Up, St. Paddy's, Movie, Windows 7,

Monday night I watched UP, I loved it. Its a delightful adventure story about an old man at the end of his life who always wanted to go to Paradise Falls in South America (based on Angel Falls I wonder?) because his hero explorer had gone there. It was also a love story. It was nominated for awards at the Oscars and won 2 plus a bunch more awards elsewhere. If you get the chance, do watch it. I rented from iTunes and am thinking about buying it - maybe. I gather from reading the site notes that there are lots of goofs and errors, I didn't notice anything glaringly adrift, but then I am not looking for such stuff. I just enjoy the intended story and don't worry about the rest. Matt is the type who picks out errors and faults - he drives me crazy sometimes. Happy St. Patrick's day, by the way. All kinds of people will probably be going to work 'wearing the green' today and eating the foods they fondly believe the Irish will eat today. I suppose the celeberation became so popular in North America and particularly the States, because of the host of Irish immigrants who were feeling homesick. A lot of the parades were held at the weekend of course, too many people working during the week and it isn't a national holiday. It is also the birthday of Matt's youngest and her husband Mike, the wildlife artist (see link this page). Happy Birthday to the pair of you. Of course I had to use the picture of my shamrock which seems to be doing fairly well in our dining area - it gets lots of light there. My poinsettia from Christmas is in the same area and seems to be thriving on it.

We saw the Milagro Beanfield War again last night, a movie directed by Robert Redford. It is a rather cute movie about peasants versus the big developer. It is years since I saw it before and I always remembered it with fondness. There are some delightful characters including one man who had his arm stolen by thousands of butterflies and now his arm is blamed for all kinds of things that go missing, including girls panties when they come home late at night. *g*. Another who talks to angels - we see his angel dressed as a Mexican peasant too although nobody else can see him - and has a pig who is almost like a pet dog. There is a delightful tune running through the movie which is played on a squeeze box by the 'angel'. I enjoyed seeing it for a second time. I had forgotten a lot. I am now awaiting a copy of Windows 7 which I have discovered I cannot use on my desktop, I wasn't surprised but a bit disappointed. However, by computer standards it is getting pretty ancient. I use XP on it and I guess that's what I'm stuck with. Not that I have any complaints about it, but other programmes get updated and soon won't work on XP. Guess I have a year or two yet; its like my original cook book programme, it still works on here but with a few glitches, it certainly wouldn't work on my laptop. Its OK for Microsoft and Bill Gates, gets expensive for us little users.

Just in passing, I had an echo cardiogram yesterday - boy is that ever painful for a woman who is well endowed. Now I know how they discovered Matt has a lump inside his heart, never experienced one before.

At a restaurant we go to for lunch sometimes when on our travel league for bowling, I discovered a Monte Cristo Sandwich which I quite enjoy. I have never thought of making one, but just come across a recipe. I think the fillings can differ, I even found one which included raspberry jam which did not appeal to me.

Monte Cristo Sandwich

About.com

This fried sandwich contains turkey and ham.

Ingredients:

•18 slices bread •butter •6 slices ham •6 slices turkey or chicken •12 slices Swiss or Gruyere cheese •a little mustard and mayonnaise, if desired •3 eggs •1/3 cup milk •1/8 teaspoon salt

Preparation: For each sandwich use 3 slices of bread. Butter one side of bread first, then cover with a slice of ham and a slice of turkey or chicken. Butter both sides of the second slice of bread and spread with a little mustard or other dressing, if desired. Place on top of turkey or ham slice and top with 2 thin slices of cheese. Butter third slice for top; press sandwich lightly and trim crusts. Cut into halves diagonally and secure with toothpicks. Beat eggs with milk and salt. Dip sandwich halves into the egg mixture and fry on a hot skillet or griddle in butter or margarine. Brown on all sides, adding more butter when necessary. Remove toothpicks before serving.

Makes 6 sandwiches, 12 cut triangles, to serve 4.

Have a great day