Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Snow, Bowling, Loonie,

Join me on the balcony?
Well, Monday has been all about snow. It has snowed almost constantly all day and as far as I know, it is still doing so this evening. We also expect more tomorrow. When it was snowing really hard Matt said there was no way we would be going bowling, however, watching such traffic as there was outside, they seemed to be progressing well and we are on a bus route which helps. I did NOT see any snow ploughs however, no idea what happened to those. Maybe too busy keeping the express roads clear. One of our team told me that she would not be coming bowling, I had guessed that because I know she doesn't like to
Anyone for Tennis?
drive in snow, but apparently another member had told her he wouldn't be coming either!! I was surprised as he drives an SUV. In the end, having asked the bowling alley what the main road outside their door was like, we decided to go as the snow had eased off. The roads were snowy, but it wasn't that bad so long as one took it carefully. Of course there were idiots out there driving too fast and who wouldn't have been able to stop if they needed to. There were quite a lot of people at the bowling alley, more than we had expected. I bowled, not very well, but... Only  thing is my back decided to play up instead so having only just about crept over the 100 points for the first two games, I ended up with a 140 game. Maybe I was thinking too much about what ached and not worrying about bowling.

I just pinched this from another blog, Viveka's My Guilty Pleasures,

 “Snow is like sex,
you never know how many inches you’re going to get
or how long it will last”
Unknown

Kind of listening to the TV, they are talking about low gas prices today (Monday) - we noticed on the way past that our local gas prices were 88¢ a litre. That, for us, is fantastic although I understand the economy is suffering from the low gas prices per barrel. I must admit I am not up on such economics, but this is what is reported on the news. Luckily we have no plans to travel anywhere so the low dollar doesn't affect us. But the loonie (as we call our dollar) is certainly taking a beating at the moment. In case you don't realise, the bird on the back is a Loon. Of course this situation doesn't help food prices and our weekly expenditure on groceries has gone up a bundle. Like the $7 cauliflower for instance. Trouble is, not a lot of veg can be grown here in the winter, anything that is would have to be in greenhouses, so most of our stuff is imported from Mexico or the southern States. I bet when gas prices go up again though, the food prices won't come down. Funny how it happens that way!!

I liked the sound of this although I  have never eaten papaya.


Green Papaya Salad with Tomatoes and Basil
Food and Wine

Chef Lee Anne Wong loves the crunch of green papayas, an ingredient that's abundant in Hawaii. She spikes her healthy salad with green beans, grape tomatoes and plenty of herbs.



SERVINGS: 10 TO 12


INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup macadamia nuts
5 small Thai chiles
2 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon finely grated lime zest and 1/2 cup fresh lime juice
1/2 lime zest
1/4 cup Asian fish sauce
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon kosher salt
10 cups lightly packed julienned green papaya (from a 3-pound fruit)
1 pound green beans, trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces
2 cups grape tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup Thai or regular basil, sliced into 1/4-inch ribbons
1/2 cup lightly packed cilantro leaves


HOW TO MAKE THIS RECIPE
Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a pie plate, toast the nuts until golden, about 10 minutes. Let cool, then coarsely chop.
In a food processor, combine the chiles, garlic, lime zest and juice, fish sauce, honey and salt. Purée until smooth.
In a medium bowl, toss the papaya with the green beans, tomatoes, basil and cilantro. Add the vinaigrette and toss again. Fold in the nuts and serve.

Have a great day
 

16 comments:

  1. I was just thinking this morning how much I loathe this cold climate and snow and wind. I am not cut out for it. I haven't gotten used to it and I've been back for 4.5 years now. We're delighted w/ the low gas prices. It's a nice change. Great to be able to fill up my car for $12 instead of the $35 it was taking a few years ago.

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    1. You need to change your mindset JoJo. You live in the cold so embrace it. Yes, the low gas prices are great for the average motorist and for truckers too I assume.

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  2. No one knows how to drive in snow here and if they are out in it, tend to go way too slow.
    Seven dollars for cauliflower? Wow.
    As far as the economy, I would think the areas hurt by low oil prices would be offset by the areas helped by people having more money to spend on something other than gas.

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    1. Slow I don't mind Alex, it's the idiots who go way too fast that worry me. Yup there was a picture of a couple applying for a loan at the bank in order to buy a cauli.

      You would think so Alex, but "they" are saying it hurts the economy of the country. I guess because Canada sells oil to the States.

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  3. I heard here at one gas station they were charging 47 cent a gallon, there was a price wars going on between 2 stations. I remember in California they would always raise the gas prices, blaming it on this or that, and then after a few months they would start lowering them, but never down to the level where they were before. They do have a lot of gas taxes on it so that makes a difference I think.

    Glad you did decide to venture out in the snow :) My biggest worry along with driving in it was slipping on a piece of ice and breaking something. I did a lot of slow penguin style walking when we were in Montana.

    betty

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    1. We heard about that on the news here too Berry. Great for the drivers. It always annoys me when the price per barrel goes up and then the pump price does. That gas was purchased at the lower price. Yes, I think our gas is more tax than anything else.

      It wasn't that bad driving in the snow - not as deep as it looked.

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  4. Could it be these are all anti cancerous ingredients - herbs, spices, cayne pepper, chives and garlic etc are all good for the blood? You know what? Whoever eats green salads spiked with these will probably outlive us all. I just wish I could do it regularly.

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    1. They certainly all are considered to be healthy Spacerguy. I am not 100% sure though. Cinnamon is supposed to reduce blood sugar so I took it regularly for several months but it never made one scrap of difference to my blood sugar readings.

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  5. If I try to understand the economics of the oil prices and our loonie my head will explode. I remember when our loonie was as low as .66 cents (wasn't it even lower?) St. Catharines has a gas war going on and I have put gas in when it was 77.3 cents a litre. This salad sounds so healthy.

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    1. You and me both Birgit. We were living in the States at the time and it was hurting us badly when it was that low. 77.3 is good but not as good as 40 odd cents a gallon even if the US gallon is 3/4 of ours.

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  6. We pay silly prices for petrol/gas here. Just before Christmas we were paying $1.44 a litre. When you consider our exchange rate that is ridiculous. It's gone down to $1.15 now. This is why I bought a tiny car to save on fuel. Snow photos please!

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    1. Not satisfied with those above Pinky? Prices are still falling here and we don't need gas. Our luck it will go up again just when we need refueling.

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  7. I passed a station tonight that was $1.69 a gallon. Never thought I'd see that price again.

    When we lived in Albuquerque, the snow never stopped anyone. There would be a few accidents, but mostly it was 4WD SUV's that would wind up in the ditch because they thought they were invincible.

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    1. That's not a bad price at all Diane. We didn't think we would see such low prices here either. Not totally sure but think the prices are in the 70 cents bracket now, for a litre of course.

      People seem to over-react round here, don't know why.

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  8. Love the low gas prices but what goes down will also go back up, and it's that day that I worry about. The shareholders may be hurting but they're the only ones. Glad you were able to bowl, I'd have stayed home. I love the snow, but hate driving in it.

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    1. Actually they are not the only ones Yolanda, grocery prices have gone up because importing them is costing a lot more for us. I don't mind driving in it unless it is way too thick of course.

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