Concert, RIP Ray Bradbury, Toronto Banning Plastic Bags

Tuesday night we watched the Jubilee concert from outside Buckingham Palace, there was lots of fun and lots of energy, but although they did put on a very good show, I’m afraid, in my opinion, that Tom Jones and Paul McCartney are a tad past it. Committing sacrilege, I never did like Elton John. His music is fine, but he can’t sing worth a damn.  It was nice to see the Royal family enjoying themselves, Prince William was in stitches once or twice and so was Prince Charles with some of the comments made by one comedian. It was fun hearing Prince Charles call the Queen ‘Mummy’. I wonder if he does call her that in private? One tends not to think about that side of their lives. I could be wrong, but when the Queen arrived at the concert, I think she was wearing a Royal Naval Boat Cloak. I have one of those and they are very warm and comfortable. There are some lovely pictures on the internet and these are just a couple of them which I particularly liked. That is Princess Beatrice standing next to the Duchess of Cambridge.

Ray Bradbury died yesterday at the age of 91. I especially remember him for his book The Silver Locusts which I am told is the English title for the Martian Chronicles (I thought that was just the film title) and for The Illustrated Man which someone has just told me they read when they were 9 and it frightened them, I had the same reaction, but neither of us have forgotten the book. Fahrenheit 451 was another of his well known books. The only book I still have is The Silver Locusts, this is the cover of the book which I bought in the ‘60s – I personally think The Silver Locust title is much more evocative of what the story is about. Ray Bradbury certainly lived a good long life and I suspect not many people remember him any more. Coincidentally he was the same age as Prince Philip will this weekend.

Well, well, well, someone has at last decided to take a step in the right direction. Toronto has decided to ban plastic bags by 2013. I am thrilled at the idea that Toronto has taken a lead on this issue – there is only one problem, have the thought of something to take their place. For shopping, no problems there are all kinds of shopping bags out there, but what about garbage bags, particularly inside the home. We used to have paper garbage sacks years ago in the UK, they could, of course be re-introduced, but trash bags for bins etc. – someone would need to think up something to replace those. Matt and I haven’t used plastic shopping bags for groceries for a few years now, but we are still guilty of using them in other areas.

Lately I have been having trouble with pork chops, they just don’t seem to come out right any more, so I am always looking for something different to do with them. This looks as though it might be a good recipe.

Oven Barbecued Pork Chops

WebMD Recipe from EatingWell.com

Need a little summertime flavor? Try this swift recipe and enjoy a "barbecue" indoors. Make it a meal: Serve with coleslaw and cornbread.

Servings: 4

Recipe Ingredients:

1. 1 1/2-1 3/4 pounds bone-in, 3/4-inch-thick pork rib chops, trimmed of fat
2. 1/4 teaspoon salt
3. 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
4. 3 teaspoons canola oil, divided
5. 1 medium onion, diced
6. 1 clove garlic, minced
7. 1/3 cup orange juice
8. 1/2 cup barbecue sauce

Recipe Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Sprinkle pork chops with salt and pepper. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a large ovenproof skillet over high heat. Add the pork chops and cook until beginning to brown, 1 to 2 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate.
3. Add the remaining 1 teaspoon oil to the pan. Add onion and cook, stirring, until softened, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, 30 seconds. Add orange juice and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Stir in barbecue sauce. Return the pork chops to the pan, turning several times to coat with the sauce.
4. Transfer the pan to the oven and bake until the pork chops are barely pink in the middle and an instant-read thermometer registers 145°F, 6 to 10 minutes. Serve the sauce over the pork chops.

Have a great day