Plague, Confusion? Physiotherapist, Water, PSW,

Just to be cheerful, I have read a report of a new case of Bubonic Plague, in China. Their last cases of this were in 2009. Just what we need at the moment. Our city has passed a by-law that it is now mandatory  to wear a mask anywhere in town although exceptions can be made due to medical conditions, I wonder if Dementia counts. Matt would certainly not wear one, but as he generally never goes anywhere I guess it won't affect him.

I don't know w hat's going on, but earlier I received a call from the Vascular Lab confirming my appointment tomorrow for an ultrasound. What appointment? I said I had an ultrasound a few weeks back and then went for a CT scan. They seem to feel I need another. I then decided to call the surgeon's office and they agreed I have no outstanding ultrasounds. They are cancelling the appointment. As though I haven't got enough to contend with.

The physiotherapist came this afternoon and was very pleased with Matt's progress. His pain has lessened considerably. He put him through some exercises (in his chair, stubborn bugger wouldn't get up) then he got him to stand and walk around with his walker insisting that he stand straight whilst he did so and didn't push the walker so far ahead. Guess who has been telling him to do that for months? Not sure if that's just a man thing or a dementia thing. I just hope now Yung has told him this he will take notice. More crossed fingers please.

I have a load of sheets to wash and was going to do them today and then discovered the water was off. I also discovered there was a notice up near the elevators but I didn't leave the apartment so never saw it. Hopefully I can get them washed tomorrow.

Had a phone call this evening, George, my Colombian friend, will be back tomorrow to be Matt's PSW. I think he is coming twice this week although I would prefer him to come more often. The one today was from what used to be Yugoslavia. That is the second guy from there.

Turmeric Pork Chops with Green Onion Rice

Turmeric is the trending seasoning of the year. Its subtle flavor notes bring out the best in this simple pork chop recipe. We love that the side dish recipe allows you to dress up precooked brown rice by adding fresh lime juice and cilantro. You'll love the pork chop, but it may be the rice side dish that you make again and again, as it pairs perfectly with a variety of dishes, ranging from Spanish to Asian.
Opt for bone-in pork chops for this recipe to get the full depth of flavor the recipe promises.

4 (6-oz.) bone-in pork chops
1 large garlic clove, halved
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp kosher salt, divided
1/2 tsp black pepper, divided
3 Tbs olive oil, divided
1 Tbs fish sauce
2 tsp oyster sauce
1 tsp tomato paste
1 bunch green onions
2 (8.8-oz.) packages precooked brown rice (such as Uncle Ben's)
1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves 1 lime, cut into 4 wedges

1. Heat a grill pan over medium-high. Rub pork with cut sides of garlic; discard garlic. Sprinkle pork with turmeric, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Combine 2 tablespoons oil, fish sauce, oyster sauce, and tomato paste. Brush both sides of pork with half of oil mixture. Add pork to pan; grill 4 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness. Transfer to a plate; brush both sides of pork with remaining oil mixture. Keep warm.

2. Add onions to grill pan over medium-high; grill 2 minutes. Coarsely chop onions.

3. Heat rice according to package directions. Combine green onions, rice, remaining 1 tablespoon oil, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Serve rice with pork. Sprinkle with cilantro; serve with lime wedges.

Servings: 4

Author: Adam Hickman
Source: Cooking Light
Have a great day, stay well, stay safe.
 

Underground Water Pumping, Bananas and Fizz,

Apart from a couple of comments, not much notice was taken of land subsidence yesterday so I looked it up and here is an article about it. It is not restricted to the Middle East by any manner of means, humans are drawing underground water up as fast as they can and causing subsidence all over. Some of the worst areas are in the south western United States.

These are the kind of cracks being caused in the land by Ground Water Pumping. It's obvious to me that if you remove something, the earth above is going to collapse to fill the space. If I were a young American I would be hounding the government about this desecration of my land. Not that you will have a land if this goes on much longer. I don't know if this is happening anywhere in Canada, but we could end up all on our own if the States keep doing this. If the land sinks low enough the sea will take over. Just Googled and we are doing it too in Canada, think it is a worldwide problem. This is all about growing food and here again there is an answer to growing many things. The people of the Netherlands have found answers to growing many crops hardly using any water at all. This wouldn't work for everything, but many things could grow using this minimal water system usage of theirs.

May 1, can't believe it. Asparagus should be ready any day now. Fingers crossed.

Yesterday morning I had to go to the grocery store because they had only sent me a few bananas - I called and asked if they were short and was told they were not - so I arranged to go collect more yesterday. I have never seen so many cars in the PC Express parking lot. Anyway, whilst out, I am short on fizz so thought I would go get some. Joke, a) it was raining and b) the line-up went right round the building. Like queuing in wartime. Actually, I am not too sure the store was open yet. Maybe they are opening late 'cos of the virus. So, I'm still short of the bubbly stuff. (Just checked, opening is at 11).

I discovered Thursday morning that Red Lobster is open for delivery after all. I was going to place an order but think I will do it Friday evening.

I haven't bought pork chops in a while, but......

Fennel-Rubbed Pork Chops with Apple, Kale, and Sweet Potato

Apple, kale, and sweet potato cook with fennel-rubbed pork chops in this easy, all-in-one skillet

dinner.

1 tsp fennel seeds
½ tsp whole black peppercorns
¾ tsp salt, divided
4 (1-inch thick) boneless pork loin chops
¼ cup olive oil, divided
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
½ onion, cut thinly into half-moons
1 red apple - unpeeled, cored, and sliced into1/4-inch-thick wedges
1 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 tsp Dijon mustard
4 cups lightly packed, coarsely chopped kale

1. Place fennel seeds and peppercorns in a small zip-top plastic bag. Seal bag and pound spices using a mallet or rolling pin until coarsely ground, or pulse them briefly in a spice or coffee grinder. Sprinkle mixture and 1/4 teaspoon salt on both sides of chops.

2. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large, high-sided skillet over medium heat. Add sweet potatoes; cook, stirring occasionally, until fork-tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon salt, then transfer to a plate.

3. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in the same skillet over medium-high heat. Add chops and reduce heat to medium; cook, turning once, about 4 minutes, or until an instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest parts registers 145 degrees F (63 degrees C). Transfer chops to a plate and tent with foil.

4. Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil and the onion to the skillet; cook until onion softens, about 2 minutes. Add apple; cook 1 minute more. Add broth, stirring to scrape up browned bits, then stir in mustard and sweet potatoes. Increase heat to medium-high; simmer until apple is slightly softened and liquid has slightly reduced, 1 to 2 minutes.

5. Add kale and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt; cook, stirring occasionally, until kale is tender, about 1 minute. Add any accumulated juices from the plate with pork. Serve chops with vegetable mixture.

Servings: 4

Author: Ellie Krieger

Author Notes
Jonagold or Honeycrisp would both work well in this recipe.



Have a great day
 

Coffee and Donuts, Shopping, Elective Surgery, Cooking, Water,

The day started out well, a bowling buddy called and said they had to come to Kitchener and, unless there was a long line-up, they would like to bring us a coffee. Matt, of course, doesn't drink it, but I do. We ended up with a coffee for me and a donut each. I got a chocolate donut which I have been craving for a long while. Chocolate, not the donut, I just didn't have any chocolate chip cookies as the store was only sending me little bags, nor anything much else. So my friend arrived with a largish bag of Lindt chocolate truffles as well. Yum. So nice of him. Bit embarrassed to be in my nightdress but I was persuading Matt to take a shower and playing with taps and bath mats etc. I screameed at the LHIN for help and, would you believe it, they have to do yet another assessment. It will be a phone assessment, but even so, it will be their 4th. What a waste of time. Anyway, I hope to get a PSW for Matt who has been using shampoo to wash. I thought it was disappearing fast. Expensive.

Having had my lunch, I then had to wait for the grocery store email to tell me what they had or didn't have for my order this week. Not too bad in fact. I then had to phone Cathy, who collects it for me, and after that I had to wait for her to bring everything. Which she eventually did. She then made a note of next week's order on her phone. I then asked for phone help because I couldn't clear her pic from Messenger off my phone. She showed me how.  I really have trouble figuring stuff out. I need to use a few passwords too but can't remember them so have to look them up. Like I have so much time to do this stuff.

After Kathy had gone, I did the lovely job of putting it all away. Talk about lots of pain. You know, it's alright for these hospitals to shut down for elective surgery, but I hurt a lot. Once I was OK again I stuffed three more peppers (didn't think I needed all 3) and then put them in the Instant Pot. They came out beautifully. I took one out of the Pot and put it in a plastico (sorry, Spanish word I have used since my parents lived in Spain, many years ago) and then got the second one as far as the plastico and it slipped falling on top of the first. The air was blue I was so annoyed and upset. I repaired what damage I could, mostly stuffing coming out, and then very carefully took out the third one and put it in a second plastico. It was beautiful!! However, after that disaster today and the one I had yesterday I have quit cooking for ever. I had to have a chocolate truffle.

Matt doesn't believe me either.

I again watched h2O, The Molecule that Made us, part 2. It is a frightening programme and I just wish I could be sure that the people who matter, governments, were watching these kind of programmes as well. Not only is underground water being used up in places like Arizona, it is being used by the Arabs who have already drained their own sources of underground water. The earth is already sinking and cracking because of the underground water being used. The more I see of such programmes, the more I am not too unhappy that I won't be on this earth much longer. Our use and control of water has already tipped the earth of its axis which is a terrifying thought. Even though we are being forced to stay home right now, it won't have stopped the use of underground water around the world. If only people would listen. I don't know what someone like me can do other than maybe write to my MP but I am one small voice, we need lots of small voices like the young Swedish girl who started a protest about global warming.

I would have to do a bit of shopping  before I could make these. And even for this dish - unless it has to be eaten with the fingers, would I leave the tails on.

Shrimp-Stuffed Peppers

The Good News Fruity, pale-yellow güero peppers—just like Hungarian wax peppers—are a great

source of vitamin C, folate and manganese. They're perfect for stuffing because "they have a little chile personality without being too hot," Deborah Schneider says. The shrimp-and-cheese filling here is a delicious source of protein. And the tomatoes in the salsa add vitamin K and potassium while also balancing the sweetness of the mangos, which are high in vitamins A and C.

8 medium güero, Hungarian wax or Cubanelle peppers (about 2 ounces each)
Salt and freshly ground pepper
2/3 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese (about 2 1/2 ounces)
1/3 cup shredded cotija or ricotta salata cheese (about 1 ounce)
1 scallion, thinly sliced
1 Tbs chopped cilantro
1 Tbs extra-virgin olive oil
16 large shrimp (about 1 pound)—shelled and deveined, tails left on
1 garlic clove, minced
Mango-Tomato Salsa, for serving

1. Line a large cast-iron skillet with foil and set it over moderately high heat. Make a slit down the length of the peppers and make 2 perpendicular slits at the stem ends. Open the peppers slightly and snip out the cores using scissors, then shake out the seeds. Add the peppers to the skillet and cook until blistered all over, 12 minutes. Season the inside of the peppers with salt and pepper.

2. Preheat the oven to 400°. In a bowl, toss the cheeses with the scallion and cilantro. Stuff the peppers with the cheese mixture and arrange them on a baking sheet.

3. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil. Add the shrimp and garlic and season with salt and pepper. Cook over moderate heat, stirring, until the shrimp start to curl, about 2 minutes. Stuff the garlicky shrimp into the peppers with the tails protruding.

4. Bake the peppers in the top of the oven for 6 to 7 minutes, until the cheese is melted. Top with the Mango-Tomato Salsa; serve.

Servings: 4
Yield: 4 first-course servings

 Author: DEBORAH SCHNEIDER
Source: Food and Wine


Have a great day

Water, More Errands, Eating, Dieting,

It started off as a quiet day with nothing much to do. For breakfast I ate one of the scones I had bought, delicious. I took a fairly leisurely time getting myself dressed and presentable (mind you the shower took forever to get warm, always does after they turn off the water, wastes gallons of water), and then made a lazy lunch of noodles. I had phoned the baker's about obtaining some buns and they had some ready for  me.

Had my lunch and then we set off to get the buns. Spent a while chatting with the woman in the bakery and resisting all the goodies on display. I then decided to go get some ostrich thighs from Victoria St. Market. I had asked the bakery if they had hot cross buns, they didn't, so when I got to the Market I asked there, sure enough they had some. I also got my "thighs" and decided to buy a few bananas to last us. Saw some German cheese called Grand Noir (explain that please, German cheese, French name?) and got out of there without doing too much damage to my pocket book. I might say it was extremely cold and snowing on and off. I was glad to get home.

We got a card from one of Matt's daughters which was nice to receive. and then I proceeded to make things ready to cook supper. I served a mince pie as dessert with some ice cream. Settling down to watch some TV we broke into the Grand Rocher I had bought. Ate the whole thing although I have the two individual candies for tomorrow. We also had another mince pie.

After all that, I have decided I am nuts. I don't want to put back all the weight I lost in 2013 but I seem to be doing my best to do so. Ever since I decided food tasted OK after I came out of hospital last year (took a week or two), I have been unable to stop eating. By that I mean not just normally, but anything else, like mince pies and chocolate, that come my way. A friend I saw last week said "did it matter at our age" but yes, it does to me anyway, after having put all that effort into losing weight and being so proud I hadn't put it back on. Oh well, only one person can do anything about it.

Just to titillate our appetites, Campbell's (who have come a long way from unwholesome canned soups) posted some recipes today one of which particularly appealed to me. In fact I think they look yummy.

French Onion Soup Puffs

Adding beef broth to caramelized onions provides serious depth of flavour to these simple elegant

appetizers. Make ahead for easy entertaining.

2 Tbs butter
6 cups onion
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp ground mustard
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup CAMPBELL’S® Ready to Use Beef Broth
2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
1 lb frozen pre-rolled puff pastry, thawed
1 cup Gruyere cheese, shredded
1 Tbs chives or thyme, chopped

1. In large skillet, melt butter over medium high heat. Add onions, salt, pepper, mustard and thyme and cook until onions are golden, about 15 minutes. Stir in broth and cook until almost all the broth is reduced and onions are soft and dark caramel in colour,about 20 minutes. Let cool.

2. Cut each piece of pastry into 25 (2-inch/5 cm) squares. Press pieces of pastry into tart shells or mini muffin pan. Chill in refrigerator for 15 minutes. Top with about 2 tsp (10 mL) of the onion mixture and a sprinkle of Gruyere.

3. Bake in the center of a 425°F (220°C) oven on a baking sheet until pastry is golden brown and puffed and cheese is bubbling, about 8 – 10 minutes. Top with chives or thyme just before serving warm.

Yield: 25

Tips
These pastries can be assembled and then frozen in the tart/ muffin pans for 1 hour. Once frozen,transfer to a freezer container with a lid for up to 3 months. Return to tart/muffins trays to bake from frozen,adding about 2 minutes to the cooking time.

Source: Campbell's

Author Notes Bake your pastry puffs with parchment paper to reduce clean up time!

Have a great day
 

Water, Slow Cooking, Bowling, Friday.

That's great, a construction site has damaged a water main. Parts of town are flooded but we haven't got a drop, not even enough to clean our teeth. I just cleaned mine with Listerine. Our bodies we cannot clean. Supposed to go out to lunch, but without a shower!!! I don't think the bowling alley has water either in which case they might get closed down and that was the plan after lunch for all of us. The water came back on at 10 so we jumped in the showers and got ready to go to lunch.

I belong to an Instant Pot Group on Facebook (just joined) so asked them about my lack of success with my Cowboy Beef. One of them pointed out that the Instant Pot only heats from underneath whereas a slow cooker heats all round so in the IP, high is equivalent to low in a slow cooker. Wish I'd known that before. However, it should be OK for suppertime Thursday night now. Correction. I gave it another 5 or 6 hours on high whilst we were out. When we finally got round to serving, the meat was finally done, but the carrots were still crisp as were some of the onions. I will NEVER use my Instant Pot as a slow cooker again. Just not worth it. By the way, it tasted delicious. I will make it again, just not that way. It would cook very well in the pressure cooker.

So, we went with our Travel League Bowling Group to lunch at the Red Lobster. I had a Caesar Salad with shrimp which was good. We then went on to the Bowling Alley. We were going to bowl alone but Matt decided he couldn't, so I bowled on one of the teams. I only did two games but managed pretty well. My legs were tired at the end but not in agony. I was pleased. Also, I didn't bowl badly - actually the very first ball I threw, no practice, was a strike. Was I chuffed. Went and collected our shopping and then came home.

Tomorrow we have a lab visit for bloodwork for Matt and then in the afternoon his therapist comes for his last visit. They only make so many visits.

I need to find some recipes for Instant Pot asparagus.

I am not sure, but I don't think I tried this recipe last year.

Air-Fried Asparagus

Quick and easy Air-Fried Asparagus. Just a few minutes and you can have a tasty side of asparagus with little effort and easy cleanup

1/2 bunch of asparagus, with bottom 2 inches trimmed off
Avocado or Olive Oil in an oil mister or sprayer
Himalayan salt
Black pepper

1. Place trimmed asparagus spears in the air-fryer basket. Spritz spears lightly with oil, then sprinkle with salt and a tiny bit of black pepper.

2. Place basket inside air-fryer and bake at 400° for 10 minutes.

3. Serve immediately.

Servings: 2

 Author: MamaShire

Have a great day
 

Water, Hurricane Flooding,

 I hate this, we were told the water would go off at 8 a.m. today (Tuesday) so we got up at 6:30 to be sure to get our showers prior to the lack of water. Now I am sitting around with little to do until lunchtime. I could, of course, read I suppose. If we had had any sense, we would have done our weekly shopping this morning instead of this afternoon. They really need to change all the damned pipes in this building they are forever having leaks and burst pipes. After all the original plumbing is around 43 years old.

It is pretty horrific watching what is happening in Texas. I was pretty shocked to hear how many pets perished in the Katarina hurricane disaster so they are trying to ensure people can bring their pets when they are being rescued. We have lived through a few hurricanes, but never had to put up with all the flooding which has occurred in Texas. I believe there is a Canadian collection taking place, I need to look into that further. I did see one picture of a couple having a baby which made them happy despite having no home any longer.

I love food like this

Coconut Shrimp Summer Rolls

"A tropical, drool-worthy mash-up of sweet, crispy shrimp and refreshing summer rolls."

FOR DIPPING SAUCE
5 oz apricot jam
1/4 cup crushed pineapple
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
FOR COLESLAW
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup chopped scallion
1/2 cup cilantro
1 garlic clove
1 pinch salt
2 limes, juiced
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup chopped green cabbage
1 1/2 cups chopped purple cabbage
FOR COCONUT SHRIMP
12 shrimp
3 oz beer
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 cup flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
5 oz coconut flakes
6 sheets rice paper

1. To Make Dipping Sauce:.

2. In a bowl, combine apricot jelly, crushed pineapple, apple cider vinegar and red pepper flakes.

3. To Make Coleslaw:.

4. In a food processor, add water, olive oil, scallions, cilantro, garlic, salt and lime juice. Pulse until combined.

5. Then add sour cream and pulse again.

6. In a bowl, add chopped green and purple cabbage.

7. Drizzle olive oil mixture over the cabbage and mix well.

8. To Make Coconut Shrimp:.

9. In a bowl, whisk beer, egg, milk, flour, baking powder, and salt.

10. Dip peeled, headless shrimp in the batter.

11. Then coat with coconut flakes.

12. Fry the breaded shrimp in hot oil until the coconut flakes are golden bown.

13. Place shrimp on a drying rack over a sheet tray to allow the excess oil to drip off. Let cool.

14. Assembling the Roll:.

15. On a sheet of moistened rice paper, place a scoop of coleslaw in the middle, edge of the paper (think of it as about 1/3 in from the edge). Then roll and fold until the top of the coleslaw is covered by the rice paper.

16. After the shrimp cools down and excess oil drips off onto the rack, place two shrimp on the roll

Source: Food.com

Have a great day
 

Water, Tired,

They are turning off the water in our building at 9 in the morning once again. This time I have stuck a reminder notice in a prominent position so that hopefully we won't forget and will get all our ablutions out of the way.

Sorry, I am very tired tonight and having spent a large part of the afternoon sitting around at the doctors, we were both a bit teed off. So I am off to bed and you are minus much of a blog.

I enjoy cauliflower although I mostly have it with a cheese sauce. I have tried roasting it once, that seems to be highly recommended, but I wasn't enamoured. So, when I came across this recipe this morning I decided to make a note of it. A simple little recipe but should be quite tasty.

Cauliflower in Garlic Sauce

1 cauliflower, separated into florets
6 Tbs (90 ml) olive oil
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 Tbs (15 ml) paprika
1 Tbs (15 ml) red wine vinegar
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Red pepper flakes to taste (optional)

Boil the cauliflower in enough salted water to cover until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain and place in a serving bowl. Heat the olive oil in a small skillet over moderate heat and sauté the chopped garlic for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and add the remaining ingredients, stirring to mix well. Pour over the cauliflower and serve immediately.

Servings: 4

Source: WW Recipes



Have a great day
 

Buster the Dog, Water, Juicy Turkey, Bowling,

Apparently, in the UK, there are lots of ads using Buster the dog (actually a boxer called Biff) and this is their latest Christmas ad which I thought was so great I had to share.

Sort funny this morning (Thursday) I was sitting here using the computer, adding the clip above, messing with banking, etc. and hearing some drilling or something upstairs which I knew was nothing to do with the construction workers. It was around 8:55 and I thought, maybe it's the plumber, oh sh*t, the water is being turned off at 9. You have never seen Matt and I move so fast. We dashed into our two bathrooms: cleaned teeth, took showers, I even dared wash my hair although I had visions of being caught with shampoo and not being able to rinse it. I then dashed into the kitchen and made coffee plus filling up a large pan with water. We made it, phew.

I just came across a Justin Chapple Mad Genius tip for keeping turkey flavourful and juicy I couldn't get the video but the link is here. I thought it was an excellent idea.

Bowling again Thursday afternoon and my husband was still bowling up a storm. He'd better be doing that on Monday!!! I couldn't bowl worth a damn once again, not sure what is the matter with me. I seem to have got worse since my really bad bout with bursitis. Oh well, here's hoping I improve. At the bowling alley I dropped my tablet on the floor. Now it is reluctant to rotate the picture on the screen. If you have it on landscape that's where it wants to stay no matter how much you turn it. I have 3 Avon cheques to deposit and I am hoping I can do so with the tablet otherwise it means traipsing to the bank. Keep your fingers crossed for me pleased. Wonder what it would cost to repair?

Putting apples in a salad is not particularly unusual, but roasted apples ... maybe. Grapes are good in salads too.

Roasted Apple and Cheddar Salad

Roasted apples and Cheddar cheese turn an ordinary mixed green salad into something extra-special. You can use pears for this recipe as well.

3 Tbs red-wine vinegar
2 Tbs apple juice
1 Tbs extra-virgin olive oil
1 Tbs honey
2 Tbs Dijon mustard
1/8 tsp salt
2 apples, preferably Fuji, peeled and cut into wedges
2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil, plus 1 tablespoon
4 sprigs fresh thyme, or 1/4 teaspoon dried
1/4 cup walnuts, chopped
3 cups baby spinach, or torn spinach leaves
3 cups Boston lettuce, torn
3 cups curly endive, torn
2/3 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated
freshly ground pepper, to taste

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.

2. To prepare dressing: Whisk vinegar, apple juice, 1 tablespoon oil, honey, mustard, salt and pepper in a small bowl.

3. To roast apples & prepare salad: Toss apples with 2 teaspoons oil and thyme in a medium bowl; spread evenly on a baking sheet. Roast, turning once or twice, until the apples are soft and golden, 25 to 30 minutes. Discard fresh thyme, if using. Let cool.

4. While the apples are roasting, toast walnuts in a small baking pan until fragrant, about 5 minutes. Let cool.

5. Just before serving, combine spinach, lettuce and endive in a large bowl; toss gently to mix. Divide the greens among 6 plates, drizzle with dressing and top with cheese, roasted apples and walnuts. Serve immediately.

Servings: 6

Source
Source: WebMD Recipe from EatingWell.com


Have a great day

Yarn Bombs, Drought and Water,

Until this weekend I had never heard of yarn bombing. This is the Charging Bull near Wall Street. Apparently women all over have decided graffiti was a male dominated activity so they decided to knit cosies for all kinds of items to make life more colourful. If you look at the article, there are trees, phone booths, statues, buses, you name it, which have been yarn bombed. Apparently it is designated as vandalism or littering but according to the article, the police don’t seem to bother about it too much. Apparently some knitters have been paid lots of money to knit cosies for their products, Toyota for one. Knitting is not my bag, apart from cooking, anything domestic is not my bag mind you, however, even I could knit some of the squares they use for these yarn bombs. By the way, my knitting achievement include one, and one only, sweater knitted many, many, years ago.

Ontario hit a record yesterday for heat, it was 30.2°C but today we got to 33°C. All I know is, it was bloody hot. I couldn’t believe it this morning when I heard them mowing the grass around the apartment. Predominantly there is nothing but crispy yellow stuff all round the building, certainly where we look out, also the park is in the same condition. So what on earth was there to mow? There are patches of weeds in the front which I agree needed doing, but certainly not round this side. Obviously the company that takes care of our grass must be suffering along with many other such companies. Driving around yesterday, the corn is brown from the bottom to a couple of feet up the stem, I’m surprised the top still survives. Prices are already going up and I suspect we may encounter some shortages soon. The situation is very serious. Discussing it with friends over the weekend they said they had heard that it is considered the next wars will be about water. Glenda Larke, the author, has said much the same thing. In this part of the world, we are very careless with water. I read in a book I have about the Great Lakes that if it weren’t for them humans couldn’t survive here, but they too are losing water and not as deep as they once were. Ontario has something like 1,000 lakes and they are all getting lower too.

We had a fun time on Saturday evening and we ate English Stuffed Peppers followed by London Broil. My friend brought the dessert which consisted of vanilla ice cream, blueberries and raspberries topped by home made truffles with Grand Marnier. It was absolutely delicious, particularly the truffles. She also brought Brie and crackers so we were all stuffed by the time we had finished..
This recipe from Cooking.com is just up my street, chocolatey, gooey, delicious looking.

Mississippi Chocolate and Coffee Cake

Source: Close-up on Cakes


Serves 10


INGREDIENTS
For the Cake:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch salt
1 3/4 cups strong brewed coffee
1/4 cup bourbon
5 oz unsweetened chocolate
1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Chocolate Icing:
6 1/2 ounces semisweet chocolate
4 1/2 tablespoons butter

DIRECTIONS
FOR THE CAKE:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Oil a 9-inch round cake pan. Line pan with parchment paper.
In a mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
In the top of a double boiler set over simmering water, heat the coffee, bourbon, chocolate, and butter, stirring until the chocolate and butter are melted and the mixture is smooth. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the sugar. Let the mixture cool for 3 minutes and transfer to an electric mixer. Add the flour mixture to the chocolate mixture, half a cup at a time, and beat medium speed for 1 minute. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until smooth.

Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 1 1/2 hours, or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cake cool completely in the pan. When cooled, turn out onto a serving plate.

FOR CHOCOLATE ICING:
Combine the chocolate and butter in the top of a double boiler and stir over low heat until they are melted and combined. Cool slightly and then ice cake.

Have a great day

D Day, Water, Murderer, Strawberries and Asparagus

Writing in advance, it suddenly occurred to me that today is the anniversary of D Day which took place in 1944. 68 years ago today.The invasion of Normandy which was totally unexpected by Hitler and his high command. I don’t remember it,  but Matt says he does. But then he’s muuuuuch older than I am!!!!
I just read a Snapshot interview with Glenda Larke in which she mentioned water. Her last books certainly dealt with an arid country where there was a terrific shortage of water and having been brought up in Australia, Glenda really understands water shortages as she describes. She predicts that one day there will be wars about water, and I believe she could be right. Certainly in my part of the world we are extremely casual in our treatment of water, we bathe in gallons of it, we wash dishes in lots of it, we flush it down our toilets with gay abandon and never think twice about its conservation. These days there are some toilets out there which don’t use as much water and showers which have a restricted flow, but it really is only a pin prick in the gallons of water we all use on a daily basis. Ontario is full of water, or lakes, but their levels have been steadily falling over the years, the same can be said for the Great Lakes, part of global warming possibly, but they certainly have less water than they once did.

For centuries we have been using the seas and oceans of our world as garbage dumps without realising the consequences, such as the huge floating islands of garbage in  both the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. A lot of this garbage is plastic which is ingested by seabirds which, obviously, die. There is no money to be made by removing it, so nobody does anything about it although I saw a comment that maybe it could be mined for fuel. I don’t know if what’s out there can be burned or not. We do need to do something about it. It occurred to me that every country could contribute a sum to pay for the cleanup. Talking of this, people are so casual about their plastic bags and one sees them flying around on a windy day as though they were birds on the wing, damned dangerous ones.

I wrote last week about the body parts being sent in the mail to government offices. You may have read that Luka Rocco Magnotta has finally been caught and is in jail in Germany. Although he is 29, he looks like a kid to me. He certainly has to be off his rocker I would think. A friend thinks it’s a slam dunk for his conviction, but bearing in mind the twists and turns of the law, he may get away with it, one just doesn’t know. It will take a long time to go through the courts anyway. He is supposed to be a model with a stage career of sorts. He appears to have had several name changes in his life.

Yesterday, after very mediocre bowling on my part – I swore it was because we were bowling against the leaders and were intimidated, nobody believed me for some reason – we went to Barrie’s Asparagus Farm and they had strawberries on sale for the first time – I said they didn’t look very ripe, I was assured they were delicious and allowed to try one, they were delicious so I bought a couple of punnets and we enjoyed some for supper last night and have more for supper tonight. Served with Double Devon Cream of course. We used to get some of the best strawberries in Morehead City, North Carolina, but these are pretty good. Of course I bought asparagus although Tim Barrie says their production is down by 50% - due to the lack of that commodity I spoke about, water - and they will probably have to close early this year. He didn’t yet know when. How sad, just because this year it hasn’t really rained much in weeks.

Strawberry Shortcake is a very popular dessert in North America at this time of year, I must admit, I have never much fancied it, however, this chocolate version makes me change my tune somewhat. I am not sure what is meant by a cream whipper, but I am sure you have a method for whipping cream.

Chocolate Strawberry Shortcakes

Source: Cooking.com
6 servings
Rich chocolate shortcakes with sweetened strawberries, chocolate sauce and whipped cream. Shortcakes are fragile so be extra careful when splitting them for dessert.

INGREDIENTS
For the Shortcakes:
6 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
1/3 cup plus 2 teaspoons sugar
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 large egg
1/4 cup whole milk

For the Strawberries:
2 pounds strawberries, hulled, sliced
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups chilled whipping cream
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Chocolate Sauce

DIRECTIONS
FOR THE SHORTCAKES:
Preheat oven to 375°F.
Line heavy large baking sheet with silicone baking pad or parchment paper. Combine chocolate and 1/3 cup sugar in food processor and process until chocolate is finely ground. Add flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt; process until combined. Add butter and process until mixture resembles fine meal. Mix egg with milk in small bowl to blend; pour over flour mixture in processor and pulse just until combined. Spoon dough into six 3-inch mounds on prepared baking sheet, spacing evenly. Sprinkle with remaining 2 teaspoons sugar. Bake until cooked through, about 18 minutes. Carefully transfer shortcakes to rack. Cool completely.

DO-AHEAD TIP:
Shortcakes can be made 1 day ahead. Wrap individually in plastic and store at room temperature.

FOR THE STRAWBERRIES:
Toss strawberries and 1/4 cup sugar in large bowl. Let stand until juices form, stirring occasionally, about 1 hour.
Combine cream, sugar and vanilla in cream whipper.
Using serrated knife, carefully split shortcakes horizontally in half. Place bottom halves on each of 6 plates. Top shortcakes with strawberries, chocolate sauce, then whipped cream. Top with shortcake tops and serve.

Have a great day

India, Water, Hypoglycemia.

Talk about a coincidence, when I came in from seeing The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Matt was watching a programme about travelling in India. I had reacted to the movie thinking how much I would love to do something like the characters, but after watching this travel programme telling us all about the bugs, diseases, and other nasties available in India I think I have changed my mind. The traveller was telling us about the Ganges, the holy river Ganges, into which large quantities of sewage is emptied, and into which incompletely burned remains of dead bodies are thrown, not to mention all the people bathing and doing laundry along with all the animals that drink in the river, and then, if you please, he goes and does what the Indians do and dunks himself in the river with all this bacteria and god knows what floating past. He is crackers. He does actually end up with a bug in his intestine because some of the river water got swallowed because it was in his mouth. The Indians have develop immunity apparently. I think he was absolutely bonkers to do such a thing, you wouldn’t have got me near the Ganges. They also use it as a garbage dump, this is a sacred river? Seems weird to me. The water is completely airless because it is so polluted. Yuk. This is definitely one country where I would drink bottled water. I’ve never been there of course and I have been told it is a wonderful place to visit, but…..

Knowing our water was supposed to be turned off at 9 a.m. yesterday morning, Matt woke me at 6:45 a.m. I could have killed him, doesn’t take me that long to shower. Later on we tried the water out and it still appeared to be working so maybe it was all unnecessary anyway, so I will have to kill Matt twice, or maybe the super and Matt. One thing, on Thursday night we got some much needed rain and it was still raining on Friday morning. Some people are complaining, well not a great day to be out and about, me I am cheering. The asparagus needs it LOL.

For some reason, I have recently been having bouts of hypoglycemia (sugar lows) and they aren’t funny. I had one yesterday morning and my reading was at 1.9 which to an American would be 34.2, I re-checked it immediately and it turned out to be 3.7 which is 66.6, still pretty low but not so serious. I felt like sh*t and I am not sure why this is happening. I am not eating any differently or basically doing anything differently and it is a little scary. I felt rough for the rest of the day. Oh well. Fine now.

This is the latest offering from Mushrooms Canada, I thought it looked a very interesting salad. Notice the salad servers, giraffes I think, rather cute.

Marinated Mushroom, Rice and Feta Salad

Ingredients
3/4 cup (175 mL) brown and wild rice mix*
1/3 cup (75 mL) olive oil
1/4 cup (50 mL) lemon juice
2 tbsp (25 mL) raspberry, rice wine or cider vinegar
1/4 cup (50 mL) minced fresh tarragon or basil (or 2 tsp/10 mL dried leaves)
1/2 tsp (2 mL) salt
1/4 tsp (1 mL) pepper
1 lb. (500 g) fresh small mushrooms
1 cup (250 mL) halved cherry or grape tomatoes
1/2 cup (125 mL) Each diced yellow sweet pepper and red onion
2/3 cup (150 mL) diced feta cheese

Method
In a medium saucepan bring 1 ¾ cups (425 mL) water to boil; add rice mix, reduce to simmer and cook, covered for 35- 40 minutes or until water is absorbed and rice is tender. Transfer to a large bowl to cool slightly.
Meanwhile in a medium bowl mix oil, lemon juice, vinegar, tarragon, salt and pepper; add mushrooms and toss to coat. Marinate 1 hour or more. Add to room temperature rice. Stir in tomatoes, peppers, onion and cheese. Serve or refrigerate covered.
Makes 4 main course servings
* Look for the mix in bulk sections of supermarkets

Tip

• For convenience cook rice a day ahead and marinate mushrooms up to 24 hours, although they will darken in colour.
• Brown rice is much more nutritious than white rice since it is the whole grain and contains bran, that adds fiber and vitamins.

Have a great weekend

Water, James Bond,

Apologies for the shortness of yesterday’s blog. Not only was I late for an appointment, but I have been having all kinds of problems with my desktop, partly due to Microsoft and their flipping add ons and updates. I got to the point where I was totally sick of computers and for me that is not usual. My desktop is working as fast as frozen molasses oozing through an iceberg. Well I like that description.

A neighbour gives us her copy of National Geographic and the latest one is all about water. There are statistics giving incredible figures about how much water it takes to do something. For instance 1,857 gallons of water to produce 1 lb. of beef. That is both incredible and inconceivable. There is also a lot about impoverished countries where not only do people have to walk 5 hours each day to get any water, but when they get there, the water is pretty filthy anyway. There are links to a lot of these stories here on the website by following this link http://tinyurl.com/yzzlh4s According the the magazine by 2050 a third of the people of the world may lack access to clean water. This subject goes back to Glenda Larke’s latest trilogy in which she writes about a world with little or no water harking back to her childhood in Australia and her experience of their devastating droughts.

Here in the west we tend to take water for granted. These days I try not to run taps too long, but its not something I spend much time worrying about like we should. We jump into our showers or baths and never think about the source of the water we are using.

Last night I watched “From Russia with Love” with Sean Connery, one of the earliest James Bond films. Really they are so outdated these days and they never did stick to the original books which were serious spy stories; the movies were always spoofs. I quite enjoyed it but Matt disappeared in disgust *g*. Its incredible the movie was actually made in 1963 – 47 years ago.

Yesterday for supper I decided to throw together a risotto and finish up the rest of the lamb roast. It turned out very well. I used a basic risotto recipe as follows then added a few peas and the lamb cut into pieces. I always end up needing more liquid than the recipe calls for, I don’t know why. It was very good.

Basic Risotto Recipe

http://tinyurl.com/3v3wxx

•1 ½ cups arborio rice •1 qt chicken stock • ½ cup white wine •1 medium shallot or ½ small onion, chopped (about ½ cup) •3 Tbsp unsalted butter •1 Tbsp vegetable oil • ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese •1 Tbsp chopped Italian parsley •Kosher salt, to taste

1. Heat the stock to a simmer in a medium saucepan, then lower the heat so that the stock just stays hot.

2. In a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan, heat the oil and 1 Tbsp of the butter over medium heat. When the butter has melted, add the chopped shallot or onion. Sauté for 2-3 minutes or until it is slightly translucent.

3. Add the rice to the pot and stir it briskly with a wooden spoon so that the grains are coated with the oil and melted butter. Sauté for another minute or so, until there is a slightly nutty aroma. But don't let the rice turn brown.

4. Add the wine and cook while stirring, until the liquid is fully absorbed.

5. Add a ladle of hot chicken stock to the rice and stir until the liquid is fully absorbed. When the rice appears almost dry, add another ladle of stock and repeat the process.

6. Note: It's important to stir constantly, especially while the hot stock gets absorbed, to prevent scorching, and add the next ladle as soon as the rice is almost dry.

7. Continue adding ladles of hot stock and stirring the rice while the liquid is absorbed. As it cooks, you'll see that the rice will take on a creamy consistency as it begins to release its natural starches.

8. Continue adding stock, a ladle at a time, for 20-30 minutes or until the grains are tender but still firm to the bite, without being crunchy. If you run out of stock and the risotto still isn't done, you can finish the cooking using hot water. Just add the water as you did with the stock, a ladle at a time, stirring while it's absorbed.

9. Stir in the remaining 2 Tbsp butter, the Parmesan cheese and the parsley, and season to taste with Kosher salt.

10. Risotto turns glutinous if held for too long, you should serve it right away. A properly cooked risotto should form a soft, creamy mound on a dinner plate. It shouldn't run across the plate, nor should it be stiff or gluey.

Servings: 6

Source Author: Danilo Alfaro, About.com Guide

Author Notes This basic risotto recipe is made with butter and Parmesan cheese. A classic Italian rice dish, risotto is traditionally prepared with a variety of starchy, short-grained rice called arborio rice.

The procedure for making it involves stirring hot stock into the uncooked rice a ladleful at a time and cooking slowly as the stock is absorbed. This technique, known as the risotto method, releases the arborio's starches, making a creamy, velvety dish.

Have a great day

Time Passes, Books,

Unfortunately yesterday, we lost a very good friend of long standing. When I was talking some time ago about our one and only cruise, he and his wife were the people who were with us. Now, sadly they have both gone. It is, for us, the end of an era with our friends who came from Blowing Rock in North Carolina and who moved to the coast where we met them. In recent years, we have lost eight of these friends from the mountains. These were all people who took us to their hearts and made us feel part of their family. RIP every one of you. I won't be writing a lot this morning as the super is turning off the water soon so I have to get myself showered before they do so. We only found out by accident - there is a notice, I am not sure when it was put up, but we didn't go anywhere this weekend so didn't see it. Could have been a problem for us. I haven't mentioned reading lately, I have been working my way through Kate Elliott's books The Crown of Stars, but last week J.D. Robb's Promises in Death became available, so I whipped through that at the weekend. Enjoyed it as usual. With these books I love the 'back story' as much as anything, knowing the characters and watching them develop through each book. Here's a different way of using asparagus. Its from the Asparagus Growers' Marketing Board. Asparagus and Ham Brunch Bread

2 lbs (1 kg)	Ontario asparagus
3 cups (750 mL)	biscuit mix
1 tsp (5 mL)	dried tarragon
1/2 tsp (2 mL) each	dry mustard and pepper
2	eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 cups (375 mL)	milk
1 cup (250 mL)	diced Black Forest ham (about 4oz/125 g)
1	onion, diced
1 cup (250 mL)	grated Parmesan cheese, divided

Break asparagus stalks where they snap easily; discard ends or reserve for soup. Set asparagus aside. In large bowl, combine biscuit mix, tarragon, mustard and pepper. In another bowl, beat eggs with milk; pour over dry mixture and stir until smooth (batter will be thin). Spread half the batter in greased 13 x 9-inch cake pan. Arrange half the asparagus in a single layer on batter. Sprinkle with half the onion and half the Parmesan. Spread remaining batter over top. Arrange remaining asparagus over batter; sprinkle with remaining Parmesan. Bake in 375º F (190º C) oven for 35 to 40 minutes or until golden brown and toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Let stand in pan on rack for 20 minutes before serving warm or at room temperature.

Prep time: 15 minutes, 35 to 40 minutes cooking time

Yield: 6 servings

Right, off the the shower. Have a great day.