Catalyst, Licenses and Tenors.

I have just finished reading Catalyst by Anne McCaffrey and Elizabeth Ann Scarborough. It is the beginning of a series about The Barque Cats which, I understand, were briefly mentioned in another series of books. I enjoyed it and will be looking out for further books - the next is supposed to be Catacombs. I am assuming most of the writing was not Anne McCaffrey, didn't have quite the same tone. If you are a cat lover, you should certainly enjoy this story. Its based on space ship cats - all good ships have cats on board after all. Matt had to go for blood tests this morning and then was planning to go to the Health Office to get his new health card. We have been told about all the queues at this office so he figured he would get there when they opened at 8:30 a.m. I hope he managed to get there first of all. He then has to get his driver's license this year too. I wonder how come these things come all at once. They have moved all the license offices since last we got one, there used to be two locally, but now we have to go search for the nearest one. Turns out I sent him to the wrong office. I have now managed to get him an appointment. I have no idea who's card this is, but I wanted to show you what one looked like. I don't know what they do in Britain these days, we just quoted a number when I lived there, but here we have to show this card whenever we go for any kind of medical treatment although apparently some people still have the original red and white card. We watched a programme last night with Placido Domingo from Berlin. Turned out it was actually filmed in 2006, but there were two young singers with him Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazón, both of whom impressed us very much. I guess we don't keep up with opera singers much these days. One sees tenor groups on TV occasionally and we used to see Luciano Pavarotti a lot when he was alive. We have seen some re-runs of his concerts, but these two young singers are certainly new to us. Matt knows more about voice than I do having been a singer as a youngster, and he was particularly impressed with Rolando Villazón who sang one song which is a real test for a singer - no, sorry can't remember the title. The picture, by the way, is from the DVD. Having talked about chicken thigh recipes, a friend sent me this recipe which she said is delicious. It appears she increased the quantities a lot and made something of a crust of the 'sprinkle' ingredients. Garlic Lime Chicken Le-Anne Eli “Saving Dinner” 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon pepper 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper 1/4 teaspoon paprika 1 teaspoon garlic powder 1/2 teaspoon onion powder 1/2 teaspoon thyme 6 boneless skinless chicken breast halves 2 tablespoons butter 2 tablespoons olive oil 1/2 cup chicken broth 4 tablespoons lime juice Mix first 7 ingredients in a bowl until well mixed. The recipe calls for the seasoning to be sprinkled on the chicken. I spread the seasoning onto a dinner plate and pressed the chicken into it, covering all sides. Heat butter and olive oil in skillet. Add chicken breasts and brown well on both sides (about 5 minutes each) Remove chicken to a plate. Add chicken broth and lime juice to skillet. Scrape all the brown bits up and bring to a boil Add chicken back in and simmer until completely cooked Have a great day