Blogging, PSWs, Cooking, Video Call, Shopping, Favourites,

Over the weekend I thought of several interesting things to write about, but, being an idiot, I didn't write them down, with the end result that I now cannot think of anything to write about. At least we got PSWs both days, Saturday was fairly early so a shower and exercises were achieved, today (Sunday) she came later and Matt was already dressed. Actually, she came unmasked and I wasn't sure it was the same girl. She ended up by getting a mask from me. As she said, and I perfectly understood, she takes her mask off in the car and this time she had forgotten to put it back on. As this was her second visit, I just left her to do Matt's exercises and to make the beds. I also got her to take the recycling downstairs for me. Later I discovered she had made his bed and not mine, boo hoo. Later on I got a call from tomorrow's PSW and he is coming at 9, not 7. Hooray. Mind you, on Saturday I still had my housecoat on as I was doing laundry. That means dragging to our laundry room and back again, four times all together. Had to do more laundry today due to an accident. On Saturday saw the woman who has started cleaning for me, she was just heading out for her vacation.

I did, however, enjoy my champagne and smoked salmon today. Yesterday I cooked a flank steak in the Instant Pot for supper and tonight I cooked Stuffed Peppers. I have kind of invented my own recipe and it is pretty good. Stuffed Peppers in the Instant Pot are so very easy because you don't have to cook the peppers first which I always thought was a pain. I cook the rice in the Pot first and then later mix everything up and stuff the peppers.

Tomorrow I have a joint video chat coming up with Natalie and Stephanie two of the Social Workers in various fields who have been helping us. Partly, Natalie said, to put a face to the voice they have talked to. Nice for me to do the same.

I am hoping Kathy will be home to do my grocery pick-up on Tuesday (forgot it was Canada Day on Wednesday) I am jealous of these people going off on vacations, it is years since we have been away.

Froze some more of that green stuff today and will probably do some more before I go to bed. Just giving myself an excuse to drive over there again LOL. Reminds me, I bought some Portabella mushrooms which we ate on Saturday. I had forgotten how much I loved them too. For some reason, haven't had them for a long time. Artichokes are another thing I love and haven't had for ages. One of the disadvantages of not going to the store I don't get to see when they are available, if they are available of course.

Reading the tips in this recipe, I have underlined one sentence with which I totally concur.

Asparagus and Shrimp Paté

2 lb (1 kg) shrimp, shelled
½ cup (125 mL) chopped green onions
3 Tbs (45 mL) seasoned rice vinegar
1 Tbs (15 mL) chopped garlic
1 Tbs (15 mL) chopped fresh tarragon
2 Tbs (25 mL) chopped parsley
1 egg
1 egg white
½ cup (125 mL) whipping cream
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 lb (500 g) medium-size asparagus spears, blanched
Garnish
Fresh tarragon
Lemon slices, optional

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF (180ºC).

2. Combine shrimp, green onions, vinegar, garlic, tarragon and parsley in a food processor. Process until mixture is just combined. While machine is running, add egg, egg white and cream. Stop machine immediately. Mixture should have a little bit of texture left. Season well with salt and pepper.

3. Lay a third of shrimp mixture into a buttered loaf pan. Add a layer of asparagus trimmed to fit pan. If asparagus is too short then add a second piece as well. Add second layer of shrimp mixture and another layer of asparagus. Finish with remaining shrimp mixture.

4. Place loaf pan into a second slightly bigger pan. Fill larger pan with boiling water halfway up loaf pan. Cover loaf pan with a piece of buttered parchment paper and cover tightly with foil.

5. Bake for 55 minutes or until white juices begin to rise and pâté is cooked through in the middle. Cool in pan and pour off any liquid that has gathered. Turn out on to a rectangular plate and decorate with fresh tarragon and lemon slices, if desired.

Servings: 10

Tips
Asparagus, when in season, deserves to be used as much as possible. Combining it with a shrimp purée makes an outstanding pate. To blanch asparagus, toss into a pot of boiling water, bring back to the boil, drain well, and run under cold water.

Author: Lucy Waverman
Source: Food and Drink

Have a great day, stay well, stay safe.
 

Blogging, Asparagus, Nopalitos.

One day, I might learn. I get several good ideas for blogging, got lots during A to Z but because I am too dumb to write them down, guess what, I forget what they were. Trouble is I am usually doing something at the time which precludes me from recording an idea so it just drifts away with the breeze.

I was horrified to learn yesterday, that a very good friend, Elizabeth Seckman, doesn’t like asparagus nor does her husband. What sacrilege, what Philistines! I grieve for people who don’t like the heaven sent spears of deliciousness. Don’t tell anyone, but I do know other people who fall into this category. Elizabeth tells me they bought a house with an asparagus bed and gave away all the produce for a while and finally mowed over the whole lot and got rid of it. I used to have an asparagus bed in England. Once the season was over, I used to grow the ferns (well you have to let it grow anyway) and pick some of them for flower arrangements. Very pretty. Girlfriend in NC used to have a bed as well, just enough for her, never did get any of it. Mind you I probably wouldn't have shared any either. It wasn’t until we discovered Barrie’s Asparagus Farm a few years ago that I got to indulge my predilection for asparagus again. I will warn you, if you are a newcomer, this blog will be full of asparagus recipes whilst the season is upon us. July 1 it will be all over.

If you followed my A to Z contributions,, I talked about Nopalitos or cactus leaves. Another thing I very much enjoy. Tuesday I received a parcel with two cans of them which I had ordered on line from a company called La Tortilleria. What I hadn’t expected was that they would arrive in 27.5 oz cans. Rather a lot of nopalitos to consume in a reasonable amount of time. I will, however, do my best. My lunch yesterday included both asparagus and nopalitos. Probably will again today.

I actually don’t much like gnocchi, but I thought this recipe looked delicious nevertheless. I might change it back to pasta anyway. Many people do like gnocchi so for them this is fine.

Gnocchi with Shrimp, Asparagus, and Pesto

Cooking Light

Gnocchi--small Italian potato dumplings--are a hearty alternative to pasta. While making gnocchi from scratch could take more than an hour, premade vacuum-packed dumplings cook in a few minutes.

4 servings (serving size: 2 cups)

Ingredients

2 quarts plus 1 tablespoon water, divided
1 (16-ounce) package vacuum-packed gnocchi (such as Vigo)
4 cups (1-inch) slices asparagus (about 1 pound)            
1 pound peeled and deveined large shrimp, coarsely chopped 
1 cup basil leaves
2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
2 tablespoons preshredded Parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons bottled minced garlic
4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
 

Preparation

1. Bring 2 quarts water to a boil in a Dutch oven. Add gnocchi to pan; cook 4 minutes or until done (gnocchi will rise to surface). Remove with a slotted spoon; place in a large bowl. Add asparagus and shrimp to pan; cook 5 minutes or until shrimp are done. Drain. Add shrimp mixture to gnocchi.
2. Combine remaining 1 tablespoon water, basil, and next 4 ingredients (through garlic) in a food processor; process until smooth, scraping sides. Drizzle oil through food chute with food processor on; process until well blended. Add basil mixture to shrimp mixture; toss to coat. Serve immediately.

Have a great day

Blogging, Car, Bowling.

You know what, I completely forgot about writing a blog. I got very involved in a book I was reading, The City and the Ship by Anne McCaffery and S.M Stirling, and now I have finished it I suddenly remembered. However, it is somewhat late at night, so this will be short and sweet.

Matt took the car in to have the turn signals fixed. They took a $4 something part and inserted it into the car taking about 5 minutes. This cost us about $78. Unbelievable isn’t it? However, I guess we are now safe again.

Had our bowling banquet of KFC yesterday. I was disappointed. I remember KFC as being a lot better than it was. Then we bowled and I was disappointed again. You would have thought I had never had a bowling ball in my hands before. Matt didn’t do too badly,  but my game was appalling. Oh well, maybe I’ll do better today.



I love blackberries but have never had them in a drink. I thought this sounded really refreshing.

Blackberry Limeade 

This summer cooler is great to bring along on a picnic or to serve at a backyard party. Pour over ice, if desired.

Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients

• 6 cups water, divided
• 3 cups fresh blackberries
• 1 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup fresh lime juice (about 4 limes)
• 8 thin lime slices
• Fresh blackberries (optional)

Preparation

1. Place 1 cup water and 3 cups blackberries in a blender; process until smooth. Press blackberry puree through a sieve into a large pitcher; discard seeds. Add remaining 5 cups water, sugar, and juice to pitcher; stir until sugar dissolves. Place 1 lime slice and a few blackberries, if desired, into each of 8 glasses; pour about 1 cup limeade over each serving.

Have a great day

Page Views,

You may notice I have removed the gadgets which count how many page views or reads I have had every day. I have it on very good authority that they are not really accurate and it is a fact I figured the figures I have been getting lately to be somewhat depressing. I am happy to get a few comments every day and I hope people enjoy my ramblings, I would certainly hate to get as many comments as some bloggers do, I could never cope. Alex J. Cavenaugh mentioned one blogger getting as many as 5,000. Horrors.

Well, sorry y’all I am off to bed early as I have to be up before dawn in the morning so this is it for today. Bowling in the afternoon.

Have a great day

Blog Lists, Asparagus, Tavernas.

To all my blogging friends, hidden from the sight of any reader, I have, as no doubt you do too, a list of all the blogs I follow. The only trouble is, this list is no longer accurate because some of the bloggers have disappeared into the wide blue yonder, but I cannot seem to find a way to delete ancient blogs. Can I do so? Is there a trick I haven’t discovered? Or will Blogger just not let you change things at all? Obviously if you don’t use Blogger you can’t help me anyway. I do hate having a long list of things which are no longer correct.

I really think I should give up bowling, my Friday performance was pretty pathetic once more. I keep going though, I must be a masochist.

Our dinner guests for Saturday are unable to come after all, she is pretty sick. I told them to forget it and we would reschedule once she was better. That leaves us with a few things we wouldn’t have bought but we will be able to eat them over the next several days. One thing I made Friday night, I will post the recipe for on Monday, it was very good. It included asparagus so will be even better when local asparagus is in season. However we both enjoyed it despite not having local asparagus. Not too long now, about 2 to 2 1/2 months. Actually, might pop in there next week, I have just discovered they have frozen, chopped asparagus and I have run out of asparagus soup.

When my parents used to lived in Spain, we frequently went to visit them and often ate Gambas Ajillo or Garlic Shrimp. The first time Matt ate this dish, he was served two really jumbo shrimp over rice and still maintains it was the best he was ever served. This recipe is based on the Spanish dish. I have made Gambas Ajillo many times at home, it really is delicious. I have never had lemon wedges served with it though, or sherry included. We used to sit at the bar and have them served to us as tapas. In Alicante, where my parents lived, we went into tavernas where the floors were always tile and the habit was for customers to drop anything they didn’t want, be it cigarette packs or shrimp shells. The following morning the taverna would wash the floors with a hose pipe and get rid of all the trash. It never really got that dirty, but my cousin got so much into the habit, I had to keep reminding her not to do it in the UK.

Garlic Shrimp

Source: Casual Cuisines of the World - Taverna

Serves 4
In Spanish tavernas, these shrimp; fragrant with garlic and olive oil; are brought to the table sizzling in a little metal pan. Have plenty of bread on hand to sop up the delicious pan juices. Serve with lemon wedges, if desired.
INGREDIENTS

1/4 cup olive oil

4 large cloves garlic, finely minced

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoons dry sherry

1 teaspoon paprika

Chopped fresh flat-leaf (Italian) parsley for garnish

DIRECTIONS

In a sauté pan over medium heat, warm the olive oil. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and sauté for 1 minute. Raise the heat to high and add the shrimp, lemon juice, sherry and paprika. Stir well, then sauté, stirring briskly, until the shrimp turn pink and curl slightly, about 3 minutes. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper and sprinkle with parsley. Serve hot.

Have a great weekend

Beginnings Blogfest, Internet, Dieting.

I’m a day late but I hope not a dollar short. I began my blogging journey in October 2007 with the fond hope that I could make a few bucks out of it. I had been to a seminar which had given me a few ideas so I thought I would put them into practice. Needless to say, it didn’t work. Although I had Adsense for a while, they eventually abandoned me, they obviously didn’t like what I did. I don’t know what happens because another friend who had been publishing an ezine for years with ads by Adsense was also suddenly dropped – he didn’t know why either. In his case his ezine was his only source of income, so he wasn’t too happy. I still carry ads, Amazon for instance, but I have never earned a penny from them.

It turned out, though, that I like writing a blog. I have written one almost every day since I started although I stopped posting on Sundays. I have astonished myself by how much I have written in the last few years and how many recipes I have found and tried in that time as well. Of course my first blog was about me. I thought about writing more about me, but I would imagine anyone who has been with my blog for a while knows as much about me as I do myself. Not only that if you were to follow the link on my profile, you would find out a lot of stuff.

Right now I am wasting my time writing anything as I cannot get on the internet, once again. At least we still have phone service. Now, though, when I call the ISP I get “we’re sorry all circuits are busy now” earlier, before Jeopardy! which I watch no matter what, I was waiting for half an hour. Once again they seem to be having phone problems at their end as well. Its enough to drive one gaga. I can’t do anything, let alone post a blog. Finally the internet came back on around 11:15. I was just about to pack it in and go to bed.
Having decided to try and lose a few pounds, although I need to lose more than a few, I signed up with FitDay where you can enter what you eat every day to keep track of the calories you consume. You can also add foods that they don’t have on their lists. I’ve been using it for a couple of days now. It is quite comprehensive, you can add your moods and your exercise amongst other things you can do on the site. Still got lots to explore. I got a bit fed up with all the ads on the free page so I upgraded for $4 something a month. I might say Weight Watchers used to charge $22 a month for their online membership. May well be more these days. WebMD offer a similar programme, but I entered a load of stuff, didn’t use it for a while and when I went back it was all gone so I was a bit teed off.

Talking of Weight Watchers this is a favourite recipe of theirs which we enjoy now and again. Another recipe with beans. No picture, but this is a nice one of a pork tenderloin.

Pork and Black Beans
Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook
If you like, use turkey breast instead of the pork
Makes 4 servings

2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp hot paprika
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp salt
5 oz. lean pork tenderloin
1 tsp EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
2 Tbs white vinegar
One 15 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 carrot, finely diced (we shred it)
2 tbs fresh lime juice
1/2 tomato, diced
1 red onion, chopped
2 tbs chopped cilantro

In a small bowl, combined the garlic, paprika, cumin and salt; rub into the pork.
In a medium nonstick skillet, heat the oil. Sauté the pork until browned, 2-3 minutes on each side. Reduce the heat and cook, covered, turning occasionally, until cooked through, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a plate. Halve the pork lengthwise, then cut crosswise into thin slices.

Add the vinegar to the pan drippings and simmer, stirring*, until the acidity cooks off, about 2 minutes. Add the beans, carrot and lime juice; cook, tossing, about 1 minute. Transfer to a medium bowl. Add the pork, tomato, onion and cilantro; toss to combine.

* If you aren’t careful and breathe in the fumes, it can knock your head off.

Have a great day

Moaning, Higgs-Boson, Blogging

Went to the dentist as I may have mentioned, and had both a filling and an extraction. She had to keep pumping anesthetic into me. When she got around to removing the broken remains of the tooth she had trouble a) getting hold of it and then b) removing it. Bloody thing just didn’t want to leave me. Finally it gave up the ghost and later, so did I. By the time all the anesthetic wore off I was in a lot of jaw pain and I was hungry. For supper I had some asparagus soup which I had doctored up with a couple of spoonsful of plain Congee to give it some extra body. Right now I would kill for a sandwich or something.

Once again, a video explaining the Higgs Boson – do you care? I find it absolutely fascinating. I discovered this video through the Blutonian Death Egg a blog by Rusty Webb.

I have been watching more and more videos and explanations and am beginning to get something of a grasp on this. The video above is pretty fast, but if you watch it a couple of times, it does help make things clearer. My first husband was a physicist and obviously would have understood all this. Not that that would have helped me, I could never understand a lot of what he told me, like if regular math wouldn’t solve a problem, you invented a math that would solve it. How can you do that? One and one is two surely? Apparently not always. Way beyond me.

Interesting post from Damyanti at Blogging A to Z yesterday as well, asking if blogging was obsolete and positing that most blogs are read by other bloggers. I do somewhat agree with that idea. Obviously I don’t know how many of my readers are bloggers, but I know a lot of them are and I know a lot of my friends, for instance, do not read my blog. I can understand reading it and saying “what a load of old rubbish, not reading that again”, what I can’t understand is not reading it a couple of times at least to see what its all about. Not only that, if you don’t like my  blog, there are thousands of them out there, many of the ones I have been discovering lately are very thought provoking or full of great information. Many of them deal with hobbies of one kind or another.

Needed a bit of good news yesterday, we discovered our pensions are being increased, not, of course, by very much, but nevertheless they’re going the right way. I had read there was an increase coming, but didn’t know how much, better than I expected.

Another good looking recipe from BBC Food – the recipe originally called for prawns but I changed it to shrimp as one doesn’t see prawns around here. In fact I have never seen them anywhere I have visited in North America.

Spicy Seafood Stew with Tomatoes and Lime

John Torode's Mexican-inspired one-pot casserole is packed with shellfish, white fish and plenty of chilli

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

• 2 dried ancho or guajillo chillies
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 large onion , chopped
• 4 garlic cloves , chopped
• 1 tsp chipotle paste or 1 tsp smoked hot paprika (pimentón)
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 700ml chicken stock
• 250g chopped tomatoes , from a can
• 200g large peeled raw shrimp
• 300g halibut or other firm white fish fillets, cut into 2.5cm pieces
• 300g clams
• 500g small new potatoes , halved and boiled
• juice 2 limes

TO SERVE

• lime wedges
• 1 avocado , chopped
• handful coriander leaves
• 1 small red onion , finely diced
• corn tortillas , sliced and baked

Toast the chillies in a hot dry frying pan for a few moments (they will puff up a bit), then remove. Deseed and stem chillies, and soak in boiling water for 15 mins.

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Add the onion and garlic, season and cook for about 5 mins or until softened. Add the chipotle paste, reconstituted chillies, cumin, stock and tomatoes. Sauté for 5 mins, then purée until very fine in a blender. Pour back into the pan and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 mins. When close to eating, add the prawns, fish fillets, clams and potatoes. Place a lid on top and cook for 5 mins over a medium-high heat. Add the lime juice and serve with lime wedges, avocado, coriander, red onion and tortilla chips for sprinkling over.

Have a great day

Blogging, Reading

I occasionally check the stats on my blogs to see how many people have been to visit me. Once in a while I got deeper and see where and why people are ending up on my blog. I was a bit ‘took aback’ yesterday to discover one person had arrived at a blog I had written in 2009. I guess if you are googling for something in particular that is likely to happen, one just doesn’t think of it though. 2009 is quite a way back, I posted my first blogs in October 2008, it feels like I have been blogging longer. For the longest time I was disappointed that I didn’t get many comments, but since joining the A to Z challenge, I get a lot more and looking at some of the other blogs in the challenge, I don’t think I want as many as they have. Some get hundreds of comments; complimentary though.

I haven’t talked about reading much lately, primarily because I have been downloading a lot of free books onto my Kindle, some of which have been great, some quite mediocre. So what, they were free. There is a trilogy I have enjoyed which, this may surprise those of you who know me, is about dragons LOL. When did I ever back away from dragon books? This one was the Dragon Stones Saga and I am awaiting book 3. I talked about these in April. Right now I am reading The Blood Gate by David Ross Erickson which I am enjoying but it is fairly slow going. I still have a lot of Kindle books to read plus I also got a book from the library the other day called Ricochet by Sandra Brown – a friend was reading it and I thought it looked good. A lot of my reading time has been taken up with reading other people’s blogs and I can assure you it takes up quite a lot of time. Since I started writing this I have begun reading ricochet, seems like a very good story.

This is a holiday weekend in Canada and a lot of people have gone ‘up north’ to their cottages and trailers. As a lot of our friends are retired, I don’t see why they leave it to the weekends to go away, they have all the time in the world. I miss our little trailer which we used to haul around all over the place even when we didn’t have lots of time. A lot of people seem to use their trailers as separate homes and leave them on one site all of the time. Where’s the fun in that? We did do that with one trailer we owned, but planned to move it around but for one reason or another, never did so, sold it before we moved it. Prior to that we had a small trailer which went everywhere with us at one time, it was with us when we first found North Carolina and we really had some fun with it. No, the picture wasn’t of ours, but it could well have been. I know we have some pictures but not sure where at the moment.

The picture of this recipe appealed to me, as did the recipe itself of course, so here it is, being shared with you.

Zucchini, Tomato, and Swiss Cheese Pie

ByDana Treat
WebMD Recipe from Foodily.com

Some people are afraid of yeast so they don’t make bread. Some people are afraid of crusts so they don’t make tarts or pies. (I myself am afraid of frosting layer cakes but I don’t let it stop me.) So, If I say “tart”, are you one of those people who gets scared? Truth be told, I find crusts can be tricky even thought I have made a lot of them. Every time I make a pie, I say a little prayer to the crust gods to make things go smoothly. My only advice is that it helps to have a good recipe and lots of practice.

If you do suffer from a crust phobia, please make this pie. I would say it’s like a crust-less quiche, but it does in fact have a crust. It is nothing more than some breadcrumbs sprinkled into a buttered pie plate, but somehow just that little bit of attention makes it more elegant, interesting, and also helps hold the slices together. The lack of a butter and/or shortening crust also makes a slice much lighter and healthier – so you can be a little more heavy-handed with the cheese.

This is one of many Jeanne Lemlin tarts that I have made – all easy, all delicious. It is totally adaptable and great for lunch, brunch, or dinner. Although she says it is important to use Swiss cheese in this one to help keep it all together, I bet you could substitute another firm cheese and have it turn out fabulously well.

Ingredients

1 tbsp. unsalted butter, room temperature
¼ cup bread crumbs
Olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 medium tomatoes, seeded and diced
3 medium zucchini, quartered lengthwise and thinly sliced
1 tsp. fennel seed
¼ tsp. salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
3 large eggs
1/3 cup milk
¼ pound grated Swiss cheese
3 tbsp. grated fresh Parmesan cheese

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375º F. Butter a 9 inch pie plate, then sprinkle the bread crumbs all over the sides and bottom. Allow whatever loose crumbs are there to just sit on the bottom.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add enough olive oil to just coat the bottom, then add the onion. Sauté until translucent, then add the garlic and sauté for another 3 minutes.

Stir in the diced tomatoes and sauté another 5 minutes. Raise the heat to high. Mix in the zucchini, fennel seed, salt and pepper. Cook until the zucchini is barely tender, about 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and cool 5 minutes. (The recipe may be prepared in advance to this point and chill up to 24 hours. Bring to room temperature before proceeding.)

Beat the eggs in a large bowl. Stir in the milk, then mix in the zucchini mixture. Pour half into the prepared pie plate, top with the Swiss cheese, then pour on the remaining vegetable mixture. Sprinkle the Parmesan cheese all over the top.

Bake 30 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean and the top is golden brown. Let sit 10 minutes before cutting.

Adapted from Quick Vegetarian Pleasures

Total Servings: 4

Have a great weekend

Blogging, Wedding Dress and Uniforms, Political Parties.

An interesting point was made, yesterday, in Blogging without a Blog http://bloggingwithoutablog.com/blogging-sheeple/ about whether people tamed down their writing because of the possibility of adverse comments. Of course the most controversial topics would be politics and religion, but as I stated in my comment, I don’t get passionate about either, so its not something I would write about anyway. Yes, I wrote about the defeat of the Liberals yesterday, but I was only stating what had happened. Mainly, I just write what I think at the time of writing (I could change my opinion over the years of course it happens). The only things I am really passionate about (if you can call it that) are animal cruelty and food. Generally these topics don’t produce criticism. Maybe I should write about more controversial topics, perhaps I would get more comments. However, some of my blogging friends get the weirdest things written in their comment sections, I really don’t want to attract such nonsense.

On yesterday’s GMA they ran a segment about the copies of Kate Middleton’s wedding dress. There is a video if you wish to watch it, but they ‘knock off” dress, made by one of the top US wedding dress stores sells for a cook $3,700 just right for any bride!!! They did say that the average wedding dress is about $3,500. I’m sorry but to pay that kind of money for a dress you wear once and once only, is, in my opinion, absolutely stupid. You can find lovely dresses for much, much less money. In the video segment the model is totally dressed in the full regalia including a tiara. One interesting note, to get the lace the exact colour, they used a tea bag!!! Tea-dyed lace. As for the two princes, I finally found out what their uniforms were, Prince William is an honorary colonel of the Irish Guards so that’s what he wore to the great disappointment of the RAF of which he is a serving officer although his jacket would not have been so spectacular. As for Harry, he wore the dress of the Blues and Royals or the Royal Horse Guards 1st Batallion. His appearance impressed me more, I loved all the gold bullion on his jacket. If you are interested, there is an article here http://tinyurl.com/6bbrn2a

Something I forgot to mention about the elections, apparently in Canada we have a Radical Marijuana party. I only know that because Matt had stickers for all the parties in case their representatives came to scrutinise. I didn’t know we had such a thing in Canada, we also have the Pirate Party, they are something to do with banning all pirating of music and movies etc..

Cinco do Mayo is coming up (May 5th if your Spanish isn’t too good) which is a Mexican celebration. With the result that my inbox is being inundated by Mexican recipes. Here is one which didn’t sound bad, although these days I don’t eat very spicy (hot) stuff it tends to give me reflux problems.

Lime-Jalapeno Chicken

From EatingWell:  June/July 2005

Tangy, mildly spicy and tender, this chicken is delicious with black beans and salsa.

8 servings  Ingredients

1/4 cup lime juice, (about 2 limes)

2 tablespoons canola oil

1 tablespoon white vinegar

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 jalapeno, sliced

1-1 1/4 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed of fat, tenders removed

Preparation

1. Whisk lime juice, oil, vinegar, cumin and salt in a small bowl. Stir in jalapeno. Place chicken in a shallow baking dish and pour the marinade over it, turning to coat both sides. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, turning once, or overnight.
2. Preheat grill to high heat. Oil the grill rack (see Tip). Grill the chicken until cooked through and no longer pink in the middle, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Let cool slightly; thinly slice crosswise. Serve warm or chilled.

Nutrition

Per serving : 71 Calories; 2 g Fat; 0 g Sat; 1 g Mono; 31 mg Cholesterol; 1 g Carbohydrates; 11 g Protein; 0 g Fiber; 46 mg Sodium; 98 mg Potassium

Tips & Notes

Make Ahead Tip: Marinate chicken in the refrigerator for up to 1 day and/or refrigerate cooked chicken for up to 1 day. Slice just before serving.

To oil a grill: Oil a folded paper towel, hold it with tongs and rub it over the rack. (Do not use cooking spray on a hot grill.) When grilling delicate foods like tofu and fish, it is helpful to spray the food with cooking spray.

Have a great day

Blogging, Dates, Cat Vs. Printer.

One of the blogs I read regularly mentioned that the author had recently celebrated her 4 year anniversary of blogging. I never remember such dates so I had to check it out and because I have been printing my blog books, I found I started blogging in October 2007. What really staggers me is just how much I have written and it is great that a number of you are still reading what I write. I thank you all for your support.

Talking of dates, a lot of people can remember the date when they first met or when other things happened in their lives. I can’t even remember the year I quit smoking although funnily enough I do remember the date as it was Bastille Day or July 14. I think it was about 16 years ago, but I really don’t know. I certainly don’t remember the date Matt and I first met although I can remember the occasion - I had decided to take up scuba diving because I nearly drowned myself a couple of times and I was a bit scared to go swimming any more. I went to the pool where the local branch of The British Sub Aqua Club met on Mondays and Matt happened to be the diving officer there. The rest is history. Yes that’s me as I looked when we met.

This is the funniest thing I have seen in a long while. However, I would warn you there is some strong language. http://youtu.be/CSK1D3bZhRs I watched it at least twice and cracked up each time. I do hope you enjoy it too. Actually the cat in the video reminds me of the calico cat I owned many years ago. Her name was Fancy after a TV cop show which was on in the UK at the time.

Saturday night we decided to have a fillet steak and I looked up a sauce to go with it as I am bored with plain fillet. The one I found wasn’t bad although in the end I found it a tad sweet for me, maybe you will like it. Here it is. Its simple enough to make. We doubled up the amounts but actually had way too much so I think this amount would serve two quite adequately.

Balsamic Vinegar Sauce

80 ml balsamic vinegar di Modena 1 clove(s) garlic, minced 1 tsp lemon juice, freshly squeezed 1 Tbs cornstarch 60 ml beef stock 1 pinch(es) pepper

1. Mix together balsamic vinegar, pepper, lemon and garlic and pour into a small skillet. Bring to a boil, and let it reduce a bit.

2. Blend cornstarch with stock. Add cornstarch and whisk it in. Once the sauce thickens pour it over your choice of meat, i.e. fillet or steak.

Servings: 1

Source Author: alexia_cu

Author Notes A very yummy Italian sauce for all steak and fillet lovers

Have a great day

Blogging, Royal Visit, Jigsaw Puzzle

I caught a segment on Good Morning America today, a teacher has been suspended for what she has been writing about her students. The basic premise is the right of free speech and there is nothing to prevent her saying, or writing, what she thinks and the school is, maybe, wrong to suspend her. However, on TV this morning she said that she didn’t think anyone but her friends would read her blog and that it was difficult to find. Sorry, you must be pretty dumb. If you want to blog, it is open for perusal from anyone who wants to find it. Ain’t nothing private about blogs. I don’t know if she mentioned to her students that she was writing, but searches frequently bring up blogs.

Canada is delighted because it has now been officially announced that the first official visit by the newlywed Royals, William and Katherine (not Kate please) will be to our country. They are scheduled for a June/July visit so you know the flags will be out. They will be spending Canada Day (July 1) in Ottawa as the Queen did last year and their itinerary covers a cross country tour.

One of the things I do most days is a jigsaw puzzle on line. So much easier as you don’t have to sort out all the pieces and turn them right side up etc. etc. One puzzle I do enables me to put it in my blog. Not tried it out, so I am about to do so. Hope it works.

These muffins are recommended for a Grab and Go healthy breakfast, I don’t approve of grabbing and going, you should sit down and eat properly, not eat on the run, however, I still think these muffins sound pretty good.

Honey and Goat Cheese-Filled Fig Muffins

From EatingWell: January/February 2010

Sweet figs and a filling of tangy goat cheese give a surprising twist to these hearty breakfast muffins. Make a batch of these on the weekend and enjoy them for breakfast all week long. If you’re not a fan of goat cheese, try them with cream cheese instead.

1 dozen muffins

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup crumbled soft goat cheese or reduced-fat cream cheese (Neufchatel)
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest
• 1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract, divided
• 2 cups white whole-wheat flour (see Note)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 large egg white
• 3/4 cup packed dark or light brown sugar
• 1 cup low-fat or nonfat buttermilk
• 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 1/4 cups chopped dried figs
• 3 tablespoons turbinado (see Note) or granulated sugar

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Line 12 (1/2-cup) muffin cups with paper liners or coat with cooking spray.
2. Thoroughly combine goat cheese (or cream cheese), honey, lemon zest and 1/4 teaspoon vanilla in a small bowl. Set aside.
3. Whisk flour (see Measuring Tip), baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Lightly beat eggs and egg white in a medium bowl; add brown sugar and the remaining 1 teaspoon vanilla and whisk until the sugar is dissolved, about 1 minute. Gradually whisk in buttermilk and oil until smooth. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined; do not overmix. Fold in figs.
4. Spoon half the batter into the prepared muffin cups. Add 1 generous teaspoon of the reserved cheese filling to the center of each muffin, and cover with the remaining batter. (The filling should not be visible.) Sprinkle the muffins with sugar.
5. Bake the muffins until the edges start to brown and the tops spring back when gently pressed, 13 to 15 minutes. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool.

Nutrition

Per muffin : 272 Calories; 9 g Fat; 2 g Sat; 6 g Mono; 39 mg Cholesterol; 44 g Carbohydrates; 6 g Protein; 3 g Fiber; 239 mg Sodium; 184 mg Potassium

3 Carbohydrate Serving

Exchanges: 1 starch, 1/2 fruit, 1 1/2 other carbohydrates, 1 1/2 fat

Tips & Notes

• Make Ahead Tip: Individually wrap the muffins and store at room temperature for up to 2 days or freeze for up to 1 month. To reheat, remove plastic wrap, wrap in a paper towel and microwave on High for 30-45 seconds.

• Ingredient notes: White whole-wheat flour, made from a special variety of white wheat, is light in color and flavor but has the same nutritional properties as regular whole-wheat flour. It is available in large supermarkets and at natural-foods stores. (Or find it online from bobsredmill.com or kingarthurflour.com.) Store it in the freezer.
• Turbinado sugar is steam-cleaned raw cane sugar. It’s coarse-grained and light brown in color, with a slight molasses flavor. Find it in the natural-foods section of large supermarkets or at natural-foods stores.
• Measuring tip: We use the “spoon and level” method to measure flours. Here’s how it is done: Use a spoon to lightly scoop flour from its container into a measuring cup. Use a knife or other straight edge to level the flour with the top of the measuring cup.

Have a great day

Blogs and Liars

Its a stupid thing and I know its not true, but if no-one comments on my blog I feel as though no-one has read it. Some people don't comment at all, some do now and again and some people comment a lot. Also, some bloggers get lots of comments all the time - but many of them are well known authors so I assume more people read their blogs. There are, in fact, three or four friends and relatives I know read my blog regularly not to mention other blogging friends who read what I write. I wonder though, do I write a blog for myself or for other people? A bit of both I suppose. Maybe its because I always wanted to be an author but just don't have the drive and dedication to write a book - even more so since I have been reading the blogs of several authors and see what they go through to produce their novels. I guess I will just keep blogging away. Watched a programme last night called The Truth About Liars produced by the Doc Zone. It wasn't a very conclusive programme, the outcome being that we are all liars and if you don't believe that, you are lying to yourself which is one of our biggest problems, we don't want to believe that someone is lying to us, cheating us, swindling us etc.. Obviously some people lie more than others, but everyone uses "the little white lie" - one example they gave was - the wife: "was I the prettiest woman in the room?" the fact is there were three prettier, but you still say "yes darling of course you were". Or if you have any sense you do!! Partly because you don't want to cause hurt and partly not to cause an argument. The government and lots of scientists are working on different ways to tell if someone is lying. A lie detector is a useful tool they say, but that's all it is, a tool. Facial expressions can be give aways, but there are lots of people who don't even "twitch". If you are interested click here to find out more. The law enforcement agencies are the ones most interested in finding a reliable way to detect truth. I am finally reading the last book in the Godspeaker trilogy by Karen Miller called The Hammer of God. I have been waiting for it for a while and just got hold of it yesterday. Having finished my David Coe novel, I was ready for a new novel. This has been a very enjoyable trilogy so far and from the few pages I have read, it doesn't appear that this final book is going to be any different. I am looking forward to reading it. Then I have another book by David Coe to read which starts a new series about two of the characters from his Winds of the Forelands books. Here's a different sauce to use for shrimp or fish. I get so tired of the usual ketchup and horseradish sauce that we all trot out so often although Matt and I do use an English concoction I have in a book from years ago (I posted the recipe some time ago). This one is from The Best Ever Three and Four Ingredient Cookbook. Watercress Sauce This pretty green sauce is refreshingly tart and peppery. It is delicious served as an accompaniment to poached fish, or as a dip for simply grilled prawns (shrimp). Do not prepare this sauce more than a few hours ahead of serving as the watercress will discolour the sauce. This peppery sauce can also be made with rocket (arugula) leaves instead of watercress. Serves 6 - 8 7 oz. watercress leaves 1 1/4 cups mayonnaise 1-2 tbs freshly squeezed lemon juice From the store cupboard scant 1 cup unsalted (sweet) butter salt and ground black pepper Remove the tough stems from the watercress leaves and finely chop the leaves by hand or in a food processor. Add the mayonnaise and the freshly squeezed lemon juice and process to mix. Melt the unsalted butter, then add to the watercress mixture, a little at a time, processing or whisking in a bowl until the butter has been fully incorported and the sauce is thick and smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper then cover and chill in the fridge for at least an hour before serving. Extras: Garlic makes a delicious addition to this sauce. Peel and finely chop 1-2 cloves and combine with the chopped watercress, mayonnaise and lemon juice, before adding the melted butter. Have a great day.