Saturday, November 1, 2008

Gasoline, November,

How about that, Matt actually bought gas for 88¢ yesterday. No-one ever thought it would come back down from $1.30 or more. In fact most people predicted it would never go below a $1 ever again. However, as I commented to Matt this morning, I bet the food prices don't go down any time soon. There is a campaign on at the moment called a Toonie for a tummy which means you give a $2 coin to a charity collecting food for hungry children. Canada isn't a wealthy country, but we shouldn't have hungry kids just the same. Nor should they in the States, but when they spend billions on war, its not surprising things get neglected: starving children, desperately poor families, sick and maimed people, you know just every day things like that. Not to mention schools closing down because they don't have enough money. If we don't get the hell out of Afghanistan, we might be having the same problems here. Of course we spend a lot of money feeding illegal immigrants and people who are not prepared to work for a living. I had better stop before I really get on my soap box. The Trick or Treaters had great mild weather for their activities last night, amazing since we had snow earlier in the week. I gather that tomorrow will be cold again. Finally the US elections take place on Tuesday and on Wednesday, the British will be celebrating Guy Fawkes Day. Maybe the effigies of Guy Fawkes will wear the face of George W. Bush. Last night I think there were some people really celebrating Hallowe'en outside our windows, lots of yelling and shouting, youngsters out being a nuisance I think. One of the problems with having a park close by although it doesn't happen often. As I mentioned, we have friends coming for dinner tonight so I have to get on. Matt has to pick up a couple of things from the store now we have finally decided what we are doing. Secret til Monday, but nothing very unusual as our brains aren't working very well at the moment, LOL. From Great Recipes for Good Health, here is a Caribbean recipe, probably an adaptation, there is a tip on the page: Lime, lemon and orange peels may have a residue of insecticide. Scrub them under running water before grating. I don't remember reading that before, but it is a good tip. Caribbean Lime Chicken Serves 4. 1 medium sized lime 2 Tbs dark rum or orange juice 3 cloves garlic, sliced thin 2 Tbs minced fresh ginger or 1/2 tsp ground (use fresh its best)* 1 Tbs hot red pepper sauce 1 whole chicken breasts (about 2 lbs), halved and skinned Nonstick cooking spray 1 large yellow onion, chopped 1 can (1 lb) low sodium tomatoes with their juice 2 Tbs molasses 1 cinnamon stick 1 banana, sliced and dipped in lime or lemon juice to prevent darkening (optional) Remove the peel from half the lime and set aside. Juice the lime into a shallow glass bowl. Add the lime peel to the juice along with the rum, garlic, ginger and red pepper sauce. Add the chicken, tossing to coat well. Cover and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight, turning the chicken in the marinade several times. Lightly coat a heavy 12 inch skillet with the cooking spray and set over moderate heat for 30 seconds. Add the chicken, reserving the marinade and cook about 2 1/2 minutes on each side. Transfer to a platter. In the same skillet, cook the onion, uncovered, over moderate heat until soft - about 5 minutes. Purée the tomatoes in a blender or processor and add to the skillet, along with the molasses, cinnamon stick, reserved marinade and chicken. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a platter. Raise the heat under the skillet to high and boil the sauce, uncovered, until slightly thickened - 3 to 5 minutes. Return the chicken to the skillet and heat through for 2-3 minutes. Remove the cinammon stick, arrange the chicken and sauce in a serving dish and garnish with the banana slices, if you like. Serve with tossed green salad. * Regarding fresh ginger, we buy it, peel it, slice it and then freeze it in a plastic bag. It lasts forever. Have a great weekend.

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