Killers, Cut Backs and Bald Eagles.

In the news, here in Canada, is the story about Luka Magnotta who is accused of killing and dismembering a young Chinese student in Montreal. Magnotta was apprehended in Berlin, Germany and has been flown home. At the same time I am reading some cop novels which include similar horror stories and one tends to dismiss it as fiction, but of course it isn’t. I am not sure writers can think of anything which hasn’t been done before. Looking at a picture of Magnotta today I am wondering just what makes someone do such horrific things – I suppose there are researchers studying the behaviour and brains of criminals like this, I can’t believe in this modern age we haven’t figured out some way to predict these tendencies. You could say he looks like a killer, I think he just looks like a sulky and maybe somewhat pissed off young man. Matt, who was a prison officer for a large part of his life, frequently got asked what a criminal looked like. His standard reply was “you”. It is perfectly true that some of the most horrific killers do look like ordinary people. Even the serial killer, Robert Pickton, doesn’t look like what he is although photographers have tried to make him look worse. Another couple of serial killers who come to mind are Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka, can you honestly say, looking at this photograph, you would have expected them to be killers? He, in particular looks such a nice young man. I suppose officialdom cannot go around looking at the brains of everyone to see if they have the potential of harming others. Maybe they should analyse the brains of all killers though and see if they can identify something in common. There has surely got to be something somewhere that makes these people turn into beasts.

I am beginning to hear more and more about the government having cut back on what they are paying our doctors and that now the doctors cannot afford to administer tests to patients which they previously offered. There was a segment on the news last night with Matt’s cardiologist, Dr. Pandey, in the forefront. I believe he is a very active campaigner for doctor/patient rights. He certainly campaigned to get the drug Pradax paid for by the health system. That seemed a logical step to me because on Cumadin the patient has to have frequent blood tests which was costing the government more than paying for Pradax will. However, that doesn’t help with all the other cut backs which doctors are experiencing. I wonder why it is that when governments want to cut costs they attack services like health, schooling and old age? Their own salaries and pensions are sacrosanct.

Apparently researchers are very worried about lead poisoning in eagles and in P.E.I . at the Atlantic Veterinary College they have been taking blood samples from eaglets to see if it is passed on by the parents. Interesting, they climb a tree, put the eaglet (which is quite large) in a  5 gallon bucket, bring it down, take a sample and then climb back up the tree to replace the nestling. The researchers seem to think that a lot of the problem is the use of lead bullets for hunting – the adults are consuming the lead from dead critters and bringing it back to their nests. A lot of adult birds have been found dead with lead poisoning. With all the problems they have faced I am surprised we have any Bald Eagles left. They are yet another critter which is hunted for its feathers and claws which are valuable apparently. People will do anything for money. I remember buying a furry wolf skin purse when I visited Greece. Now I know better, and wouldn’t touch it with a barge pole, but at the time I thought it was a wonderful thing to have. People buy such stuff through ignorance, but there are many more who buy it in the full knowledge of what it costs the bird or animal to provide them with what they want. That’s why I have a sign which says Tiger parts belong to Tigers, this applies to any critter.

I thought this recipe sounded pretty good. If it has asparagus in it, it attracts my attention.

Penne with Roasted Asparagus and Balsamic Butter

Contributed to Food & Wine by Quick From Scratch Pasta

SERVINGS:4

Simmering the balsamic vinegar both mellows and thickens it. When tossed with the hot pasta and the butter, it forms a smooth, uniquely flavored sauce.

 More Fast Pasta Recipes

1. 1 pound asparagus
2. 1 tablespoon olive oil
3. 2 teaspoons salt
4. 1/2 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper
5. 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
6. 1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
7. 1 pound penne
8. 1/4 pound butter, cut into pieces
9. 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving

1. Heat the oven to 400°. Snap the tough ends off the asparagus and discard them. Cut the spears into 1-inch pieces. Put the asparagus on a baking sheet and toss with the oil and 1/4 teaspoon each of the salt and pepper. Roast until tender, about 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, put the vinegar in a small saucepan. Simmer until 3 tablespoons remain. Stir in the brown sugar and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Remove from the heat.
3. Cook the penne in a large pot of boiling, salted water until just done, about 13 minutes. Drain the pasta and toss with the butter, vinegar, asparagus, Parmesan, and the remaining 1 3/4 teaspoons salt. Serve with additional Parmesan.

Variations:

• Penne with Roasted Broccoli and Balsamic Butter When asparagus is not in season, cut 1 pound of broccoli into small spears for roasting. Toss them with 2 tablespoons oil and 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper and roast for about 15 minutes. Continue with step 2.

• Penne with Roasted Vegetables, Toasted Nuts, and Balsamic Butter Toss in 1/3 cup of toasted pine nuts, hazelnuts, or walnuts at the end with either asparagus or broccoli.

Have a great day

D Day, Water, Murderer, Strawberries and Asparagus

Writing in advance, it suddenly occurred to me that today is the anniversary of D Day which took place in 1944. 68 years ago today.The invasion of Normandy which was totally unexpected by Hitler and his high command. I don’t remember it,  but Matt says he does. But then he’s muuuuuch older than I am!!!!
I just read a Snapshot interview with Glenda Larke in which she mentioned water. Her last books certainly dealt with an arid country where there was a terrific shortage of water and having been brought up in Australia, Glenda really understands water shortages as she describes. She predicts that one day there will be wars about water, and I believe she could be right. Certainly in my part of the world we are extremely casual in our treatment of water, we bathe in gallons of it, we wash dishes in lots of it, we flush it down our toilets with gay abandon and never think twice about its conservation. These days there are some toilets out there which don’t use as much water and showers which have a restricted flow, but it really is only a pin prick in the gallons of water we all use on a daily basis. Ontario is full of water, or lakes, but their levels have been steadily falling over the years, the same can be said for the Great Lakes, part of global warming possibly, but they certainly have less water than they once did.

For centuries we have been using the seas and oceans of our world as garbage dumps without realising the consequences, such as the huge floating islands of garbage in  both the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. A lot of this garbage is plastic which is ingested by seabirds which, obviously, die. There is no money to be made by removing it, so nobody does anything about it although I saw a comment that maybe it could be mined for fuel. I don’t know if what’s out there can be burned or not. We do need to do something about it. It occurred to me that every country could contribute a sum to pay for the cleanup. Talking of this, people are so casual about their plastic bags and one sees them flying around on a windy day as though they were birds on the wing, damned dangerous ones.

I wrote last week about the body parts being sent in the mail to government offices. You may have read that Luka Rocco Magnotta has finally been caught and is in jail in Germany. Although he is 29, he looks like a kid to me. He certainly has to be off his rocker I would think. A friend thinks it’s a slam dunk for his conviction, but bearing in mind the twists and turns of the law, he may get away with it, one just doesn’t know. It will take a long time to go through the courts anyway. He is supposed to be a model with a stage career of sorts. He appears to have had several name changes in his life.

Yesterday, after very mediocre bowling on my part – I swore it was because we were bowling against the leaders and were intimidated, nobody believed me for some reason – we went to Barrie’s Asparagus Farm and they had strawberries on sale for the first time – I said they didn’t look very ripe, I was assured they were delicious and allowed to try one, they were delicious so I bought a couple of punnets and we enjoyed some for supper last night and have more for supper tonight. Served with Double Devon Cream of course. We used to get some of the best strawberries in Morehead City, North Carolina, but these are pretty good. Of course I bought asparagus although Tim Barrie says their production is down by 50% - due to the lack of that commodity I spoke about, water - and they will probably have to close early this year. He didn’t yet know when. How sad, just because this year it hasn’t really rained much in weeks.

Strawberry Shortcake is a very popular dessert in North America at this time of year, I must admit, I have never much fancied it, however, this chocolate version makes me change my tune somewhat. I am not sure what is meant by a cream whipper, but I am sure you have a method for whipping cream.

Chocolate Strawberry Shortcakes

Source: Cooking.com
6 servings
Rich chocolate shortcakes with sweetened strawberries, chocolate sauce and whipped cream. Shortcakes are fragile so be extra careful when splitting them for dessert.

INGREDIENTS
For the Shortcakes:
6 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
1/3 cup plus 2 teaspoons sugar
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 large egg
1/4 cup whole milk

For the Strawberries:
2 pounds strawberries, hulled, sliced
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups chilled whipping cream
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Chocolate Sauce

DIRECTIONS
FOR THE SHORTCAKES:
Preheat oven to 375°F.
Line heavy large baking sheet with silicone baking pad or parchment paper. Combine chocolate and 1/3 cup sugar in food processor and process until chocolate is finely ground. Add flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt; process until combined. Add butter and process until mixture resembles fine meal. Mix egg with milk in small bowl to blend; pour over flour mixture in processor and pulse just until combined. Spoon dough into six 3-inch mounds on prepared baking sheet, spacing evenly. Sprinkle with remaining 2 teaspoons sugar. Bake until cooked through, about 18 minutes. Carefully transfer shortcakes to rack. Cool completely.

DO-AHEAD TIP:
Shortcakes can be made 1 day ahead. Wrap individually in plastic and store at room temperature.

FOR THE STRAWBERRIES:
Toss strawberries and 1/4 cup sugar in large bowl. Let stand until juices form, stirring occasionally, about 1 hour.
Combine cream, sugar and vanilla in cream whipper.
Using serrated knife, carefully split shortcakes horizontally in half. Place bottom halves on each of 6 plates. Top shortcakes with strawberries, chocolate sauce, then whipped cream. Top with shortcake tops and serve.

Have a great day