Friday, March 7, 2014

Bowling, Bear Cub, Dinners and Diets.

Amazing, I bowled really well again today. Unusual for a Thursday. My_BallPoor Matt didn’t again although each game was better than the last. Unfortunately we had some kids arrive by our last game and one of them was being a right pain in the butt which wasn’t helping either, throwing balls at the bumper bars instead of down the alley. Mother not doing anything about it, etc. etc. If we hadn’t been nearly finished, I would have done something about it!!! It was a beautiful day too which probably brought people out to bowl. Sun shining brightly and snow melting all over the place. It’s supposed to be even warmer on Friday +2°C which, these days, is almost bikini weather. It should account for a fair bit of snow hopefully. Next week is March Break so I guess some people will be heading south and no doubt there will be lots more kids at the bowling alley.

Cute, a new polar bear from the Toronto Zoo is shown revealing his name on YouTube today. Of course, I wondered how they got him to do it. What a cute little bundle of fur. It’s such a shame that polar bears grow up to be so dangerous because even as adults they look huggable.


Don’t have to figure out what we are going to eat on Saturday night as we are going to a friend’s for dinner. MaHorn of Plentyke a nice change. One thing I never do is go to someone’s for dinner and promptly say “I can’t eat that I’m on a diet”. I have had that done to me and it’s infuriating, especially when one has spent forever in the kitchen trying to please your dinner guests. My mother taught me never to inflict my diet on other people, and I never do. I might limit my intake, but unobtrusively. If you don’t want to eat what your hosts have prepared, don’t go.

I said I had another brisket recipe which I thought sounded delicious. It’s from WebMD Food and Recipes.

Brisket With Wine-Soaked Apricots

WebMD Recipe

The preferred way to prepare brisket is with long, slow cooking. brisket-wine-soaked-apricots-recipeBrisket is a pretty high-fat meat, but you can make it leaner by trimming off all the visible fat before cooking. This recipe can be made in the oven or on the stovetop.
Ingredients
  • 3-4 pounds beef brisket
  • 1 pound dried apricot halves
  • 2 mild or sweet onions, sliced
  • 1 tablespoon canola oil
  • 2 teaspoons ground coriander
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 2 pinches ground black pepper
  • 2 pinches salt (optional)
  • 1/2 cup slivered or sliced almonds, toasted (toast in a nonstick frying pan over medium-low heat)
Instructions
  1. If you’re cooking the brisket in the oven, preheat oven to 300°F. Trim all the visible fat off your brisket.
  2. Wash the apricots and put in a medium-sized bowl. Add enough wine to cover them and soak for one hour.
  3. Add canola oil to large Dutch oven (or similar pot) and heat over medium-high heat on stove. Add the sliced onions and brisket. Brown meat and onions, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes.
  4. Add the spices and the dried fruit with wine to Dutch oven and stir. Cover pot and reduce heat to low (if you're cooking on the stovetop) or move Dutch oven to preheated oven. Cook for 2 1/2 to 3 hours, or until brisket is very tender.
  5. Remove brisket from pan and place in center of serving platter. Let the meat rest 5-10 minutes before slicing. Surround the slices with the apricots, and drizzle 1/2 cup of the pan juices over the top. Sprinkle toasted almonds over the top of the beef and apricots.
Have a great day
Jo

20 comments:

  1. Glad you had a good day of bowling.
    You can always warn your hosts ahead of time. If they are good friends, they'll know anyway.

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    1. Oops, this was supposed to be tomorrow's post.

      Very true Alex.

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  2. Perfect recipe for cold Winter nights! I think it is rude to say something at the dinner and I agree with Alex, if your are good friends you know if a person is a diabetic, etc. Very clever of the Zoo to set up the "unveiling."

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    1. True. It was not so much being diabetic as being on a diet. Your diet has nothing to do with your hosts and they shouldn't have to deal with it.

      I still would like to know how they did it.

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  3. I'm impressed that you're such a good bowler. I only do well at virtual bowling. Your brisket recipe sounds wonderful. Now that's something I could only eat in small quantities. Have fun dining with your friends!

    Julie

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    1. Thanks, I am not really a good bowler, I have my moments though.

      I probably won' try this recipe, hubby not keen on meat and fruit together.

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  4. I'd love to try those wine-soaked apricots, preferably while hugging a polar bear.

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  5. I have a very restricted diet (due to health problems) so going out to eat is always a bit fraught but I'm just up front about it. When I'm asked out I tell my hosts my situation and people are usually pretty good about it. It's not as if I'm just being fussy. Mind you, one of my absolute forbidden foods is sugar - it makes me quite ill -and that can be hard to avoid. When I was in hospital for some time once and dutifully gave them a copy of my diet I had a visit from the dietician who was not happy. "Don't you know how hard it is to not include sugar," she said, glaring at me - as if someone who had had to live on this diet for 10 years wouldn't know just how hard it was and also that it was also quite possible to make food without using sugar.

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    1. Your situation is quite different Helen. Sorry to hear you have such problems. What a stupid person that dietitian must have been. Like you did this on purpose. I wasn't referring to health diets and problems, but just to weight loss diets - it is very annoying to slave over a hot tin all day (family joke) and then have someone say "I can't eat that I'm on a diet". I have diabetes but I can still eat sweet things thank goodness.

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  6. That bear was really cute. They must've wiped the board with food or hid it somewhere.

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    1. I figured it had to be done with food too. But he is cute isn't he.

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  7. Oh that bear was so cute! Good to hear you bowled a good game. I was looking at the picture of your bowling ball and I was wondering how heavy it is...

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    1. Wasn't it just? I have two balls and they are about 3 lbs each I think. Just checking........... no 3.5 lbs.

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  8. Oh my gosh, that looks so delicious. I can't even remember the last time I ate an apricot.

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  9. That reference about the diet reminded me of my nephew's baptism reception. I had serious issues with the feast because of my medical condition. I was totally vegan and the feast was totally pork and fat. I knew they hated me for it but I had to subrepticially leave and go to a restaurant to eat, then come back for the rest of the party. Nothing I could do really. It was eat it and go to the hospital or don't eat it and be hated. I am used to be hated so it was not that difficult a choice.

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    1. I'm not talking about diets for medical reasons, I am talking about when someone, like me for instance, decides to lose weight. You either tell your hosts you can't eat out and refuse the invitation, or you eat what they provide. Sneaking out surreptitiously to eat because you are medically unable to eat the food, is a whole different kettle of fish. Like Helen above, with her sugar. Doesn't sound like a healthy feast anyway.

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  10. When David and I used to tenpin bowl in leagues/competitively I hated going to the alley when families/work parties were having 'fun' sessions. If you take your sport seriously its really annoying to have kids larking around, and also its dangerous (well it is with tenpin bowling when the bowling balls can weigh up to 16lbs).
    I agree with your thoughts about eating out at other people's homes although given the opportunity I do let people know I don't eat seafood (well not shellfish anyway).

    Glad the weather is improving there

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    1. You are so right Sue. I assure you a lot of damage can be cause by a 3 1/2 lb. ball travelling at speed. Getting fingers caught between returning balls can hurt and break skin if not fingers themselves.

      No shellfish, my favourite food. As a hostess I always ask my guests what they can or cannot eat anyway.

      Not improving that much yet.

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