Holiday Weekends and Barbecues

This weekend is a holiday for Americans, last week it was a holiday for Canadians. For us it was Victoria Day which is often referred to as May 24th weekend which puzzles me as it is the 24th today so why wasn't it celebrated this weekend I wonder? For the Americans it is Memorial Day and a time when many of them remember those passed away in their families as well as members of the armed services killed in wars. Many people also spend their weekend at the barbecue and there have been all kinds of programmes noting that fact in the last week or so. Unfortunately, living in an apartment, we are not allowed to have a barbecue so make do with an indoor/outdoor grill which works very well. In fact friends of ours, who also live in an apartment, have an electric grill on their balcony which they like very much. We have thought of getting one, but haven't done so yet. One problem I perceive is having a power cord running through the balcony doors allowing any bugs to wander inside at will. I do NOT like bugs etc. particularly indoors. Good Morning America had Chef Mario Batali grilling up a storm yesterday, if you would like to see his recipes click here.

We had a phone call yesterday from our friends who are vacationing in North Carolina right now, apparently the weather has been great. In fact, looking at the weather map, the weather has been warm over most of the States but of course a lot of that has spawned tornadoes of which there have been many this last few weeks. The main reason they called was to tell us that the friend we went on a cruise with, is in hospital which is not very nice news. I am beginning to think NC isn't so healthy after all, our friends have been getting pretty sick over the past few years and we don't have too many left there any more.

I see Myanmar has finally agreed to allow some helpers in their country, I wonder how many have died because they didn't agree earlier. China is now talking of deaths up to 80,000 from their earthquake. They too have now asked for extra help but at least they sent in thousands of soldiers when the disaster happened and have allocated billions to rebuild the areas which were hit.

Yesterday I made the asparagus soup I posted and it was delicious. I can highly recommend it, very simple to make and worth the small amount of effort. I will be making more, in fact I may freeze some although the recipe calls for the tips to be kept whole, this won't work too well frozen as they will become a mush.

Tonight we are going to have an M & M Meats' Chateaubriand, they have them on special at the moment so we bought some extra yesterday. I have mentioned them before and they are really very good and good for the money. It will be cooked on our indoor/outdoor grill. I am not sure what we will serve with it, I have about one serving of asparagus left - guess where I will be going tomorrow? Yes, they are open on Sunday. We don't bother with dessert when we are on our own although we frequently have a Ferrero Rocher chocolate each after dinner. Being a Saturday, we will open a nice bottle of wine too, not sure which one. I would like to open one of our Malivoire Pinot Noir, but Matt is saving them for a special occasion???

If you are having a barbecue, this is a good salad to have with it. I have made it several times and we enjoy it very much. If you are not sure how to properly segment or supreme an orange the way the professionals do it, here is a blog entry with pictures click here which will help you. I tend not to cut the peel so square which wastes a lot of the flesh. I have posted this recipe before, but it bears repeating and can be prepared well in advance of the meal.

Fennel, Orange, and Parsley Salad
Everyday Food

Servings: 4

Ingredients:
5 x medium oranges
2 x medium fennel bulbs (8 ounces each), quartered, cored, and thinly sliced crosswise
2/3 cup fresh parsley leaves
2 tbsp slivered pitted black olives
1 tbsp olive oil
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

1. Using a paring knife, remove the peel and pith of the oranges. Separate oranges into segments over a large bowl (to catch the juices), then add segments to bowl. Smoosh rest of orange to remove juice.

2. Add fennel, parsley, olives, oil; season with salt and pepper. Gently toss, and serve.

Have a great weekend.

Snow, Diabetes Expo, Ninth Gate

Snow again, in April, in England would you believe? I understand there was quite a blanket of the stuff all over the country first thing this morning. Very unusual at this time of year. I bet our granddaughter is thrilled judging by her reaction to the few flakes which fell whilst we were there.

A friend posted pictures of where she lives and they look quite pretty although she tells me now that it has mostly gone since the sun came out. After all the snow we have had this winter, Matt kidded her it was just a heavy frost *g*. On the right is one of the pictures she took.

Well we spent the day at the Diabetes Expo yesterday, some of it was interesting some of it not so. Unfortunately knowledge of a subject does not, necessarily, ensure your ability to pass it on to others in an interesting manner. However, research is producing new medications some of which are not yet available in Canada but are in the U.S. which means they will be here soon. There were some interesting cook books but as Matt keeps saying, we have cookbooks up the kazoo, not to mention programmes on the computer and access to hundreds more, probably thousands more, recipes on the internet. They always have an exhibition of various things to do with diabetes, such as glucose monitors, insulin pens and so on and you can talk to a panel of experts on anything such as diet, medications etc. They always have experts in several fields of whom you can ask questions. Much to my surprise, there was a booth from the funeral home where I used to work so I had a chat to the girl there, she is new since my time: got myself a new pen from them. I also had a good look and demonstration of insulin pens as they are called. I had retained pictures of the old way of using a syringe and such, but no longer true. I am assured by all who know that the pen is less painful to use than the lancet I use every day to check my blood sugar. At the moment I will take it on trust although I am told that one day I may have to progress to insulin. Not too soon I trust. As one doctor quipped, we can now keep the diabetes under sufficient control that something else can kill you before the diabetes does.

I watched a good movie last night, The Ninth Gate with Johnny Depp, I really enjoyed it. The plot involved Johnny Depp, who was an antique book authority, authenticating a book which was based on another book which was supposed to have been written by the Devil. Full of mystery, sex and murder. Matt didn't watch it, not his kind of thing at all. Often advertising on TV ruins a film for me, but this time it didn't. It kept me interested from beginning to end. The end is a bit of a mystery in itself mind you.

Last night, for supper, we had a small Chateaubriand which M & M Meats are selling for roughly $11. A very good buy. A friend, locally, served them to us one time and so we finally got round to buying some for the freezer. Enjoyed it very much and it is good value for money. We have an indoor/outdoor grill and Matt cooked it on that. Took about 10 minutes. It was delicious. We had a Dancing Bull Zinfandel with it and thoroughly enjoyed our simple meal.

I always like different things to do with vegetables and this one I got from UCook.com a couple of days ago and thought would be different. I have been cooking a similar recipe for years, but the sun-dried tomato rather than fresh plus the anchovies give this recipe a different twist.

Beans with Sun-dried Tomato

1 1/2 lbs green beens, the smallest you can find
3-4 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic clives, minced
2 anchovy fillets, chopped
1 Tbs minced sun-dried tomatoes
salt to taste
Freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Snap off both ends of the beans and wash them under cold running water. Bring a medium sized saucepan half full of salted water to a boil over medium heat. Add the beans and cook, uncovered, until tender but still a bit crunchy, 2 to 4 mins. depending on size. Drain and immediately plunge the beans in a large bowl of ice water to stop the cooking and to set their green colour. Drain and set aside.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic, anchovies and sun dried tomatoes. Stir for about 1 minute, making sure not to let the garlic turn too dark. Add the beans, season and stir just long enough to heat the beans through. 1 - 2 mins. Taste, adjust the seasoning and serve.

Served 4 to 6

Have a great day.