7 Wonders of America, China, Burma, Indian Ocean

Today it was the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. I have actually been there and driven across it. I had been told that the painters finished painting the bridge and then started again at the other end, they definitely said that wasn't so when they were being interviewed. They paint the bits that need it with Industrial Orange. There were some very interesting facts on its construction and the part of the bay where it was built. Apparently there is a 375 ft. trench where the water sweeps into the sea. Read here and see all the pictures shown on the GMA site, the facts are absolutely fascinating. During construction they had a safety net which saved the lives of 19 people who became members of the Halfway to Hell Club. Unfortunately 11 others died. The bridge was built during the depression so hundreds of workers wanted to work on it because, of course, jobs were so hard to come by at the time. The bridge is considered a marvel of engineering, particularly for the time in which it was built. Remember they didn't have computers to help them; it spans a mile of San Francisco Bay which is a beautiful spot to visit anyway. I crossed the bridge being driven by my cousin who lives in Marin county on one side of the bay. I was in San Francisco on a conference at the time.

The city is pretty fantastic anyway, with the cable cars and the waterfront shops and piers. If you can't find what you want to eat there, you are very difficult to please. I never got to drive down Lombard Street although I did see it from the bottom but I did visit Alcatraz which, I was horrified to discover when I got there, is an 8 storey climb from the dock up to the prison. I made it, there are seats strategically placed up the hill. Phew what a climb. I found it a very interesting place and as I had the cassette tape playing in my ear telling me all about the riots and escapes, it became even more fascinating. In the harbour of San Francisco there are sea lions all over the place which the residents consider to be a damned nuisance, but which are fun for tourists to see. I was there for a week and would go back in a New York minute if I could.

The news from China gets worse and worse. The latest figures on my home page say 12,000. Every time I check it increases. At least there are hundreds of Chinese soldiers in the area doing rescue work which is more than can be said for Myanmar (Burma) where the ruling junta are still misappropriating the supplies while their people die horrifying deaths from starvation and disease. That is today. I wonder how many people are still supporting the tsunami disaster relief efforts - I see it is now being called the Great Sumatra-Andaman earthquake, unbelievably it is almost 4 years ago since it happened. That is a pretty horrifying picture I just found. Those people are about to be inundated.

I hope those of you who celebrated Mother's Day on Sunday had a good one. I am only a step-mother so don't get counted. I felt sorry for a friend of ours who's mother just died and the visitation was on Sunday, makes it particularly poignant. At least she was 98 so had a good long life.

Well, back to asparagus, here is one I got from Food TV.

ASPARAGUS ALLA MILANESE Serves 4

28 stalks of asparagus, medium size 4 Tbs unsalted butter plus 4 tablespoons 4 large eggs 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan 1 Bring 4 quarts water to boil and set up ice bath. Trim asparagus of hard ends and drop into water. Cook 70 seconds. Remove with tongs and refresh in ice bath. Drain and set aside. 2 In a 10 inch to 12 inch saute pan, heat 4 tablespoons butter until very dark brown. Add asparagus and toss until warm. Remove asparagus and divide among 4 plates. Towel off saute pan and add remaining butter. Cook until foam subsides. Crack eggs in and cook sunnyside up, about 2 minutes. Place one egg over each plate, sprinkle with cheese and serve.

Have a great day.

Seven Wonders of America, Disasters, Race for the Cure

Today it was the Corridors of Discovery, in particular showing pictures of Saturn V at the space centre in Huntsville, Alabama. They included any kind of discovery, be it underwater or in space. Sam, who was anchoring this segment, was also talking to a bunch of youngsters who were at space camp for a week and it was interesting to hear what they said about exploration and the future. One of the kids was very enthusiastic about Jacques Cousteau who was probably one of the best known underwater explorers in the world; his work is being continued by his son. Once again if you want to see all the pictures GMA is here just follow 7 Wonders of America.

What a bunch of disasters we are having lately, first the Cyclone in Burma or Myanmar, then this morning another tornado in the "corridor" of the US which has killed 20 people and the biggest this morning, the earthquake in China which has killed thousands. 900 school children buried in their schools. I hope China will accept help, I was disgusted by all the problems with getting aid to Burma, the junta obviously doesn't give a damn how many more of their people die. The reports on China are now saying a possibility of 5,000 dead. I understand it occurred in the Beijing area of central China.

On a happier note, the Race for the Cure which took place in Philadelphia yesterday was very successful according to my friend. The forecasted rain did not happen although it was pretty chilly I understand. All the participants were dressed in their pink clothes with pink caps. My friend has a cap with a pony tail which was donated to her by a friend during her loss of hair period. Her friend had used her own hair for the pony tail. If you want to see more of the official pictures click here for the rest of them. They congregate at the Art Museum which is a building made memorable from the Rocky movies. Those are the steps Rocky ran up in most of the series.

Today we start our summer bowling which only lasts until mid July. Then we are cast loose on the winds of "no bowling" for the rest of the summer. At least this league starts at 1:00 p.m. a much better time than 12:30 we think. I don't have to eat my lunch almost at breakfast time.

Yammering on about asparagus as I was on Saturday, here is one of my favourite dishes. The one below I copied from the Internet. My only argument with this recipe - I would cook the asparagus separately and add at the last minute. Also, we use a little white wine to finish off the risotto - the cooking time is given as 20 minutes, I am not sure about that, Risotto always seems to take longer to me:

Asparagus Risotto

Source: SOSCuisine

Makes: 2 servings 410 calories per serving Ingredients 1 onion(s), finely chopped 200 g 10 asparagus, average size, cut into 1 cm pieces 200 g 1 1/2 cup chicken broth 375 ml 1 tbsp butter, unsalted 14 g 1 tbsp olive oil 15 ml 3/4 cup arborio rice 150 g 2 tbsp Parmesan cheese, grated 6 g salt to taste ground pepper to taste Method Finely chop the onion. Clean the asparagus then cut it into small pieces (about 1 cm). Heat the broth in a small saucepan on the stove or in a microwave oven. Keep it warm while cooking the risotto (about 20 min). Melt the butter in a large skillet or saucepan. Sauté the onion 2-3 min, until it becomes translucent. Add the rice and asparagus. Cook 1-2 min, with constant stirring, until the rice grains are well toasted and translucent. Cook the risotto, using the warmed broth until the rice is creamy but still al dente. Remove from the heat and let stand for 2 min. Season with salt (not much if the broth is salty) and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese then serve. Have a great day.

Asparagus

One last time I will remind you about the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure tomorrow and my friend's website here so please donate if you haven't yet done so.

Finally, at long last, and no thanks to the winter weather, I got some fresh asparagus from the local farm. The season is approximately Mother's Day to Father's Day and I look forward to it every year and phone Barrie's Asparagus almost daily, when it is close to the time, to see if they have any yet. Yesterday, I went and got about $10 worth so guess what veggie we had for supper last night. Matt is not as crazy about asparagus as I am, but I will eat it by the ton for the next month I love it so much especially when its this fresh. One of the things I most like about getting it fresh, no stalks to break off, you can eat every single bit. I know a couple of people who eat it raw while driving home from the farm, not for me thank you, especially bearing in mind what it is grown in, if you don't know, I won't tell you. I like to wash mine before I eat it and cook it too preferably. I did try it raw once but wasn't particularly impressed with it. I like mine boiled with lashings of butter, however, due to diet restrictions these days, I mostly settle for Butter Buds which I buy in the States when I am there. For some reason they are not available in Canada. I buy the pots and sprinkle them on my asparagus. Low fat, low cal. My friend always prefers to roast her asparagus, but I don't enjoy them so much that way. Straight from the fields it is so tender and juicy with big fat stalks. It cooks in an instant and is delightful to eat. Do you get the feeling I like asparagus?

One thing I usually make at this time of the year is asparagus pesto. It freezes well so makes a useful starter at any time of the year or no doubt you could use it on pasta. I have never done so, but don't see why not. Depending on your taste.

Asparagus Pesto Toasts

1 lb trimmed green asparagus 1 cup toasted walnut/pecan halves 4 cloves garlic, peeled 2 1/2 tsp salt 3/4 cup olive oil 2/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan Freshly ground pepper 1 Cook asparagus until just tender. Refresh in cold water, then drain and dry well. Place asparagus, walnuts, garlic and salt in food processor. Process until blended. 2 With motor running, gradually add olive oil, then add cheese and pepper. Blend together and check seasoning. Place in covered bowl. 3 The magazine shows the recipe served on crunchy toasted French or Italian bread with a curl or two of parmesan on top and some asparagus at the side. 4 We freeze this in ice cube trays, then wrap the cubes in pairs (separated by Saran, and put in a bag in the freezer until we need them. Recipe Source: Food & Drink

Have a great day and a super weekend.

Race for the Cure, The Badlands

Once again I am reminding you about the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure on Mother's Day. My friend's website is here so if you haven't had a chance to donate, I urge you to do so. Even if you don't live in the States, the discovery of the cure will benefit every woman in the world. Could be a wife, a mother, a daughter of someone reading this blog.

I was going to mention, I heard a frightening statistic yesterday, 16 young drivers a day are killed on the roads in the summer due to distractions; cell phones, ipods, friends in the back seat, food and drink, so if you have young drivers in your family, urge them to be more careful. There was a report just this morning about a bad accident where the car was cut in half, the female passenger killed and the young driver in critical condition, this time, not distraction but drag racing. Our youth are precious to us, please make your best efforts to see they drive carefully.

This morning, the Seven Wonders of America took us to the Badlands in South Dakota. There are several designated parks in this region and the scenery is absolutely fantastic. It is also a wonderful source for fossils many of which have been found; things like sabre tooth tigers. However, tourists are urged to leave any fossils where they are found. If you go to the GMA website you can see all the photos they have today click here. The area is also famous for Mt. Rushmore and its presidential carvings, pictures of which have been shown all over the world. There is another carving being created in the area, the head of Crazy Horse. It will, apparently, be a much bigger carving than the presidential heads at Mt. Rushmore. I have copied a picture of the model of how it will look when finished, but if you want to see the progress as shown on the website click here although the latest picture is not that recent, 2002. It really is a most ambitious project and the Rushmore figures would fit inside Crazy Horse's head they say. According to what I read this morning, the badlands buttes are eroding at about 1" a year so it would seem that these statues won't be around for ever. Or maybe its only certain areas which are eroding so quickly and not where the statues are.

This is another recipe we have enjoyed on several occasions.

Cool Chicken Salad Shells
Serves: 4

Source: Cooking Light - May 1995

12 uncooked jumbo macaroni shells
5 artichoke hearts from can
3 tbs reduced fat mayonnaise
2 tbs non fat Italian dressing
1/4 tsp onion powder
1 cup cooked chopped chicken breast, about 6 oz skinned and boned
1/4 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
2 tbs chopped ripe olives
6 fresh basil leaves.
Instructions: Cook macaroni in boiling water for about 10 mins until tender. Drain and rinse under cold water, set aside.

Line each shell with basil leaf. Mix remaining ingredients and spoon evenly into shells.

Have a great day.

Race for the Cure, Polar Bears, Barbara Walters

Another reminder for the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. I would so like to make sure that as many donations as possible are made. Cancer of any kind is important of course, and the more donations to any of the Cancer Foundations is always appreciated. My friend's website, once again, is here.

There was nothing about the Seven Wonders of America this morning as Dianne Sawyer, who's turn it was today, is sick with laryngitis I think, anyway, she can't talk, so they are going to show her episode next week. There should be one tomorrow though.

I mentioned the Polar Bear Express which brought to mind Polar Bears, obviously. One of the best places to see these bears is Churchill, Manitoba, they call themselves the Polar Bear capital of the world as well as the capital for Beluga Whales. Quoting Cregor Adventures "Every fall, hundreds of polar bears congregate in the Churchill area waiting for the pack ice to form on the Hudson Bay, enabling them to migrate further north. This large concentration has earned Churchill the nickname “Polar Bear Capital of the World.” Of course you don't have to do organised tours, but it seems advisable as Polar Bears are very dangerous animals. I have only seen them in zoos and would love to see them in the wild, but think it maybe something I will never achieve this late in life.

Been meaning to tell you about my reading lately, I have been on an Elizabeth Moon kick. I have read Remnant Population and Once a Hero followed by a dragon anthology, The Dragon Quintet, which included one of her short stories, Judgment. I enjoyed all of the stories, but particularly Remnant Population which was about getting to know aliens: a theme I very much enjoy. Later today I will be starting Glenda Larke's (see her blog link on this page,Tropic Temper) third book in the Mirage Maker's Trilogy, it is called Song of the Shiver Barrens. I have enjoyed all her books so far and have every confidence I will enjoy this one. I just wish some of my Australian author friends were more available on this continent. What they write, I love to read.

Talking of reading, I see Barbara Walters has written a memoir, she was interviewed by Charlie Gibson last night and Robin Roberts briefly this morning. Her book, Audition, is apparently very revealing about her private life and includes all her loves, marriages or affairs. I gather the interviewers are somewhat surprised about her revelations. For those of you outside North America, I would reiterate, she is a very famous TV interviewer and has spoken to "everyone" from Fidel Castro to Prince Charles and they all seem to open up to her more than to anyone else. She has had a long and interesting public life and now it appears that her private life was pretty interesting too.

If you read the comments to my blog, you will see a discussion on cooked lettuce. My recipe yesterday called for blanching lettuce. As I said in the comments, I have been making Petits Pois a la Francaise for years. Here is Nigella Lawon's recipe for it.

Petits Pois a la Francaise Recipe courtesy Nigella Lawson

3 small or 2 fat scallions, finely sliced 3 tablespoons unsalted butter 1 drop garlic-infused oil (or any oil really) 1 Little Gem (Butterhead) lettuce, shredded 2 cups frozen petits pois 1/2 cup hot chicken stock (concentrate or cube and hot water is fine) Cook the scallions in the butter and oil until soft. Stir in the shredded lettuce, and when it is wilted add the frozen peas and stock. Cook at a robust simmer, uncovered, until everything is tender and the liquid flavorful and reduced.

Have a great day.

Race for the Cure, Grand Canyon,

You know what this is a reminder of. For my friend who is taking part this is her site once again. It seems I have been making a right mess of my web links in the last few days, I do apologise. I think I have fixed them now. Thanks for pointing them out to me.

Well, today's Good Morning America pick for the 7 Wonders of America was, not surprisingly, the Grand Canyon. There are 13 pictures on the GMA website which is at ABC News. Apparently they are not sure when the canyon was carved out, 5,000,000 years or 6,000,000 years ago. Give or take a million *g*. The pictures also show the viewing platform or walkway built by the Hualapai Indians which is on their reserve and which apparently costs $25 to walk onto. Until today I hadn't realised it was a horseshoe walkway I had thought it a solid platform. I am not sure I personally would have the guts to ride down into the canyon, maybe I could stand on the walkway. Although you can click on my pictures and see them better, do try the GMA website, they are so much better and also each picture has a paragraph of fascinating information about the canyon. Its a place I have always wanted to visit it is so magnificent.

We have some canyons in Ontario which are quite impressive, we visited one on our first vacation after we came to Canada, Ouimet Canyon. When we were there some 30 odd years ago, there was no lookout, but apparently there is now by the look of the picture. I remember Matt frightening the life out of me when, despite warnings and I think ropes, he went to the edge to take pictures. What was worse, the film got jammed and he had to change it half way with the result that he did the same thing when we walked back. Not having actually seen the Grand Canyon, Ouimet impressed us quite a bit, the trees looked so tiny at the bottom and it appeared to stretch for miles. Another impressive Canyon in Ontario is the Agawa Canyon, but we haven't been there. That has a waterway and a railroad running along it taking you up north. There is also a train called the Polar Bear Express which takes one to James Bay on the edge of the Hudson Bay. We nearly went on that trip once, not sure why we didn't.

Here's another finger food, hors d'oeuvres or snack which we enjoy.

Romaine Wrapped Ginger Chicken

Source: Cooking Light - Jan/Feb 1994

9 lge Romaine leaves
1/4 cup chicken broth
1 Tbs dry sherry
1 tbs soy sauce
1-1/2 tsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp dark sesame oil
dash of ground red pepper
1 10 oz pkg frozen chopped turnip greens
veg cooking spray
1/2 tsp vegetable oil
1-1/2 tsp peeled, grated ginger
1 sml clove garlic, minced
3/4 cup fresh mushrooms
1/2 cup coarsely chopped red bell pepper
1/2 cup finely chopped water chestnuts
5 oz skinless, boneless chicken breast cut into 1/2" cubes.

Trim vein on each lettuce leaf. Plunge into boiling water and cook for 10 seconds. Drain and refresh. Set aside.

Combine broth and next 5 ingredients (sherry to red pepper) stir well and set aside.

Cook greens according to package directions. Drain well, place on paper towels, squeeze until barely moist; set aside.

Coat a large saucepan with spray. Add oil, place over medium heat until hot. Add ginger, garlic, sauté 30 secs. Add greens, mushrooms and bell pepper, sauté 1 min. Add chestnuts and chicken and sauté 1 in. Add broth mixture, bring to a boil, cook 2 mins or until thicken and chicken done, stirring constantly.

Spoon 1/4 cup of mixture onto lettuce leaf, and fold. Serve warm.

Have a great day.

Cancer, 7 Wonders of America

I want to remind you about my friend who is a survivor of breast cancer, and is taking part, once again, in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure on Mother's Day. This is her website and hopefully you will be able to make a donation to help the cause. I know she would be very appreciative as would, obviously, the Susan G. Komen organisation.

Today's Seven Wonders of America showed us the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska which is approximately the size of South Carolina. If you want to see a series of wonderful pictures click here and then scroll down to Seven Wonders of America. Apparently there are thousands of barrels of oil under the area but so far, they have not been touched although the oil companies say they won't damage the area. Apparently an instance was quoted where, in Alberta, Canada, 500 birds, mostly ducks, were killed because they landed in a tailings pond. The pond lacked gunshot-sounding noise-makers to deter wildlife required under provincial rules between spring and fall. To see birds mired in oil and unable to survive is one of the saddest sights I can imagine. I wonder why they can't clean up these ponds anyway. I really hope Alaska can keep the oil companies out of their Reserve.

There are pictures of Caribou, Polar Bears and Musk Ox all of which live in the area together with Black Bears and Arctic Foxes and I am certain many other species. Polar Bears are very much endangered anyway because of the melting of the ice. It would be so sad to lose such a wonderful animal. I am a big supporter of the World Wildlife Fund who are doing all they can to save the animals and habitats of the world but they can do little without our help.

We had our last bowling for the winter league yesterday, it was fun. We played bowling bingo, never done that before. You get a sheet with various things like strikes, spares, 3, 10, 13 and so on and your team has to bowl all these and cross them off the sheet just as you would in normal bingo. It was all done as quickly as possible but I'm afraid my team didn't win. We did a couple of others types of bowling too. Later to kill time whilst the caterers were setting up names were drawn and each person called had to do something, I got bowling with my other hand, I kind of froze, I couldn't seem to think how to step forward with the ball in the wrong hand. I ended up with a gutter ball. Prizes were given out for the year and much to my surprise Matt and I got most improved bowler in our teams. We got $5 a piece for that. We then had our banquet and after headed home. When we got home I immediately phone the alley and said we had decided to join the summer league. It only goes from May 12 to July 14 with another banquet on the 21st. No bowling at all in August.

As it was so early for us to eat, I had to have a snack again later as it would have been too many hours to breakfast time for my diabetes. I ended up having tomato toasts which is one of my favourites.

Tomato Toast

Per person

1 or 2 slices bread,
a clove of garlic
a tsp olive oil per bread slice
a ripe tomato, thinly sliced
Salt and Pepper

Toast the bread and while still hot rub the garlic all over the toast really well. Then spread the toast with a little olive oil. Layer slices of tomato on it and season to taste. Eat and enjoy.

If you wish you can add slices of the cheese of your choice and broil the whole until the cheese melts for another taste sensation, I prefer Havarti for this, but any melting cheese would be good.

Have a great day.

Breast Cancer Race, Washington Mall, GPS

A friend of mine who is a survivor of breast cancer, is taking part, once again, in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure on Mother's Day. Hopefully you will be able to make a donation to help the cause this is her website. I know she would be very appreciative as would, obviously, the Susan G. Komen organisation.

This morning started GMA's Seven Wonders of America with the Washington National Mall which includes the White House and the Lincoln Memorial, also the Viet Nam Wall and the Needle. It is described as America's front porch. They get thousands of visitors every year to see all the monuments in the area, some of which are not actually in the Mall. There is a Jefferson Memorial to comemorate when he tried to have the international time line moved to Washington instead of Greenwich, London.

Today is our last day of bowling for this season so we have our in house bowling banquet this afternoon plus the games I mentioned. Bowling is a game so I am not quite sure what will take place. We haven't signed up for the summer league, in a way I wish we had, I think we can still do so if we wish, of course.

Last night, for supper, we had a wine we are very fond of, Magnotta's Toro Nero Limited Edition. We ate one of our Chateaubriands from M & M with it. Saturday night we were at a friend's house for dinner and we had smoked pork chops with a wine from the Douro Valley in Portugal which is very good. I forgot to make a note of the name. My friend in Portugal lives by the Douro Valley and introduced us to the wines of the region. It is also the region where Port is made. We did a bit of port tasting when we were there. Unfortunately I wasn't walking too well and so we didn't get to as many port "caves" as we would have liked to, almost impossible to park near any of them as they are in the older part of Oporto. Not to mention all the road works taking place in the town when we visited. If only we had had GPS in the rental car. I wonder car rental companies don't install them, it would be very useful for tourists. I suppose it would cost a lot more for the renters. I have seen one in use lately and wouldn't mind having one in our car. Going back to port, are you aware how it came to be created? Two Scottish wine exporters living in Portugal were horrified with the wine production one year as it was so bad. They came up with the idea of blending the wine with brandy and calling it port. The rest is history. You will find most of the good Ports have Scottish rather than Portuguese names.

Lots of us have made Zucchini Bread, but have you ever made it with chocolate?

Chocolate Zucchini Bread
Serves: 8

Source: Recitopia

3 eggs
1 Cup vegetable oil
2 Cups Sugar
1 Tablespoon vanilla
2 Cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 Tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
3 heaping Tablespoons of cocoa
2 Cups grated zucchini
1 cup chocolate chips
1 Cup chopped nuts(optional)

Preheat oven to 350 F Beat together eggs, oil, sugar, and vanilla. In a separate bowl mix flour, baking soda, baking powder cinnamon, salt and cocoa; and add to egg mixture. Stir in zucchini, chocolate chips and nuts. Bake in greased and floured pan till toothpick comes out clean from center, (I line the bottom of the pan with paper for easy removal) Makes 2 loaves: 350 for one hour OR makes one large loaf baked in a glass pan at 350 for one and a half hours

Have a great day.

Free Rice Game, Anjou Wine and Pears

This is a great little word game which also allows you to donate rice every time you play it. So do click on the free rice game to help at this time of food crisis in the world. It will also increase your knowledge of words and is fun to play and see how many you can get right. It usually re-introduces a word you get wrong so that you have a chance to remember it.

Prices of food are rising everywhere, very much due to the price of gas. It staggers me that North America has allowed itself to become so dependent on oil supplied by other countries. I talked about a hydrogen powered car the other day, and I would think they would concentrate on it and other alternate fuels although now we are being criticised for using ethanol because it comes from corn which is a food of course. We drive a 6 cylinder car which my European friends consider to be a gas guzzler. What about all these SUV's that are running around. It costs us around $50 to fill up, what on earth does it cost those owners? I don't think I want to know.

If you read the comments on this blog, you will know I was recommended to try a Cabernet d'Anjou rosé wine, I have not yet established if this is available in Canada. Researching on the net it looks as though it is available in the States - I just searched the LCBO web page and it doesn't seem to be available here at all.

Talking of things from Anjou, I get so ticked off seeing advertising for d'Anjou pears or similar items. That is actually saying "of Anjou pears" but I see it all over North America; in Canada which is a bi-lingual country (or supposed to be) that is inexcusable to me. There are, of course, many Canadians who can't speak a word of French. Québec French isn't quite the same as French French either, but "d'Anjou pears" hrmmph. Good pears mind you.

That reminds me of a dessert we have made a few times, Pears in Red Wine. It is quite a favourite of ours and very simple to make.

Pears In Red Wine
Serves: 4

Source: Time Life

4 lg pears
1/2 bottle red wine
2 tbs sugar
small piece cinnamon

Boil sugar and wine together to make syrup. Peel pears then simmer for 5 mins in syrup. Take them out and put in a glass dish. Boil the syrup to reduce, remove from heat and add cinnamon. Let it get cold. When nearly cold, pour syrup over pears and let them get cold. Remove cinnamon before serving.

Have a great day.

Restaurants and Corkage

The bowling banquet went very well and it was nice to see people we hadn't seen for at least a year, some even longer because they didn't make it last year. I took a few pictures on my cell phone, forgot to take my camera which would take better pictures. Other people took pictures so I requested copies. We already have the date for next year although it does clash with a Travel League date so might be changed.

We were discussing mark ups on wine in restaurants. Particularly in reference to the $18 glasses of wine we had on Saturday. As I mentioned before, the Malivoire Pinot Noir is $38 a bottle which is not a cheap wine, but to charge $18 for a 6 oz. glass is extortionate. If one bought the whole bottle it would have been $74 a horrendous price. I understand that the corkage has to cover some of their costs, but virtually a 100% markup is really not justified. You could say more fool us for having paid it, but once we were there for dinner, we do enjoy a glass of wine with our food so we were kind of stuck with it. Nowadays in some restaurants you can take in your own bottle of wine, but you still have to pay corkage, I have no idea how much. I know they have been doing this in Australia for a number of years. I should ask my friend to comment on the subject. Most of us think $8 a glass is bad enough. This is one of the reasons Matt and I tend to cook and drink at home because of these mark ups. We both cook pretty well and can rival quite a few of the restaurants we have ever been to. In fact to me, not having a dishwasher, the main advantage of eating out is not having to clear up afterwards. I do get tired of food preparation and decisions on "what shall we have for supper" on a daily basis, but to cook a dinner for friends is always enjoyable for us or even to do something special for ourselves which we often do on a Saturday night. That is when we are likely to open our Malivoire Pinot Noir.

Did you know, the first Indiana Jones movie in 20 years opens this month. I saw the others many years ago, I will probably end up seeing this one. The picture shows his current image, Harrison Ford is not exactly a youngster any more, I am not sure how many, if any, stunts he did himself. Apparently there are crystal skulls in a couple of museums, but none are genuine, so the legends of crystal skulls have never yet been proved or disproved. However, Troy was once a legend.

The following timbales were one of Matt's inventions based on several he had seen on TV and read in cookbooks. They are delicious and make a good starter, or a finger food for a party.

Chicken & Artichoke Timbales
Serves: 4

6 oz chicken breast
6 oz artichoke hearts
2 tbs low fat cottage cheese
1 tbs toasted pignole nuts
1 tbs capers
1 shallot, finely diced
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp olive oil
salt & pepper to taste
1/2 tsp dried rosemary
6 lettuce leaves, blanched

Broil chicken breast, allow to cool. Skin and debone.

Drain artichoke hearts. Saute shallots and garlic in oil. Blend everything but lettuce in processor. Place lettuce leaves in ramekins, sprayed with non fat spray, fill with mixture, fold lettuce over top. Chill. Unmould and decorate with pimento strips to serve.

Banquets and Artichokes

As I have mentioned in passing, we used to bowl on a senior's league in Hespeler, Cambridge. Unfortunately the alley in Hespeler is no longer there, however, several of the senior's league bowl on the Travel League and also we still have our bowling banquet with quite a few of the original league members. Tonight, is the night. We go to a golf club in Cambridge and eat dinner, drink a little and socialise. Of course we no longer have a prize giving, but it is fun to see everyone especially those we haven't seen since last year. On Monday the alley where we have been bowling recently has their banquet, in house. Not sure how this works, apparently we go at our normal time, 12:30 and then play games, not regular bowling, get prizes (we won't get any we haven't been there long enough to achieve anything) and then at 4:00 we eat. I have no idea what.

After all this, maybe I can get back to dieting, I didn't mention we also have dinner with friends on Saturday, so that's three occasions this week (my Weight Watcher week is Thursday to Thursday) where I am likely not to be too rigid with my diet. Oy vey. I will do my best. I have stayed at a loss of 13 lbs for several weeks now due to dinner parties, trips to restaurants and so on. I guess I should be happy I haven't gained.

I just saw a very sad story about two little girls with Niemann-Pick Disease which is very like Alzheimer's apparently and also, eventually, a killer. Because at least two of my relatives (maybe three) had senile dementia, it is always something I have been concerned about. However I had no idea that children could get a similar disease. I gather it is fairly rare, but it is pretty horrible. If you are interested read about it here it was yet another programme on Good Morning America.

I have just cooked myself a couple of delicious looking artichokes which I shall have for lunch today. I always used to eat them with a vinaigrette sauce, but these days I either eat them plain or use a Kraft Italian dressing. I don't use a vinaigrette sauce very much any more so I don't bother to make it although for years I always had a jar of it in the fridge. I learned to make it when I stayed with a French family in Paris and Madame taught me her recipe. Simple enough, but one of the secrets is to refresh it with newly crushed garlic every couple of days or so, or just prior to using it.

Talking of artichokes, and it being almost into the asparagus season, here is a recipe which we love but is absolutely killing in the fat and calories line. The first time Matt made this for me it was part of a surprise dinner for my birthday. A glorious hors d'oeuvres. It came from Great Italian Cooking by Luigi Carnacina. Not a cookbook I enjoy as it gives recipes with references to other recipes, i.e. 1 cup of recipe 456 and 1/2 cup of recipe 2233 and so on, I find this very irritating although Matt doesn't seem to mind it. However, with this artichoke recipe, I figured it all out and made it into one, pretty long, recipe.

Artichokes Ricca
Serves: 4

BECHAMEL SAUCE
2 oz butter
1/2 tbs finely chopped onion
3 tbs sifted flour
2 cup hot milk
1/2 tsp salt
pinch pepper
pinch nutmeg
2 sprigs parsley
1/4 tsp dried thyme
bayleaf

MORNAY SAUCE
2/3 cup bechamel (as above)
1 cup heavy cream
9 tbs grated parmesan
4 1/2 tbs butter

DUXELLES
4 oz mushrooms, finely chopped
1/4 tsp salt (generous)
1/2 Tbs finely chopped onion
1 tsp butter
1 tsp oil
1/4 tsp minced parsley
pinch of pepper

ARTICHOKES RICCA
18 asparagus spears, cooked til tender
1/2 cup grated gruyere
1/4 cup melted butter
1 recipe mornay
1 recipe duxelles
1 can artichoke hearts

BECHAMEL SAUCE: Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook onion til transparent. Add flour, stir for 1 min. Add milk stirring, season with salt, pepper, nutmeg and bouquet garni. Bring to boil over low heat for 15 mins. stirring occasionally. Strain sauce, stir whilst cooling to keep from skinning.

MORNAY SAUCE: Mix Bechamel and cream in heavy saucepan, boil over medium heat, reduce to two thirds. Add cheese stirring til melted and well blended. Remove from heat and beat in butter, bit by bit.

DUXELLES: Put mushrooms in a bowl, sprinkle with salt. Stand for 30 mins. Gather in cloth, squeeze out juice. Soften onion in butter/oil over moderate heat for 3 mins. Add mushrooms, cook very slowly til moisture evaporated. Add pepper, parsley, cool and store covered in fridge til needed.

ARTICHOKES RICCA: Combine Mornay and Duxelles in shallow oven proof dish. Arrange asparagus in centre, artichokes round edge. Sprinkle with cheese and melted butter. Cook at 500 F for 8 mins or until cheese is light gold.

Try it, you'll like it. Make it for a celebration.

Have a great day.