It’s game over man, it’s game over!

Aye, the time is up, the hunt has ended.
Though surely I hid it well, my treasure has been discovered.
Four brave crews unlocked the clues and with seeming ease flew over oceans and across continents. They traveled virtually to the far side of the world.
Finally in Egypt, at the Great Pyramid of Giza they found my treasure.
Well done my virtual pirates!

The prodigious pillagers and/or plunderers are:

Raymond’s Raiders (Happy Birthday Ray!)
Shane’s Scallywags
Kendall’s Knaves
Michael’s Marauders

(Since there were only four entries and I made five prizes everybody wins, just like in kindergarten. Actually I never went to kindergarten but I’ve heard the rumors. Next time I’ll try to curb my enthusiasm a bit more I guess.)

Now as for your reward, though the hunt was virtual, the treasure is real.
Each brave crew will receive one of the treasure chests you see below.

Each is equally filled to overflowing with spectacular treasure much less glorious than any mere mortal could ever imagine.
As for the actual contents… you don’t think I’d spoil it for you now do you? You’ll have to wait until you open the chest to discover the wondrous loot. (As was implied above, actual loot may not be so wondrous.)

Just a hint though, for your imagination. The chests themselves be made of the most rare and precious, oh I dunno, let’s say… pine. They were gifts from my good friend and the best pirate you’ve ever heard of, Captain Jack Sparrow. Inside them ye shall find all manner of genuine zero carat golden goodies and delicious gemstone-like treasures that’ll make your eyes widen and your mouth water. They be the spoils of years of high-seas conquests hard fought and won. That plus some standing in line at Wal-Mart.
I hope it will be a satisfactory prize for your valiant efforts.

So until next time thanks everyone for playing. I hope you enjoy your well earned reward.


Yours truly,
Bob Loblaw (the dread pirate)

P.S. Ray, I’ll send yours in the mail. I will deliver everyone else’s myself.

Virtual Treasure Hunt

I, the dread pirate Bob Loblaw, have hidden a great and wondrous treasure, somewhere on the planet.
(Disclaimer: actual treasure may not be so great and is not really hidden)

If you can guess where it is, you might earn a share of it.

The answer is simple. Below are the latitude and longitude coordinates (in degrees, minutes and seconds) of the hiding place.

A B° C D’ E F” North G H° I J’ K L” East

Each letter represents a single digit and the answer to one of twelve questions. Plug in the answers and you will have the coordinates. Once you have them, you can locate the place by using Google Earth. Start Google Earth and move the cursor and gradually zoom in until you have found the spot. In Google Earth the coordinates are shown in the lower left corner of the screen and you will notice them change when you move the cursor.
(Google Earth carries the seconds to two decimal places eg. 12°34’56.78”. Don’t worry about the last two digits after the decimal; you won’t need to be that accurate.)

The questions are all from the movie Toy Story. You will probably need to watch it closely to get the answers. The questions are in chronological order so the answers will be revealed in the same order as the questions so there is no need to look for more than one answer at a time. Here are the questions.

A. When Andy shakes Hamm (the piggy bank) how many pennies fall out?

B. Immediately after the last army man slides down the skip rope, how many men are shown at the base of the rope?

C. How many points does Woody’s sheriff’s badge have?

D. What is the number on the billiard ball that falls between the table and the wall?

E. How many headlights (not including yellow fog lights) are on the semi trailer truck that pulls into the gas station?

F. How many “rocket rides” are there in the Pizza Planet arcade? (like the coin operated horse rides at a mall)

G. How many toy heads are floating in the Lava lamp in Sid’s room?

H. How many flowers are on the hat that Hannah puts on Buzz’s head?

I. When Woody is trapped under the crate there is a book titled “Improvised Interrogation Handbook”. What is the last digit of the code at the top of the book which begins TM 31-21__?

J. How many orange stripes are visible on one side of the road block/construction barrier which is next to Buzz when he has the rocket strapped to him?

K. After Buzz and Woody detach from the rocket they fall with style past some power lines and scare three birds away. How many birds are left sitting on the lines?

L. How many upstairs windows are there on the street side of Andy’s new house?

When you get the answer, please leave a comment here that you figured it out but do not post the answer here. Please e-mail it to me instead so we can keep the secret to the end of the game. This contest is open to anyone who knows my e-mail address or knows someone they can get it from.

I will send out equal parts of the treasure to five who come up with the correct answer. If there are more people than that who get the right answer the five will be selected randomly from among those who got it correct. The game will end on Sunday June 29.

Remember to e-mail me the answer and to not post it here thanks.

So, where is the treasure?

Good luck and thanks for playing.

The GYOZA

Well, I guess it was inevitable. Until recently they were mainly known only to Asian food lovers and RMs but it seems mainsteam North America has finally discovered Gyoza. You know something has really arrived when Costco starts selling it right!

First a little history. When I first went to Japan all those years ago everything was new, the country, the language, the food, everything.
Although I soon became accustomed to Japanese food, at first everything seemed weird, slimy, smelly or all of the above.
One of the first foods we quickly learned to rely on was Gyoza.
They were delicious, cheap, filling, and didn't have any funky ingredients to worry about.
(Over here they are often sold under the name "Potstickers" for some silly reason.)

Anyway there were many Gyoza places, especially around Osaka where I was, where you could get one "line" (6 pieces) of Gyoza for about $1.20.
It took about 4 lines (24) and a bowl of rice to fill me up then. I don't need quite so many nowadays.

About a week ago I was at KJAMBD's home and Kendall made some nice sushi and Meg brought over some wings and some of these gyoza-ish dumpling's that she had bought at Costco I believe. They were good and all but nothing like the real thing.

Originally Gyoza came from China. But like many foods that came from other places, the Japanese improved on the original.
You've probably seen and maybe tried the "dumplings" at a Chinese buffet. So have I, at many places. They are never very good. I have never found any to compare to the Japanese version of fried Gyoza. So, just in case you feel you may be ready for "The Gyoza", please don't settle for any substandard version you can buy here and there. Making them yourself is easy and they are so so much better. Here is what you'll need:

1 pkg. - gyoza skins (aprox. 70)


1 lb. - ground pork
3/4 - 1 head - cabbage
1 bunch – green onions
2 - eggs
3 cloves – garlic
1 section (2 inches) – ginger
3 TBSP – mirin (rice cooking wine)
3 TBSP – soy sauce (Japanese style)
1 TBSP – sesame oil

Peanut oil to fry in

Dipping sauce
1 part rice vinegar
1 part soy sauce
few drops of La-yu oil to taste

-First cut up cabbage just small enough to enable boiling in a pot for a couple of minutes to soften it up. Remove and cool under cold water. Then squeeze out as much water as you can from it.
-Chop up into fine bits
-Chop up 6 to 8 green onions finely
-beat eggs lightly
-Grate garlic and ginger into paste
-Combine ingredients also add mirin, soy sauce, sesame oil and some salt and pepper
-Mix well with hands until well mixed and redundant
-Cover and let marinate in fridge for one hour

Assembly
You'll need the gyoza goo, skins, a spoon and a small bowl of water
(This goes much quicker if you have two or three people to help)

Lay one skin in your baseball glove hand, scoop out about 1 TBSP of goo (or as much as you can fit and still close the thing) and place in center of skin.


Dip any available finger of baseball throwing hand into water and transfer wet to edge of half of gyoza skin (this will make the two sides stick when you close it up.)
While making a few folds in near edge close up gyoza. Done.
(This part takes a little practice but I would be glad to show you in person if you like)

Finished gyoza should be covered immediately as skins are quite thin and will dry out if left out too long.
Any gyoza not to be cooked presently should be frozen raw until use. Sprinkle surface with corn starch so they don't stick.


Cooking
Use large frying pan with well fitting lid
-Spray with Pam or one of her friends
-Add a little peanut oil for flavour (other oil will do but slighty lamer)
-place gyoza into med-high heated pan, cover and let bottoms brown for 2 or 3 minutes
-Add hot tap water to produce steam (maybe 3/4 or 1 cup) and steam vigorously with lid on for 7 minutes or so. If water is gone before 7 minutes are up add a little more. You need 7 minutes of old west locomotive grade steam basically. A little more won't hurt but you want the water to be gone before you remove the gyoza so not too much.

Serve hot with dipping sauce (above) and a bowl of rice for authenticity. Enjoy!