Monday, March 24, 2014

Poor Mouse, Dinner Party, Asparagus.

I am ashamed to say I totally forgot that I was being featured at Tina's blog Life is Good this morning, I am one of Tina's minions for the A to Z Challenge, a member of Tina's Terrific Team.

Because I have to keep my feet elevated, I keep my laptop by my easy chair and I have a Wireless Mouse. I might also say my Kindle, my Android tablet and my Glucose meter are all on this table. Bit crowded you might be pardoned for saying, hubby sLogitech Mouseays it all the time. Saturday morning I had a glass of water on the table to take with my myriad pills and later, surprise, surprise, I caught it with my fingers and spilled water all over my poor little mouse. Luckily all the other electronic items were fine, but my mouse has given up the ghost. I have been reduced to using the built in mouse on my laptop, which I hate and usually have turned off. Whilst using it, it has a tendency to erase things I have typed. It does this at the speed of lightening so I am unable to stop it. Does lots of other unpredictable things too. It’s because I have a tendency to rest my fingers on the pad or brush it when I am typing. So I guess I have to go buy me a new mouse. Have you seen some of the prices they charge for these things? Luckily there are some inexpensive ones out there. I was going to order one on line but the shipping costs almost more than the mouse itself.

Saturday night we had a friend over for dinner and I decided to do a snow pea dish I found as a vegetable, not something I cook very often and these turned ouAsparagust pretty well, as a starter we had Asparagus Pesto Toasts, followed by Chicken Breasts with Lemon and Capers accompanied by Spanish Rice and the snow peas. For dessert I had bought some Cannelloni from Vincenzo’s. Our friend requested recipes for everything which is always a good sign. I only have a little Asparagus Pesto left so I will need to make some more once the season arrives. Another month at least if I am lucky.The earliest they ever opened was April 20 and the latest May 26. I hope it won’t be that late, I would have chewed my fingers to the bone. Matt already told Tim Barrie, the asparagus farmer, that I painted my fingers green and started chewing on them before the asparagus was ready. I am out of asparagus soup too and have one Asparagus/Almond soup left. Dire straits indeed. I could always go to the farm and get some pickled asparagus I guess.

As a prelude to the season and because I served it the other night, here is the recipe for Asparagus Pesto Toasts which came from the LCBO’s Food and Drink magazine. Hmm, it appears I posted this recipe last May, it is one I post every year however. If you haven’t tried it, when the fresh asparagus comes in, I highly recommend it.


Asparagus Pesto Toasts


1 lb trimmed green asparagus (farm fresh doesn’t need trimming)Asparagus Pesto_thumb[1]
1 cup toasted walnut halves (I used pecans)
4 cloves garlic, peeled
2 1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup olive oil
2/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan
Freshly ground pepper

1. Cook asparagus until just tender. Refresh in cold water, then drain and dry well. Place asparagus, walnuts, garlic and salt in food  processor. Process until blended.
2. With motor running, gradually add olive oil, then add cheese and pepper. Blend together and check seasoning. Place in covered bowl.
3. It shows the recipe served on crunchy toasted French or Italian bread with a curl or two of parmesan on top and some asparagus at the side.
4. We freeze this in ice cube trays, then wrap the cubes in pairs (separated by Saran, and put in a bag in the freezer until we need them. Lasts forever.

Have a great day
Jo (2)

12 comments:

  1. Hi. I enjoyed the interview at Tina's blog. You did not say much about "living" on a sailboat. My husband and I almost did that once, but I couldn't get past all the moisture problems. We settled for a small sailboat, which we hardly take out now. I can see moving from UK to Canada. So land bound in UK, although I have always wanted to visit. Jealous of all your European travels :) I've been to Germany and Norway, also Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore...and long to see more. Thanks for the recipe. Quite unique! See you in the A-Z....

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    1. Oops, I haven't seen it yet, must pop over there. Moisture problems? We did live on 80 footers or more which were made just like regular homes inside. Why are you jealous of my travels, you have been to places I would like to go. Good luck with the A to Z.

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  2. Hi Jo .. sorry about the wet mouse - I agree I hate using the laptop mouse. Asparagus - I must check out when our farm gets up and running .. the weather's been so odd - I just don't know .. I may take a drive out there this week ..

    Well you're always cooking delicious suppers ... and I remember your asparagus pesto from last year .. I do love the asparagus season ...

    Cheers and I must come back and find the bobotie recipe I missed! It is one of my favourites .... Hilary

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    1. Your asparagus is probably already in Hilary. I am envious. Have you tried the pesto? It's really good and seems to keep for a very long time in the freezer. I was surprised how good it still was. Glad you found the bobotie recipe. It's good isn't it?

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  3. Sorry about the mouse, but count me in the club of folks who have knocked over the water. Back when I was working I had a water bottle sitting atop a ten-key calculator. I turned to answer the phone on my desk and knocked the bottle over. Pretty much fried the calculator.

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    1. I don't know which is worse, the anger with yourself for doing it or the embarrassment of having been such an idiot. Going to buy a new mouse this afternoon. At least I didn't do what one friend did, she washed her cell phone, she was at a party mind you!!!!!

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  4. Hi Jo - I'm meeting and following all Tina's minions for A to Z because I know I'll learn amazing things from each of you. I will come back when I have more time later this week and read some of your posts. So fa, I'm intrigued!

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    1. Nice to meet you. Hope you will enjoy what I write.

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  5. Sorry about your wireless mouse. I've mastered the one on our laptop, but watching my wife attempting to use is is amusing. (That's not wrong, is it?)
    Already saw your feature at Tina's!

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    1. You would, you clever clogs. My computer guy has no problems, but when I try to type it just jumps all over the place. Maybe being a trained typist doesn't help in this case, or id doesn't help me. I dunno if it's wrong or not, how does your wife react. I probably would throw the laptop at you.

      Thanks for the comment at Tina's.

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  6. Hi Jo & fellow Tina's Terrific Team Member! I keep getting your name mixed up w/ me in all of Tina's emails b/c a lot of people call me Jo too. lol

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    1. Hi JoJo - I'm a Josephine, what's your name? Don't often come across such a mix up.

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