December, Rent, Recipe, Clock, Email, Bowling

So, it's December, just seems unbelievable, I am not alone in thinking the year has just flown by.

Talking to our neighbours who are moving at the end of the month, discussing rents both here and where they are going. As you know, I take no interest in politics, but I had to the other day. She said something about Doug Ford, current prime minister of Ontario, having repealed the rent control laws. What? They might shove our rent up sky high with no controls? So I had to start googling and find out what the heck this was about. Turns out it basically applies to new buildings and new occupancies. Phew. Gave me a nasty for a while. She said, also, that our apartments are fectching $1,700 a month for new tenants. We live in the 3 bedroom apartments, the biggest in the building. The landlords would probably like to get rid of us in that case. Tough bananas.

I had bought a sirloin steak at Victoria Market on Friday and wanted to make a sauce I had  made before, do you think I could find the recipe. Then it occurred to me that the blog "Jo on Food, Life and a Scent of Chocolate" had posted the recipe in the past, guess what, that's where I finally found it. I have dozens of printed recipes. I am thinking I should chuck them and start again. It's getting ridiculous. I keep the recipes in a computer programme after all. I also have printed recipes stewn all over my desk too.

Today(Sunday)  I received delivery of the digital clock I ordered. Ever since I saw them at the Alzheimer Society I had wanted one but the Alz. ones were somewhat expensive. Then I came across them at Amazon and ordered one, Friday, didn't expect delivery so soon. I am always being asked what day it is etc. etc. plus I have trouble seeing the clock we do already have. I  mainly bought it for Matt to know what day it is of course. You should have heard the protests. He was going to chuck it on the floor etc. etc. but I think he has got over that. I hope so anyway. It does quite a few other things if I want it to,  but at the moment I don't. You can use it for photos too apparently and set all kinds of alarms like "time to take your medication" etc.

Wanted to send a couple of emails to people this afternoon, I suddenly realised that I had four emails sitting in my outbox which wouldn't go anywhere. Called Rogers and after a lot of kerfuffle, including them taking over my PC, it was fixed. The only thing was because of a change, it downloaded something  like 7,000 emails from the server which I am now trying to delete. They seem to be going all over the place, everywhere but in the delete folder. I am not a happy camper.

Bowling tomorrow of course, fingers crossed please. I want my average to go up a bit, if even only 1 point.

So, got so much sorting to do in my email box I am giving you this recipe which I may have posted before, recently, if so, apologies. I plan to make it in my Instant Pot of course.

Asian Beef Stew

This brothy stew is succulent and soothing, but sisters Jasmine and Melissa Hemsley invigorate it

with fish sauce, Asian spices and lemon juice. “We both just love sour flavors,” says Jasmine Hemsley. “It’s our Filipino mum’s influence.”

2 Tbs coconut oil
5 lbs English-cut short ribs
Sea salt Pepper
1 red onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
3 Tbs finely chopped peeled fresh ginger
1 tsp Chinese five-spice powder
3 whole star anise pods
3 large carrots, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces
2 celery ribs, cut into 1-inch pieces
3 Tbs Asian fish sauce
1 14.5-ounce can crushed tomatoes in juice
2 cups beef stock or broth
4 cups stemmed curly spinach (4 ounces)
1 Tbs fresh lemon juice
Chopped cilantro, for garnish

1. In a large enameled cast-iron casserole, heat the coconut oil. Season the ribs with salt and pepper. Working in 2 batches, brown the ribs over moderately high heat, turning, 4 to 5 minutes per batch. Transfer the ribs to a large plate. Add the onion, garlic and ginger to the casserole and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until golden, about 3 minutes. Stir in the five-spice powder, then add the star anise, carrots, celery and fish sauce and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the tomatoes, stock and short ribs to the casserole and bring to a simmer. Cover and cook over moderately low

2. heat, turning the ribs every hour, until they are very tender, about 2 1/2 hours.

3. Discard the star anise. Stir the spinach and lemon juice into the casserole and season with salt and pepper. Divide

4. the stew among serving bowls and garnish with cilantro.

Servings: 4

Author: MELISSA HEMSLEY and JASMINE HEMSLEY
Source: Food & Wine

Author Notes
The stew can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.

Have a great day