Tournament, Dawn Chorus

By the time I got home yesterday afternoon, I was knackered, worn out, aching all over, you name it, that was me. I will never, but never try bowling 6 games in one day again. My scores in the afternoon made it look as though I had never bowled in my life before. In the morning, we came first, but there were still 5 more teams to play before we knew the true results, in fact we ended up second and the other team beat us by 7 points. Yay us. We are patting ourselves on the back. This now means we have to bowl in Chatham, Kent (yes in Ontario) at 10 a.m. on September 1. However, we have been asked for $42 each which includes the price of a banquet. Sorry, I am not hanging around in Chatham all afternoon just to attend the banquet (food usually isn’t that much good anyway at these things).

After all that exercise yesterday, I was up at 5 a.m. this morning with cramps in my feet. Ouch. At such times I drink a glass of tonic water which works wonders due to the quinine in tonic. I was sitting in the living room with the patio door open, and I could hear the dawn chorus. Long time since last I heard that. There must have been thousands of birds twittering, we do have a lot of trees outside our windows after all, and I wondered what makes them all twitter at that time of the morning, one never hears so many at any other time of the day. It lead me to start thinking about book 2 of Glenda Larke’s Isles of Glory trilogy, Gilfeather, with all the birds featured in it - until the magic ends – a very evocative scene that has definitely stayed with me. This is the cover from Australia. I think the Australians do a much better job on book covers than anywhere else. This trilogy is the only one of Glenda’s which I don’t own. I must remedy that.

This afternoon Matt has an appointment with the Secondary Stroke Clinic at the hospital which, in my opinion, is a waste of time. He has seen them all before, and done all the tests he has to do, before. We know what’s wrong, we know they can’t do anything about it, so why p*ss about. Which is, more or less what I am going to say to them this afternoon. He is taking all the medications they can give him, there is nothing more anyone can do we are told.

One thing I didn’t mention, at the bowling alley in Elmira they had brought in donuts and muffins for people in the morning. I have had these before when we have been there for travel league bowling. They buy them from a local baker and they are marvellous. At the end of the morning they brought in sandwiches – I assume from the same source – and they were absolutely wonderful sandwiches, moist and delicious. I wish we had a baker locally who could produce such results. I could pig out on those muffins, I don’t, but I could, easily.

Here’s something a bit different for a chocolaty food. That is, if you like spicy.

Mayan Chocolate Truffles

By The Nourished Kitchen WebMD Recipe from Foodily.com

This recipe for Mayan chocolate truffles calls for chocolate with an 85% cocoa content, bitterly and wonderfully dark; you’ll find that the addition of other flavors such as orange, cinnamon, vanilla, and even chipotle chili powder enhances the complexity of the chocolate’s inherent flavor and aroma. You won’t miss that sugar one bit. Further, these Mayan chocolate truffles are more simplistic and rustic – they require no hand molding; rather, simply chill the chocolate in the refrigerator and cut away at it to form beautifully imperfect bite-sized pieces. Beauty lies in imperfection.

Ingredients

10 ounces chocolate with 85% cocoa content, chopped coarsely Zest of 1 orange 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon chipotle chili powder 1 vanilla bean Dash unrefined sea salt 1 cup full-fat coconut milk 1 tablespoon coconut oil Cocoa powder, for dredging truffles

Instructions

Toss chopped chocolate into a mixing bowl with the zest of one orange, cinnamon, chipotle chili powder, the contents of one vanilla bean, and a dash unrefined sea salt.

Bring coconut milk and coconut oil to a slow simmer in a saucepan over a moderate flame.

Pour coconut milk and oil over the chopped chocolate and seasonings then stir continuously with a wooden spoon until the chocolate is thoroughly melted and the mixture, or ganache, becomes thick, uniform and glossy.

Transfer the mixture to a plate lined with parchment paper, molding into a log as best you can, and allow it to harden in the refrigerator for eight to twelve hours, or overnight.

After the Mayan chocolate has hardened in the refrigerator for eight to twelve hours, remove it, unmold it from the parchment paper and carve it into irregular bite-sized chunks.

Toss the chunks with cocoa powder and serve.

Notes: Unless you live in a very hot climate, these truffles should keep at room temperature indefinitely.

Total Servings: 8

Have a great day

Elections, Volunteering, Dinner, Blue Birds

You should see the lines, they go on for ever. They are expecting a record turnout. At least they have a good day for it, mild and dry so that all these people waiting to vote won't be freezing or wet. Of course there is nothing else being talked about on TV this morning and I am surprised to see there are still ads running. I wonder why they don't stop that on election day? In Europe you will probably find out who won before I do as I will be in bed by the time the results are announced. Today is my volunteering day. I haven't been for a while, first it was our elections, then I was sick, then Matt had to go to the doc and we only have one car. I'll have forgotten what I was taught. Last night I invited some more friends to dinner on Saturday, so we have to put our thinking caps on again. I think we have decided two courses, not sure about dessert yet. On our son-in-law's blog (see link this page) in the comments section, he mentioned that a Kingfisher's colour is actually caused by refracted light, this made me think of the Indigo Bunting which we used to see regularly in North Carolina. That too was a bright blue bird, but it is apparently actually non-coloured, but the refracted light makes it look blue. I don't understand the science behind this, but it is fascinating. We used to spend hours watching the birds in our back yard where we had feeders, nesting boxes and a drip water bowl - the dripping attracts more birds apparently. I don't really understand how a Cardinal can be red with real red feathers and an Indigo Bunting has no colour in its feathers. Now I am looking this up and find that there is no blue on a Blue Jay either. This sounds like refracted light only works in the blue spectrums. I understand refracted light is "bent" light, but how it can produce such beautiful blue colours is beyond me. What about the Eastern Bluebirds I wonder. Having done somemore googling it appears that the blue pigmentation in birds is usually caused by light refraction - a quote from the Shenandoah Audobon page says : As with other blue-hued birds, the Blue Jay's coloration is not derived by pigments, but is the result of light refraction due to the internal structure of the feathers; if a Blue Jay feather is crushed, the blue disappears as the structure is destroyed. This is referred to as structural coloration. The primary comment there is "other blue-hued birds". I guess crushing the feather stops light refracting through it. I understand it is a similar thing to the blue of ocean water which, if you bring up a bucketful is totally clear. I have just finished reading The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss, I enjoyed it, but it was slow reading. According to my author friends, it is full of what they call "tropes" i.e. situations which occur again and again in novels. I never knew about tropes, but I think it is what makes me put down a book every so often because I know exactly what is going to happen and I can't be bothered with it right then. I still enjoyed the story and will certainly read part 2 when it becomes available next year. I keep hearing people saying they have bad colds or bronchitis - early this year maybe. I always recommend a hot toddy. I just found a simple recipe for one in the Three and Four Ingredient Cookbook so I thought you might like to have it. Rum and Star Anise Hot Toddy Hot toddies are normally made with whisky but rum works really well too and produces a deliciously warming drink that's perfect for a cold weather evening - or even a winter afternoon after a hearty walk out in the freezing cold countryside. You can also flavour this toddy with different spices such as vanilla pod (bean) or cinnamon stick. Serves Four 1 1/4 cups dark rum 3 Tbs caster (superfine) sugar (in North America regular sugar is fine enough) 1 star anise Pour the rum into a heatproof jug (pitcher) and add the sugar and star anise. Pour in a scant 2 cups of boiling water and stir thoroughly until the sugar has dissolved. Carefully pour the hot toddy into heatproof glasses or mugs and serve immediately. Have a great day.