Election, Watches, Telephones.

If you are a Canadian, don’t forget to vote today.

So - Osama bin Laden is dead!

Matt was watching golf on TV on Saturday and one of the commentators kept mentioning the watch worn by Bubba Watson one of the young golfers and commenting how much it was worth. I decided to look it up, apparently the watch cost $525,000 and was made especially for golf and for him. As commented in the article I read, you can look at how pretty it is and consider it is worth more than anything you will ever own. How very true. http://tinyurl.com/3aouwup I cannot imagine why anyone would want such an expensive watch, and it would have to do something really spectacular for me. Like maybe play golf for him LOL

This has been written in advance as today we will be at the polling station from 8:45 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. One thing I am not happy about, don’t remember it before, is the preponderance of phone calls from various political parties and candidates this year. We pay for a phone so our friends can contact us or we can use it for all kinds of reasons, we do NOT pay for it so that politicians or advertisers can reach us. Luckily, the advertising is more or less non existent any more, but not the campaigning. Apart from anything else, it a “secret” ballot.

If I am very lucky, one day soon, asparagus will be ready to pick. Matt is sick of me talking about it so now I daren’t say a word. Meanwhile here is an interesting asparagus recipe for those of you, like the English, who already have fresh asparagus.

Asparagus Salad Topped with Poached Eggs

From EatingWell: March/April 2011

This asparagus salad topped with poached eggs is satisfying yet light, making it a nice option for lunch, brunch or even dinner with some crusty bread. Roasting brings out a toasty flavor in the asparagus. We like this salad with medium-set poached eggs so the yolks are still a little runny, but poach your eggs for the full 8 minutes if you prefer hard-set yolks.

4 servings

Ingredients

2 bunches asparagus (about 1 pound each), trimmed

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, divided

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper, divided

Zest of 1 lemon

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 tablespoon minced shallot

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

4 large eggs

1/4 cup distilled white vinegar

1 7-ounce bag baby arugula (about 10 cups)

1/2 cup thinly shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (see Tip)

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 450°F.
2. Toss asparagus with 2 teaspoons oil and 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper in a large bowl. Transfer to a large rimmed baking sheet. Roast, stirring once, until very tender, 15 to 20 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, whisk the remaining 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon oil, the remaining 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper, lemon zest, lemon juice, shallot and dry mustard in the bowl. Set aside 4 teaspoons of the dressing in a small bowl. # When the asparagus is done, set aside to cool while you poach the eggs.
4. When the asparagus is done, set aside to cool while you poach the eggs.
5. Break each egg into its own small bowl. Fill a large, straight-sided skillet or Dutch oven with 2 inches of water; bring to a boil. Add vinegar. Reduce to a gentle simmer: the water should be steaming and small bubbles should come up from the bottom of the pan. Submerging the lip of each bowl into the simmering water, gently add the eggs, one at a time. Cook 4 minutes for soft set, 5 minutes for medium set and 8 minutes for hard set. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the eggs to a clean kitchen towel to drain for a minute.
6. Toss arugula with the dressing in the large bowl. Divide the salad among 4 plates. Top with asparagus and a poached egg and drizzle with 1 teaspoon of the reserved dressing. Garnish with cheese.

Nutrition

Per serving : 239 Calories; 18 g Fat; 4 g Sat; 11 g Mono; 217 mg Cholesterol; 9 g Carbohydrates; 13 g Protein; 3 g Fiber; 360 mg Sodium; 534 mg Potassium

1/2 Carbohydrate Serving

Exchanges: 1 1/2 vegetables, 1 1/2 medium fat meat, 2 fat

Tips & Notes

• Make Ahead Tip: Cover and refrigerate the dressing (Step 3) for up to 1 day.

• Tip: To make shaved cheese for topping salads or pasta, use a vegetable peeler to thinly shave slices off a block of hard cheese, such as Parmigiano-Reggiano, Asiago or Pecorino Romano.

Have a great day

Easter and Eating, TV Viewing, Bunnies.

The discussion on whether to eat turkey or lamb for our Easter dinner ended up with us choosing turkey. The gumbo last night was very good, made more so by the oysters although they didn’t seem to have a lot of flavour not compared with oysters fresh from the sea. They were huge though, I don’t think I have ever had to cut an oyster in half before. I didn’t like oysters for many years although both my parents would woof them down on the half shell. Then I moved to North Carolina and learned to eat them steamed – wonderful – I could knock off a bushel in very short order. Matt even built a small outdoor fire for steaming them. In case you don’t know, we used to put them on a metal sheet over the fire and cover them with a piece of wet sacking. Once they started opening they were done. I then had a table with lots of paper towel and some Tabasco plus an oyster knife in case they weren’t fully open. I was then in heaven. Matt would rescue a few and take them indoors and cook them with wine and shallots; he no longer eats shellfish very much after we pigged out, with friends, on 1,800 clams which we ate every which way you could think of including chowder. Matt never really touched shellfish after that, not even when we went to a clam bake.

We went to vote yesterday afternoon although I was busy cooking but decided to go and get it done with. We can then relax for the rest of the weekend. I mentioned the US voting ads at the banqueting the other night and our friends hadn’t seen them, which means, I guess, that they don’t watch any of the US channels. In particular we enjoy watching Jeopardy in the evening and that is an American Channel, as is Good Morning America of course.

Tomorrow I can start eating my chocolate rabbit. As you saw from the picture, we have two. Matt bought one in dark chocolate but I prefer milk chocolate, yes I know its not as good for me, but still – rather than take it back he decided he would eat it himself. Maybe that was the plan all along. I have a serious problem though, do I start with the ears or the rear end or even another part? I have discussed it with a friend on Facebook. You must have seen the cartoon, it comes out every year. I do love those Lindt chocolate bunnies, they make excellent chocolate – Matt is nuts about Swiss chocolate, with good reason. As I have mentioned before though, one doesn’t find much in the way of really nice Easter Eggs as we used to have in England. I do miss those.

Here is something which, to me, is very unusual, from Eating Well. It is a healthy food and I would imagine could be served either as a starter or a main course for lunch.

Parmesan Spinach Cakes

From EatingWell:  September/October 2008

If you like spinach-cheese pie, try these simple but elegant-looking little spinach cakes.

4 servings, 2 spinach cakes each

Ingredients

• 12 ounces fresh spinach, (see Note)
• 1/2 cup part-skim ricotta cheese, or low-fat cottage cheese
• 1/2 cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese, plus more for garnish
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Pulse spinach in three batches in a food processor until finely chopped. Transfer to a medium bowl. Add ricotta (or cottage cheese), Parmesan, eggs, garlic, salt and pepper; stir to combine.
3. Coat 8 cups of the muffin pan with cooking spray. Divide the spinach mixture among the 8 cups (they will be very full).
4. Bake the spinach cakes until set, about 20 minutes. Let stand in the pan for 5 minutes. Loosen the edges with a knife and turn out onto a clean cutting board or large plate. Serve warm, sprinkled with more Parmesan, if desired.

Nutrition

Per serving : 141 Calories; 8 g Fat; 4 g Sat; 3 g Mono; 123 mg Cholesterol; 6 g Carbohydrates; 13 g Protein; 2 g Fiber; 456 mg Sodium; 560 mg Potassium

Tips & Notes

Note: Baby spinach is immature or young spinach—it's harvested earlier than large-leaved mature spinach. We like the sturdy texture of mature spinach in cooked dishes and serve tender, mild-flavored baby spinach raw or lightly wilted. Baby and mature spinach can be used interchangeably in these recipes (yields may vary slightly); be sure to remove the tough stems from mature spinach before using.

• Weights & Measures
• 10 ounces trimmed mature spinach=about 10 cups raw
• 10 ounces baby spinach=about 8 cups raw

Happy Easter

Good Friday, THE Wedding, Easter Weekend.

Happy Good Friday. This isn’t the best picture in the world, but it amused me because – quite accidentally – we have Easter bunnies and a Poinsettia right next to each other. Celebrating two holidays at once. I’m getting a bit fed up with the Poinsettia mind you. The piggy banks are incidental. I meant to make some Hot Cross Buns for today and completely forgot. We can buy them, but they are not quite the same taste as the ones I make or that we used to buy in the UK.

It seems, watching TV this morning, that the whole of the ABC is jaunting off to the UK this weekend in order to “do” the royal wedding. Some of them are already there and the rest are going over the next couple of days or so. A lot of people seem very wrapped up in the whole celebration. It will be shown on TV from about 4 a.m. onwards, but this is one cookie who will NOT be getting up that early. I don’t think I did for the other weddings either. They didn’t invite me, why should I care!!! I just heard this morning it takes 4 minutes to walk up the aisle. They figure its because of the whole event that Kate has lost so much weigh lately and one presenter guessed she probably hadn’t had too much sleep lately.

I picked up a tub of fresh oysters the other day so I am making gumbo tonight with shrimp and the oysters. Only thing will be missing is the crab. Canned crab just isn’t the same. We are still debating whether to have roast lamb or roast turkey breast for our Easter dinner. We only get turkey a couple of times a year normally so I think we will opt for the turkey. This turkey breast came all the way from NC. Can’t find such deals here.

Last night we had our bowling banquet and everyone was very disappointed that, for some reason, we didn’t have rolled ribs, apparently they were ordered. Instead we got platters of grossly overcooked beef which was difficult to lift off the plate because it just fell apart it was so well done. Matt and I just don’t understand how much people seem to enjoy beef like that which, to us, is totally ruined. Little or no flavour to it. Even if you don’t want rare, serve it slightly pink, much better flavour.

Today we are supposed to vote, actually we have a choice of today, tomorrow or Monday. That is because we are working the election. Yesterday, our cleaners came in, they are French Canadians so I was asking them about the words for polling booth (un isoloir) and other appropriate words in case I get someone who is French speaking and needs an interpreter. Apparently they only ever speak French at home and talking about family things so they couldn’t remember the French for any of the things I was asking.

This recipe is for Tina, Matt’s youngest daughter who, on her one and only visit to Canada, could not get enough of chocolate pies. That was quite a few years ago.

Velvety Chocolate Cream Pie

Hershey’s Kitchens

Ingredients

• 1 9-inch pie crust, baked and cooled
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
• 1/3 cup cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 3 cups milk
• 3/4 cup HERSHEY'S SPECIAL DARK Chocolate Chips or HERSHEY'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• Whipped topping
• Additional HERSHEY'S SPECIAL DARK Chocolate Chips or HERSHEY'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

Directions

1. 1 Prepare pie crust, cool.
2. 2 Stir together sugar, cocoa, cornstarch and salt in medium saucepan. Combine eggs and milk; gradually stir into sugar mixture, blending well. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with wire whisk, until mixture begins to thicken and just comes to a boil. Remove from heat.
3. 3 Add chocolate chips, butter and vanilla. Stir until chips and butter are melted and the mixture is smooth. Pour into prepared crust. Immediately press plastic wrap onto pie surface. Refrigerate three to four hours or until firm. Garnish with whipped topping and chocolate chips. 8 servings. VARIATION: COCONUT CHOCOLATE CREAM PIE: Prepare pie as above; stir in 1 cup MOUNDS Sweetened Coconut Flakes with chocolate chips and butter.

Have a great Easter weekend