Thursday, October 1, 2009

Urban Legends, Vacation, Patrick Swayze.

I wish more people would check with Snopes before emailing me stuff which turns out to be nonsense. The latest one I received was on the danger of hotel key cards. I checked, it isn't true. So if you receive this particular email, I have already saved you the job of researching it or the embarrassment of sending it on to someone when it is false. Back to our vacation - now it is Monday Sept. 14 and my birthday. I got a beautiful card from Matt. Later I discovered he had mistakenly given me our anniversary card (following week) so we saved the birthday card for then. Having invited our friends to supper, we had to do some more shopping. We headed out and went and sat on Bogue Pier for a while watching the fishermen, gazing at the water and peering at the people on the beach. This picture is of Matt on Bogue Pier a couple of years ago, I didn't take one on the pier itself this year. Afterwards we went to lunch at one of our favourite seafood restaurants nearby, nothing pretentious, but the food is excellent, Jordan's Seafood. We both had flounder, fresh fish from the ocean, nothing better. Of course, being North Carolina, hush puppies were served. These I can take or leave. The best I ever had was at a pig pickin' party a friend held years ago and someone came and mixed the puppies and fried them there and then and we ate them hot out of the fryer. Wonderful. We have been going to Jordan's for many years and highly recommend the place. Tried to buy a London Broil from Food Lion, they were on special, they didn't have any so gave us a rain cheque. Then decided to go to Captain Sam's in Cedar Point to arrange for our shrimp when we leave. They were closed but we checked to see if anyone was around and Sheri, the wife, was. She was pleased to see us and got us up to date with everything that had happened in their family lately. Apparently her hubby is standing for the local council now and the son has more or less taken over the shrimping business. Sheri gave me a bag of shrimp so we ate them for supper later and had pork chops which Matt buggered up - his excuse is he hasn't done any barbecuing for a while - true we aren't allowed barbecues on our balconies. I just didn't feel like going out for a birthday dinner, much easier to stay at home, it also means Matt can enjoy a glass of wine without worrying about driving. I also phoned some friends and arranged to have dinner with them on Friday evening. Patrick Swayze died on my birthday - I was very sad. He was one of my favourites. Loved Dirty Dancing, Ghost and Roadhouse. He had been suffering from pancreatic cancer since January 2008 and yet he still kept on acting. I will certainly miss him and I am sure his wife will, they had a wonderful marriage. World Wildlife Fund in Canada are doing a promotion on eating local foods which is called Localicious. There are restaurants and chefs taking part across the country although mostly in the big cities. However, this recipe was one that was given free today. I am not familiar with Niagara Gold cheese but from the picture below, it looks delicious. New Potato and Niagara Gold Melt with Pickled Beets Chef: Jamie Kennedy of the Gilead Cafe Serves 6. Ingredients: • 18 small new potatoes • 1 lb./455g Niagara Gold cheese • 1 quart/litre jar Pickled Beets or • 6 small golden beets and 6 candycane beets • 2 Tbsp./30mL white wine vinegar • 1 shallot, peeled and cut into brunoise • Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste Directions: • Preheat oven to 350°F/175°C. Cook the new potatoes in boiling salted water. If you are using fresh beets, cook them in boiling salted water. If they are very small, they will take approximately the same amount of time as the potatoes. When the vegetables are cooked, drain them and let them cool. When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, cut them in half and place six halves facing up in the center of six ovenproof plates. Slice six wedges of cheese and place one wedge on each mound of potatoes. Place the plates in the oven. If using fresh beets, peel and slice the beets into quarters. While they are still warm, toss them in a marinade of the vinegar, shallots, and seasoning. • Remove the plates from the oven when the cheese has melted. Garnish each plate with five quarters of marinated beets or pickled beets. (The leftover marinated beets keep very well in the refrigerator.) Serve at once. Have a great day.

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