Tournament, Eating Meat.

This blog has been written over the weekend as we had to leave home early this morning to take part in the Seniors Summer League bowling which this year is taking place in Elmira, about 30 minutes away from us. Wish us luck. There are five on the team.  Having finished that we have to rush back to Waterloo for our regular summer league bowling. I think I will be whacked out by the time today is finished.

Sadly our dinner party didn’t happen on Saturday as one of our friends was sick. As Matt had been interrupted last time I made it (he had a TIA) I decided to do another Steak Diane which, once again, was very good. However, next time we have steak, I think it will be a Steak au Poivre for a change.

On Saturday I meant to write about Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook fame (co founder), they were talking on the news about his new resolution never to eat anything he hadn’t killed himself. I am somewhat supportive of this although I could never kill anything myself. I am assured that if I were starving, I could kill anything, but one is unable to imagine it and most of us try to forget about how our pork chops or beef steaks get to our stores, its something we don’t like to think about so we push it to the back of our minds. So good on yer Mark, wish I had the guts. He has already killed a chicken, pig and goat. He started by killing a lobster (dropping it in boiling water) - must admit I have done that, not the most pleasant experience. He says it has taught him a lot about sustainable farming and healthy eating. If you are interested there is an article from the Calgary Herald here http://tinyurl.com/3he65ub

Of course it is Memorial Day in the States today so on the golf course for the PGA Byron Nelson tournament this weekend they were flying the Stars and Stripes on the pin of the 18th hole and had a Marine standing there to remove the pin every time players got to the green to putt.

Asparagus season is well under way but I haven’t been posting lots of recipes as I understand some of my readers are not so keen on asparagus. If you have been reading this blog for long, you will know I love the stuff and I couldn’t resist this recipe when I came across it.

Prosciutto-Wrapped Asparagus

From EatingWell: March/April 2009

These prosciutto-wrapped bundles of grilled asparagus are a delicious addition to a spring brunch or elegant dinner.

4 servings

Ingredients

• 16 spears asparagus, (about 1 bunch), trimmed
• 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
• Pinch of salt
• Freshly ground pepper, to taste
• 2 very thin slices prosciutto, (about 1 ounce), cut in half lengthwise

Preparation

1. Preheat grill to medium.
2. Toss asparagus with oil, salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Wrap 1 length of prosciutto around the middle of 4 asparagus spears. Repeat, making 4 bundles. Oil the grill rack (see Tip). Grill the asparagus bundles, turning once or twice, until the asparagus is tender and charred in spots, about 10 minutes.

Tips & Notes

• Tip: To oil the grill rack, oil a folded paper towel, hold it with tongs and rub it over the rack. (Do not use cooking spray on a hot grill.)

Have a great day.

Graceliners, Blockade Running, Bowling, Spelling Bee

It didn't occur to me before, but I Googled Graceliners and got my blog first, I then found several other pages about them - have a look at the article here http://upbeat.net/ELVIS/ELVIS.HTM which shows them in white costumes as well as pictures of them as they really are. The one who owes me for hugging Matt is definitely there, and there is a phone number so maybe I should call them and ask for my money LOL. There seem to be articles about them and pictures on Flickr and YouTube. They are obviously pretty well known.

I don't often write about political things and please understand, I am not condoning what happened, but the world is up in arms about the death of the humanitarian aid people killed by the Israelis. I am not sure what the problem is, OK they were unarmed, but in a fight things tend to get out of hand. However, this is a BLOCKADE which means they don't want you to get through. Its just the same as sanctions levied against countries. There have been blockades since there have been navies and if you are going to try and run a blockade, you are going to get trouble. The British blockaded the French during the Napoleonic wars and did it again during the American wars; I only know about British blockades, but I am quite sure it has been done by other navies although admittedly at one time the British did have the most powerful navy in the world. There have been lots of romantic stories written about blockade runners (Rhett Butler in Gone with the Wind for one), but lets face it, if you try and run a blockade, there is likely to be shooting, whether you are armed or not. I am sorry people died last time; I see there is yet another ship, from Ireland, which has been stopped by the Israelis today. It is no use trying to run blockades and expecting nothing to happen. The answer here is to persuade Israel not to blockade Gaza. Not to try and force them. Force never achieves anything but more force which escalates into death and disaster. I don't care how humanitarian you are, blockade running is dangerous and an act of war and Israel is blockading Gaza because they don't want them helped. This is a war tactic and in war, people get killed. I am sure this is an unpopular point of view, but you have to be realistic about the whole thing. On the whole, I personally am against war of any kind, but if you involve yourself in one in any way, you can get hurt.

I phoned the bowling alley yesterday, the one where we bowled our tournament, it turned out that our team actually came fourth and were one point behind the third team. How about that. If only we would have got two more pins, we might have made it. The friend I call 'coach' who has taught me a lot about bowling, always says every pin counts, it sure does. The winners of the tournament get to go to a Province wide tournament to be held in Oshawa where we went a few weeks ago. It is a three day event apparently, I guess there are a lot of teams from all over the Province. I wonder if there is then a National tournament? Will have to try and find out. Not that it affects me, but you never know, we might get through one year. Reminds me, we watched the Spelling Bee for a while last night. There was an 11 yr old Canadian girl who got through to the finals, she did very well for her age. Unfortunately she was stumped by "confiserie" she was hearing col instead of con as Dr. Bailey was pronouncing it with a vaguely French intonation and she couldn't pick it up. Pity, because she knew the word apparently, but just couldn't recognise it last night. To me, some of the words seem incredibly easy, and others incredibly difficult. Gnocchi was one, which these days I would say a large proportion of people in North America are familiar with even if they have never actually eaten them. I have and don't much like them. It turns out that a 14 yr old Indian-American girl from Ohio, Anamika Veeramani won with "stromuhr" There is a video at GMA http://abcnews.go.com/gma if you would like to watch.

At the same address there is video about the latest on the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. It seems that BP have managed a slight success with their latest efforts and have captured some of the oil, but there is still much, much more gushing into the gulf. Their final answer seems to be two more wells tapping into the source, I am not sure how that is going to stop this one leaking at all, but I'm obviously no expert. However this plan isn't going to be achieved until late summer. What a mess.

I have The Essential Vegetarian Cookbook which for some reason, I don't use very much. Yesterday I noticed asparagus on the cover and thought aaaaah!! Sure enough there are some interesting recipes in there including one for an Asparagus Purée which can be used a a dip or a past sauce, a filling for crepes or omlettes or just on their own.

Asparagus Purée

Heat 1 oz. butter and 1 Tbs oil in a pan, add 3 chopped spring (green) onions and 10 ounces of fresh young asparagus, chopped; cook for 3 minutes. Add 1/2 cup vegetable stock and 1/2 cup of cream, cover and simmer til tender. Remove the vegetables from the liquid and process until smooth. Bring liquid to a boil and reduce by one quarter. Return purée to pan, stir in 1 Tbs grated Parmesan cheese. Cook over medium heat for 5 minutes or until the pureée thickens slightly. Season with salt and pepper. If the asparagus is stringy, the purée should be passed through a sieve. (My note: If its stringy, the asparagus was not fresh enough).

Have a great day

Shoes, Skaters and Bowling

I seem to be the only blogger around this morning and I haven't got a lot to talk about. On the weekend version of GMA today they were talking about the difference in shoe costs. They bought a pair at $600 and another virtually identical at $20. The expensive pair had red soles so they painted the cheaper pair to look the same then they sent twins out in the shoes to walk a mile in Central Park and other such tests. Few people could tell the difference between the shoes. However, when they finally went to a shoe maker who destroyed them, they found the expensive shoe was all leather and the cheap shoe was rubber and plastic etc. Then it turned out that the girl wearing the expensive shoe, wasn't that enthusiastic because it didn't fit her very well, how stupid is that? Of course the shoes won't feel special if they are uncomfortable. I remember my mother buying a pair of Rayne's shoes (at that time they were shoemakers to the Queen) and to me they were horrifically expensive, but they were the most comfortable shoes, in fact my mother eventually gave them to me and I wore them with pleasure. Tomorrow they plan to compare a cheap handbag with a $3,500 one!! Another topic this morning was male figure skaters and how they should look more macho in order to emphasize just how strenuous and difficult the sport is. If people don't realise that they want their heads checked. We have been fans of the sport since we first emigrated and could watch some of the top competitors from our own back yard by visiting local arenas. Unlike how England used to be, there are arenas all over the place here, mainly because of ice hockey of course, but it does mean that people who want to figure skate have plenty of opportunity. I remember in the UK one of Britain's top skaters (Valda Osborn) when I was a young woman, lived in my village, but had to spend her time with her aunt in London in order to be able to skate. If you would like to see video of the segment click here; one skater commented if they wanted more macho they should put to figure skaters on the ice and let them body check each other. I have been trying to put together a bowling team for the Senior Summer Games in June. I need five and have four. Its only a one day event for any team and should be fun. However, getting people to participate is like pulling teeth. I am hoping to get one more person on Monday at the league bowling banquet which takes place at the bowling alley. For some reason many of them think golfing precludes bowling as well!!! Matt will be doing both. Talking of golfing, I managed to sell my clubs on Kijiji so I am most impressed with that web site. If you have something to sell you should check it out. I was sorry to part with them, but I can't use them any more so what's the point of keeping them? Had another interesting recipe from Mushrooms Canada this week, one which I will certainly try. Oven Roasted Mushroom and Vegetable Salad This room temperature salad is also delicious served warm over grilled polenta. Garnish with shaved Parmesan cheese if desired. 1½ lb. medium fresh Mushrooms, halved 1 large sweet onion, cut in 1/8 thin strips 1/3 cup olive oil, divided 1 medium zucchini 6 fresh plum tomatoes*, seeded and halved 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar 2 tsp dried basil leaves 1/4 cup sliced fresh basil 3 cloves garlic, crushed Pinch of hot red pepper flakes 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley (optional) Place mushrooms in a large bowl with onion wedges. Add 4 tbsp olive oil; sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Toss well. Arrange in a single layer on large shallow baking pan and roast uncovered on bottom shelf in 400°F (200°C) oven for 15 minutes; stir and continue to roast for another 15 –20 minutes. Meanwhile cut zucchini in half lengthwise and then crosswise in 1”(2.5 cm) pieces and place in the same bowl and add tomatoes; toss with remaining olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Place tomatoes cut side up on another baking sheet with zucchini and roast in oven with mushrooms for 15-20 minutes or until softened and sizzling. Remove vegetables from oven and spoon into large serving bowl. In measuring cup combine vinegar, basil, garlic, hot pepper flakes and parsley (if not using fresh basil) and pour over warm vegetables. Toss lightly; serve at room temperature as side dish or on grilled polenta for main course. Makes 6 side servings or 4 main course * Substitute 4 ripe medium tomatoes on the vine, quartered for plum tomatoes. Grilled Polenta: Purchase pre-cooked polenta rolls and cut into ½ “(2.5 cm) thick rounds or prepare your favorite polenta and chill until firm in square pan and cut out squares. Brush with olive oil and grill, broil or bake until golden brown. Tip: In barbecue season, place vegetables in shallow metal pans and roast with lid closed. Have a great weekend.