Bit of a hoo ha going on at the moment because police in Newmarket, quite a bit north of here, shot a black bear which people say wasn't necessary as the MNR (Ministry of Natural Resources) was on their way. The bear had been hanging around the area all weekend but couldn't be tranquilised untill it was stationary. It was up in a tree and then started to descend so the police shot it. Many people think more should have been done to relocate the animal. I read that 70% of similar occurrences end with the bear being shot. I wonder why they don't give the police tranquilisers in an area like that where bears are likely to be found in towns. If you are interested, there is
video here. This was the bear 4 days ago. There are all kinds of protests taking place in Ontario right now.
A bowling friend told me about the bear first, I told her about the woman who was killed in a Safari
park in Africa because she was filming lions with the windows open, a lioness jumped through the window.. How incredibly stupid people are. Reminds me of the guy who got out of his car and approached a pride of lions to take pictures. Guess what, another lion jumped him from behind and his family had the delightful experience of watching him being mauled to death. I cannot believe these people are so stupid. It's not the animal's fault. The tour guide, who was driving, tried to save the woman and was badly mauled.
She was an American tourist. This links to the Daily Mail report.
Of course we were bowling on Wednesday and Thursday -not terribly well, our averages went down by 2 points. Have to see if we can get them back up again.
Looking at this recipe, I wonder how many of us keep blocks of parmesan in our kitchens. We tried doing so but found we didn't use it often enough and it ended up being dry and mouldy. If you don't use a lot of parmesan, I recommend you get a good quality ground version and keep it in your freezer. Doesn't look as pretty as shaved parmesan, but..... I could never get really good shavings anyway LOL. Whilst writing this, it reminds me of a pet peeve. The word parmesan has an s in the middle not a g. If you must pronounce this the Italian way you should spell it Parmigiano. Why use the Italian word when the English word is perfectly good.
Asparagus with butter, balsamic and Capers
* 1 bunch asparagus about 250g, woody stems removed
* butter
* 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
* 1 tbsp capers
* 4 slices sourdough bread , toasted
* a few shavings parmesan
1. Steam the asparagus until just tender, about 3-4 minutes. toss with a knob of butter, the balsamic and capers and season well.
2. Pile onto sourdough toast and scatter with a few parmesan shavings.
Source: Olive Magazine
Have a great day
* 1 bunch asparagus about 250g, woody stems removed
We used to have a lion park here where you drove through following the feeding truck. I was quite unnerved when a lioness walked by the car and her back was higher than the base of the window. No way I'd have had a window open. Unfortunately a week later some idiot was driving through with his window open and the inevitable happened. How people can be so stupid - and survive to adulthood - bewilders me.
ReplyDeleteWe do have a Safari park here Helen, wonderful place although we haven't been for years. When Matt was doing security for a while, he worked there. We did NOT have our windows open when driving past dangerous animals and that included some of the monkeys. One time a bear was leaning on the cars. One leant on ours and my mother screamed, but we were fully closed. Another time we went by Safari bus and they had to move a rhino before we could move on through. He was rubbing up against the front of the bus. We did have open windows during goats and giraffes and nearly had a giraffe poke his head right in the car.
DeleteWe took our sons to an animal park in Ohio and some stupid camel kicked and dented the front bumper. I saw my friend's pictures of her African safari and that was close enough for me. There were wild animals walking around their camp sight.
ReplyDeleteOdd Denise, the animals don't usually do stuff like that other than the monkeys, they are dangerous little buggers and will rip your car to pieces. I would love to visit an African safari park. I agree it would be a bit nerve racking to have the animals so close, but the rangers know what they are about.
DeleteA 16 year old Asian girl was attacked by a buffalo in Yellowstone recently b/c she posed for a picture just a bit too close. Luckily she wasn't injured too bad and was expected to make a full recovery. People do stupid things. And then it's the animal that gets destroyed for it. :(
ReplyDeleteLove that recipe....I haven't had capers in ages and I love them. Should make this!
That is so true JoJo, the animal frequently is destroyed as a consequence of human stupidity.
DeleteI love capers too, have you ever tried caper berries, they are pretty good as well.
That woman who was killed by lions was an editor for Game of Thrones. Sad, but really stupid. Lions are wild animals. Not the lion's fault.
ReplyDeleteYes I saw that Alex. It is sad, but people don't seem to realise the nature of the beasts they are dealing with. Like the story of the jackal and the scorpion.
DeleteI usually eat my asparagus pretty simple. Saute in butter/olive oil with seasoned salt and pepper, leaving it crisp tender. I have never tried capers but bought a small jar recently and the balsamic vinegar too. So, I am going to be brave and try this recipe today. It is very sad that the bear wasn't given the chance to be tranquilized and moved, instead of being killed. And I agree, people can be very stupid around wild animals and the animals always pay for it too.
ReplyDeletePeople are very upset about the black bear shooting dynnamae. It could have been tranquilised. When you use your capers, do rinse them first, they can be very salty. I hope you enjoy it.
DeleteThank you for telling me to rinse the capers. I made this for my lunch and added split cherry tomatoes too. Looked like Christmas and was really good.
DeleteIt may be lunch tomorrow too!
So glad you enjoyed it dynnamae. I tried to return your visit but couldn't really find a blog or place to comment.
DeleteIt's sad when animals have to be shot. I'm for it when the animal is a danger but I agree, in the areas where bigger animals roam, police should be supplied with tranqs. As for the lioness story, people tend to forget that traveling in these areas the animals are wild. Good grief.
ReplyDeleteI use a lot of parmasean and asigago cheese. At times I'll grated up and freeze it. I don't keep a block of it handy. :-) I do keep plenty of capers on hand. This sounds yummy!
Sia McKye Over Coffee
I never thought of grating it up myself Sia, duuh. I don't use a lot because it's still cheese and cheese has lots of calories.
DeleteThat's the trouble people don't seem to understand that the animals are wild and to them we are a good source of food just sitting there being handy.
Love the sound of this on toasted sourdough! I can't believe how stupid humans can be sometimes. I have always hated when humans kill just because, how they take it out on the animal, when the animal has no understanding of what is "expected." A terrible example of this is at this link. Look at how they wrote it up. http://www3.gendisasters.com/georgia/4201/valdosta%2C-ga-elephant-crushes-keeper%2C-nov-1902
ReplyDeleteAnd here is the photo. Makes me ill. https://images.search.yahoo.com/images/view;_ylt=AwrB8pkkB3JVaCgAF.wunIlQ;_ylu=X3oDMTIyc3VzbWs4BHNlYwNzcgRzbGsDaW1nBG9pZAMwMDY4NzgyOGZlNDIxZTkwMmUwNjYyYzlkYmRlNDZiMARncG9zAzEEaXQDYmluZw--?.origin=&back=https%3A%2F%2Fimages.search.yahoo.com%2Fyhs%2Fsearch%3Fp%3Delephant%2Bkilled%2Bin%2BValdosta%252C%2Bga%26fr%3Dyhs-mozilla-004%26fr2%3Dpiv-web%26hsimp%3Dyhs-004%26hspart%3Dmozilla%26tab%3Dorganic%26ri%3D1&w=1087&h=1049&imgurl=raycityhistory.files.wordpress.com%2F2012%2F02%2Fchief-dampier-shot-gypsy.jpg&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fraycityhistory.wordpress.com%2F2012%2F03%2F07%2Fbloody-history-of-gypsy-the-elephant%2F&size=361.3KB&name=%3Cb%3EValdosta%3C%2Fb%3E+Police+Chief+Dampier+used+a+borrowed+Krag-Jorgensen+rifle+to+...&p=elephant+killed+in+Valdosta%2C+ga&oid=00687828fe421e902e0662c9dbde46b0&fr2=piv-web&fr=yhs-mozilla-004&tt=%3Cb%3EValdosta%3C%2Fb%3E+Police+Chief+Dampier+used+a+borrowed+Krag-Jorgensen+rifle+to+...&b=0&ni=21&no=1&ts=&tab=organic&sigr=12kaldm4r&sigb=14rpd443f&sigi=12776hkfs&sigt=12gjs02ht&sign=12gjs02ht&.crumb=SAqG8y9BiCa&fr=yhs-mozilla-004&fr2=piv-web&hsimp=yhs-004&hspart=mozilla
Sorry Jo! Didn't realize the links were so long!!!!
ReplyDeleteHave you never heard of TinyURL Lisa? You just copy in a link and it shortens it to just a few letters.
DeleteFor instance this is the picture link http://tinyurl.com/q9gmyd7 I must say my first reaction was how did the keeper treat the elephant. I have heard stories where keepers have traumatised elephants in their keeping and the elephants got their own back. They too are still wild animals after all.
DeletePeople are plain stupid. The policeman was irresponsible. Rolling down a window in Lion Country--pure stupidity in action.
ReplyDeleteWe live near San Diego's Wild Safari. Elephants are in a distant enclosure to allow for their needs to roam. Tigers and Lions are behind high and thick resin glass (?).
Aren't they just.
DeleteOur Safari park has/had (haven't been there in a while) roaming lions past which you can drive, i.e. theoretically you could have lions on either side of you. Really must go again one day. Used to love it there. Matt had a goat pal who made sure he was in every photo he possibly could.
Poor bear. Surely the police could have tasered it or something. People act like idiots in Lion Parks. I remember something similar happening years ago at a lion park here.
ReplyDeleteI think you have to get too close to taser something Pinky. Many don't act like idiots, they are idiots.
DeleteI still haven't tried a caper, yet.
ReplyDeleteThat surprises me Ivy, you do all this cooking and yet have missed out on such a wonderful taste treat.
Delete