Pickling, Cleaning, Weather, Pictures, D-Day,

The anaesthetist would say I looked tired today. I am knackered. I have canned/pickled three jars of asparagus and one of mixed veg. Did them properly in a hot water bath, etc. etc. as I want them to last - well the asparagus that is. I will probably do some more before I am done. I have to cut them to a uniform 6 inches to fit in my Mason jars. As for stuffing the spears into the jars, I really need the wide mouth jars I guess. Not this year.

Also, decided to buy a mop and bucket rather than rely on Swiffer. It seems to end up with a somewhat sticky deposit after a while. My cleaner agreed with me.

Our lovely weather has been raining today. Wet and miserable. Seem to be getting May, or even April, showers, only trouble is, it's June and it is not "busting out all over", at least, not round here. Admittedly the trees are looking beautiful, we are lucky, we have a lot of them round here. The spring colours are always lovely to see.

Thanks to ladydog's suggestion, I finally got the few pix I took of the hospital food onto my PC. Only trouble is, it doesn't look that bad!! I should have picked the omelette up to take a picture of its rigidity. Guess my brain wasn't that active at the time. One thing I have is some lovely carnations which had to be cut down in order to fit into a hospital cup. Shame, but they were still lovely. I have always enjoyed carnations, they last so long. I remember years ago I used to buy a lot of flowers to decorate our living room and I would order blue carnations, dyed of course, which looked pretty. Gosh, that's a long time ago.

I nearly forgot, it is the 75th anniversary of D-Day today. I was about 5, Matt about 8. Bearing in mind how old we are, it staggers me to see the veterans of that day still alive, in their 90s and travelling to France to revisit their memories. One of them even parachuted in as he did all that time ago. One of my favourite movies is The Longest Day which tells the story of that time. I think everyone and his brother is in that movie. War is a terrible thing but man fights for the slightest thing it seems. Despite the lessons learned in World War II we are constantly either at war or on the brink of war. What idiots we are.

Asparagus with Rhubarb Hollandaise

2 lbs 1-1/4 cup finely diced fresh or frozen rhubarb
1/3 cup sugar
2 sprig fresh tarragon
2 large egg yolks
3 Tbs lemon juice
½ cup melted butter
salt and pepper
butter for saute pan
chopped chives, for garnish

1. Bring a pot of water up to a boil and salt generously. Trim asparagus and add to water. Blanch, uncovered, until tender (check by tasting – time will vary depending on thickness of asparagus). Once tender drain and shock in a bowl with ice and water to halt cooking. Strain and chill until ready to serve.

2. For Hollandaise, stir rhubarb, sugar and tarragon sprigs in a pot over medium heat. Simmer until rhubarb is just tender, about 10 minutes. Remove tarragon and keep warm (but not hot).

3. To assemble Hollandaise, whisk egg yolks and lemon juice over a pot of gently simmering water until they hold a ribbon when the whisk is lifted. Whisk in rhubarb mixture to warm. Remove bowl from heat and gradually whisk in melted butter (try to avoid adding white solids that have settled to the bottom of the butter). Season to taste and keep warm (Hollandaise should be prepared as close to serving as possible)

4. To heat asparagus, simply warm in a sauté pan over medium-low heat with butter and season lightly. Place warm asparagus on a platter and spoon Hollandaise over. Garnish with chives and serve immediately.

Servings: 6

Author: Anna Olson

Have a great day