Weekend, Movie.

I hope those who were, or still are, celebrating the 4th enjoyed themselves. I heard on the news this morning that they had a stupendous firework show in New York last night and some bar owner charged a couple $1,400 to stand on his roof to watch!!! As someone commented, were free drinks included? Some people really are nuts.

We drove about an hour to Burlington to spend a few hours with friends for lunch. We ate in the back yard and really enjoyed ourselves. The weather was delightful although it did get a bit warm towards the end. We ate chilled pea soup, a kind of antipasto plate, a delicious chicken dish with a decadent cream sauce accompanied by broccoli salad and potato salad. By this time I was so full I couldn’t finish my chicken or my veg. Shame on me. Later on we had a very good and light dessert with raspberries and a kind of pound cake soaked in orange juice. When we got home we were both very full, but as a diabetic one has to eat three meals at least, so I had some cheese and toast later on.

I bought myself a copy of Stardust a few weeks ago and for various reasons, mostly medical, had not got round to playing it. Friday evening I tried, I could neither play it on my laptop nor on my DVD player. I seem to be having a lot of problems with this movie, I have downloaded it from iTunes without success. Maybe I am just not meant to own this movie?

Incredible picture on TV this morning. People watching a parade yesterday and a couple of horses pulling a carriage bolted, no reason given, but they dragged the carriage along with them and it hit several people in the crowd, including several children, and one 60 yr old woman was killed.

My blogs may be a bit sparse this week, Matt has to have a minor operation on Thursday which necessitates him being in the hospital at 8:15 a.m. (yuk as I have to go along to get the car in order to pick him up later). Then I have some involved appointments on Friday.

On Saturday I mentioned I had found this recipe for Pumpkin and Chocolate Chili, obviously I couldn’t resist it, the picture looks delicious, the ingredients sound great and it includes chocolate, what more could you want in a recipe?

Pumpkin and Chocolate Chili

Serves 4

Sample recipe from The Bittersweet World of Chocolate: With 50 delicious Recipes, a New Internationalist Publication. Sold at many Ten Thousand Villages stores. (Photos by Kam & Co, Denmark)

Ingredients:

3 cups (450g) cooked pumpkin

1 onion, chopped

1 red bell pepper, sliced

3 Tbsp jalapeño, sliced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 cup (240ml) beer

1 cup (240 ml) stock

8 olives, sliced

1-2 tsp chili powder

1 tsp ground coriander

1 can tomatoes with juice

2 Tbsp cilantro/coriander, chopped

1 Tbsp cocoa

1-2 cans beans, such as pinto, white or kidney, drained

4-6 Tbsp scallions/spring onions, sliced

3 Tbsp cheddar cheese, grated

6 Tbsp sour cream or yogurt

oil

salt and pepper

Instructions:

1. Sauté the onion and when it is translucent, add the bell pepper, jalapeño and garlic; stir for 5 minutes.
2. Next, add the beer, stock, olives, chili powder, coriander, and tomatoes with juice. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
3. The pumpkin goes in now, together with the cilantro/coriander, cocoa and beans. Stir well to combine the ingredients and season. Cook gently for 5 minutes or until the mix has cooked down and amalgamated.
4. Serve topped with the scallions/spring onion, cheese, and sour cream or yogurt.

Have a great day.