Medical, Afternoon Visit, Meals on Wheels.

Having been out most of the day, I don’t have a lot to say. Matt and I both came through our diabetes clinic with flying colours. All our readings from the last test were excellent, only thing is, Matt’s good readings are achieved without medication. In fact as far as I can see he is NOT diabetic at all. As for my pain (see yesterday) I am being sent for an abdominal ultrasound and if that doesn’t show anything, I might have to have a ‘something’scopy, not sure what she said. Didn’t like the sound of it either. I am also a tad low on iron so have to take some pills, every other day is fine. One tip she gave us, take the iron pill with a little orange juice which helps increase its strength and lessen the effects of constipation which result from iron pills. Useful to know.

Afterwards we visited some friends and incredibly sat outside in the sun sipping wine and eating snacks. For this time of year it is wonderful to be able to sit out like that. Another friend came to join us and we had lots of great conversation and a delightful afternoon.

Had to get back as we had taken in our neighbour’s Meals on Wheels – I had told him I didn’t know what time we would be back, he too had a doc appointment this morning. When he asked us to take it in for him it made me wonder about it, I knew nothing about it, I looked it up and discovered you can get a full meal for $7.50 which doesn’t seem to bad. The sample menus appear to be pretty varied, however, I am not sure what they would taste like, for instance, neither Matt and I like our beef well done unless it’s in a stew or something and to me, mashed potatoes and gravy as I think it would arrive would be totally unpalatable. I am not a big fan of gravy or mash. I make gravy myself when doing a roast and I only eat a very little of that. To me, that picture looks most unappetising. One thing I did find, the same government office does housekeeping services for $14 an hour, I pay my cleaner $19. Matt’s comment was that they would probably bot be as good, I agree, this woman is one of the best I’ve ever had.

Said I had nothing to say didn’t I? Thursday is bowling again of course.

I love Gazpacho so this different take on it sounded pretty good. I found this at Cooking.com through their email.

Grilled Tomato Gazpacho

Source: © EatingWell Magazine
6 servings, 1 scant cup each

Grill the vegetables for this refreshing soup earlier in the day or even the night before. We sometimes serve the gazpacho in clear Spanish wine tumblers to show off the rich color.
Make Ahead Tip: Cover and refrigerate for up to 1 day. Stir to recombine and garnish just before serving.

INGREDIENTS
2 pounds ripe plum tomatoes
1 small red bell pepper
1 English cucumber, peeled and seeded, divided
1/2 cup torn fresh or day-old country bread (crusts removed)
1 small clove garlic
2-3 tablespoons red-wine vinegar
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1/4 teaspoon piment d’Espelette (see Ingredient Note) or hot Spanish paprika or pinch of cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Ingredient Note: Piment d’Espelette is a sweet, mildly spicy pepper, from the French side of the Basque region, ground into powder.

DIRECTIONS
Preheat grill to medium-high.

Grill tomatoes and bell pepper, turning a few times, until they soften and the skins are blistered and charred in spots, about 8 minutes. Transfer the pepper to a plastic bag and let it steam until cool enough to handle. Peel off the skin; cut the pepper in half and discard the stem and seeds. Place one half in a blender. When the tomatoes are cool enough to handle, core and roughly chop. Add the tomatoes, skins and all, to the blender.
Add half the cucumber to the blender along with bread, garlic, vinegar to taste, parsley, piment d’Espelette (or paprika or cayenne), salt and pepper. Blend until smooth. Add oil and blend until well combined. Refrigerate until room temperature or chilled, at least 1 hour.

Before serving, finely dice the remaining cucumber and bell pepper; stir half of each into the gazpacho and garnish with the remaining cucumber and bell pepper.

Have a great day.