This is a good article on protecting yourself, and your Jeep from Fire! over at Pirate 4×4.
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December 8, 2011
by Ray
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December 5, 2011
by Ray
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Using a Hi-Lift jack
This is one of the best write-ups I’ve come across in the safe and proper usage of a hi-lift jack. While I haven’t added one to my recovery kit yet, it’s definitely on my list!
Overland Journal: Jack of all Trades.
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December 3, 2011
by Ray
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Popcorn Seasoning
Popcorn Mania: {20+ Seasoning Ideas & Recipes} : TipNut.com.
I haven’t tried any of these popcorn seasonings yet – and typically don’t buy any commercial seasonings – but the kettle corn looks good!
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December 2, 2011
by Ray
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How to make “theatre” popcorn at home
The biggest draw to the movie theatres for me is the popcorn – but I really don’t like the expense. I really enjoy kicking back in the comfort of my own home watching a movie – just had to figure out how to make popcorn as good as (or maybe even better) the theatre!
One piece of the puzzle is a kettle type popper – either a machine, or a stove-top popper. We have a Waring machine, like the one pictured here. It works really well, although the light has burnt out a couple times, and the replacement bulbs are tricky to find.
Typically, we buy popcorn in bulk. A large bag, around 15kg from Earth’s General Store was around $25. The popcorn was good, but I think it may have been better earlier on – our house is pretty dry, which may have further dried out the popcorn resulting in less fluffy kernels. Jury is still out on that though :^) You can buy the popcorn in smaller quantities as well there – just bring a container to store it in. Recently I bought some Scout popcorn from a neighbor’s son doing some fund raising – it pops very well!
Next, it’s the oil. We’ve been getting the oil for our Waring popcorn popper at Popcorn Plus – it’s colored and has some flavoring. Best deal is to buy a couple 1 litre bottles at a time, for about $12.
We recently picked up a gallon of Coconut Popping Oil from Ultimate Concession Supply to see how it worksout – 1 U.S. gallon was $24, and it works fantastic! Would recommend it over the other oil I think – although it is a little less convenient to measure, due to the harder texture (similar to a cool block of butter), but after scraping out a couple tablespoons and making a batch, it’s VERY good!
Lastly, it’s the salt. Flavacol – it’s an orange salt/flavoring. We bought a 35oz carton of Flavacol for around $10 from Ultimate Concession Supply.
In the kettle, we put 1/3 cup of popcorn, 2 tbsp of popping oil, and a little less than 1/2 tbsp of Flavacol. I find that butter isn’t even necessary anymore – as the flavor of the popcorn without it is excellent!
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December 2, 2011
by Ray
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How to Make Awesome Homemade Guacamole | Oh My Guyd!
How to Make Awesome Homemade Guacamole | Oh My Guyd!.
A little different than how we make it at home – but worth trying 
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November 20, 2011
by Ray
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Top Gear impartial?
Jeremy Clarkson test drives the Leaf electric car Photograph: BBC
I’ve been a big fan of Top Gear – except for the season with the US hosts – and while enjoy the humor tremendously, I have also placed a certain amount of trust in their reviews and evaluations. A few days ago, I watched the episode from the current season where they had taken a couple electric cars on a road trip – where they ultimately ran out of charge and had to push their vehicles.
Today I came across this blog post, which sheds a bit more light on the episode, and questions the impartiality of the BBC.
An interesting read – and while I’ll certainly still watch Top Gear, it will now be with a certain amount of skepticism…
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November 19, 2011
by Ray
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Spaghetti with Meat Sauce
| Spaghetti with Meat Sauce |
Recipe Type: Main course
Author:
Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 30 mins
Total time: 40 mins
Serves: 4
Ingredients
- 1 lb italian sausage
- 1 med. yellow onion (chopped)
- 3 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1 lg green pepper (diced)
- 8 lg white mushrooms (sliced)
- 2 tbsp. sweet thai chili sauce
- 1/2 c dry red wine
- 1 lg can diced tomatoes
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tbsp basil paste
- 1 tsp red pepper paste
- 2 bay leaves
Instructions
- brown sausage meat along with onion and garlic
- once onion is browned, drain bit fat
- add mushrooms, and green pepper and fry for a couple minutes
- add red wine – to deglaze the pan
- add diced tomatoes, and rest of ingredients
- simmer for 20 minutes or so
- remove bay leaves before serving over pasta, add grated parmesan if you like
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November 18, 2011
by Ray
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Playing mechanic a bit more
This past weekend I replaced the rear brake pads on my wifes Mazda 3. Was pretty straightforward – but the most frustrating part was getting the brake piston back in. I almost bought a brake kit – but then found out that you can borrow a kit from Partsource – just leave a deposit and return the kit within 11 days and it’s free.
Unfortunately, the kit didn’t really help me at all – and I ended up using some elbow grease, and a pair of needle nose pliers (suggested on wildweasel.ca) to push and turn the pistons back into the brake assembly.
The next fun was discovering that the brake pads that the parts clerk gave my wife were actually for the front!! Thankfully it was a hassle-free exchange for the proper pads (redemption points for Partsource!)
All in all it probably took me an hour or so to replace the pads – not including travel time to get the proper ones! :^)
The only thing still bugging me is my arm – pulled something while putting the tires back on and tightening the wheel lugs I think :^( – should have just used the air tools!
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