Cell Phone Saga, March, Panchiladas, Book

One of the bowling alley owners gave me his cell phone number on Monday so I could text him about whether we would make it on Thursday or not. He wrote it down and later in the evening I went to add it to my cell phone Cell phone? Where is the cell phone. We both hunted high and low Monday night and Tuesday morning Matt checked the car out. I phoned several places, including the bowling alley, to be sure I hadn't lost it there and the owner said it " would be in the last place I looked". We both laughed and then I put the phone down. I thought, where, in fact, would be the last place I would look and went to where I hang my purse when home. Behind it is another purse and guess what, it was in an open pocket of that one!! I had slipped  it into a pocket of my current purse, I thought, but hadn't really done so. Duuuh. I had talked to my provider and they had blocked the phone so then I had to get it unblocked.  As you can see, it's a very simple phone as Matt had trouble with our more advanced phone. He sure isn't into technology. Mind you, we don't use it that much anyway.

It would appear March is coming in like a lamb which, according to the old saw means it should go out like a lion. We did have snow over the weekend but it didn't last very long at all and has all totally disappeared at the moment.

I made the Panchiladas for supper on Tuesday night. I have a few criticisms of the recipe, first the

pancake mix they referred one to was way to thick, Would have been OK for American pancakes but not for crêpes. I added quite a bit more milk. Second, there was a lot more stuffing than would go into two pancakes. I ended up with three and could probably have used four. Matt said it was a lot of food as it was, but I thought it was fine. Final criticism, I think it would be as well to heat the stuffing before assembling them. The middle was cool. That being said I really enjoyed them and will certainly make them again bearing in mind what I said.

By the way, I am reading The Green Mile by Stephen King. I love the movie so thought I would try the book. Enjoying it, but it is a tad long winded. I must say I am impressed that they stayed very close to the book in the movie, doesn't always happen as you know. It really is a good book, I have nearly finished it.

Can't go wrong with pork and ginger and peanuts..

Gingered Pork with Peanut Sauce

A complete meal, this skillet dish features stir-fried Thai-seasoned pork tenderloin pieces, popular Ramen noodles, and fresh spinach. Add only fresh fruit to the menu.

1 lb pork tenderloin
1 3-ounce package pork-flavored Oriental noodles
2 tsp vegetable oil
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp grated fresh ginger root
1/4 cup peanut butter
2 Tbs soy sauce
2 cups torn spinach, washed and drained
1/4 cup sliced green onions

1. Cut tenderloin into ¼-inch slices, cut each slice in half.

2. Cook noodles as directed on package; drain, reserving cooking water, and keep warm.

3. Heat oil in a heavy skillet over high heat; add pork, red pepper flakes and ginger.

4. Cook and stir until pork is done, about 4-5 minutes.

5. Remove pork and keep warm.

6. Blend peanut butter, ½ cup reserved cooking water and soy sauce; heat and stir until hot, adding more cooking water, if needed.

7. Toss cooked pork, noodles, spinach and green onions with peanut sauce.

Servings: 4

Source: National Pork Board

Have a great day
 

Movie, Bowling, Shrimp,

We decided to watch The Green Mile on Thursday night and of course it went on quite late so although I had written a bit of this blog, I hadn't finished it. We both enjoy that movie, one of our favourites. Tom Hanks is brilliant in it - well he is in anything he takes on - and I love the John Coffey character played by Michael Clarke Duncan. Tonight I thought more about the acting than I ever have before and the guy who played the nasty little prick Percy Wetmore, Doug Hutchison, did a brilliant job in making everyone hate him. In fact I think the whole thing was brilliant. Especially the makeup job on Tom Hanks for his "old man" look. Must have taken quite a while to achieve.

Bowling wasn't too bad today, one of our team joined us and bowled ahead. So we decided to bank ours as well. Turned out that the league who always play on Thursday afternoons, were having their missed Christmas get together today. Bad snow day before. As usual we were invited to partake. I had a glass of wine and some cookies. Team member had more to eat but Matt, as usual, didn't have anything. One of the ladies from the league had given us a couple of wafers a previous week, they were so good I asked her to pick some up for me. She gave me a couple of packets today but wouldn't take any money which means I can never ask her to get any more for me. They are a Dutch coffee flavoured wafer, delicious.

This is a recipe I picked up from the local paper, K.W. Record, many, many years ago. I cannot tell you the times I have made it, mostly when we lived in NC and had access to really fresh, tasty shrimp. We had a friend who owned a shrimp boat and he would give me 5 lbs of shrimp, heads on of course, and ask me to make it. I usually saved a few of those shrimp for us. I don't think it is totally authentic, but we all enjoyed it and our friend even ate it for breakfast. I may well have posted this recipe before, but I came across it tonight and I was hungry for it once again. I wonder if I can get some really decent shrimp. Trouble is the stuff we get here has been on ice for a while and the good flavour tends to leech out. They should freeze it instantly and sell it that way. I used to freeze fresh shrimp and it stayed tasty for a long time.

Jambalaya

To freeze, don't add onions or tomatoes.

2-1/2 cup water
1 cup rice - Basmati is best
1 tsp salt
3 tsp red pepper sce (hot)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 garlic clove, crushed
1/2 lb cooked shrimp (I usually use more, much more)
1 cup diced ham
1/2 med green pepper cut in 1 x 1/4 in strips
4 green onions, with tops, sliced
2 med tomatoes, roughly chopped

1. Bring water to boil, add rice, 1 tsp salt and red pepper sauce. Simmer 20 mins. covered. Remove from heat, let stand approximately five mins til liquid has disappeared. Put in a large bowl. Combine garlic, oil, remaining salt with rice. Add rest of ingredients except tomatoes. Chill a minimum of 3 hours. Stir in tomatoes to serve.

Servings: 4

Source: KW Record

Have a great day
 

One More Day, The Green Mile, Dinner

Tomorrow night it will be all over bar shouting. I am so pleased. I didn't realise til the weekend that this has been going on for 21 months, not a year as I so blithely believed. No wonder we are fed up with the campaigning. We caught an Obama ad this morning, if he could achieve what he promises, he will be a brilliant president, but wait for the excuses - I can't do this because... He says he is going to end the war in Iraq, responsibly, to pay for all his new tax cuts, etc. Pipe dreams. We have been told that their polling booths work wonderfully for small numbers, but they are expecting a massive turn out which might mean lots of problems. Good luck America. Last night we watched The Green Mile with Tom Hanks and Michael Clark Duncan as John Coffey. We have seen it before, but decided to watch it again, what a wonderful movie it is. James Cromwell was in it and I will never see him without thinking of the movie Babe where he played the farmer "that'll do pig". We didn't realise the movie went on so late, obviously the ads extend it considerably, but it didn't finish til about 12:30 a.m. so I didn't get all my beauty sleep. Mind you I spent most of yesterday asleep anyway, Saturday evening, when we had dinner guests I started a migraine, began a sore throat and finally woke at 3 a.m. with an allergy. I took anti-histamines which proceeded to knock me out. However, I am better today. I always get worried with a sore throat as I have a tendency to get a lot more problems once I have begun with the throat. This time it didn't happen I am delighted to say. The dinner party went very well however, and I made the Pissaladière which turned out very well except for my oven the timing was wrong and needed to be about 15 minutes instead of 20-25. The pastry was a tad overdone. Matt and I finished it off for lunch yesterday. If you want to check the recipe again, I published it on October 21, this year. After that we had London Broil, the recipe has been posted, but I'm not sure when. I then followed it up with a Turkish Orange Cake, also posted. I am gradually working back through my blogs adding the name of the recipe I post to the Labels. Somewhere or other, one of my guests got the idea there were anchovies in the Pissaladière and as she doesn't eat fish in any shape or form, she was a bit concerned. Not sure where she got that idea from. One thing you will notice, I didn't bother to make a circle. The pastry was bought and didn't allow for a big enough circle according to the recipe so we decided to leave it oblong. Worked fine and looked just as good, tasted even better. I get a little magazine from Kraft called Healthy Living, it is specifically aimed at people with diabetes. I thought I would share one of their recipes which is a bit like a chicken satay. Asian Chicken with Cabbage Slaw Serves 4 1/4 cup Kraft smooth peanut butter 1/4 cup Kraft Signature Asian Sesame Dressing 1 Tbs grated fresh ginger 1 Tbs water 4 small skinless, boneless chicken breasts 2 cups shredded savoy cabbage 1 large carrot shredded 2 green onions sliced Preheat oven to 350°F. Beat peanut butter, dressing, ginger and water in medium bowl with wire whisk until well blended, set aside. Mix cabbages and carrots in a large bowl. Add 1/4 C of the peanut butter mixture; toss and coat. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour. Place the chicken in single layer in shallow baking pan; brush with remaining peanut butter mixture. Bake 20 mins or until chicken is cooked through. Cut into strips. Spoon cabbage mixture onto serving platter; top with the chicken and onions. Have a great day.