Car, Shopping, Costco, Climate Change, Water,

Hopefully this will be the last time heading this blog with car. Anyway, I ended up losing 2 hours of my day, nap time you understand, and spending most of it in the garage. I am now assured they have fixed what they missed on Monday. One thing, I got him to test my answering message on my cell phone and it worked OK. He left a message which I heard, of course, then when I got home I couldn't get it to play!! I really will have to learn how to use this damned phone one of these days.

This morning Cathy got my shopping for me and also went to Costco and picked up lamb and chicken for me. Mistake on my part, I had to spend an age packing the chicken thighs for the freezer. Putting away shopping is bad enough. Hey, they had bananas today too. Very green ones. Turns out Cathy is another Instant Pot enthusiast. With a bunch of kids, I assume she has a 6 qt. at least. Mind you I sometimes wish I had a 6 qt. She told me she is going to try making yoghurt which is one of the things they are always advertising when touting the Instant Pot - never tried it myself, not something I eat a lot. I get phases of eating it and then don't have it again for months.

Apparently, Cathy tells me, that early morning (well Costco's early morning) is a good time to shop there as there are usually no queues. The only trouble with Costco, to me, is that their meat department is away at the back of the store and by the time I have got there I am almost too exhausted to shop. My legs are usually giving me such a bad time I need to sit. I assume they have driveable buggies or whatever they are called, but I have never seen any there.

I have just been letting of steam to The Happy Whisk about two programmes I just saw on our local PBS station which comes from Buffalo. The first one, Climate Change: The Facts, is one of the most important videos made for us today. It was hosted by Sir David Attenborough, supported by HRH Prince Charles, backed by the British World Wildlife Fund with the intention of sending a wake up call to as many people, countries, and governments as possible. I knew it would be on Netflix and for various reasons, despaired of seeing it, however, tonight I did. To a certain extent I have evaded my responsbilities in this matter due to my age and the knowledge that when disaster strikes, I will no longer be concerned. However, I thought it would be good to see it again and looked online. Yup, I can see it if I live in the UK. This is such an important documentary that it should be available all over the world for anyone to watch and watch again. The second documentary was the first part of h2O: The Molecule That Made Us. Another important film and which told me facts and information I had never heard of before and also helped make me wake up. Not that I am sure what I can do except join in making other people aware. Their final comment was something like "We should join the fight to preserve water, our lives depend on it, literally".

Now I am going to do some Spanish and come back here later. By the way, if you wondered where the blog was this morning, some dummy had forgotten to set the time!!!

Once again Kevin Lynch to the rescue. Unfortunately we have just had chicken for two days running so think I had better make something else to Thursday night. Otherwise, I think this would definitely be on the menu, looks delicious. The picture makes me drool.

Baked Firecracker Chicken

Sweet and spicy baked chicken that is both packed with flavour and nice and light!

1/2 cup hot/chili sauce (such as Frank’s Red Hot or Sriracha)
1/2 cup brown sugar or honey
1 Tbs soy sauce (gluten-free for gluten-free)
1 Tbs apple cider vinegar
2 cloves garlic, grated
1 pinch red pepper flakes
1 Tbs oil
1 lb boneless and skinless chicken breasts
salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat the hot sauce, sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, garlic and chili pepper flakes in a small sauce pan until the sugar has melted into the sauce.

2. Heat the oil in a large oven safe skillet over medium-high heat, season the chicken with the salt and pepper, add to the pan and brown, about 3-5 minutes per side.

3. Transfer to a preheated 400F/200C oven and bake until the chicken is cooked, about 10-15 minutes, basting with the sauce every 5 minutes.

4. Enjoy with the remaining sauce!

Servings: 4

Author: Kevin Lynch
Source: Closet Cooking

Have a great day, stay safe, stay well, stay home.

Tuesday Morning, The Orkin Men, Costco, Razor, Spanish, Seven Drunken Nights,

Unbelievably, having claimed tiredness last night, I went to bed fairly early, for me, and ended up not doing more than possibly dozing a bit until gone 3 a.m. with the result that I slept in this morning. Not long been up when the super knocked on the door to tell us the Orkin men were on their way (ants again) so I threw some clothes on. Matt was in his dressing gown, more respectable than a night dress. They came in, trotted round the apartment and deposited some kind of liquid in various places and off they went. About 5 minutes I would guess. Not sure how many apartments they visited but quite a lot I believe. So then I had breakfast. Matt had finished his as he made it earlier. He eats the same thing every morning anyway. Boooooring. I have recently been having a smoked salmon and scrambled eggs kick, I also make an oatmeal congee which I have mentioned before. Once in a while, and when I am in a real hurry, I might eat some of the cereal Matt consumes regularly.

Later we got a parcel from Costco and it turned out that it was not what I ordered so I had to contact them about it. They said I could and wanted me to take the heavy parcel in to my nearest Costco, you must be joking, I explained I was a very senior citizen so they said they would email me a label and I could then call UPS. Much better. Wonder how long it will take to get the email.

Later the new razor I ordered for himself arrived and I gave him the parcel to unpack. Next thing I know, he had it on charge in the kitchen with the razor in the dish rack!!! So I transferred it to his bathroom. It takes 8 hours to charge the first time which upset him but he doesn't need to try and shave until the morning.

During the afternoon I decided to do my Spanish lessons - I will be interested to  know how ladydog did with her Spanish on her vacation. She is coming for a visit, with Zoey, on Thursday.

This evening we watched Celtic Thunder Legacy II. A favourite. I wanted to find out where on YouTube the song Seven Drunken Nights was so I could copy the URL for our exercise instructor. I actually found 2  versions but it's the second one we prefer. So then I thought I would include it here for your amusement.


I love shrimp and I am very fond of snow peas and ginger so this was a no brainer for me. May try it on Friday although I was thinking of other things to cook. It seems that Grace Parisi comes up with some very good recipes

Gingered Stir-Fry with Shrimp and Snow Peas

Large nonstick skillets that can create a sear are ideal for stir-fries. For this recipe, Food and Wine's

Grace Parisi creates layers of flavor with Chinese chile-garlic sauce and matchsticks of fresh ginger.

1/2 cup chicken stock or low-sodium broth
2 Tbs low-sodium soy sauce
1 tsp Chinese chile-garlic sauce
1 tsp cornstarch
2 Tbs vegetable oil
1/4 cup fresh ginger, cut into fine matchsticks
1/2 lb snow peas
1 lb medium shrimp, shelled and deveined
4 small scallions, thinly sliced on the diagonal
Steamed rice, for serving

1. In a small bowl, whisk the chicken stock with the soy sauce, Chinese chile-garlic sauce and cornstarch.

2. In a large nonstick skillet, heat the vegetable oil until shimmering. Add the ginger matchsticks and stir-fry over moderately high heat until they are softened, about 1 minute. Add the snow peas and stir-fry until crisp-tender and the ginger is beginning to brown, about 2 minutes. Add the shrimp to the skillet and stir-fry for about 1 minute. Add the scallions and stir-fry for 30 seconds. Whisk the chile sauce, add it to the skillet and stir-fry until the shrimp are opaque throughout and the sauce is thickened, about 1 minute longer. Serve with steamed rice.

Servings: 4

Author: GRACE PARISI
Source: Food and Wine

Have a great day
 

Wednesday, Nature, Otavango, LHIN.

Quite a busy day today, started with our cleaner arriving at 8:30, shortly after I went and collected the shopping and she helped bring it upstairs for me. I still end up with aching legs even though I am not pulling the cart upstairs. Unpacking I found I was short several items so the cleaner went down to the car and found the missing bag. Bananas in it, I hadn't even realised they were missing. Thank goodness she was here, I couldn't have made that trip(to our parking spot) a second time this morning. Eventually, we had lunch and I went downstairs to exercise class. There were only two of us today. Unusual. However, we did our stuff. The room where we do this is quite a walk for me too, even with my walker. Back upstairs, and I decided to go to Costco. Meant to go yesterday, been meaning to go for a while, so off we went, Matt came for the drive. Once there, I had to sit down and rest a couple of times walking back and forth from the meat dept. which is right at the back of the store. I had taken my walker luckily, thought I might need it. One woman said I had the right idea. I mainly went for the lamb and that is usually in the fridges at the back of the store. I walked right along them and then back, thought I had missed the lamb, couldn't find any, then I spotted some other meat counters, phew, thought I had wasted my journey. Talking to another woman about it and she spotted them at the same time as I. I found my lamb roasts, I got two for less than they wanted at Victoria St. Market, mind you, theirs was probably fresh Ontario lamb. I also bought some chicken breasts, and some beef patties which I assume were for burgers, but which I guessed were just about half a pound each which was just the amount I wanted for my stuffed peppers. I was right. So, plus the Co-Q-10 pills I bought, it mounted up to $160. Still under $200. For Costco  that is an achievement. Of course when I got home, I had to repack all the stuff for the freezer except for t he ground beef I wanted for peppers tomorrow. By the time I had done all this, I was knackered. I fell asleep for a half hour in my chair.

Luckily I didn't have to do much for supper as we had leftover Butter Chicken from last night, so just cooked some rice. Later I cooked 2 cups of rice for use with the peppers. So easy in the Instant Pot.

After watching Jeopardy, watched a Nature programme on PBS about the Otavango River basin and its animals. Fascinating but it needed a part 2 I think. We were following the story of a lioness who was gored by a water buffalo and eventually left for dead by her pride. Meanwhile, she began to recover and next thing we knew, she had two cups which of course she had to feed. She had a broken ankle on her front leg. She was doing pretty well, but at the end, two males were entering her territory which could either be good or bad news for her, if they accepted the cubs, good. But we never heard the end of that story. Grrrr.

Tomorrow we have a visit scheduled from the LHIN (Local  Health Integration Network) to discover just what help we are entitled to. I suspect not a lot at this time, we shall see.

I used to enjoy brisket but don't remember when I last cooked it. When I saw this recipe I immediately thought, must try it. I am sure I can get brisket at Victoria St. Market.

Brisket with Onion-and-Chile Jam

Letting the brisket rest in the pan juices for a half hour makes it especially moist.

2 Tbs pure olive oil
11 medium onions—7 minced, 4 coarsely chopped
2 Thai chiles, with some seeds, minced
Salt
5 large carrots, coarsely chopped
1 bunch of celery, coarsely chopped
Freshly ground pepper
One 5-pound beef brisket, fat trimmed to a thin layer
2 quarts hot chicken stock or low-sodium broth
1/2 tsp soy sauce

1. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Add the minced onions and the Thai chiles and season with salt. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the onions are very soft, about 25 minutes. Increase the heat to moderately low and cook, stirring, until the onions are deeply browned, about 10 minutes longer.

2. Preheat the oven to 325°. Spread the carrots, celery and coarsely chopped onions in an even layer in a roasting pan and season them with salt and pepper. Season the brisket with salt and pepper and set it on top of the vegetables, fat side up. Spread the onion-and-chile jam in an even layer over the top of the brisket and pour the hot stock into the pan around the meat. Cover the roasting pan and braise the brisket for about 4 1/2 hours, or until it is very tender, basting every 30 minutes.

3. Let the brisket rest in the pan juices for 30 minutes, then transfer it to a carving board. Strain the pan juices into a saucepan, pressing on the vegetables, then skim off the fat. Add the soy sauce, season with pepper and bring to a simmer. Thinly slice the brisket across the grain and serve with the pan juices.

Make Ahead

The recipe can be prepared through Step 2 and refrigerated for up to 2 days. Reheat before proceeding. Serve with noodles.

Source: Food & Wine

Have a great day
 

Team Name. Costco, Barkeep's Friend, Shopping,

The other day a friend suggested Silver Foxes in the comments. That is the name I have gone with. I think it is great bearing in mind we all have to be above 55 to join this league (most of us are way beyond 55) and, of course, a lot of us have silver hair although, thinking about it, on our team, only Matt and I really have silver hair. The others are young enough not to have changed at all, or to have only wisps of silver.

A very quiet day and, until it was too late, it didn't occur to me to go  to Costco which I have been wanting to do for a while. I want to get some lamb. Maybe I can make it after exercise classes tomorrow.

Something I forgot to mention, the other day I was cleaning our stainless steel sinks and they had a couple of stains on them. I had bought some Barkeep's Friend for my Instapot pot so I tried it on the sink, way to go, it worked. I now have no marks in the sinks. I was so pleased. I had kind of thought that the Barkeep's Friend wasn't much more than Vim, I was obviously wrong. Not sure what the difference is, but it sure worked.

Tomorrow, trying something new with our cleaner. I am going to collect the groceries and she is going to come and collect them from me and carry them upstairs. Talking about it to Matt he commented "well I can do that", except that when I ask him to, he doesn't seem physically able at all. So, I don't know. Anyway, see what happens.

I thought this soup looked delicious and what a different way of serving it.

Roasted Green Tomato Basil Soup in Sourdough

This beautiful green soup pairs the tartness of green tomatoes with fragrant basil and thyme. Once

you’ve finished off the soup you can eat the sourdough bread bowl.

2 lbs ripe green tomatoes, sliced in half lengthwise
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 Tbs kosher salt
1 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 Tbs unsalted butter
1 yellow onion, about
1 cup, coarsely chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
3 cups chicken or vegetable stock
3/4 cup fresh basil leaves, packed
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
2 to 4, whole round sourdough loaves
Sliced cherry tomatoes, for garnish (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 400°. Toss together 2 pounds of green tomatoes, 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, salt and pepper. Spread the tomatoes in an even layer on a baking sheet and roast for 30 minutes.

2. In an eight-quart stockpot over medium heat, add the onions and garlic with the butter and remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Cook until the onions have slightly caramelized, about 8 minutes. Sprinkle in the crushed red pepper flakes and stir to combine, about 1 minute. Add the oven-roasted tomatoes and stock to the pot and bring to a boil. When soup comes to a full boil, toss in the fresh basil leaves and wilt over medium heat and simmer for about 8 minutes. Working in batches, puree the soup in a blender until smooth, ensuring that the basil leaves are entirely pureed into soup. Adjust seasonings with salt and pepper.

3. To serve, warm the bread in the oven and the soup in a saucepot over the stove. When bread is heated through, carve a shallow hole in each loaf, and pull a few pieces from the center. Ladle the soup into the bread and serve right away. Garnish with fresh basil leaves and sliced cherry tomatoes, if desired.

Servings: 4

Source: Food & Wine

Have a great day
 

My Thursday, Movies,

As I was planning to go to Costco on Thursday afternoon, I figured I should defrost the freezer to make more room and to check exactly what I had of what, so, when I got up, I started the process and unloaded all the food into cool boxes plus a few things went in the fridge freezer and so on. Was well under way and came to the computer when the phone rang, it was my driver asking if she could pick me up at 11:45 instead of 3:35.  Wasn't sure about leaving the freezer, but decided it was OK so I agreed and then had to rush around a tad.

Went to Costco and ended up buying a roast of lamb, some lamb chops, fillet steaks and a heap of skinless, boneless chicken thighs. A lot of the Instant Pot recipes I have been making call for chicken thighs. Tammy, my driver, pushed the shopping cart and I used my walker and managed to get to the back of the store but had to sit for a few minutes once there. (Didn't see any motorized carts, might have missed them). Tammy was extremely helpful putting my purchases in plastic bags and such. I ended up with one large shopping bag full which was great. I said to the cashier that at least I hadn't spent $300, her response was "well we'll see you tomorrow, you only bought meat, you need the vegetables". I must say my legs were pretty sorry for themselves by the time we had finished. We were lucky though, got through the checkout quickly despite the hundreds of people there. Never seen it so crowded. We were also lucky to get the closest wheelchair spot in the parking lot.

When I got home, the freezer was well and truly defrosted so I dried off any dampness and turned it back on again. Of course, I ended up with quite a few soggy towels which I had used to catch the wet. Shoved everything back in and endeavoured to update my freezer list at the same time. Then came the fun part of unpacking the chops, steaks and chicken and repacking them in the freezer. At least the roast could go straight in. I do hate having to repack things like that, got Matt to help me with the chicken. He held open the plastic bags and I shoved the thighs in. That way I didn't have to wash my hands every time.

I saw a very nice looking carrot cake (thought it was meringue at first) but I resisted. Spent quite enough as it was. By the time everything was done, I was knackered but didn't have time for a nap as it was getting on for supper time.

There is a theatre in Niagara on the Lake which celebrates the summer season with the Shaw Festival. They do have Shaw plays, but other stuff as well. This year they are doing Brigadoon which is one of my favourite shows. Would love to go and see it but not likely. Anyway, I thought "why don't I have that movie?" well, I do now. Haven't opened it yet, but next time there is an uninteresting TV night we will watch it. Gene Kelly, Van Johnson and Cyd Charisse are the stars. Long time since I last saw it so I am looking forward to it. I've always loved Cyd Charisse. I am not 100% sure if I prefer Gene Kelly or Fred Astaire. Love to watch both of them. In fact watched Astaire the other night - don't remember the name of the film right now but it is the one where he dances on the walls and ceiling of his room.

We had leftovers for supper so I shoved some rice in the Instant Pot to go with them. I always used to end up with a boil over when making rice, not any more. Thanks Ivy.

I had kind of forgotten about this recipe which I enjoyed very much last year. Must make it again. Got to get some endive of course. Because they are so involved in installing a Starbucks in my grocery store, it is not always possible to get what I want. What on earth we want a Starbucks here for I don't know, especially as we have a Tim Horton's close by and that is a very Canadian coffee chain.

Asparagus and Endive Salad

1 lb fresh asparagus , trimmed and cut into 2 inch pieces
1/2 tsp grated orange peel
1 Tbs Juice, orange, fresh
2 Tbs seasoned rice vinegar
1 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs small shallots , minced
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
1/8 tsp black pepper
8 oz Belgian endive, fresh, head, cut lengthwise into 1/4 inch strips (2 heads)

1. Place 1/2 inch of water at the bottom of a 12 inch pan and bring to a boil over high heat. Add in asparagus and cook until tender yet crisp, about 2 minutes. Place in strainer, rinse under cold water, drain, and pat dry with paper towels.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the orange peel, orange juice, vinegar, oil, shallots, sugar, salt, mustard, and pepper until well combined.

3. Add the asparagus and endive to the bowl with the dressing. Mix well to evenly coat and serve.

Servings: 4

Source: dLife

Have a great day
 

Breakfast, Freezer, Costco,

Something I haven't mentioned, my Oatmeal Congee breakfasts. What I have been doing is to take a packet of instant oatmeal, mix it with stock/broth and 1 tsp of soy sauce and cook it. You can also add a veg like a few spinach leaves, but mostly I don't bother. I then top it with a fried egg - non stick pan and Pam - and eat. Delicious and it makes a nice change from the usual breakfasts. I have just realised I posted a recipe for Oatmeal Congee a year ago. I had forgotten mushrooms could be used. Must remember that. My post a year ago was about boring breakfasts. When I came out of hospital, I was eating Fibre One every day for a while. Partly because of the cold milk I think, and partly because I wasn't up to thinking about or making myself something different. I do wish I could get herrings which I could roll in oats like my mother did. Or really good kippers. There is also a recipe for Rice Congee on my blog here. However, I think that is a bit complicated for a regular breakfast.

Have decided to defrost the freezer in the morning (Thursday) so, hopefully, it will be nice and clear by the time I return from Costco's in the late afternoon. The car is coming for me at 3:45. Bit late, but better than not at all. The only trouble with defrosting the freezer is, being in an apartment, there isn't a heck of a lot of room. Not only that, I end up with a stack of wet towels to deal with.

For a few years I have been making a dish with sausage and peppers which we always enjoyed. I Googled and found something similar, however, I changed it out of all recognition. It was delicious and we both enjoyed it.

IP Sausage and Peppers

1 can Rotel tomatoes
1 Rotel can of diced tomatoes (drained)
Half onion chopped
1/4 cup white wine
1 tsp dried Basil more if fresh
2 tsp of garlic salt (or crushed garlic clove and salt)
1 tsp Italian seasoning (or more to taste)
1/2 tsp hot pepper flakes
4 Italian sausages - pierce with a fork so they don't explode
1 bell pepper, seeded, cored and cut into strips

1. In pressure cooker insert, add Rotel tomatoes, then pour some diced, canned tomatoes into the Rotel can. Add everything else except sausages and bell peppers. Stir. Place sausages on top and then add sliced peppers - don't stir.

2. Close the IP lid, select High Pressure. Set timer for 25 mins and press start. When beep sounds, turn off the IP and release the pressure. Once valve drops, carefully remove lid and serve over rice.

3. If you do not wish to use wine, don't drain the tomatoes.

Servings: 4

Have a great day

Rides, Instant Pot,

Today was a shopping day so I went down to the lobby to wait for my driver. Eventually I phoned and said where was he and they informed me he was coming at a later time. About 10 minutes or so. Not much but I had got down there early. Had I known there were things I could have done at home before I came down stairs.  I wish they'd let me know. Just got a call about another ride and mentioned just that. I don't mind if they change the time, but I do hate waiting and not knowing if and when someone is coming. I am now booked to go to Costco on Thursday. I need lamb!!

Actually, I watched a Six Sisters Stuff video today with 4 "dump and go" recipes for the Instant Pot. I tried a chicken on tonight which we both enjoyed (cooked some rice in the pot first). There is another recipe made with frozen meatballs from Costco so I might have a look at those when I go.

This is another of my all time asparagus favourites. For the non Canadians, Food and Drink is the free magazine put out by the LCBO (Liquor Board) three or four times a year which always has great recipes in it, some of which are doable for me. Don't tell anyone, but I have never been that keen on Basil Pesto, but this I enjoy.

Asparagus Pesto Toasts

1 lb trimmed green asparagus
1 cup toasted walnut halves (I used pecans)
4 cloves garlic, peeled
2 1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup olive oil
2/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan
Freshly ground pepper

1. Cook asparagus until just tender. Refresh in cold water, then drain and dry well. Place asparagus, walnuts, garlic and salt in food  processor. Process until blended.

2. With motor running, gradually add olive oil, then add cheese and pepper. Blend together and check seasoning. Place in covered bowl.

3. It shows the recipe served on crunchy toasted French or Italian bread with a curl or two of parmesan on top and some asparagus at the side.

4. We freeze this in ice cube trays, then wrap the cubes in pairs (separated by Saran, and put in a bag in the freezer until we need them.

Source: Food & Drink

Have a great day

Quiet Day, Costco,

I can't believe it, we didn't do much of anything today. Mostly I sat around reading. I did use the remaining sauce from the Butter Chicken to make a shrimp over rice dish which was pretty good. The sauce is good just on its own.

I wanted to go to our local Costco and get a roast of lamb and maybe some lamb chops and such. Nobody seems to be a member any more, so in the end I renewed my membership. I let it lapse because, as you know, they are huge warehouses, and I couldn't walk from one end to the other. However, these days I think I can manage it. Maybe I will arrange a ride though. I can get all kinds of goods from Costco online without being a member, but for things like lamb, I have to go to the store. I have always liked their meats anyway.

Here's a  simple enough little asparagus dish but it looks pretty good. I must confess that this year I haven't done much with asparagus other than pickling and canning and today I froze a bunch. But as for recipes, just haven't had the time or energy I'm afraid. Pity, because some of the recipes I love.

Grilled Asparagus and Tomatoes in a Kalamata Olive and Feta Vinaigrette

Charr grilled asparagus topped with juicy tomatoes in a salty and tart kalamata olive and feta dressing.

1 1/2 lbs asparagus, trimmed
1 Tbs oil
salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 cups tomato, sliced
1/4 cup kalamata olive and feta dressing

1. Toss the asparagus spears in the oil, salt and pepper and grill over medium-high heat until crisp-tender and slightly charred.

2. Serve topped with the tomatoes and the kalamata olive and feta dressing and enjoy!

Servings: 4

Author: Kevyn Lynch
Source: Closet Cooking

Have a great day
 

Our Tuesday

Phew, busy day. After dropping off the monitor we stopped for gas on the way to the restaurant and paid $1.24 a litre, expensive, then I was totally annoyed that when we came back a few hours later, the same gas bar was charging $1.18 (I'm rounding up).i.e. 6 cents less. Grrr.

Had a very enjoyable lunch with our friend whom we haven't seen for a while. Then dropped into Costco and bought some chicken breasts and pork loins. I really like the meat there. I just wish I could pay with my Visa. Apparently these days they will accept Master Card but we don't have one and are unlikely to get one. One credit card is enough thank you. Talking of that, we get cash back every November. The cashback disappeared last Friday from our information on line and should have been deposited into our account.  No sign of it to date. I phoned them and they said it was on my next statement but I would not see it on line because I wasn't paperless (still get statements 'cos Matt can't use a computer). He said I would see it on the statement next week. What nonsense. If it didn't show up on line, my online accounts would be inaccurate. Another Grrrr.

After Costco I realised I had forgotten the shopping list so we had to go home and get it. Another grrrr. Although it did mean I could put the meat in the fridge. Headed to the grocers and bought up the store. I discovered they were now selling Kinchi so, of course I had to buy some to try. Hope it's good.  Didn't mention that I had some kelp salad at lunch (had it once before) and I loved it. Wondered if I could buy it round here and discovered I could at a Vietnamese store which I have been to a few times in the past. It really is delicious. Of course I don't know what is in the salad at the Mandarin. Looking on line, looks like it might be cooked and then dressed with a sweet and spicy sauce.  From what I am reading Kelp is the new Kale. Must say I like it better. Will have to look up some recipes.

Having been told that Eastern foods and spices are enabling them to fight off any kind of dementia problems, I am endeavouring to add more things like turmeric and cumin to the foods we eat. This soup fits the bill. I used to boil chickens like this to make stock anyway using the meat from the chicken to turn it into something else. I have always loved Chicken Noodle Soups. They don't say how many scallions but I would think 4 or 5 would suffice.

Turmeric-Ginger Chicken Soup

Chicken noodle soup never gets old. If you don’t have udon for this recipe, use rice noodles or regular old spaghetti. A small knob of fresh turmeric can replace the dried type.

1 3 ½–4-pound chicken
2 medium onions, unpeeled, quartered
2 heads of garlic, halved crosswise
1 4-inch piece ginger, unpeeled, thinly sliced
3 dried bay leaves
1 Tbs ground turmeric
2 tsp black peppercorns
2 tsp coriander seeds
Kosher salt
12 oz carrots (about 4 medium), peeled, cut into ½-inch pieces on a diagonal
8 oz dried udon noodles
scallions, very thinly sliced
Chili oil (for serving)

1. Place chicken, onions, garlic, ginger, bay leaves, turmeric, peppercorns, coriander seeds, and several pinches of salt in a large pot. Pour in cold water to cover and bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat and gently simmer until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of breast registers 155°, 30–35 minutes. Transfer chicken to a plate and let cool slightly; keep stock simmering. Remove skin from chicken; discard. Pull meat from bones and shred into bite-size pieces; set aside. Return bones and carcass to stock. Increase heat and bring stock to a boil; cook until reduced by about one-third, 15–20 minutes. Season with more salt if needed.

2. Strain stock into a large saucepan; discard solids. Add carrots, bring to a simmer, and cook until carrots are tender, about 5 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, cook noodles in a large pot of boiling salted water, stirring occasionally, until al dente; drain and rinse under cold water to stop cooking.

4. Divide noodles among bowls. Add shredded chicken meat to stock and cook just until heated through; season stock with more salt if needed. Ladle over noodles. Top soup with scallions and drizzle with chili oil.

Servings: 4

Author: Claire Saffitz
Source: Bon Appétit

Have a great day
 

Health, Costco, No Bowling. Kew on a Plate, 150 Years,

Monday morning went to the doctor mainly for refills but also had blood test results for diabetes and it turns out Matt's hemoglobin is low and they are sending him for a colonoscopy. Poor Matt. We then dropped the prescriptions in at the drug store and headed on to Costco. Bought a ton of meat but was disappointed they didn't have any fillet steaks. Bought pork fillets though, we enjoy those. The trouble with all this stuff is packing it away. You can't just shove it in the freezer you have to separate into portion sizes which is a pain in the rear end. I finally got my lamb chops anyway. I plan to have them on Saturday, don't the look yummy? Many North Americans don't seem to like lamb unfortunately which is a great pity. I refrained from looking at a lot of things I might have wanted to buy, spent enough as it was. However, I am set up in the freezer for a while now.

As there is no bowling and the alley is closed anyway, we basically sat and twiddled our thumbs for the rest of the day. Although we will still be bowling twice a week we miss it being spread out as it is in the winter. The weather hasn't been up to much either. We sat and finished our wine from supper out on the balcony on Saturday evening, it was very pleasant but since then it has been cloudy with some rain.

Monday night we get to see another episode of Kew on a Plate which I mentioned last week. Looking forward to it.

Did you know Canada is celebrating 150 years this year? Not sure of all the planned festivities but there will be many.

Now here's a recipe I'm not sure I would enjoy. It looks gorgeous in the picture though.

Fresh Cherry and Asparagus Salad

Ingredients

6 cups spring mix lettuce
16 asparagus spears, touch ends removed
1 cup of sweet cherries, pitted and sliced in half
1 cup whole walnuts
1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled
Cooking spray
1/2 Cup sour cream
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 Tbs fresh lemon juice
1 Tbs poppy seeds
1/2 tsp salt

Directions

Heat non-stick pan over medium heat and spray with cooking spray, add the asparagus spears and whole walnuts. Cook tossing occasionally until asparagus is starting to brown, 5- 7 minutes. Remove from heat

In a small jar, whisk together the sour cream, brown sugar, lemon juice, poppy seeds and salt

In a large bowl toss together the cooked asparagus and walnuts, cherries, and feta cheese with the spring mix lettuce. Top with the dressing.

Have a great day

Birthday Lunch, Costco, New Restaurant.

We went for my free lunch at the Mandarin Chinese Restaurant where I love to eat. As always I started off with their hot and sour soup which is to die for. They really make a great one. It is the Moon Festival so they had all kinds of special dishes of which I tried several. In the evening they are doing Peking Duck but we rarely go there at night, pity. Once I had finished the main items (I included some sushi and a few dumplings too) they came and slapped a coolie hat on my head, put a cake with a candle in front of me, sang Happy Birthday and took a picture which is in a frame which will stick to the fridge. Then I went for dessert and had moon cake which I love. Sorry Alex, I didn’t hold back, no willpower at all. I did have fresh pineapple though. Pic scanned better out of the frame.

Having had our lunch and said goodbye to our friends, we went on to Costco where we broke our bank account as usual. We don’t go often, probably we should, it wouldn’t cost us so much. We now have lots of meat, fish and chicken for the freezer plus a bunch of pills we take, not cheap but cheaper than buying them at the pharmacy.

My friend’s niece has just opened a restaurant in Kitchener, on King St. so we must give it a try . It’s actually very close to the bowling alley so maybe we can lunch first one of these days. Her mom owns a restaurant in Elora called Cork and this new one is called Gilt. I wish them every success in their endeavour. As yet I don’t know what they are offering in the way of food. During our bowling season we travel to different alleys and a bunch of us have lunch first. This might be a good place for us when we are at our local alley, Towne Bowl.

This recipe is so cute I couldn’t resist passing it on although Hallowe’en is not for a month or so yet.

Sugar Ghost Cupcakes

Taste of Home


I had 10 neighborhood kids stop by to help me make these cupcakes for a bake sale, though I have no doubt that most of the treats never made it that far! —Mysie Sabin, Franklin, Wisconsin

24 Servings

Ingredients

• 1 package chocolate cake mix (regular size)
• FONDANT:
• 1 package (16 ounces) miniature marshmallows
• 4 to 5 tablespoons water
• 1 package (2 pounds) confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 cup shortening
• DECORATING:
• 1 can (16 ounces) vanilla frosting
• Blue, orange and green paste food coloring
• Miniature peanut butter cups
• Malted milk balls
• Clear vanilla extract

Directions

• Prepare and bake cake mix according to package directions for cupcakes; cool completely on wire racks.
• In a large microwave-safe bowl, combine marshmallows and 2 tablespoons water. Microwave, uncovered, on high for 1-1/2 to 2 minutes or until melted, stirring every 30 seconds. Stir in three-fourths of the sugar; turn onto a work surface coated with 3 tablespoons shortening. Knead until smooth and pliable, gradually adding remaining sugar and shortening. If necessary, moisten with remaining water. Wrap fondant in plastic wrap to prevent it from drying out.
• To decorate, set aside 1/4 cup frosting. Tint remaining frosting blue; frost cupcakes.
• For ghosts: Invert two peanut butter cups and stack, securing together with a small amount of reserved frosting. Top with a malted milk ball, attaching with frosting. Repeat, forming 24 stacks.
• On a work surface lightly sprinkled with confectioners' sugar, roll a 1-1/4-in. ball of fondant into a 4-in. circle; drape over a stack.
• For eyes and mouth, gently cut out shapes using pastry tips. Repeat for remaining ghosts.
• For pumpkins, stems and tendrils: Tint desired amount of fondant orange. Wrap fondant around malted milk balls; shape into pumpkins. Add imprint lines with a veining tool or toothpick.
• For stems and tendrils, tint a small amount of fondant green. Shape into stems; attach to pumpkins using vanilla. For tendrils, roll out remaining green fondant; using a pizza cutter, cut into thin strips.
• Gently wrap strips around toothpicks; set aside to dry. (Tightly wrap any remaining fondant in plastic wrap and store in a resealable plastic bag for another use.)
• To finish cupcakes: Place a small amount of reserved frosting on top of each cupcake; top with a prepared ghost. Carefully remove tendrils from toothpicks and attach to pumpkins, using vanilla. Attach pumpkins to cupcakes as desired. Yield: 2 dozen.

Editor’s Note: This recipe was tested in a 1,100-watt microwave. This recipe was tested with Kraft brand marshmallows.

Have a great day

Birds of Paradise. Our Wednesday.

A friend sent this to me today, a  stupendous video about Birds of Paradise in New Guinea. I didn’t know there were so many varieties nor such clever displays. Do watch if you possibly can.


Wednesday we decided to try for Costco again and managed to part relatively near. Despite the light snow and wind, it was actually +2°C today so not really too bad. We managed to get everything we wanted in the way of meat and pills (vitamins and Co Q10) then went to check out, oops, our membership had lapsed since last July, I didn’t realise, so had to pay it and that made the bill a lot higher than I expected. I am planning to make some tourtières in the near future and needed some ground veal, Costco had some, but I really didn’t need to buy several pounds of it, I only use it for the one thing, so left it alone.

Having broken the bank, we decided to head up to Sobey’s, a not so local grocery store (lots in town, none close to us) to get the veal. We were stopped at a traffic light when suddenly BANG!*!* an SUV rear ended us. Frightened the life out of both of us. We both thought poor little car, we have an Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme, old but reliable. When Matt went to look there was, thank God, no damage. The silly female who had rammed us kept saying “I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry” and Matt said she should watch the traffic properly in future. I wonder if she was texting. Illegal here. Anyway, she hung back and didn’t come near us all the time she was following us. Eventually she turned off. Actually, writing this some while later, my shoulders hurt, maybe we should have exchanged names! Oh well, too late now.

Got to Sobey’s no ground veal, they don’t grind/sell it any more. However, the butcher we know quite well advised us to go to Central Meat Market, one street over. Got there, they didn’t have any til tomorrow. I asked if they would save me some for Friday, they assured me they would. Now all I need is pastry. That, thankfully, is easy to get. I can make 4 pies with my recipe and the bought pastry which is enough to last us for a while. Although I ordered 2 lbs of ground veal, maybe I should make eight pies, hmmm.

D’you think I should stay in bed, life doesn’t seem to be treating us too well lately. Not only that, I can’t apparently bowl worth a damn any more either. Of course when I hear other people’s problems  I wonder what I am complaining about.

Obviously some of you have kids and it seems BBC Food are running a “Cooking With Kids” series. Here is the one I got today. I’m in the mood for some chocolate, maybe some wine too.

Cooking with kids: Chocolate cornflake cakes

By Caroline Hire

Servings

Makes 12 Everyone loves crispy cornflake cakes, whatever their age. Get the whole family in the kitchen to make these simple bites
 

• Tip

  Tip for cooking with kids

  Before you start tie back any long hair, put on your aprons and wash your hands. Make sure your child is stable where they are cooking and comfortable with the angle they are cooking at. As you cook explain what the different ingredients are where they come from.

• Ingredients

  50g butter
  100g milk or dark chocolate, broken into chunks
  3 tbsp golden syrup
  100g cornflakes

Method

1. Children: Weigh out the ingredients. Older children can do this by themselves with supervision and little ones can help to pour or spoon ingredients into the weighing scales. Put the butter, chocolate and golden syrup in a saucepan or microwavable bowl. Put the cornflakes in another large bowl.
2. Grown ups: Melt the butter, chocolate and golden syrup in the saucepan over a low heat or briefly in the microwave. Allow to cool a little before pouring over the cornflakes.
3. Children: Stir the ingredients together gently using a wooden spoon. Spoon the mixture into 12 cupcake cases arranged on a muffin tray (or baking sheet, if you don’t have one). Grown ups will need to do this for younger children or simply arrange on a tray and let the mess happen. Put in the fridge to set.

Or of course you could make them on your own.

Have a great day.

Tax Offices, Shopping, A to Z.

Grrr. We have been accumulating forms for completion of our taxes for last year. I have been doing these online for a number of years and to do so we both needed a Web Access Number. This year, no form telling me how to obtain this number. So obviously I went online and ended calling up a bunch of different numbers. I found out I needed last year’s numbers which I hadn’t kept. After a frustrating time, I am finally told I no longer need such numbers. Why on earth didn’t it state this clearly on their web pages? It makes me so mad. If I couldn’t find that out and had trouble connecting to the right office, I think there are going to be lots of people out there in exactly the same boat. I shouldn’t grouse, our forms are a lot easier than the ones they use in the US.

Actually, it’s not been a good day for us. We decided to make a trip to Costco today (Wednesday) Matt has been to the grocery store first thing (7 a.m.) as he always does – his choice, not mine – and come back complaining about the bitter cold so I was in two minds whether to go or not. However, we set off about 10 a.m. and couldn’t get near the place. They have lots of wheelchair parking but every one was full up and there were no other spots within reasonable walking distance. We turned round and came home. I suppose we could have gone back after lunch but….. We like to buy meat there, they have some of the best lamb around – haven’t eaten any for a long time now. Was going to have a Valentine meal with lamb chops, guess that’s out, no time to go now. Will have to get some steak and ‘make do’. I know, hard done by! We are going to have Chocolate Volcanoes though.

At the instigation of my fearless leader (I am one of her minions I mean Terrific Team), A to Z blog host Tina of Life is Good, I have been visiting some of the blogs listed which have less than 100 followers. The idea is to add yourself to their followers list and hopefully to leave a comment. So if you feel like doing a favour, do click on the link. You can also click on the A to Z link and join in the fun for April. I have a few of my blogs completed, but although I thought I was getting on like a house on fire, I haven’t as many as I imagined I had so I need to flick the whip.

I have posted the recipe before but thought maybe you would like it again because it is an easy chocolate dessert and excellent for Valentine’s. We serve them with a dollop of Double Devon Cream. Only trouble is, the recipe makes 6 which means we will have leftovers. Cold they are like moist fudge and I am not sure I don’t like them better, but… I dread to think what the calorie count is; oops, I looked, 565 without cream. I just found out that one can make the batter, put it into ramekins, cover with plastic wrap and freeze them for up to 2 months. You can then cook them, frozen, at 350°F for exactly 18 minutes. Never tried this of course, but it does mean that for us we won't have to eat them three days running.


Warm Chocolate Cake (Volcanoes)

6 oz Bittersweet Chocolate
2/3 cup unsalted butter
1/3 cup sugar
6 egg yolks
3 egg whites
1/3 cup all purpose (plain) flour

1. Preheat oven to 425 F (220 C). In heavy pot on low heat, melt chocolate and butter together. Cool slightly.
2. Beat together sugar and egg yolks with electric mixer until thick and creamy, about 4 mins.
3. Pour in chocolate mixture and beat together for 5 mins.
4. In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form, about three mins. Fold into mixture along with flour.
5. Pour into 6 nonstick buttered moulds or non-stick muffin tins (we use cocottes or ramekins). Bake for 5 to 7 mins or until edges are just cooked and centre is still liquid. Cool for 5 mins in cooking dish. Carefully remove to serving dishes. Serve with lightly whipped cream

Servings: 6

Source: Food and Drink

Have a great day

Costco, Royal Baby, Summer Fruit.

We finally got to Costco yesterday and would you believe it, we got out of there under $200. I think we deserve a pat on the back. I’m not quite sure how it happened mind you.

Still no news on the baby front at the time of writing, Prince William is away for the weekend so I guess they aren’t expecting anything to happen.

Yesterday I was tucking into a golden mango which, oddly enough I only discovered how much I liked a couple or so years ago. Matt was sent a basket of fruit when he was sick and I tried the mango. Matt tried one later and wasn’t impressed, me I love them. I can remember my father talking about mangoes when he came back from his three years stationed in what was Rhodesia during WWII. I don’t ever remember seeing them in England, come to that, I don’t remember seeing the golden ones here prior to a few years ago, but then I wasn’t looking. Anyway, I was sitting savouring my mango and I suddenly thought about the durian. Its a fruit from Thailand, as I understand, and smells so bad that one is not allowed to carry it on a bus. They say when you eat it, it is absolutely delicious. So, I have added the durian to my bucket list.

I love summer fruits. The local fruits should soon be available in our supermarket. Some of them are already available at Barrie’s Farm, but we don’t go over there when we can get all these goodies locally. We got some gorgeous peaches last week, freestone, juicy and sweet. Hopefully we can get some more this week. Mangoes of course whilst they are around; blueberries are available in the market but not seen them in the grocery store yet. We never remember to get ourselves in gear in order to get to the market on a Saturday morning. I don’t make pies or tarts with any of these fruits, we basically prefer to eat them fresh and I am not that big on most pies anyway. Apart from the fact that pastry goes straight to the hips.

However, for those of you who do like pies and tarts, here is a Kraft recipe which I thought looked pretty good.

Triple-Berry Cobbler

What You Need

4 cups  assorted fresh berries (blueberries, raspberries, sliced strawberries)
1/4 cup  sugar, divided
1 pkg.   (3.4 oz.) JELL-O Vanilla Flavour Instant Pudding
1/2 cup  water, divided
1 cup  baking mix
1/4 cup  BREAKSTONE'S or KNUDSEN Sour Cream
1/2 tsp.  ground cinnamon
3/4 cup  thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping

Make It

HEAT oven to 350ºF.
COMBINE berries in 2-qt. round microwaveable casserole. Microwave on HIGH 1 min. Reserve 1 tsp. sugar. Stir remaining sugar, dry pudding mix and 1/4 cup water into berry mixture.
MIX baking mix, sour cream and remaining water. Drop in 6 mounds (mounds should not touch) over fruit mixture. Mix reserved sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle over dough.
BAKE 35 min. or until fruit mixture is hot and bubbly and biscuits are lightly browned. Serve warm topped with COOL WHIP.

Kraft Kitchens Tips

How to Store Leftovers
Have leftovers? Store in refrigerator up to 5 days. When ready to serve, microwave each serving on HIGH 20 sec. or just until warmed.

Have a great day

Shopping, Blog Book, Glenda Larke

Today we plan to go to Costco’s which, round here, is also known as the $300 store as it is difficult to get away from there under that amount. We buy a lot of our meat there and find the quality to be excellent. We seem to have run very low on everything right now so we may find our bill to be up in that mark. One must eat though, right? I always enjoy grocery shopping although I confess clothes shopping leaves me cold. The thought of going to a store and trying on all kinds of garments brings shudders, and picking something out to try on in the first place is worse. I always preferred one dress shop I used to go to in the UK where the owner knew me and would bring me things she figured I would like. I still had to try them on but I was usually the only one in the shop.

I finally got round to making my latest blog book. I use SharedBook or Blog2Print. They collect up my blogs for 6 months (or as specified although 6 months of my blogging is the most they can do), I then pay them $7.95 and download the book. I have a number of them printed, but the last few I haven’t bothered. I do have them well backed up plus SharedBook keep them on their site too. However, I am so verbose, the printed versions take up a lot of room. Who knew I would ever write so much, I certainly didn’t.

I was delighted to see, on her blog, that Glenda Larke now has her very first book, Havenstar, reprinted and it is available in a hardcover version as well as electronically. This is a very popular book and Glenda herself says she wishes she knew why this book is so popular, much more so than here 9 subsequent novels all of which were fabulous stories, but I too am a devoted reader of Havenstar and have read it several times. If you have never read any books by Glenda and are into spec fic, you will really enjoy her stories. She has three trilogies out as well as Havenstar and another trilogy in the works with a working title of The Lascar’s Dagger. Glenda is a fantastic world builder and makes her characters so sympathetic and believable. Even some of her villains attract one’s sympathies. Many of her readers want her to write more novels set in the Havenstar world. If you check out her blog, you will find Glenda doesn’t stop at writing and leads a very interesting life.

This recipe has me drooling, but I will never cook it because Matt doesn’t like spareribs in the first place, and it is somewhat loaded with sugars in the second place making a serving 829 calories. However, it looks too good not to share.

Pork Spareribs with Maple Barbecue Sauce

Source: Cooking.com

Serves 6


These luscious ribs are well worth the time it takes to make them. Perfect for a Sunday supper. Try with the Maple Baked Beans as well as coleslaw and biscuits or cornbread.

INGREDIENTS
6 pounds pork spareribs (about 3 whole racks)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 medium onions, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups tomato purée
3/4 cup pure maple syrup
1/4 cup soy sauce
Crushed dried red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

DIRECTIONS
Position rack in center of oven; preheat to 400 degrees F. Sprinkle ribs with salt and pepper. Wrap each rib rack tightly in heavy-duty foil; set on rimmed baking sheet. Bake ribs 45 minutes. Cool slightly. Unwrap; drain juices. Cut into individual ribs.
Meanwhile, heat oil in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until tender, about 10 minutes. Add garlic and sauté 1 minute. Add tomato purée and next 3 ingredients. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer until sauce thickens slightly, about 20 minutes. Stir in vinegar. Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper.

DO-AHEAD TIP: Ribs may be made 1 day ahead. Sauce may be made 1 week ahead. Cool ribs and sauce. Cover separately and refrigerate.
Line same baking sheet with foil. Dip ribs into sauce. Place ribs, meaty side up, on sheet. Roast 15 minutes. Dip into sauce again. Roast until meat is very tender, about 20 minutes.

Have a great day

That Green Stuff, Costco, Surgery, Bowling.

I said we were going to the doctor’s on Monday (for a change) we then went to Barrie’s Asparagus where Tim called me over to see the beginning process for making asparagus flour. I could have cried, pounds and pounds of fresh asparagus being chopped up with a shovel. I ate a couple of spears before they could go in the mix. In fact the flour, which I mentioned last year, is then used for all kinds of foods including asparagus flavoured pasta and asparagus tortilla chips to name a couple. If you are interested you can got to my blog written in June last year. He said the asparagus he was chopping that day would be flour that night. Pretty fast process I guess. I asked if he had any pix and he said there would be a video on Facebook. If you are a member of Facebook you can see the video on their Facebook page. I was actually hoping for a still.

After Barrie’s we dropped in at Costco, bought the place and left. Well it does seem like it, we haven’t been there for ages and our freezer was empty. We bumped into a friend and whilst I was chatting Matt carried on shopping. He picked up some fillet steaks and a man proceeded to tell him how much cheaper it was to buy a whole fillet at $99 a piece. Fine if you happen to have $99 extra. We spent enough money as it was buying various cuts of beef, chicken breasts with and without, salmon steaks, etc. etc. Adding another $100 to that wasn’t needed thank you. I do like the meat at Costco, it may not be as inexpensive as we can get in our local supermarket, but it is wonderful quality. If I had the money I could spend a lot more, but sadly I don’t. Maybe we shouldn’t have stopped buying lottery tickets !!! We ate a couple of the salmon steaks on Tuesday night, they were delicious. Very good salmon. A friend buys sides of salmon there and the two or three I have shared have been excellent.

Bowling yesterday, me, not Matt of course. I had one very good game, one lousy game and one not bad, so I guess I can’t complain. In the summer league we have team points etc. which makes it a bit more fun, somewhat competitive.

Today, whilst you are reading this, Matt is in the local hospital having his Kyphoplasty so I don’t know where I will be. He has to be there at 11:30 a.m. in case they can do it earlier than scheduled if things go quickly. Great if that happens. The surgeon’s secretary said so far they are not that busy today so here’s hoping. Whether I stay or not will depend on the availability of a parking spot not too far from the main doors.

For a change, a nice creamy dessert.

Cream Cheese Almond Bars

Contributed to Cooking.com By: Cheryl, 24 bars

I originally bought some of these at a bake sale (minus the toasted almonds) and couldn't rest until I found a recipe that emulated the total deliciousness I found that day!
INGREDIENTS

Crust:

1 c. butter

1/2 c. powdered sugar

2 c. flour

Filling:

8 oz. Cream cheese, softened

1/2 c. sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. Almond extract

Frosting:

1 1/2 c. powdered sugar

1 1/2 T. Milk

1/4 c. butter, softened

1 tsp. Almond extract

1/2 c. Toasted, sliced almonds

DIRECTIONS

Crust: Cut butter into dry ingredients and pat into 9 x 13 pan. Bake at 350 for 20 - 25 minutes.

Filling: Mix sugar and cream cheese with mixer until well creamed. Beat in Eggs and almond extract until fluffy. Pour over crust while still hot. Bake at 350 for 15 - 20 minutes. Cool completely.

Frosting: Cream sugar and butter, add milk and almond extract, mix well. Spread evenly on baked, cooled filling. Sprinkle toasted almonds on top.

Have a great day