Cooking A Juicy Steak To Perfection

Steak Perfection

Spring and summer are coming and that means it’s time to get the barbeque in shape for the weekend barbeque parties. Of course the fan favourite is always cooking a nice thick and juicy steak, but it doesn’t always turn out the way you planned, does it?

Follow these tips and you won’t go wrong this summer.

Find a piece of meat that has a lot of marbling in it. Not the big thick veins of fat, but the small ones. They will melt as the steak cooks giving lots of flavour and tenderness to the meat. I prefer striploin steaks at about 1.5 inches thick.

Perfect Grilled Juicy Steak

Season the steaks with salt and cracked black pepper. Let them sit while your grill heats up. Turn the grill up as high as it will go. This will create a searing affect on the outside of the steak while leaving the inside tender and juicy.

Once the grill is hot lay the steaks down and cook for 3 to 5 mins on each side depending on how you want the steaks done. Give the steaks a quarter turn halfway through the cooking time to give them some nice grill marks.

To figure out if the steaks are done to your liking you can use a meat thermometer or use your finger.

Poking the fleshy part of your hand under your thumb, while your thumb is touching one of the fingers on the same hand or none at all will feel the same as your steak at certain levels of doneness.

  • thumb + no finger = rare steak
  • thumb + index finger = medium rare steak
  • thumb + middle finger = medium steak
  • thumb + third finger = medium well steak
  • thumb + pinky = well done steak

Try these tips out and find the seasoning that suits you best. Watch out for flare ups and try to get the same cuts of meat each time you cook steaks so that your results will be consistent.

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Cool and Interesting Blogs

Hello everyone!

I hope you all are enjoying the posts – keep the comments and feedback coming I really appreciate it! Ever since I started this blog I have come to discover a bunch of cool sites (and people). I thought I’d take a moment and put together a short list of sites I think you all should check out. There are too many too list all in one post, so I just picked a few.

Rather than give a short description of the sites, I’m just going to list them and hopefully you will visit them and see the site for yourself 🙂

Anyways here they are:

Check these sites out.. I’m sure you’ll find something you like!

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This Weekend in Sports (31-Mar-2007)

NHL

Eastern Conference Playoff Race

What a race we have in the Eastern Conference. There are only 5 games remaining and there are 6 teams within 3 points of each other vying for 3 playoff spots. This weekend we will see:

Toronto vs. Pittsburgh

Montreal vs. Ottawa and Buffalo

Tampa Bay vs. Carolina and Washington

New York Islanders vs. Buffalo and Ottawa

New York Rangers vs. Philadelphia

Here’s how I see things working out. Toronto beats Pittsburgh. They have won 6 games in a row at home and are on a roll. Pittsburgh is playing for first place in their division so they will be giving it their best. This will be a tight one and probably decided by only one goal. Montreal, although playing well of late, find themselves in a very tough weekend having to play the top two teams in the Eastern Conference. I see Montreal splitting these games to stay in the hunt for the final week of the season. Tampa Bay and New York Rangers should win their games while the Islanders will lose both of theirs given their injury status.

EPL

The key match this week will be Liverpool vs. Arsenal. Arsenal is 1pt up on Liverpool and has a game in hand, but how will Arsenal do without their key striker Thierry Henry for the rest of the year?

This is my blatant spot to promote Wigan since they are the team I cheer for. It will be a close match against Charlton and one Wigan needs to win to keep afloat and stay in the Premier League.

March Madness – Semi Finals

There will be two incredible games going on this Saturday in NCAA basketball to make it to the finals. A rematch of last years finals Florida will play UCLA. Both teams have showed they deserve to be here and it will be a crushing blow for the team that loses. In the other game Georgetown, who knocked out North Carolina, will face Greg Oden and Ohio St.. Can Oden “the man child” take Ohio St. to the finals? We’ll just have to see.

Next Weekend:

Major League Baseball moves into its first week

Masters Golf at Augusta National

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Alternatives to Owning a Cottage

Alternatives to Owning a Cottage

Before I move to putting an offer on a property I think it would be best to mention a couple other options that may meet your weekend needs and not hurt your wallet as much. Fractional ownership and Renting

Fractional Ownership is not a new concept, however it seems to have taken off here in Ontario. With the cottage market skyrocketing year after year it is becoming less and less likely for young families to be able to afford a cottage property. On top of the high market prices owning a cottage includes maintenance costs such as a new septic system, a new roof, or a new dock. These items are serious strains on one’s budget. Then of course there is the time spent to actually fix all these things. I have seen time after time people getting rid of their cottage because it just becomes too big a chore.

Fractional Ownership alleviates these common issues. Owners only have to pay a 1/10 of the cost of the cottage. A small maintenance fee, compared to full ownership, will cover any repairs or upgrades and you don’t have to do any of the work yourself! Buyers into the fractional ownership can purchase more then one share, but 1/10 gives the owner 5 weeks out of the year to use the cottage. 1 week a season plus 1 random week in the year. Owners can sell their share the same as selling a fully owned cottage.

Renting allows many families to enjoy a week’s vacation by the water for $800 to $1200 CAD. There are a lot of cottages available to rent here in Ontario and most of them end up fully booked for the summer. The advantages of renting are that there is no annual commitment, you can go to different cottages year after year. Renting, however, sometimes means not getting what you expected. Sometimes the cottage hasn’t been cleaned from the last renters. If the weather doesn’t cooperate with you, your one week could be spent inside instead of on the dock.

In general the advantages of these options over fully owning a cottage is that you will probably be able to stay at a ‘nicer’ cottage then what you can afford to own. You don’t have to worry about doing any chores or maintenance, just enjoy yourself. The disadvantage is that you can’t go whenever you want and if the weather is bad then you will be seriously disappointed. Figure out which option best meets your needs and your budget then go enjoy yourself this summer!

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Humminbird SmartCast RF35 Fish Finder

Humminbird SmartCast RF35

I haven’t had a chance to use this product yet since fishing season really hasn’t started in my neck of the woods, but I sure am looking forward to it.

I’ve gone out with friends that have fish finders which are mounted to the side of the boat. They obviously help when it comes to finding the fish, but really seem to be too big and the wires are always in the way. This fish finder sits neatly on your wrist and is completely wireless.

The Remote Sonar Sensor is tied to a fishing line and lowered into the water. The sensors operating range is 150ft with a depth of 120ft. The wireless operating range of the watch is 75ft. The watch itself only requires a regular lithium watch battery and the sensor lasts for 500 hours of in water use. Once the sensor is taken out of the water it automatically shuts off.

Like I say I haven’t used this yet, but I don’t see any downside to this product. I’ll let you know how it is once the fishing season starts.

Humminbird SmartCast RF35 Fish Finder

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The Cottage Property – Finding Your Vacation Home

So now you’ve driven a few hours and you’ve found one of the properties that interest’s you. Great, maybe this could be your new vacation home.

If it is a vacant lot you are probably not with the real estate agent. Look at the lot, is it level or sloped? Depending on how you plan to use the lot a severely sloped property can present problems. Are you planning on playing volleyball, badminton, bocce ball, or horseshoes? Some sloped lots don’t allow for this type of recreational space.

Ask yourself:

  • Where will the cottage sit?
  • Where would I put the driveway?
  • Where do I want the fire pit?
  • Where will the dock go?

If you can visualize how all of the potential uses of the lot will work then you will be in good shape. If you can’t see this lot working out it probably means this lot is not the one for you or that it is going to take a lot of money to landscape the lot to meet your needs.

Additional things to do/ask:

  • Does the shoreline appear good for swimming? (If that is a concern for you)
  • How close are your neighbours? Are they too close for comfort or just right?
  • How easy was it to drive to the lot? What will it be like during traffic?
  • Is there hydro and telephone on the lot? Will it be difficult to get those services?

Another good idea is to talk to the locals in the area. Whether they are the neighbours or just the guy at the gas station, they will be able to answer most of your questions. My wife and I found a vacant lot that we were very excited about until we talked to the neighbours. They laughed at us when we asked if the lake was good to swim in. They said “oh no. Nobody swims in this lake it is just too dirty/muddy.” If we hadn’t spoken to these people we might have bought this property only to be seriously disappointed.

If you are at a property that already has a cottage on it things become much simpler since the agent will be with you to let you in the building. You can treat this the same way as buying a house.

Things to ask:

  • Why is the cottage being sold?
  • What is the condition of the septic/holding tank?
  • What is the condition roof?
  • What is the condition of the foundation?
  • What is included in the sale of the cottage? (appliances, furniture, boats)

So let’s assume that you’ve looked at the lot or cottage, you like it, you’ve talked to the neighbours and everything seems good. What now?

In an upcoming article, I’ll talk about putting an offer a property.

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Baileys Choclatini

Drink of the Week

Just so you know, I had about 5 of these choclatinis last night – they were very good. Woke up on my couch at 3:30am.

Anyways, I found this at the local LCBO which is a great place for drink and food recipes. I was hosting a party not too long ago when I came across this recipe and I decided I would make a few Choclatinis and see how people liked them. Well everyone seemed to love them, especially the women, and the rest of the night was spent behind the bar making Choclatinis for everyone.

Give this one a shot at your next weekend party it will be sure to please.

Baileys Choclatini

Baileys Choclatini - Drink of the Week 1 1/2 oz Baileys Original Irish Cream
1/2 oz Smirnoff Vodka
1/2 oz Chocolate liqueur
In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, add Baileys Original Irish Cream, Smirnoff Vodka, chocolate liqueur. Shake and strain into a Martini glass. Garnish with chocolate shavings or a chocolate flake.
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Make Money Online with John Chow dot Com

Get Rich with John Chow!
This guy is a genius. John is a dot com mogul who will, no doubt, teach you how to make money online. Aside from the benefit of making you rich, John has a very professional and active site. He gets a ton of people to review his blog on a daily basis.

Appearance
When first looking at John’s site it has a pleasing clean look to it. The cars at the top of the page are eye catching and the slogan, if you will, gives you a sense that there will be some humor in the articles you are about to read. The site does have a lot of advertisements on it however they do not clutter the pages or detract from the actual articles. Advertisement spacers neatly define the beginning and end of articles. Along the right hand side John has Featured Sites, Categories, Recent Posts, Top Commentators, and then Recent Reader pictures. The recent readers and top commentators sections allows everyone to know who are the active members of the community.

Articles
Many of the articles I enjoyed were the ones that referred to “insider” information such as Google’s Top Secret Advertising Network. This sort of information and information about running a successful blog is invaluable to someone trying to follow in the footsteps. How often do you get to talk to someone that has created a successful business and have that person tell you all their tips and tricks. It is very rare and yet here John is writing articles about it all the time. There is a lot to be learned for those that are interested.

There are definitely times where all you want to do is kill time and John has some of these articles too. Take a look at the live lobster diner video. It’s pretty interesting, but I don’t know if I would be able to handle it.

Readers/Comments
I read the Top Posts section and found passionate comments. The readers didn’t just respond with something like “sucks to be you.” They were generally interested in the articles and felt compelled enough to share their similar experiences in a logical manner. I think John has found a gold mine by being able to bring these people together and really make a contribution to his site.

Summary
I enjoy this site. I like that you don’t feel like you are bombarded by advertising. The business information is great, the community feeling is apparent and the readers make a serious contribution. All in all a great site and it is obvious why it is so successful.

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This Weekend in Sports (24-Mar-2007)

NHL

Eastern Conference Playoff Race

Toronto has a home and home series starting tonight against Buffalo.

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Net Business Blog Review

I’m a big fan of the look and layout of Matt Coddington’s site: net business blog. The most obvious colour on the site is green, being the colour of money, which plays right into the theme of the blog. I really like the idea of boxing a couple of articles in dark green and the top of the page with a link to read more. There is something mysterious about the read more link that makes want to click it every time.

In general I’m not overly interested in business blogs, but will read and article or two from time to time. Matt’s blog however is very interesting in the types of articles that are written or maybe I should say the style in which they are written. There are challenging articles, such as Technorati is a Joke, which makes the readers question what is accepted as the norm. There are question articles that are pose a question to the readers to see what the general public thinks. There are standard polls. And there are the ongoing rock and roll blog articles. This is something like a reality tv show enticing the reader to keep coming back to see how things have progressed. Each article style invites the reader to interact with the community, by leaving their opinion which intern sparks more interest and more opinions.

Depending on your interest you will find something to learn on Net Business Blog either from the content of Matt’s articles or from the style in which they were written.

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