Blogger, Penguins, Books

Weird, I tried to access my Blogger account yesterday and was told there had been unusual activity on my account and I had to verify who I was by phone, I had to give them my phone number and they phoned instantly with a verification code. Then I had to change my password, what a palaver. I find this password stuff to be a pain in the you know where. OK, banks and various financial transactions, yes you need a password, but really, it goes too far.

Dunno about where you are, but it has got pretty chilly this weekend. 9:00 a.m. on Sunday it was 4°C and that is not very warm at all. However, the forecast is calling for much higher temps during the week and next weekend, if you can believe what they say of course. Talking of chilly, I discovered on Saturday something I didn’t know, not all penguins live in sub zero climates, in fact most of them don’t. Maybe everyone knows that but me, but I was very surprised. There are penguins who couldn’t survive in 4°C apparently. Jack Hannah who is the Director Emeritus of Columbia Zoo, had a little blue penguin with him when he was on GMA on Saturday morning. He said in fact there are more species of warm weather penguins than there are cold weather varieties which are the ones most familiar to us.

Wonders will never cease. I am presently reading the latest and last Earth Children’s book by Jean M. Auel The Land of the Painted Caves and I am enjoying it more than the last couple even though it is composed of a lot of descriptions of painted caves in one region of current day France. What particularly fascinates me, her books are set in the Ice Age and yet many, if not all, of the cave paintings were done ages before the people of that time. I must admit I wasn’t sure if I would ever get to read this book or even if Jean M. Auel would get round to writing it. I am not sure how long it has been since The Shelters of Stone, but its years.

Mushroom Canada’s latest offering

Polpette di Fungi
by Mardi Michels of Eat. Live. Travel. Write.

2 eggs
1 tsp baking soda
50 g freshly grated Parmesan
50 g Panko breadcrumbs, plus extra for rolling
1/4 cup  chopped plain parsley
1/2 cup finely diced fresh mushrooms (crimini, button, whatever you like!)
Pinch sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Olive oil for frying
A jar (about 700mL) of your favourite pasta sauce

1. Beat the eggs and the baking soda with a whisk.
2. Slowly add the cheese, the breadcrumbs, the parsley and mushrooms to the egg mix. Season with sea salt and pepper and fold gently until all ingredients are combined.
3. Using a teaspoon form small balls of the mixture, then roll them in the extra Panko crumbs.
4. Heat the oil in a frying pan, add the egg balls 2-3 at a time and fry over medium heat until golden brown all round. You will need to turn them to make sure they brown evenly.
5. Drain on a paper towel and continue until all balls are fried up.
6. Heat your pasta sauce over medium heat and then add the balls when the sauce is bubbling. Turn the heat down to low and partially cover the saucepan. Continue to heat for about 7 minutes - the balls will be warm through and will have absorbed some of the sauce.
7. Serve topped with fresh basil.

Have a great day