A to Z, Blogger, Bowling, Weather.

I have finally finished my 26 posts for the A to Z Challenge in April – in my case it is something of an extra challenge as I chose a subject beginning with the letter of the day and also a recipe beginning with the same letter, you might be surprised at the difficulty of finding recipes beginning with certain letters. I generally avoid Mary’s something or other or Xavier’s favourite, that is kind of cheating in my book. I kind of ended up with a wildlife or nature theme although I didn’t, as Alex J. Cavenaugh suggested, talk about an animal and then tell you how to cook it. Not a bad idea though but not sure one could sustain that for 26 posts. As for my minion duties for Tina’s Terrific Team, we have started those now and I have read a few new blogs lately. If you want to know any more about the A to Z or would like to join in, click on the badge and it will take you to a sign up page.

Talking of pages, I can’t believe how incredibly dumb I am, I have been writing a blog for a number of years and yet I have only just discovered Blogger offers me the chance to use other pages. I don’t know why I never realised it before particularly as I wondered how other bloggers did it. I feel such a dimwit for not seeing the option before. Not sure what I would use the extra pages for although one blogger I know uses them for all the awards.

Friday’s  bowling wasn’t as good as the previous Monday but I beat my average which is always good.

We have certainly lost a lot of our snow in the last few days. We can actually see stretches of grass from our windows. Matt even went out without a coat the other day. It has been mostly very sunny but I don’t think it’s quite that warm yet.

I thought this sounded like a tasty and very easy hors d’oeuvres – certainly something I would like to eat. Don’t be afraid of the anchovies, they give a lovely salty flavour to a dish. Never, but never, eat them on their own. This recipe from Food and Wine.

Potted Ham with Cabbage and Pickles

Contributed by Kay Chun

• TOTAL TIME: 20 MIN
• SERVINGS: 2 cups

While this tasty little potted ham can be eaten right away, it's also an excellent make-ahead party dish that can sit out for a few hours and still taste great.

1. 2 oil-packed anchovy fillets
2. 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3. 1/2 pound smoked ham, shredded
4. 1 cup finely chopped green cabbage
5. 1 small dill pickle, chopped (1/3 cup)
6. 2 tablespoons chopped dill, plus more for garnish
7. Salt
8. Freshly ground pepper
9. Toasted country bread and mustard, for serving

1. In a small saucepan, melt the anchovies in the olive oil over moderate heat, stirring. Scrape the anchovy oil into a medium bowl. Add the ham, cabbage, pickle and chopped dill, season with salt and pepper and mix well. Pack the ham mixture into a 3-cup ramekin and garnish with dill. Serve at room temperature with the bread and mustard.

Make Ahead The potted ham can be refrigerated for up to 2 days.

Have a great day