Good Deeds, Snow, Boxing Day

Every now and again you hear of someone who does something which restores your faith in human kind. This morning on Good Morning America they had a story about lay offs. One man with a family, including an autistic child who's medication and treatments cost a lot of money, another without such problems. Lay offs occur and the man with the family is laid off. His friend, Ralph, says "pick me instead" and the company did so. What a wonderful thing to do. Hopefully, after the exposure, someone will hire Ralph anyway. We managed to go out to dinner OK on Saturday night, the roads were not too bad so we had a delightful evening with friends. The food was also very good and we both enjoyed ourselves very much. Another friend drove us as there isn't a lot of parking space there so one car was preferable. The side roads are still white and people are slipping and sliding whilst driving on them. SLOW DOWN. Better to get there late than dead. Today we have our Bowling League Christmas Lunch at the alley and then we bowl "fun games" not quite sure what, I expect one game will be bowling bingo which is surprisingly difficult to win. Its fun to play though so I guess winning doesn't matter that much. We then won't be bowling again til next week as our Friday bowling is postponed - Boxing Day. For anyone in the States, that is the day after Christmas which we have as a holiday in both Canada and the UK. There are various explanations for the name, one being that it was originally the day people gave presents. Another that it was the day the 3 Wise Men arrived to give their gifts to baby Jesus. It is also the day when they have sales, sales and more sales. Here's a short recipe from Irish Food: Fast and Modern which I was sent recently. I gather some of my readers found Saturday's recipe too long. Smoked Trout With Butterhead Lettuce salad, Cucumber and Scallions A dish that can be enjoyed morning or night. Ready to go in three minutes. West Cork Smokehouse produce a good smoked trout. Salad dressing 4 Tbs cream 2 Tbs red wine vinegar salt and pepper and a pinch of sugar 1 full head butterhead lettuce (Boston, Bibb) handful of purslane lettuce (optional) 2 shallots, finely sliced 1/4 cucumber, sliced and quartered 4 smoked trout fillets, skinned and flaked Make dressing by beating together the cream and vinegar, seasoning and sugar. Wash and spin the lettuce leaves. Turn the lettuce in dressing and arrange on four plates. Scatter over the shallots and cucumber and top with flaked trout. Have a great day.