Google Doodles, Olympics, Olympics and more Olympics

Google are really going to town on their Doodles at the moment. They are all Olympic themed and fun to see. I look forward each day to seeing the current one. Friday a general Olympics picture, Saturday archery, Sunday it was swimming, Monday fencing; this will be posted before I know what Tuesday’s is. If you look up Google Olympic Doodles you can see past and present ones. I must have missed them last time or my memory is failing. Could well be I guess. I particularly liked the swimming doodle and I like the fencing one today – I used to fence in my 20’s and still have my epée tucked away in a closet.

Talking of the Olympics, naturally this week, Canada was thrilled with the young women who brought home our first medal in synchronized three metre springboard,  particularly because Emilie Heymans is bringing home her 4th Olympic medal having medalled once per Games. She is the first Canadian ever to have won a medal in four different Olympic Games. Hate to say it, but their final dive yesterday was incredibly un-synchronized. Had their synchronicity been better they might have managed a silver. Pity. Of course its easy for me to sit back and criticize especially as I can’t even dive. Matt can though, he was a springboard diver once upon a time so knows what its all about.

A big disappointment today for the gymnastic teams. Britain thought they had the silver medal and Ukraine the bronze. They were so excited. Then the Japanese launched a protest, the judges studied the video of the gymnast in question on the pommel horse and decided that he did OK after all so they became the Silver winners with Britain getting the bronze. The Ukraine team was desperately disappointed, one felt so sorry for them. The judges don’t have an ax to grind, but everyone else seems to think it was wrong. When it was thought Britain had the silver, one saw shots of Princes William and Harry cheering with the rest of the crowd.

A disappointment for Canada was the young equestrienne who was thrown from her horse during a jump. She ended up in hospital but is OK apparently. We have been gluing ourselves to the TV but, as I said to Matt, some events don’t get coverage at all. The equestrian events for instance, yachting is another, rowing, archery, and so on. I suppose the sports that do get covered are more popular. I checked it out today, apparently the gold and silver medals are both predominantly made of silver, but the gold one is plated with a minimum of 6 grams of gold. The last time a solid gold medal was awarded was in 1912. Even the ones that are awarded must cost a pretty penny. I don’t suppose any nation could afford solid gold medals today – unless it was an Arab nation funded by an oil rich sheik. Maybe Dubai could do it? Not sure if they would be big enough for the crowds.

Did you see the swimming race which was won by the 15 yr. old Lithuanian girl? She cracked the world record too. Incredible performance in the 100 metre breast stroke. She is taught, and trained, in a school in Plymouth, England. A Polish athlete was sent home because of an inappropriate Tweet. People are so stupid, don’t say anything insulting or rude on line – period. Having said that …….. LOL.

Another easy recipe which looks colourful and delicious.

Easy Chicken and Balsamic Peppers

ByThe Gluten Free Goddess
WebMD Recipe from Foodily.com

This a great make-ahead dish. Assemble it, cover with foil, and chill until you are ready to bake it (and add extra time to the baking - 10 to 15 minutes).

Ingredients

4 large ripe bell peppers: red, green, orange, yellow; cored and sliced thin
1 large sweet onion, sliced thin
1/3 cup organic balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons gluten-free Worcestershire Sauce
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup or so chicken broth
6 fresh cloves of garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon rosemary
4 fresh, organic free-range split breasts of chicken, rinsed and patted dry
Sea salt and ground pepper, to taste

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Toss the pepper and onion slices in a large bowl. In a large measuring cup, fork-stir your sauce using: balsamic vinegar, Worcestershire, olive oil, broth, chopped garlic, and herbs. Pour the sauce over the sliced peppers and onions and toss well to coat.

Place the split chicken breasts in the bottom of a baking pan sprayed with olive oil. Season with sea salt and pepper, to taste. Pour the balsamic pepper mixture over the chicken and arrange them evenly. Use every last drop of sauce.

Loosely cover the pan with a piece of foil and place in the center of a pre-heated oven. Bake for 45 minutes to an hour or so (depending upon the thickness of the chicken, and the size of your pepper strips, and your particular oven and altitude). You want the chicken to be cooked through (no longer pink inside) and the peppers to be limp and soft.

I checked the chicken after 40 minutes, for doneness; and spooned the sauce all over the peppers and chicken breasts (to keep everything happy and moist) and continued to bake it until everything was melt-in-your-mouth tender.

Serve with a side dish of cooked rice or quinoa, brown rice pasta tossed in pesto, or creamy mashed potatoes, and crisp baby greens on the side.

Total Servings: 4

Have a great day