There has been a lot of fuss for a while now because prisoners, particularly those convicted of major crimes, were continuing to receive old age income benefits from the government whilst in prison. There is a bill in the works to strip prisoners of these benefits. However, it appears that a Colonel, who has admitted to murder and sexual stalking, will not have his military pension withdrawn. This, to me, is incredible, apart from the fact that prisoners, in many cases, live better lives than those on the outside, they get three meals a day, food and lodging, the best medical care, together with all the TV and other such entertainment they could want, what do they need a pension for? Why should they receive one. Give it to the rest of the pensioners, who are not inside jails, many of whom are struggling to live on the meagre benefits they get.
Just to keep you up to date, I had a rough day yesterday, but am feeling fine now. Matt dragged me to the bowling alley saying it would be better than sitting at home feeling sorry for myself. Instead I sat at the bowling alley feeling even sorrier for myself as I couldn’t bowl worth a damn.
I suppose Hallowe’en is in a couple of weeks now, we are getting all kinds of ads for it and all the stores are selling costumes and other accessories for the occasion. I have mentioned before that the Superintendent collects candies from residents and then they hand them out on the night.
I just read they will be starting to make the film The Hobbit some time next February. I didn’t know it was planned. I thoroughly enjoyed The Lord of the Rings which I actually own on VHS tapes, and will look forward to seeing The Hobbit which, apparently, they are filming in 3D. I think filmmakers have gone nuts about 3D, I also read they are converting the latest (and last) Harry Potter movie to 3D. Yesterday How to Train Your Dragon was released and I wanted to maybe rent and possibly buy it (big kid), but I am having trouble with iTunes and the programme “ceases to work” on me every time I try to do something. I guess I will have to rent the movie locally which is more expensive and then buy it if I think its worth it. There’s a couple more movies I am waiting for which were released in September, one is The Legend of the Guardians which is from the books Guardians of Ga'hoole; I’ve forgotten the name of the other although I do remember it was animated too, saw ads when I was in the States.
Spaghetti with Marmite
Serves 4-6
I know the combination of pasta and Marmite sounds odd to the point of unfeasibility, but there is a traditional day-after-the-roast pasta dish, in which spaghetti is tossed in chicken stock, and I have eaten shortcut versions of this in Italy which use a crumbled stock cube, along with some butter, olive oil, chopped rosemary and a little of the pasta cooking water to make a flavoursome sauce for spaghetti.
Ingredients
375g/13oz dried spaghetti
50g/2oz unsalted butter
1 tsp Marmite, to taste
freshly grated parmesan, to serve
Preparation method
Cook the spaghetti in plenty of boiling, salted water, according to the packet instructions.
When the pasta is almost cooked, melt the butter in a small saucepan and add the Marmite and one tablespoon of the pasta water, mixing thoroughly to dissolve.
Reserve half a cup of the pasta water; then drain the pasta and pour the Marmite mixture over the drained spaghetti, adding a little of the reserved pasta water to amalgamate if required.
Serve with plenty of grated parmesan.
Top recipe tip
I think of Anna whenever I cook pasta, remembering her two ordinances: one, that the water you cook pasta in should be as salty as the Mediterranean; and two, that pasta should not be too officiously drained, but rather be ‘con la goccia’, that’s to say with some cooking water still clinging to it, as this makes it easier to incorporate the sauce.
Have a great day
I've only ever eaten Marmite on toast/bread.
ReplyDeleteMe too Marilyn, but this sounds like a good idea to me.
ReplyDelete