Friday, September 2, 2016

Winter League, Balcony Work, Gas,

Bowling again today. Much better than yesterday. I have been helping the alley by calling all the bowlers who were in the Seniors' Winter League last year. We have lost a couple of them to death sadly, another says he has taken a part time job which is not schedule. He is going to be working for a cleaners so I asked him if his job was to cut the buttons off everything! Others have had operations or one woman had broken her femur. Ouch. Amazing what happens to people through the summer. However, I think there are plenty of us left plus there are one or two newbies who have already signed on.

I mentioned a week or so ago that they had brought in a large crane and were drilling holes in, what
we thought, were finished balcony floors It has been drivng me bonkers wondering what they were up to. I have finally found out. When they first started, they set up a gantry with a movable platform on it. The gantry was braced on some of the floors in a tier. To do this, they had to drill holes. These new holes are to basically cover the bracing holes which have made the balcony floor unstable and they will pour fresh concrete. Not all the floors have to be repaired like that as the bracing was on alternate floors the higher it got. I couldn't figure out how they were going to make formers for this concrete but friend said they would brace a piece of plywood or something, underneath the holes which is exactly what they have done.

The price of gas round here has been bouncing up and down. Hovering around $1 a litre. Dunno what it's like elsewhere. Our grocery store, the one that gives us all those points, also gives us vouchers for cents off a litre. We have two at 5 cents but Matt keeps forgetting to use them. Makes a difference when you are filling a tank.

I am a sucker for anything with a Puttanesca sauce. So when I came across this I had to share.

Bucatini Puttanesca

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
6 garlic cloves, minced
4 anchovy fillets
1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
3/4 tsp crushed red pepper
4 cups unsalted chicken stock
12 oz bucatini or thick spaghetti
3 pints multicolored cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
2 Tbs unsalted tomato paste
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
24 pitted kalamata olives, chopped
3 Tbs capers
1/8 tsp salt

Heat a large high-sided sauté pan over medium heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add garlic, anchovies, oregano, and red pepper; cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly to break up anchovies. Add stock and pasta to pan; bring to a boil. Cook 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add tomatoes and tomato paste. Cook 2 to 3 minutes or until pasta is done. Remove pan from heat; add remaining ingredients, tossing to combine.

Servings: 6

Source: Cooking Light

Have a great day

26 comments:

  1. Recipe looks delicious! Gas here is $1.93 for a gallon for the regular grade. One of the grocery stores gives you fuel points and once you get to 100 fuel points you save 10 cents a gallon. It does help!

    betty

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    1. I can't be bothered to work it out, but that is cheaper than our gas Betty. Yes, it's nice to get a few cents of the gas prices.

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  2. Hi Jo - good luck with the bowling ... while builders' mess and noise is certainly very irritating. That Puttanesca sauce looks delicious ... cheers Hilary

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    1. Thanks Hilary. Trouble with the building, it will be going on for at least the whole of next year as well.

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  3. I see gas is still expensive in Canada. I last paid about $2.15 a gallon, but I am sure it is higher now because of the holiday week-end.

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    1. It sure is Denise although the price you quoted is expensive for the States. Forgot about the holiday weekend.

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    2. When I traveled to the state capitol in my working days, I always bought gas there cause it was cheaper. They say it is because nearby refineries were closed, but I do not know of any closer to the capitol, so I think it is just whatever they can charge.

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    3. I think you are probably right, they seem to do what they want Denise.

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  4. The first time I went to Vancouver Island in 2003, I saw the gas prices were what I thought .75 per gallon. I was like, 'wow that's cheap!' Then i realized it was per litre...making the gas more expensive per gallon than it was in the USA. lol

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    1. I know what you mean JoJo. I wish it were still 75¢ a litre though.

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  5. Sauce sounds good.
    We're around two dollars for a gallon of gas. Been pennies within that for a couple months now.

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    1. Yeah love Puttanesca. $2 is a lot for NC Alex.

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    2. I figure that is about 54 cents a litre. If only

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  6. Never heard of Puttanesca sauce but it sounds good. I love anchovies. If I ever made this at home I'd have to keep the ingredients a secret though since my wife is very opposed to trying anchovies.

    Gas in Canada was quite expensive when we were there this summer. I don't remember what the cost was, but filling up seemed to be considerably more per tank there than it is even in California which has about the highest priced gas in the U.S. Gas prices here are much better than they were a couple years ago when the price was hovering around $4 a gallon and upwards.

    Arlee Bird
    Tossing It Out

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    1. As Denise would tell you Arlee, it means prostitute sauce. To do with the anchovies!!

      You were in Canada this summer. Which part. Gas is always very high here unfortunately even though we produce gas in Alberta.

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    2. I was in many parts traveling from BC to Quebec. Gas was pretty consistently priced the entire way I think though I didn't pay a lot of attention because it didn't really matter--I needed gas no matter what it cost.

      Arlee Bird
      Tossing It Out

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  7. Our petrol here is about $1 a litre. Where I used to live it was $1.44 a litre so now it seems like we're getting it cheap.

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    1. Not sure how your $ compares with ours Pinky. Ours has been dropping a penny or two then rising again etc.

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  8. Jo, they are serving pasta alla 'Amatriciana' in local Italian restaurants here with all proceeds going to relief efforts in Amatrice, Italy. Surprised you made no comment about the meaning of the word 'puttanesca'.

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    1. That's pretty good charity Denise. I commented above about puttanesca. I don't believe it really is because of the anchovies, but I like to think of it as being so.

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  9. Growing up in an Italian family, I often heard women called 'puttanas'. Talk too loud, wear flashy clothes, flirt, drink, whatever, you were trashed with the term 'puttana.' - a whore. I don't believe I have ever had the dish though.

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    1. You surprise me Denise, it is one of my favourite sauces with the capers and anchovies together. Yummy. I read somewhere that it was supposed to be a favourite of the ladies of the night. But there are other explanations of course.

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    2. The translation of puttanesca is 'ladies of the night'.

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    3. Which can be further translated to mean more!!!

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  10. I don't envy you having to put up with the building work. We had a nine month build go on very noisily on the block behind us. Not easy to put up with.
    I like the sound of that pasta but I'll have to see if I can find a vegetarian taste lifter to replace the anchovies.

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    1. You're right Helen, it isn't

      I cannot imagine anything which would replace the anchovies. Be interested if you can find something.

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