PC Problems, Russian Kids, Spring.

I am having all kinds of problems with my desktop again, so at the moment I am using my laptop to write. I am not very good at typing on this keyboard so if there are lots of typos, my apologies, not only that I keep touching something which sends my cursor to a different spot, I have no idea what happens or why. I haven’t done much typing on this machine for that reason.

There was lots on GMA about adopted Russian children this morning and it appears some parents have had horrible experiences. Some of the children have had such unhappy experiences either fetally (mothers drinking whilst pregnant) or because of abandonment and they are suffering from reactive attachment disorder, in other words they are totally incapable of bonding with anyone because of what has happened to them. If you would like to know more about this, go to the GMA website where there is a video clip of parents talking about their adopted children.

I shall be perusing my friend Marilyn’s blog this morning, see French Marilyn’s link this page. She tells me she has be writing about Princess Di and has put a lot of research into the article. Another friend, Glenda Larke, is swanning around London, England at the moment, visiting with her daughter. Nice for some. Especially as I understand England is having a beautiful spring this year.“Oh to be in England now that April’s there” Robert Browning.

I just came across some recipes for breakfast or brunch and this one sounded good. I am always looking for breakfast recipes in particular.

Cheesy Polenta & Egg Casserole

http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/cheesy_polenta_egg_casserole.html

From EatingWell: May/June 2008

This memorable brunch centerpiece is rich with cheesy polenta, crumbled sausage and baked eggs.

6 servings

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 1/3 cup finely chopped onion
• 4 cups water, plus more as needed
• 1 cup yellow cornmeal, (see Shopping Tip)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 6 ounces Italian turkey sausage, casing removed
• 1/2 cup shredded fontina, or mozzarella
• 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, divided
• 6 large eggs

Preparation

1. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring, until softened, but not browned, 2 to 3 minutes. Add 4 cups water and bring to a boil. Gradually whisk cornmeal into the boiling water. Add salt and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly until the polenta bubbles, 1 to 2 minutes. Reduce heat to low and cook, whisking frequently, until very thick, 10 to 15 minutes. (Alternatively, once the polenta comes to a boil, transfer it to the top of a double boiler, cover, and place over barely simmering water for 25 minutes. This is convenient, because you don’t need to stir it as it cooks.)
2. Meanwhile, heat the remaining 2 teaspoons oil in a large skillet over medium heat and add sausage. Cook, stirring and breaking the sausage into small pieces with a spoon, until lightly browned and no longer pink, about 4 minutes. Drain if necessary and transfer to a cutting board; let cool. Finely chop when cool enough to handle.
3. Position rack in upper third of oven; preheat to 350°F. Coat a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with cooking spray.
4. When the polenta is done, stir in fontina (or mozzarella) and 1/4 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano. If the polenta seems too stiff, add small amounts of water to thin it to a thick but not stiff consistency. Spread the polenta in the prepared pan.
5. Make six 2-inch-wide indentations in the polenta with the back of a tablespoon. Break eggs, one at a time, into a custard cup and slip one into each indentation. Scatter the sausage on the polenta and sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano evenly on top of the eggs.
6. Bake the casserole for 15 minutes. Then broil until the egg whites are set, 2 to 4 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Nutrition

Per serving : 295 Calories; 17 g Fat; 6 g Sat; 6 g Mono; 241 mg Cholesterol; 17 g Carbohydrates; 19 g Protein; 2 g Fiber; 683 mg Sodium; 148 mg Potassium

1 Carbohydrate Serving

Exchanges: 1 starch, 2 medium-fat meat, 1 fat

Tips & Notes

• Make Ahead Tip: Prepare through Step 4 up to 2 hours ahead; hold the polenta at room temperature and refrigerate the sausage until ready to bake.

• Shopping Tip: Polenta, a creamy Italian porridge, can be made from any type of cornmeal. Coarsely ground cornmeal, available in many natural-foods stores, is a great option because is has big corn flavor and light texture. It's usually labeled "cornmeal," but some brands are labeled "polenta."

Have a great day

Dinner Party, Russian Boy, Upgrading.

I’m pleased to say our dinner party went off very well on Saturday evening and our company was great. A very nice younger couple. I particularly like our male friend as he is a computer expert and very interesting to talk to, for me anyway, Matt of course, is not interested in such things. However conversation didn’t only revolve around computers but was pretty far ranging. I mentioned the pork roast we were doing, but we served a shrimp cocktail first although our female guest doesn’t eat shrimp so she had asparagus pesto. For dessert we ate Chocolate Volcanoes which are amongst my favourites. I wonder why??? I have actually given the recipe here but maybe I will again in case you don’t remember it.

On Saturday I mentioned the case of the 7 yr. old Russian boy, Artyom Savelyev, who was sent back on his own by his adopted mother. The people on the flight said he seemed a normal little boy, psychologists in Russia have said the same thing. The Russians have stopped allowing adoptions for the moment – apparently 16 children who have been adopted from Russia have been badly abused by their American adoptive parents leading to the death of these children. I am not surprised the Russians are angry. As I said I didn’t understand why Americans were adopting Russian kids anyway. ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, who is in Russia in Obama’s train, spoke about it on the weekend version of GMA and it was from him we heard the psychological evaluations. According to the article in the Star http://tinyurl.com/y89xbec the mother said the child had threatened to torch their home amongst other things. Obviously I don’t know, but I wonder if the psychologists can actually find out what is or is not wrong in a short evaluation. However they are saying there is signs of scarring on his shins and hands which is not very old. The mother and grandmother appear to live in some kind of compound and the press have not been able to get to them, but the FBI and the local sheriff are investigating.

I spent the major portion of Sunday upgrading my laptop to Windows 7. I had to reload all my programmes as the version of Vista I had was not compatible with the version of 7. However, I seem to be almost back to normal – but it does take a while – I am pleased that the backup of the movies I had purchased on iTunes worked OK – they said it would, but until you have actually tried it!!! My cookery book programme key wouldn’t work although I had a careful record and in fact discovered I had the right one, so now I am awaiting a new one from Living Cookbook.

Here is the recipe for the chocolate volcanoes which Matt made on Saturday. We had two guests which meant there were two left over for us on Sunday. I tend to almost prefer them cold.

Warm Chocolate Cake (Volcanoes)

Source Food and Drink

Serves 6

6 oz Bittersweet Chocolate 2/3 cup unsalted butter 1/3 cup sugar 6 egg yolks 3 egg whites 1/3 cup all purpose (plain) flour

1. Preheat oven to 425 F (220 C). In heavy pot on low heat, melt chocolate and butter together. Cool slightly.

2. Beat together sugar and egg yolks with electric mixer until thick and creamy, about 4 mins.

3. Pour in chocolate mixture and beat together for 5 mins.

4. In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form, about three mins. Fold into mixture along with flour.

5. Pour into 6 nonstick buttered moulds or non-stick muffin tins (we use cocottes or ramekins). Bake for 5 to 7 mins or until edges are just cooked and centre is still liquid. Cool for 5 mins in cooking dish. Carefully remove to serving dishes. Serve with lightly whipped cream

Have a great day.