Snow, Memorial Day, Crock Pot, Supper

Woke up to snow although it didn't seem to be much but it continued to snow and snow, a very light but continuous fall. In the end the roads, locally, where white as anything and Matt was quite certain we shouldn't go bowling. He does seem to get in a tizz about driving in the snow, particularly because of other drivers. I was actually not feeling all that brilliant in the morning anyway, so we didn't go. Not the only ones, about 10 people didn't turn up we were told.

Poor ladydog, she belongs to a band (actually a couple of them), plays the French horn, and they were due to play in a local township for Memorial Day at their cenotaph. Outside of course, I have no doubt she froze as it would have snowed right through the time she was outside.

Later in the afternoon, one of the owners of the bowling alley called to pick up my crock pot for his son. I was glad to give it to someone we know. Apparently son and girlfriend work different shifts so it will be great for them to come home to a hot meal. He told us this morning there had been an idiot driving at 50 mph around a roundabout in the snow.

Made chili in my Instant Pot - so easy - and we enjoyed it for supper. Then, after Jeopardy we watched The Dirty Dozen which is a favourite movie of mine. Have you seen it, if not you should.

Easy Instant Pot Chili

Cook time

Total time

This Instant Pot chili is amazing! Just dump all the ingredients in the Instant Pot and have this mouthwatering chili for dinner 25 minutes later! EASIEST CHILI EVER!

Author: MelanieCooks.com

Recipe type: Main Dish

Cuisine: American

Serves: 6 servings

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground beef or turkey
• 2 cans (15 oz each) black or pinto beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can (14 oz) tomato sauce
• 1 can (14 oz) diced tomatoes
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1½ tbsp chili powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• ½ cup water

Instructions

1. Put all ingredients except water in the Instant Pot. Mix with a spoon until the meat is broken up and all ingredients are combined.
2. With a spoon, make a well in the middle of the meat mixture so the bottom of the pot is exposed, and pour ½ cup of water there.
3. Close the Instant Pot and turn the valve to a Sealing position.
4. Press the "Pressure Cook" or "Manual" button and set the time to 20 minutes on High pressure.
5. When the Instant Pot is done cooking, let the pressure release naturally for 5 minutes, then quick release (QR) the remaining steam.

Notes

If using frozen ground meat, dump all ingredients in the Instant Pot and skip the step of mixing them (since you can't mix a frozen solid block of meat). Add 5 minutes to the cooking time. After the chili is cooked, break up the meat into small chunks and mix everything together.

Have a great day

Memorial Day, Dentist, PC,

We watched the Memorial Day Concert from Washington last night. I couldn't believe it was 74 years since D-Day or June 6. There were actually a couple of guys there who had been part of D-Day, didn't say how old they were, but they must have been in their 90s I guess. I was 6 when that happened. I found the whole show reduced me to tears in places, especially when they played TAPS. One part that really struck home, they were representing a woman who lost her husband, and said don't just say 'if you need help but call me', we won't do it, but come along with a meal, a helping hand, something and you will forever be appreciated. This is so very true. In a different scenario, my friend ladydog and another close friend of ours, really helped us both when I was sick last year. I didn't have to ask them and I can never really repay them. So, for you in the States, remember, if you know anyone who needs help, do what you can because they won't ask you for that help. For us in Canada and the UK we commemorate our veterans on November 11, Armistice Day.

Re my toothache, which I mentioned, I have been putting up with a lot of pain, intermittently, with some long gaps between bouts of agony! Coincidentally, the dentist called the other day and said they hadn't seen me for a while which kind of forced me into making an appointment. Sorry but I hate dentistry and guess I am a big coward. I decided to get a ride as I don't know what they will do, drill or extract, probably extract I think. Of course there is quite a walk from the parking area to the dentist's office, my luck it will probably be raining, which is one of my excuses for not going recently because I just couldn't have walked it, really! Mind you, Sunday being my champagne day, my toothache disappeared after a few sips.

I still don't have my PC back - but then he is moving and I don't suppose his wife would be too happy if he just disappeared on her. I know I wouldn't. However, tonight my laptop is working, it seems to be doing so intermittently too. Makes it a little bit difficult to select my groceries but I will post Monday evening so I do hope I can do so on this machine.

So, Happy Memorial Day to all my American readers, who come to think of it, probably won't be reading my blog today..

Have a great day
 

Memorial Day, Medical

I was very impressed to see that one young man was working through all the marker stones in one military graveyard by power washing them to get rid of the moss and grime accumulations. Others did other things like laying roses on the graves, but I thought the power washing was the best idea of all. I trust those of you who had family get-togethers had a successful and happy day. In our part of Canada the temperatures shot up to 31°C with a humidex up to 36°. Didn't seem too bad popping in and out of the bowling alley, but I wouldn't have liked to have been out for too long. I bowled pretty well by the way. If only I could always do the same in the league games.

Talking of which, might have a bit of a problem this week as we have to be at the Cosmetic Clinic for 3:45 for Matt to see the surgeon who removed his basel cells. This only really gives us a couple of hours to bowl.

Watched The Great Escape on TCM tonight. Not sure how many times I have seen that movie, had forgotten it was a true story. It really is an excellent film. Although Matt spots everything wrong - he really should have worked for a film company in the continuity and accuracy section. He drives me batty, he expects everything to be so literal and correct. Mind you, I am just as bad when reading a book, that drives me batty when I see printing or typing errors or just plain grammatical errors. When I see one's I make, I cringe.

Denise Hammond sent me some recipe pages today for asparagus and rhubarb. One tip was about freezing.

Freezing asparagus for later 
When there's an abundance of asparagus, wash and bake or grill it all. Take out some for dinner and shock the rest in cold water, drain, place in freezer bags and freeze. The whole spears, baked or grilled, have a better consistency than blanched asparagus.

I shall have to try that. I have always either blanched or just put my spears straight in the freezer.  Not great but better than not having any during the year.

Have a great day
 

Memorial Day

Happy Memorial Day to all my American friends.

Have a great day
 

Tournament, Eating Meat.

This blog has been written over the weekend as we had to leave home early this morning to take part in the Seniors Summer League bowling which this year is taking place in Elmira, about 30 minutes away from us. Wish us luck. There are five on the team.  Having finished that we have to rush back to Waterloo for our regular summer league bowling. I think I will be whacked out by the time today is finished.

Sadly our dinner party didn’t happen on Saturday as one of our friends was sick. As Matt had been interrupted last time I made it (he had a TIA) I decided to do another Steak Diane which, once again, was very good. However, next time we have steak, I think it will be a Steak au Poivre for a change.

On Saturday I meant to write about Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook fame (co founder), they were talking on the news about his new resolution never to eat anything he hadn’t killed himself. I am somewhat supportive of this although I could never kill anything myself. I am assured that if I were starving, I could kill anything, but one is unable to imagine it and most of us try to forget about how our pork chops or beef steaks get to our stores, its something we don’t like to think about so we push it to the back of our minds. So good on yer Mark, wish I had the guts. He has already killed a chicken, pig and goat. He started by killing a lobster (dropping it in boiling water) - must admit I have done that, not the most pleasant experience. He says it has taught him a lot about sustainable farming and healthy eating. If you are interested there is an article from the Calgary Herald here http://tinyurl.com/3he65ub

Of course it is Memorial Day in the States today so on the golf course for the PGA Byron Nelson tournament this weekend they were flying the Stars and Stripes on the pin of the 18th hole and had a Marine standing there to remove the pin every time players got to the green to putt.

Asparagus season is well under way but I haven’t been posting lots of recipes as I understand some of my readers are not so keen on asparagus. If you have been reading this blog for long, you will know I love the stuff and I couldn’t resist this recipe when I came across it.

Prosciutto-Wrapped Asparagus

From EatingWell: March/April 2009

These prosciutto-wrapped bundles of grilled asparagus are a delicious addition to a spring brunch or elegant dinner.

4 servings

Ingredients

• 16 spears asparagus, (about 1 bunch), trimmed
• 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
• Pinch of salt
• Freshly ground pepper, to taste
• 2 very thin slices prosciutto, (about 1 ounce), cut in half lengthwise

Preparation

1. Preheat grill to medium.
2. Toss asparagus with oil, salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Wrap 1 length of prosciutto around the middle of 4 asparagus spears. Repeat, making 4 bundles. Oil the grill rack (see Tip). Grill the asparagus bundles, turning once or twice, until the asparagus is tender and charred in spots, about 10 minutes.

Tips & Notes

• Tip: To oil the grill rack, oil a folded paper towel, hold it with tongs and rub it over the rack. (Do not use cooking spray on a hot grill.)

Have a great day.

Holiday Weekends and Barbecues

This weekend is a holiday for Americans, last week it was a holiday for Canadians. For us it was Victoria Day which is often referred to as May 24th weekend which puzzles me as it is the 24th today so why wasn't it celebrated this weekend I wonder? For the Americans it is Memorial Day and a time when many of them remember those passed away in their families as well as members of the armed services killed in wars. Many people also spend their weekend at the barbecue and there have been all kinds of programmes noting that fact in the last week or so. Unfortunately, living in an apartment, we are not allowed to have a barbecue so make do with an indoor/outdoor grill which works very well. In fact friends of ours, who also live in an apartment, have an electric grill on their balcony which they like very much. We have thought of getting one, but haven't done so yet. One problem I perceive is having a power cord running through the balcony doors allowing any bugs to wander inside at will. I do NOT like bugs etc. particularly indoors. Good Morning America had Chef Mario Batali grilling up a storm yesterday, if you would like to see his recipes click here.

We had a phone call yesterday from our friends who are vacationing in North Carolina right now, apparently the weather has been great. In fact, looking at the weather map, the weather has been warm over most of the States but of course a lot of that has spawned tornadoes of which there have been many this last few weeks. The main reason they called was to tell us that the friend we went on a cruise with, is in hospital which is not very nice news. I am beginning to think NC isn't so healthy after all, our friends have been getting pretty sick over the past few years and we don't have too many left there any more.

I see Myanmar has finally agreed to allow some helpers in their country, I wonder how many have died because they didn't agree earlier. China is now talking of deaths up to 80,000 from their earthquake. They too have now asked for extra help but at least they sent in thousands of soldiers when the disaster happened and have allocated billions to rebuild the areas which were hit.

Yesterday I made the asparagus soup I posted and it was delicious. I can highly recommend it, very simple to make and worth the small amount of effort. I will be making more, in fact I may freeze some although the recipe calls for the tips to be kept whole, this won't work too well frozen as they will become a mush.

Tonight we are going to have an M & M Meats' Chateaubriand, they have them on special at the moment so we bought some extra yesterday. I have mentioned them before and they are really very good and good for the money. It will be cooked on our indoor/outdoor grill. I am not sure what we will serve with it, I have about one serving of asparagus left - guess where I will be going tomorrow? Yes, they are open on Sunday. We don't bother with dessert when we are on our own although we frequently have a Ferrero Rocher chocolate each after dinner. Being a Saturday, we will open a nice bottle of wine too, not sure which one. I would like to open one of our Malivoire Pinot Noir, but Matt is saving them for a special occasion???

If you are having a barbecue, this is a good salad to have with it. I have made it several times and we enjoy it very much. If you are not sure how to properly segment or supreme an orange the way the professionals do it, here is a blog entry with pictures click here which will help you. I tend not to cut the peel so square which wastes a lot of the flesh. I have posted this recipe before, but it bears repeating and can be prepared well in advance of the meal.

Fennel, Orange, and Parsley Salad
Everyday Food

Servings: 4

Ingredients:
5 x medium oranges
2 x medium fennel bulbs (8 ounces each), quartered, cored, and thinly sliced crosswise
2/3 cup fresh parsley leaves
2 tbsp slivered pitted black olives
1 tbsp olive oil
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

1. Using a paring knife, remove the peel and pith of the oranges. Separate oranges into segments over a large bowl (to catch the juices), then add segments to bowl. Smoosh rest of orange to remove juice.

2. Add fennel, parsley, olives, oil; season with salt and pepper. Gently toss, and serve.

Have a great weekend.