Whale of a Tale, Our Weekend,

Maybe the story of Jonah and the Whale was true. In the news, Sunday morning, a tour operator in South Africa was caught in a whale's mouth

He was out filming a feeding frenzy and watching out for the sharks when he was suddenly in the whale's mouth. No doubt the whale was as surprised as he was. The video is worth a watch. He said his first thought was "he can't swallow me I'm too big".

What a weekend. Friday Matt's back was really hurting him and he was having trouble walking. Saturday morning he was worse and insisted he needed to go to the hospital. Called the ambulance and they carted him off. They couldn't take me because of my walker. They took him to the hospital where I spent 3 weeks last year!!! Finally, after lunch I called a cab to get there $20. I just couldn't walk to where our car is parked underground, fold up my walker and put it in the trunk, drive to the hospital, maybe find a fairly close parking spot and then drag out the walker and have another long walk to get into the Emergency Department. Matt left home around 10, I arrived at the hospital by about 3:30 and he still hadn't seen the doctor. Guess they were super busy. Prior to this, bearing in mind where his pain was, we thought maybe it was the kidney stone. However, when he did see the doctor she figured it was all to do with degenerative arthritic disks. (Otherwise known as old age) and she has said a) he should  use a walker, not a cane, and b) gave him some flexion exercises to do. She has also ordered a physiotherapist for him. I might say, when I arrived in the hospital, Matt had no idea where he was, at one point he seemed to think he was in jail. Very confused. He didn't know he was in Emergency at the hospital. He had taken Tylenol 3 for the pain but the doc said Codeine (which is in the pills) could cause confusion. She recommended he took just Tylenol. Eventually we called a cab and came home. Matt fell by the door leading into our corridor and as the floor is tiled, he couldn't get up plus he had hurt his hand. I couldn't get to our apartment because he was in the way. I was yelling help down the corridor. Finally he managed to slide away and I knocked on a neighbour's door, nobody home of course, so I phoned the super. The Assistant Super came up and helped. Apparently he has a bad back so probably shouldn't have helped at all. Matt was OK once he was upright. I bandaged his hand for him. I had planned to cook some beef, but it was fairly late so I used the remaining Shrimp Creole sauce threw more shrimp into it, cooked the rice and, hey presto, supper.

Sunday morning I had my fizz. I also got a neighbour (who does a bit of cleaning, etc.) to do our laundry as neither of us were up to walking to the laundry room, not far, but.... I also got a Delivery company to collect some groceries I had ordered for today, not cheap but needs must. I must talk to the neighbour about doing that for me or at least, pulling the shopping trolley upstairs for me. Actually she ended up not charging me, really nice of her. Turned out to be a pretty expensive weekend. Monday afternoon (although 12:20 is still morning to me) we have appointments at our family doc - in the next town. Missed the last one due to snow.

Roll on when I have my vascular surgery, hopefully in May or June. Right in the middle of Asparagus season!!!

The beef I was planning to cook was an Instant Pot recipe so I cooked it for Sunday. It was delicious, but I think I maybe gave it a tad too long. Also, the trivet tipped so a corner of the roast was in the liquid. Didn't seem to hurt though. The recipe calls for marinading the beef and then chucking the marinade. I added some of it to the stock underneath the trivet and then when I took the beef out, I added Bisto and it was great. I was delighted with the dish and will certainly make it again. I will post the recipe tomorrow with my alterations. This was definitely one of those dishes you could just walk away from and forget about. It will be a favourite of mine I think.

Don't remember if I shared this recipe with you before. I made  it just before I went into hospital last year and it apparently kept Matt going for a while. I tasted it, but never ate it. I cheated and used canned beans. Now I think I actually did post this last year but as I plan to make it again in the very near future and had trouble finding the recipe, now I've got it, you get it too.

Stewed White Beans with Tomatoes and Rosemary

1 lb dried white beans, such as Great Northern or cannellini, picked over, rinsed, and drained
1 onion, 1 half finely chopped (1/2 cup)
1 carrot, cut crosswise into thirds
1 celery stalk, cut crosswise into thirds
1 dried bay leaf
1 can (28 ounces) whole plum tomatoes, with juice
2 Tbs extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/8 tsp red-pepper flakes
1 sprig rosemary
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

1. Soak beans in water overnight. Drain, and transfer to a large pot. Cover beans with 4 inches water. Add the intact half of the onion, the carrot, celery, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer until beans are tender but not bursting, about 1 hour. Drain, and remove onion, carrot, celery, and bay leaf; discard.

2. Pulse tomatoes, with juice, in a food processor until coarsely chopped. Heat oil in a medium heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Add chopped onion, the garlic, and red-pepper flakes. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion and garlic are tender but not browned, about 3 minutes. Add tomatoes and rosemary. Bring to a boil.

3. Add beans, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until tomato sauce thickens, about 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Serve warm, and drizzle with oil just before serving.

Servings: 8

Source: Martha Stewart



Have a great day

New Year’s Eve, TV Remote, Snow, Supper.

If you are partying tonight, I hope you have a good one, if you are staying at home, enjoy the evening. As I mentioned before, we are staying in. I wish you all a wonderful 2013 and especially good health.

I had a very frustrating morning yesterday, having had a complete breakdown on our TV, Internet and Home Phone services, on Saturday night we decided to watch a DVD which we had done very successfully on Friday without any services. Nothing I did allowed me to switch over to enable us to watch a DVD. I phoned with no joy, they told me it was the DVD player. Having thought about that overnight, I phoned again on Sunday morning, this time I am told its our TV that’s wrong. Then I phoned yet again and finally got someone to whom I explained the situation really carefully and who then told me what to do to get the TV to talk to the DVD player. Finally. OK I am not an electronic genius, I had tried pressing all kinds of buttons but I guess I had just not pressed the right ones. But boy was I frustrated. Especially when the provider kept telling me it was my machines when all I had to do was press the correct combination of buttons on their remote, which, I might say, is NOT what I used to do. Every time they have to come and do something, something else changes.

It certainly looks like winter now. We had some more snow Saturday night so everywhere in the park looks lovely. Of course the people with driveways have all been shovelling like mad, or snow blowing in some cases. I am so glad we don’t have to do that, we would have to probably pay someone to do it for us these days. I saw a snow plow in our grounds the other day so it looks as though our new super is not using the tractor which was bought for a previous super. We had so many this year. So I guess the snow plow will sit there rotting although it was wet the other day so maybe he is just plowing at the front and clearing the large parking lot at the back is being hired out. Every so often they have to get people to move out so they can clear the whole lot, by that time though, a lot of the snow has packed down and become icy. In a shopping mall parking lot they can do it before the customers come, but in an apartment building lot, there are cars there all day.

We are having roast beef and Yorkshire pudding for our New Year’s Eve dinner which will give us a couple more suppers in the New Year.  After all this rich food we have been having, maybe a fish soup would be an excellent idea. I was thinking about a fish pie too, haven’t made one in a long time, you really need a strong flavour like smoked haddock and that’s not easy to obtain here. Will have to put my thinking cap on.

This struck me as a somewhat unusual recipe and one I certainly would try myself.

Fragrant Fish Soup

WebMD Recipe from EatingWell.com

Lemony rice, delicately flavored broth and gently poached tilapia are topped with a colorful blend of vegetables and herbs. The aromatic mint provides fresh and complex flavor.

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1 cup jasmine rice
• 2 cups water
• 1 zest and juice of lemon
• 4 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth or vegetable broth
• 1 pound tilapia fillets or other firm white fish
• 4 cups bite-size pieces arugula or watercress, tough stems removed (about 1 bunch)
• 1 cup finely shredded carrots
• 1/4 cup very thinly sliced fresh mint
• 2  scallions, finely chopped

Instructions

1. Combine rice and water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat; cover and cook until the water is absorbed, about 20 minutes. Stir in lemon zest and juice.
2. Meanwhile, bring broth to a simmer in another medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat so the broth remains steaming, but not simmering. Add fish and cook until just tender, about 5 minutes. Remove and break into bite-size chunks.
3. Divide the lemony rice among 4 bowls. Top with equal portions of the fish, arugula (or watercress), carrot, mint and scallions. Ladle 1 cup of the warm broth into each bowl and serve

My very best wishes for a Happy New Year.

RIM, Weather, Travel League, Dinner, Roman Coins,

RIM who make the Blackberry are just up the road from us and I personally am proud to have such a famous Canadian electronic company in my back yard. However, they have been going through lots of financial troubles lately and now the government are saying they wouldn’t object to a sale to an foreign company. In my opinion that would be a shame. We should all be just as proud to have RIM in Canada. Maybe with the restructuring they are doing they will be able to pull themselves out of the doldrums. The iPhone is their big competitor of course. Never having owned either, I don’t know the pros and cons.

March went out like a lion in some areas but here it just whimpered a bit. We got some snow, but not really enough to write home about. Of course it isn’t beyond the realms of possibility to get a major snow storm in April.

At our travel league the other day, a friend was taking photos off and on during the occasion and posted them on Facebook. A couple of me horrified me, I am sure I am not really that fat. I looked huge. I hope its just the pix, because when I looked in the mirror I didn’t think I was as bad as in the photos. Yes, I know I need to lose weight, but those pictures made me look like some of these really huge people one sees on TV and I know I’m not that big. This is a picture of the whole group although we were short quite a few people for one reason or another. As I am half hidden I don’t look so bad in this picture. Should have let Matt stand in front of me.

Our local grocery store, Zehrs, had standing rib roasts on sale this week so on Saturday Matt went and bought a couple – one for the freezer and one to eat on Saturday. We really enjoy a roast of beef for a change now and then and when the beef is on for $3.99/lb we can’t resist them. We buy the Yorkshire puds as I mentioned before, they are excellent and can be popped into a hot oven for 4 minutes just when we are ready to eat. Saves a lot of messing around. My mother always said my Yorkshire Pudding was lousy, I liked it, but there you are. The roast was delicious with plenty left over for Sunday and Monday.

We also now have two little Lindt Bunnies sitting together, one dark chocolate and one milk, waiting for Easter to be devoured. I know dark chocolate is supposed to better for you, but I really prefer milk. I could eat one of these bunnies a day of course, but I won’t get the chance unfortunately. As you know the title of this blog contains “A Scent of Chocolate”; I ought to write a blog all about chocolate although not being a chocolatier I guess I would run out of things to say. I always salivate when I see pictures on TV of molten chocolate being tempered. It takes a lot of study to be a chocolatier – making Lindt bunnies is the least of it. In fact I assume they would be poured into a mould. I’ve seen glass being made, never seen chocolate being made. Having written this I remembered there is a chocolate house in Cambridge, not far from here, called Reid’s. I wrote and asked them if they do tours.                                                                           

I was interested in an article posted on Facebook about a hoard of 30,000 Roman silver coins unearthed near Bath in England. It was one of the biggest finds of such coins, but is, apparently welded into one lump which makes their identification difficult. The coins were dug up near the Roman Baths and Pump Room in Bath and are being evaluated by the British Museum. Once evaluated the Roman Baths and Pump Room want to buy them back to keep on display there. One speculates as to how 39,000 silver coins got to be buried like that. Was someone hoarding money do you suppose? In these days of banks, it seems odd to us. When reading this I discovered a link to the finding of a Roman brothel token on the banks of the River Thames. If you click on the link you can see the coin which depicts a man and woman in an intimate act. I didn’t know there were such things, they figure they were used by Roman soldiers to pay for sex in a brothel. I couldn’t copy the picture unfortunately.

Here is the latest recipe from Mushrooms Canada:

Easy Mushroom & Cheese Frittata

Watch the Cooking Video

8 eggs

1/4 cup 2% milk

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 tsp dried sage leaves

1/4 tsp ground pepper

2 tbsp olive oil or butter

1 medium onion, diced

1/2 cup red pepper, diced

8 oz sliced small mushrooms

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tbsp minced parsley (optional)

3/4 cup shredded Provolone, Swiss or Jarlsberg cheese

In a large bowl or measuring cup whisk eggs, milk, Parmesan cheese, sage and pepper together until well mixed, set aside. Preheat oven to 350ºF (180ºC).

In a 10”(25 cm) non-stick skillet heat oil over medium-high heat; sauté onion and red pepper 2-3 minutes or until softened. Add mushrooms and sauté 4-5 minutes or until lightly browned; add garlic and cook 1 minute. Pour egg mixture into skillet mixing lightly to incorporate mushrooms; sprinkle with parsley if desired. Bake in oven about 12-15 minutes or until just set in the centre and no longer moist on top. Sprinkle with cheese and return to over for 2 minutes to melt cheese. Loosen around the edges with a rubber spatula and slide out onto serving plate. Cut in wedges to serve. Serve hot or at room temperature. Makes 4 servings

Variation:

Instead of cooking the frittata in oven it may be cooked on top of stove over medium-low heat; lifting outer edges of omelet to allow uncooked portion to run underneath, then cover and cook until just set. Turn off heat. Sprinkle with cheese and cover to melt cheese.

Tip:

Substitute 4 eggs and 4 egg whites for the 8 eggs to lower fat.

Nutritional Information:

Calories: 346, Sodium: 416 mg, Protein: 22.9 g, Fat: 24.6 g, Carbohydrates: 8.7 g, Dietary Fibre: 1.7 g

Have a great day

Books, Library, Roast Beef and Lapland.

Not having the best memory in the world any more, I can't remember if I told you about the short story I read the other day by Tanya Huff called Nothing Better to Do which was one of the funniest tales I have read in a long time. I had previously not read anything by this author so I am busy getting hold of her books. I just finished one called Stealing Magic which was a collection of tales about a wizard and a thief. The wizard stories were priceless with a young woman, Magdalene, who is the "best wizard in the world" just living quite casually and refusing to wear wizard robes but nevertheless doing all kinds of incredible things as well as taking to bed all the handsome men she comes across in her many years of living. I loved these stories. The ones about the thief, Terazin, were also enjoyable but I loved Magdalene more. I just saw a review which called the stories charming and funny which is a very apt description. Turns out Tanya Huff is a Canadian author, I wonder why I haven't come across her before?

For my treadmill walking, I have a new set of CDs from The Cat Who series, this time The Cat Who Ate Danish Modern and I have just started book six of the Codex Alera series by Jim Butcher. I have been very much enjoying these stories along with his Harry Dresden tales. The book I am now reading is called First Lord's Fury and from what I have read so far, appears to be up to par with all his previous books in this series. I am glad I started writing about this because I have just discovered another Harry Dresden book I haven't read, Changes. I am now on the list to get it from the library.

I having nothing but praise for the local library system. They really do make a terrific effort to get what I am asking for if they don't happen to have it in house. They do inter-library loans and will occasionally buy a book for me if they don't happen to have it although mostly they can get it from another library system.

I cooked a roast of beef (English style) on Saturday evening which made a nice change, we don't have roast beef very often. However, I discovered my gravy doesn't freeze, unfortunately it separated. Maybe we could have whisked it back into the correct emulsion, but I didn't know until it was too late. The beef was great though. We followed it with some Borgonzola cheese which is a favourite of ours. I have talked about it before, it is kind of an amalgum between Brie and blue cheese. The original was a German cheese called Cambazola but this is a Canadian copy and we like it better. The picture doesn't pick up the blue that well - it is not heavily veined, but enough to give it a good flavour. Sunday night was cold roast beef and more Borgonzola which has now all gone sadly although I think we have another meal of beef yet.

An English friend just posted pictures of their trip to Lapland, looks like they had a great time, however, I thought you could have transposed a lot of the pictures to Canadian ones (well normally, we haven't had much snow this winter) but I was fascinated by the huskies pulling their sleds, they don't look a bit like the dogs we have in North America and I'm not talking about Malamuts. We used to have a dog, Chinook, who was part husky and looked just like the dogs from up north. My friends got to 'mush' in other words drive their own sleds. Must be great fun although I think I would prefer to sit there all wrapped up whilst someone else did the work. Lazy? Me??

I had never really heard of cheese soups before I came to Canada, now I have come across one called Dutch Cheese Soup so maybe the Dutch were making them and I just didn't know.

Dutch Cheese Soup Source: Burt Wolf's Table

Published by Doubleday

Makes 8 servings INGREDIENTS 2 tablespoons butter 1 cup sliced leeks 2 cups peeled, cubed new potatoes 1 bunch broccoli, stalks sliced and florets kept separate from the stalks 6 cups chicken stock or broth 1 cup milk 1 cup grated Gouda cheese or Edam cheese, plus extra grated cheese, for garnish DIRECTIONS In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the leeks, potatoes, broccoli stalks, and chicken stock and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes. Stir in the broccoli florets and cook for 3 minutes. Working in batches, puree the soup in a blender or food processor. Return the soup to the saucepan. Add the milk and reheat the soup until hot. Add the cheese and stir until the cheese melts, about 1 minute. Serve hot, garnished with extra cheese.

Have a great day