in Boucherville to get the items, and Luca had a blast with the couple’s children. He made himself right at home.

Let me tell you, lifting these babies was not fun because they are solid wood. You know, the non-Ikea heavy type. (My friend Dan would be proud.)

It also turned out that the Brother-in-Law knows the butcher that I use at work. Crazy small world. The butcher’s son is marrying the daughter of the Brother-in-Law. How about that?

We managed to get the whole shebang home in one piece, and then my wife and I huffed it into the house. What a day!

The picture you see here is the new dining room, complete with our table.

Pet me! Pet me!

Do you have a pet? I have 3, 2 cats and a dog.

Pets are awesome. They comfort you when you are sad, or when they want something from you. I find it is mostly when they want something.

Meet Patches. She is really the queen of the household. She is also the most slutty cat you will ever meet. She even sucks up to the dog.

Whenever I am blue, or down, Patches is always there to lick my chin, knead my belly, or do something that would cheer me up. Here I was getting out of the shower, tired as all hell.

There was Patches to greet me. She just would not let up. The picture you see here is her reaching to me to pet her.

Do you have a “slutty” pet?