Weekend Stories, Floods,

Cute New Year story, twin babies born one minute to and one minute past midnight so they will celebrate their birthdays on different days and, of course, different years. Another story on the news yesterday, a young boy in BC came face to face with a cougar in his back yard and was saved by the family dog, a golden retriever called Angel. The dog was in fact saved by the RCMP who shot the cougar. One of the officers happened to be in the neighbourhood and close to the home. If you would like to read the article it is here: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2010/01/03/bc-boston-bar-cougar-attack.html a pretty brave dog and it was not too badly hurt apparently. My blogging buddies have been listing the books they have been reading during 2009, I am thinking maybe I should make such a list as I don't recall what I have read - or at least not enough to rmake a list. As you may have gathered, I am a somewhat voracious reader - at the moment I am anxiously awaiting Glenda Larke's sequel to The Last Rainlord which I believe will be published in Australia in two or three month's time. Another book I am looking for is Witches Inc. by Karen Miller, I am not sure when that is due for publication in the US. I know of two people suffering from flooded basements at the moment, one a friend's son and another a friend. My heart goes out to them. I remember being flooded very well. It happened in England in Ivy House - we had a rainstorm and it caused the little tiny stream at the side of the house to flood and the whole street was knee deep in fast flowing water, so was our back yard, our living room, hall, dining room and kitchen. When we opened the front door the pieces of parquet flooring floated out with the current. I will never forget my husband (first one) wading through the living room to check on our insurance coverage. We ended up abandoning ship, as it were, and going to the family business (which included a yacht club) until things calmed down. We sure couldn't cook at home - we could have just sat upstairs, but..... it was lunchtime. Over the weekend the east coast of Canada, the Maritimes, was pummelled by fierce snow storms (30 cm of snow or approximately 1 ft.) and in some places they too had flooding from abnormally high tides which were not helped by the high winds. Even fairly close to us in London, ON they have had some pretty bad snow during the weekend. We are about an hour's drive away and our skies are totally clear. The picture shows a man clearing his drive in New Brunswick. Several houses in various provinces have been badly damaged by the storms. In fact it has been quite a start to the New Year for some people. I haven't mentioned that for some reason Firefox is no longer working on my PC, it crashes when I try to do anything, with the result that I have been using IE to do my blogs lately. The only trouble with that is it seems to have its own ideas about spacing and it is not so easy to put pictures exactly where I want them. So, if things seem a little odd these days, my apologies. This recipe is from Mushrooms Canada. Bearing in mind the popularity of wraps nowadays it seems like a good one. I like tilapia and we use it a fair bit. It is quite a delicate tasting fish. I also happen to like sushi rice, which we have, and nori, which we don't have. Japanese Tilapia And Mushroom Handrolls Mushrooms Canada 1 tbsp vegetable oil 15 mL 4 oz Fresh Shiitake Mushrooms, sliced 125 g 1 clove garlic, minced 1 2 green onions thinly sliced 2 1 tsp toasted sesame seeds 5 mL 4 sheets toasted nori, halved crosswise 4 2 Bluewater Breaded Tilapia Fillets, cooked* 2 1½ cups cooked, cooled sushi rice* 375 mL 1 small carrot cut matchstick-sized 1 1/2 avocado, peeled and cut into 8 slices 1/2 sodium reduced soy sauce, wasabi and pickled ginger (optional) 1. Heat the vegetable oil in a nonstick skillet set over medium heat. Add the mushrooms and garlic. Cook, stirring often, for 5 minutes or until tender. Remove from ehat and stir in the green onions and sesame seeds. Cool to room temperature. 2. Cover the nori with a damp kitchen towl for 30 seconds to make the sheets pliable. Meanwhile, cut each tilapia fillet into 4 equal strips. 3. Hold a piece of the nori in one hand so that they sheet overhangs to the side. Use wet fingers to spread 1/8th of the rice in the side cupped in the palm. Make a finger-sized indent in the centre of the rice. Nestle 1/8th each of mushroom mixture, carrot and avocado in the indent. Top with a piece of fish. 4. Fold the bottom edge of the nori over the filliong. Roll from one side to make a cone. Repeat with the remaining ingredients to make 8 hand rolls. Serve with soy sauce, wasabi, and ginger (if using). *Prepare the tilapia and the sushi rice according to the package directions Have a great day