Travelling,

I talked a bit about our journey yesterday, I checked my notes and discovered I had written a description of the hills and mountains of the parts of Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania that we travel through on our trip. I was looking at all the trees and thinking about my mother who, on this same trip, said “you can get tired of trees”. In fact I don’t know that I can. I love to see all the slopes covered in different greens, and now beginning to show fall colours; then, every so often, they give you a treat and open up to show you a meadow glinting like an emerald in the sun between the foliage. Very lovely to look at. I wish I was as lyrical as sinlaw Mike who could really make that scene come alive for you.

Another thing I always like to see, returning to Ontario, we drive along an edge of Lake Ontario where they placed a wreck many years ago, and which somebody subsequently set fire to. I still love to catch a glimpse of it as we go past. I guess it is a tourist attraction although I am not sure how you get near enough to see it. Here it is in the water, but in fact it is beached on the shore of the lake.

We pass by Fredericksburg, VA on our trip too. I have noticed several times that there is a Mary Washington University and I wondered “who is Mary Washington”, turns out she is George’s mother. There are several spots I wonder about and forget to write them down although one I did note was a brand new stable called Nickers and Neighs which I thought was a great name.

We still saw a lot of police on the roads again even though 9/11 has passed. Quite a number of speeders had been pulled over.

I am not noted for the brilliance of my memory, but I had forgotten we both had election training today for the upcoming provincial elections next month. In fact there has been so much going on since I got home, I don’t know if its Saturday or Christmas. Tomorrow we have our travelling bowling league and Friday regular bowling. Yesterday I had my Avon to do and we had a power cut for several hours and as the elevators were not working, I couldn’t get to see the doc so have to go see her today. Waaah! I need a holiday!!!!!

Here’s an interesting looking recipe, if you can find flank steak, I haven’t yet been able to round here.

Mojo Marinated & Grilled Flank Steak

Source: FC - Issue 28

Toss a few red onions on the grill to serve with this dish; a salad of tomatoes and cucumbers rounds out the meal nicely. My family loves this versatile mojo on chicken as well as on flank steak.
INGREDIENTS

For the Mojo:

12 cloves garlic (or 4 tablespoons minced garlic)

2 habaneros or other spicy chiles, cored, seeded, and minced (wear rubber gloves)

1 teaspoon kosher salt

4 teaspoons whole cumin seeds, toasted

1 cup olive oil

2/3 cup sour orange juice (or 1/3 cup fresh lime juice plus 1/3 cup fresh orange juice)

1 1/2 tablespoons sherry vinegar

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

For the Steak:

1 1/2 pounds flank steak

1 or 2 large Bermuda onions, thickly sliced and brushed with olive oil (optional)

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

TO MAKE THE MOJO: Mash the raw garlic, chiles, salt, and cumin together in a mortar and pestle until fairly smooth. (Alternatively, use a food processor, pulsing until the ingredients are finely chopped but not puréed.) Scrape the mixture into a bowl and set aside.

Heat the olive oil until fairly hot but not smoking, and pour it over the garlic-chile mixture (the oil should sizzle when it hits the cool ingredients), stir, and let stand 10 minutes. This will cook the garlic slightly. Whisk in the sour orange juice and vinegar. Season with salt and pepper and set aside to cool completely.

FOR THE STEAK: Put the steak in a zip-top bag or a shallow bowl and pour in 1 cup of the cooled mojo. Seal and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight, turning occasionally. Refrigerate the remaining 1 cup of mojo.

TO COOK AND SERVE: Light a charcoal or gas grill. When the grill is very hot, remove the steak from the marinade (discard the marinade), pat dry, and season with salt and pepper; cook 5 to 7 minutes on one side and 3 to 4 minutes on the other for medium rare. Remove from the grill and let rest for 5 minutes. (If you like, grill the Bermuda onions as well - you can put them on at the same time as the flank steak; grill 6 to 7 minutes per side.)

Meanwhile, warm the reserved mojo over low heat. Slice the flank steak very thinly on the bias and serve with the reserved mojo and the grilled onions.

Have a great day