Lolcats, Pet Doors, The Link

see more Lolcats and funny pictures I couldn't resist adding this. Karen Miller (Karen's Musings see link this page) often adds Lolcat pictures to her site and I was looking at some of them on the website and thought this was hilarious. I was talking about the dangers of Doggie Doors the other day, I must admit I hadn't thought of this one. A woman in Maryland came home one day to find she had a visitor on her couch curled up next to her Beagle. What a gorgeous little critter. Have you heard about Ida The Link? She is a 47 million yr. old primate fossil which was discovered in Germany and, incredibly, has opposable thumbs which is something not seen on later specimens. If you would like to read more about her click here to see the GMA article. Another incredible thing is that she has fingernails, not claws. They figure she broke her wrist and was unable to climb trees and that is why she died. Absolutely fascinating. Watched Giada di Laurentiis on TV yesterday, she cooked some good stuff as usual, but one which really appealed to me, was a tomato tart. She made it with Heirloom Tomatoes which she says are the best, like old fashioned tomatoes with a wonderful flavour. Now I am going to be on a hunt to see if anyone in our area grows Heirloom tomatoes. If not, I will use the best I can find, but I will probably season the tomatoes before I use them and if necessary add a sprinkling of sugar to improve the taste. Heirloom Tomato and Basil Tart Crust: 1 (9-inch) refrigerated pie crust (recommended: Pillsbury) Basil Pesto (see below) 2 med (12 ounces) heirloom or 4 plum tomatoes, cut into 1/8-inch thick slices 2 Tbs thinly sliced fresh basil leaves Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling Kosher salt Freshly ground pepper 1 Place an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Place the pie crust on an ungreased baking sheet and bake for 7 minutes until lightly golden. Cool for 20 minutes. 2 Using a spatula, spread the pesto over the cooled crust. Arrange the tomato slices on top of the pesto and garnish with the sliced basil. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Cut the tart into wedges and serve. Servings: 4 Cooking time: 7 minutes Source: Giada Di Laurentiis Cook's Notes: To toast pine nuts, place on a baking sheet in a single layer and bake for 8 to 10 minutes in a preheated 350 degree F oven until lightly browned. For those of you who do not have a basil pesto recipe, here is the one I use, you will see above that Giada tells you how to toast pine nuts, my recipe tells you a different method - either method is perfectly acceptable. Classic Basil Pesto 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, divided 1/4 cup pine nuts toasted 2 cups fresh basil leaves 2 cloves garlic 1/2 tsp salt 3/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese 1 In a small skillet set over medium-low heat, toss the pine nuts with about 1 tbsp of olive oil, stirring constantly just until they begin to turn golden, about five minutes. Be careful not to let the pine nuts burn. 2 Transfer the toasted pine nuts to the container of a food processor or blender and add the remaining olive oil, basil leaves, garlic and salt. Blend until almost (but not entirely) smooth, scraping down the sides of the container once or twice so that it blends evenly. 3 Add the parmesan cheese and process just to mix. Have a great day.

Cooks, Pet Door Safety, GMA Olympics.

Last night I went to deliver some Avon to a new customer who mentioned she was going up north. When I enquired where, it turns out she is going to work in a Lodge north of Thunder Bay which can only be reached by air, so then I asked "doing what", "cooking", she said. It turned out that not only did she cook but her friend, who was visiting, owns a restaurant and her mother used to cook for a restaurant in the area. Obviously, I felt right at home in this nest of cooks. Of course I had to give them my blog address. The product I delivered was Avon's Skin So Soft bath oil which has a fantastic reputation as a bug repellant and there tend to be a lot of bugs up north, particularly black fly which have a fearsome reputation and which, thankfully, I have never encountered. Skin So Soft is useful for a lot of other things they claim, if you are interested click here where there is a long list of its uses. You can even use it as a bath oil! Just caught a segment on GMA about the dangers of doggie doors to children. Apparently over 100 children have been killed because they could get through the doors. Sorry, didn't you know your child was about the same size as your dog? Don't you know children will explore and try out anything they possible can? Now the makers of the pet doors are being sued and knowing the courts, the manufacturers will probably lose. Don't get me wrong, I think it is a terrible tragedy that these children have died, but I don't think it is the manufacturer's fault but rather the parent's. If you have small children you should NOT have a doggie door and you should NOT blame the manufacturer for the lack of warning. If you want to read the article click here. Look at the picture. A German Shepherd is bigger than a lot of toddlers and owners are claiming they didn't know their children would crawl through the door putting the kid in danger. Kids can disappear in seconds, you just have to turn your back, putting a big hole in your door is, in my opinion, just asking for trouble. Why don't people take responsibility for their own stupidity or thoughtlessness. It makes me mad. Its like the case of the hot coffee some woman spilled on herself. Why should MacDonald's have to pay because she burned herself by spilling hot coffee? I have burnt myself on my stove, maybe I should sue the manufacturers of the stove - hey I never thought of that, I could make money!!!! I once broke a finger between a dinghy and the quay, now who should I sue, the boat builder or the town who owned the quay? Not my fault I was stupid enough to have my hand there. There is a challenge on with the GMA anchors this week. They are working towards a mini Olympics on Friday. Yesterday they were learning to use a trampoline, today they were limbo dancing, not too successfully I might add, not sure what the rest of the week will bring. Its pretty funny to watch the four of them. This picture shows all of them watching a professional show them the tricks of jumping. As you can see, Dianne is doubled up with laughter. They all did pretty well on the trampoline, today Robin Roberts did very well on the limbo, Sam they lifted the bar for!! Didn't see the other two. If you don't know the anchors click here to see photos of the all at the top right of the page. With this recipe, it includes anchovy paste or an anchovy fillet. Please don't say you don't like anchovies. When used in a sauce or cooked into a dish, you can hardly discern their flavour although it gives a subtle something, or as the French would say "je ne sais quoi" to whatever you are making with them. I know people who have eaten a whole anchovy before now, big mistake, that is generally not how they are supposed to be eaten and won't taste very good. Don't leave them out of this recipe, it really will spoil it. If you don't want to try it in case, come on over and I will make it for you. Asparagus with Anchovies & Garlic Source: Eating Well 4 tsp extra-virgin olive oil 2 Tbs minced garlic 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper 2 bunches asparagus, tough ends* trimmed, cut into 1-inch pieces 1 Tbs water 2 tsp anchovy paste or 1 anchovy fillet, minced Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic and crushed red pepper and cook, stirring constantly, until the garlic is fragrant, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Add asparagus, water and anchovy; cook, stirring often, until the asparagus is tender-crisp, 5 to 6 minutes Servings: 4 Yield: about 3/4 cup each * If you buy it directly from Tim Barrie's Asparagus farm (or a farm near you), you will not have any tough ends. The ends don't toughen up until the spears have been hanging around for several days. Have a great day.