Justice? Teacher, Pensions. End of Jan.

I was very pleased, over the weekend, to see that the Shafia family have been convicted of 1st degree murder. In case you don’t know, they father, his wife and a son, killed his first wife and three daughters by pushing their car into a lock on the Rideau Canal – all in the name of honour killings. What horrifies me is they are only getting 25 years. Our justice system is nuts. They take 4 lives and are only getting 25 years for doing so. Don’t you agree this isn’t tough enough?

Aren’t teachers supposed to intelligent? If so, why would they be stupid enough to have sexual relations with their students? We keep hearing such stories and there is another in the headlines right now. Joanne Léger-Legault has lost her teaching license for having relationships with four boys over 5 years. How daft can you get? She is an award winning high school teacher and now her teaching career is kaput. What a stupid woman. Hell you can walk into just about any bar and pick up a sexual partner, why get involved with your students? I personally cannot understand the mentality behind this story. What do you think about it?

The other day there was a report that the government were going to look into revamping the pension and retirement system. I have no doubt that pensioners right across the country got somewhat nervous, I sure did. However, yesterday Mr. Harper announced that there would be no cuts in retirement income, phew!!! Considering some countries have cut into pension incomes, it was always on the books although economically Canada is doing a lot better than many countries at the present time. However, lets face it, one would never get rich on a government pension. Unlike the politicians themselves who get very nice retirement packages thank you.

Well, we’re finally on the last day of January, I have never known January to drag so long, it was driving me up the wall. Maybe being unwell wasn’t helping of course. Plus I haven’t been bowling or doing much of anything, so that didn’t do much for me. I am toying with the idea of trying to bowl on Friday, not sure about it though. Still got quite a bit of pain; for instance, coughing kills me, yes in my shoulder, I guess you contract a lot of muscles when you cough. However, we are talking my left shoulder and of course I bowl with my right arm so I might just try a few balls and see what happens.

This is a shrimp dish we have made several times and always enjoyed it. Unfortunately I have never taken a picture of the dish so don’t have one to share. You can bet, one thing I never do is leave on the tails. I hate having to deal with them at the dinner table.

Marinated Gingered Shrimp

This is a simple Japanese preparation that can be prettily arranged on a serving plate. Sweet sake is widely available, but the same quantity of sweet sherry may be substituted if sake is not to be found

1 ½ lbs shrimp, shelled and deveined
1/4  cup soy sauce
3 oz ginger root, chopped
1/4  cup vinegar
2 Tbs sugar
2 Tbs Sweet sake
1½ tsp salt
2-3 Tbs  thinly sliced green onions

1. Cook shrimp til just turned pink. Drain. Arrange in a single layer in glass or plastic container, 12 x 7½ x 2 inches. Heat soy sauce to boiling; add gingerroot. Reduce heat; simmer uncovered until most of the liquid is absorbed, about 5 mins. Stir in vinegar, sugar, sake and salt; pour over shrimp. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours.

2. Remove shrimp from marinade with slotted spoon; arrange on serving plate. Garnish with green onion.

3. 60-65 shrimp

NOTE: We leave the shrimp in the marinade as we find the pieces of ginger delicious as do most of our guests.

Source: Betty Crocker's New Int. Cookbook.

Have a great day

Quicken, Favourite Movies,

Yesterday morning I received an offer from Amazon.com for a new version – Quicken Deluxe 2012 – at a pretty reasonable price - to download. Apparently the new versions are separated into Canadian or US because, I am told, these days the programmes contain so many forms it would be impossible to carry all of them for both countries. I bought Quicken Cash but that didn’t contain all the stuff I have been using for years so I ended up with Quicken Home and Business which was quite a bit more expensive and more than I had intended to spend, however, my version was getting a tad ancient.

Not having much to do and very little on TV, we decided to watch The King and I with Yul Brynner and Deborah Kerr. This is one of my favourite movies although I howl all the way through it much to Matt’s amusement. I especially cry at the final scene when the king dies. I always loved Yul Brynner as an actor and another movie of his that I love is Anastasia with Ingrid Bergman. I have always loved the story of Anastasia and like to think that maybe she really did survive the assassination of her family. Even if she had, she would not be with us any more as it was so very long ago now.

The Canadian news, at the moment, is full of reports on the killings of three daughters and a former wife by Mohammad Shafia and his current wife. There seems to be more and more of these kinds of killings and, I don’t care how much honour they consider is involved, in Canada that’s murder, plain and simple, and they should get the most extreme penalty we can give them. If you want to live that way and do that kind of thing, please return to your own country.

I love Chinese and Chinese style food so when I saw this one, I couldn’t resist it either. Peanuts actually make me think Thai, but this is Sichuan style.

Sichuan Chicken with Peanuts

WebMD Recipe from EatingWell.com

The piquant Sichuan Sauce (which doubles easily) works well with almost any stir-fry but particularly enhances dishes with meat, fish and poultry. When stir-frying chicken, always spread the pieces in the wok and let them cook undisturbed for 1 minute before stirring. This allows the chicken to sear and prevents sticking. To smash the ginger, use the side of a cleaver or chef’s knife.

Servings: 4

Make ahead Tip:Prepare Sichuan Sauce (Step 1); cover and refrigerate for up to 1 week.

Recipe Ingredients:

Sichuan Sauce

1. 3 tablespoons reduced-sodium chicken broth
2. 1 tablespoon tomato paste
3. 2 teaspoons black rice vinegar, or balsamic vinegar
4. 1 teaspoon sugar
5. 1 teaspoon reduced-sodium soy sauce
6. 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
7. 1/4 teaspoon cornstarch
8. 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper, plus more to taste

Chicken

1. 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast, or thighs, trimmed and cut into 1-inch cubes
2. 1 teaspoon Shao Hsing rice wine or dry sherry
3. 1 teaspoon reduced-sodium soy sauce
4. 1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
5. 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
6. 1 tablespoon canola oil
7. 2 1/2-inch-thick slices ginger, smashed
8. 2 cups sugar snap peas, (8 ounces)
9. 1/4 cup dry-roasted peanuts
10. 1 scallion, minced

Recipe Steps:

1. To prepare Sichuan sauce: Whisk broth, tomato paste, vinegar, sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil, cornstarch and crushed red pepper to taste in a small bowl.
2. To prepare chicken: Combine chicken, rice wine (or sherry), soy sauce, cornstarch and garlic in a medium bowl; mix thoroughly.
3. Heat a 14-inch flat-bottomed wok or large skillet over high heat until a bead of water vaporizes within 1 to 2 seconds of contact. Swirl oil into the pan, add ginger and stir-fry for 10 seconds. Carefully add the chicken mixture, spreading it out. Cook until the chicken begins to brown, about 1 minute. Using a spatula, stir-fry for 30 seconds. Spread the chicken out again and cook for 30 seconds. Continue stir-frying until the chicken is lightly browned on all sides, 1 to 2 minutes. Add snap peas and stir-fry for 1 minute. Stir the Sichuan Sauce, swirl it into the pan and stir-fry until the chicken is just cooked through and the sauce is slightly thickened and glossy, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Transfer to a platter (discard the ginger) and sprinkle with peanuts and scallions. Serve immediately.

Recipe Nutrition:

Per serving: 273 calories; 12 g fat ( 2 g sat , 6 g mono ); 66 mg cholesterol; 11 g carbohydrates; 28 g protein; 3 g fiber; 177 mg sodium; 427 mg potassium.

Have a great day