Saturday, June 15, 2013

CPAP, Car and Grammar.

As I told you, Thursday night I went for my second Sleep Clinic test. Nasal PillowWhat a chizz, someone told me they don’t put all that gunk in your hair the second time. Oh yes they do. I was plastered with the stuff again. I was told to take my mask and my own hose which I did but in fact they couldn’t use my hose because it's heated, didn’t realise that, it’s only very slight. There were two other patients and we all got chatting for a while. I then discovered that there is a nasal pillow (type of breathing apparatus) which the other woman had and which she says is as comfortable as can be. Now I have an appointment this morning to look at one and check it out. They have charged my Visa for the stuff I already have. I don’t believe this, I washed my hair really well, I thought, and found some more gunk. Damn me, two patches.

The first thing Matt said to me when he picked me up at 6 a.m. “I Warninghave to go to the garage”. Didn’t get a good morning or anything! Turned out there is a warning symbol with the word Check – couldn’t find it in the book so I Googled it on line; it seems to have something to do with emissions. Anyway, he scuttled off once he was breakfasted. I can’t believe this symbol was not in the book which came with the car. Of course it could be nothing at all, just a malfunctioning light, it’s an old car – no such luck, it was a combination of things so our bank balance is feeling the hit once again.

One of my big bugaboos is “its” and “it’s” – I think I have finally got it down right; if it stands for ‘it is’ or ‘it has’ then use the apostrophe, if it’s possessive then don’t. Simple really isn’t it. My apologies to any grammarians who have been driven mad by my misuse – and why didn’t you tell me?

A nice sounding asparagus recipe, after all, the season isn’t over just yet. This one is once again from The Guardian, a British newspaper. I see one of the ingredients is ghee, I have linked it to Wikipedia. For the very small amount though, I would just melt some butter and pour off the fat to use in this recipe.

Chilled asparagus and almond soup


The combined goodness of antioxidant-rich asparagus and protein-packed almonds makes this a superfood soup. Enjoy hot or chilled, Asparagus & Almond Soupjust don't skimp on the lemon zest – it really lifts the creaminess and richness.

Serves 4
 
100g flaked almonds
1 small onion, roughly diced
1 large leek, roughly diced
1 tsp ghee
1 large garlic clove, roughly diced
2½ tsp fresh tarragon, chopped (or 1 tsp dried)
600g asparagus, trimmed
1¼ litres vegetable stock
2½ tsp fresh lemon juice
Salt and black pepper
For the topping
½ tsp lemon zest
½ tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 Toast 25g of the almonds in a dry, large saucepan and set aside for garnishing later.
2 In the same pan gently fry the onion and leek in ghee for 5 minutes until softened, but not browned. Add the garlic and tarragon to the pan and fry for another minute.
3 Prepare the asparagus by snapping off the woody ends. Add the spears and remaining 75g almonds to the pan. Stir, add a pinch of salt and black pepper, then add the stock.
4 Simmer gently for 5 minutes, with the lid on, until the asparagus is tender.
5 Remove from the heat and add the lemon juice. Blend carefully, in batches if necessary. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
6 Serve in warmed bowls and scatter the toasted, flaked almonds on top with lemon zest and a swirl of extra virgin olive oil. Alternatively, chill and remove from the fridge just before serving, then garnish as above.
Recipe supplied by Melissa Hemsley and Jasmine Hemsley.

Have a great day
Jo_thumb[2]

8 comments:

  1. Oh my ...my check engine light went on yesterday! I have to travel today so I am taking my chances and bringing it in on monday...If Im not too stressed that looks like the best soup yet...maybe tonight! GOod luck with the cpap...I have to say my mask was a heck of a lot more comfy looking than the photo on your site...it WAS like a puffy little pillow...but I dont know if it was called that.

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    1. Well I hope you take care Zoe. You never know with cars.

      I think your mask sounds like the one I saw at the sleep clinic the other night.

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  2. Seeing the "Check Engine" light appear is never a good thing. At best (malfunctioning light) it's still an annoyance. At worst, it's a major expense. Apparently, these days it's also used to tell the driver that it's time for a check-up. I was both relieved and perturbed when the technician told me that after I rushed my car in for "emergency" service some years back.

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    1. I didn't know that Jeff, but we ended up with a service plus brakes which we sort of knew wanted doing. I can't remember what else but it was $700 worth. Sometimes makes me wonder if its worth owning a car, but then we couldn't drive dahn sahth.

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  3. Dumb it wasn't in the book. Although that light can mean a lot of different things, some small, some really major. Hope yours was just a tiny issue.

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    1. It sure wasn't tiny Alex, brakes had to be done, but it could have been worse I guess.

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  4. Did they tell you at the sleep clinic that there were foods that interfere with good sleep besides caffeine? I am scheduled for the test next week.

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  5. Nope, nothing about foods. Only about breathing. Not everyone reacts to caffeine that way, I don't. If you are going for your test, take a hair dryer with you, for when you are cleaning the gunk out of your hair, just in case. The clinic provided them, but they didn't work very well. I heard the tech say, to someone else, that people always sleep whatever they think about the matter.

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