Laptop, Bowling, Portuguese Goodies,

Don't you just love computers? My laptop is getting so hot I can hardly handle it any more. Last night I found a video on line which showed me how to clean the cooling unit. Looked fiddly but relatively simple except when it came to doing various things with the motherboard to remove it. I have emailed my repair guy to ask him how much he would charge, but I was talking to someone at the bowling alley last week who had to replace the ribbon on his laptop. He was quoted a high price and ended up sending for a new ribbon and doing it himself with the help of a similar video. My problem might be space to work on my laptop whilst watching the video too. There are an incredible number of parts which have to be removed. Some precautionary I think, one has to remove the batter, hard drive and the ram for a start and then the keyboard in order to get at the motherboard. Having written this, I found a quick fix video which recommended blowing out the dust and showed how. I have a can of compressed air so I used it. You should have seen how much dust came out, but it wasn't enough unfortunately, so back to square one. Next in this tale of woe, the repair guy I use wants $100 to do it. Now I am in a quandary, do I risk doing it myself or not?

Quite a big turnout at bowling. One or two people still on vacation, but most people made it in. Our

team didn't do too badly. Matt was bowling like a demon. Wish he always bowled that well. I had moderately good games. One of the women bowlers is Portuguese and has spent most of her summer in Portugal. Lucky her, I would love to go back. Much to my delight she brought us some Ovos Moles. What the heck is that you ask? Well it's a special pastry stuffed with a very sweet egg yolk filling. Absolutely delicious. I have written about them before. They are a specialty of Portugal. I have eaten one since we came home, think Matt has eaten all of his share. So very nice of her to bring them back for us.

I would need Catalina dressing and pineapple for this recipe. Not in my cupboards. I could make this and then freeze some of it. I think I might just do this. As suggested, I looked up a Catalina Dressing and have added a link to it.

Slow-Cooker Sweet and Sour Chicken

1 onion, sliced
1 carrot, sliced
1 stalk celery, sliced
1-1/2 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-size pieces
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup KRAFT Classic CATALINA Dressing
1/4 cup lite soy sauce
1 tsp grated gingerroot
1 can (8 oz.) pineapple chunks in juice, undrained
1 Tbs cornstarch
1 each green and red pepper, cut into strips
3 cups hot cooked long-grain white rice

1. Place onions, carrots and celery in slow cooker; top with chicken.

2. Mix sugar, dressing, soy sauce and ginger until blended; pour over chicken. Cover with lid.

3. Cook on LOW 4 to 5 hours, increasing heat to HIGH for the last 30 min.

4. Drain pineapple, reserving juice. Mix reserved juice with cornstarch. Add to slow cooker with the pineapple and peppers; stir. Cook, covered, 30 min. or until sauce is thickened. Serve over rice.

Servings: 6

Source: Kraft

Have a great day
 

Game of Thrones, Portuguese Confection.

Well, last night I watched episodes 3 and 4. What a waste of time. In the first place they had wiped out large chunks of the story between 2 and 3 which I think was a mistake. Having read the books I remembered some of what had happened in this period, but by no means all, if anyone hadn’t read the books, I have no idea how they would have kept up with the story. I found half the time I had no idea who people were and how they had got there in the first place. For instance, Daenerys Targaryen in the previous episodes had a husband and a brother, the series does not explain what happened to them. That is just one glaring example. I still like the actor playing Tyrian Lannister, but how he, the despised dwarf, suddenly becomes the King’s Hand is beyond me. Nor do I have a clue about what else is going on. So, I will not bother to watch any more. However, I still think the books were very good and would recommend them. Although I am not sure George R.R. Martin has yet finished the series. Checking it, he hasn’t. There are two more books planned and he says he doesn’t know when the sixth book will be finished. I am not even going to try reading them again until it’s all completed. He also says he plans to kill off a lot more characters!!! If you are enjoying it, good luck.

As usual we bowled Thursday afternoon, Matt had a good day, I had a mediocre day. A Portuguese friend was in bowling ahead as she is heading off to Portugal next week for a few weeks vacation, lucky her. She has promised to bring us some ovos moles again. They are a Portuguese specialty and absolutely delicious. They are made with a thin pastry filled with an egg concoction. If you are interested in the recipe, click on the link above. Not something I personally am ever likely to make despite my liking them so much. When we were in Portugal it staggered me the fantastic egg desserts they made.

I was never a particular friend of grits until I tried Shrimp and Grits which is a big favourite in the south. Here is a different take on that recipe.

Spicy Shrimp and Grits

Cooking Light

Crank up the heat (in your weeknight meal, that is!) and serve a spicy version of this Southern favourite.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 cup grits, about 1 1/2 cups shrimp mixture, and 1 tablespoon green onions)

Ingredients

 

• 3 cups 1% low-fat milk
• 1 cup water
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, divided
• 1 cup uncooked quick-cooking grits
• 1/2 cup (2 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese
• 4 slices applewood-smoked bacon
• 1 pound peeled, deveined large shrimp
• 1 cup thinly vertically sliced white onion
• 2 cups grape tomatoes, halved
• 1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce or chopped chipotle chile, canned in adobo sauce
• 1/8 teaspoon ground or crushed red pepper
• 1/4 cup green onion strips

Preparation

1. 1. Combine milk, water, butter, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon black pepper in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a simmer; gradually add grits, stirring constantly with a whisk. Reduce heat to medium; cook 4 minutes or until thick, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat; stir in cheese.
2. 2. While grits cook, cook bacon in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan, reserving 2 teaspoons drippings; crumble bacon. Add shrimp to drippings in pan; cook 2 minutes on each side or until done. Remove shrimp from pan. Add white onion to pan; sauté 1 minute. Stir in bacon, tomatoes, remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, and remaining 1/8 teaspoon black pepper; sauté 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add shrimp, pepper sauce, and red pepper; cook 1 minute or until shrimp are heated. Serve over grits; sprinkle with green onions.

Have a great day