Bowling, Giant Icicles, Alarm Checks. Oscars.

I was so busy feeling sorry for myself on Friday, I forgot to tell you how well I bowled. I was quite chuffed. Matt too had a good game. The same cannot be said for our Monday bowling, there were only 3 on the team and we all bowled badly. Matt had one good game, but that was it. There really is no rhyme or reason for it. It’s also very frustrating. Ah well. We have our travel league on Thursday and will be meeting some of the others for lunch at Angel’s. Not being a real league, it honestly doesn’t matter how you bowl which often means one bowls better then. I always remember my first 600 triple was when I was bowling for charity and it didn’t matter a damn what I did.

This is a season for giant icicles and there is one causing concern on an apartment building in Saskatoon. Neighbours are worried it will break off and crash into their basement apartment. It has now been ordered to be taken down, nothing has yet been done other than looking at the situation. It doesn’t look too unsafe to me, but that’s only a photo. I would think the thing would just thaw and melt away, it doesn’t really look like an icicle anyway does it? We had icicles on our balcony this year, don’t ever remember seeing them before. They disappeared, not sure if they fell or melted, but either way, they’re gone.

Today they were testing the fire alarms in the building. I don’t know what they do or how they do it, but it drives you nuts because the bells are ringing every few minutes. They also are checking the fire alarms in all the apartments which hasn’t been done for a long while, and then only once since we’ve been here. In fact they have said one of ours is dead and they will be replacing it. We check batteries every year when the clocks change. We have a bell right outside our door and I got caught just as I was leaving they started it ringing, nearly knocked my ears off.

You will gather we didn’t watch the Oscars Sunday night, from what I have heard, not such a bad thing. Its the first time I haven’t watched in a very long time. Just wasn’t in the mood. I read one criticism that the show was sexist and misogynistic. I don’t know, the Good Morning America people seemed full of it all and they all went down to take part in the whole thing. I hadn’t even heard of the movie in which the best actress won her Oscar. Didn’t know the actress either. Not very surprising, I don’t keep up with movies much. Bet the Ninja Captain knew all about it.

This is a recipe right up my street. I probably would reduce the sugar a bit more, but not too much.

Japanese Chicken-Scallion Rice Bowl

Source: © EatingWell Magazine

4 servings, 1 1/2 cups each

Here's the quintessence of Japanese home cooking: an aromatic, protein-rich broth served over rice. Admittedly, Japanese cooking leans heavily on sugar - for a less traditional taste, you could reduce or even omit the sugar.
INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups instant brown rice

1 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth

1 1/2 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce

1 tablespoon mirin (see Ingredient note)

2 large egg whites

1 large egg

8 ounces boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

6 scallions, trimmed and thinly sliced

Ingredient note
Mirin is a low-alcohol rice wine essential to Japanese cooking. Look for it in your supermarket with the Asian or gourmet ingredients. An equal portion of sherry or white wine with a pinch of sugar may be substituted for mirin.

DIRECTIONS

Prepare instant brown rice according to package directions.

Pour broth into a heavy medium saucepan, along with sugar, soy sauce and mirin. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium-low.

Stir egg whites and whole egg in a small bowl until just mixed. Add chicken to the simmering broth. Gently pour in the egg mixture, without stirring. Sprinkle scallions on top. When the egg starts to firm up, after about 3 minutes, stir it with chopsticks or a knife. (The chicken will be cooked by now). Divide the rice among 4 deep soup bowls and top with the chicken mixture.

Have a great day