David S. Atkinson's Blog, page 222

I Finally Got To Try Good Beef Wellington

I’ve talked before about wanting to try beef wellington before on here after seeing it on all the various fancy cooking shows, but that it was kind of hard to find in Denver:

My wife and I found it at one place, who I won’t mention by name, but their standards were a little low and it didn’t go well. Or rather, it went very well when I had in fact ordered it medium.

I can understand how hard it is to cook a beef wellington properly, given that it’s (basically) a filet cooked in puff pastry, but that didn’t mean I was happy about what I’d gotten. That’s why, as I’ve also mentioned previously, I was excited to see that Sugar Mill in Denver served it and that they would make me some without the mushrooms they usually put inside the puff pastry if I called 24 hours ahead of time.

I was looking forward to this. Sugar Mill is the bomb, and on way more than just deserts (though those are also the bomb(.

Well, my wife and I finally got our act together, called ahead, and got our beef wellington at Sugar Mill. It was beautiful, exactly how we ordered it. Food at Sugar Mill is always amazing, but this was particularly good. It was even better to finally get to try something I’d been hankering after for so long.

I should have gone to Sugar Mill to begin with for this. I never should have tried that other place.

My Wife Insists That Ketchup On Hot Dogs Is Wrong

My wife and I were discussing the article I’d seen about a restaurant that denied you ketchup if you were over age 10. I hadn’t really read the article, but I was discussing the basic gist I’d picked up. As part of this, my wife informed me that ketchup did not go on hot dogs.

You will note, my wife did not state that no ketchup on hot dogs was her preference. She asserted that ketchup did not go on hotdogs.

I took exception to that, though I didn’t really press the point with her because she wasn’t actually trying to stop me from putting ketchup on a hot dog. Shouldn’t I be able to have whatever condiments I want on a hot dog? I prefer ketchup, mustard, onions, dill relish, and sometimes sauerkraut. However, there are almost as many different hot dog condiment preferences out there as there are people who consume hot dogs. I may not dig them all, but shouldn’t everyone have the option to have theirs how they prefer?

I can at least understand the article somewhat, because it’s supposed to be somewhat of a fancy bistro or something (though it does look like a lunch counter to me)…but hot dogs? I think my wife is carrying her mustard preference a bit too far.

Ketchup freedom!

Enough With The Quebec Road Signs

Okay, I’m finally done with the Quebec road sign thing. There are still plenty of other road signs I saw in Quebec that amused me (like a runaway truck ramp sign that looked like it was warning that the road broke up if you drove beyond the checkerboard ahead and a rail crossing sign that looked like it warned that crucified Jesus travelled by train ahead), but enough is enough. Besides, I’m having trouble finding pictures of the rest.

Either way, I’m done.

Note: this post should in no way be taken as me trying to milk yet one more post out of this Quebec sign thing without actually having to find another image and think of something to say about another sign. Don’t even think that.

Quebec Trucks Should Watch Out For That Electromagnet

I’m getting a little bored with my Quebec road sign thing, but let’s do at least one more because there is a big danger out there. Trucks in Quebec need to watch out for mad scientists who are trying to catch them using electromagnets:

Seriously. Mad scientists have rigged up giant electromagnets along the road and are using them to snatch trucks. No doubt this is part of some massive cargo hijacking scheme that can only be stopped by Quebec’s version of James Bond, Jacques Bonde. Until Jacques manages to catch the villains responsible, trucks need to watch out. Hence the signs.

Of course, this may just be a sign for a truck weigh station. It’s hard to say.

The Quebec Construction Sign Just Looks Wrong

Still on my Quebec sign theme here. Today, let’s consider just how wrong the Quebec construction sign looks:

I know that’s supposed to be a person digging in a pile of dirt or gravel or something with a shovel, but perhaps the little stick person shouldn’t have completely buried the shovel head in the pile…because this looks like something much worse.

Frankly though, I don’t think a person should do that. I definitely would appreciate a warning if someone ahead was going to be engaging in such an activity.

Quebec: That’s A Rest Stop Sign?

Still keeping on my Quebec road sign kick, I have to ask Quebec what it was thinking when it came up with this rest stop sign:

When my wife and I were looking for a rest stop on the road, we missed at least one because we didn’t know what this was supposed to be indicating. We figured it out eventually, but it wasn’t instantaneous.

What the heck is going on in this sign? Fleur de lis ahead! Trees having picnics! Walk with your significant other! Drink from the hose! Coffee making phone calls!

I kind of wish they’d just said something like “rest stop” in French. Then my wife would have been able to read it at least and we would have gotten to the restrooms faster. The pictures on this one took us a bit of time to decipher, travelling at 65 miles per hour or so.

There’s Blood On The Road In Quebec

I’m still having fun with Quebec road signs. This one is another actual language difference as opposed to symbol language oddity, but there’s apparently blood on the road in Quebec:

You should watch out. I bet that’s slippery.

Of course, “circulation fluide” is just French for “flowing freely” and is supposed to mean that traffic ahead is not having any significant problems. However, my experiences on the road in Quebec when I saw such signs would tend to go against that interpretation. My brain associated “circulation” with the circulatory system, and “fluide” of course with fluid. What is circulatory system fluid?

Blood!

They were obviously warning about there being blood on the road ahead. I have no idea how that kind of road condition could come about, but I’m sure it’d cause all kinds of problems.

Movies End A Lot In Quebec

I’m still on the Quebec road sign thing. Just so you know. Also, apparently movies end a lot in Quebec:

Now, this actually means that road construction is over. However, it says: “FIN.” This isn’t exactly a symbol language difference, but is more an example of actual language difference since it’s actually in French and that’s the source of the humor here for me.

I thought this was amusing because so many movies that are supposed to be artistic show “FIN” at the end. There was a lot of construction in Quebec while we were driving up there, so we kept seeing this “FIN” sign. Every time we saw one, I kept saying: “Movie’s over.”

Movies end a lot in Quebec.

Quebec Wants You To Jump That Bike Ahead

Keeping on my recent theme of oddly interpreting road signs I saw in Quebec, you should know that they want you to jump that bike with your car up ahead:

Some countries want you to share the road politely with bikes. Not Quebec. You have to jump that sucker.

It isn’t just bikes, though. Be prepared to jump ATV’s:

snowmobiles:

and more. I saw tons of these signs. I even saw some with three vehicles, perhaps indicating that you need to jump another vehicle that is already jumping a third vehicle, or a warning that another vehicle may jump you while you jump the third vehicle. Be prepared for anything when on the road in Quebec.

Heck, you may even need to be able to do it while walking:

Of course, these are all shared roadway signs. We may even have some like this in the states and I just don’t know because I don’t travel usually on those kind of roads. I just don’t know. Still, these all struck me as funny.

You Can’t Clone Your Car In Quebec

I’m still on my Quebec road sign kick. I just find coming at signs based in a close yet foreign symbol language fun. It makes me realize how odd many of our signs are. Anyway, just so you know, you can’t clone your car in Quebec:

Of course, this is really telling you that there’s a no passing zone coming up. Useful information really. Still, isn’t my interpretation more fun?

Just in case you were considering cloning your car…you better not. It’s not allowed.