Lady Liberty,

A friend sent a link to this photo on the BBC News website. It is quite a picture to see it really enlarged go to http://tinyurl.com/37g53at The photographer, Jay Fine, said he spent 2 hours and took some 80 pix before he managed to get this shot. He also said he has been waiting 40 years to get such a picture. Really is quite something. I wonder how often Lady Liberty gets hit by lightening. Don’t know I would want to be travelling around in her crown when it happens. I have never been there; I have only once been near New York when we drove through it on our way down south – bit of a miscalculation on our part. Its funny, I lived in London for four years and I think that put me off cities for the rest of my life. I have an acquaintance who thinks Toronto is where its all happening, not for me I’m afraid. In my book cities are cities are cities. About the only thing I would want to go for are the theatres and I find I am quite contented with the local ones.

I almost forgot to mention that all the miners have now been successfully rescued. What a wonderful operation that was and how incredible the success. I wish long life and happiness to those rescued.

Of course I am having my CT scan right about now so obviously I posted this before I left. Much to my surprise the medicine I have to take is tasteless and is a way of preventing kidney damage from the dyes when I have the CT scan. I believe that is particularly because I am diabetic.

I found this simple but tasty sounding recipe in a diabetes email I receive regularly.

Baked Shrimp

Makes 2 servings

Source: Delicious lemon and Parmesan shrimp.

Ingredients

1/2 lb raw medium shrimp, deveined 1 tbsp Butter, unsalted 1 medium garlic cloves , minced 1 tsp fresh lemon juice 1 tbsp chopped parsley 1 tsp grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

1 Rinse shrimp under cool water, remove shells. 2 Preheat oven to 350°F. 3 In casserole dish, combine butter, garlic, lemon juice, and parsley . Place dish in oven until butter melts. 4 Add shrimp and bake, covered, 10-12 minutes. 5 Remove from oven, sprinkle Parmesan on top.

Have a great day

Feet, Chinese Pianist, Chilean Miners

If this isn’t odd, what is? A seventh foot has washed up on a Washington coast, six have washed up in BC and yet they are saying the police don’t suspect foul play – how can they not? People don’t cut off their own feet.

A 23 yr old Chinese named Liu Wei was on the news last night. He turned up on China’s Got Talent. He has no arms and plays the piano like a virtuoso, with his feet! To see a video of his performance go to http://tinyurl.com/36dh7pf where there is also an article. We actually knew a guy years ago who had no arms and could do incredible things with his feet. He used to say that the only thing he couldn’t do was splice wire rope. He could, however, splice regular rope with his toes. The one thing we found he wasn’t good at was shuffling cards although he could hold the cards fine and play card games for hours. It always seemed to me he would have to have pretty incredible body strength to hold his legs up in the air for the lengths of time required to do things. One thing I was puzzled about was why Liu Wei wore a sock on one foot and not the other?

There was video on TV last night from the miners who are stuck underground in a mine in Chile. They generally seem to be in pretty good spirits particularly since it is going to be 3-4 months before they can expect to be freed. The Chileans are going to drill a fairly small hole into the mine for them to crawl through. That, in itself, will be an ordeal. At least they can get supplies, electricity, food and air now although I discovered they lasted 18 days on absolutely minimum amounts of food before they were found. I guess claustrophobia doesn’t come in to it, you wouldn’t be a miner if you couldn’t take enclosed spaces.

Matt is making a new recipe for dinner tonight. We buy really nice pork tenderloins from Costco so I hunted for a different recipe to use. Matt also bought some kale the other day, I have never cooked kale but I think I am going to make a Kale and chickpea soup. I remember eating such a soup years ago.

Tangy Grilled Pork Tenderloin

Allrecipes.com

servings 6

Ingredients

2 pounds pork tenderloin

2/3 cup honey

1/2 cup Dijon mustard

1/4 teaspoon chili powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Place meat in a large resealable plastic bag. In a medium bowl, mix together honey, Dijon mustard, chili powder, and salt. Pour marinade over tenderloins, seal, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
2. Prepare the grill for indirect heat.
3. Lightly oil grill grate. Remove meat from marinade, and discard liquid. Grill for 15 to 25 minutes, or to desired doneness.

Have a great weekend.

Chile, Chinese, Aussie Conventions.

Have you heard about the poor miners trapped in a mine in Chile. They say it could be 4 months or more before they can drill a tunnel to where they are although they are able to send them life support items and electricity etc. What an ordeal though, the authorities have contacted NASA for help on what to do to keep up the morale – they are planning to send down cards and games etc. there is a report here http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN24265291.

Yesterday we went for lunch at the Mandarin which is part of a chain of Chinese restaurants and is a pretty good place to eat and not unduly expensive. What I don’t understand – there is another chain called King’s Buffet who do the same kind of Chinese food and they have just built a new one really close to the Mandarin. That seems nutty to me, but I know nothing about marketing. There is already a King’s Buffet in town although I am not sure where, I have never been. I went to one in Stratford once and although it was good, I much prefer the Mandarin.

In the afternoon we played cribbage with the friend we compete most regularly. First time in ages as she had been swanning around in the Yukon and Alaska for the last few weeks. She had a marvellous time I understand, so I am very jealous. I’m also very jealous of all the people who will be attending Worldcon and Aussiecon in Australia very shortly. There are going to be all kinds of fantastic authors and interesting panels. I know three of my blogging and author friends with be there, Karen Miller, Glenda Larke and Satima Flavel. Anyone want to buy me a ticket? *g*. Actually our friend’s sinlaw has just come back from a business trip to Oz and is somewhat unwell, sounds a bit like bronchitis from the description. You got a nasty bug going out there you guys? Mind you I wouldn’t want to fly to Australia spend about a week flying around there and then travel back to Canada. That is pretty hard going, enough to make you sick on its own. He and his partners are young, but…..

Matt and I both enjoy frittatas and I thought the picture of this one looked particularly colourful and enticing. Might be making it for a Sunday lunch this weekend.

Red Pepper and Goat Cheese Frittata

Source: © EatingWell Magazine

 6 servings 

A frittata is a baked omelet, far easier because it lacks that pesky step of flipping it. Frittatas appeared on the Saturnia, a fashionable Italian cruise ship in the post-WWII years. The dish was an elegant lunch on transatlantic crossings and became a U.S. craze when The New York Times ran the first English-language recipe in 1952.

Make Ahead Tip: Let cool, cover and refrigerate for up to 1 day; serve cold.

INGREDIENTS

8 eggs

2 Tbs finely chopped fresh oregano

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 cup sliced red bell pepper

1 bunch scallions, trimmed and sliced

1/2 cup crumbled goat cheese

DIRECTIONS

Position rack in upper third of oven; preheat broiler.

Whisk eggs, oregano, salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Heat oil in a large, ovenproof, nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add bell pepper and scallions and cook, stirring constantly, until the scallions are just wilted, 30 seconds to 1 minute.

Pour the egg mixture over the vegetables and cook, lifting the edges of the frittata to allow the uncooked egg to flow underneath, until the bottom is light golden, 2 to 3 minutes. Dot the top of the frittata with cheese, transfer the pan to the oven and broil until puffy and lightly golden on top, 2 to 3 minutes. Let rest for about 3 minutes before serving. Serve hot or cold.

Have a great day