Another Blog? Really?

Please don’t mind the sales pitch in this post, I was after all blogging to help bring more business to my store. This one is on the dangers of BBQ’ing, so it’s pretty timely for a 5 year old post :-)

Wait, the Barbecue can make you sick?

Now that the warm weather is here people are looking for ways to stay out of the kitchen and keep the oven off. Many are turning to their outdoor barbecue. It turns out that may not be the safest choice! Research has found two carcinogenic compounds on grilled foods, PAHs and HCAs.

PAHs are technically called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and they are created when the coal gets really smoky and smokes the food on your barbecue. HCAs are called heterocyclic amines and they are created when foods are cooked at high heat and over done.

Now that we know what these carcinogens are and where they come from, it becomes very easy to stay safe with the barbecue. Start by using foil to wrap foods so they aren’t exposed to the smoke from the grill. Our Stuffed Potatoes, Tomatoes and Peppers are all ready to wrap in foil and reheat on the barbecue while you are cooking your main dish.

As for the main part of your meal, isn’t the flavour of slightly charred meat the real reason you want to use the barbecue to cook it. Luckily research has also found that meat that’s been marinated develops far less of the dangerous HCAs, almost 90 percent less! Nobody knows why yet, but who cares! You can enjoy your summer barbecue without having to worry about it being bad for you.

To help keep you safe all summer we are offering ready to grill meats, already safely marinated to keep those carcinogens away. You may have already seen our Honey Lime Pork Chops, our Simplicity Steak Spice Rib Eye Steaks, or our Raspberry Soy Chicken Skewers. If you’ve missed those stop by and see what new things we are making this week.

Simplicity blog post from June 2007, another Slow Food update:

Tuesday night I will be enjoying fresh bread and artisan cheese at With the Grain Bakery when they host the next event for Slow Food Guelph. It will be the fourth Slow Food event I attend. I’ve only joined the movement this year, but I am really enjoying it.

Recently I hosted an event here at the store. It was so much fun, I want to do it again! Hosting the dinner and serving food to friends, customers and slow food members reminds me what I love about food. I love the pleasure of sharing food, the pleasure of eating food and the pleasure of good company.

To me food is one of the great pleasures in life that we are not only allowed to partake in, but technically have to. I am a big believer that we should live to eat. In other circles the adage goes the other way, but I think when you take the joy out of food you run the risk of filling up on food simply to survive. Once food stops being pleasurable you stop caring what you put in your mouth. This is why people willingly eat fast food that tastes the same as the next fast food, and the one after that, and on and on.

When food tastes good and when enjoying a relaxing meal and sharing with friends, mealtime becomes the highlight of the day.

Its been a long time since I’ve been able to enjoy a good meal with friends and not had to do any of the work. And since Im a self declared carboholic, Im looking forward to the meal. Now that I think of it, Im not so eager to host another dinner, let me enjoy somebody else’s hard work for a while!

Yesterday was Thursday, which meant it was dress day. Dutifully, I wore a dress all day. And I completely understand why I never wear all of my dresses. It’s a damn lot of work!

First, you have to have the correct under attire. Gotta choose bottoms that are well fitting, but not too well as you don’t want VPL (ask a woman if you don’t know what this is), but also a pair that are cute and colourful because the reality is, sometimes things happen while wearing a dress and a little flash happens. Also an appropriate bra is needed. As it turns out an appropriate bra costs around $50 (go see the ladies at Vicanie’s downtown Guelph, they are awesome).

And, on accidentally flashing people, second, you need to completely change the way you sit. Not only the way you sit once you are in your seat, but the way you get into it and the way you get out of it. Many of my dresses are kind of short. My legs are short so a long skirt just makes me look stumpy. Also, my torso is a bit long, so a dress that would hang a few inches above the knee on someone might be more like a few inches past my bottom. This leads to a lot of leg and not much forgiveness when trying to sit.

Third, accoutrements! Temperature changes in Southern Ontario dramatically over the day. It is rare that I can go without having a second layer to put on at some point during the day. I have many hoodies, some even slightly less punk looking, but really nothing appropriate to pull over my shoulders while wearing a dress. This section includes jackets as well. The nicest jacket I have is a quarter length leather jacket. Works great with pants on, but with a dress on looks either like I’m wearing nothing under my jacket, or is one of the many items on me helping to make my dress ride up and we get back to accidental flashing.

Also in the third section comes footwear. Not only do I need to have appropriate shoes to wear with each of the dresses, I also need to consider stockings or socks, particularly on the cooler days.

And lastly, purses and bags! I have an awesome purse from MEC that is a cross body strap adorned with buttons with a bag of numerous pockets, all used for all the necessities in life (pens, notebooks, painkillers, nail clippers, Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog, etc). Unfortunately, this is not a great bag to wear while wearing a dress. The bag rests on my right hip and with every step pulls my dress just a little bit higher. Plus, the strap is pretty big and ruins the effect spent with my $50 bra.

On top of that, many of you know I travel everywhere by walking and carry my office with me in my CBC bag, another cross body strap. So take what I said above about my purse and magnify it by roughly four times on my left side.

Yesterday I had to be very girly and ask my man to carry my bags for me and walk me home. Which I’m sure made him feel very manly. And I guess since dressing up is ultimately a way to catch and please men then wearing a dress is working quite well.