Splatter Cloth, Book, Fireworks, Movie

For my birthday last year I was given the gift of a microwave splatter cloth which, I might say, is a very handy little item. However, it has a secondary use which was not intended by the makers, it is great for covering an opened wine bottle to ensure those pesky little fruit flies don’t get into it. It is a mesh cloth with little weights round the edges (the red dots). Researching it I discover Amazon.com sell them.

I have now finished Ricochet by Sandra Brown and thoroughly enjoyed it. Its not a new book, not sure where my friend got his copy but I got mine from the library. If you like detective/crime stories this fits the bill. I did guess some of it but not all. There was a pretty good twist at the end. Only trouble its left me with no desire to start anything else at the moment so I am at a loose end. Maybe I’ll go watch a movie.

You know I never thought of this before, but in Canada this last weekend it was Victoria Day when we celebrate our Royal connections by letting off lots of bangers and rockets, etc. Many of us have pets, or had them, who were absolutely terrified of all the bangs and hisses. But apparently nobody thinks of the poor wild animals who may be equally terrified of what is happening. How very inconsiderate we humans are. I even condemn myself for never having thought of it before and I am unaware of anyone else who has. Unfortunately there are a large percentage of people who, even if it was brought to their attention, probably wouldn’t give a damn anyway. Especially those who are lighting fireworks well into the small hours.

Tomorrow night a friend and I are going to see The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel which I have been looking forward to seeing for a while. Dame Judi Dench and Maggie Smith are in the movie and from the clips I have seen it should be a good film, unless, as has happened before, all the best bits were shown in the clips and the rest isn’t much cop. I do hope this isn’t the case. Its about a bunch of people who decide to take the inadequate pensions to a newly refurbished and considerably cheaper hotel in India. I honestly don’t see how a movie with those two ladies in it can possibly fail, I have always loved any performances they have previously given, so here’s hoping. I will obviously tell you all about it. My main post tomorrow will be as a guest post on Blogging A to Z. I hope you will check it out.

I am thinking I will make some potted shrimp this week, haven’t done so in a while, I really like them. I gave the recipe in my P is for Potted on the 18th of April. Matt and I both enjoy it. Unfortunately we can no longer get the little brown shrimp which were plentiful in England and the coasts of the Channel, they added a much better flavour. But regular shrimp work pretty well. I also need to make some more asparagus soup, we are supposed to have frozen it for later, but we have been eating it. Well its good. I need to go buy some more asparagus although I understand that is suffering from lack of rain.

Here is another asparagus recipe, simple to do, delightful to eat. The anchovies just give it a pleasant salty taste which is better than just using salt. Try it, you’ll like it. Just don’t try anchovies on their own, they are not very pleasant to eat like that.

Asparagus with Anchovies and Garlic

4 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 Tbs minced garlic
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
2 bunches asparagus, tough ends trimmed, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 Tbs water
2 tsp anchovy paste or 1 anchovy fillet, minced

1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic and crushed red pepper and cook, stirring constantly, until the garlic is fragrant, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Add asparagus, water and anchovy; cook, stirring often, until the asparagus is tender-crisp, 5 to 6 minutes

Servings: 4
Source: Eating Well

Have a great day