Weather, The Moon in 2012, Phantom of the Opera.

Friday night it blew and blew and blew and then Saturday morning it snowed and it was still blowing. Still we didn’t get a stack of tornados like they did in the States. Lots of people killed. We do get tornados in Canada, but not like the central States where it can be deadly. Lets face it, The Wizard of Oz was based on typical Kansas weather.

Reports coming in about the tornados are pretty horrifying. Kentucky, for instance hasn’t had such tornados in 40 years. In one town in Indiana a 2 yr. old was discovered alive where all her family were dead. She is in critical condition in hospital, she has one relation beside her. If you want to see the Good Morning America reports go to the ABC news website. There is some good video footage. School buses driven into buildings, and cars turned upside down. Whole towns wiped out and so on. The death toll is about 30 at the moment, lets hope it doesn’t increase.

Once again on Facebook. A friend posted a link to incredible high resolution images of the moon which have been put together to make a fantastic video with music and explanations of what you are seeing. The video shows just what the moon will look like all through 2012. Very cleverly done.

If you go to the White Wolf Pack site it gives a lot more detail about the way this video was made.

After all these years, I got to see Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera last night on public television. The Phantom was played by Ramin Karimloo an Iranian born Canadian actor with Sierra Boggess as Christine. The production was coming from the Royal Albert Hall in London and was performed as the 25th anniversary of the show. I have known and loved the music for years of course, but have never had the opportunity to see the show. Lots of tears. I loved it although I wish I had been more familiar with the libretto for some of the scenes where everyone sings at the same time. They had brief interviews with Karim and also Colm Wilkinson who was one of the early Phantoms playing in Canada. We turned off the TV before the end of the production, not the show itself, but where they bring on all the previous cast etc. I believe Michael Crawford put in an appearance. The show has been running for a long time in New York, it has outrun many well known shows apparently.

I don’t often cook a beef roast but did this weekend and thoroughly enjoyed it. Somehow, although its still beef, a roast, cooked in the English style which I believe is referred to as dry roasted over here, has such a different flavour and with some good gravy, makes a delicious meal. I wish I had planned in advance as we could have bought some frozen Yorkshire puds. I don’t make them any more a there are only two of us, the the President’s Choice version are excellent and take 4 mins from frozen in the oven. When I was at school they used to serve us Yorkshire pudding and then for dessert we used to get it again with syrup. I loved that.

My Eating Well email this weekend was talking about healthy breakfasts, it is always stressed that you should eat well at breakfast time and it will set you up for the rest of the day. Here is an oatmeal recipe which appealed to me.

Oatmeal-Rhubarb Porridge

From EatingWell: May/June 2011

Perk up your morning oatmeal with the addition of tangy rhubarb. Using milk for this oatmeal gives it a calcium boost, but the recipe also works well with water—and you’ll save about 60 calories.

2 servings

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups nonfat milk or nondairy milk, such as soymilk or almond milk
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1 cup 1/2-inch pieces rhubarb, fresh or frozen
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Pinch of salt
• 2-3 tablespoons brown sugar, pure maple syrup or agave syrup
• 2 tablespoons chopped pecans or other nuts, toasted (see Tip) if desired

Preparation

1. Combine milk, juice, oats, rhubarb, cinnamon and salt in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat, cover and cook at a very gentle bubble, stirring frequently, until the oats and rhubarb are tender, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and let stand, covered, for 5 minutes. Stir in sweetener to taste. Top with nuts.

Nutrition

Per serving :336 Calories; 8 g Fat; 1 g Sat; 4 g Mono; 4 mg Cholesterol; 56 g Carbohydrates; 13 g Protein; 6 g Fiber; 153 mg Sodium; 772 mg Potassium

3 Carbohydrate Serving

Exchanges: 1 1/2 starch, 1/2 fruit, 1/2 carbohydrate (other), 1 nonfat milk, 1 fat

Tips & Notes

• Tip: To toast chopped nuts, place in a small dry skillet and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until fragrant and lightly browned, 2 to 4 minutes.

Have a great day

Holiday Weekend, Belly Fat,

What a weekend, first of all we have another massive volcano in Iceland spewing smoke and ash in all directions and closing airports then a monster tornado on Sunday night in Joplin Missouri. The present death toll is 117 people and this morning they are talking about the possibility of another tornado in the area. One scary comment I heard, the sirens went off but people ignored them thinking it was yet another false alarm and didn’t get off the streets. Bearing in mind what happened to the houses, I can’t see it made much difference. Other people complained there was insufficient warning – I heard 17 minutes quoted. From all one hears, there isn’t a whole hell of a lot you can do with a tornado unless you have an underground shelter and not everyone does. I think if I lived in Tornado Alley in the States I would be sure to have one in my yard. We had one heck of a rainstorm here last night too, thought it might be a hangover from the Missouri storm.

This morning the water is being turned off in our building, so I have to go shower before they do so. Meanwhile, we had some really bad thumps driving the car home yesterday so Matt has to go have it checked out. Please cross your finger for us.

According to an article I was reading at the weekend, legumes of all kinds are helpful in reducing belly fat together with pears and plain popcorn. I am not quite sure how true that is, but this soup certainly looks delicious. I love beans anyway. The following is a quote from Real Age who send me a regular newsletter “All legumes are full of protein and fiber -- two well-known appetite crushers. And thanks to their dark color, black beans are also one of the highest in flavonoids of all the beans. And research shows that flavonoids may thwart the storage of excess tummy fat.” We had some at the weekend and it was very good. Didn’t have fresh cilantro of course, added some dried. Also a dollop of Greek Yoghurt.

Spicy Black Bean Soup

From Good Housekeeping

Canned beans make this soup a snap to prepare, and the right blend of spices gives it a Tex-Mex wallop of flavor.

Calories 137 per serving

6 first course servings

Ingredients

1 tablespoon(s) vegetable oil

1 medium onion, chopped

2 clove(s) (garlic) finely chopped

2 teaspoon(s) chili powder

1 teaspoon(s) ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon(s) crushed red pepper

2 can(s) (15 to 19 ounces each) black beans, rinsed and drained

2 cup(s) water

1 can(s) (14 1/2 ounces) chicken broth

1/4 cup(s) coarsely chopped fresh cilantro

Lime wedges

Directions

1. In 3-quart saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, 5 to 8 minutes. Stir in garlic, chili powder, cumin, and crushed red pepper; cook 30 seconds. Stir in beans, water, and broth; heat to boiling over high heat. Reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes.
2. Spoon one-third of mixture into blender; cover, with center part of cover removed to let steam escape, and puree until smooth. Pour puree into bowl. Repeat with remaining mixture. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve with wedges of lime. Makes about 6 2⁄3 cups or 6 first-course servings.

Have a great day

Tornadoes, Sandwiches, Movies

When I got up on Thursday morning it was blowing a gale and the wind whips around our nine storey building howling like a banshee which makes one feel cold just listening to it. Then I turn on the TV and see they had 150 tornadoes in the States on Wednesday night with lots of destruction and quite a few deaths, I couldn’t help wondering if they were headed here with all this wind? The States has certainly been pounded with tornados lately, the pictures on yesterday’s TV were horrifying. The last count I heard was 290 deaths from tornados recently.

As I mentioned, we went to Benny’s for lunch yesterday. Everyone seemed to be OK with what was being served, I ordered a sandwich called Lox, Stock and Bagel. Not a good choice, in the first place a good bagel doesn’t seem to be available round her, secondly the lox was overpowered by a mayonnaise, tomato, onion and lettuce combination. The mayo itself was a big mistake for a start. But that is how North Americans make sandwiches, they don’t use butter but slather the bread with mayonnaise which neither of us have taken to. Mayonnaise certainly does not go with smoked salmon – it wasn’t particularly good mayonnaise either. Ah well, if we go there again, I will not be choosing that. It was actually on the breakfast menu which several of us used for our selections. One person had a Benny’s Benedict which I thought looked pretty good. Matt had his good ol’ standby of BLT which he enjoyed. I had thought of soup and salad, the the soup of the day was broccoli and it didn’t appeal to me at the time.

We had fun at the bowling alley, I even bowled two good games although the third one was terrible. Matt didn’t bowl well at all, he gets up tight which doesn’t help it I guess. We have started playing poker (used to do it years ago) you are dealt a 5 card hand then if you hit the head pin you change one card, if you bowl a strike you can change two cards. In the second game I started with a flush and didn’t want to change any of them. I ended up with a load of rubbish Ah well, only a quarter (25 ¢) a time so I didn’t exactly lose much.

Much to my delight the DVDs I had ordered, The King’s Speech and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, both arrived in the mail yesterday so we played The King’s Speech last night and Matt thoroughly enjoyed it. Well it is a wonderful movie. I was so glad it got so many Oscars although I was sorry Geoffrey Rush didn’t get one. I won’t play the Narnia movie for Matt, not his scene at all, but I will be watching it again. The first time I saw it in the theatre it was in 3D, will be interesting to see if it makes much difference.

I didn't intend to get up this morning for the wedding, but nature called at 5:45 a.m. so I figured I might as well stay up and turn on the TV. I very much liked the dress, pretty simple but elegant and beautiful. I saw the ceremony right through and loved every minute of it.

This is a possible clone of the cake which Prince William has requested as one of the wedding cakes today. Apparently this particular cake recipe originated in Denmark. The Palace cake is supposed to be a secret but I imagine there is a lot of similarity. I like the look of this because it doesn’t need cooking.

Nick Watt's Mum's Chocolate Biscuit Cake

Give This Royal Favorite a Try

From the kitchen of Carol Watt

Servings: 8

Prince William's childhood favorite treat is the same as ABC News' very own Nick Watt, but Nick has a secret weapon that even the Royal Family can't match: his mum Carol. She shares a generations-old Watt family recipe here.

Ingredients

8 oz. good-quality dark chocolate, chopped

8 oz. (1 stick) unsalted butter

2 large eggs

½ cup sugar

8 oz. Rich Tea biscuits or Graham Crackers, broken into almond-sized pieces

Zest of 1 orange

½ cup chopped hazelnuts, walnuts or almonds

¼ cup raisins, soaked in 2 tablespoons of sherry (omit if making for children)

Cooking Directions

1. Melt chocolate in a mixing bowl placed over a saucepan of gently simmering water. In another saucepan (or microwave-safe bowl) melt butter.

2. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the eggs and sugar until mixed well. Add melted butter and chocolate. Add orange zest, raisins, and nuts to the chocolate mixture. Gradually fold in the crushed biscuits (or graham crackers), until biscuits are evenly distributed throughout the chocolate.

3. In a 2-pound loaf pan lined with plastic wrap, spread the chocolate mixture and smooth out evenly. Cover entire pan with plastic wrap.

3. Refrigerate overnight. Cut into slices.

Cook's Note: This cake is quite rich—a small piece is all you need.

Have a great day