Skin Cancer, Wind Storm, Recipes,

Thursday we went to the Cambridge Memorial Hospital (next town over) for Matt's cancer ops. In the end they took about 30 minutes, she even did an extra one which we had discovered on the side of his face. Before we left the surgery I noticed blood seeping from the dressings so sent for help. A nurse came and ended up giving us some gauze and saying it should be OK. Should is a good word. We had trouble with oozing blood all day long. I managed to add more dressings to the area and we more or less stopped it by the time he went to bed. We did the "put pressure on for 10 minutes" thing twice and it still didn't really stop it. Having phoned the Surgery office they told me if necessary to go back to Emergency at Cambridge Hospital. That was a fairly long trip to do again and we had already shelled out $12 for their parking lot once. Anyway, it seemed to be OK and in the morning it had definitely ceased to bleed. He had been told he could shower and get the dressings wet on Friday. We made sure he did NOT get his dressings wet. Leave that til Saturday if things are OK. Poor Matt wasn't too pleased with all this. Luckily however, he did not have any pain once the freezing had worn off, so that is something to be thankful for. The one we had found also bled but by the time we noticed, it had already dried up, thank goodness. After all that, I think I found another spot just under his hair line, will ask next week when he goes for a check up. Update: Matt is now without bandages and is looking pretty good I'm pleased to say.

I was not a happy camper on Friday. A wind storm had been predicted for late at night with winds up to 100 Km/hr. In fact it started at around 1 in the afternoon (we had the window open in the exercise class and it was already blowing up a gale) and it gradually got worse. Around 4:30 (I think) the power flickered then came back. Ten minutes later it flickered again and finally it completely went out around 4:45 ish. I was just about ready to put our supper in the oven so I was not very pleased. The power didn't return til around 8 or a bit after by which time we had made do with crackers and cheese for supper. Not very inspiring. By that time, also, the wind had stopped blowing and by 10 it was totally quiet. Of course nothing worked in our home with the exception of my cell phone.

Something wrong here, apart from lots and lots of cookbooks which I seldom use, I have Living Cookbook on my computer and print recipes from it. However, obviously I have lots of recipes which are favourites, so I keep the printed copies rather than keep wasting paper and ink. Fine, but I am now in possession of a folder with lots of recipes, admittedly split into food groups, but nevertheless there are a great heap of them which seems to defeat the whole object of having a recipe programme!!!

The farmer assures me the asparagus are now about 2 inches high and thinks he will have some for sale by the end of the week. Apparently the main problem was, because of the weather in April, the ground has been too cold. So, in hopes that he is right, here is an Asparagus Recipe which I think looks absolutely delicious.

Smoked Salmon Asparagus Quinoa Cake Eggs Benedict

Asparagus quinoa cakes topped with poached eggs, asparagus, smoked salmon and a buttery, lemony

hollandaise sauce.

1/2 cups butter, melted and hot
2 Tbs lemon juice, hot
4 Tbs water, hot
3 egg yolks
1 Tbs dill, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
4 eggs
4 asparagus quinoa cakes, see below
12 spears asparagus, blanched
4 oz smoked salmon

ASPARAGUS QUINOA CAKES
Asparagus and feta quinoa cakes with plenty of fresh herbs.
1/2 cup quinoa, rinsed
1 cup water or broth
1/2 lb asparagus, grated or processed
2 green onions, sliced
1 clove garlic, chopped
2 Tbs dill, chopped
2 Tbs parsley, chopped
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup flour (I like to use whole wheat, use rice or quinoa flour for gluten free)
1/4 cup feta, crumbled
salt and pepper to taste
oil for frying

Place a large pot of water on one burner over medium heat for the poached eggs.

On a separate burner, bring some water in a double boiler to a boil, reduce the heat and let water stop boiling.

Place the egg yolks in the top of the double boiler and whisk until they begin to thicken.

Add 1 tablespoon of the hot water, whisk until the sauce begins to thicken again. Repeat 3 more times.

Whisk in the lemon juice.

Remove from heat and slowly whisk in the melted butter.

Season with the dill, salt and pepper and set aside.

Crack an egg into a bowl, swirl the water in the first pot and pour the egg from the bowl into the water and repeat for another egg.

Let the eggs cook until the whites are set but the yolks are not, about 2-3 minutes and fish them out.

Repeat for the remaining 2 eggs.

Place the asparagus quinoa cakes on plate, top with asparagus, smoked salmon, poached egg, hollandaise and garnish with dill.

 QUINOA CAKES

Simmer the quinoa in the water until the liquid has been absorbed and the quinoa is tender, about 15 minutes and let cool a bit.

Mix the cooked quinoa with the asparagus, green onions, garlic, dill, parsley, eggs, flour, feta, salt and pepper, adding more flour if required.

Heat the oil in a pan over medium heat.

Spoon the mixture into the pan and form patties of any size that you desire and cook until golden brown on both sides, about 2-4 minutes per side, and set aside on paper towels to drain.

Servings: 2

Author: Kevin Lynch
Source: Closet Cooking

Have a great day