Another Quest I Must Start

This one is filled with lots of deliciousness I hope!

It looks like I have a new quest. Not a major one and definitely one that won’t get completed anytime soon but it is still a quest. I may or may not have to do battle with fierce beasts, space monsters, and fits of shitty weather thrown at me by the gods (or this could be because I live in Winnipeg) but I will complete this quest.

You see, I like to cook, I really do. I would say I am okay at it. Over the last few years I have made, or attempted to make, quite a few different recipes for someone who never really appreciated them (insert insulting comment here), and I really liked attempting new, fancy (for me), odd meals. Now I apparently do not have these recipes anymore and this gives me a new opportunity to find even more new, fancy, odd meals! Even though it is kind of infuriating, since it is not my fault, it is also a reason to start over, get some new recipes and not worry about the old ones.

I can learn from my mistakes from these previous recipes by not saving them just on the computer but also in a handy notebook. Although it is still handy to have them on a computer to email them, and my iPhone so they can always be with me, but this way, if I write them out, I won’t lose them like what just happened with all my other recipes. Now I do have a few favorite recipes that I have lost and would love to recover them but I don’t think I can recreate them from my terrible memory. If they were that good I would have remembered how to make them right?

The ones I can slightly recall were easy but a few of them consist of way too many ingredients for my small brain! So I guess I will be attempting to try and make stuffed bell peppers from a new recipe and making the changes as I remember it. Here is to my new quest of finding delicious recipes!

If you have any recipes you think I should try to make please feel free to email them to me at colinenquist@cenquist.com.

Fantasy Football Season Is Around The Corner

And I am not ready for it!

This is my favorite time of the year, prepping for fantasy football. I have so much fun researching the upcoming season I can not imagine what I used to do before I started playing fantasy football. This will be the first season ever that I will not be running a single league. Now I realize that might have been a mistake. Don’t get me wrong, I am glad that I do not have to worry about collecting money, calming owners down from an unfair trade, or running the mid-season awards. It honestly is a big weight off my shoulders. So now I can spend extra time researching my possible team.

Well that has not happened yet. Since I did not have to be on the ball and have the league up and running by draft day I have not needed to be in football mode yet. Sure I have flipped through a magazine and read the odd article online but none of it has really sunk in. Hell I have not even watched pre-season games or highlights.

Since I have always prided myself in having such a great knowledge of players and who should do well each season this draft is going to be a real test. I have a draft this coming weekend and I have done no preparation. Preparation will probably not get done until the car ride out to Edmonton on Friday and the draft is Saturday! It should be an exciting draft as I will be flying by the seat of my pants. This could be a good thing though. Maybe all that research has caused me to over analyze a few things that end up biting me in the ass during the season.

I love making the later round picks over the first few rounds because that is where I shine and makes or breaks your season even more than a high draft pick. Anyone knows (or can figure out) roughly what to do in the first couple rounds but when you are getting to round seven or later you need to really know what your team needs and what players are available. Sleeper picks are my bread and butter. I always manage to grab 2-3 players and everyone looks at me funny. Yes it does not always turn out. My fetish for drafting Texas Longhorn rookies always manages to bite me in the ass, so I will try and stay from Colt McCoy and Vince Young if I can. Other times though I draft a player who carries my team in the season and gets me to the playoffs and I was scoffed at for even considering him.

The playoffs have been my problem. In the past 4 years I have not won a championship in the two leagues I am in. Not a rarity by any means but I have made the playoffs with 7 of those 8 teams and lost in the finals 4 times. That is kind of depressing knowing that I was so close.

Hopefully this season can bring me a championship. I only have one team to focus on as I dropped out of the league I started (and is my pride and joy) because I really can not afford the $200 buy-in this year. A single focus on a single team without worrying about running two leagues should mean I have the right elements in place to make another legit run at the title. If my supposed genius when it comes to fantasy football works without the normal amount of research then I should be golden! Only time will tell. I will let you be the judge by posting a review on my team, how I see it, on Stacks of Words later next week.

I Have Not Vanished

Although I might eventually!

It has been two week since my last post. Almost looking like I might fail on my goal to post at least 4 things per month. Good thing this is my last week of work and I will be off the last week of August. I should be able to get a couple things done. Especially on the weekend as I will be driving back to Edmonton for a quick visit. I can not wait to see my family and friends out there again.

Although I am not looking forward to the 16 hour drive to Edmonton on Friday or the return trip on Sunday, I think I will get a good chunk of writing and reading done that will make it worth it. No matter how uncomfortable I will be cooped up in the car for 30+ hours of my weekend. I will be bringing my new MacBook Pro , a couple novels, and some fantasy football material as I have a draft to conduct in an efficient manner that brings me the coveted championship I have been denied in this league! Unlike my other league which I can say I have multiple rings (not real rings, but my fingers are always wearing these!).

The lack of production, that I hope to rectify, is completely my fault. It started around the time Fringe Festival hit Winnipeg and I just never slowed down to breathe. It seemed like every night I was at the Fringe with many friends, but it seemed that Brett and Trevor were with me most nights, and we managed to make the most of those nights by staying out way to late and drinking after the shows. It was an expensive two weeks. It was also a fun two weeks.

You figure the amount of money I managed to spend would cause me to slow down. Yet Folklorama was just around the corner and I have not been to a Folklorama show for 3 years. The one thing Edmonton is missing out on is Folklorama and I missed it dearly.

It was probably a good thing that I volunteered to help out at the Hungarian pavilion. Since it caused me to save money as I was not able to go out and spend any money. Or so I thought. The last day I went out after the pavilion with a few buddies to Movados for a few drinks. All of a sudden we are belting out karaoke and it is 3AM. It was a rough day at work the next day, and yes I was an hour late. It seemed that this started a new addiction to karaoke that a small group of us now enjoy.

That addiction though did not get out of hand until Folklorama ended. I still had pavilions to see! After eating Langos (---->) all week at the Hungarian pavilion I wanted to explore other cultures. A few were really good like the Irish pavilion and their awesome stew. Some were really bad, the Belgian pavilion had a shrimp stuffed tomato that may have been the worst $6 ever spent, although the spectacular beer selection and $11 coffee bean chocolates made up for the food and lackluster show. Others were just as delicious but quite expensive, I am looking at you Indian pavilion! Eventually Folklorama had to end but at least I got out and saw most of the pavilions I wanted to.

Now that Fringe is done and Folklorama is done, it is time to relax and get something accomplished. Right?! No I was wrong. I just continue to go explore the many fine drinking establishments with my buddy Kevin who has introduced me to possibly my new favorite place in Luxalune. They serve some craft beers that you can not even get from the cities Liquor Marts that are so government regulated that the selection is brutal. Although we have only been there twice, and I have not eaten yet, all I hear is good reviews about the food. Probably a good thing Luxalune is not within walking distance of where I live though or I would probably be there a few times a week testing out the new brews they get in.

So my addiction to craft beers aside, these past few weeks since Folklorama ended has been filled with drinking, that is only a side effect of going out to sing karaoke though. We may just go out too much for this. What was supposed to be a ritual on Wednesday evenings has now turned into something else. When we have nothing to do we end up at a place that has a karaoke machine. I would say 3 nights a week has been the norm. I have always enjoyed karaoke but was never one to go out of my way to sing it. I would say that about every Oasis I know, a few Bush songs, and some terrible attempts at Jay-Z , Kiss , Our Lady Peace and Aerosmith , plus the nightly ritual of Tiny Dancer , puts me in a category of singing karaoke too much, especially since all those songs have been sung in the last few weeks. But like Fringe and Folklorama what does it matter since I am just having a good time. The people hearing me sing might not be having such a good time though!

I am sure the karaoke phase will calm down but my productivity is still going to take a big hit. At least for stuff that you may see on Stacks of Words because school starts in September and I need to be focused on that. I also will need to find another job again. This one could be much easier to find though as it will just be part time and I can always work at a shit job like Pizza Hut again. Although working for that little amount of money does not appease me it may have to do. I do have a trip to New York to pay for in October where I am going to meet a bunch of strangers!

The Great Burger Hunt – Zax Drive Inn

…the hunt continues…

Every day, years ago, I would bus to work, passing The Burger Factory on Portage Ave multiple times a day, especially on Sunday night cruise night. The Burger Factory always served good burgers. They were not always fantastic but they had a consistent quality that made the trips for a bite worth while.

Again I bus to work passed that very same location every day and I pass the same building still selling burgers yet it slightly different. Gone is The Burger Factory and now it is now Zax Drive Inn . Intrigued by a new, yet familiar burger joint, I figured it should be next on the list of places to try as I search for a great burger.

Walking into Zax, Brett , Bajram and I placed our distinctively different orders which were quickly tossed onto the grill before we even paid. The Fat Boy with lettuce, tomatoes, onions, cheese, pickles and mayo ran me $4.25, with a side of fries adding another $2.95 to the cost. The selection of other items on the menu was quite impressive if you did not feel like a burger. Salads, sandwiches, chicken fingers (and burgers), and wraps ranging from $3.45-$7.95. Although they did not have a veggie burger, Zax has an array of options that are available that vegetarians could eat.

While waiting for meals, patrons can take in the open feel to the restaurant, with walls covered in retro style paintings and classic cars. I believe a jukebox would probably make it seem like a true diner from the 50s. If you wish to dine-in they have a good amount of seats, benches, and bar stools, which could accommodate a large group of friends on short notice.

PHOTO BY BRETT ENQUIST

A little over 10 minutes of waiting we are summoned to pick up our food at the front counter. Digging into our food, my initial reaction was good but a few bites into the burger I was wishing for something better. The burger (Fat Boy front, chicken burger back left, hamburger back right) itself had a good taste but it was overpowered by loads of mayo and lettuce which was dispersed unevenly on a soggy bun. The insane amount of fries began to draw my attention away from the mediocre burger, at least until I bit into one. Crispy fries are my achilles heel when it comes to good fries as that is the best way to eat them, in my opinion, and these had just the right amount of crisp. They even looked fantastic, yet they were probably the blandest fries I have ever eaten. Rarely do I need to douse salt, or in this case, chilli powder, on my fries but they were still basic and almost tasteless, although if I had to choose a texture for my fries this would be it, crispy on the outside yet still soft on the inside.

I may not recommend Zax as a great burger joint but it is in such a convenient location and has great hours, unlike most other burger joints that I could see myself returning for another attempt in the future if I was craving a burger late at night and McDonalds just would not do to take care of that craving.

What I ordered – Fat Boy and fries: $8.06 (after taxes)

Dollar Value : 2.5/5
Burger Taste : 2/5
Fries Taste : 2/5
Menu Selection : 4/5
Overall : 2.6/5

Zax Drive Inn
1184 Portage Ave
Winnipeg, MB R3G 0T4
(204) 786-0908