Relation? Asparagus, Bowling Balls.

I happened to be reading a review on Chick Lit Love and Laura was talking about From Italy with Love by Jules Wake. My ears pricked up, Wake, is of course our last name. Turns out that Jules’ son is called Matt Wake and her father in law was also called Matt Wake. Matthew is a very popular name in the Wake family which makes me think that there is definitely some relationship. It sounds like a very good story too so I must check it out. The story is set in the parts of France and Italy that I love and I would love to do the journey that the heroine undertakes in the book.

On Friday I asked several people if they would like me to pick up some asparagus for them. One was a bowling friend who said she would pick it up on Monday. It suddenly occurred to me on Saturday that we don’t bowl on Monday any more, the winter league having finished. So we wouldn’t be there til Wednesday by which time it would be close on a week old. She might just as well buy it from the store in that case. She agreed and came over to collect it. It’s going to take a while to adapt to Wednesday bowling instead of Monday. By the time I do, it will probably be back to winter league again. My friend Gary from Klahanie Blogspot wrote a post about Gutter Balls. Even though some of his readers also read my posts they still don’t seem to grasp the difference. 5 Pin bowling balls weigh in the neighbourhood of 3 to 3 1/2 lbs. NOT 10 lbs. up. 5 pin bowling is very different from 10 pin. Talking of 10 pin there is an alley quite close to us and they recently had a big fight there where people were chucking bowling balls at one another. I can hardly pick them up let alone chuck them at someone. You see how in the top picture the ball is being held in the hand. In the bottom pic the ball is much bigger and needs holes for the thumb and fingers to pick it up. The lowest weight I have ever come across is 8 lbs and that is still very heavy for me.

Here’s another fairly simple way of preparing my favourite vegetable

Asparagus and Endive Salad


1 lb fresh asparagus , trimmed and cut into 2 inch pieces
1/2 tsp grated orange peel
1 Tbs Juice, orange, fresh
2 Tbs seasoned rice vinegar
1 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs small shallots , minced
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dijon mustard
1/8 tsp black pepper
8 oz Belgian endive, fresh, head , cut lengthwise into 1/4 inch strips (2 heads)

1. Place 1/2 inch of water at the bottom of a 12 inch pan and bring to a boil over high heat. Add in asparagus and cook until tender yet crisp, about 2 minutes. Place in strainer, rinse under cold water, drain, and pat dry with paper towels.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the orange peel, orange juice, vinegar, oil, shallots, sugar, salt, mustard, and pepper until well combined.
3. Add the asparagus and endive to the bowl with the dressing. Mix well to evenly coat and serve.

Servings: 4

Source: dLife

Author Notes
Light and elegant salad combining asparagus and endive in a homemade orange Dijon vinaigrette.
Try using a sugar substitute instead of regular sugar.

Have a great day