Humour, Cleaner, PSW, Dementia,

A guy spilled all the Scrabble letters on the road so I asked him "What's the word on the street?". Well, I laughed.

That was probably the best part of my day. The major part of it was a guts ache to end all guts aches. Caused, I assume, by my IBS. By now it has more or less disappeared, but Matt has been nagging me all day about things and all I could think of was the pain in my stomach.

The cleaner came slightly early and made the beds before the PSW came. I asked him not to use the hand towel by the sink, however there are two perfectly good towels right next to the bath, but he still went and got out a fresh one.?? I think he was trained in a hospital or something, gotta talk to him about it again.

My new cleaner is very good. I explained to her about the bath stools and when Matt was doing exercises she sneaked the new one in his bath and brought the old one back. Eventually the PSW left and the cleaner got on with her cleaning. She does a pretty good job. Forgot, the PSW described me as a beautiful woman. Made my day, he was talking to Matt who carried on about whatever was on his mind at the time. Feels good at 81 though.

Later we had the place to ourselves, I had planned to wash the sheets but just wasn't up to it. I made lunch for the pair of us and then spread myself out in my lounger and went to sleep. Later, I was awoken by Matt fussing about something wrong in his bathroom. Turned out, when I had staggered along to check, the extractor fan had been turned on as well as the heat lamp. By mistake I assume. A bit later he said someone had come into the apt, during the night and there was something missing. It was the plug from the sink which had been put in a different place. One more time, he said there was something wrong - this time it was the bath stool which I had kind of expected. I said it had come from my bathroom and he seemed quite happy. What happened to all the fuss from the other day??

I forgot to mention he put on a jacket because he said it was cold and later dragged me along the corridor to show me all the coats which didn't belong to us. Of course they did. Then last night he got up at about midnight and the next thing I knew he had his dressing gown on. I had to persuade him to go back to bed.

Guess what, I'm tired. Walking up and down our hallway would be nothing to most of you, for me it is a painful effort by the time I have done it more than once.

Sorry about the grousing, been a rotten day. By the way, Denise suggested an 8 inch dish to do those onions. Would not work in my air fryer. Will have to see if I have some smaller dishes which would be suitable.

Ultimate Chocolate Mousse

The key to this recipe is to use the very best semisweet dark chocolate you can find—we like

Valrhona. The better the chocolate, the better the mousse.

8 oz semisweet dark chocolate, broken into
1/2-inch pieces
6 large eggs, separated
3 Tbs water
1/4 cup sweet liqueur (such as Chartreuse, amaretto, mandarin, or Grand Marnier)
2 cups heavy cream
6 Tbs granulated sugar, divided
Whipped cream and grated chocolate, for garnish

1. Place chocolate in top of a double boiler over simmering water, and cook over low, stirring occasionally, until chocolate is melted. Remove from heat, and set aside. These days you can melt chocolate in the microwave so long as you know what you're doing.

2. Place egg yolks and 3 tablespoons water in a heavy saucepan; cook over very low, whisking vigorously and constantly, until yolks begin to foam and thicken, about 6 minutes. Whisk in liqueur, and cook, whisking constantly, until sauce thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon, 6 to 8 minutes. (The sauce should achieve the consistency of a hollandaise or sabayon.) Remove from heat. Pour through a fine wire-mesh strainer into a bowl; discard solids.

3. Fold melted chocolate into sauce. Transfer chocolate mixture to a large bowl, and set aside.

4. Beat cream with an electric mixer on high speed until stiff peaks form, 2 to 3 minutes, beating in 2 tablespoons sugar toward the end. Fold into chocolate mixture.

5. Using electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat egg whites on high speed until soft peaks start to form, about 1 minute. Beat in remaining 1/4 cup sugar, and continue beating until stiff peaks form, 2 to 3 minutes. Fold into chocolate-cream mixture.

6. Spoon mousse into a bowl, and chill until ready to serve, 4 hours or up to 24 hours. Garnish servings with whipped cream and grated chocolate.

Source: Food and Wine

Author Notes
In 2018, Food & Wine named this recipe one of our 40 best: To celebrate chocolate in its most delectable guises, we asked some of the best cooks—Julia Child, James Beard, Maida Heatter, and more—to share their favorite chocolate recipes. Craig Claiborne, who was the New York Times restaurant critic and one of the top food journalists at the time, shared his remarkable chocolate mousse, which could be reliably whipped up without tremendous effort. In his original headnote for the recipe, Claiborne says, “once in a rare while, I discover a formula for a dish that seems the ultimate, the definitive, the ne plus ultra. I am convinced that the finest chocolate mousse creation ever whipped up in my kitchen is the one printed here. As if you didn’t know, mousse means foam in French. This mousse is the foamiest.” The key to this recipe is to use the very best semisweet dark chocolate you can find—we like Valrhona. The better the chocolate, the better the mousse.

Have a great day, stay well, stay safe.
 

Dementia, Asparagus, Cleaning, Superintendent.

As I was explaining to Ivy of The Happy Whisk yesterday, in the comments section, one of the reasons I am writing about Matt and his Alzheimer's it to let others know just what it is like. I didn't know before it happened to me and I am ashamed now that when someone pointed out to me that a woman had a husband with Alzheimer's my reaction was "poor woman" and that was it. As I said to Ivy, I beg you, if you know someone in a similar situation, please reach out to them. Dementia is a very lonely disease for the caregiver as well as being frustrating, upsetting, and productive of many tears, it doesn't matter if the caregiver is male or female. It is also something that produces a terrific load of guilt because you believe you should be more patient, more understanding, kinder, you name it. In fact, in my experience, the patient themselves doesn't suffer nearly as much, basically because they don't know what is going on. The Alzheimer Society has a leaflet called Ambiguous Loss and Grief in Dementia. Meaning, that whilst you are still sharing a home with your spouse, you have actually lost that person you loved to dementia even though they are physically still with you.

Of course Covid-19 hasn't helped, being cut off from anyone else and being deprived of all association and assistance is a pretty dreadful position to be in. I said to one of the spouses I know, I would enjoy a real conversation, she agreed with me wholeheartedly. Thank God for the internet, it does help. What it would have been like in former years I dread to think. There is a group on Facebook for caregivers as well as other groups which I personally have not yet been in touch with. That's another thing, I don't have a lot of time. Over the years, I have been given a lot of leaflets and literature about what some group  or another does, particularly the health groups locally, but I don't have time to read all this stuff.

Some of my friends might be asparagussed out, but I certainly am not and I went over to the farm today, taking Matt with me, if I left him that long he would probably start to worry. and he tends to forget he can phone me. When I got there, they had made yet another arrangement which was OK for those who can walk, next time I will take a short cut. However, they had pre-packed the asparagus so you could just take as many bags as you wanted. Of course the walk carried you through their back rooms so you could see all the things they also sell. However, by the time I had staggered up the stairs, struggled to pick up four bags and walked the rest of the way, I wasn't remotely interested in anything else. One good thing driving there, most of  the main road is now newly paved and is a joy to drive on. For supper tonight, I decided Matt wasn't getting enough greens so I cooked asparagus. I was informed he didn't like these green beans. He liked them a few days ago!!

I am delighted to report that my neighbour who does some cleaning, has agreed to come and clean for me, not sure how permanent this is, but at least I know she will be good from reports I have heard. She is obviously being paid for her services and will start on Monday so I can tell the woman who is currently doing some cleaning for me as a volunteer that she doesn't have to come over any more. She has done a wonderful job helping me for the last few weeks and I am very grateful.

On the way back into the building this afternoon, I bumped into our superintendent. We had a longish chat about Covid-19 and I asked him if we had any more cases in the building, he said not that he had heard of but said the one person who did inform him, did so by accident. We discussed privacy as opposed to warning the rest of us and his comment was, common sense is not a flower that grows in everyone's garden. I thought it was a wonderful expression.

Anyway, here is yet another "green bean" recipe. If you too are asparagussed out, sorry, this goes on til around July 1 because I have never yet been asparagussed out.

Spicy Thai Asparagus Soup

2 Tbs (30 mL) canola oil
2  tbs green curry paste
1 can 400 mL coconut milk
1 ¼ lbs asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-inch lengths
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbs (15 mL) lemon juice


1. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high. Add curry paste; cook, stirring constantly, 1 minute. Add coconut milk and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer; cook until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in lemon juice

2. Heat oil in large saucepan set over medium heat; add asparagus, onion, garlic and lemon zest. Cook, stirring, until vegetables are softened, about 5 minutes.

3. Add coconut milk mixture.  Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes.

4. Tips: Serve garnished with blanched asparagus spear pieces. You can also puree this soup for an added creamy elegant touch. After cooking through to end of step #3, transfer soup, in batches, to blender. Blend until very smooth. Garnish as you would above and with a dollop of sour cream or yogurt. You can also use an immersion blender.

Servings: 4

Source: Food Network

Have a great day, stay well, stay safe.
 

Alzheimer’s vs Dementia, Burning Water.

Good Morning America are spotlighting Alzheimer’s this week. It has always been something of a bugaboo of mine as I have relatives (not actually in my direct line except for my grandmother) who have ended up with one kind of senile dementia or another if not actually Alzheimer’s. I must admit I am not quite sure what the difference is – look it up Jo. One of the big items on which they have been focusing is care giving and the strain on the care givers themselves. I think care giving is exceptionally hard, having done it briefly when Matt has had operations, I have some idea of what its all about. Better if you are fit, but still it cuts into your life and virtually takes it over. One thing GMA emphasised this morning is finding some kind of peer group with whom you can discuss problems of every day life and also spend some relaxing time away from the patient. I’ve never looked into what kind of assistance one can expect in Ontario, but in the States where so much has to be paid for, it must be pretty stressful all round. Yesterday they said Alzheimer’s is very much more likely for women – there are many millions of women patients in the States with the disease, much higher numbers than males with Alzheimer’s – and they have discovered it is likely to start during menopause but not really develop until some 20 years later. Plus, if you are diabetic it doesn’t help. Thanks guys, just what I wanted to know. That puts me smack in the middle of the the risk category. There was a comedian in the States a few years ago, an elderly man, he used to say “Alzheimer’s is fun because you meet new people every day”!! I suppose when you have the disease you don’t really know what’s going on anyway.  OK I looked it up http://tiny.cc/yi3dr it appears dementia is a symptom and Alzheimer’s is a disease. Dementia can be caused by several things some of which can be treated. Alzheimer’s is one of the illnesses which can cause dementia. In other words you can have dementia but it is not necessarily anything to do with Alzheimer’s.

Huh, Satima described my blog in part as covering the vicissitudes of life, I guess Alzheimer’s definitely comes under that category. If you want to know more of what has been covered by GMA so far, go to http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/ where they have links to all their segments.

I am currently reading Burning Water by Mercedes Lackey. If you have ever read any of her books, in particular the Valdemar series, this is a total departure from her usual subjects. The book is not new, published in 1989, but somehow I have never come across it before nor its partners, there were three of them about a detective and a witch. This is quite a horrific story about Aztec gods and serial killing for ritual sacrifice. I am, however, very much enjoying the story. I wouldn’t have been surprised to get nightmares last night though.

For some reason Mac and Cheese is a staple dish in North America. In many cases bought in a packet made by Kraft. I have seen shopping carts piled high with such packets. Is this a sign of lazy mums or stubborn kids I wonder. Anyway, Cooking.com produced this somewhat lighter version which I thought sounded good and which, somehow, I think will taste better than that found in a packet. Having said that, I will never forget that I made custard from scratch many years ago and found it tasted just like Birds Eye custard from packets.

Lighter Macaroni and Cheese

Source: Martha Stewart Living

Serve 8

To wit, these individual mac-and-cheese casseroles call for pungent Parmesan and extra-sharp cheddar, which means the noodles get away with less-than-usual amounts of cheese. Low-fat milk, chicken stock, and olive oil keep the sauce creamy.

INGREDIENTS

6 small vine-ripened tomatoes, (3-inch) , cut into twenty-four 1/4-inch-thick slices

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 1/2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves, plus sprigs for sprinkling

Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

5 slices white sandwich bread, with crust

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 pound elbow macaroni

2 cups homemade or low-sodium store-bought chicken stock

5 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

Pinch of cayenne pepper

2 cups low-fat (1 percent) milk

8 ounces (about 2 1/4 cups) extra-sharp cheddar cheese, grated

1 ounce (about 1/2 cup) Parmesan cheese, freshly grated

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spread tomatoes in a single layer on 2 rimmed baking sheets. Drizzle each sheet with 1 tablespoon oil; sprinkle each with 1/2 teaspoon thyme, and season with salt and pepper. Bake until tomatoes have softened, about 20 minutes. (Leave oven on.)

Process bread in a food processor until coarse crumbs form. Melt 1 tablespoon butter with remaining tablespoon oil in amedium skillet over medium heat. Add breadcrumbs, and toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper; set aside.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Add 1 tablespoon salt and the pasta. Cook pasta until almost al dente, about 5 minutes. Drain, and run under cold water to stop cooking. Transfer to a large bowl; set aside.

Whisk 1/2 cup stock into the flour in a medium bowl; set aside. Melt remaining tablespoon butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in nutmeg, cayenne, remaining 1/2 teaspoon thyme, and 1 teaspoon salt. Add milk and remaining 1 1/2 cups stock. Whisk in flour mixture. Bring to a boil, whisking frequently. Reduce to a simmer. Cook 8 minutes, whisking frequently. Add cheeses; cook, stirring, until melted. Pour over macaroni, stirring to combine.

Put eight 4 1/2-by-1 1/4-inch ramekins on a baking sheet. Put 2 tomato slices in bottom of each ramekin. Divide macaroni mixture evenly among ramekins. Top each with a tomato slice. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs and thyme sprigs. Bake until bubbling and golden brown, about 30 minutes. Serve immediately.

Have a great day