Bites, Pandas, Nuclear Test.

The bug problem still goes on. I was sitting in my lounger yesterday, reading, and didn`t notice until I decided to go to bed and then realised I was itching. The trouble is you don`t basically feel it when they bite.

I had understood they only bit exposed flesh, I was actually wearing a sweat shirt at the time this happened. So that`s that theory knocked on the head. These are not the only bites, but most noticeable. I sent a copy of this picture to the landlords. There has been a resounding silence. I checked on line and according to Amazon.ca I should get my new steamer tomorrow. I do hope so. I plan to wait for it even if we have to miss bowling. I hope not of course, but if we are not here, it will be returned to the post office and we won`t be able to get it til Monday. I forgot to mention too, my nuclear test has been postponed as I thought I should inform them about the bugs. I was not surprised to hear it being cancelled until further notice.

It`s been snowing here both yesterday and today (Wednesday) but not enough to cause any problems. The roads are a tad slippery in places but that`s about it.

There are two Giant Panda Cubs, born last October in Toronto Zoo, which are on film today  at this site. Cuteness overload.

They always look so cuddly don`t they. Polar Bears too. The 4 month old Panda cubs are walking around - just a tiny bit unsteadily. They are not yet on show to the public. These Pandas are the first ever to be born in Canada. It didn`t say so, but I imagine they will return to China one day along with their parents.

This is, basically, what we ate for supper on Wednesday evening. However, I had to make a few changes as I didn`t have all the ingredients. For the mirin I used sherry with a little sugar added, if you Google there are several things you can use as a sub for mirin. I also used fresh fettucine which worked very well. 5 minutes is nowhere long enough to soften the cabbage even though I added a little water and put a lid on it to steam. Finally, we found we needed a little salt despite the soy sauce. Apart from that, we thoroughly enjoyed it. Sure is easy enough to do.


Yaki udon

BBC Good Food

These thick wheat noodles with mushrooms and cabbage are made for slurping - a lovely

low-fat, low-calorie vegetarian supper

Serves 2

Ingredients

250g dried udon noodles (400g frozen or fresh)
2 tbsp sesame oil
1 onion, thickly sliced
¼ head white cabbage, roughly sliced
10 shiitake mushrooms
4 spring onions, finely sliced (green onions)

For the sauce
4 tbsp mirin
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp caster sugar (North American sugar is basically the same as caster sugar)
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce (or vegetarian alternative)


Boil some water in a large saucepan. Add 250ml cold water and the udon noodles. (As they are so thick, adding cold water helps them to cook a little bit slower so the middle cooks through). If using frozen or fresh noodles, cook for 2 mins or until al dente; dried will take longer, about 5-6 mins. Drain and leave in the colander.


Heat 1 tbsp of the oil, add the onion and cabbage and sauté for 5 mins until softened. Add the mushrooms and some spring onions, and sauté for 1 more min. Pour in the remaining sesame oil and the noodles. If using cold noodles, let them heat through before adding the ingredients for the sauce – otherwise tip in straight away and keep stir-frying until sticky and piping hot. Sprinkle with the remaining spring onions.


Have a great day