Bad site design on the rampage - pinterest why you suck so badly · Wednesday September 30, 2026 by colin newell
I spend a lot of time cooking, baking and prepping food. We all do it. Every day. Without question…
And unless you are preparing the same three-square every single day, you are spending a portion of your research day looking for new ideas for the kitchen.
Which I do. My wife’s preferred method is Pinterest. Which is fine.
Pinterest is, after all, a great location where specific genres of food are aggregated, collated and gathered… So, not a bad thing…
So. OK. In all fairness, Pinterest is not the issue. It is the specific food blogs that choose the sloth lazy path of formatting the recipes and food stories the exact same way… over and over and over and over and flipping over and over…
So. What is it that is bugging me you ask?
It is the endless scrolling through page after page of ads to get to the recipe and even when you do, the page is often scarred with popups that distract from what’s important. Is it too much to ask to get the skinny on anything anymore? On this blog (which has been on the air for 20 years, no less,) has never drooped so low as to subject our readers to this waste of time.
We offer recipes. Simple opening anecdotes or observations and straight to the meat… or tofu… depending on your leaning.
That’s it. No more. No less.
We respect our readers. Big time. Everything on this site (as far as food is concerned) is kitchen tested… over and over.
The average food blogger out there holds their readers in contempt. Not us. We get you. We really do.
Similar rants could be dropped regarding video content creators on the YouTubes… that could encapsulate whatever they are trying to say in less than 15 minutes… but for whatever reason extend the session into a half-hour and beyond… solving most sleep disorders in the process. That is another rant for another day. In the meantime, don’t be a wiener: Get to the point. Deliver the goods and stop wasting my time!
I’d appreciate your comments – leave them in the nifty comment field below. Or you could send me a screed and tell me how much I suck. E-Mail form right over here
Colin Newell is a Victoria B.C. Canada resident who has been creating content for decades. He will never, ever waste your time...
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Key Lime Pie - anytime is a good time for a classic · Saturday August 8, 2026 by colin newell
Back in the 1980’s, Victoria B.C. had a restaurant called “The Herald Street Cafe…”
For many people, it opened the door to a level of cuisine exploration for locals that simply did not exist before.
Victoria residents were more likely to dine at Denny’s, White Spot and a handful of small mom & pop diners that plated hamburgers on the flat top with fries.
Things changed in the 80’s with the likes of Pagliacci’s, Goodies on Broad Street, The South Side Diner (however short lived…) and, heck, even John’s Place.
The Herald Street Cafe introduced us to hip dining, dishes like pasta vongole (pasta with clams…) and desserts like Shaker Lemon Pie… and while they never served Key Lime Pie, to the best of my knowledge, it would have fit in.
For whatever reason, I have been dreaming of Key Lime pie for months and I found Chef Brian Lagerstrom’s interpretation of this classic.
I have modified a few of the ingredients more suited to Canadian or European taste buds.
Sure, you could go to his website and check out his recipe – but like anything remotely like stuff you’d see on Pinterest, there are crap loads of ads that you have to sift through — and there are few things that offend me more: a gauntlet of ads you have to run through to see the flipping recipe! Yea, I’m talking to you internet! My food blog features no ads, no shills, no product placement and no BS! Enjoy your visit.
Let’s get into it! The pie is actually 3 things in one: A pie crust (suitable for a myriad of adaptation…) – the custard filling (again, adaptations are only limited by your imagination… and a whipped topping.
GRAHAM CRACKER CRUST
230g (2½ cups) graham crackers
25 g (3 tbsp) nonfat milk powder
30 g (2½ tbsp) sugar
4 g (¾ tsp) salt
65 g (4½ tbsp) butter, unsalted
65 g (4½ tbsp) heavy cream
Supplies – 9.5” Glass pie pan, neutral oil spray for pie pan.
Step 1 – preheat oven to 375 degrees (F)
Step 2 – gently melt the 65g of butter in a small pan – you do not want to boil or simmer the butter – just warm until liquid. Set aside to cool.
Step 3 – pulse/blitz the graham crackers, milk powder, salt and sugar in a food processor until they are the consistency of coarse sand – you are not looking for powder and you don’t want lumpy consistency either. Depending on your food processor, this could take 30s to a minute and a 1/2. Results vary depending on the gear you are using.
Step 4 – add the butter and cream to your food processor. Pulse for 15 to 40 seconds (results vary) – you want something that holds together when pressed (kind of like medium dry (or medium moist) cookie dough. [Consult the attached video for a better idea…]
Step 5 – prepare your crust in a 9.5” glass pie pan – this blog entry does not seek to identify the best method for making a graham wafer crust – consult the attached video for a very good view and approach to making a graham wafer crust. This was my first attempt at making a hybrid graham wafer crust and I was delighted with the results — and I am not a chef!
Step 6 – bake the crust for 12 minutes in a 375 degree oven – you are looking for a golden brown finish for the entire crust. Set aside to cool for 10 – 15 minutes.
Step 7 – Reset oven to 325 degrees (F)
KEY LIME CUSTARD FILLING
7 egg yolks
75 g (⅓ cup) sour cream, full fat
396 g / 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
120 g (½ cup) key lime juice, Nellie & Joes
2 g (¼ tsp) salt
Supplies – a medium sized bowl – steel or glass –
Step 1 – whisk all the wet ingredients in a bowl until smooth and well combined. Let the mixture rest in the bowl for 15 to 20 minutes (while the crust cools a bit is a good amount of time!)
Step 2 – Pour the custard into the pan on top of the graham wafer crust (as if there was any other way…)
Step 3 – You can “rest” the custard in the pan for a minute or two – or jiggle it gently to dislodge any bubbles, but bubbles are unlikely.
Step 4 – Bake for 17 to 20 minutes. Remove from oven. The edges, in to around the center 2-3 inches should have set like jello – and there can be a bit of a jiggle on the outer edges. Note: The pie will continue to set while it cools and chills but do try and get the outer realm to “appear” set. It is better to put it back into the oven for another few minutes and recheck the pie. It is actually challenging to “over-bake” a key lime pie. Use your best judgement and the accompanying video.
Step 5 – Critical! Chilling is extremely important with this pie! While you could refrigerate it for 2-4 hours and serve, it is significantly better if the pie is covered with stretch wrap and chilled overnight in the fridge. If there was one key element in the key lime pie, this is it. Chilling is imperative!
WHIPPED CREAM TOPPING
250 g (1 cup) heavy cream, cold
50 g (½ cup) powdered sugar
5 g (¾ tsp) vanilla extract
pinch of salt
Extras: lime zest, for topping
Step 1 – prepare your whipping cream – I use a KitchenAid mixer but you could do this by hand, with a hand mixer or a whisk (which would be hardcore!) We tend to shoot for “stiff peaks” and that is a pretty subjective term.
Brian’s recipe calls for 1/2 cup of powdered sugar. That is way too much for my Canadian taste buds – I’d start at around 1/4 cup of powdered sugar (which you add after you get your desired peaks…) and don’t forget your vanilla.
Step 2 – chill the topping overnight! (yes, you can sub in cool whip or tinned-compressed whip topping. You do you – there is no right answer.
Comments, Serving and Supply notes…
You can get the juice direct from Nellie & Joes – via Amazon in Canada or Walmart in the USA. The crust, once mastered, can be the base for any cheesecake or custard based pie – you’re only limited by your imagination. The whipped topping is total open to your interpretation and preferences. Go crazy.
Colin Newell in a resident of Victoria B.C. Canada and has been running this “ad-free” blog since 2007. If you enjoy these entries and recipes, please keep the love flowing with a comment or an e-mail… which I will respond to instantly!
Please leave some feedback - it strokes my ego!
Victoria P.I. Steele episode #1 · Monday June 1, 2026 by colin newell
It was a regular Friday in the offices of Robert Steele when the phone rang.
I grabbed the handset out of the cradle, like a James Bay seal reaching for a tourist treat at Fishermans wharf..
The name is Robert – I’m a private detective with the firm Steele-Wall down on Fisgard in sunny Victoria.
My long time partner, Jimmy Wall met his fate on Fan Tan Alley one cold December afternoon… as of yet unsolved… and that is a story for another day… I digress…
So his name remains on my office door… as something of a promise of what you will run into… if you ever cross me.
Judging by the voice on the other end of the blower, I knew I had a live wire. She spat her words out like a pro-wrestler on a Saturday afternoon, which was odd. It was Friday. Friday, high noon.
It seems one of her favorite cafe’s had just dumped their quality single origin beans for some johnny-come-lately discount brew and, don’t tell me let me guess, the drinks are the same price.
Yea, this was a clear case of brew and gouge. I hate it when that happens. I hate it when the phone rings and there is an angry client on the other end of the chatterbox. I hate stomach aches and today I was cooking up an Olympic gold medal.
Like a dozen clown detectives packed into a Volkswagen beetle, I managed to squeeze a few words in edgewise..
“So let’s take it from the top shall we?” I coached.
Catrina Bell, or “Cat” as she is known down on Fisgard, works as the executive legal assistant with the Crown attorneys office and Cat’s no slouch. She knows a bad fish when she smells one so she knew who to call.. and looking at at my empty work calendar, I knew my day was looking up.
“Ah, Mister Steele, is this you?”
“Ma’am”, I mumbled between gritted teeth… “It sure is. What seems to be your beef? “
“I was down at the Matrix today, you know the cafe down between Wharf and Sunset?”
“Yes, Ma’am… the one between Jimmy’s Pawn and Leo’s Bar n Grill?”
“Yea, that’s the one… I go there, like, every day without fail and…”
“well, you know how it is. They get you all jazzed up on great coffee, all tasty and perfect, and…”
“Please continue…” I encouraged while peeking at my Hamilton watch.
“Well, I was in for my usual flat white and… well and… well and….”
Just then the scent of spicy ginger beef drifted through my open upstairs office window one measly half block from Don Mee’s and yet it might as well been miles away. I wasn’t going anywhere this afternoon.
By now I was furious (and hungry) as I snubbed out a virtual Marlboro into an imaginary ash-tray next to my Olivetti.
“Here’s the way it is Catrina. There are two kinds of people out there – The good people: that’s you and the men and women in your office – you know and trust.
And then there are the coffee people: the bad people, looking for every opportunity to screw with the general public. That is where I come in.
When my phone rings, it is like the sound of a crying baby. And lately, I have been getting a crib full.”
My job never ends. Coffee cop and private detective. It is a thankless one and the pay is crap. But sometimes on a sunny day, when the wind is blowing in the right direction and things are going my way, I can sit in the corner cafe and everything is okay. The brew is hot like the pavement over Douglas and Yates on an August night…. until the phone rings…
“Mr. Steele, ah… Mr. Steele….Hello? Are you still there?”
I snapped out of my narcissistic reverie long enough to realize that I was still on the phone…
“Their americanos were just so perfect.. crema like butterscotch churned by angels.. and now… and now it’s…
“Go on, Miss C.. and don’t let me interrupt…”
“The coffee is like a double-double Tim Horton’s that has been forgotten in the back-seat of a Pontiac Acadian, left overnight in the strip mall and allowed to bake in the heat of the day…”
“Cat, I get your vibe, and it pains me to know that every day in this sleepy little town, there is one more coffee crime going down…Now you relax and let Mr. Steele take it from here.”
As she hung up the phone and I tapped another pretend Marlboro out of my near-empty deck of phantom smokes, I realized one thing …Damn, I need a coffee!
Detective Robert Steele is the sole proprietor of Steele-Wall a private investigation firm keeping a handle on caffeinated crimes and general mischief in the sleepy little town of Victoria.
Colin Newell, author of the coffeecrew blog once helped write an episode of C.S.I. Las Vegas (Season 3 – Episode Last Laugh) – since then, pretty much everything has gone to his head.
2025-The year in review · Monday December 29, 2025 by colin newell
Hey, hey! 2025 is almost done – and what do we have to show for it?
A.I. has taken over most aspects of our lives (apart from this one which is still occasionally tapped out by a human…)
Travel has become as unromantic as possible – hence I rarely travel much beyond the family room…
And flying? Well, I fly my Canadian flag with pride when the wind is gusting under 125 km/hr.
Truthfully, the last year or so I have been in Hamilton, Ontario and Calgary, Alberta.
Photo above: Coffee. Yes, it is still a thing for me!
2025 was a great year for in home cooking and broadening our culinary chops without broadening our waists.
2025 marks almost 2 years retired after 35 years + working at the local University in I.T. and tech – hardware and software support.
That old adage: “I don’t know where I found the time to work before has never been more true. I really believe that this is the most meaningful time of my life and I am happier than when I was carefree and 11 years old. Seriously.
Stuff – I do committee work with the municipality of Saanich… a couple of things… keeping me engaged… on the edge… sharp… where I gotta be…
After 16 or 17 years raising funds for Movember, I have moved onto a much more local project: The Island Prostate Cancer resource center. A great cause for men facing cancer and their families that find value in this great resource.
Music: I have been playing guitar and piano since the 1970’s – my debut album was in 2008 and that is increasingly feeling like a long time ago! Now I play around 1 hour a day – I collaborate with a few other players to make some noise with. Am I thinking long term? No, not at all.
Radio stuff: I am still doing ham radio as well as technical projects that revolve around “amateur” radio – like project building and supporting our radio community locally, regionally and internationally…
Coffee – As one of the (maybe former) authorities on the subject of cafe culture, home and office coffee and espresso based goodness… I am still picking away at my coffee project that started in 1994 — now known as CoffeeCrew.comCheck in…
Is there anyone out there? I genuinely do not hear much from anyone via this blog. It is entirely possible that I am talking to a brick wall… or a dry wall… or a wailing wall. You can send us a shout over here – anyone locally that sends me a shout, I will buy a coffee and treat – and we can talk about whatever comes up.
Colin Newell is a Victoria resident and has been writing about the subject of coffee and pop culture since the beginning of internet time…
Two tunes by Saanich vocal superstar Jeff Albert…
