Ninja Snowman, Medical Issues,

I believe I have mentioned that I am not a very good photographer. However, I finally got pix of the Ninja Snowman, although his head looks a bit thinner than it was when I first saw him. I don't remember him leaning over so much either.

 Matt said there was a dog in the window behind it strenuously objecting to me taking the photograph. When I finally looked up, he was just a little white dog but rather cute and barking his head off.

Unfortunately, I didn't hear anything from the doctor about my X-ray so assume I won't hear anything until Monday.I think she needs to get more help otherwise people are going to get fed up and go elsewhere. I phoned them yesterday about something unrelated and haven't heard from them. OK, if it's urgent, one can always go to Emergency I guess, but... Apart from anything else Emergency is usually overcrowded anyway. The government are cutting back on medical care. Maybe so they can send troops to fight ISIS or something. You can imagine what I think of that. I have no doubt I am not alone. We used to contribute a small payment to our medical services, for some reason they stopped that. It was the same in the UK. We used to pay for a health stamp, but they stopped that too. Maybe they figure it costs too much to administer.

Been thinking a lot about asparagus lately. I even paraphrased a line from poetry, And in spring a woman's fancy, lightly turns to thoughts of asparagus. Yes I know, it doesn't scan or anything, but I am sure you know where I am coming from. Anyway, I saw this recipe and decided to post it. You can save it til the spring if you wish.

Cheesy Baked Asparagus

Just a Pinch by Janet Crow

Servings 2-4


When I was going through treatments for cancer 3 years ago I learned a lot about the foods I needed

to eat and asparagus was one of them. I would make this at a minimum of once a week and it is absolutely delicious. I even got my husband hooked on asparagus with this recipe

1 bunch of asparagus, trimmed

3 Tbs butter, melted

1 Tbs grated Parmesan cheese

3/4 Cup shredded Mozzarella cheese

Italian seasoning

1/2 tsp house seasoning ((equal parts garlic powder, onion powder and pepper...combine and store in an airtight container)

Line a baking sheet with some tinfoil. Place the asparagus on the baking sheet and drizzle with the melted butter. Sprinkle the house seasoning and parmesan cheese over the top. Place in a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes. Remove and top with the mozzarella cheese and a little sprinkling of italian seasoning over the top. Return to the oven for an additional 5-7 minutes to melt the cheese and let it begin to brown.

Have a great day

Bowling, Ninja Snowman, February Blogfests,

I was delighted to have no hip pain when we went bowling on Monday and although I started out

slowly, my second game was super and I was feeling so happy, no pain and a good score during a league game. The, halfway through the third game my hip decided to hurt again. In fact when I stepped on my left leg to throw the ball it was bl**dy agony. In the end I had to get the other woman team member to bowl my last 3 frames. I was so disappointed. I had been feeling so good. OK, tomorrow I am seeing the doctor for my regular diabetes check up and I will discuss my hip with her. I really don't want to have another replacement, but.... Because of my good second game, my average went up slightly, but I was in such good form, I would have gone up more probably. Oh well.

I keep meaning to mention that there is a snowman on our way to the store with a ninja mask. I keep forgetting it and not taking a pic. I must try and do so, I think of Alex J. Cavenaugh every time I see it. Mind you the snow is beginning to disappear again despite the -14°C temperature today. No snow forecast any time soon either.

I see there are a couple of romantic blogfests in the works for February. Check out people like Denise Covey or Alex J. Cavenaugh who have the details of these blogfests. I  pleaded not being a story writer as a reason for not entering but was told I could always supply Valentine recipes. I will have to get my thinking cap on.

I love noodle dishes and couldn't resist this recipe for Homemade Ramen Noodles. This dish came from A Beautiful Mess. A new blog to me.

Quick and Easy Homemade Ramen

serves two.

1 tablespoon sesame oil
4-5 cloves of garlic, minced
2-3 teaspoons peeled, chopped ginger  
1/2 oz dried mushrooms (I really like porcini but shiitake are great too)
4 cups vegetable or fish stock (low sodium is preferred here)
1/2 to 1 cup water
1-2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon miso paste
4 oz Chinese noodles (usually sold in 8 oz packages, so you get two meals out of it)
1 cup packed spinach
1-2 tablespoons chopped green onion
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional, but do it)

First sauté the garlic and ginger in the sesame oil in a large pot over medium/high heat for 3-4 minutes until very fragrant. Add the stock, water and mushrooms. Reduce the heat to low/medium. Stir in the miso paste and soy sauce. I usually start with 1 tablespoon soy sauce here and I'll taste toward the end and add more if I think it needs it. Cover and let that cook for 4-5 minutes. This will soften the mushrooms a great deal. 

Uncover, turn up the heat and add in the noodles. These will cook pretty quickly, usually in 4-5 minutes. Towards the end of this cook time, toss in the spinach and green onions. You can totally change out the spinach here for chopped kale or bok choy. You could also choose to add more veggies like matchstick carrots, bean sprouts or corn (among other things). Taste and add more soy sauce or the red pepper flakes if you want to add some heat. 

Have a great day