Books, Bowling and Parade.

I just finished A Blight of Mages, another brilliant book from the devious mind of Karen Miller. I don’t know how these Australian girls manage to be such super authors but I’m very glad they do. This book is a sort of prequel to The Innocent Mage which is another excellent book. Glenda Larke is in the throes of a new book too, but is having trouble obtaining a contract, I personally cannot imagine why, she is another great writer.

Although it was Thanksgiving yesterday, our bowling alley was open and much to my delight, I bowled up a storm despite all my aches and pains. I ended up with a 535 triple which, for me, is very good. However, that’s not good in a way as I wanted to bring down my average, not increase it. Ah well. There was by no means a full complement there, a lot of people were either cooking at home of visiting families, etc. Our apartment building was loaded with visitors. Lots of grandparents living here I guess. Not that it is a seniors building, but there are a lot of seniors here nevertheless.

The weather for the last few days has been gorgeous. I have been running around in sleeveless shirts and shorts again, it is quite incredible. I just wish it would last all winter, but that is to much to hope for unfortunately. We have even had to run the air conditioner a few times.

Saw a bit of the Oktoberfest/Thanksgiving parade on TV at the bowling alley, we had to take a roundabout route to get there as the main street was closed for the parade. Because I worked for a company right on King St. I could go and park there to watch the parade, but I never bother. There is always a Christmas parade too. This picture shows what happens for the rest of the day, and in fact for the rest of Oktoberfest week. Also, many overpriced schnitzels will be sold, pork though, not veal.

Don’t think I mentioned that I had read a report on the validity of PSA tests. According to the latest research, they figure the antigens using in the test are just as likely to pronounce cancer as all clear and the researchers are suggesting stopping PSA tests and finding something which is more effective. Matt is due to have one this week, I have faxed his urologist and said “is it really necessary?”. Holiday weekend, who know if we will get a reply.

Here’s a fairly simple chicken dish which I think I may shortly be trying. It came from South Beach.

Chicken With Cremini Cream Sauce
Description
Cremini mushrooms, also known as brown or Italian mushrooms, are a more flavorful variety of the button mushroom. They come in a range of sizes; try to find small ones for this elegant dish.

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients
4 (6-ounce) boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
8 ounces small cremini mushrooms, quartered
3 scallions, thinly sliced
1/2 cup lower-sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons reduced-fat cream cheese
1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary

Instructions
Season the chicken with 1/2 teaspoon of the salt and the pepper.
In a large nonstick skillet, heat 2 teaspoons of the oil over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook until golden brown, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate and keep warm.
Add the mushrooms, scallions, and remaining 1 teaspoon oil to the skillet. Cook over medium heat, tossing frequently, until the mushrooms have wilted, about 3 minutes.
Add the broth, cream cheese, rosemary, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt. Stir until the cream cheese melts, about 1 minute.

Return the chicken to the pan and bring to a simmer. Cover and cook until the chicken is cooked through and still juicy, about 5 minutes. Divide the chicken and sauce evenly among 4 plates and serve hot.

Nutritional information
Per serving:
256 calories
7 g fat (2 g sat)
4 g carbohydrate
42 g protein
1 g fiber
594 mg sodium

Have a great day

Extreme Lightning, Health Tips, Sea Turtle. Books.

A couple of interesting segments on GMA yesterday, one was about lightning storms in Venezuela where they have something like 300 such storms a year, usually around midnight, 40,000 bolts a day. Experts do not know why this particular area is subject to so much lightning. The pictures were pretty spectacular.

The second item was an interview with Dr. Memmet Oz who is a cardiothoracic surgeon and who has just come back from touring different countries where his television programme is aired. A couple of things I found interesting – from China he recommended T’ai Chi for which I have always been a great advocate, there is a video on GMA of a master doing three exercises taken from a T’ai Chi routine. From Australia he said blowing the didgeridoo is great for people with sleep apnea because it strengthens the muscles at the  back of the throat. Even if you happen to have a didgeridoo handy, they are not easy to play. Here is a video of Larry 'Winiwini' Gurruwiwi playing one http://youtu.be/DC9w4KWEgJE. Dr. Oz went on to recommend Noni Juice which comes from Hawaii. I have tried it, it doesn’t taste bad, but it is pretty expensive for all its health benefits, Robyn Roberts apparently can’t stand the taste so Dr. Oz said she could drink pineapple juice instead. He started off in Turkey where his parents still live and from there he particularly recommended hazel nuts and Purslane leaves for a good diet. He said the Turks eat Purslane mixed with yoghurt. I used to grow Purslane in NC it comes in all kinds of colours, but I didn’t know I could eat the leaves.

Another amazing story is about a sea turtle who’s shell was cracked by the propeller of a boat. The shell was repaired by a combination of vets, biotech firms and an orthodontist. I assume it is under sedation in the picture. Propeller accidents occur quite often in waterways where people are speeding up and down in their pleasure boats. Manatees are often damaged this way.

Not to be forgotten, I also finally received the case for my Kindle and also Glenda Larke’s last book in her Watergiver’s Trilogy Stormlord’s Exile, having got the first two I was really awaiting this last book anxiously. Actually it seems this month several of my favourite authors have new books coming out. I have a library book to finish before I can start the book though. If you haven’t yet read this trilogy, I can highly recommend it, as I can all of Glenda’s books. Karen Miller also has a new book out, a Blight of Mages which I am also sure will be a good story as all the rest in the series have been. What I don’t understand, how can they be selling used books already when the book has only just been published?

As usual I am passing on the recipe from Mushroom Canada which looks particularly delicious this time.

Mushroom and Pork Souvlakia

1 lb. pork tenderloin 500 g
3 tbsp olive oil 45 mL
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice 25 mL
1 large clove garlic, minced 1
1 1/2 tsp dried oregano 7 mL
1/8 tsp Each dried rosemary & black pepper 0.5 mL
16 medium whole fresh mushrooms 16
1 large lemon, cut into wedges 1
Wooden skewers

Cut pork tenderloin into 1”(2.5 cm) cubes. In a large glass bowl or resealable plastic bag mix oil with lemon juice garlic, oregano, rosemary and pepper. Add mushrooms and pork to mixture and toss to coat. Cover or seal and marinate 2 –24hours in refrigerator, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile soak skewers in water for at least 30 minutes. Alternate mushrooms, pork cubes and lemon wedges on or water-soaked wooden or metal skewers. Barbecue over medium high heat, about 5-7 minutes per side or until pork is slightly pink in the centre. Makes 4 servings.

Variation: Add pieces (1”/2.5 cm) of green or red sweet pepper and 1 tbsp (15 mL) oil to the marinade and alternate with other ingredients on skewers OR substitute lamb leg or chicken breast for pork
Tip: Instead of barbecuing the kabobs may be broiled in oven or cooked in 425ºF (220ºC) oven.
Nutritional Information:
Calories: 256, Sodium: 52 mg, Protein: 28.5 g, Fat: 13.6 g, Carbohydrates: 5.0 g, Dietary Fibre: 1.5 g

Have a great day

My Admiration Goes To:

Don’t forget to think healing thoughts for me this afternoon when I get my teeth extracted. I am not sure how likely I am to write a blog on Christmas Eve although I hope I will feel OK.

I have been having something of a discussion on Glenda’s website about trilogies or individual books. I generally don’t mind trilogies like those written by Glenda Larke or Karen Miller, but I do agree that a single book means you don’t have to remember events and characters from volume to volume. A good example of this is the book I am reading now, as I mentioned yesterday, I am reading Towers of Midnight which is No. 13 in the Wheel of Time series. This series was begun by Robert Jordan (who’s real name was James Oliver Rigney, Jr.) as I mentioned yesterday, the novels are being completed by Brandon Sanderson due to the unfortunate death of Robert Jordon. The first book was published in 1990 and there is still one more book to come. The current book is some 840 pages of novel with another 20 or so pages of glossary and maps and each one of the books has been of a similar size. How the hell one is expected to remember everything for 20 years, I do not know. Funnily enough, I do remember a lot, but every now and then something crops up and I have no idea who all the characters in a chapter really are, maybe I will be reminded later on.

The same situation applies to the James R.R. Martin A Song of Ice and Fire series, the last of which was published some 5 years ago. Another series, Earth’s Children by Jean M. Auel, is supposed to get another novel published in March next year (2004 was the last one). Meanwhile, we poor readers are supposed to keep all these characters in our heads. NOT easy.

At the same time, I have boundless admiration for Robert Jordan in the first place for conceiving and writing this vast series, but even further admiration for doing such a wonderful job of picking up the mantle and carrying on in such a way as to make it impossible to tell where one author left off and the other began. Having vaguely toyed with writing a book, ha ha, I have some concept of how difficult this is, and listening to published authors like Glenda Larke and Karen Miller, to name but two, discuss their anguish when they write and the problems of getting their work published in the first place, I don’t really know how anyone manages to achieve writing a novel in the first place.

For supper last night we had a dish I invented some 40 years ago and which was a favourite of both my hubbies although funnily enough we haven’t made it in many a long year. Basically you layer a casserole dish with slices of canned corned beef, cover it with cooked elbow macaroni and then make a cheese sauce with onions in it. Smother the pasta with the cheese sauce and bake it in the oven until everything is warmed through and the tomatoes are cooked. Around 30 minutes at 400 °F.

As an additional recipe, how about a holiday drink. This is certainly a new one on me, I just might give it a try although I do tend to drink Champagne for Christmas.

Lychee Martini

This sweet and sour drink is a great New Year’s cocktail.

Yield: 6

Ingredients

1 cup lychee juice (see note)

1/2 cup pink grapefruit juice, preferably fresh-squeezed

1/2 cup chilled vodka

Ice cubes

12 fresh lychees, peeled and pitted, or 1 can (398 ml/14 oz) lychees, drained

6 thin slices lime

Directions

1. Note: If you can’t find lychee juice, use canned lychee syrup.
2. In a cocktail shaker, combine the lychee juice, grapefruit juice, vodka and ice cubes. Shake or stir well. Strain into martini glasses. Garnish each drink with 2 lychees and 1 lime slice.
3. Idea: Freeze the lychees before putting them in the martinis.

Have a great day, not sure I will.

Entertainers and Entertainment from Oz.

What is it with Aussie actors these days. Mel Gibson is hitting the news with his violence towards his girlfriend and in fact from the tapes and transcripts sounds like a nasty piece of work. Such a shame because he has turned out a great body of work so far.

Then last night we watched Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles – we’d seen it before, but enjoyed it again. I wondered what he, Paul Hogan, was doing these days and discover he is in major trouble for extensive tax fraud and hiding millions in offshore tax shelters in conjunction with several others. I like his Crocodile Dundee movies, but seems he is going to end in jail with al this nonsense. Don’t know if I ever told you, put a similar hat on Matt and he looks just like Crocodile Dundee. Wish he had the money, although preferably not in illegal tax shelters.

Finished both my Rogue Agent books by K.E. Mills (Karen Miller see blog link this page) and am about to start Arch Wizard by Ed Greenwood. I know nothing about this book, but there is a dragon on the cover, nuff said!!!

I mentioned that we had a lot of tarragon in our “herb garden” (a few pots on the balcony) and I went hunting for a Chicken in Tarragon Sauce. I found one on Annie’s Eats which is a blog and from what I can see is all about food. We tried the recipe for dinner last night and thoroughly enjoyed it. If you want to read Annie’s Eats go to http://annies-eats.com/

As for the recipe itself:

Chicken in Tarragon Sauce Ingredients: 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves 1 Tbs. unsalted butter 1 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste 3 Tbs. chopped shallot 1 Tbs. chopped fresh tarragon 1/2 cup heavy cream Fresh lemon juice, to taste (optional) Chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley for garnish Directions: Trim any excess fat from the chicken. Rinse and pat dry with paper towels. One at a time, place a chicken breast half between 2 sheets of waxed paper or plastic wrap. Using a rolling pin, flatten to an even thickness of about 1⁄2 inch. In a large sauté pan or fry pan over medium-high heat, melt the butter with the olive oil. When hot, add the chicken, season with salt and pepper and sauté gently, turning once, until the chicken is golden and opaque throughout and the juices run clear when the meat is pierced with a knife, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer the chicken to a warmed plate and keep warm. Pour off any excess fat from the pan and place the pan over medium-low heat. Add the shallot and sauté, stirring, until translucent, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the tarragon and cream, increase the heat to medium and stir with a wooden spoon, scraping up any browned bits from the pan bottom and blending well. Cook, stirring, until bubbling and thickened slightly, 2 to 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice. Return the chicken to the pan and turn each breast several times in the sauce until well coated and hot. Transfer the chicken to a warmed serving plate or individual plates and spoon the remaining sauce over the chicken. Sprinkle with parsley and serve immediately.

Source: Williams Sonoma

Have a great weekend.

Paypal, Blogger, Cousin,

I've had a Paypal account for years, I rarely use it mind you, but once in a blue moon I have to - every time, I have to close my old account (or get them to) and open a new one. What a pain. I've been messing around with it all for the last half hour or so and all because I wanted to buy Matt a yukata. What is that you ask, its a Japanese men's lounging kimono. He's had one for a number of years which was given to him by a very good friend who, being a Marine at the time, was stationed in Japan for a while. He has used it as a robe, dressing gown, whatever you like, for years, but now it is getting a tad thin where he sits - and being Matt, fidgets. Nope, the guy doesn't come with it. I have still to go back and open a new Paypal account in order to buy it. Why they can't use Visa like anyone else I don't know. Interesting story this morning about Blogger.com or its parent Google being sued in order to get the name of a person blogging defamatory remarks about a model, Liskula Cohen. Click here for the story and video. I don't know if this court case will actually put a stop to such things, it does seem to me that Blogger and Google are something of a law unto themselves, but this time they had to divulge the information. Mind you there are some nasty people out there, Karen Miller just blogged about someone attacking her because she pointed out they were parked in a wheelchair spot and were perfectly 'able' and presumably had no sticker or plate. Luckily she managed to lock herself in her car before the person got to her. I was delighted, this morning, to get an email from a cousin I haven't heard from since 1987. She and her two sisters were brought up by my parents once they became orphaned. I didn't realise she lived in Portugal and was certainly there when we visited the country. If we'd known we could have visited. At the moment she and her sister live there, the third sister lives in the UK these days. She is the middle one of the three little girls here who were my bridesmaids in 1962. That is such a long time ago. Another newsletter from Eating Well and I just couldn't resist this recipe, it looks so delicious in the picture and of course the recipe contains chocolate, well cocoa. Swirled Cheesecake Brownies Makes 24 bars Ingredients Cheesecake topping 4 ounces reduced-fat cream cheese (Neufchatel) ¼ cup sugar 1 large egg 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour 1 tablespoon nonfat plain yogurt ½ teaspoon vanilla extract Brownie layer ⅔ cup whole-wheat pastry flour ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder ¼ teaspoon salt 1 large egg 2 large egg whites or 4 teaspoons dried egg whites (see Ingredient note), reconstituted according to package directions 1 ¼ cups packed light brown sugar ¼ cup canola oil ¼ cup strong brewed (or prepared instant) coffee or black tea 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Coat a 7-by-11-inch brownie pan or baking pan with cooking spray. 2. To prepare topping: Place cream cheese in a small mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Add sugar and beat until smooth. Add egg, flour, yogurt and vanilla; beat until well blended. 3. To prepare brownie layer: Whisk whole-wheat flour, cocoa and salt in a bowl. Place egg, egg whites and brown sugar in a large bowl and beat with the electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Add oil, coffee (or tea) and vanilla; beat until well blended. Add the dry ingredients and beat on low speed just until well blended, stopping once to scrape down the sides. 4. Scrape about half of the brownie batter into the prepared pan. Slowly pour the topping evenly on top. Drop the remaining brownie batter in large dollops over the topping. Draw the tip of a sharp knife or skewer through the two batters to create a swirled effect. 5. Bake the brownies until the top is just firm to the touch, about 20 minutes. Let cool completely in the pan on a wire rack. Coat a knife with cooking spray and cut into 24 bars. The brownies will keep, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. (Alternatively, bake brownies in an 8 1/2-by-12 1/2 -inch foil pan, wrap well and store in the freezer for up to 3 months.) Bring to room temperature and cut into bars shortly before serving. Ingredient Note: Dried egg whites are convenient in recipes like this one because you don't have to figure out what to do with 4 egg yolks. Look for powdered brands like Just Whites in the baking aisle or natural-foods section or fresh pasteurized whites in the dairy case of most supermarkets. have a great day.

Passwords, Books and Authors,

I was thinking this morning just how much I hate passwords. You have to have them for practically every site you visit on the web and then trying to remember them when and if you go back. Not so bad if you visit regularly, but those 'once in a while' sites its impossible. I have over four sheets in two columns of passwords printed from my Palm which is where I keep them listed. Its ridiculous. OK for the bank or such sites yes, but is it really necessary on non financial sites? There are all kinds of password remembering programmes, but the experts say its not safe to rely on them. Passwords drive me batty. I have been reading a new series of books by Lois McMaster Bujold called The Sharing Knife, I have read the first book, Beguilement and just have a few pages left on the second Legacy. I am really enjoying them. I don't think I have read this author's works before although I am very familiar with her name so I am not sure why - oops, yes I have read her books before, the Miles Vorkosigan series which I loved. I read them several years ago and had forgotten who wrote them, no wonder I am enjoying The Sharing Knife. Once you find an author you enjoy, one normally likes everything they write - witness Glenda Larke and Karen Miller (see blog links this page) I have enjoyed everything I have read written by them. Elizabeth Moon is another author I really like. For supper tonight Matt is making a Greek zucchini (courgette) dish that we have had before and really like. I thought I would share it with you. There are dozens of recipes for it, this one comes from Mediterranean Cooking for Pleasure. For those of you who don't know how to make a Béchamel sauce, I have included a recipe below. Kolokythia Papoutsakia (Little Zucchini Slippers) 8 zucchini 1 medium onion, finely chopped butter 1 lb minced beef or lamb salt, pepper and cinnamon 1 tomato, blanched, peeled and chopped 1 1/4 cups Béchamel sauce 1 egg Grated Parmesan Allow 2 small zucchini per person and poach them in boiling salted water until they are soft. 10 to 15 minutes. Split them in half and scoop out some of the pulp. Cook the onion in a little butter. Add the minced meat, seasoning and tomato. Cook it on a low heat. Fill the halved zucchini with the mixture and arrange them tightly in a baking dish. Beat the egg and add it, with a little cheese, to the Béchamel. Spoon some of it on each papoutsakia. Sprinkle on some grated cheese and brown under a grill or in the oven. Basic Béchamel Sauce French Food at Home * 1 cup milk * A piece of onion or garlic * 1 x bay leaf * 1 to 2 Tbsp butter * 1 to 2 Tbsp flour * salt and pepper 1. Steep the milk with a piece of onion or garlic and a bay leaf for 15 minutes. Melt the butter in a saucepan. Whisk in the flour and cook for a minute. Gradually whisk in the milk. Cook, stirring constantly, until thick. Season. 2. For thick béchamel, use ratio of 2 tablespoons butter + 2 tablespoons flour for 1 cup/250 ml milk 3. For very thick béchamel for soufflé base: 3 tablespoons butter, 5 tablespoons flour, 1 cup/250 ml milk. It makes the soufflé more stable. Have a great day.

Books, Fractals, Secret Rooms, Snow

I forgot to mention, yesterday, I have finished The Riven Kingdom by Karen Miller, it was a great read, I thoroughly enjoyed it. On enquiry I find that in fact the third book, Hammer of God, is actually published, in Australia. It will not be available in North America til January, boo hoo, I want to read it NOW. I want to know how they defeat the hordes of Mijak. The main character of the book I have just finished has done, or is about to do, some silly things which will make life difficult for her in the last book!!!!!! I watched a fascinating programme on Nova last night, all about fractal geometry, yes, really. An absolutely enthralling programme. I am not going to pretend I understood it completely, but I certainly got a very interesting grasp on what it was all about and will watch it again - you can read about the programme here and find a link to the video. Because a man called Benoit Mandelbrot wrote a book about fractals, a computer scientist discovered a lot about making graphics on computers. That was in the early days. Now they are using the fractal theories to discover all kinds of things, from natural history to the working of human bodies. I couldn't begin to explain it to you but I can highly recommend you watch the video - you will need an hour to spare. I sat completely enthralled. The picture on the left is known as the Mandelbrot Set. The basic fact is that these patterns repeat virtually ad infinitum although you can't see them by eye, the computer can. The mathematics couldn't even be worked out properly without computers as it would take forever to do the calculations. They showed possible ways of following the blood flow of cancerous and non cancerous tissues in the body by using this geometry on ultra sound pictures. Plus by cutting down a tree (it was dying anyway) in a forest, taking the appropriate measurements and using fractal geometry, they can calculate how much CO2 a given forest can absorb. This morning there was a whole suite of rooms which had been built secretly under the Greenbrier Hotel, Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. It turns out they were built as a fall out shelter and could accomodate the whole government. Everything is down there that could be needed, fully stocked kitchens, bunk beds made up and ready to be used, TV studios, with a picture of the White House on the wall which might have been rubble if the government were down there!! The rooms were behind bomb blast doors and the majority of the hotel staff did NOT know the rooms were there. There were four men on duty in a room with a closet which turned out to be one of the entries. The men were supposedly TV repairmen for the hotel although their actual job was to maintain the secret shelter. Greenbrier is a hotel patronised by royals and presidents by the way. This morning we woke up to the white stuff all over the grass and roofs. Not, thank goodness, settled on the roads so driving is fine. Yesterday I was listening to BBC Cumbria (UK), a friend is a presenter on that station and I caught their weather forecast. Didn't sound much better than ours. Certainly a lack of visibility on the fells, that is very hilly country. The area is known as the Lake District. Never did get to visit that part of England, it is supposed to be very beautiful. Last night we had shrimp gumbo for supper, I had the gumbo prepared in the freezer and just peeled some shrimp to cook in the heated sauce. It was good. I have been seeing several Polenta recipes on TV lately, something we have eaten at home quite a bit. In fact, you can buy tubes of ready made polenta in the grocery store, although it is actually fairly simple to make. It is very much underused and makes a delicious change from the usual starch sources or potatoes and rice. Here is a recipe from the Three and Four Ingredient Cookbook. Dolcelatte is an Italian cheese and absolutely delicious, its name literally means soft milk. You can substitute several things if you can't find it. I have seen Roquefort and Camembert mentioned, also Mascarpone, but don't buy the stuff with a "gum" preservative in it as the gum makes the cheese sweet which is no good for something like this, OK if you are going to make a Tiramisu. Creamy Polenta with Dolcelatte Soft-cooked polenta is a tasty accompaniment to meat dishes. It can also be enjoyed on its own as a hearty snack. Serves 4-6 3 ¾ Cups milk 1 cup instant polenta 4 oz Dolcelatte cheese from the store cupboard 4Tbs extra virgin olive oil salt and ground black pepper. Pour the milk into a large pan and bring to the boil, then add a good pinch of salt. Remove the pan from the heat and pour in the polenta in a slow, steady strem, stirring constantly to combine. Return the pan to a low heat and simmer gently, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the olive oil. Spoon the polenta into a serving dish and crumble the cheese over the top. Season with ground black peper and serve immediately. Have a great day.

Bowling, Governments

How sad, the last bowling day of the summer league today. We have our lunch at 1 and then bowl three games, one straight, and two "silly". Like bowling with your other hand, or backwards through your legs etc. in one game and the other is called bowling bingo where you have a sheet of scores to check off and you all bowl like mad to try and get the scores first. I remembered to ice my thumb joint last night but I'm not sure I did enough to help today so maybe the rest through August will do it good. Grrr, Governments. I quit work last year and sent in a tax form showing my estimated income for 2008, after several months, they adjusted our pensions and supplements to reflect my lack of earnings for 2008. Friday I got a another form saying they have adjusted our pensions reflecting the tax filing for 2007 which has dropped our pensions considerably each month due to my salary in 2007. This morning I phoned and I have to fill out yet another form showing estimated income for 2008 which will take another 3 months for them to adjust. It seems to me it is yet another case of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing. I am not a happy camper. I have just finished reading Karen Miller's Empress in her Godspeaker Series - I enjoyed it, but I sure learned to intensely dislike the main protagonist, Hecat, however, Karen assures me that in her next book, Riven Kingdom, it talks about a different bunch and I will not come across Hecat too much. I am now reading an amusing book called Goblin Quest by Jim C. Hines, part of a series. The book is described as hilarious, I wouldn't go that far, put it is pretty funny in some places. Who would ever think you could empathise with a goblin. I think the cover alone is pretty funny, I hope you can make it out OK. I will certainly be reading the rest of this series. For those of you who know my love of dragons, no, I did not choose this book because of the dragon on the cover, I chose it because of a recommendation in one of my ezines, Recipe du Jour. Well, better get going, I don't want to miss my "banquet". Hope some of you enjoyed the River Cross puzzle I posted yesterday. When we visited Portugal I loved their pork stews, I have been trying to find one similar, this is one of the nearest I found on the Internet. I apologise, I don't remember the exact source. PORK STEW WITH CUMIN (Portugal) Portugese Servings: 6 Ingredients: 2 pounds boneless pork, cubed MARINADE: 1/3 cup dry white wine 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped 2 teaspoons lemon juice 2 teaspoons cumin 1 bay leaf salt and pepper to taste TO COOK: 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 large onion, finely chopped water or stock (if needed) TO SERVE: 10 large pitted black olives lemon wedges for garnish Instructions: Marinate pork in mixture of white wine, garlic, lemon juice, cumin, bay leaf, salt, and pepper in refrigerator for 6 hours. Remove pork from marinade and reserve liquid. Sauté pork and onion in oil until pork is browned. Add marinade and bring to a simmer; cook 30 minutes. Add water or stock if necessary to keep it moist. Scatter with olives and serve with lemon wedges. Have a great day.