Paleontology and Cyberspace, Christmas

I watched some TV last night. The book I am reading has a good story line but it isn't very slick writing and isn't holding me too well. What I watched was the TV programme The Nature of Things which I have mentioned before. The first segment was about The Lost People of Baja California, Mexico who once were numerous and have disappeared completely. They are doing all kinds of interesting research on their bones and DNA including samples from some people living today. Following the microcondial DNA of various people. (Through the female line). This was part of the Adventurers Series I referred you to recently click here to see more about the Pericû of the Baja Peninsula. The second segment was all about hackers. We all know about hackers, we take our precautions and hope we will be OK. But after watching the programme Web Warriors, who cares about our little systems. It appears that we (as in our countries) are in considerable danger from Russian crime syndicates and now, more and more, from the Chinese military. If you click here you can see what I am talking about. They also talked about a 15 yr old from Montreal who shut down Yahoo and several other major networks and says he (now an adult) could do it again today because no-one has done anything about it, plus the suspicion, not confirmed, that a major blackout which took place in the States a few years ago was caused by a worm, this becomes very worrying technology. The Russian mafia hires hackers so does the Chinese government. There is another worm sitting out there controlling thousands, if not millions of computers, unknown to the owners, which, as yet, no-one knows what else it is meant to do. But the author of this particular worm has so much power at his fingertips that he could do more or less anything in the cyberworld. This programme was followed by the news which talked about the stock markets plunging yet more today and I couldn't help wondering if any of this current disaster could be contributed to by these virii and worms. One thing I was told - if you use a router (which I do) you are less vulnerable to attack. I don't know how true this is. On a lighter note, I think we may go bowling this afternoon. Just for the fun of it. Its a combination of fun, practice and exercise. I can't wait til I get my new bowling balls. I have no idea when that will be of course. I am so glad I don't live in the Buffalo area at the moment. They are expecting loads of snow in the next two days, something in the region of 1 - 2 ft. It will make the owners of ski runs ecstatic, but it won't be much fun for driving. I forgot to mention I bought some President's Choice Mini Mince Fruit Tarts to try. We had a couple each the other night, they are quite small, I quite liked them, Matt wasn't keen, he said there wasn't enough mince. However, if you want mince pies and don't have time to make your own, I think they would be very good. Of course if you don't live in Canada and have access to President's Choice products, I am afraid you are out of luck. Think I'll go have a mince pie. Looking through my Best Ever Christmas book, I found a recipe for a Mushroom and Thyme Pâté which I though sounded good and might be good for our shindig next month too. Mushroom and Thyme Pâté 60 g butter 1 sml onion, chopped 1 garlic clove, crushed 1 Tbs thyme leaves 250 g chicken livers, chopped 2 rashers bacon, chopped 60 g small mushroom caps 1/4 cup port 3/4 cup thickened cream Melt butter in medium pan, add onion, garlic and theyme, stir fry for 2 minutes or until onion is tender. Add livers and bacon, stir-fry for 3 minutes or until browned. Add mushrooms and port, stir fry 10 minutes or until most of the liquid has evaporated. Place mixture into a blender or food processor bowl, add cream, process to a smooth texture. Spoon into a serving dish. Store, covered with plastic wrap, in fridge until needed. Pâté can be made up to 1 week ahead. It is not suitable for freezing. Have a great day.

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.

The Seventh Wonder of America, China, Myanmar

Today it was the Wonders of New York. I overslept a bit this morning so didn't really see the programme, but Matt was telling me about it. Apparently they are building 200 new buildings a day in New York which is quite something. I guess once one is finished another is started immediately. That is quite a lot of building work, you wouldn't think they would have room. They are also building a tunnel hundreds of feet below the city to carry water. It has been under construction for 40 years and should be finished next year. Dianne Sawyer went down to have a look at it, she also went to the top of the Empire State building which is still the definitive building of New York City. As usual you can read the story and see the pictures here; the diversity of the city is covered, with mention of Little Italy and Chinatown although most big cities in North America seem to have developed ethnic segments within the main metropolis. Ground Zero (9/11) is being developed with a permanent memorial to the people who died there as well as hotels and shops with an open concourse for visitors.

Tomorrow people have been asked to vote for their choice for the 8th wonder of America.

Actually I was thinking about various sci fi books I have read in which major cities were housed in huge buildings which reached up into space. After 9/11 I can't imagine that ever happening unless they can figure out a way of shielding the buildings.

The number of dead is steadily rising in China, what a disaster it is and they are still having trouble reaching some of the areas. There are 50,000 soldiers working there but they have been unable to get to some towns and villages yet. One report where they did get to a small town of 10,000 people , 7,000 have been found dead. Almost makes you wonder if survival is worth the price when all you love has been taken from you. As for Myanmar or Burma, there was a report that another hurricane or cyclone is forming which could hit the area. I have lived through a few hurricanes in NC where we ran to more solid buildings to "ride it out" but as I understand it the people in Burma generally live in very flimsy shacks which do not stand up to a hurricane. Our mobile homes are built to better standards than their dwellings. I know the one we had was built to stand a Category 4 storm. The picture is Hurricane Bertha making landfall in North Carolina. That was 11 years ago, seems a lot more recent than that.

We were lucky because although we lost power for a week, our home was still standing with very little damage other than trees falling on our fences. Quite unlike what Burma is going through at the moment. Also shelters were provided in the local schools and churches if you didn't live in a very safe building. At least with a hurricane/cyclone you have some warning it is heading your way, although I wonder if the citizens of Myanmar had any warning - it kind of seems like they didn't. The cyclone, named Nargis, apparently hit the Irawaddy River which is a densely populated part of Burma. The disaster was not as big as the quake in China, but it is being magnified by the behaviour of the ruling junta not allowing relief workers into the country apart from them seizing the food supplies.

On a happier note, here is another asparagus recipe which I am fairly sure came from Food TV but I don't seem to have a record. By piping tube they mean a piece of white plastic piping which many chefs use to build up their creations. You can buy it in any hardware store. I must confess I have never eaten white asparagus which is always very expensive. You could substitute green for this dish if you wanted.

Asparagus Hors d'Oeuvres

1 lb White asparagus 1 egg, hardboiled tomato concassé chervil olive oil lemon juice blanched chives 1 Peel ends of asparagus, tie and boil til tender. Cut off tops, chop up bottoms having removed woody bits. Mix bottoms with tomato concassé, chervil, sieved egg white, olive oil, lemon juice and season with salt and pepper. 2 Sprinkle spears with lemon juice and olive oil, season. In a piping tube stand up spears all round, fill with salad, tie up with blanched chive then gently remove piping. Sprinkle with sieved egg yolk. Decorate with chervil leaves. Servings: 4

Tomato concassé is very easy to make, peel tomatoes by dipping them in boiling water for a few seconds, the skins will slip off. Then de-seed them and rough chop the rest of the tomato flesh. Chop some shallots and gently sauté the tomatoes and shallots together in some butter. Set aside until ready to use.

Have a great day.

7 Wonders of America, China, Burma, Indian Ocean

Today it was the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. I have actually been there and driven across it. I had been told that the painters finished painting the bridge and then started again at the other end, they definitely said that wasn't so when they were being interviewed. They paint the bits that need it with Industrial Orange. There were some very interesting facts on its construction and the part of the bay where it was built. Apparently there is a 375 ft. trench where the water sweeps into the sea. Read here and see all the pictures shown on the GMA site, the facts are absolutely fascinating. During construction they had a safety net which saved the lives of 19 people who became members of the Halfway to Hell Club. Unfortunately 11 others died. The bridge was built during the depression so hundreds of workers wanted to work on it because, of course, jobs were so hard to come by at the time. The bridge is considered a marvel of engineering, particularly for the time in which it was built. Remember they didn't have computers to help them; it spans a mile of San Francisco Bay which is a beautiful spot to visit anyway. I crossed the bridge being driven by my cousin who lives in Marin county on one side of the bay. I was in San Francisco on a conference at the time.

The city is pretty fantastic anyway, with the cable cars and the waterfront shops and piers. If you can't find what you want to eat there, you are very difficult to please. I never got to drive down Lombard Street although I did see it from the bottom but I did visit Alcatraz which, I was horrified to discover when I got there, is an 8 storey climb from the dock up to the prison. I made it, there are seats strategically placed up the hill. Phew what a climb. I found it a very interesting place and as I had the cassette tape playing in my ear telling me all about the riots and escapes, it became even more fascinating. In the harbour of San Francisco there are sea lions all over the place which the residents consider to be a damned nuisance, but which are fun for tourists to see. I was there for a week and would go back in a New York minute if I could.

The news from China gets worse and worse. The latest figures on my home page say 12,000. Every time I check it increases. At least there are hundreds of Chinese soldiers in the area doing rescue work which is more than can be said for Myanmar (Burma) where the ruling junta are still misappropriating the supplies while their people die horrifying deaths from starvation and disease. That is today. I wonder how many people are still supporting the tsunami disaster relief efforts - I see it is now being called the Great Sumatra-Andaman earthquake, unbelievably it is almost 4 years ago since it happened. That is a pretty horrifying picture I just found. Those people are about to be inundated.

I hope those of you who celebrated Mother's Day on Sunday had a good one. I am only a step-mother so don't get counted. I felt sorry for a friend of ours who's mother just died and the visitation was on Sunday, makes it particularly poignant. At least she was 98 so had a good long life.

Well, back to asparagus, here is one I got from Food TV.

ASPARAGUS ALLA MILANESE Serves 4

28 stalks of asparagus, medium size 4 Tbs unsalted butter plus 4 tablespoons 4 large eggs 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan 1 Bring 4 quarts water to boil and set up ice bath. Trim asparagus of hard ends and drop into water. Cook 70 seconds. Remove with tongs and refresh in ice bath. Drain and set aside. 2 In a 10 inch to 12 inch saute pan, heat 4 tablespoons butter until very dark brown. Add asparagus and toss until warm. Remove asparagus and divide among 4 plates. Towel off saute pan and add remaining butter. Cook until foam subsides. Crack eggs in and cook sunnyside up, about 2 minutes. Place one egg over each plate, sprinkle with cheese and serve.

Have a great day.

Seven Wonders of America, Disasters, Race for the Cure

Today it was the Corridors of Discovery, in particular showing pictures of Saturn V at the space centre in Huntsville, Alabama. They included any kind of discovery, be it underwater or in space. Sam, who was anchoring this segment, was also talking to a bunch of youngsters who were at space camp for a week and it was interesting to hear what they said about exploration and the future. One of the kids was very enthusiastic about Jacques Cousteau who was probably one of the best known underwater explorers in the world; his work is being continued by his son. Once again if you want to see all the pictures GMA is here just follow 7 Wonders of America.

What a bunch of disasters we are having lately, first the Cyclone in Burma or Myanmar, then this morning another tornado in the "corridor" of the US which has killed 20 people and the biggest this morning, the earthquake in China which has killed thousands. 900 school children buried in their schools. I hope China will accept help, I was disgusted by all the problems with getting aid to Burma, the junta obviously doesn't give a damn how many more of their people die. The reports on China are now saying a possibility of 5,000 dead. I understand it occurred in the Beijing area of central China.

On a happier note, the Race for the Cure which took place in Philadelphia yesterday was very successful according to my friend. The forecasted rain did not happen although it was pretty chilly I understand. All the participants were dressed in their pink clothes with pink caps. My friend has a cap with a pony tail which was donated to her by a friend during her loss of hair period. Her friend had used her own hair for the pony tail. If you want to see more of the official pictures click here for the rest of them. They congregate at the Art Museum which is a building made memorable from the Rocky movies. Those are the steps Rocky ran up in most of the series.

Today we start our summer bowling which only lasts until mid July. Then we are cast loose on the winds of "no bowling" for the rest of the summer. At least this league starts at 1:00 p.m. a much better time than 12:30 we think. I don't have to eat my lunch almost at breakfast time.

Yammering on about asparagus as I was on Saturday, here is one of my favourite dishes. The one below I copied from the Internet. My only argument with this recipe - I would cook the asparagus separately and add at the last minute. Also, we use a little white wine to finish off the risotto - the cooking time is given as 20 minutes, I am not sure about that, Risotto always seems to take longer to me:

Asparagus Risotto

Source: SOSCuisine

Makes: 2 servings 410 calories per serving Ingredients 1 onion(s), finely chopped 200 g 10 asparagus, average size, cut into 1 cm pieces 200 g 1 1/2 cup chicken broth 375 ml 1 tbsp butter, unsalted 14 g 1 tbsp olive oil 15 ml 3/4 cup arborio rice 150 g 2 tbsp Parmesan cheese, grated 6 g salt to taste ground pepper to taste Method Finely chop the onion. Clean the asparagus then cut it into small pieces (about 1 cm). Heat the broth in a small saucepan on the stove or in a microwave oven. Keep it warm while cooking the risotto (about 20 min). Melt the butter in a large skillet or saucepan. Sauté the onion 2-3 min, until it becomes translucent. Add the rice and asparagus. Cook 1-2 min, with constant stirring, until the rice grains are well toasted and translucent. Cook the risotto, using the warmed broth until the rice is creamy but still al dente. Remove from the heat and let stand for 2 min. Season with salt (not much if the broth is salty) and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese then serve. Have a great day.