Alligator, Yu55, Radio and Recipe.

Hmm, can you imagine going to church and being met by an alligator? In a Michigan church grounds someone spotted an alligator and called the police. They say it was probably released into the wild recently and would not have survived the cold winter of Michigan – how cruel of the previous owner to just release it. One more reason why people shouldn’t have exotic pets of any kind.

It seems they were right at NASA and the asteroid, Yu55, did miss us by a considerable margin. I forgot we might have been able to see it although there are too many city lights near us I think. I didn’t even try though. The next time a large lump of rock is due to pass us is in 2028. There is an interesting simulation on this website showing just how close it came to Earth.

Yesterday morning Randy Johnston called me again to do another recipe corner for him as the person scheduled was unable to make it. I was very pleased to do so and gave him the recipe for Poulet Sauce Maroc which I published on October 27th, 2011. I didn’t manage to get in any more information about Restore Family Nutrition, but please read all about it by following the link on this page and hopefully taking part in the Kitchen Challenge. At the end of the broadcast, Randy played Hands Up Baby for me, a song I heard the other day and hadn’t heard for years. http://youtu.be/NTeQ6gSveRI. I used to love to dance to this, and even today I was jigging around, maybe not as much as I once did LOL.

Went to the doc’s yesterday and saw a sign at a Collision Repair garage – they usually have good ones, I have seen this before but thought it might amuse you “A hangover is the Wrath of Grapes”.

Before we went to bed last night, there was one hell of a gale blowing. Had trouble sleeping.

I thought the following recipe looked really good again always providing you can get hold of flank steak, doesn’t seem to be so easy lately. It was very much an under appreciated cut of meat for many years, but became very popular and is now difficult to obtain, or at least it is for me, I will be checking with Sobey’s where they do cut meat, our normal grocery store have meat cut for them before delivery.

Flank Steak Pinwheels

WebMD Recipe from EatingWell.com

These festive wheels of steak, Boursin cheese, spinach and sun-dried tomatoes look fancy, but they're quite easy to make. For a party, arrange them on a platter atop a bed of spinach.

Servings: 4

Make Ahead Tip:Prepare the steak roll (Steps 2-4). Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 6 hours. When ready to grill, proceed with Steps 5 and 6.

Recipe Ingredients:

1. 2/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes, (not packed in oil)
2. 2 cups boiling water
3. 1 pound flank steak, trimmed of fat
4. 1 clove garlic, minced
5. 3 tablespoons light herbed cheese spread, such as Boursin (see Variation)
6. 1 cup baby spinach
7. 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
8. 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Recipe Steps:

1. Preheat grill to high.
2. Place sun-dried tomatoes in a bowl; pour boiling water over them and let steep until softened, about 10 minutes. Drain and chop.
3. Meanwhile, place steak between 2 large pieces of plastic wrap. Pound each side of the steak thoroughly with the pointed side of a meat mallet until the steak is an even 1/4-inch thickness.
4. Rub garlic all over one side of the steak. Spread cheese lengthwise in a 3-inch-wide strip down the middle of the steak. Top with the sun-dried tomatoes and spinach. Starting at one edge of a long side, roll the steak up tightly, tucking in the filling as you go.
5. Carefully rub salt and pepper all over the outside of the steak roll. Turn the roll so the overlapping edge is on top. Push 8 skewers, evenly spaced, through the roll, close to the overlapping edge to hold the roll together. Slice the roll into 8 equal portions, roughly 1 to 1 1/2 inches thick, with a skewer in each. Lay the slices on their sides and push the skewer through so it sticks out about 1 inch.
6. Oil the grill rack (see Tip). Grill the pinwheels 3 to 4 minutes per side for medium-rare. Use a spatula when turning them to prevent too much filling from falling out. (Don't worry if the ends of the skewers burn. They will still hold the pinwheels together.) Remove the skewers; let the pinwheels rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Recipe Nutrition:

Per serving: 226 calories; 9 g fat ( 4 g sat , 3 g mono ); 46 mg cholesterol; 7 g carbohydrates; 27 g protein; 2 g fiber; 332 mg sodium; 278 mg potassium.

Have a great day

Flu Shot, Health Care, Tsnumai Debris, Snakes.

Tuesday we went for our flu shots. Somewhat different from previous years and this time I was given a different injection as I am allergic to tetanus shots. I am wondering, I normally have a very sore arm for a week or so although Matt doesn’t, we shall see what happens this time. I noticed, in September, flu shots were available at drug stores in the States for which one had to pay $25. I am so glad I am in Canada, doesn’t cost me a cent. Talking of medical services, I noticed one or two people I spoke to in NC this time had no idea that medical services were totally free in Canada. Yes, I know we pay for the services in our taxes, but nevertheless, Matt, for instance had had 2 hip replacements, a knee replacement and a spinal stenosis operation plus several other minor treatments. I had one hip replacement. None of this cost us a penny. If we had been in the US we would have been in debt up the kazoo unless we had paid a whacking great premium every month to an insurance company, or been there long enough to have worked and got insurance that way. An acquaintance of hours had a major back operation and will be paying for it for the rest of his life. Personally I am at a total loss as to why so many Americans fought not to have government interference in their health care.

In the news now, 18 million tonnes of tsunami debris is drifting to the British Columbia coast and is expected to arrive in 2014. By that I mean the tsunami which hit Japan early in the year. These pictures show comparatives of before and after off the coast of Japan. There is a huge field of debris drifting somewhere off the Midway area, however, at the moment they don’t think any of it is radioactive.

Every woman’s nightmare, a snake in the toilet. Apparently a one meter python was found curled up in the toilet bowl in a Toronto apartment. The cops who removed it had earlier found a 3 ft. corn snake in another apartment building which had come through the wall. That is going to make me real nervous going to the bathroom. They are not sure but assume these are escaped pets.

We had this dish for dinner last night. I haven’t  made it in years and I don’t think I have ever made it for Matt. I forgot to take a picture and I found one which looks more or less like the finished dish. It is actually a French recipe which my mother used to make and passed on to me. The name was my idea although its not the best French.

Poulet Sauce Maroc

8 Chicken breasts -- boned and skinned
4 Tbs flour
7.5 cups chicken bouillon
5 sweet oranges or
3 cups orange juice
6 Tbs olive oil
3 cloves garlic
2 chilies

Wash chicken, coat in seasoned flour. Fry lightly in oil with crushed garlic until chicken nicely coloured. Drain and set aside. Make roux with oil, blend in bouillon and cook over gentle heat adding orange juice and chilies. Put chicken in oven proof dish and pour on sauce. Cook at approx 350F in centre of oven for 1 1/2 hrs. Just before serving add cream and sprigs of parsley.

Servings: 8

Have a great day