Kualoa Ranch

While in Hawaii I really wanted to see what their agriculture was like. We had found out about the Dole Pineapple plantation, but it was going to take up all day, and there really was not all that much to see. That is when we found out about the Kualoa ranch located about 1hr from Wikiki Beach.

The ranch is one of O'ahu's largest and oldest cattle ranches covering over 4000 acres of mountains, valleys and ocean front property. The ranch really prides itself on preserving the land and making themselves self sufficient to the land and workers.

We had to try out some of their beef jerky

While at the ranch we took part in 2 different tours. The first was the Movie Sites and Ranch tour. During this hour trip around the ranch we see the oldest sugar mill, WWII bunkers, several different movie sites, as well as a portion of the ranch and the cattle out grazing.

Brangus grazing on the front pasture

Film location from Jurassic Park

Footprint from the "Godzilla" movie

The second tour that we did was of the ancient fish pond and gardens. On this tour we seen the ranches 125 acre fish pond that is stocked from the ocean. We also got to tour around and see the flower gardens as well as the fruit orchard.

cracking macadamia nuts

fresh coffee beans

Weekend in the Mountains

I am just getting a few things tied up in the office before my mom and I jump on a plane to head to Chicago for the weekend. In the mean time I thought I would share some more photos of the weekend "the Eng" and I spent in Canmore. I am sure to have lots more stories and photos when I get back on Monday!

The view from the top of the mountain was great

Hanging out with Eng at the top!

I Love AB Beef Stickers for $4.95 each! I have a few of those

The giant cow in the Cows ice cream store!

Weekend With " The Eng" Part 1

This past weekend "the Eng" decided that he was going to surprise me. I am the type of person who really does not like surprises as I need to be in control of the situation at all time. But with blind faith I decided to agree, not that I had much choice, and let him plan a weekend for us.

He showed up on Friday night to pick me up with some beautiful summer flowers! Not a bad way to start the weekend.

I really need to learn the names of all these types

Saturday started with getting breakfast in bed, followed by me being told we were going golfing. I had a feeling leading up to this weekend that I knew the destinations of the activities we would be doing, but not knowing 100% still bugged me a little bit.

We drove out west of the city to a golf course called, The Ranch. It is a really beautiful course, one that I had always heard good things about but had never played.

Our golf carts had GPS which was cool.

The course is real beautiful and it was probably the nicest day we have had all summer. The bugs were not to bad, and it was hot! The course is really neat as it keeps the ranch theme throughout. There was an old thrasher, wagon wheels, skulls and so much more.

After golfing we headed back and got changed for supper. Again I did not know 100% where we were going, but a had a hunch. My instincts were right and we headed to Lux Steakhouse downtown for supper. This is probably one of my favorite places in Edmonton, so he really did a good job picking!

The Lobster Mac & Cheese is to die for!

It was a great start to the weekend, but Sunday would be the real test for "the Eng"....

Pampa Brazilian Steakhouse

I love trying new resturants in the city. I have to say that it is one of perks that makes Edmonton a great city to live in is the diverse dinning that we have, and some great restuarnts too.

My lastest place that I tried was Pampa Brazilian Steakhouse. It is located right downtown, just north or the Legislative Building at 9929-109 Street.

 

Pampa is a region in Southern Brazil where cattle-raising takes place, and in particular, it is the birthplace of both: the gaucho and churrasco. Using large wooden or metal skewers driven vertically into the ground near a wood-burning open flame, the gauchos have been preparing churrasco for hundreds of years.

 PAMPA offers a unique fixed-price dining concept known as “rodizio.” This service style features continuous table-side service of a wide variety of select cuts of beef, pork, poultry and lamb. Included in your “rodizio” experience is our one-of-a kind salad bar.

Guests control their service with a small red and green-sided disk. The green side signals the grill masters to bring this variety of meat skewers to the table, while the red side may indicate a pause in service or that you are finished. Turning back to the green side indicates the grill masters to resume service.

 

We did our best to eat as much as the meat as possible, after all that is what you come there for.  We were told of 10 selections that would be brought around on this evening; Pork Sausage (house made), Parmesan-Crusted Pork Loin, Chicken Drumsticks, Chicken Thighs Wrapped in Bacon, Picanha (top sirloin) – Pampa’s signature cut, Garlic Picanha, Bottom Sirloin from Spring Creek Ranch, Beef Ribs – slow roasted for 6 hours, Ribeye, Leg of Lamb, and Chicken Hearts. 

We ended up trying about 8 of these through the night. My favorites were the Beef Ribs, Chicken Drumsticks and the Chicken Thighs Wrapped in Bacon. Because the meat does some from Brazil, you can taste a difference to our Alberta Beef we are used to eating here.

Because we were there for my birthday, we decided that we should try some dessert as well. Our server gave us a few recommendations, and we went with the Chocolate Mousse. We figured it would be a nice light dessert to finish off after a meat heavy meal. The Mousse did not disappoint at all.

Pampa did not dissapoint at all. I would definitely go back for another round or two here in the future. Just a few tips for those of you wanting to try. Pace yourself at the salad bar, don't eat all you salad at once, otherwise you are just left with a lot of great meat! Also go when you are really hungry. Dinner is about $45.00/person so make sure you are hungry enough to eat your monies worth, and leave your diets at home!

Homemade Beef Burgers

I love to BBQ, and one of my favorite meals to make are homemade beef burgers on the grill. I am not sure if it was the +9 degree weather today, or the Masters on TV, but I was ready to fire up the grill for the first time this year.

I was not really prepared for grilling season, but I knew I would have some Alberta Beef in the freezer. My options were steak or ground beef, and some homemade hamburgers sounded really good to me.


I started with 2lbs of ground beef. This stuff was from the steer that we showed last year, but any hamburger will do. I prefer lean the best. This went into the microwave to defrost.

I needed something to go with my burgers, and what better then some fries. These were all I had in the house, but they work just fine!

Once the beef is fully defrosted throw it into a bowl and break it up. I prefer to use my hands, it can get a little messy, but it works the best.

To the beef, add some pepper, seasoning salt and 1 large egg. Mix this up good with your hands.

Next you want to form the patties. I like my hamburgers to be big in size, so I make mine a little bigger. When making them, keep in mind that they will shrink, so make them a little bigger then what you want to eat. Once they are ready, thrown them onto a hot, clean grill.

 While you are waiting for them to cook, you can get your toppings ready. Tonight I added a little lettus, tomato, pickles, and some cheese. You can use whatever you would like though.

Don't forget about your burgers on the grill! Make sure to flip them over once, and to cook them so that there is no more pink in the middle. You can either open them up to tell this, or use a meat thermometer. They should read about 160 degrees F. After I flip my burgers for the last time I like to put some BBQ sauce on them as well.

While I wait for my burger to finish cooking I prep the rest of it. Layering the toppings, and trying to keep the wet items (tomato and pickles) to the inside to keep the bread from getting soggy. I usually use buns, but like I said I wasn't prepared for grilling season!

Finally I add the cheese to the burgers and let that melt.

Once the cheese has melted take the burgers off, and add it to your toppings and bun. A few fries and this meal is complete!