Camelot, Eclipse of the Sun

The upshot of my TIA problem is I still have a somewhat numb face although its better than it was, also fairly high BP readings and the worst thing of the lot, for me, I decided not to go to the theatre with my friend this afternoon (yes I do realise there could have been worse results). We were going to see Camelot. My friend has managed to find someone else to take my ticket. I didn't want her having to hunt for a hospital in a rural area if anything happened; the theatre is 2 hours drive away from here. I did so want to see this show. The Drayton Festival group do these shows so very well and I have heard great reports of Camelot from everyone who has been. I am thinking of trying to get more tickets (not sure when the show ends - Oh No, Friday) and dragging Matt along, but probably not a good idea this soon, although I don't mind making Matt hunt for a hospital LOL. There was a solar eclipse yesterday all across Asia - I am staggered to believe there are still peoples who believe it is an ill omen or there is something different. It was apparently the longest eclipse this century and it won't happen again until the next century although there will be a shorter eclipse across North America in 2017. If you want to see a video clip about it go to this site where you can also read the article. When we lived in North Carolina, we had friends from Wisconsin who used to rave about custard ice cream. Then a store opened which sold it together with a lot of other forbidden and sinful desserts LOL. 7 Layer Chocolate Cake for one. Anyway, I loved the custard ice cream and was very sorry last time we were in NC to discover that the store had closed. However, yesterday I got an email from Recipezaar which included custard ice cream. I remember my mother making ice cream this way, freezing and stirring, freezing and stirring. Custard Ice Cream This is a beautiful recipe for ice cream...taken from The River Cottage Family Cookbook by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. Simple to make & perfect with Recipe#232629, Recipe#232579, apple pie, brownies etc..... NB: "This is a classic method for making ice cream. Avoid serving homemade ice cream to babies, toddlers and pregnant women, as they are at a higher risk for salmonella poisoning from undercooked eggs 284 ml single cream 1 vanilla pod 4 free-range egg yolks 125 g caster sugar 284 ml double cream 1 Pour the single cream into a medium saucepan. Slit the vanilla pod lengthways with a sharp knife and place it in the pan. Set the heat to medium and heat the cream until it just starts to steam a little. Switch off the hob and let the saucepan sit there. The heat will draw the vanilla flavour into the cream. 2 Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar for a minute, until they turn thick and a little paler. 3 Pour the saucepan of hot cream into the sugary egg mixture and whisk again until smooth. Pour it all back into the saucepan. 4 With the heat set very low, stir the creamy mixture constantly with a wooden spoon so it doesn't stick to the base of the pan but heats slowly and evenly. To see if the custard has heated enough, check from time to time with this classic test: take the spoon out of the custard and look at the back of it. The film of custard on the spoon should look noticeably creamier. Draw your finger across the back of the spoon and, if the line stays clear and distinct, your custard has thickened enough. 5 Turn off the heat and carry the saucepan over to the work surface. Carry on stirring for a few more seconds so the cooking process is halted and the custard starts to cool down. Strain the custard through a sieve into a jug. 6 As soon as the custard has cooled to room temperature, put the jug in the fridge for half an hour, then stir in the double cream. Either pour the mixture into an ice cream machine and churn it until it freezes or pour it into a plastic food container. 7 Freeze it for about an hour or until the sides start to get solid. When this happens, mash up the mixture with a fork, mixing the frozen sides into the liquid centre. Put it back in the freezer straight away for another hour. Repeat this twice more at hourly intervals and then let the ice cream set. Servings: 6 Have a great day.

The Camelot Test, Inca Rebellion, Tourettes

In her blog yesterday, Satima (see this page) told us about the Camelot Test - I too am a sucker for quizzes like this, so I had a go and ended up being Merlin: You love magic. You value knowledge and power, yet appreciate the value in the humblest creatures. If you would like to try the test go to HelloQuizzy and try it. Its just a bit of fun obviously. Satima ended up being The Lady of the Lake and had a very glamorous picture. I wonder how you get to be Guinevere? I watched Nova again last night, the whole programme was about the Inca in Peru and the Spanish Conquistadores. Basiclly Pisaro's historians told a lot of porkies. It now appears that the Spaniards were helped by other Indian groups to defeat the Incas. The others were sick and tired of being ruled by the conquering Incas and were willing to throw in their lot with the Spaniards who were only handful anyway. They found remains from what they call an Inca Rebellion and one skull had a bullet hole in it. They figure that was the first time anyone was killed with a gun in the Americas. If you would like to read more click here. The Incas were an incredible civilisation with their amazing buildings, such as Machu Picchu, their many works of gold, which had to be smelted and yet their weapons were made of stone. When the Spaniards arrived with horses and guns they had a great advantage, but the Spaniards could not have won without the help of the other Indians, no matter what their scribes later wrote. Many of the Spaniards were illiterate anyway, Pisaro apparently was. He had a concubine (once she was baptised) who's mother was a chief in her own right and when Lima was attacked she sent to her mother for help, mom sent a lot of soldiers who drove off the Inca. In fact I think all of this is only theory, but they have found historical documents pertaining to this in Spanish archives plus what they have surmised from grave sites outside Lima. We later watched a very informative programme about Tourette's Syndrome - I knew something about it, but in common with a lot of people I had heard that the sufferers usually swore badly. The programme disabused me. It was all about four young girls with Tourette's, a couple of whom abused themselves badly when they had a 'tic' as they are called, they couldn't stop it. Some of them screamed and some barked like a dog. Only one of them swore. The four girls had been followed for a year and made video of themselves and interviewed their own family. Two of them were in the top grades at school with straight A's. It was pretty horrifying and I felt so much sympathy for the girls and their families. What is so horrible, the doctors don't seem to have much clue about what causes it and what can be done to help. These were delightful young girls who had to cope with dreadful symptoms every day of their lives. Here's another version of Vichysoisse from the Toronto Globe and Mail. It sounds very good and I am planning to try it very shortly.

Pear and Watercress Vichysoisse
	Reserve a few watercress leaves to garnish the soup. To cut calories, you can use yogurt instead of whipping cream, although the soup will not taste as rich. 3 leeks, white and light green part only, sliced 1/4 cup chopped potatoes 1 ripe pear, peeled and chopped 4 cups chicken stock 1 bunch watercress, leaves and very thin stems only 1/4 cup whipping cream Salt and freshly ground pepper 1 Place leeks, potatoes, pear and chicken stock in a pot. Bring to boil over medium-high heat, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 10 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Add watercress and simmer for 5 minutes longer. 2 Place in food processor or blender and puree until smooth. 3 Return to pot and add cream. Simmer for a few minutes then season well with salt and pepper. Serve hot or chilled, but chilled is better for the summer Servings: 4 Recipe Source Source: Globe and Mail

Have a great day.

Juggernaut to Camelot and Port Dalhousie

We watched the English movie Juggernaut on TV last night. It was only given a couple of stars, but we enjoyed it. Richard Harris played the lead and Anthony Hopkins played a cop with Omar Sharif as the ship's captain. There were all kinds of faces that we knew but couldn't put a name to. One being David Hemmings who was Richard Harris' sidekick; I finally realised he was so familiar because he played Mordred in Camelot. King Arthur's son in case you don't remember. Now that was one of my favourite movies, again with Richard Harris of course and Vanessa Redgrave as Guinevere. Of course Richard Harris was also the first Professor Dumbledore in the Harry Potter movies. So sad when he died.

If you are wondering why I am so late posting today, I had a busy morning trying to sort out why I cannot open one particular web site. I was working with my ISP, but I still cannot open the page, he could, my friends can, I can't. Its a pity because its about a restaurant we are going to at the end of the month. A friend sent me some of the menu choices, but I would love to see the site for myself. The restaurant is called Treadwell's and their specialty is buying local food and serving what's in season. In the hopes you can open it this is the website Treadwell's so you can read all about it even if I can't. The occasion is to be a farewell dinner for a Romanian mother who returns home on the following Monday. Whilst talking to the ISP he was reading the menus and telling me how delicious everything sounded. If that wasn't frustrating, I don't know what is.

As the restaurant is in Port Dalhousie which is a couple of hours drive for us, we decided to stay the night and spend the next day visiting the area. It is between two of the Great Lakes, Ontario and Erie and owes its existence to the building of the first Welland Canal. We have never been there before so it will be interesting to look around. Also, its not far from the Niagara wine region which I have mentioned before, so if the worst comes to the worst, we can always force ourselves to go to a winery. The picture on the left is the Bed and Breakfast where we will be staying.

Today, we picked up two recipes from the local paper which we are planning to try. The first one is a Curried Shrimp Salad.

Curried Shrimp Salad

1 lb shrimp (deveined and peeled) 2 Tbs butter 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped sea salt and fresh black pepper to taste 1 Tbs mild curry paste 1 Tbs lime juice 2 celery stalks finely chopped 1 1/2 cup grapes, cut in half 1 Tbs raisins 1 green onion finely chopped 2 Tbs walnut pieces 1/4 cup plain yogurt 4 Tbs fresh cilantro, finely chopped 1 In a large frying pan, melt the butter. Once hot, add the shrimp, after two mins, add the chopped garlic, salt and pepper. Stir. After another two mins add the curry paste and lime juice and mix. Fry for about five mins. In a large bowl, add the celery, grapes, raisins, green onion and walnut pieces. 2 Add the shrimp and most of the pan juices to the bowl with the celery and grapes. (Be careful not to scrape the pan). Stir in the yoghurt and mix all ingredients together. 3 Sprinkle with cilantro and mix again. 4 Serve with a spinach salad. Servings: 4 Recipe Source Author: Liz Monteiro & Luisa d'Amato Source: 30 Minute Miracle

Have a great day.