Spam, Farm, Bank, Accident, Emma,

I didn't think that could happen that when I had the comments on moderation, someone could get a spam comment through. Oh well, just have to stay vigilant.

Wasn't sure if I would get asparagus today or not. In the end, I was OK for asparagus but a friend wanted rhubarb and they hadn't got any. The weather was too cool I guess. At least I have  my asparagus and have made beginnings on pickling and canning some of my goodies. It was actually quite a pleasant day today, sunny but not too warm. I had to wait a while before I knew I could go to the farm but eventually off I went with Matt riding along with me. Nice to get out, beautiful countryside, even beautiful avenues to ride though close to home, at this time of the year, the trees are now in full leaf but it is all young and green and absolutely gorgeous. We are lucky to live on the outskirts of town in an area which has been built fairly carefully to conserve the gorgeous trees.

Tomorrow Matt gets his second PSW visit, from a woman this time, she phoned and is also doing an assessment to see just what we need. 24/7 help perhaps?

Before we went to the farm, I went into the bank to sort out my problems with Visa. I was the last customer allowed in today. Discussed what was going on and the woman said she would investigate, see what was going on and phone me. There has been some kind of screw up somewhere. I am supposed to be a co-signer but they have me as a secondary card, i.e. Matt is the primary card holder and they want to talk to him every time I call them. He doesn't have a clue what it's all about. Once I left - in something of a hurry to go to the farm, I backed into a vehicle and realised it was the SUV of a woman who used to be our foot nurse. (I didn't know where she was and had no time  She has changed her phone number and have only just got her cell phone so will call her and confess. It felt very gentle so hopefully no damage.

Just watched the new version of Emma by Jane Austin. Had a lot of trouble understanding them, but I enjoyed it just the same.

This is a recipe I am very fond of. As I frequently mention, if you buy asparagus from the farm, freshly picked, you do NOT need to trim the spears.

Asparagus and Endive Salad

1 lb fresh asparagus , trimmed and cut into 2 inch pieces
1/2 tsp grated orange peel
1 Tbs Juice, orange, fresh
2 Tbs seasoned rice vinegar
1 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs small shallots , minced
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
1/8 tsp black pepper
8 oz Belgian endive, fresh, head , cut lengthwise into 1/4 inch strips (2 heads)

1. Place 1/2 inch of water at the bottom of a 12 inch pan and bring to a boil over high heat. Add in asparagus and cook until tender yet crisp, about 2 minutes. Place in strainer, rinse under cold water, drain, and pat dry with paper towels.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the orange peel, orange juice, vinegar, oil, shallots, sugar, salt, mustard, and pepper until well combined.

3. Add the asparagus and endive to the bowl with the dressing. Mix well to evenly coat and serve.

Servings: 4

Source: dLife

Author Notes: Light and elegant salad combining asparagus and endive in a homemade orange Dijon vinaigrette.

Try using a sugar substitute instead of regular sugar.

Have a great day, stay well, stay safe.
 

My Thursday, Movies,

As I was planning to go to Costco on Thursday afternoon, I figured I should defrost the freezer to make more room and to check exactly what I had of what, so, when I got up, I started the process and unloaded all the food into cool boxes plus a few things went in the fridge freezer and so on. Was well under way and came to the computer when the phone rang, it was my driver asking if she could pick me up at 11:45 instead of 3:35.  Wasn't sure about leaving the freezer, but decided it was OK so I agreed and then had to rush around a tad.

Went to Costco and ended up buying a roast of lamb, some lamb chops, fillet steaks and a heap of skinless, boneless chicken thighs. A lot of the Instant Pot recipes I have been making call for chicken thighs. Tammy, my driver, pushed the shopping cart and I used my walker and managed to get to the back of the store but had to sit for a few minutes once there. (Didn't see any motorized carts, might have missed them). Tammy was extremely helpful putting my purchases in plastic bags and such. I ended up with one large shopping bag full which was great. I said to the cashier that at least I hadn't spent $300, her response was "well we'll see you tomorrow, you only bought meat, you need the vegetables". I must say my legs were pretty sorry for themselves by the time we had finished. We were lucky though, got through the checkout quickly despite the hundreds of people there. Never seen it so crowded. We were also lucky to get the closest wheelchair spot in the parking lot.

When I got home, the freezer was well and truly defrosted so I dried off any dampness and turned it back on again. Of course, I ended up with quite a few soggy towels which I had used to catch the wet. Shoved everything back in and endeavoured to update my freezer list at the same time. Then came the fun part of unpacking the chops, steaks and chicken and repacking them in the freezer. At least the roast could go straight in. I do hate having to repack things like that, got Matt to help me with the chicken. He held open the plastic bags and I shoved the thighs in. That way I didn't have to wash my hands every time.

I saw a very nice looking carrot cake (thought it was meringue at first) but I resisted. Spent quite enough as it was. By the time everything was done, I was knackered but didn't have time for a nap as it was getting on for supper time.

There is a theatre in Niagara on the Lake which celebrates the summer season with the Shaw Festival. They do have Shaw plays, but other stuff as well. This year they are doing Brigadoon which is one of my favourite shows. Would love to go and see it but not likely. Anyway, I thought "why don't I have that movie?" well, I do now. Haven't opened it yet, but next time there is an uninteresting TV night we will watch it. Gene Kelly, Van Johnson and Cyd Charisse are the stars. Long time since I last saw it so I am looking forward to it. I've always loved Cyd Charisse. I am not 100% sure if I prefer Gene Kelly or Fred Astaire. Love to watch both of them. In fact watched Astaire the other night - don't remember the name of the film right now but it is the one where he dances on the walls and ceiling of his room.

We had leftovers for supper so I shoved some rice in the Instant Pot to go with them. I always used to end up with a boil over when making rice, not any more. Thanks Ivy.

I had kind of forgotten about this recipe which I enjoyed very much last year. Must make it again. Got to get some endive of course. Because they are so involved in installing a Starbucks in my grocery store, it is not always possible to get what I want. What on earth we want a Starbucks here for I don't know, especially as we have a Tim Horton's close by and that is a very Canadian coffee chain.

Asparagus and Endive Salad

1 lb fresh asparagus , trimmed and cut into 2 inch pieces
1/2 tsp grated orange peel
1 Tbs Juice, orange, fresh
2 Tbs seasoned rice vinegar
1 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs small shallots , minced
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
1/8 tsp black pepper
8 oz Belgian endive, fresh, head, cut lengthwise into 1/4 inch strips (2 heads)

1. Place 1/2 inch of water at the bottom of a 12 inch pan and bring to a boil over high heat. Add in asparagus and cook until tender yet crisp, about 2 minutes. Place in strainer, rinse under cold water, drain, and pat dry with paper towels.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the orange peel, orange juice, vinegar, oil, shallots, sugar, salt, mustard, and pepper until well combined.

3. Add the asparagus and endive to the bowl with the dressing. Mix well to evenly coat and serve.

Servings: 4

Source: dLife

Have a great day
 

Breakfast, Bowling,

Half listening to GMA this morning and they discussed the kinds of breakfasts you should buy at various restaurants to stay healthy. My response was - how about breakfast at home? Matt said - well they are going to the office - so were we, once, and always had breakfast at home. It astounds me that people would buy their breakfast when going to work, is it laziness or what? If you really have no time, a cereal or some oatmeal is always quick, but, in my opinion, you should always make time for a good breakfast before you go out. You don't know when you might get to eat again, if things got super busy or something. You can always boil eggs the night before or even several for the week. An egg sandwich is quick.

We went league bowling today and discovered their computers were down. A lot of the people there had never scored on paper before in their lives, so what kind of a mess they made, I can't guess. I haven't scored on paper for a long time either so I was having some difficulty. Not only that we had to press a button as we exited the lane to clear off any pins left over and most of us kept forgetting. Press the button was heard up and down the alley. Of course, without the computers, we have no idea who won and who lost. I do hope their computers will be up next week. It was a bit of a pain in the butt to say the least. Pleased to say I had one very good game, one mediocre and one at least above my average which went up about 0.3 points. Better up than down. At least my tablet was working LOL.

As usual, my brain was spinning around wondering what to serve for supper Thursday night. I was pretty beat due to a)bowling, not too bad and b) walking to the Post Office to return the plug to Amazon. However, I remembered an asparagus salad I haven't made for a year or so and then thought Devilled Eggs to go with it. A very simple recipe but delicious. My Devilled Eggs are pretty spicy too, with English mustard and Tabasco sauce. Most of the Devilled Eggs I come across are very bland. For just the two of us I used 1/2 lb of asparagus and one endive.

Asparagus and Endive Salad

1 lb fresh asparagus , trimmed and cut into 2 inch pieces
1/2 tsp grated orange peel
1 Tbs Juice, orange, fresh
2 Tbs seasoned rice vinegar
1 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs small shallots , minced
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
1/8 tsp black pepper
8 oz Belgian endive, fresh, head , cut lengthwise into 1/4 inch strips (2 heads)

1. Place 1/2 inch of water at the bottom of a 12 inch pan and bring to a boil over high heat. Add in asparagus and cook until tender yet crisp, about 2 minutes. Place in strainer, rinse under cold water, drain, and pat dry with paper towels.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the orange peel, orange juice, vinegar, oil, shallots, sugar, salt, mustard, and pepper until well combined.

3. Add the asparagus and endive to the bowl with the dressing. Mix well to evenly coat and serve.

Servings: 4

Source: dLife

Have a great day
 

Pangolins, VHS Player, Cheshire and the Pennines, Ultra Sound,

On Wednesday night we watched a Nature film all about Pangolins. I knew what they were, but didn't know much about them. What horrified me was the pictures of thousands of them dead and being shipped to the East where they use the Pangolins' shells for medicinal purposes (the shells are made of the same thing as our fingernails so, of course, have absolutely NO medical benefit). They are the most endangered animal in the world, more so

than elephants and rhinos, they are also eaten in Asian countries and are considered a delicacy. From the documentary we learned that they are very friendly little animals and basically live solitary lives. The sacks in the picture are of their scales which are removed and then shipped in bulk and fetch more money than ivory. There are 8 types of Pangolins, four of which live in African countries and 4 in Asian countries, the

Asian ones have been absolutely decimated  so now the smugglers are starting on the African ones. There are places which are now working hard to effect preservation of these animals before they completely disappear. One of the top film stars in China has made a documentary in aid of Pangolin preservation and hopefully, because she is such a celebrity, it will have some effect. I guess you will realise I was very affected by this programme and their nearness to extinction. If you ever get a chance to see it, I highly recommend it.

Bowling today, not bad, not great. Then when we came home the guy came to pick up our VHS player to see if he can fix it. Dummy me, I had disconnected it and of course we lost the signal but I couldn't, for the life of me remember what I had to do to fix that. Screw the cables into the box of course. Duuuh.

I came across a couple of pictures taken a few years ago when we visited a friend in Marple, Cheshire, England, which is where I was born and which I knew nothing about. I had never realised it wasn't flat country before, not sure why I thought it was mind you.

That could be snow covered hills or mountains in the background. No idea which.My geography isn't too hot I'm afraid. There is a ridge of mountains running up the middle of England - the Pennines - and looking at the maps, I think I am pretty safe to assume those snowy ridges in the distance are, in fact, the Pennines.

I am ashamed of what I don't know about the country of my birth. Matt used to cycle all over the country so was much better informed than I.

Being Friday, I have an appointment for an ultra-sound and X-ray on my legs this morning. Let's hope this will help find out something worthwhile.

This salad is one of my favourites. Not made it this year yet, but I can assure you I will soon.

Asparagus and Endive Salad

1 lb fresh asparagus , trimmed and cut into 2 inch pieces
1/2 tsp grated orange peel
1 Tbs Juice, orange, fresh
2 Tbs seasoned rice vinegar
1 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs small shallots , minced
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
1/8 tsp black pepper
8 oz Belgian endive, fresh, head , cut lengthwise into 1/4 inch strips (2 heads)

1. Place 1/2 inch of water at the bottom of a 12 inch pan and bring to a boil over high heat. Add in asparagus and cook until tender yet crisp, about 2 minutes. Place in strainer, rinse under cold water, drain, and pat dry with paper towels.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the orange peel, orange juice, vinegar, oil, shallots, sugar, salt, mustard, and pepper until well combined.

3. Add the asparagus and endive to the bowl with the dressing. Mix well to evenly coat and serve.

Servings: 4

Source: dLife

Author Notes
Light and elegant salad combining asparagus and endive in a homemade orange Dijon vinaigrette.

Try using a sugar substitute instead of regular sugar.

Have a great day
 

Balconies, Asparagus,

I have been a somewhat interested spectator of the activities going on outside our windows with the guys doing our balconies. Our own balcony is not scheduled to be touched til next year. Today they have put up fences and they are building a kind of hoist-cum-crane-cum-platform.

If you enlarge the pictures you can see that they have cut out some grass in order to stand the foot of the hoist. They are in the process of adding new sections of the hoist to enable them to lift the platform further. Silly me, I thought they would be using a crane. Shows what I know. I guess this is movable scaffolding.

Here I tried to show that the whole area is now fenced off. Not sure if that is to prevent people walking into the area, but we are close to schools and the kids could certainly climb this fence. I took these pix as much to show some of the women in the exercise class who live on the other side of the building and cannot see what is happening. One woman commented they had put up a Porta Potty right on the front lawn. Why couldn't they have put it somewhere more discreet.

I finished making my asparagus soup on Wednesday, and we had some for supper. It was good. I haven't done the Crunchy Asparagus Fries yet. Maybe this weekend. I will definitely be making the salad below.

By the way, forgot to mention that I rented the new Star Wars movie The Force Awakens. I wasn't overly impressed with the movie. I enjoyed it, but found it dragged somewhat. However, I will still be interested to see the sequel(s). I was pretty lucky, I was still 92 on the waiting list, but they just happened to have a short loan copy in the library when I was in there.

Funny I posted a couple of recipes for Endive or Whitlof in the A to Z Challenge. This is one we really enjoy.

Asparagus and Endive Salad

1 lb fresh asparagus, trimmed and cut into 2 inch pieces

1/2 tsp grated orange peel
1 Tbs Juice, orange, fresh
2 Tbs seasoned rice vinegar
1 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs small shallots, minced
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
1/8 tsp black pepper
8 oz Belgian endive, fresh, head , cut lengthwise into 1/4 inch strips (2 heads)

1. Place 1/2 inch of water at the bottom of a 12 inch pan and bring to a boil over high heat. Add in asparagus and cook until tender yet crisp, about 2 minutes. Place in strainer, rinse under cold water, drain, and pat dry with paper towels.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the orange peel, orange juice, vinegar, oil, shallots, sugar, salt, mustard, and pepper until well combined.

3. Add the asparagus and endive to the bowl with the dressing. Mix well to evenly coat and serve.

Servings: 4

Source: dLife

Author Notes
Light and elegant salad combining asparagus and endive in a homemade orange dijon vinaigrette.

Try using a sugar substitute instead of regular sugar.


Have a great day
 

Relation? Asparagus, Bowling Balls.

I happened to be reading a review on Chick Lit Love and Laura was talking about From Italy with Love by Jules Wake. My ears pricked up, Wake, is of course our last name. Turns out that Jules’ son is called Matt Wake and her father in law was also called Matt Wake. Matthew is a very popular name in the Wake family which makes me think that there is definitely some relationship. It sounds like a very good story too so I must check it out. The story is set in the parts of France and Italy that I love and I would love to do the journey that the heroine undertakes in the book.

On Friday I asked several people if they would like me to pick up some asparagus for them. One was a bowling friend who said she would pick it up on Monday. It suddenly occurred to me on Saturday that we don’t bowl on Monday any more, the winter league having finished. So we wouldn’t be there til Wednesday by which time it would be close on a week old. She might just as well buy it from the store in that case. She agreed and came over to collect it. It’s going to take a while to adapt to Wednesday bowling instead of Monday. By the time I do, it will probably be back to winter league again. My friend Gary from Klahanie Blogspot wrote a post about Gutter Balls. Even though some of his readers also read my posts they still don’t seem to grasp the difference. 5 Pin bowling balls weigh in the neighbourhood of 3 to 3 1/2 lbs. NOT 10 lbs. up. 5 pin bowling is very different from 10 pin. Talking of 10 pin there is an alley quite close to us and they recently had a big fight there where people were chucking bowling balls at one another. I can hardly pick them up let alone chuck them at someone. You see how in the top picture the ball is being held in the hand. In the bottom pic the ball is much bigger and needs holes for the thumb and fingers to pick it up. The lowest weight I have ever come across is 8 lbs and that is still very heavy for me.

Here’s another fairly simple way of preparing my favourite vegetable

Asparagus and Endive Salad


1 lb fresh asparagus , trimmed and cut into 2 inch pieces
1/2 tsp grated orange peel
1 Tbs Juice, orange, fresh
2 Tbs seasoned rice vinegar
1 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs small shallots , minced
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dijon mustard
1/8 tsp black pepper
8 oz Belgian endive, fresh, head , cut lengthwise into 1/4 inch strips (2 heads)

1. Place 1/2 inch of water at the bottom of a 12 inch pan and bring to a boil over high heat. Add in asparagus and cook until tender yet crisp, about 2 minutes. Place in strainer, rinse under cold water, drain, and pat dry with paper towels.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the orange peel, orange juice, vinegar, oil, shallots, sugar, salt, mustard, and pepper until well combined.
3. Add the asparagus and endive to the bowl with the dressing. Mix well to evenly coat and serve.

Servings: 4

Source: dLife

Author Notes
Light and elegant salad combining asparagus and endive in a homemade orange Dijon vinaigrette.
Try using a sugar substitute instead of regular sugar.

Have a great day

Asparagus, Exercise, Spring.

Today I was christened The Queen of Asparagus by Hilary Melton-Butcher which I guess is kind of justified by the fact that I eat so much of it, in season, and also post so many recipes. Wednesday, one of the owners of the bowling alley asked if I had managed to obtain any asparagus yet, I assured him I had, he said he wondered because he passes an apple farm on the way to work which sells asparagus and he said he could get me some. Under those circumstances I asked him to pick some up for me as he passed the place anyway. Thursday we went in to the alley and he had about $15 worth as I requested, but he wouldn’t take a penny for it. So very nice of him. They are glad of the help I give them in forming the winter and summer leagues. Not a lot, but they obviously appreciate the little I do do, which is very nice. It is supposed to be locally grown, but not from Barrie’s – I didn’t know there was another asparagus farm in the area. Barrie’s is still the best.

I started walking on my treadmill again this week, that was on Monday, on Tuesday I got a sore foot and had trouble walking all day, how typical. I will be trying again today, Friday. It has been fine bowling so it should be OK for walking on the treadmill again.  I am not quite sure what was wrong but it seemed connected with my flip flops or thongs which, at present, I cannot wear. I can’t do a lot on the machine anyway, but every little helps. When I think how I used to walk 4 miles a day not so many years ago, it really annoys me but what can you do?

The weather still isn’t much good here yet, the trees look lovely still, but the skies have been cloudy and sunshine we have not had. It’s not really cold but it’s not really warm either. It reminds me of a line out of the song June is Busting Out All Over from Carousel “a crowd of doubting Thomases was predicting that the summer’d never come”. I know it’s not June yet.



Asparagus and Endive Salad

1 lb fresh asparagus , trimmed and cut into 2 inch pieces
1/2 tsp grated orange peel
1 Tbs Juice, orange, fresh
2 Tbs seasoned rice vinegar
1 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs small shallots , minced
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
1/8 tsp black pepper
8 oz Belgian endive, fresh, head , cut lengthwise into 1/4 inch strips (2 heads)

1. Place 1/2 inch of water at the bottom of a 12 inch pan and bring to a boil over high heat. Add in asparagus and cook until tender yet crisp, about 2 minutes. Place in strainer, rinse under cold water, drain, and pat dry with paper towels.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the orange peel, orange juice, vinegar, oil, shallots, sugar, salt, mustard, and pepper until well combined.
3. Add the asparagus and endive to the bowl with the dressing. Mix well to evenly coat and serve.

Servings: 4

Source: dLife

Author Notes
Light and elegant salad combining asparagus and endive in a homemade orange Dijon vinaigrette.
Try using a sugar substitute instead of regular sugar.

Have a great day

Making Soup, Racing Pigeons

I mentioned that yesterday we drove to Barrie’s Asparagus Farm and I bought some more asparagus. 4 lbs. actually.
I immediately chopped up two pounds of the fresh asparagus and added a little onion and some chicken stock to the pan in order to make the base for some more soup.

I cooked this until tender, not more than 3 minutes, I allowed it to cool somewhat and blended it. The picture looks grey, but I assure you the resulting purée is green.

This purée can now be frozen until I  want to do the rest of the soup, or I can go to the next steps of making a roux, turning it into a white sauce and then adding the remaining ingredients to make Barrie’s Asparagus Soup. I posted the recipe at the link. I actually ended up finishing it off and dividing it into meal portions and freezing.

I just found a headline about a record sale price for a racing pigeon, $400,000. For a bird?? I had no idea pigeon racing was such a big business. It was a bird bred in Belgium where, I read, the best racing birds are bred. It was sold to China where, apparently it will be used for breeding. The pigeon’s name was, appropriately, Bolt.  There is a headline on the same page about pigeon racing being Hamilton’s least known sport. Certainly news to me and Hamilton is only a few miles away. Come to think of it we used to see pigeons flying morning and night round here, presumably racing birds. I know there are lots of racing pigeons in England, didn’t realise there were any here. A lot of the top prices for Belgian birds are paid by China or Taiwan. If they buy a lot of the fastest birds, I would have thought they could have bred faster birds by now.

Last night we decided to finish off the Thai Chicken which I posted yesterday. This time, instead of using our indoor/outdoor grill we used the broiler and this time, the meat didn’t get scorched. Much better.

As you will see, I have posted a new badge which links to Stephen Tremp's blog, he is one of the hosts of the Get Healthy blog hop which takes place on May 29. If you would like to join in with any information about what you have been doing to improve your health or to maintain it, click on the badge and there is a Linky List where you can add your blog. Stephen explains it all as do all the other hosts on their websites.

This is a delightful salad and yet I cannot find a picture. Guess I should make it and photograph it, but home photos of food never look as good. Well mine don't at least.


Asparagus and Endive Salad

1 lb fresh asparagus , trimmed and cut into 2 inch pieces
1/2 tsp grated orange peel
1 Tbs Juice, orange, fresh
2 Tbs seasoned rice vinegar
1 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs small shallots , minced
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
1/8 tsp black pepper
8 oz Belgian endive, fresh, head , cut lengthwise into 1/4 inch strips (2 heads)

1. Place 1/2 inch of water at the bottom of a 12 inch pan and bring to a boil over high heat. Add in asparagus and cook until tender yet crisp, about 2 minutes. Place in strainer, rinse under cold water, drain, and pat dry with paper towels.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the orange peel, orange juice, vinegar, oil, shallots, sugar, salt, mustard, and pepper until well combined.

3. Add the asparagus and endive to the bowl with the dressing. Mix well to evenly coat and serve.

Servings: 4

Tips
Try using a sugar substitute instead of regular sugar.
Source
Source: dLife

Have a great day

Bloody Cleaning, Cranberry Glass, Laptop Holder, Movie.

What an exhausting afternoon yesterday. We cleaned silver, glasses, shelves, ornaments and anything else. Difficult to tell,  but there are dozens of glasses on those shelves. Dunno why we keep ‘em all. Much as I like to see it when its finished, I am not a happy camper when it comes to doing it. No those shelves don’t lean, I am not the world’s best photographer. Matt’s good but he doesn’t consider my digital camera to be a real camera.

There is actually more silver on the dining table and coffee table even though I sold a lot of it off a couple of years ago – sigh. I have a few bits of copper and brass too so they got done as well. I am too old for this stuff. It all takes so long though, it isn’t worthwhile getting our cleaner to do it on her monthly visit, nothing else would get done. One gets to the stage – do I want my home to look attractive etc. etc. or do I want to save labour. At least my violet decided to flower this week, so it looks pretty right now. Yes, I do kind of collect piggy banks, have a few more elsewhere. Only trouble is the rubber stoppers perish after a year or two and I have been unable to replace them. Found some plastic ones, but they didn’t work. I also kind of collect shot glasses. We happened to accumulate one or two and then people assumed we collected them so they started bringing us shot glasses from their trips so now we have quite a few of them. I even bought one or two myself. In the middle of the first picture is my cranberry apple which I bought in Niagara Falls at a place called Rossi Glass where they make glassware, you can visit and watch them blowing glass or moulding it, whatever they are doing that day. As this isn’t a good pic I found one on the net. Mine seems to be a deeper colour. Don’t know if you are aware, cranberry colour is obtained by adding gold to the glass mix. We bought the apple as most of the stuff they make was way out of our price range. They have some beautiful stuff in all kinds of colours, shapes and sizes and prices.

So finally its February, although we have only just realised it’s a leap year, which makes 29 days this month. Saturday is the old man’s 77th birthday so we are having some friends over for dinner. I have been somewhat housebound for a long time so it will make a nice change for me. Had a really nice phone call from a friend in NC yesterday too, she no longer has a computer so was unaware of my health problems. She heard about them from other friends and was all worried about me. We have some great friends in NC. Yes we have great friends elsewhere too. Many of my best friends are cyber friends although I have been lucky enough to meet some of them face to face.

I was doing my usual grousing the other day about typing on the laptop and Matt was saying he would find something for me to prop it up at an angle. Lo and behold yesterday, Worldstart sent me an email with just the thing. It was $14.97 so I promptly ordered one. Not sure how it will actually work on one’s lap, but certainly on a desk or table it should help. I buy from Worldstart now and again, they usually have good stuff and provide good service.

Last night we watched a wonderful movie, Music of the Heart with Meryl Streep. It was about a teacher who started to teach kids from inner city Harlem in New York to play the violin. After 10 years and thousands of successes funding was cut and her programme was axed so they decided to fight back. With lots of help from all kinds of people they ended up giving a concert in Carnegie Hall and getting the help of people like Itzhak Perlman and Isaac Stern with many others who’s names I don’t know. The funny thing is I wasn’t really sure I wanted to watch it – apart from anything else I get so sick of the advertising, but Matt turned it on and it didn’t take long to get caught. I have said before how much I like Meryl Streep, I think she is brilliant. Mr. Holland’s Opus was a similar kind of story. There have been several notable teachers about whom films have been made.
 
I came across this recipe as being diabetic friendly yesterday. Those of my readers, and there are a few, who do NOT like asparagus can ignore this section.

Asparagus and Endive Salad

Source: dLife

Light and elegant salad combining asparagus and endive in a homemade orange Dijon vinaigrette. Try using a sugar substitute instead of regular sugar.

1 lb fresh asparagus , trimmed and cut into 2 inch pieces
1/2 tsp grated orange peel
1 Tbs Juice, orange, fresh
2 Tbs seasoned rice vinegar
1 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs small shallots , minced
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dijon mustard
1/8 tsp black pepper
8 oz Belgian endive, fresh, head , cut lengthwise into 1/4 inch strips (2 heads)

1. Place 1/2 inch of water at the bottom of a 12 inch pan and bring to a boil over high heat. Add in asparagus and cook until tender yet crisp, about 2 minutes. Place in strainer, rinse under cold water, drain, and pat dry with paper towels.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the orange peel, orange juice, vinegar, oil, shallots, sugar, salt, mustard, and pepper until well combined.
3. Add the asparagus and endive to the bowl with the dressing. Mix well to evenly coat and serve.

Servings: 4

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