Books and Authors, Elections and Drugs

I don’t know if you ever read the comments section, but I was delighted to receive a comment from Blake Charlton yesterday, the author of the book I have just finished called Spellwright. He says he has another book on the way, Spellbound. Yet another book I will be biting my nails for until it is published. I know its not possible to write any faster, but waiting for books at my time of life is not a very good proposition. It looks like some authors are never going to finish their stories, George R.R. Martin and Jean M. Auel being a couple of examples. It is years since either of them published a book in their series. In Jean M. Auel’s case, Matt reckons she has made enough money out of her books and bought herself an island somewhere. I must admit I was not so impressed with her later books although her first book, Clan of the Cave Bear, was absolutely brilliant.

Thank God it is election day in the States today and we can finally get rid of all their ads, I know I’ve said it before, but they drive me up the wall. They are running them even hotter and heavier today, but hopefully they will all be gone tomorrow. Apparently, after this election, pot may well be made legal in California. In fact I am not so sure that’s a bad thing. If you think about it, when America had Prohibition, crime was rampant, once they got rid of Prohibition, there wasn’t any incentive for such crimes. I have certainly contemplated the fact that if all drugs were legal, once more there would be less crime and, I believe, less temptation to use the products. Those people who are stupid enough to use drugs probably would continue to do so, but if there was no real profit in it, you would no longer get drug pushers targeting schools and so on.

No we haven’t given up bowling although I haven’t mentioned it much lately. Mostly because I was bowling so badly, however, both on Friday and Monday I bowled pretty well, so I am not hiding my light any more. I had a huge (for me) average at the beginning of this season and wanted to get rid of it. I achieved that almost as though I had been doing so on purpose.

Another one from Mushrooms Canada.

Hot and Cheesy Mushroom Dip

Source Closet Cooking

Mushroom Masters: A Tournament of Taste Wildcard Round Recipe by Kevin of Closet Cooking

"I came to realize that my meals were boring and that I had been eating the same few dishes over and over again for years and I resolved that it was time for change! Now I spend my free time searching for and trying tasty new recipes from all over the world. One of my favorite ingredients is the mushroom and I never tire of experimenting with new mushroom dishes." Ingredients

1 tbsp oil

1 tbsp butter

1 medium onion (sliced)

1 lb. fresh mushrooms (cleaned and sliced)

1 clove garlic (chopped)

1 tsp thyme (chopped)

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup white wine (or broth)

1 (4 ounce) package cream cheese (room temperature)

1/2 cup sour cream

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup mozzarella (grated)

1/4 cup grated parmigiano reggiano (grated)

Method

1. Heat the oil and melt the butter in a pan. 2. Add the onion and cook until it starts to caramelize, about 20 minutes. 3. Add the mushrooms and sauté until they start to caramelize, about 20 minutes. 4. Add the garlic and thyme and sauté until fragrant, about a minute. 5. Season with salt and pepper. 6. Add the wine, deglazed the pan and cook until it has evaporated. 7. Puree 1/2 of the mushrooms in a food processor. 8. Mix the mushrooms, cream cheese, sour cream, mayonnaise, mozzarella and parmigiano reggiano and place in a baking dish. 9. Bake in a preheated 350F oven until bubbling and golden brown on top, about 20-40 minutes.

Have a great day

Toilet Rolls, Rolled Ribs, Mexico, Magic.

I heard a snippet on the radio yesterday, in the States, very soon, they are going to be producing toilet rolls without the cardboard centre. There is a new way of rolling the paper which keeps the centre firm until such time as the roll is ended. This is an environmental improvement. I guess the next thing will be paper towels. I wonder, will all toilet rolls be tubeless or only some makes? In that case do you choose for the environment or for your preference in roll? A dilemma!

Saturday night we went to dinner at the home of some friends and were served rolled ribs which is a favourite of mine. For some unknown reason, I have never tried making them. One of these days I must have a go. Apparently that is going to be a problem, I have just hunted all over the place and cannot find a recipe although they are made in several places which originate in Germany. Basically they are baby ribs stuffed and rolled then baked, I think. But that is the limit of my present knowledge. I have asked for my friend’s recipe, but don’t know if she will share.

Yet another visitor, a Canadian businessman, has been found murdered in Mexico. Matt has been saying he would NOT go there on vacation no matter what, it certainly seems a heck of a lot of tourists have been murdered there. I suppose as a ratio to the amount of tourists that visit Mexico it is probably not a large proportion, but guess what, we don’t want to risk being one of the statistics, however small. It makes me think of the book I read the other day, Burning Water by Mercedes Lackey, where an Aztec god was trying to “come back” and his devotees were murdering people. This took place in the States although the devotees were mostly Mexicans and they were driven back to Mexico. Maybe they are still at it????

I am reading a very enjoyable book at the moment, Spellwright by Blake Charlton. It is his first book and well worth reading. Bearing in mind that as a child he was severely dyslexic I think its fascinating that he managed to write a book at all, let alone one I am enjoying so much. What fascinates me is all the magic systems authors think about. For instance Glenda Larke has a different magic system in each of her trilogies, Brandon Sanderson has at least two different magics that I know of, now this guy has another quite different magic. I don’t know how they think them up, but I guess that’s why I am not an author.

This recipe sounded absolutely delicious and suitable for all the parties which will be coming up in the near future, either for US Thanksgiving or for Christmas.

Baked Brie with Cranberries

Source: The Cranberry Cookbook

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

For the Baked Brie:

1/2 cup toasted fresh bread crumbs

1 tablespoon chopped parsley

1 teaspoon chopped thyme

1 tablespoon dried cranberries, finely chopped

4-by-2 ounce pieces of Brie

1 egg

For the Relish:

2 cups cranberries, defrosted, if frozen

3 tablespoons grated orange zest

1/3 cup orange juice

1/2 inch piece of fresh root ginger, peeled and grated

1/2 cup sugar

To serve:

Arugula or assorted lettuce leaves

4 thick slices French bread, toasted

1 garlic clove, cut in half lengthways snipped fresh chives

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Grease a baking sheet.

FOR THE RELISH: Place the cranberries together with the grated orange zest and juice, ginger, and sugar, in a blender or food processor and process to a coarse purée. Leave to stand for 1 hour before serving.

FOR THE BAKED BRIE: Mix the toasted bread crumbs with the parsley, thyme, and dried cranberries. Dip each piece of Brie into the beaten egg and then coat evenly with the bread crumb mixture.

Place the pieces of coated Brie on the baking sheet and bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 8 minutes. Remove the Brie from the oven and leave to cool briefly.

Arrange the arugula or lettuce leaves on 4 plates. Spoon some cranberry relish on to the plates and place the warm Brie on slices of toasted French read, that have been rubbed with a garlic half and extra cranberry relish. Garnish with chives.