I heart Taylor

I LOVE Taylor Swift. I just can’t get enough, and this cover might be one of my favourite covers of all time.

Taylor performed George Strait’s “Run,” at the George Strait All-Star Concert six months ago, and in my opinion it’s even better than Strait’s original.

Taylor has a way of making each song her own. The lyrics of the song are so sweet and her sound is so pure. She graces the stage and wows the crowd with this classic.

I encourage all you country fans out there to treat your ears and give it a listen.

Heaven in a cup

Starbucks has introduced a new item on its menu – The Caramel Apple Spice.

Freshly steamed, 100% pressed apple juice is complemented with cinnamon syrup, whipped cream and drizzled with caramel sauce. It’s like apple crisp in a cup!

Go for plenty and make it a Venti

Alexander Ovechkin celebrated his 50^th goal of the 2008-2009 season against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night. After scoring the goal, Alex celebrated by dropping his stick and when reaching to pick it up, pretended it was ‘too hot’ to touch. Now Ovechkin is without a doubt the best player in the league right now. He does it all: scores goals, checks hard, skates fast and brings excitement to the game.  But Thursday night’s celebration was excessive. I think it’s great for players to be passionate about the game and show emotion, but Ovie’s celebration was over the top and tasteless, especially because it was pre-mediated. I read in an article that Ovie was trying to get his teammates to participate too, but they declined. I think it would have been different if his actions were spontaneous, but the fact that it was pre-mediated is what bothers me most.

Although Ovie brings excitement and personality to the game, I think he needs to be careful. This has become a polarizing debate: some people love the celebrations and others are strongly opposed. I just think celebrations like that are unnecessary and it reflects poorly on him and threatens his integrity. Not to mention how others perceive him in the league, which I think can be said about Ovie’s teammates declining participation in his pre-mediated celebration, and Broudeau’s conversation with Ovie after the game.  

50 goals in a season is an accomplishment and he is right to feel excitement, but there’s a time and place for that and it should never be pre-mediated. He’s great, and everyone knows he’s great, but he doesn’t need to rub it in everyone’s face.

Kick ass but have class. I still love you, Ovie!

Fond of who?

Calling all fondu lovers!

I recently ate at one of the Walden Galleria Mall’s newest restaurants: The Melting Pot. For those of you who aren’t familiar, The Melting Pot is a fondu chain. They offer a wide variety of wines, cheeses, and my favourite, the chocolate fondu desserts!

When you first walk in you are a greeted by a friendly hostess who asks if you would like a private or public table. If you choose private, you sit at a regular table like you would sit down to eat at any other restaurant. If you choose public, you sit at a table with people you don’t know. (We chose private).

Once you are seated the waitress gives you the menu and tells you she will give you a few minutes to look over the items. (Note: it will take longer than a few minutes). It took about 20 minutes before we were ready to order. (The menu is pretty intimidating stuff, especially for a first timer).

There are all sorts of things to choose from. You can either pick a cheese that they cook on a burner at your table, or a regular entree, that you also cook yourself. There are six different types of cheese to choose from: Fiesta cheese, Wisconsin Trio, Cheddar cheese, Spinach Artichoke cheese, Tradional Swiss cheese, and a featured cheese. They bring you apples, vegetables and bread to dip.

Dessert is the best part. You select from six different types of chocolate: Original chocolate with peanutbutter, Ying & Yang (white & milk chocolate), Cookies n’ Cream Marshmellow Dream, Chocolate S’mores, Bananas Foster (chocolate swirled with bananas, brownsugar and a pinch of cinnamon) and the Flaming Turtle (milk chocolate, caramel & pecans). The dippers they bring you: fresh strawberries, bananas, brownies, marshmellows, cheesecake and poundcake. It’s incredible! I’ve been dreaming of the chocolate fondu since I left.

I recommend you all treat your taste buds. The food is delicious, the service is great and the whole experience is a lot of fun. For those of you interested, here’s the link to the Melting Pot website: http://www.meltingpot.com/location.aspx?q=66 The menu is a little overwhelming, so if you’re feeling lost and need some helpful suggestions, here are a few tips:

Cheese:

The Fiesta cheese is really nice, especially if you like a little spice. If you’d prefer something a little milder, I’d go with either the  plain cheddar or the spinach & artichoke.

Entrees:

The entrees can be really expensive, so what I might suggest would be a dinner package. When I went we split the ‘Fondu Fusion’. It is meant for two people, but four people can easily share it.

Dessert:

My favourite is the cookies n’ cream. By far the best course of the night.

Enjoy folks!

My two favourite pals, Ben & Jerry

For all of you ice cream fans out there, this one is for you.

I have two words: Half baked. It’s a crazy concoction of chocolate ice cream and vanilla ice cream mixed with fudge brownies and chunks of chocolate chip cookie dough. It’s about 1, 000, 000 calories per spoonful, but worth every bite. I tried it for the first time Saturday night, and I don’t know if I will ever look at chocolate fudge brownie the same way again.

Getting the perfect spoonful…

What you want to do is get a chunk of cookie dough and brownie in the same mouthful. And don’t worry if you finish the entire pint, those tubs aren’t that big anyway!

From anger management to the AHL?

Today brings good news for Avery fans: Sean Avery cleared waivers, which means he could play for the New York Rangers affiliate team: The Hartford Wolf Pack.

I hate to beat a dead horse, but while we’re on the subject, I have to bring it up - Avery’s comments were inapproriate, but did they warrant a six game suspension when other players deliberately cause serious injury, and only go out with a 1-3 game suspension? Worse things have happened. And if you are going to punish Avery, why does the league take action now? Why didn’t the league take a stand when Avery called Kariya, the ‘biggest diver in the league,’  or when Avery made culturally insensitive comments about french hockey players. I’m bothered by the fact that this was the comment that sent Avery packing.

I hope that after Avery’s stint in the AHL, the Rangers welcome him back, and pay out the remainder of his contract. Despite his big mouth and tasteless humour, I’d like to see him back in the game. He’s a decent player, he just needs to get his attitude in check.

I can already read the headline: ‘Rangers take Stars sloppy seconds’

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