MRI, Il Volo, Books, St. Patrick’s

I’m delighted to report that when I went for my MRI yesterday I discovered that I am definitely not claustrophobic. The most difficult part was getting my shoulder positioned exactly where she wanted it, under a kind of clamp although it didn’t clamp down. Slide up, move here, turn sideways a bit, now move your shoulder again, and on and on. Eventually she got me where she wanted me. I had ear plugs in, told to shut my eyes and was fed into the machine. Of course I had a way of stopping the machine if needed. However, I was fine. I started with my eyes closed and thought about books, I know a fair bit about them after all. I was particularly thinking about the Wheel of Time series and although I could remember the names of the three young men, damned if I could recall all the females. She kept asking if I was OK which I assured her I was. I eventually opened my eyes and looked around, not much to see, but one is pretty closed in. It is also pretty noisy, cannot imagine what it would be like without ear plugs. By the end, it was my back that was giving me problems. I was in there about half an hour I guess. Dunno, didn’t have a watch on. I just found a picture of a much larger MRI machine. I think it is a bit more futuristic than what is available today.

Last night we watched a TV special on PBS of Il Volo which was wonderful. I have raved about Il Volo before, three young Italians, Giancarlo, Piero and Ignazio who were in a talent competition which Giancarlo won, but the producer combined the three of them which worked brilliantly and Il Volo was born. Piero certainly has the makings of an opera singer and it was posited that they would not be together very long but would split to follow their own career paths. They are appearing at the Sony Centre in Toronto at the end of August, and I would love to go, but sadly that is unlikely to happen. I think I will have to content myself buying CDs etc. 

I just got hold of Patricia Cornwell’s latest Kay Scarpetta book, Red Mist. I have been waiting for this for some time. Now I am not quite sure if I read the previous book, reading the first chapter or so, it doesn’t ring any bells with me. The last book I remember reading I thought the whole Scarpetta series was finished, done and dusted, but here she is again. I checked out some of the information about Cornwall’s books on Amazon.com and a paperback is cheaper than a Kindle version, I’m thinking “why would anyone buy the Kindle version then?” I still don’t know if there is a book I didn’t read or not. Maybe I should start at the beginning and read them all again.

I am already being sent recipes for St. Patrick’s Day, I used to have an Irish friend who got so mad every year because of all the recipes which came out specially for St. Patrick’s Day. As she pointed out, the Irish themselves do NOT cook anything particular that day so these are not genuine St. Paddy’s day recipes at all. Nevertheless north Americans cook corned beef and cabbage, the Chicagoans continue to pour green die into their waters and many of the pubs in this part of the world serve green beer. There is a huge parade in New York City and people all over North America tend to wear something green that day, especially when they go to work. My first wedding was on St. Paddy’s Day but not for any particular reason. One of Matt’s daughters and her husband were both born that day, both the same year which is unusual in a couple. I don’t remember we took a lot of notice of the day in the UK, maybe things have changed, as for St. George’s Day (Britain) and St. Andrew’s (Scotland) I haven’t a clue when they are. Of course having been so long away, one tends to forget anyway.

These are so pretty I just had to share them although I don’t think I would ever make them, dunno if any of you would.

Luck o' the Irish Cake Pops

Give the cake pop trend some St. Patrick's Day spirit with green food color and decorate with shamrock sprinkles for a festive dessert, inside and out.

Makes 4 dozen or 24 (2 cake pop) servings).

1 package (18 1/4 ounces) yellow cake mix

2 teaspoons McCormick® Green Food Color

3/4 cup marshmallow creme

1 bag (14 ounces) white confectionary coating wafers

Lollipop sticks

Green sprinkles (optional)

1. Prepare cake mix as directed on package, adding food color. Bake as directed on package for 13x9-inch baking pan. Cool completely on wire rack.
2. Crumble cake into large bowl. Add marshmallow creme; mix until well blended. Shape into 1-inch balls. Refrigerate 2 hours.
3. Melt coating wafers as directed on package. For each Cake Pop, dip 1/2 inch of lollipop stick into melted coating. Insert dipped end of lollipop stick halfway into cake ball. Let stand until coating is set. Dip each cake pop into melted coating. Shake gently to remove excess coating. Sprinkle or roll cake pops in green sprinkles, if desired. Place cake pops in styrofoam blocks. Let stand until coating is set.

Test Kitchen Tips:

• Substitute 1/2 cup canned vanilla frosting for the marshmallow creme.

• If styrofoam blocks are not available, use upside-down foam egg cartons or a cardboard box to hold the cake pops.

Have a great day

Lunch, Face Lift, Spring, Diet Chart.

First of all, Happy St. Patrick’s Day. The top o’ the mornin’ to ya.

Yesterday, for lunch, I made an approximation of Hot and Sour Soup. It worked really well. As a base I use Lipton’s Chicken Noodle Soup then added things like mushrooms, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, hot sauce, sesame oil, I thickened it slightly with corn starch and then added tofu and a beaten egg. Works really well. However, for a genuine recipe, look below.

I need a face lift. It seems to me totally unfair that one has to be rolling in riches to have one. I actually don’t need the whole face done,  just a part of it, if that’s possible but, alas, unless I win a lottery, it will never happen.

I forgot to mention, when I was walking on my treadmill, gazing absently out of the window, I suddenly realised one of the trees I can see has signs of green on it. Hurrah, spring is on its way. Maybe the groundhog was right after all.

Later in the day I found that the site WebMD which sends me a health email with lots of diabetes information, is offering a chart to enter one’s food and exercise on a daily basis. Kind of thing Weight Watchers make you pay for, but this is totally free. I spent a large portion of the afternoon entering foods I eat and exercise I do (at least bowling is good)  the treadmill doesn’t amount to a lot I’m afraid, my walking is somewhat limited. I am over my intake today, but I pigged out on the soup. Tomorrow I will be better.

Here is an actual recipe for Hot and Sour soup. I love the soup but have never made it totally correctly. I have bought it several times as a takeaway and I always have this soup when I go to a Chinese restaurant, whatever else I eat.

Hot and Sour Soup

Hot and sour soup is reputed to be good for colds. To increase the health benefits, feel free to add 2 or 3 teaspoons of finely chopped ginger.
For a vegetarian version of Hot and Sour Soup, leave out the pork.
Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1 cake tofu (fresh, if possible)
• 2 ounces pork tenderloin
• Marinade:
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon tapioca starch (or cornstarch)
• Other:
• 1/2 cup bamboo shoots
• 2 tablespoons black fungus (Wood Ear) or Cloud Ear fungus
• (or 3 - 4 Chinese dried black mushrooms or fresh mushrooms)
• 1 small handful dried lily buds
• 6 cups water (or 6 cups water and 1 cup Campbell's chicken broth)*
• 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons red rice vinegar, white rice vinegar, or red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 Tbsp cornstarch dissolved in 1/4 cup water
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 green onion, finely chopped
• White pepper to taste (no more than 1 tablespoon)
• Hot chili oil, to taste, optional

Preparation:

Hot and Sour Soup Directions:
Shred pork. Mix marinade ingredients and marinate pork for 20 minutes.
Cut tofu into small squares. Cut bamboo shoots into thin strips and then into fine slices. To reconstitute the fungus, soak in warm water for 20 minutes. Rinse, and cut into thin pieces. (If substituting Chinese dried mushrooms, soak to soften, then cut off the stems and cut into thin strips. If using fresh mushrooms, wipe clean with a damp cloth and slice.)
To reconstitute the dried lily buds, soak in hot water for 20 minutes or until softened. Cut off the hard ends.
Bring the water to a boil. When it is boiling, add the bamboo shoots, fungus or mushrooms, and the lily buds. Stir. Add the tofu. Bring back to a boil and add the marinated pork.
Stir in the salt, sugar, soy sauce and vinegar and sesame oil.
Test the broth and adjust the taste if desired. (If using chicken broth, you may want to add a bit more rice vinegar).
Mix the cornstarch and water. Slowly pour the cornstarch mixture into the soup, stirring while it is being added. Let the broth come back to a boil. As soon as it is boiling, remove the broth from the stove.
Slowly drop in the beaten egg, stirring in one direction at the same time. Add the green onion and the white pepper to taste. Drizzle with chili oil if desired. Serve hot.
(Hot and Sour Soup can be prepared ahead of time and frozen. When making the soup, leave out the tofu. When ready to serve, thaw, add the tofu and bring to boiling. When the soup is boiling, add the egg.)
*Adjust the ratio of water to chicken stock as desired.

Have a great day

Hospitals, Books and St. Paddy's.

Having spent several hours in the hospital and not getting home til about 1 a.m. I am tired this morning and gotta rush because of bowling later. No real problems luckily and everything is more or less OK now. One thing, sitting in the waiting room last night, we were sitting next to someone I recognised but couldn't think who he was. Eventually I asked him, he didn't remember me, but in the end we found out we used to work for the same company, he in shipping, me as secretary for the plant manager. We spent a while discussing names we remembered. Small world. He told me one person I remembered was now living in the same town as we do, must see if I can find him and his wife.

I finished First Lord's Fury by Jim Butcher the other day. That appears to be the end of the current series although there is an opening to write more stories in the same world 200 odd years into the future, I don't know if that is his intention. It has been an excellent series although I did find this last book a bit slow going in places, particularly at the beginning. However, the latter part of the book was great. I find I periodically get a bit tired of a book which keeps flitting from one character to another, especially when there are lots of characters. Some authors seem to do it better than others but occasionally books like that lose their pace. IMHOP.

From that book I went to Tanya Huff's Second Summoning (can't find the first one) which is an amusing story about Keepers who try to maintain the metaphysical balance between good and evil and the main protagonist, Claire, falls in love and then makes love but, because of who she is, the metaphysical world shakes and because of several circumstances an angel is dragged into the world by a young woman - her dad finds this nude angel in her bedroom, assumes it to be a boyfriend and because he imagines it, the angel acquires genitalia. This is the start of a very complicated existence for the poor angel (they are normally sexless, did you know?). There is also a talking cat who, as he keeps pointing out, is old and also pretty funny. I am now reading another Tanya Huff story which I will tell you about when I finish it.

Everywhere I look at the moment there are recipes for St. Patrick's Day which is celebrated with gusto in the States, and certainly given a lot of attention in Canada. If the weather stays like it is this week, all our temps are forecast to be in the plus figures this week (even +8°C), St. Paddy's day will be warm enough for all the celebrants, they have a big parade in New York City. Chicago dyes their waters green and everyone has a grand old time. It also happens to be Matt's youngest daughter's birthday as well as her husband's, Mike of Scolopax Chronicles or Mike's Wildlife Art (see links this page). Amazingly they are both the same age. It is also the anniversary of the day I got married to my first husband.

That being the case, here is one of Hershey's recipes for the occasion. Minty Irish Chocolate Cream Pie Ingredients: 9-inch pie crust, baked and cooled OR 1 extra serving-size packaged graham cracker crumb crust (9 oz.) 1-1/4 cups sugar 1/2 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa 1/3 cup cornstarch 1/4 teaspoon salt 2-3/4 cups milk 3 tablespoons butter or margarine 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1-1/2 cups frozen whipped topping, thawed 18 small (1-1/2 inch) YORK Peppermint Patties, divided 6 drops green food color(optional) Directions: 1. Prepare crust, if desired. 2. Combine sugar, cocoa, cornstarch and salt in medium saucepan; gradually stir in milk. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to full rolling boil; boil and stir 1 minute. Remove from heat; stir in butter and vanilla. Pour into prepared crust; carefully press plastic wrap directly onto pie filling. Cool; refrigerate 6 hours or until firm. 3. Shortly before serving, remove wrappers from peppermint patties. Remove plastic wrap from pie. Cut 9 peppermint candies in half; place, cut side down, at outer edge of pie filling, forming a scalloped edge. Finely chop remaining 9 patties; fold into whipped topping with green food color, if desired. Spread peppermint topping on pie. Serve immediately. Cover; refrigerate leftover pie. 10 servings.

Have a great day

NOW Its St. Patrick's Day, Belly Fat, AIG

Now, today, really is St. Patrick's Day and I assume the Chicago River will be dyed green and people will be wearing green clothing to work in many places. It must take a lot of dye I imagine because that is a very dark green. I Googled, they use 40 lbs of food colouring to keep it green for a few hours. Of course they may have done it on Sunday, I am not sure. There is a video on YouTube click here which tells you all about it. The fountain at the White House was also died green this morning. The idea was proposed by Michelle Obama as they come from Chicago so its a nod to the festivities there. On GMA they showed pictures and mentioned that, through his mother, Obama is something like 3.4% Irish. So precise. The hosts on GMA and the local news broadcasts were, unsurprisingly, wearing green and they had a corned beef and cabbage pizza!!!!!!! It is also the birthday of both Matt's youngest daughter and her husband, so Happy Birthday to the pair of you. There is a big row going on in the States at the moment. The government having given $165 Million to AIG (a big insurance company) they, AIG, are now paying out over $1.5 M to their top executives in bonuses. AIG says they are contractually obliged to make these payments. Obama is hopping mad as are lots of people in the States. These bonuses are going to the same people that ran AIG into the ground. There doesn't seem to be a lot that can be done about it though. By the way, having made Bobotie again, we have both decided we prefer it with lamb. A much better flavour. However, bearing in mind the noise made by our female guest when lamb was mentioned, we obviously chose beef. There turned out to be enough left over for supper for Matt and I for two days but although we enjoyed it, we have had enough for a while. Same with the Milk Tert although I wouldn't be sorry to have more of it left. I really like that. According to Real Age, there are certain foods which fight belly fat which is supposed to be the most dangerous place to have fat. The foods are apples, pears, tea, chocolate, broad beans, onions, leeks and sweet peppers. With that in mind, they have an Eating Well recipe which contains apples and leeks which I thought sounded pretty good. No picture of the recipe, the picture shown is just sautéed apples and leeks. Sauté of Chicken with Apples & Leeks From EatingWell Magazine September/October 1996 Fragrant with flavors of fall, this easy chicken sauté turns a weeknight supper into a special occasion. Makes 4 servings 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (1-1 1/4 pounds), trimmed 3 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided 1/4 teaspoon salt Freshly ground pepper to taste 2 large leeks, white parts only, washed and cut into julienne strips (2 cups) 2 large cloves garlic, minced 1 tablespoon sugar 2 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary or 1/2 teaspoon dried 1/4 cup cider vinegar 2 firm tart apples, such as York or Granny Smith, peeled, cored and thinly sliced 1 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth 1. Place chicken breasts between 2 sheets of plastic wrap. Use a rolling pin or a small heavy pot to pound them to a thickness of 1/2 inch. 2. Heat 1 1/2 teaspoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper and add to the pan. Cook until browned on both sides, 4 to 5 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate and keep warm. 3. Reduce the heat to low. Add the remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons oil and leeks. Cook, stirring, until the leeks are soft, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, sugar and rosemary and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes more. Increase the heat to medium-high, stir in vinegar and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated. 4. Add apples and broth and cook, stirring once or twice, until the apples are tender, about 3 minutes. Reduce the heat to low and return the chicken and any juices to the pan. Simmer gently until the chicken is heated through. Serve immediately. Have a great day.

Its Not St. Paddy's Yet, Wedding

On Sunday the radio was pumping out Irish tunes, in New York they had a parade. Someone should tell them, St. Patrick's Day is on the 17th, not the 15th. I think the New York Irish tend to be more Irish than they are in Ireland. All over North America people will be eating Irish foods such as corned beef and cabbage, but in Ireland they will be eating the same things they would be eating any other day of the week. It used to really annoy an Irish friend of mind about all the recipe that would be posted to be eaten on St. Patrick's day, in her book it was all nonsense. I found an interesting article here about St. Patrick's Day traditions. There are several good recipes on this site all of which are basically Irish. I was actually married to my first husband on St. Patrick's Day, a very long time ago. It was a beautiful day but cold as charity and my poor cousins, who were my bridesmaids, were wearing short sleeved cotton dresses and were freezing. The bride wasn't feeling terribly warm either. In those days churches were not heated, don't know if they are today in the UK. Looking for a picture of the church, I found several which give me the impression the church was cleaned in recent years. It sure wasn't that colour when I lived in Kent. There is a website devoted to the church click here to read it. The church is reputed to have been the one featured in Great Expectations by Charles Dickens - Pip hid from the convict in a churchyard. Today we are bowling in the morning at 10:30 a.m. because it is the beginning of what is called March Break here and there are likely to be dozens of youngsters bowling in the afternoon. Unfortunately it is likely to be the same on Friday, but most of the bowlers couldn't make it in the morning. Corned Beef & Cabbage Source Irish Culture and Customs If it wouldn't be St. Patrick's Day in your house without Corned Beef & Cabbage, here's an authentic recipe from Darina Allen's the Festive Food of Ireland. Even she points out that it's rarely eaten in Ireland and was most likely made popular by immigrants who missed the salted beef of their homeland. Cured beef was a traditional Easter Sunday dinner; the beef killed and preserved before winter could then be eaten after the long Lenten fast. In the truest sense of the word then, this really doesn't qualify as a traditional recipe. But, it has become so closely associated with the Irish and St. Patrick's Day, we'd be remiss not to include it. Ingredients: 4-pound corned beef brisket - 'silverside' if you can get it; many butchers are familiar with the term and can prepare your cut of brisket in this special way. But, do allow them several days to prepare it properly. 3 large carrots, cut into large chunks 6 to 8 small onions, roughly chopped 1 teaspoon powdered English mustard (Coleman's) 1 large spring of fresh thyme and several parsley stalks tied together 1 cabbage Salt and pepper to taste Method 1. Put the corned beef into a large pot with the carrots, onions, mustard powder and herbs. 2. Cover with cold water; bring to a boil and then lower heat and simmer for 1 hour. From time to time, skim fat from top as it rises. 3. Discard the outer leaves of the cabbage and cut into quarters, Add to the pot. * Cook for another one to two hours or until the meat and vegetables are tender. 4. Serve the corned beef cut into slices and surrounded by the vegetables. Serve with a generous amount of potatoes, boiled in their jackets and freshly made mustard. (We use Colman's which is readily available). In addition to the English mustard we also like the following horseradish sauce: Horseradish Sauce 1/2 pt Whipping Cream 2 tablespoons prepared horseradish Whip cream until it stand in peaks. Fold in horseradish. *We prefer our cabbage crispy firm, so, we cook it separately. Cooked quickly in boiling water, it retains its beautiful bright green color. We season it heavily with fresh ground pepper and we don't go easy on the butter! Note: Our dear friend Judith Flynn sent us the following Corned Beef "sauce" which sounds really tasty: Slice the beef and place it on an oven proof serving platter. Mix up 2 tablespoons of (Coleman's English) mustard, 2 tablespoons of catsup and 1/3 cup brown sugar (packed). Spread over the corned beef. If it is a large piece, double the recipe. Put it back in the oven for a bit to warm the sauce. Have a great day.

It Isn't St. Patrick's Day

I was going to wish you all Happy St. Patrick's Day and then I discovered that the Pope moved the day to Saturday because this week is Easter Week. This is what my friend wrote, which has since been confirmed by other sources:

St Patrick's Day was Saturday, not today. This year it has been moved to 15 March by order of the Vatican because an early Easter causes 17 March to fall in Holy Week. No liturgical feast may take place during Holy Week, so St Patrick had to give way. The last time St Patrick was 'bumped' was 1940; the next time he faces ecclesiastical eviction from the 17th won't be until 2160. So, those of you who were planning to celebrate, too late, you should have done it on Saturday so you can put away your Corned Beef and Cabbage. Not that the Irish have special meals today anyway, they are just as likely to eat fish and chips or curry as anything else today. In fact a friend of mine who lives in Ireland says they are having Italian tonight. She also said the St. Patrick's Day parades are going ahead today anyway. That's it for today, not much time. So have a great day, whether you are celebrating or not.