Canada Day and HST

We had a really quiet day which was nice. For dinner Matt did some Phyllo Asparagus Rollups followed by lamb chops marinated with rosemary and garlic broiled with tomatoes over which he had sprinkled basil and olive oil. Asparagus is no longer available at Barrie’s so now I have to wait for another whole year. I still have some left which will last me a couple more days.

We finished dinner by having strawberries and Crème Fraîche. We haven’t used Crème Fraîche before as it never seemed to be available. It is now though and if one adds a little sweetener of some kind to it and then whips it up with a fork (you can do that with English cream) it becomes a very good topping for strawberries.

I later watched X2 on TV which I enjoyed. Matt will generally not watch anything sci fi. I hadn’t realised that one of the main characters was played by Hugh Jackman, Matt recognised him, not me. Of course Patrick Stuart, one of the lead actors, is a favourite of mine. I would love to have seen him at The Old Vic in London. Maybe Canada can attract him to Stratford to perform.

Her Majesty celebrated Canada Day in Ottawa for the first time in many years. By the way it was Canada’s 143rd birthday. She had some nice things to say about Canada in a speech she made. http://tinyurl.com/2cveoz7 What I wondered was whether they fed her on burgers – after all Obama took the Russian President to a burger joint. Somehow I just don’t see the Queen chomping into a burger with all the fixings, in fact I understand the palace sends out menu requirements wherever she is going to be entertained. I remember many years ago she was on a Weight Watchers’ diet and presumably still follows the programme. I borrowed the picture from CBS News.

Interesting that the Canadian Governor General was not here to meet the Queen but in China. I wonder who planned that and why?

I mentioned the other day that we now have a new Harmonised Sales Tax in Ontario and people have been complaining about the increase in prices for some of the items, including gasoline of course. British Columbia introduced the new HST yesterday too but have decided to not include gas. Please Ontario, do the same, gas is quite expensive enough as it is.

On Good Morning America they had a woman called Sunny Anderson making food suitable for the 4th. She made a Sunny Side Up Burger. Seemed to us that the minute you bite into it you would end up with egg yolk all over you. Not to mention egg on your face!! However, she did have a recipe for a Chocolate Chip Butterscotch Pie which appealed to me.

Sunny Anderson’s Chocolate Chip Butterscotch Pie

Butterscotch Sauce:

2 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1/4 cup light corn syrup

Pinch salt

1/4 cup heavy cream

Pie Filling:

8 ounces mascarpone cheese

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Pinch salt

1/2 cup mini-chocolate chips

1 (6-ounce) pre-made chocolate cookie pie crust (recommended: Oreo or Keebler)

For the butterscotch sauce, melt the butter in a sauce pot over medium-high heat. Add the brown sugar, corn syrup, and salt. Bring to a simmer and stir until golden amber in color, about 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from heat and slowly stir in the cream. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.

For the filling, add the mascarpone cheese and the heavy cream to a large bowl and whish until combined. Add the sugar, vanilla, and salt. Whisk until soft peaks form, then fold in the chocolate chips. Pour the filling into the crust, smoothing out the pie surface.

Refrigerate for at least 3 hours and serve drizzled with butterscotch sauce.

Have a great day