Birthday Dinner, TIAs, Abby's Sailing.

Boa Nova Rodizio turned out to be a very good venue for Matt's birthday dinner. We stuffed ourselves on delicious grilled meats followed by grilled pineapple. Then when Matt was way too full, they brought him a piece of cheesecake with a candle in it. Didn't stop him eating it though. Matt and I drank a red wine from the Douro region of Portugal, sorry I have forgotten the name of it, but it was good. Last time I went to Boa Nova the buffet part of the meal was not very good, this time it was much better, I think it may be something to do with the day of the week. I had some mussels which were delicious as well as several other items off the cold table. Matt, being unsure what to expect, said he wished he had had more salad items as he didn't realise the rest of the meal was all meats. It was funny, he didn't even know where he was going when we parked across the road from the restaurant. It wasn't that lit up from the outside, so I think he was a tad puzzled.

Matt is now being put on a new pill, Warfarin (rat poison, LOL) to try and stop these TIAs he keeps having. We are being told he has a slight bulge in his left atrium (one of the top chambers of the heart) and this area is probably producing blood clots which when passing into the rest of the blood system cause these TIAs. The hope is that the Warfarin will help counteract this by thinning his blood even further. He has to take these pills for three days then have a blood test and see the family doctor in order to regulate the dosage. I gather this goes on for a while until they are satisfied. Bit of a pain as our doctor is in the next town. Matt actually went to see a neurologist in the Secondary Stroke Prevention Clinic and we were absolutely staggered when we met him. He looked pretty young for a start, he had long hair and was dressed in jeans and sneakers. He appeared to be more like a student than a specialist. He was, however, very nice and very efficient. I just wondered what he would wear for casual Fridays!!

The young sailer, Abby, the American girl, is now in Cabo San Lucas working with her team on the needed repairs. What a pity for her that she has to start her voyage all over again once the repairs have been made. Not heard anything from Jessica for a day or two, last time we did so she was sailing along in pretty fair weather although having to head slightly north in order to avoid a storm system. This is a picture from Abby's blog showing her coming into Cabo San Lucas where people have been very helpful to everyone involved in the project. Its amazing to me, when I was 16 I seem to think all I was interested in was boys, not sailing around the world. I never did take to sailing much although I had every opportunity to do so living on a boat.

I am now getting an email from Kraft with recipes using their products. After my success with two recipes I have become more interested. This looked like something we would enjoy so I thought I would share it. Luckily I have metal barbecue skewers so don't need to mess with soaking wooden ones.

Easy Chicken Skewers with Peanut Sauce

Kraft Kitchens

Makes: 4 servings, 2 skewers (144 g) each

1/4 cup KRAFT CATALINA Dressing

3 Tbsp. KRAFT Smooth Peanut Butter

1 Tbsp. soy sauce

1 lb. (450 g) boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut lengthwise into strips

2 Tbsp. peanuts, chopped

1 green onion, chopped

Make It! MIX first 3 ingredients in large bowl until well blended. Add chicken; toss to coat. Refrigerate 10 min. HEAT broiler. Remove chicken from marinade; discard marinade. Thread chicken onto 8 skewers; place on rack of broiler pan. BROIL, 6 inches from heat, 4 min. on each side or until done. Top with nuts and onions.

Serving Suggestion Serve with hot cooked rice or ramen noodles and a tossed green salad.

How to Soak Wooden Skewers If using wooden skewers, soak them in water for at least 10 min. before using. This will help to prevent them from burning when grilling the skewered food.

Creative Leftovers Turn leftovers into a delicious Asian-inspired salad. Just remove the chicken from skewers, chop and add to mixed greens and shredded carrots tossed with Kraft Signature Asian Sesame Dressing.

Have a great day