Bowling, Bear Cub, Dinners and Diets.

Amazing, I bowled really well again today. Unusual for a Thursday. Poor Matt didn’t again although each game was better than the last. Unfortunately we had some kids arrive by our last game and one of them was being a right pain in the butt which wasn’t helping either, throwing balls at the bumper bars instead of down the alley. Mother not doing anything about it, etc. etc. If we hadn’t been nearly finished, I would have done something about it!!! It was a beautiful day too which probably brought people out to bowl. Sun shining brightly and snow melting all over the place. It’s supposed to be even warmer on Friday +2°C which, these days, is almost bikini weather. It should account for a fair bit of snow hopefully. Next week is March Break so I guess some people will be heading south and no doubt there will be lots more kids at the bowling alley.

Cute, a new polar bear from the Toronto Zoo is shown revealing his name on YouTube today. Of course, I wondered how they got him to do it. What a cute little bundle of fur. It’s such a shame that polar bears grow up to be so dangerous because even as adults they look huggable.


Don’t have to figure out what we are going to eat on Saturday night as we are going to a friend’s for dinner. Make a nice change. One thing I never do is go to someone’s for dinner and promptly say “I can’t eat that I’m on a diet”. I have had that done to me and it’s infuriating, especially when one has spent forever in the kitchen trying to please your dinner guests. My mother taught me never to inflict my diet on other people, and I never do. I might limit my intake, but unobtrusively. If you don’t want to eat what your hosts have prepared, don’t go.

I said I had another brisket recipe which I thought sounded delicious. It’s from WebMD Food and Recipes.

Brisket With Wine-Soaked Apricots

WebMD Recipe

The preferred way to prepare brisket is with long, slow cooking. Brisket is a pretty high-fat meat, but you can make it leaner by trimming off all the visible fat before cooking. This recipe can be made in the oven or on the stovetop.
Ingredients

• 3-4 pounds beef brisket
• 1 pound dried apricot halves
• 2 mild or sweet onions, sliced
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 2 pinches ground black pepper
• 2 pinches salt (optional)
• 1/2 cup slivered or sliced almonds, toasted (toast in a nonstick frying pan over medium-low heat)

Instructions

1. If you’re cooking the brisket in the oven, preheat oven to 300°F. Trim all the visible fat off your brisket.
2. Wash the apricots and put in a medium-sized bowl. Add enough wine to cover them and soak for one hour.
3. Add canola oil to large Dutch oven (or similar pot) and heat over medium-high heat on stove. Add the sliced onions and brisket. Brown meat and onions, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes.
4. Add the spices and the dried fruit with wine to Dutch oven and stir. Cover pot and reduce heat to low (if you're cooking on the stovetop) or move Dutch oven to preheated oven. Cook for 2 1/2 to 3 hours, or until brisket is very tender.
5. Remove brisket from pan and place in center of serving platter. Let the meat rest 5-10 minutes before slicing. Surround the slices with the apricots, and drizzle 1/2 cup of the pan juices over the top. Sprinkle toasted almonds over the top of the beef and apricots.

Have a great day