Fire Drill, Ear Ad, Covid-19, Hair, Geriatric Dept.

Today, Wednesday, we are supposed to have a fire drill at 1. I phoned down and said we couldn't take part because we couldn't use our walkers. Officially in a fire drill the elevators are locked down. If there really was a fire, we would both have to use canes and I have no idea what would happen because we neither of us could stand for long and I don't think we could sit on the ground unless we fell which could happen of course. If there were a fire, I guess we would go onto our balcony being the safest place for us. Mind you this is the first time we have had a fire drill in the 20 years we have lived here. Periodically they come in to test the fire alarms with the result that they ring off and on  all day which is enough to drive you batty. Couple of times something went wrong and  they started ringing and people were starting to evacuate, well a few were, so I phoned the super and was told the things had a glitch and they were trying to turn them off. Bearing in mind at least once that was in the middle of the night, we weren't too happy.

The drill has now started half an hour early and the alarm is ringing and it is already driving me nuts. I don't know how long they intend to keep it going. Turned out to be for about 15 minutes of brr brr, brr brr, etc. If you hear I have turned into a gibbering idiot you will know why. I wonder how many people actually took part in the fire drill.

I just did my Spanish lesson for the evening. There is an ad floating around, I have seen it in several places including my lesson just now, to do with cleaning one's ears. I do think it is rather revolting to see, if only in passing, and I wish they wouldn't post it. Yuk.

Just had a good chat with ladydog which was nice. We are both feeling the effects of not being able to socialise. She figures we will always have to wear masks in stores and such from now on. I do hope she is wrong. I just watched a programme on TV about Covid-10 and they were talking about a vaccine they have developed which has to be frozen and cannot be transported in a regular cooler. How frustrating. I do hope they figure it out soon. Of course POTUS says we will have a vaccine at the end of the year, I do hope, for once, he is right.

I forgot to mention I chopped a load of hair off my head this morning, think I have to do a bit more chopping as there are still some very long bits. Trouble is standing at the sink is not easy for me to do any more. Once, I used to cut my own hair all the time. A long time ago mind you. So, at least I won't feel I have to wear a hijab.

Got a call from the Geriatric Dept. of the local hospital today too. They thought I might benefit from talking to the resident doctor of that department. Apparently it is going  to be a 90 minute call. The woman who called me today said maybe the doctor could get me some help. I do hope so but I am not all that hopeful I must admit.

This is one of my favourite asparagus recipes. If only I could get the asparagus. Please weather get good and warm. I am missing out.

Crispy Baked Asparagus Fries

1 lb asparagus, trimmed
1/2 cup flour
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
1/4 cup Parmigiano Reggiano (Parmesan), grated
salt and pepper to taste
Alternatively used chopped almonds instead of Parmesan

1. Dredge the asparagus in the flour, dip them in the egg and then into a mixture of the panko breadcrumbs, Parmesan, salt and pepper.

2. Place the asparagus on a wire rack on a baking sheet and bake in a preheated 425°F oven until golden brown, about 7-13 minutes.

Servings: 2

Source: Closet Cooking

Author Notes
Asparagus coated in panko bread crumbs and parmesan and baked until golden brown and crispy.

Have a great day, stay well, stay safe.
 

Warning, Steamer Basket, Shopping, Asparagus

Saturday I posted a recipe for flank steak, Instant Pot Marinated Steak. The recipe times are wrong. I cooked this and ended up with shredded beef. I didn't even do the full 35 minutes, I scaled it back to 30. It was way too well done. However, the flavour was good although it did need some salt. I will try it again but endeavour to work out a proper cooking time. Such a pity. Some people like their beef like this, we don't.

Ladydog came over to drop off my steamer basket which her hubby had fixed for me. We went up to Victoria St. Market which is a somewhat upscale food store. One thing I ended up buying was some desserts to use over the next 3 weeks. We have a dessert on Saturdays and I no longer prepare them myself. Tonight we had a chocolate/hazelnut cake (Nutella Cake?) which was delicious. I have some Tiramisu and some Turtle Cakes. Basically all chocolate from the description. We both bought some coconut shrimp - frozen - which looked really good. Ladydog appeared with a parcel and I asked what it was, lamb chops. Was about to go buy some and she said she had taken the last 4. So I was out of luck.

Matt spent most of today asleep. He was shivering this morning so I wrapped him up and gave him a heated pad to warm him. OK at the end of the day. I don't know how he will be tomorrow, we have a bowling banquet to attend.

This is yet another asparagus recipe and as many of you know, one of my favorites. I phoned the farmer who told me maybe Tuesday or Wednesday for asparagus. Keep your fingers crossed.

Crispy Baked Asparagus Fries

1 lb asparagus, trimmed
1/2 cup flour
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
1/4 cup Parmigiano Reggiano (Parmesan), grated
salt and pepper to taste
Alternatively used chopped almonds instead of Parmesan

1. Dredge the asparagus in the flour, dip them in the egg and then into a mixture of the panko breadcrumbs, Parmesan, salt and pepper.

2. Place the asparagus on a wire rack on a baking sheet and bake in a preheated 425F oven until golden brown, about 7-13 minutes.

Servings: 2

Source: Closet Cooking

Author Notes
Asparagus coated in panko bread crumbs and parmesan and baked until golden brown and crispy.

Have a great day
 

Bateaux Mouches, The Seine, Bowling, X-ray, Supper.

Denise at My Life in Retirement is doing a series about her whirlwind trip to Europe in 1969. In the one I have linked to, she mentions taking a trip on the River Seine in France. Obviously it made me think of the trip I made around about 1956 or '57 I think, my French boyfriend took me on one of the Bateaux Mouches which plied their trips on the Seine. During the trip I had to go to the bathroom which was on the deck below where we were sitting. For some reason just before I got to the steps going down, I fainted. No idea why to this day. I woke up surrounded by people and right on the edge of this pretty high set of steps. I was so lucky not to have fallen down them. I might not be here writing this blog!!

Eventually I made it to the bathroom and back again. My boyfriend didn't know anything about it as he was some distance from where it happened. A sightseeing trip I will never forget. Unfortunately I don't remember all that much of the trip itself. However, quite a few years later, I really don't remember what year but I was certainly living away from home and not sure I wasn't married to my first husband, my father sailed up the Seine and moored basically right in the middle of Paris. A wonderful spot for sightseeing. I flew over to join them and sailed back to England with them. One thing I do remember was  how dirty the Seine was. But then in those days so were the Thames and Medway, my home rivers as it were. They are now so clean that fish are swimming  their waters.

Went bowling Monday afternoon - no leagues of course. Matt beat me twice, grumble, grumble. Wednesday is the start of the Summer League.

I had meant to go for an X-ray in the morning but then realised the referral I had called for an ultra sound as well for which one has  to make an appointment. So will not be going until the end of the month.

Made Moroccan-Style Stuffed Peppers for Monday night supper - a favourite and pretty easy to do. Having made them in the morning I couldn't remember how to reheat them in the microwave. I didn't want to do them in the oven. Nothing terribly helpful so I ended microwaving on high for a total of 10 minutes and they were warmed right through. Was reminded this morning of a favourite asparagus dish so think I will make them for supper tomorrow.

Crispy Baked Asparagus Fries

1 lb asparagus, trimmed
1/2 cup flour
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
1/4 cup parmigiano reggiano (parmesan), grated
salt and pepper to taste
Alternatively used chopped almonds instead of parmesan

1. Dredge the asparagus in the flour, dip them in the egg and then into a mixture of the panko breadcrumbs, parmesan, salt and pepper.

2. Place the asparagus on a wire rack on a baking sheet and bake in a preheated 425F oven until golden brown, about 7-13 minutes.

Servings: 2

Author: Kevin Lynch
Source: Closet Cooking

Author Notes
Asparagus coated in panko bread crumbs and parmesan and baked until golden brown and crispy.

Have a great day
 

Monday Morning, Books, Bowling, Cauliflower Rice,

I occasionally have a bad night and can't get to sleep. Sunday night I was still tossing and turning at 2:30 a.m. - finally got to sleep. At 7:30 am I was awoken by a friggin' lawnmower. 7:30 for goodness sake. This is a residential building with a lot of older folks living here, why do they have to come and wake us up that early. To say I was teed off was to put it mildly.

As most of you know, Matt watches Good Morning America. I sort of watch it peripherally whilst I am doing other things. This morning I heard a book promotion for Into the Water by Paula Hawkins and was so intrigued, immediately went to my library's web page to order it. Much to my surprise, there were already 103 people waiting for it. However, they do have 25 copies so it may not take too long, I hope. It looks as though she has already got a best seller, The Girl on the Train, maybe I should try that first whilst I am waiting. I have just finished reading Echoes in Death by J.D. Robb, the stories with Eve Dallas as the cop. I love this series of books. Having written this, I checked on the first Paula Hawkins novel and it is available so have ordered it. Made me start thinking - what exactly makes a best seller? I have friends who have written excellent books some of which have sold a bit and others have kind of stagnated. These authors put their heart and souls into these books and it is such a shame if they don't get read by many people. (Later) I now have The Girl on the Train to read.

Bowling was pretty awful Monday, I only got one strike all afternoon. Matt got two or three and managed to beat me at every game. Turns out our friends, whom we met originally on Thursday bowling, haven't had a strike in the last two weeks!!!

Monday evening I made the Cooking Light version of Kung Pao Chicken so I decided to try it with

Cauliflower Rice. I tried to grind up a whole cauliflower at once, I learned that didn't work, will not make that mistake again. Anyway, once you have the cauliflower you can cook it easily in the microwave. You put it in a microwave safe bowl, cover with plastic wrap, heat for 2 minutes, stir and heat another 2 minutes. It is 10 calories a cup as opposed to rice which is 108. It is not exactly the same as rice obviously, but not bad at all. We both enjoyed it although it really retains its heat. You have to be careful.

Now, this recipe is, without doubt, one of my very favourite asparagus recipes. Although I got this from Closet Cooking it seems there are many sources for this recipe. You can serve it as is or use dipping sauces with the crispy spears.

Crispy Baked Asparagus Fries

1 lb asparagus, trimmed
1/2 cup flour
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
1/4 cup parmigiano reggiano (parmesan), grated
salt and pepper to taste
Alternatively used chopped almonds instead of parmesan

1. Dredge the asparagus in the flour, dip them in the egg and then into a mixture of the panko breadcrumbs, parmesan, salt and pepper.

2. Place the asparagus on a wire rack on a baking sheet and bake in a preheated 425F oven until golden brown, about 7-13 minutes.

Servings: 2

Source: Closet Cooking

Author Notes
Asparagus coated in panko bread crumbs and parmesan and baked until golden brown and crispy.

Have a great day
 

Saturday Recipe

I phoned the asparagus farm and they just had a small amount for sale on Friday so I went beetling over there and got myself 3 lbs. I ate some raw and I made a delicious salmon and asparagus dish. Recipe later.

We have to start with one of my favourites, Crispy Asparagus Fries. I could eat these forever although they are a bit messy to prepare. For those of you unfamiliar with them, Panko breadcrumbs are a Japanese product widely available. Panko is a Japanese-style breadcrumb traditionally used as a coating for deep-fried foods such as tonkatsu. The biggest difference between panko and standard breadcrumbs is that panko is made from bread without crusts, says Pam Becker, media representative for Progresso, which makes both types but they work to produce a crispy, crunchy food, whatever you use them for. I use them for baked or fried fish for instance.

Crispy Baked Asparagus Fries

1 lb asparagus, trimmed (if you have to) 
1/2 cup flour 
2 eggs, lightly beaten 
3/4 cup Panko breadcrumbs 
1/4 cup parmigiano reggiano (parmesan), grated 
salt and pepper to taste  
Alternatively used chopped almonds instead of parmesan

1. Dredge the asparagus in the flour, dip them in the egg and then into a mixture of the panko breadcrumbs, parmesan, salt and pepper.
2. Place the asparagus on a wire rack on a baking sheet and bake in a preheated 425°F oven until golden brown, about 7-13 minutes.

Servings: 2

Have a great day
 

Weather, Sausages.

The weather outside isn’t frightful
In fact it’s been delightful
The sun’s been in the sky
Don't let us us fry, let us fry, let us fry.

In fact Matt and I have been enjoying a few rays over the last few days. We do it very carefully to make sure we don’t fry. I have to admit I get annoyed with people who go outside in the sun, spend several hours, get badly burned and then say they don’t tan. Of course not. Matt and I spend 10 minutes the first day, 20 minutes the second, 30 minutes and so on. In this day and age, one is supposed to be super careful because of skin cancer too. Luckily I wear Avon creams most of which contain an SPF component which assists with protection.

Unable to think of something for supper on Thursday, I grabbed a couple of pork sausages out of the freezer. When we came home from bowling I decided I wasn’t terribly interested in them and anyway couldn’t think what to eat with them. I did a bit of Googling and came up with a recipe from Giada di Laurentis, one of my favourite TV Cooks, it is Sausages with Peppers and Onions.  I am not posting the recipe because I want to share another asparagus recipe with you. It shows the recipe served in a bun, but we had ours in soup bowls with a dinner roll on the side. It was pretty good. I may do the risotto I posted tomorrow, more time.

This is one of my favourite recipes for asparagus. It is delicious, crunchy and so easy to do. You can make a sauce (such as bechamel) to serve with these or just eat them as they are. I just eat them on their own.

Crispy Baked Asparagus Fries

1 lb asparagus, trimmed (if you have to)
1/2 cup flour
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
1/4 cup parmigiano reggiano (parmesan), grated
salt and pepper to taste  
Alternatively used chopped almonds instead of parmesan

1. Dredge the asparagus in the flour, dip them in the egg and then into a mixture of the panko breadcrumbs, parmesan, salt and pepper.
2. Place the asparagus on a wire rack on a baking sheet and bake in a preheated 425°F oven until golden brown, about 7-13 minutes.

Servings: 2

Have a great day

Asparagus, Learning Spanish.

I was hoping Sunday would be the day for the fresh from the farm asparagus. Sadly, they had asparagus but were limiting it to 1 lb. per customer. Very fair, but as we live an hour’s drive, there and back, away, it just wasn’t worth it. Hopefully today will be a different story. People are often surprised by the way I rave about asparagus from the farm, but honestly it is a whole different vegetable. Full of flavour, so good you can eat it raw, and you never have to break off the ends because it hasn’t been hanging around anywhere. Do me a favour and keep your fingers crossed for me today. I have posted the recipe below anyway for all the asparagus lovers out there and I know I am not alone.

I wrote about having lost/mislaid my Spanish CDs I am pleased to report I found them. However, I can only use them on my laptop, they are 32 bit. Something of a nuisance, however. The ‘free’ system I found not only wanted to charge me, but they wanted at least a year’s fees up front. That’s a largish chunk out of my budget. I have been using the CDs I bought a while back, don’t know why I didn’t use them when I bought them, and things are going well. I hadn’t realised their format, they teach you a whole bunch of words and then you play one of two games where they say the Spanish and you click on the picture or English for the item. There is also a section for repeating the words in Spanish. You can also print out the word list of the section you have been learning. You can choose a variety of categories too. Something learnt from the PC programme is that Spanish is the second most spoken language in the world, Chinese being the first. That does surprise me. When I bought these CDs I bought Portuguese and German too so I guess I should get on and use them too once I am through the Spanish course.

I hope all you Mothers had a wonderful day yesterday. For us, both our mothers are no long with us of course and I am only a step-mom.

This asparagus recipe is specially for JoJo, who said she too loves asparagus and prepared like this they are absolutely delicious, I hope you enjoy them.

Crispy Baked Asparagus Fries

1 lb asparagus, trimmed
1/2 cup flour
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
1/4 cup parmigiano reggiano (parmesan), grated
salt and pepper to taste
Alternatively used chopped almonds instead of parmesan

1. Dredge the asparagus in the flour, dip them in the egg and then into a mixture of the panko breadcrumbs, parmesan, salt and pepper.
2. Place the asparagus on a wire rack on a baking sheet and bake in a preheated 425F oven until golden brown, about 7-13 minutes.

Servings: 2
Source: Closet Cooking

Have a great day