Coincidences, Bowling, Port Wine,

Funny how things happen with words or names. We don’t know much about Hawaii and there was a crossword clue which turned out to be Hilo, a town there. Then the book I am currently reading (Death on a High Floor by Charles Rosenberg), frequently mentions Hilo for various reasons and then in Wheel of Fortune last night, a competitor won a trip there. This so often happens, presumably because on has recently been made aware of something and it crops up soon enough for it to register. On the other hand, I periodically read something in a book which I have read before and think “I didn’t know that” but I must have known it because I read the book before.

What a lousy game I had at bowling, but, as it turns out so did a lot of people, not just on our team, but some of the best bowlers we have were turning in ridiculous scores, for them. In fact they were so low, they were laughing uproariously about it all. Someone suggested it was because it was so cold yesterday, but as we were inside I don’t see how that could affect it. However, I guess it was yet another coincidence that so many bowled badly on the same day. I must say my legs were killing me by the time I got home, to a young person maybe bowling three balls per frame may be nothing, but its pretty hard work when you are getting up there, especially when one has been unwell for a while. Well that’s my excuse anyway.

British Traditions cropped up on Facebook today talking about why Port is always passed to the left, it is supposed to have started in the British Navy and port is left hence it was passed to the left. I read something about getting someone to pass it who wasn’t doing so, the tradition I am aware of, you said to that person “you are chased” meaning pass it on please. Also, the host is supposed to pour the glass of port for his guest on the right hand side before he passes it to the left. There are a lot of traditions associated with port, one being that you were not supposed to set the bottle down whilst it was in motion. One thing I always wanted was a train set which travelled around the dining table bearing the port, I once saw one and from then on it was my greatest wish for a while. Haven’t got a big enough table any more. We visited some port ‘caves’ as they are called when we were in Oporto, Portugal and tasted several different ports, hadn’t realised before there were so many differences. The story goes that port was invented by a couple of Scotsman who were exporting wine from Portugal and found one year’s vintage to be so bad they added brandy to it. The rest is history.

It always tickles me that many recipes chuck in some feta and some olives and call it Greek. However, as it happens I have some feta left over from the quinoa dish the other day, and I always have olives and tomatoes, so I just might make this, I don’t have any shell pasta mind you, but that can easily be remedied.

Greek Pasta Casserole

ByDana Treat
WebMD Recipe from Foodily.com

Ingredients

1/4 cup olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 pound small pasta shells
1 (15 oz.) can ready-cut diced tomatoes with their juice
1 (7 oz.) jar roasted red peppers, well drained and diced
1/4 cup pitted and roughly chopped black olives
2 tbsp. red wine
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
1 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1 cup crumbled feta cheese

Instructions

Bring a large quantity of water to boil in a stockpot. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the garlic and cook 30 seconds; do not let it get at all colored. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside.

Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook until very al dente, soft but not quite cooked through. It will continue to cook in the oven. Drain thoroughly in a colander and place back in the pot. Pour on the garlic oil and toss well. Let cool to room temperature, tossing occasionally to prevent sticking.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Mix in all the remaining ingredients. Place in a shallow 3-quart casserole (such as a 13×9 inch pan). Cover with foil. (The pasta can be assembled and refrigerated up to 24 hours in advance. Bring to room temperature before baking.)

Bake, covered, for 25 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Remove the foil and bake another 5 minutes to lightly brown the top of the casserole.

Adapted from "Vegetarian Classics"

Total Servings: 6

Have a great day

Breast Cancer Race, Washington Mall, GPS

A friend of mine who is a survivor of breast cancer, is taking part, once again, in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure on Mother's Day. Hopefully you will be able to make a donation to help the cause this is her website. I know she would be very appreciative as would, obviously, the Susan G. Komen organisation.

This morning started GMA's Seven Wonders of America with the Washington National Mall which includes the White House and the Lincoln Memorial, also the Viet Nam Wall and the Needle. It is described as America's front porch. They get thousands of visitors every year to see all the monuments in the area, some of which are not actually in the Mall. There is a Jefferson Memorial to comemorate when he tried to have the international time line moved to Washington instead of Greenwich, London.

Today is our last day of bowling for this season so we have our in house bowling banquet this afternoon plus the games I mentioned. Bowling is a game so I am not quite sure what will take place. We haven't signed up for the summer league, in a way I wish we had, I think we can still do so if we wish, of course.

Last night, for supper, we had a wine we are very fond of, Magnotta's Toro Nero Limited Edition. We ate one of our Chateaubriands from M & M with it. Saturday night we were at a friend's house for dinner and we had smoked pork chops with a wine from the Douro Valley in Portugal which is very good. I forgot to make a note of the name. My friend in Portugal lives by the Douro Valley and introduced us to the wines of the region. It is also the region where Port is made. We did a bit of port tasting when we were there. Unfortunately I wasn't walking too well and so we didn't get to as many port "caves" as we would have liked to, almost impossible to park near any of them as they are in the older part of Oporto. Not to mention all the road works taking place in the town when we visited. If only we had had GPS in the rental car. I wonder car rental companies don't install them, it would be very useful for tourists. I suppose it would cost a lot more for the renters. I have seen one in use lately and wouldn't mind having one in our car. Going back to port, are you aware how it came to be created? Two Scottish wine exporters living in Portugal were horrified with the wine production one year as it was so bad. They came up with the idea of blending the wine with brandy and calling it port. The rest is history. You will find most of the good Ports have Scottish rather than Portuguese names.

Lots of us have made Zucchini Bread, but have you ever made it with chocolate?

Chocolate Zucchini Bread
Serves: 8

Source: Recitopia

3 eggs
1 Cup vegetable oil
2 Cups Sugar
1 Tablespoon vanilla
2 Cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 Tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
3 heaping Tablespoons of cocoa
2 Cups grated zucchini
1 cup chocolate chips
1 Cup chopped nuts(optional)

Preheat oven to 350 F Beat together eggs, oil, sugar, and vanilla. In a separate bowl mix flour, baking soda, baking powder cinnamon, salt and cocoa; and add to egg mixture. Stir in zucchini, chocolate chips and nuts. Bake in greased and floured pan till toothpick comes out clean from center, (I line the bottom of the pan with paper for easy removal) Makes 2 loaves: 350 for one hour OR makes one large loaf baked in a glass pan at 350 for one and a half hours

Have a great day.