Dates, Nobel Prize, Kitchener, Google Car and Peas

Did you know lots of people got married last Sunday because the date was 10/10/10? What a very odd reason for picking a time to get married. Some Chinese couples consider it a lucky date and  followers of numerology consider it magical. Don’t see it myself at all. However, all over the place, happy couples selected it as THE day. This date happens once a millennium. In Toronto there were so many that they had to move the ceremonies from City Hall to a hotel in order to get everyone accommodated.

The Chinese are doing well. The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo who is in prison. This infuriated the Chinese government. Then Liu Xiaobo’s wife, Liu Xia, was permitted to visit him in prison and immediately afterwards, put under house arrest!!! I ask you?

A comment yesterday from French Marilyn, she didn’t know about Oktoberfest in Kitchener. I mentioned that it is the biggest one outside Germany, but what people may not have realised, there is a big German population in the town which was once called the City of Berlin. I believe the name was changed at the beginning of World War 1. In fact Google has an interesting article here including information about which I knew nothing http://tinyurl.com/p92l2 In fact my statement of the big German population is inaccurate as the population were originally Mennonites from Pennsylvania although as far as I am aware, they were originally from Germany. Today the population isn’t particularly Mennonite in town although there are many (if not most) farms in the surrounding area which are operated by Mennonites.

Talking of Google, have you heard about their robot car, I heard something about it yesterday and this morning they had a segment on Good Morning America showing the car driving itself. It is full of all the safety features and lots of computer technology but whether it will ever be marketable is very dubious. It is a very interesting concept though. It turns out on research that Google have a whole fleet of these cars. You have to be able to drive to travel in one, you cannot just get in and say take me to…… but it does mean you can rely on the car whilst you are texting or phoning someone. They stated the vehicle had already driven 140 miles on its own. The theory is that these vehicles would cause less accidents and there would be less traffic congestion.

I have just discovered, through one of my regular emails, that peas are very good for tightening the facial skin. Guess who will be eating lots of peas from now on. Always did eat a few, but things will change from now on. More salads and soups made with peas. They included some recipes and this one for pea soup appealed although there are some rather odd measurements.  I already have a recipe for pea soup. Another recipe I love is one I call French peas where they are cooked with lettuce, onions and lots of butter.

Amazing Pea Soup

Source: Eating Well

Ingredients

12 cup(s) water

2 pound(s) English peas with shells

0.33 cup(s) finely chopped fresh dill, plus sprigs for garnish

1 teaspoon(s) salt

Freshly ground pepper to taste

0.75 cup(s) low-fat plain yogurt

Directions

1. Bring water to a boil in a large pot. Add peas, return to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 45 minutes.
2. Using a slotted spoon, transfer one-third of the pea pods to a food processor. Add 1/2 cup cooking liquid and process until smooth. (Use caution when pureeing hot liquids.) Pour into a large bowl. Repeat with the remaining pea pods in 2 batches, with 1/2 cup cooking liquid each time. Pour the pureed peas plus the remaining cooking liquid through a fine-meshed sieve, pressing on the solids to extract as much liquid as possible. (Alternatively, put through a food mill fitted with a fine disc.)
3. Return the soup to the pot, bring to a boil, and then simmer until reduced by about a third (to about 6 cups), 30 to 35 minutes. Stir in chopped dill, salt, and pepper. Ladle into bowls and top each serving with a swirl or dollop of yogurt and a sprig of dill, if desired.

Have a great day