TV I have watched lately

Well boo hoo, one of my few favourites on TV has just ended until the BBC make some more, or Public TV in Canada buy some more, whichever is appropriate. I am talking about New Tricks which I told you about a day or two ago. This time they left us with a cliff hanger. Not necessary, its a good enough show without that.

I seem to be watching a lot more TV lately, this morning on Good Morning America the weatherman Sam Champion, went to beekeeping school and learned how to handle bees. He did get stung, once. They are trying to encourage people to keep bees at home - you can learn from the school and they they will mail you all you need including several thousand bees, through the mail????? Yes its true. As a dare, though, we were disappointed, we thought we would see him covered in bees as in the picture on the left.

To quote Good Morning America:

""I'm not real comfortable around a swarm of bees for some obvious reasons … but there's a major world crisis that I want to address. Millions of bees are dying because of a mysterious malady called Colony Collapse Disorder, and without bees many of our crops won't get pollinated. We're talking about $6 billion worth of crops here in America alone! And without that pollination, you can bet that the world's food supply is going to take a major hit," explained Sam Champion.

Some beekeepers in states reporting Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) have lost 50 to 90 percent of their colonies, often within a matter of weeks. This translates into thousands of dead colonies and millions of dead bees."

I would love to buy bees and have my own apiary, but it wouldn't work in an apartment. There appears to be a lot of interest in people buying their own bee colony, how about you if you have the space. Apparently you can get honey in about a month, great to have your own supply. Nothing nicer than a chunk of honeycomb. Yum. Did you know honey is the only food which doesn't spoil?

Another interesting segment on GMA this morning was about the ingestion of corn. They now consider it may be making us obese. Apparently corn is in practically everything we eat, even farm bred salmon is fed on corn. One of the few things which doesn't have corn in it is bananas. Animals are fed on corn, apples are polished with a wax substance containing corn, you name it, it probably has some connection with corn. Fast food is a particular culprit they said. There is a documentary film going the rounds right now. The National Corngrowers are saying the facts are already outdated because the film was made in 2005. If you want to read more about it click here and see what GMA has to say.

As for a recipe today, how about Cornish Hens? One of my favourites, so here is a good recipe.

Cornish Hens with Lime Spice Marinade

Servings: 4

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 garlic cloves, chopped
2 whole scallions, finely chopped
Grated peel (no white attached) of 1 lime
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 to 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
4 Cornish hens,

Instructions:
Combine the lime juice, olive oil, garlic, scallions, lime peel, black pepper, cayenne, chili powder, cumin, dry mustard, salt, and coriander into a paste.
Flatten the hens by pressing heavily on the breast, cracking the bone. Spread the paste evenly over the hens. Cover with plastic wrap and then weigh them down, using cans on a plate for instance. Marinate in the refrigerator 24 hours if possible. (This flattening allows the hens to cook evenly.)
Place skin side next to heat and cook on a hot grill about 20 to 25 minutes per side, turning occasionally to prevent overbrowning, although a little dark flecking is pretty and tasty.
If roasting, preheat the oven to 400°F. Grease or spray a shallow roasting pan with nonstick spray. Place the hens side by side, but not touching, in the prepared pan. Cook the hens, uncovered, until a meat thermometer measures 170°F. and the juices run clear, about 45 minutes. If you are using two pans, rotate them periodically to allow even browning.
The hens may be cooked up to a day ahead and refrigerated. Reheat under the broiler or in a hot oven.
Split the hens completely and place them on a serving platter, piled up in a circular pattern at 15-degree angles. Note: I just served them whole, they look better to me.

Have a great day.