Howl at the Moon, St. Jacobs, Tigers

Last night we decided to go out for supper so went down the road to Howl at the Moon - we both had a Caesar Salad and Mediterranean Stuffed Chicken which was good. The vegetables were a sautéed mix of snow peas, cauliflower, peppers and broccoli, not the usual overdone mush either, but very edible. The cook/chef knows what he is doing. They serve you a small loaf which is soaked in garlic butter. My main complaint is they give you way too much food. But that is a common complaint in North America. They actually have a neon sign of a wolf howling. Since we have lived in this apartment building, the restaurant has had three names, Whisky Jack's, Brubachers and now Howl at the Moon. One time we went there for lunch and I had the most delicious soup. I tried to get the recipe, but they wouldn't part with it. Thursday is our usual grocery shopping day and I was disappointed to find only American strawberries in the stores. I guess the local ones have more or less finished although we had bought some the day before. I am planning to go to the market in St. Jacobs on Saturday morning so maybe I will find some more there - a kind of last gasp. The blueberries were also from the US and when we went to the farm the day before they had lots of local blueberries. Although they were a lot more expensive than in the stores. I specially want to go to the market as there is a stall selling socks which my diabetic foot nurse has recommended. I have some long ones, but they have ankle socks and apparently much cheaper. They are more or less seamless on the toes. I find I have a lot of problems with seams. I get a regular newsletter from World Wildlife Fund; this morning there was an interesting article about relocating tigers to an area where the animals had been wiped out click here to read how it was done. Apparently tigers are dwindling at an alarming rate and if we are not careful there won't be any for our children or theirs. Of course, in some areas tigers pose an extreme hazard for the native population but this is not always the case. It will be interesting to find out if the relocation of a tiger and tigress will help to repopulate the Sariska area in India. Another segment in the newsletter is about the pressure on drilling for oil in the Arctic which according to WWF will not alleviate oil prices in the long run but will help to destroy "The Polar Bear Seas". They are advocating support of an act to close the loopholes which would possibly allow drilling in these seas. The polar bear habitat is disappearing fast enough on its own without encouraging it by drilling for oil. We have the ability to use alternate means of powering our vehicles, its time we knuckled down to using such means. These days I read a lot on the internet about improving one's carbon footprint, OK, I am doing what I can, but what about nations. I have said it before, the idea of taking til 2050 to reduce emissions by half is ridiculous. Do it NOW. We don't have time to muck about. The world is deteriorating around us and its our fault. The following is a recipe I got from World Wide Recipes some time ago. Its very good and worth giving a go. Chicken Breasts stuffed with Caramelized Onions, Roasted Red Peppers, Ham, & Herbed Cheese Serves: 4 4 chicken breasts, pounded very, very thin 4 slices of ham (Black Forest works well) 1 large onion 4 pieces roasted red pepper 1 tub (8 oz.) vegetable cream cheese black pepper your favorite herbs-for instance white pepper, thyme, basil, and rosemary olive oil margarine or butter chicken stock (around 1/4 cup) white wine (around 1/4 cup) Finely slice the onion and sauté in margarine until caramelized, about ten minutes. Finely chop the roasted red peppers, and add to the cream cheese, along with the herbs, caramelized onions, and lots of freshly ground black pepper (the more the better). Mix well. Place a slice of ham on top of a chicken breast; place a big spoonful of the cheese mixture in the middle of that, and starting with one end of the chicken, roll it and secure with wooden toothpicks. In the same pan in which the onions were sautéed heat some olive oil (a tbs. or two). Brown the rolled chicken a few minutes on each side. Once the chicken is golden all over, transfer to a shallow baking dish; add some more olive oil to the pan and scrape the bottom. Add the white wine and chicken stock, let boil and then simmer; add the remainder of the cheese mixture and stir until a smooth consistency is reached. Pour the sauce over the chicken and bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 20 minutes. Serves four. This entrée goes really well with risotto and a salad. Have a great day.