I don’t think I was ever taught ‘how’ to cook. I mean, no one ever spent any amount of time in the kitchen showing me how to do this and that. I can certainly however credit both of my parents whom are amazing cooks with allowing me utilize all the tricks, tools, recipes and knowledge that they had growing up – and I think a lot of that pays off in the end.

It’s kind of like riding a bike in that regard, once you know how to cook a turkey, or scramble eggs, you don’t really forget. You really only improve on things (hopefully).

Cooking a steak on the BBQ is one of those thing that I think I’m pretty good at now, but it’s something that you always think you can do better, at least ‘I’ think that anyhow. I am by no means a master BBQ chef, but you know – that’s good, cuz I like to learn as much as I can and to try new things. Especially in the summer, beer in hand and steak on the grill!

La Grille (whom make the great Montreal Steak spice which I use all the time) are holding a contest called “La Serious Griller Contest” in which you could win $300 in gear from Canadian Tire and a deluxe La Grille Barbecue Seasoning Pack.

I know this cuz I was on their site watching Chef Michael (no.. not Michael Smith) give some tips on BBQ-ing steaks and a little about the cuts of beef. It’s a great watch and if you’re intimidated by the BBQ (I know Liz.. umm.. is a little) it’s worth a watch! (Click here to check it out), I had no idea how to cook a flank steak (the cheaper one) but the instructions are pretty simple.

The reason that I like it so much is that it fills in the gap in how to research a great company and gives great explanations as to what some of the confusing terms are when you’re looking at a stock. I will do a bigger review later on, but I though i’d comment on the fact that most people (including myself) will do more research into that new laptop or iPad or whatever before we look into the ‘hot tip’ of a stock company your boss just told you about, or the extremely undervalued company which is on sale right now and about to move higher.

With the Internet at our disposal, investors are armed with almost too much information. You can research and develop ideas on absolutely everything, from the latest technology put into the 4g iPhone to nuphedragen reviews or some other drug you want to use to lose weight:P

The point I guess I’m trying to get across is that before you go and invest in a stock or any investment. Do your homework. If your goal is the “long-term”, than it makes sense to spend at least a “short term” researching what you’re investing in.

I love this idea, as I’m always looking for new content and new products are a great way to do this. I was sent awhile back a product called ‘Respiratory Guard’ – by Complete Health.

The product is coming along at a good time, seeing that flu vaccines are all the rage and everyone seems to be going out and getting their H1N1 flu vaccines.

I’ve tried the product, which came in a package of 14, and I can honestly say that they taste pretty good actually. You’re allowed to chew them (which is what I did), and although I didn’t feel any sort of immediate reaction or anything – I can say honestly that they taste pretty good!

The secret to the whole supplement is the Elderberry. As you can read on their page they have a great history and information page about the Elderberry here. Apparentely Elderberries have been used for therapeutic purposes, as well as for nutritional purposes, for centuries.

While I haven’t gotten any H1N1 flu vaccines and am in no rush to do so, I can say that these natural flavored losenges could be something that I use to boost my immune system… depending on pricing of course.

This review is a result of a feedback campaign by Respiratory Guard. The recipients were asked to give their honest opinion about the product they received. Good reviews were not incentivized and poor reviews will not be censored for their opinion of the product.

I remember when I was purchasing my first home (back only 5 years ago this month) – I tried to take advantage of all the tax benefits I could in order to make it as much to my benefit as possible. I did get screwed over with my Mastercard program as they had me enrolled in the ‘First Homebuyers’ incentive program and I remember when I called about it… I had about $300 which I could have used, only to find out that it was only if I used BMO as my mortgage holder.. at the time, this was definitely not an option.

I did end up using my RRSP’s in order to make a down payment… I’ve touched on this before as I wasn’t 100% sure on how it worked, but now that I do, I’m really glad I took advantage. Of course I still wish I had that money in RRSP’s.. but what can you do? Perhaps my home is now worth more than the difference.. who knows.

I’ve been given the opportunity to write about the 2010 Homebuyer Tax Credits available to first homebuyers – but for our US visitors. So if you’re a Canadian – I’d suggest you take a look at the Home Buyers Plan which seems to be the only real incentive our government provides.

In the US, if you’re a first-time home buyer or you have not owned in the last three years, you can receive up to an $8,000 tax credit. What’s interesting however, is that you don’t have to BE a first time Homebuyer to take advantage.. Homeowners who have lived in a current home consecutively for 5 of the past 8 years can receive up to a $6,500 tax credit when purchasing a new home!

When you watch the following video, the ‘suit’ does a pretty good job in explaining how when someone sells a home – it creats $60,000 worth of new money into the economy, as well as creating a new job. Pretty sweet – but who really benefits? Well, that’s up to you to decide, as with most things.. if you want something.. do it.. if not, don’t! If you want to sell your home.. these are just a few things to keep in mind, it’s not a terrible thing for sure!

A few other points of interest:

• There may be no future extensions, so all qualified homebuyers are urged to act and have a written, binding contract by April 30, 2010 (close by June 30, 2010.)
• Income limits are now $125,000 for singles, $225,000 for married couples with a $20,000 phase-out of the credit for both.

In any case, I would highly suggest if you’re going to make a big purchase such as this or even if your’e thinking about it.. do your research, and see what you may qualify for. Every little bit helps!

Ok, I should be good for a long, long time. I now have what I would like to believe as the perfect home movie theatre setup.

I followed the following guide almost to the letter and created my own silent XBMC (Xbox Media Center) on a small Nettop computer which I was only able to get from the states at the price I wanted which was $199, not even on sale at Best Buy.

I won’t re-invent of paste the instructions for the XBMC computer as you can read all about it if you click on this link here. What I can tell you is that if you plan on doing this and don’t have anyone going to the US or anyway to get your hands on the AcerRevo nettop, then someone just posted ANOTHER guide to creating a Boxxee (sort of like XBMC) setup with a computer available in Canada which also has a DVD/ROM which would be nice. I’m lucky in that I have an external USB DVD-RW which I personally use downstairs to do any DVD or CD watching.

If you don’t feel like going through all this hassle, and just want to have a great media player which you can just plug in a hard drive and go, I just noticed at buy.com that they have a bundle of a 500gig Mybook drive and a WDTVlive on for $139.99 USD. I can’t imagine that bundle is available here just yet – but it’s worth noting that this is the price that you can get them for now… unreal!

I have been watching quite a bit of TV and Movies lately, but I can’t really see that as such a bad thing as it’s really too crappy to do anything outside, and I already put up my lights and stuff!  Sweet! Anyone else done decorating like  we are?