Bowling, Weather, Disasters.

Bowling yesterday of course, and I actually had a good day with one very good game bearing in mind how long it has been for me to settle down to regularly bowling in a different alley. However, I didn’t find out til she had gone, but one of our close friends bowled really well and certainly beat me to a fare thee well with her scores. One of her games was 295 apparently, I didn’t get anywhere near that. Ah well, maybe next time. Bear in mind that for 5 pin bowling, a perfect score is 400. Yesterday's score could certainly earn her high single I think.

The weather was once again really sunny yesterday. I even saw pictures of people having their Thanksgiving dinners outside. Very unusual for October. However, we are told by the weather bureau that this is coming to an end today. Such a pity it has been delightful other than when I sit in my chair and try to use my laptop with the sun streaming in and I can’t see a damned thing. We always get lots of sun in the winter months, but it’s not usually so hot. In the summer we are lucky it doesn’t shine into our apartment.

Been a bad earthquake in the Philippines with, at the time of writing, 6 people dead. A friend reports on Facebook that there is extensive damage in the south. At least she and her family are OK. The cyclone Phailin appears to have accounted for 17 dead, last I heard, and also caused lots of damage. They say the massive evacuation kept many alive. However, it seems to have disappeared from the news reports already. Having gone through a bunch of hurricanes when we lived in North Carolina, I can very much sympathise with people who are hit by them. We were lucky in that we only lost 19 trees over the years and never sustained damage to our home unlike the picture above.

I have, over the years, made many a Hungarian Goulash. This recipe from Cooking.com seems very similar. I am very fond of all kinds of soups and I think this one sounds delicious.

Hungarian Beef-and-Potato Soup

Source: Quick from Scratch - Soups and Salads
Serves 4

Traditionally, this soup would be made with cubes of beef, but when you want a quick weeknight dinner, who can wait for meat to braise? We use ground beef instead. If you like your soup spicy, substitute hot paprika for some of the sweet paprika here.


INGREDIENTS
1 pound ground beef
1 large onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
2 tablespoons flour
1 pound boiling potatoes (about 3), peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 tablespoons paprika
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon dried marjoram
1 1/4 teaspoons caraway seeds
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon tomato paste
3 cups canned low-sodium beef broth or homemade stock
3 cups water

DIRECTIONS
Set a large pot over moderate heat. Add the ground beef and cook, stirring to break it up, until the meat is no longer pink, about 2 minutes.
Reduce the heat to moderately low. Add the onion and bell pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables start to soften, about 10 minutes. Stir in the flour. Cook, stirring, for 1 minute.
Add the potatoes, paprika, cayenne, marjoram, caraway seeds, salt, tomato paste, broth, and water. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes.

Variation:
Use one cup of wide egg noodles instead of the potatoes. You'll only need to simmer the soup for about five minutes, since the noodles don't take quite as long to cook.

Have a great day