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
 

Wine Production, La-Z-boy Chair, Downsizing,

Here is a bit of trivia from How To Geek. The annual production of wine in France, when measured by the bottle, usually exceeds the world population. We could all drink a bottle of French wine and there would still be hundreds of millions of bottles left over. So, for those of us who enjoy our wine, we needn't worry.

I don't know if you remember but about a year or go, or a bit longer, I was moaning that my La-Z-boy had broken and the footrest would no long stay up. I got in touch with La-Z-boy who referred me to another company called Vynew. They said they would send someone to look at the chair and it would cost me $60 which, if I had the chair repaired, would be rolled into the final cost. They sent a guy with totally fractured English who turned the chair upside down and took some photographs, told me it was mechanical (I could hardly understand him but I already knew it was mechanical!) charged me $60 and disappeared. I then had to call Vynew again and they said they would repair it for $160, and no the $60 would NOT be rolled over. I was furious and have not done anything about it since. Along comes Wayne Berry to fix my VHS player. I mentioned the problem to him and he took a look but said he didn't think he could fix it. A couple of weeks later he called and said he had had an idea. He called today, Friday, took away a part, drilled a hole in it, came back and fixed it. The chair now works fine and it cost me $80. I plan to get in touch with La-Z-boy again and complain. Probably won't do me any good, but.....  I suggested Wayne give me some of his cards to distribute. Gave a couple away at Exercise Class. I know we will need him again, especially if we move into something smaller.

It seems to be the vogue these days to minimalize or downsize - the first person I know who did this was Ivy the Happy Whisk. She got rid of so much stuff, I am surprised they still had a bed. However, I am beginning to hear of more and more people doing this, a friend in the building for instance, plus others I know. I can see the point, but I am of the school of thought "I might need it" we got rid of a propane burner which was for doing things like Creme Caramel, I had never used it, guess what, within a week of getting rid of it, I needed it. If one cooks as much as I do, I can't imagine not having access to all kinds of items. As for anything else, we mostly use what we've got. I have sold off a few things over the years, but I still seem to have one heck of a lot, but I use it.

Tuesday, I am taking the car in for service, have to be there at 8. Dreading it, but at least I will be first in line. Monday I have to get to the hardware store for more large Mason jars. I also need to get to the asparagus farm as well.

This is another recipe I haven't yet tried and bearing in mind the farm sells both asparagus and rhubarb, you'd think I would have done so by now.

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
Source: Food Network

Have a great day
 

Orthopaedics, Asparagus

Damn, just come back from the Fracture Clinic. The surgeon had mentioned a colleague who dealt with arthritic thumbs(which I have) so thought I would get the name for a referral. He told me and referred me instantly and I have to go in at 8:30 tomorrow morning. Matt is now all clear although obviously he is likely to have some discomfort for a while. As for my thumb, it is possible they will inject into the knuckle which is something I had done maybe 50 years ago and I have never forgotten the pain. Maybe I should have kept my mouth shut. Especially at 8:30!! The nurse told me I could come in later if I wished. I think I will go in early just to get it over with. Luckily it is not my bowling hand.

So, as I am getting up super early, for me anyway, this is a short blog and I will be heading to bed.

Of course, farm fresh asparagus and rhubarb will not be available here for another month or so, depending on the weather. But having seen this recipe, I had to save and share. However, it doesn't tell you how much asparagus to use, so I suppose that is up to your preference. If it were me it would be a large pile of them. Especially as I have been waiting such a long time to get some more farm fresh asparagus.

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
Source: Food Network


Have a great day