Saturday, March 2, 2013

Blog Lists, Asparagus, Tavernas.

To all my blogging friends, hidden from the sight of any reader, I Bloggerhave, as no doubt you do too, a list of all the blogs I follow. The only trouble is, this list is no longer accurate because some of the bloggers have disappeared into the wide blue yonder, but I cannot seem to find a way to delete ancient blogs. Can I do so? Is there a trick I haven’t discovered? Or will Blogger just not let you change things at all? Obviously if you don’t use Blogger you can’t help me anyway. I do hate having a long list of things which are no longer correct.

I really think I should give up bowling, my Friday performance was pretty pathetic once more. I keep going though, I must be a masochist.

Our dinner guests for Saturday are unable to come afteAsparagus Mozzarellar all, she is pretty sick. I told them to forget it and we would reschedule once she was better. That leaves us with a few things we wouldn’t have bought but we will be able to eat them over the next several days. One thing I made Friday night, I will post the recipe for on Monday, it was very good. It included asparagus so will be even better when local asparagus is in season. However we both enjoyed it despite not having local asparagus. Not too long now, about 2 to 2 1/2 months. Actually, might pop in there next week, I have just discovered they have frozen, chopped asparagus and I have run out of asparagus soup.

When my parents used to lived in Spain, we frequently went to visit them and often ate Gambas Ajillo or Garlic Shrimp. The first time Matt ate this dish, he was served two really jumbo shrimp over rice and still maintains it was the best he was ever served. This recipe is based on the Spanish dish. I have made Gambas Ajillo many times tavernaat home, it really is delicious. I have never had lemon wedges served with it though, or sherry included. We used to sit at the bar and have them served to us as tapas. In Alicante, where my parents lived, we went into tavernas where the floors were always tile and the habit was for customers to drop anything they didn’t want, be it cigarette packs or shrimp shells. The following morning the taverna would wash the floors with a hose pipe and get rid of all the trash. It never really got that dirty, but my cousin got so much into the habit, I had to keep reminding her not to do it in the UK.

Garlic Shrimp

Source: Casual Cuisines of the World - Taverna

Serves 4
In Spanish tavernas, these shrimp; fragrant with garlic and olive oil; are brought to the table sizzling in a little metal pan. Have plenty of Garlic Shrimpbread on hand to sop up the delicious pan juices. Serve with lemon wedges, if desired.
INGREDIENTS

1/4 cup olive oil

4 large cloves garlic, finely minced

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoons dry sherry

1 teaspoon paprika

Chopped fresh flat-leaf (Italian) parsley for garnish

DIRECTIONS

In a sauté pan over medium heat, warm the olive oil. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and sauté for 1 minute. Raise the heat to high and add the shrimp, lemon juice, sherry and paprika. Stir well, then sauté, stirring briskly, until the shrimp turn pink and curl slightly, about 3 minutes. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper and sprinkle with parsley. Serve hot.

Have a great weekend

Jo_thumb[2]

8 comments:

  1. I recently 'cleaned up' my Blog List and this is what worked for me.

    Go to your Reading List on page headed up Jo's Blogs or whatever yours says

    On right side of page (next to blue words saying 'view in Google reader' click on the little wheel which will say 'manage reading list' when you hover over it.

    That takes you to a page 'Manage Blogs I'm Following'
    Choose any of the Blogs and click on the blue 'settings' word. You might be asked to sign in to your Google account - just click the Google button.

    On the left hand side you should see a heading 'sites I've joined'. Open that and you will see all the Blogs you follow with the option to stop following the sites.

    Phew!

    Good luck


    That recipe made my mouth water ... we'll be back in the Canaries very soon so can't wait to get some decent authentic tapas LOL

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Sue. Never even noticed that wheel or the one above it.

      Oh yes, lucky you, so many years since I have been on a tapas run.

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  2. Yes, what Sue said. You can do cleanup in Google Reader. Click on each one and see when's the last time that person posted. You can also visit the site and click on that person's profile to be sure he still follows you.
    One thing I've noticed - you can unsubscribe in Google Reader, but if you haven't also gone to the site and stopped following through the Google Friends Connect widget, then sometimes the blog will continue to show up in Google Reader. (You can also unfollow through your blog's Dashboard, which is the same as unfollowing through GFC.)

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Alex. I was getting fed up with having obsolete blogs on my list. Will check on the friends connect widget too.

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  3. Hi Jo .. I was waiting to see if you had answers to your clean up question - I see you had two very useful answers .. so I shall now follow suit.

    Asparagus must be a few weeks away here .. end of March usually - shall venture out to look - the farm I use is a good 45 minutes drive, but I like to support them ... and I get to see the countryside as I use the lanes to get there ..

    Garlic shrimps reminds me of South Africa days .. delicious ... cheers for now - Hilary

    ReplyDelete
  4. For some reason Blogger still thinks you are spam, luckily I get a copy in my email.

    Local asparagus doesn't arrive until May here, but we can get asparagus all year round - comes from Mexico, Chile, wherever. Its not very good.

    South Africa? Don't think of garlic shrimp from there.

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  5. We visited a Spanish restaurant in DC that served tapas and it was wonderful sampling all those dishes.

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    Replies
    1. Once upon a time it was the law that in Spanish and Greek bars they had to serve something to eat with a drink presumably to stop the patrons getting drunk. These days its a big 'thing' and most bars serve very ornate taps or mezes depending on the country. We used to go on tapas runs.

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