Lost Cane, Red Lobster, Zoey, Bowling, Christmas Cards,

There are times I worry about myself. This morning we were heading out to lunch with the bowling Travel League and I realised I hadn't got my collapsible cane, or any other cane for that matter. Taken my walker down to the car. Had a quick look in the back of the car but couldn't see it. Last I remembered using it was at the supermarket cafeteria yesterday (Wed). So went there and using Matt's cane, I went to their Customer Service, no cane (at least not mine), they said they might have it somewhere else. Went there and they didn't know what Customer Service was talking about, so no cane. I went across the hallway to the pharmacy and ended up buying myself a new collapsible cane. It wasn't cheap. Used it to get back to the car and as I got into the car I saw my older one on the back seat. Must be going blind or something. Anyway, we were running late so scooted off to the Red Lobster.

Not as many of  us as usual having lunch there but actually I found the smaller group better for general communication. Matt and I ordered Caesar Salads, NOT made with romaine lettuce because of the salmonella scare. Matt had shrimp on his and I had bay scallops on mine. I actually found the salad better with Iceberg lettuce and thoroughly enjoyed it although Matt wasn't as keen. No more Iceberg Caesar for him. His favourite is Yucatan Tilapia anyway. Whilst we were eating, the General Manager (Chris) came to talk to us and I told him that I hoped they would continue to offer this option. Had quite a chat and said that Red Lobster appeared in my blog frequently. Forgot to mention that one of our waitresses referred to Matt and I as regulars. He asked about my blog and what I wrote and I said anything that I felt like talking about. I then happened to mention the Knotted Gun and asked if anyone had heard of it, one of our party had done so. Chris said he would like to read about it so gave him my card, he gave me several of his. I just remembered there were a couple of their cheddar biscuits left and we put them in a bag to bring home for Matt who can, after all, eat anything he likes without gaining an ounce. (Told you I had considered divorcing him for cruelty). But they are still in the back of the car - along with my lost cane!

Zoey is coming for a visit tomorrow which will make Matt happy. Even if she only pays attention to him for cupboard love reasons. She is bringing ladydog with her and ladydog is bringing us a Subway lunch. Ladydog has been rehearsing like mad lately and also performing in various Christmas events. Lucky she has a bit of free time tomorrow.

Matt and I bowled on our own instead of being integrated with the rest of the bowlers. We are sufficiently slow that it keeps a whole team late, and in this case it would affect two teams. I had one very good game - when it doesn't  matter a damn of course - and one mediocre. However, I have asked that they be saved for any time we are not there. I also had a donut (only reason I go to the Travel League - free coffee and a donut) and got one for Matt which was supposed to be Rudolf. It was quite cute. It has a Timbit for a nose and some chocolate horns. Matt enjoyed it although I am not sure he realised what he was eating. Actually my donut was a little bit dry. I think, perhaps, that the Tim Horton's nearest the bowling alley doesn't get a very big turnover. Matt said his Rudolf tasted fresh enough.

It was nice to see everyone, haven't done so in a while as we haven't been with the Travel League since before I got sick last year. Of course everyone was wishing everyone Merry Christmas when they parted. Doesn't even seem like Christmas yet. I even got a Christmas Card. Haven't thought about those at all yet. Mind you, I mostly send out electronic cards these days. The postage, particularly overseas, amounts to a fortune and I just can't justify spending so much any more.

I just got an email with Quick and Easy Desserts for Thanksgiving. Presumably for 2020. However, I decided a dessert would be a good idea. This one is for a Pavlova and tells you how to make the meringue. These days I would just buy one from the store, much easier, except I haven't seen them there in a while. Certainly not since they started putting in Starbucks. You know, that expensive coffee bar.

Ambrosia Pavlova

Pineapple Curd
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp kosher salt
Grated zest of 1 lemon
1 large egg yolk
1/4 cup fresh pineapple juice
2 Tbs unsalted butter, melted

Meringue
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 Tbs distilled white vinegar
1 Tbs vanilla extract
1 tsp kosher salt
2 cups sugar
8 large egg whites, at room temperature
1 cup very finely ground pistachios, toasted and cooled

Topping
1/4 cup sugar
Grated zest of 2 oranges
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk
1 cup cold heavy cream
1 orange, peeled of its pith and cut into segments
1 grapefruit, peeled of its pith and cut into segments
1/2 cup candied cherries in syrup, such as Amarena Fabbri
Large dried coconut shavings, julienned lime zest and chopped pistachios, for serving

1. MAKE THE PINEAPPLE CURD In a small saucepan, whisk together the sugar, salt, lemon zest, and egg yolk until smooth. Add the pineapple juice and butter and stir until smooth. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring constantly. Once it begins to simmer, continue to cook and stir the curd until it is thickened and coats the back of a spoon, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and let cool to room temperature. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use.

2. MAKE THE MERINGUE Heat the oven to 350°. In a small bowl, stir together the cornstarch, vinegar, vanilla, and salt until a thick paste forms. Put the sugar and egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and mix on low speed until smooth. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat until soft peaks form. Add the cornstarch paste to the beating egg whites and continue to beat until very stiff and glossy peaks form, about 5 minutes. Add the pistachios and, using a rubber spatula, very gently fold until evenly incorporated.

3. Trace a 9-inch circle onto a sheet of parchment paper. Flip the sheet over and transfer it to a baking sheet; spray lightly with baking spray. Pile the meringue in the center of the circle and, using an offset spatula or small rubber spatula, form it into a 9-inch disk, smoothing the top and sides. Transfer to the oven and immediately lower the oven temperature to 215°. Bake until the meringue is dried on the outside and looks set, about 1 1/2 hours. Without opening the door, turn the oven off and let the meringue sit inside until completely cooled, at least 4 hours. (The cooling process allows the meringue to dry and cool slowly enough so that it doesn’t collapse on itself.) Once cooled, gently tip the meringue onto its side and peel away the parchment paper. Carefully place the meringue on a flat cake stand or serving platter.

4. WHEN READY TO SERVE, MAKE THE WHIPPED CREAM In a food processor, combine the sugar, orange zest, salt, and coconut milk in a food processor and process until the sugar is dissolved and the zest heavily perfumes the coconut milk. Pour into a large bowl, add the cream, and whisk until stiff peaks form. Pile the whipped cream onto the center of the meringue and gently nudge it to the edge of the meringue, leaving about a 1 1/2-inch border.

5. Arrange the orange and grapefruit segments on the cream and then drizzle with some of the pineapple curd. Dot the top with cherries, coconut, lime zest, and more chopped pistachios and serve immediately.

Servings: 8

Author: Ben Mims
Source: Food and Wine

Have a great day
 

Bowling, Staples and Construction, Christmas Cards.

Well, I didn't bowl as well as a Thursday, but I did bowl better than usual so my average went up a smidgin and I do mean a smidgin. I think, but won't know til Thursday, that we may have beaten the team we were playing against. At the moment we are 6 out of 9 which is a considerable improvement on last place. We have a few months to go to climb a bit higher. I don't anticipate getting to the top, our team is not good enough, even with handicaps, but we should be able to get somewhat higher. I get so annoyed with myself that I can bowl a turkey on a Thursday but never for league play, well these days anyway, although I did get a couple of chickens (our name for 3 spares in a row). One of our team, who is normally pretty good, did very badly in the first two games but finally picked up in the last one.

Tomorrow I get a delivery from Staples as I needed some more photographic paper to print the Hallowe'en photos from the Exercise class. Turns out I got two packs for the price of one. I was concerned as I thought they might deliver today, Monday, but they assured me it will be Tuesday. At least they will be able to get into the building OK. The tiling in the main lobby is almost done. Looking pretty good too. I guess they have now done all the odd numbered floors and have to go back and do the even numbers. There seem to be two guys working now, maybe someone else has been hired. I felt a bit sorry for the one guy working on his own, there is a lot to do.

It being November, I have suddenly thought I need to get on with Christmas cards. I am not sure I am going to send as many this year. It's not the cards, its the postage which gets you. So, if someone has email, they will probably be getting an ecard this year.

A friend in England brought this recipe to my attention. She made it and said it was delicious. I have now discovered I can buy lamb shanks from my local grocery store, frozen, so guess what? By the way, my friend used chicken stock, lamb stock not being readily available. I think I might choose beef stock.

Vietnamese lamb shanks with sweet potatoes
BBC Good Food

Meltingly tender and full of classic Asian flavours, these lamb shanks are perfect for freezing

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 tbsp groundnut oil
4 lamb shanks, about 350g each
2 onions, halved and cut into half moons
2 tbsp finely chopped fresh root ginger
3 garlic cloves, finely sliced
2 red chillies, both deseeded, one chopped and one thinly sliced
1 tbsp soft brown sugar, plus 1 tsp
3 star anise
2 lemongrass stalks, tough outer leaves removed, then bruised
1.2l lamb stock
1½ tbsp tomato purée
4 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into big chunks
2 tbs fish sauce
Juice of 2 limes
Big handful of mint leaves, torn
Handful of basil leaves

Method

1. Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a heavybottomed
casserole, season the shanks, then brown them 2 at a time
on all sides, adding the remaining oil for the second batch. Remove
the lamb and add the onions. Fry them quite briskly, about 30 secs,
add the ginger, garlic and chopped chilli, then turn the heat down and
cook for 1 min. Add 1 tbsp sugar, stir, then add the star anise,
lemongrass, stock, purée and seasoning. Bring to the boil.
2. Cover and cook in the oven for 1½ hrs, then add the sweet
potatoes and cook for 1 hr more. The lamb should be completely
tender and almost falling off the bones. Stir in the fish sauce, lime juice
and 1 tsp sugar to just lift the flavour, then scatter with the mint, basil

Have a great day

Vascular Surgery. Nursery Rhyme. Christmas.

I mentioned my vascular surgery yesterday, I was quite staggered, I emailed the surgeon’s office, I phoned and left a message and never heard a dicky bird, then, right out of the blue, I got an email with dates, times, pre op forms, you name it. My only complaint, couldn’t fill the forms out on the PC had to do it by hand and my handwriting is for the birds. So, with any luck, I should be able to walk again in December although I was reading what I wrote last year, June 16 I discovered, and it sounds as though I had a sore leg after. You’ll be getting as fed up with our medical histories the same as everyone was getting fed up with the election advertising. I also now know when I will be going in for the pre-op. I have been trying to work out the parking. The hospital parking lot is apparently $8 however long you spend. Seems a bit expensive. It is possible for Matt to drop me off and pick me up in a special spot by another door, but it’s a 15 minutes only parking place. I guess its going to cost $8 for the pre-op. Called the hospital, they said for short term used the parking meters next to the hospital.

I heard an ad, have heard it before, on the radio where a little girl is reciting a nursery rhyme. What she says is “itsy bitsy spider”, its not itsy bitsy its incy wincy. Grrr. It really irritates me, silly I know, but….. Most nursery rhymes started as lampoons of political happenings at the time they were written. There doesn’t seem to be any actually recorded history and on the North American continent the spider seems to have been give a bunch of different names. Ah well, it will, no doubt, continue to irritate the hell out of me.

It appears that all that dust from the new bathroom floor did cause me computer problems after all, I have had my computer guy here twice over the last 24 hours working on dust problems. What a pain. It seems to be fixed now. I have also spent a large portion of today making Christmas cards and printing address labels for them. Christmas is a cumin.

I thought this looked quite delicious although it does contain a few things I personally would change, not being a vegan, nor do I personally have a problem with gluten, but I think it would be a good recipe. I have friends who are not gluten tolerant or who are vegans, in both cases this is ideal.

Vegan Pasta Pie and Basic Vegan White Sauce

By The Gluten Free Goddess
WebMD Recipe from Foodily.com

Ingredients

• 2 cups cooked gluten-free spaghetti noodles
• 2 cups vegetables for roasting: leek, mushrooms, grape tomatoes
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/2 cup gluten-free cornbread crumbs
• 6 spears fresh asparagus, trimmed
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups non-dairy milk (I used plain hemp milk)
• 1 tablespoon rice or sorghum flour
• 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• 3 tablespoons white wine
• 1/2 teaspoon prepared mustard
• 2 portions egg replacer
• pinch nutmeg
• minced onion and garlic, to taste
• dried Italian herbs: basil, thyme, oregano, parsley, to taste
• sea salt and ground pepper, to taste
• fresh chopped rosemary, to taste
• vegan white sauce, recipe follows

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly oil a deep 9-inch pie plate and set aside.
2. Slice up a leek, and mushrooms and toss them into a roasting pan. Add enough grape tomatoes to bring the amount to two heaping cups or so. Drizzle with a little olive oil. Season with sea salt and ground pepper, herbs; toss to coat. Roast in the preheated oven till tender- about 30 minutes.
3. Make the white sauce: In a sauce pan add the olive oil, non-dairy milk and flour; whisk and cook over medium heat. The flour will thicken the milk. Add in the nutritional yeast and whisk. Add the wine, mustard, nutmeg, minced onion and garlic, and stir till thickened. This is your basic vegan white sauce. Now we're going to make it a little eggy for the pie. Mix egg replacer for two eggs using warm non-dairy milk. Stir it into the white sauce.
4. When the veggies are roasted, layer the cooked pasta in the prepared pie plate. Pour in the vegan white sauce mixture and shimmy the noodles a bit to allow the sauce to seep in. Top with the roasted veggies.
5. Toss the cornbread crumbs in a drizzle of olive oil and sprinkle over the pie. Press down a bit to compact the layers. Sprinkle with chopped fresh rosemary. Arrange the uncooked asparagus spears on the top.
6. Bake in the center of the oven for 25 minutes or so, till piping hot.
7. Allow the pie to rest for 5 minutes before slicing and serving. Use a sharp knife to slice and a pie shaped spatula/server.

Have a great day

Cards, Kindle, Palace Rentals

I spent most of Thursday doing Christmas cards. It’s a long process, but apart from folding the cards, it can be fun. I print cards I have designed, then I print Christmas address labels and return address labels. In some ways its lazy because I don’t sign the cards by hand, on the other hand, its better than ecards which I also send. Matt got stuck with the job of folding, whilst I did everything else, I then have to work out what stamps I need for which countries.

Much to my amazement, my new Kindle arrived at lunchtime yesterday.I wasn’t expecting it until today at the earliest. That’s pretty speedy. I was thinking about staying home from bowling today in order not to miss its arrival, now I don’t have to. It took me a while to load everything back, doesn’t it always? All the books from Amazon had to be re-sent, but all the ones I had bought from Fictionwise and then emailed through Amazon I saved on my PC and then moved back without any problems. These days mine is called the Kindle Keyboard, there are cheaper Kindles without any keys on them. I understand they are lighter in weight too although I certainly don't find my device heavy. This new one does work with earphones which was the hole point of the exchange and I decided to download some music to it this time as well. I can listen to music whilst I read.

Incredible, the Queen has given permission for apartments at St. James’ Palace to be rented out as party venues during the summer Olympics of 2012. They are talking about fees of $48,000 a day and the apartments will be let to companies with affiliations to the royal family. When I first saw the headline,  I thought they were referring to Buckingham Palace, wouldn’t that be something?

I nearly forgot to mention that we had one of my Tourtières for supper last night, a quarter each so there is another meal this evening, and I thought it was delicious, naturally, I made it, LOL

Hershey’s recipe today sounds absolutely scrumptious and might make a different dessert either for Thanksgiving or for Christmas.

Peanut Butter Cup Lover's Cheesecake

Ingredients

PEANUT BUTTER CRUMB CRUST (recipe follows)
1-3/4 cups (about 11 to 12 standard) REESE'S Peanut Butter Cups
3 packages (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened
1-1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1/3 cup dairy sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup HERSHEY'S SPECIAL DARK Chocolate Chips or HERSHEY'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips, melted
1/2 cup REESE'S Creamy Peanut Butter
Sweetened whipped cream (optional)
Additional REESE'S Peanut Butter Cups (optional)

Directions

1. 1 Heat oven to 400°F. Prepare PEANUT BUTTER CRUMB CRUST. Remove wrappers from peanut butter cups. Cut each cup into about 16 pieces.
2. 2 Beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth and creamy in large bowl. Add eggs, beating well. Add sour cream and vanilla; blend thoroughly.
   Place 2 cups batter in separate bowl; blend in melted chocolate. Pour chocolate batter into prepared pan. Add peanut butter to remaining batter; blend thoroughly. Gently stir in peanut butter cup pieces; spread over chocolate batter.
3. 3 Bake 10 minutes. Without opening oven door, reduce temperature to 350°F. Bake additional 50 to 55 minutes or until center is almost set.
4. 4 Remove from oven to wire rack. With knife, loosen cake from side of pan. Cool completely. Refrigerate 6 to 8 hours or until thoroughly chilled. Just before serving, garnish with sweetened whipped cream and additional peanut butter cup pieces, if desired. Cover; refrigerate leftover cheesecake. 10 to 12 servings.
   PEANUT BUTTER CRUMB CRUST: Stir together 1-1/2 cups vanilla wafer crumbs (about 45 wafers, crushed) and 1/2 cup powdered sugar in medium bowl. Place 1/4 cup REESE'S Creamy Peanut Butter and 3 tablespoons butter or margarine in small microwave-safe bowl. Microwave at MEDIUM (50%) 30 seconds or until butter is melted and mixture is well blended when stirred. Add to crumb mixture, blending thoroughly. Press onto bottom and 1 inch up sides of 9-inch springform pan.

Have a great day

Thanksgiving, Cards and Finance

To all my US readers, a very Happy Thanksgiving today, I hope you eat well, but not too well, and remember all that you have to be thankful for.

Finally finished doing all my Christmas cards yesterday, Matt picked up the stamps for me, mostly not Christmas ones unfortunately, and I stuck ‘em on and stuck down the flaps. Had to buy some new envelopes as I ran out this year. I got the kind where you tear off a strip and its all ready to stick down. Much easier. Only wish I had had them for all my cards. Whilst I was being such a busy little bee I wrote all our rent cheques for next year. What a pain. Our landlord’s agent (a realtor) will not get with it and do it electronically. All the books for the apartment block (and presumably other buildings too) are done by hand in books, when I complained I was told they couldn’t do it because they had more than one building to look after. What a load of BS. They need me working for them. It really is ridiculous so every year we have to laboriously write them all by hand. We do post dated cheques which is something we can do in Canada but could not do in the States for some reason, we didn’t pay rent, of course, but for something one wanted to pay for in the future, it couldn’t be done, at least not in our part of NC.

Mind you I complain, but if anything ever happened to me, Matt would revert to doing books by hand. He knows nothing, nil, nada, about the computer. Most of it is sheer stubbornness I think. Same with languages, he doesn’t think some of the rules, in French for instance, are sensible so that’s the end of that. Pity we didn’t go live in an EEC country then he would have had to learn the language. With computers Matt keeps saying to me, not everybody has a computer, well I think they should have. Especially people who are shut-ins, it’s a great way to keep in touch with friends and family if you can’t go visit.

Today we are off to our monthly Travel League bowling going to Elmira and eating at the Crossroads restaurant. They make some of the best BLT sandwiches anywhere.

I know most of you are concentrating on Thanksgiving at the moment, but one of our favourite meals, which I haven’t made in a coons age, is Sauerbraten. I just bought a piece of beef to make this – probably next week and thought I would share the recipe with you. Its actually a lot easier than it looks. Tuesday I made the chicken and rice recipe which I posted Friday the 19th of November, it tasted pretty good and there were leftovers for last night.

Sauerbraten

Source: Time Life Foods of the World

6 Tbs dry red wine 
6 Tbs red-wine vinegar 
4 pint cold water 
1 medium-sized onion, peeled and  thinly sliced
5 black peppercorns and 4 whole juniper berries coarsely crushed using a mortar and pestle
2 small bay leaves
1 scant tsp salt
4 lb boneless joint of beef, preferably topside, silverside or rump, trimmed of fat
1 1/2 oz lard
2  ounces finely chopped onion
2 ounces finely chopped carrot
1 oz finely-chopped celery
2 Tbs flour
6 Tbs Water
24 oz gingersnap crumbs or 3 oz crumbled honey cake

1. Put the wine, vinegar, water, sliced onion, crushed peppercorns and juniper berries, bay leaves and salt into a medium-sized saucepan. Bring this marinade to the boil over a high heat, then remove it from the heat and let it cool to room temperature. Place the beef in a deep crock or a deep stainless- steel or enamelled pan just large enough to hold it comfortably and pour the marinade over it. The marinade should come at least half-way up the sides of the meat; if necessary, add more wine. Turn the meat in the marinade to moisten it on all sides. Then cover the pan tightly with foil or a sheet of plastic and set aside in a cold place for 2 to 3 days, turning the meat over at least twice a day.

2. Remove the meat from the marinade and pat it completely dry with kitchen paper. Strain the marinade through a fine sieve set over a bowl and reserve the liquid. Discard the spices and onions.

3. Melt the lard over a high heat in a large, heavy flameproof casserole until it begins to splutter. Add the meat and brown it on all sides, turning it frequently and regulating the heat so that it browns deeply and evenly without burning. This should take about 15 minutes. Transfer the meat to a dish, and pour off and discard all but about 2 tablespoons of the fat from the casserole. Add the chopped onions, carrots and celery to the fat in the casserole and cook them over a moderate heat, stirring frequently, for about 5 to 8 minutes, until they are soft and light brown. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of flour over the vegetables and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 or 3 minutes longer, or until the flour begins to colour. Pour in pint of the reserved marinade and 6 tablespoons of water and bring to the boil over a high heat. Return the meat to the casserole. Cover tightly and simmer over a low heat for about 2 hours, until the meat shows no resistance when pierced with the tip of a sharp knife. Transfer the meat to a heated dish and cover it with aluminum foil to keep it warm while you make the sauce.

4. Pour the liquid left in the casserole into a large measuring jug and skim f the surface. You will need 1 pint of liquid for the sauce. If you have more, boil it briskly over a high heat until it is reduced to that amount; if you have less, add some of the reserved marinade. Put the liquid and the gingersnap or honey-cake crumbs in a small saucepan, and cook over a moderate heat, stirring frequently, for 10 minutes. The crumbs will disintegrate in the sauce and thicken it slightly. Strain the sauce through a fine sieve, pressing down hard with a wooden spoon. Return it to the pan, taste for seasoning and let it simmer over a low heat until ready to serve.

5. To serve, carve the meat into *-inch-thick slices and arrange the slices attractively in overlapping layers on a heated serving dish. Moisten the slices with a few tablespoons of the sauce and serve the rest of the sauce separately in a sauceboat. Traditionally, Sauerbraten is served with dump lings or boiled potatoes and red cabbage (page 63).

6. NOTE: If you prefer, you may cook the Sauerbraten in the oven rather than on top of the stove. Bring the casserole to the boil over a high heat, cover tightly and cook in a preheated Mark 4: 350°F. oven for about 2 hours.

Servings: 6

Have a great day

First Dog, Cards and Wolves

I was talking about the dogs of the White House the other day and then on the news we saw the current White House Scottie - Barney - bite a reporter. The reporter has had a nice apology from Mrs. Bush apparently and had to have a tetanus shot (not rabies?). I have just discovered that Barney and Miss Beazley have their own web page click here and another page called Bushy Barney here. I didn't realise First Dogs were so important. They apparently also have a First Cat Willie as well. If the Obama's have a new puppy, we were wondering who will clean up after its mistakes!!! Come to that, who will look after it when the children are at school and take it for walks etc. The answer is, presumably, the servants at the White House. I can't see the President jumping up in the middle of an important meeting to go walk the dog. I am patting myself on the back because yesterday I made and printed all my Christmas/Hannukah cards, printed all the address labels and return labels (I put a something Christmassy on both) so now all I have to do is fold the cards and label the envelopes. The most expensive part is the stamps unfortunately. Especially as I have lots to send out of country. We won't be messing with them today as we have a dinner party tonight. I had trouble finding suitable wall calendars this year too, I used to buy the big calendar from World Wildlife in the States, but World Wildlife in Canada don't seem to do the same one. I eventually found Wolf calendars, which I like, through Avon, but they aren't doing them any more. Having searched the internet, I finally found myself some wolf calendars, one for the kitchen, one for the computer room so they are on their way. Matt and I both love wolves and my computer room is littered with pictures of them as well as pictures of grandchildren, I wonder if that says anything? Browsing through Reader's Digest Great Recipes for Good Health, I came across a recipe I like the sound of, Onions in Raisin Sauce. Onions in Raisin Sauce Serves 4 Here is a dish that can be refrigerated for several days and reheated at serving time. 1 1/2 tsp olive oil 3/4 lb small white onions, peeled 2 cloves garlic, minced 1/3 cup dry white wine 1 cup low sodium beef broth 2 tbs low sodium tomato paste 2 tbs raisins 1/2 tsp grated orange rind 1/4 tsp each basil and thyme, crumbled 1/8 tsp black pepper In a small heavy saucepan, heat the olive oil over moderate heat for 1 minute; add the onions and cook, uncovered, stirring frequently, until they are golden, about 7 minutes. Add the garlic, wine, beef broth, tomato paste, raisins, orange rind, basil, thyme and pepper and bring to a simmer. Cook, uncovered, stirring often, for 20 minutes or until the onions are tender. Raise the heat to high and cook, stirring, until the sauce is thick, about three minutes. Have a great weekend