Bowling, Groundhog Day, Candlemas, Tough Meat,

Decided to go bowling on Wed. afternoon, what a disaster. I could not get my ball to go where I wanted. You would have  thought I had never bowled before in my life. Thanks goodness it wasn't a league day. By the way, we have moved from 7th to 5th place this week. Long may it continue. We were playing in a lane next to 3 ladies who go every Wednesday but are not actually members of the Wednesday league. They had some goodies to eat and kindly offered us a chocolate chip cookie which one of them had baked. They tasted good, but I nearly broke my teeth trying to eat one. I guess I should have dunked it. Nice of them though. Thought I would choose the leprechaun instead of a bowling animation for a change.

Groundhog Day, but I can't remember if we are hoping it does see it's shadow or doesn't. OK I just

looked it up, we don't want him to see his shadow if we want an early spring. That especially applies to yours truly, spring means fresh asparagus to me. Apparently in Europe it is actually Candlemas Day which is where the tradition began I suppose. I just found these little rhymes.

From England, the poem:

If Candlemas be fair and bright,
Winter has another flight.
If Candlemas brings clouds and rain,
Winter will not come again. 

From Scotland, the poem:

If Candlemas Day is bright and clear,
There'll be two winters in the year. 

From Germany, the poem:

For as the sun shines on Candlemas Day,
So far will the snow swirl until May.
For as the snow blows on Candlemas Day,
So far will the sun shine before May. 

So here's hoping. We haven't had a bad winter here really, although in some parts of North America their snow falls have not been funny. I cannot imagine getting several feet in one snowfall.

Well more bowling today of course so I do hope things go better. I actually had a painful day yesterday and had to take a few Tylenol 3 to cope. Fingers crossed.

I am planning to do a Portuguese type Pork casserole for Saturday. Matt is still having problems with meat toughness so I am avoiding giving him meat of any kind which hasn't been well cooked in some way. I even made Portuguese Style Chicken the other day and he found the thicker pieces of chicken to be tough. The NY Times came up with some Pressure Cooker recipes which would do the job,  trouble is, I don't have a pressure cooker and am not about to buy one at this stage. Pity, they look good. I remember my mother saying my cousin used to wield her pressure cooker like the rest of us used a fry pan.

I often see baby bok choy in our store and wondered about recipes. This recipe doesn't specifically say baby, but I think it would work really well.

Stir-Fried Bok Choy or Sturdy Greens

This recipe works equally well with bok choy or sturdy greens, both of which have tough ribs and leaves that have a cruciferous flavor. I steam them for a minute before stir-frying so the leaves won’t be too tough.

12 to 16 oz bok choy or sturdy greens, like collards, or packaged Southern greens mix

¼ cup chicken broth, vegetable broth or water
1 Tbs Shao Hsing rice wine or dry sherry
2 tsp soy sauce
¼ tsp cornstarch
1 Tbs peanut or canola oil
3 garlic cloves, smashed with the flat side of a chef’s knife or minced
1 slice ginger, smashed with the flat side of a chef’s knife or minced
Salt to taste
¼ tsp sugar
1 to 2 tsp sesame seeds, to taste

1. If using bok choy, trim off the bottoms and separate into stalks. Rinse if necessary and drain on paper towels. Cut crosswise into 2-inch pieces. If using collard greens, stem, discard stems and chop the leaves coarsely. Bring an inch of water to a boil in the bottom of a steamer, and place the bok choy or greens in the steamer basket. Steam 1 minute, remove from the heat and rinse with cold water. Squeeze out excess water and drain on a kitchen towel.

2. Combine the broth or water, rice wine or sherry, soy sauce and cornstarch in a small bowl and place within arm’s reach of your pan. Have the remaining ingredients measured out and near the pan.

3. Heat a 14-inch flat-bottomed wok or a 12-inch skillet over high heat until a drop of water evaporates within a second or two when added to the pan. Swirl in the oil by adding it to the sides of the pan and swirling the pan, then add the garlic and ginger and stir-fry for 10 seconds, until fragrant. Add the bok choy or greens, sprinkle with salt and the sugar, and stir-fry for about 30 seconds. Stir the cornstarch mixture and swirl into the wok, then stir-fry 1 minute, or until the greens are just tender. Sprinkle on the sesame seeds. Remove from the heat and serve.

Servings: 4

Source: The New York Times



Have a great day