Top Kill, Fat Freeze, Health News,

The only thing one hears this morning about the BP Top Kill is that is proceeding according to plan. They are broadcasting pictures on TV but say they won't know until this afternoon how successful this has been. If you are religious, please pray, if you are not, please cross everything you can and send all your best vibes to ensure this works. I still think adding some rocks to this would have been a good idea. Also a report stated that they won't know even today if it has been successful because the oil could still break through at a later date. The Top Kill idea is to choke the source with mud and then pour concrete on top of that??? Another report I heard today was that the original pipe was selected because it was cheaper to buy than other pipes (no wonder it broke). I guess if you are not in the US you might find my concern boring, but if this isn't successfully capped, the oil could eventually end up in various currents and be distributed all over the world. As far as I know it hasn't been found on the east coast of the States yet, but it is only a matter of time. Sam Champion said that there is better video on GMA of his dive, you can now see it in HD. (High Definition) on line at http://abcnews.go.com/gma although I couldn't find anything different from the original diving video clip.

There is another report about freezing fat? I gather it is a very expensive procedure ($4,000 was mentioned) and not recommended for people who have a lot of fat to lose. There is another video on GMA showing the report. Also, it is now being said that the pill Alli which has been touted for weight loss for months is causing some severe problems with a small percentage of patients. It seems to me these pills are not sufficiently tested and pressure makes the FDA release them too soon perhaps. More health news is the extremely high risk of skin cancer from sun tan beds. They now have much better information about the risks which are compounded by the cumulative effects of visits over a period of years. One thing I have never understood is the presence of tanning salons in places like North Carolina where it is quite easy to get sun tanned anyway. We rarely sat in the sun as such, but because we were out and about and sitting on our back deck, albeit under an umbrella, we were always tanned. Even so Matt got skin cancer. He did spend more time in the sun when he went clamming, etc. which I guess didn't help. However, some exposure to the sun helps supply Vitamin D which is something a lot of us are short of. There is a web site by Canadian Cancer about indoor tanning which can tell you a lot about the risks read here - it is worth taking note of, skin cancers are NOT funny.

I have a picture of Beaufort waterfront, NC on my laptop as a background. Matt took the picture last year when we were staying in NC and I thought I would share it with you. We love to spend time on the boardwalk in Beafort and watch the boats.

Yesterday I made more asparagus soup for the freezer. I am not sure I was careful enough about adding the sour cream, but it tasted good anyway. I should make some Asparagus Pest too, I haven't done that yet. I keep it in the freezer and it is absolutely delicious to serve as an appetizer or even as a snack. For those of you who don't know the recipe, which I originally got from the LCBO's Food and Drink, here it is again.

Asparagus Pesto Toasts

1 lb trimmed green asparagus

1 cup toasted walnut halves (I used pecans)

4 cloves garlic, peeled

2 1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup olive oil

2/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan

Freshly ground pepper

1. Cook asparagus until just tender. Refresh in cold water, then drain and dry well. Place asparagus, walnuts, garlic and salt in food processor. Process until blended. 2. With motor running, gradually add olive oil, then add cheese and pepper. Blend together and check seasoning. Place in covered bowl. 3. It shows the recipe served on crunchy toasted French or Italian bread with a curl or two of parmesan on top and some asparagus at the side. 4. We freeze this in ice cube trays, then wrap the cubes in pairs (separated by Saran, and put in a bag in the freezer until we need them.

Source: Food & Drink

Have a great day