Raymond Burr, Clambakes and Barbecues

I don't actually sit down to watch Good Morning America in the mornings, but it is on, so of course it attracts my notice. This morning I learned that a book has been written about Raymond Burr of Perry Mason fame called Hiding in Plain Sight. Apparently he told the world he had two wives who died and a son who also died. I believe there was something about a military career too - it all turns out to be false and he was gay. I guess at the time he was famous, being gay was not a good thing to admit so he invented a fictional biography for himself; if you want to read more click here, there is also an excerpt from the book. I remember when we first discovered Rock Hudson was gay, it was quite a shock as we had all regarded him as such a "hunk" in his day.

Another thing on GMA this morning, they were having a clambake. The weatherman, Sam Champion, was at a beach where they were grilling seafood. Sorry, a genuine clambake should be cooked in the sand with lots of seaweed packed around it. They actually had what I would call a pig cooker which to my mind spoiled the whole idea of a clambake. They were serving lobsters, clams, chicken and corn to name a few things. However, even I, with my love of lobster, didn't really fancy it at breakfast time. Maybe if I had been up long enough and was down at the beach, I might have changed my mind. The best demonstration of a clambake was in the movie Carousel, but as that is a very old movie, not many people will have seen it these days. I have a friend in North Carolina who used to do a clambake for us, hers was in a special cooker which steamed everything. Never did have lobsters, but we certainly had clams, shrimp, corn, chicken and potatoes which were all delicious. That was one of the beauties of living at the coast in NC, you could walk into the water almost anywhere and get yourself enough clams for supper. We used to borrow pig cookers like the one in the picture and have a party with a whole cooked pig which took quite a few hours to cook. I am not sure why that necessitated drinking beer as well, but it always did. We never shredded our pork, but that is the traditional way to do it and is what is referred to as barbecue in restaurants. We much preferred to carve lumps of meat off the pig. I used to make up a barbecue baste, the recipe was given to me by a friend who actually owned one of the cookers we borrowed. It was made with a lot of bottles of other sauces, but it tasted pretty fabulous and could be used as a sauce once the meat was done. Usually a friend would help with the barbecue and this picture shows his hat decorating the pig. Matt got so good at cooking pigs, he was asked to do it for company parties and weddings, etc. and our friend would often go with him. If the pig was big enough, they sometimes had to cook it all night. For our own parties, everyone else would bring a dish of food and once when #1 daughter's family visited, her husband was absolutely stunned at the amount of food available. Mind you, we thought he would never stop eating. Unfortunately when #2 daughter visited with her family, her husband, Mike the wildlife artist (see link on this page), was too sick to enjoy much of it at all. We had one wow of a Pig pickin', as they were called, for my 60th birthday and all had a fabulous time.

You can guarantee someone would always make a Pig Pickin's Cake. This too was made with pre prepared foods, but it was delicious. We got the recipe from a local paper, The Tideland News, I don't think they publish it any more. I don't generally publish recipes which are not made from scratch, but this really does work out well.

Pig Pickin' Cake
Serves: 6

1 pkg Duncan Hines yellow cake mix (or any other cake mix available to you)
4 eggs
1/4 c veg oil
1 11 oz can mandarin orange slices
1 lge can crushed pineapple (slightly drained)
1 3 oz pkg instant vanilla pudding
1 9 oz container cool whip

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour three 9 in cake pans. Combine cake mix, eggs and oil and blend with mixer for two mins at medium speed. Add can of orange slices, including the juice, and beat one minute at medium speed. Evenly distribute mixture in cake pans and bake for 15 - 20 mins. Test for doneness with toothpick. Cool completely before icing. Mix pineapple and vanilla pudding with spoon to blend well. Fold in Cool Whip and stir until blended. Spread icing between layers, on top and sides. Refrigerate til ready to serve.

I have just added a new blog link, Fresh Approach to Cooking. There are some great recipes, check them out.

Have a great Memorial Day

Holiday Weekends and Barbecues

This weekend is a holiday for Americans, last week it was a holiday for Canadians. For us it was Victoria Day which is often referred to as May 24th weekend which puzzles me as it is the 24th today so why wasn't it celebrated this weekend I wonder? For the Americans it is Memorial Day and a time when many of them remember those passed away in their families as well as members of the armed services killed in wars. Many people also spend their weekend at the barbecue and there have been all kinds of programmes noting that fact in the last week or so. Unfortunately, living in an apartment, we are not allowed to have a barbecue so make do with an indoor/outdoor grill which works very well. In fact friends of ours, who also live in an apartment, have an electric grill on their balcony which they like very much. We have thought of getting one, but haven't done so yet. One problem I perceive is having a power cord running through the balcony doors allowing any bugs to wander inside at will. I do NOT like bugs etc. particularly indoors. Good Morning America had Chef Mario Batali grilling up a storm yesterday, if you would like to see his recipes click here.

We had a phone call yesterday from our friends who are vacationing in North Carolina right now, apparently the weather has been great. In fact, looking at the weather map, the weather has been warm over most of the States but of course a lot of that has spawned tornadoes of which there have been many this last few weeks. The main reason they called was to tell us that the friend we went on a cruise with, is in hospital which is not very nice news. I am beginning to think NC isn't so healthy after all, our friends have been getting pretty sick over the past few years and we don't have too many left there any more.

I see Myanmar has finally agreed to allow some helpers in their country, I wonder how many have died because they didn't agree earlier. China is now talking of deaths up to 80,000 from their earthquake. They too have now asked for extra help but at least they sent in thousands of soldiers when the disaster happened and have allocated billions to rebuild the areas which were hit.

Yesterday I made the asparagus soup I posted and it was delicious. I can highly recommend it, very simple to make and worth the small amount of effort. I will be making more, in fact I may freeze some although the recipe calls for the tips to be kept whole, this won't work too well frozen as they will become a mush.

Tonight we are going to have an M & M Meats' Chateaubriand, they have them on special at the moment so we bought some extra yesterday. I have mentioned them before and they are really very good and good for the money. It will be cooked on our indoor/outdoor grill. I am not sure what we will serve with it, I have about one serving of asparagus left - guess where I will be going tomorrow? Yes, they are open on Sunday. We don't bother with dessert when we are on our own although we frequently have a Ferrero Rocher chocolate each after dinner. Being a Saturday, we will open a nice bottle of wine too, not sure which one. I would like to open one of our Malivoire Pinot Noir, but Matt is saving them for a special occasion???

If you are having a barbecue, this is a good salad to have with it. I have made it several times and we enjoy it very much. If you are not sure how to properly segment or supreme an orange the way the professionals do it, here is a blog entry with pictures click here which will help you. I tend not to cut the peel so square which wastes a lot of the flesh. I have posted this recipe before, but it bears repeating and can be prepared well in advance of the meal.

Fennel, Orange, and Parsley Salad
Everyday Food

Servings: 4

Ingredients:
5 x medium oranges
2 x medium fennel bulbs (8 ounces each), quartered, cored, and thinly sliced crosswise
2/3 cup fresh parsley leaves
2 tbsp slivered pitted black olives
1 tbsp olive oil
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

1. Using a paring knife, remove the peel and pith of the oranges. Separate oranges into segments over a large bowl (to catch the juices), then add segments to bowl. Smoosh rest of orange to remove juice.

2. Add fennel, parsley, olives, oil; season with salt and pepper. Gently toss, and serve.

Have a great weekend.

Cats and Glasses, Let It Heal

I was amazed, my CT Scan appointment was for 9:40 a.m., we got there a bit early; I was out by 10:00, incredible. We were expecting to hang around the hospital for ages. Its very easy, I lay on the table fully clothed, even kept my coat on as it was a bit chilly in there, the machine passed over my head a couple of times and that was it. Matt was parking the car and had barely sat down in the waiting room before I joined him. You could say, as they were scanning my brain, there really wasn't a lot for them to see, but I'd rather you didn't say it *g*.

After lunch we went to get my new glasses which they took forever adjusting. Boy do they cost a lot of money these days, I am so glad we have insurance. I can't imagine what people do without it. I also have a snazzy new case for them, it can be reversed to black and pink or black and mauve, it probably won't get used much though, I wear them all the time.

Matt went to Let It Heal in the afternoon - he has been having lots of back pain and so I finally persuaded him to go, if you have been reading this blog long enough, you will know I have lots of praise for the Bowen Treatment as practiced by Let It Heal, it has helped me terrifically and I have recommended it to others who have benefited as much. We will hope that it can help Matt, it should, but it takes at least 3 sessions before you know if it is helping you. If you want to read about it click here for their website.

Here's a different recipe for Asparagus Soup which came with my Cookbook Wizard programme.

Asparagus Soup

Servings: 4

1 pound asparagus
2 cups water
1 tablespoon margarine
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup water
1 teaspoon chicken bouillon granules
1 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 cup low-fat milk
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel

Cut tips from asparagus stalks; reserve. Cut stalks into 2-inch pieces. Heat 2 cups water and the asparagus stalks to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer about 10 minutes or until tender; do not drain. Pour asparagus with water into blender. Cover and blend until smooth.

Heat margarine in 3-quart saucepan until melted. Stir in flour. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture is smooth and bubbly; remove from heat. Stir in 1 cup water. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute. Stir in asparagus mixture, bouillon granules, curry powder, salt, pepper and asparagus tips. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer uncovered 10 minutes. Stir in milk; heat just until hot. Sprinkle with lemon peel.

Have a great day.

Movie, TV Programmes, Asparagus and Salmon

Just watched a movie called Treed Murray - didn't think it would be very good, but actually it wasn't bad. I didn't know anyone in it (I am not very up on actors anyway) but we both enjoyed it. Its about an ad executive who takes refuge in a tree from a bunch of muggers. The muggers decide to wait out the night until the guy, Murray, comes down from the tree. If you get a chance, watch it.

Earlier we watched one of our favourite TV shows, Wingfield. Rod Beattie plays the part of a stockbroker who has semi retired and bought a farm in Persephone Township, Ontario. He plays every part. When we first saw it, we weren't impressed, but then it caught our interest and it is actually brilliant acting. If you don't live here you probably won't get a chance to see it, but it is so clever. He doesn't change in any way except in actions and expressions, but you know just who the characters are. In previous episodes we have seen, his wife was pregnant and the way she got up from a squat, with hands on her back, you could just see it as a pregnant woman, but it wasn't it was Beattie. Really clever. I am glad it is starting over because I really want to see how it all began. I recently recommended it to someone who lives in our building. I recommended another show to her which she has been enjoying, As Time Goes By. Its an English comedy which is extremely popular in North America and is shown on Public Television. I have no idea how many re-runs it is into, but we watch them faithfully every Monday night. Judy Dench is the most well know name, but the cast is excellent - even the bit parts are beautifully acted and the people were wonderfully cast. If this show is on TV where you live, I can recommend it. Now it is very old, but it is still one of the funniest shows we have ever seen. We are not alone, every year it is voted in as the top BritCom on the station.

I enjoyed some stewed rhubarb for supper tonight, made with Splenda again and have some left for tomorrow. I am not allowed to have breakfast before my CT Scan other than something light (diabetics have to eat regularly). I am taking a snack bar, but will probably be very hungry by lunchtime.

I am looking forward to starting a new book tomorrow as I have just finished The River God by Wilbur Smith which I enjoyed very much. The next book is Victory Conditions by Elizabeth Moon, part of her Vatta's War series.

Here is another way to use asparagus. This came from an ezine I get each day called Recipe du Jour. I haven't yet tried it, but saved it because I thought it sounded pretty good. Most of the recipes I give here are ones for dishes we have eaten, but sometimes they are for things I certainly intend to eat.

Asparagus and Salmon Pasta

Servings: 8

6 quarts water
2 tablespoons salt
1 pound fresh asparagus
1-1/4 pounds fresh fettucine, plain or spinach, or 1 pound dried
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup heavy cream
grated zest of 1 lemon
4 ounces smoked salmon or cooked fresh salmon
1/4 cup snipped fresh chives
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste

1. Bring water and salt to rolling boil in large pot. Trim ends from
asparagus and cut into 1-inch pieces. Add asparagus to boiling water and cook until tender but firm, 1 to 4 minutes, depending on thickness. Scoop out the asparagus from the pot with a sieve and rinse under cold water to stop the cooking and preserve the bright-green color. Return the cooking liquid to rolling boil. Add fresh fettuccine and cook until tender but firm.

2. Meanwhile, melt in large skillet over medium heat unsalted butter add asparagus and cook, stirring, just to coat with butter, about 1 minute. Stir in heavy cream and grated zest of lemon, heat through. Drain pasta and add to skillet along with smoked salmon, cut into thin strips, or cooked fresh salmon, cut into small pieces, snipped fresh chives, chopped fresh parsley and salt and ground black pepper, to taste. Toss to combine and serve immediately.

Have a great day.

Medical Stuff, Asparagus,

I have been having a lot of migraine like auras lately, with my eyes going all swimmy if you understand what I mean, although I don't really get a headache. Its a bit of a worry when driving. So now I have to go for a CT Scan tomorrow at 9:40 in the morning. Horrors, I will have to get up early and will not be able to write my blog. In the afternoon I get new glasses. Busy day. At least it will prove I do have a brain which some people tend to doubt now and then.

We are doing well medically as Matt is going through a bunch of tests at the moment where he has to wear heart monitors for most of 24 hours once a week for about a month. All as a result of possible TIAs (minor strokes) of which he has had three. He has to take these gadgets back at 7:45 in the morning (the office is 10 miles away) so he has to really get up early, I shouldn't complain should I?

On a happier note, yesterday we went to my favourite asparagus farm, Barrie's, and loaded up on the green stuff. I also got myself some more rhubarb - just enough for me. We saw someone picking that yesterday and they don't use a machine like they do for the asparagus. I guess with only one acre of rhubarb they don't need one. I must talk to them about using a machine on the asparagus as I am curious. I grew asparagus in my garden in England (centuries ago) and you could only pick it for so long and then it had to be left to grow ferns some of which were male and some female. They would then cross pollinate. I therefore didn't cut every stalk, but how can you tell a machine to miss some stalks and not others. The fern is actually very pretty and some of it carried quite large red berries. I used to cheat and pick some of it for my flower arrangements. In those days I used to do very elaborate arrangements for my living room. Now I cheat at that too and have silk flowers.

Here is a very simple recipe from Paula Deen of TV fame. We went to her restaurant, Lady and Sons in Savannah and actually met her, years before she became known on TV here.

Asparagus Phyllo Bundles
Paula Deen

For one roll:
Phyllo - 1/2 sheet for 2 asparagus
2 stalks asparagus
Parmesan, grated

Brush phyllo with butter, sprinkle with Parmesan, place 2 asparagus in middle and roll. Place in baking dish, sprinkle more Parmesan and put in oven 375 F for 15 mins.

Have a great day.

Napoléon Bonaparte, Josephine, Chocolate Mousse

They say you learn something new every day. Reading French Marilyn's Blog this morning (see link this page) I discovered two things, there are members of the Napoléon Bonaparte family buried in Farnborough, Kent, close where I lived in England and also there are still more members of the family alive and well in France who want to bring the remains home and bury them in France. I have always been fascinated with that period of French history starting from the Revolution itself and ending with the death of Napoléon. I think the interest was sparked by being christened Josephine and that my grandmother had sent my mother a pair of baby bootees with a note saying "for Napoleon or Josephine". I am very glad I wasn't a boy.

I mentioned, in a previous blog, how much I had wanted to see the house in Martinique where Joséphine de Beauharnais lived but the taxi ride was just too expensive - I visited Chateau Malmaison in France which is one place she spent a lot of her time. When I went there it was in very good condition but I just saw a description of it being run down. It was one of the few monuments in France that was still furnished as it was originally. Mots of the other chateaus were stripped of furniture by the ravening hordes of the revolution, but of course, Chateau Malmaison was furnished after the revolution. I remember thinking the house and grounds were absolutely lovely. I was about 19 or so at the time. I used to tell people I thought I was her reincarnation, I don't think I really believed it although Joséphine and I did have a lot of things in common. Still do in fact. At the time I used to read everything I could get my hands on telling me about both of them. M.S. Coryn wrote some very good novels about both of them but I don't think those books are available any more. There was one book, A Swarm of Bees about Lucrezia Bonaparte, Napolèon's mother and another called The Marriage of Josephine. Both excellent books in their time. My paternal grandfather used to send books (including these) to my mother and I. He hardly knew us but he always chose fantastic books for us to read, I can't imagine how.

Right now I am reading The River God by Wilbur Smith which is turning out to be a very good book and contains some intersting background on the Egyptian's life, particularly the information on the tomb building and how the country was bankrupted to furnish gold and other precious funerary items for the Pharoah's tomb I have just got to the point where Egypt was invaded by The Shepherd Kings. I had to Google them as I didn't really know who they were. However, it turns out that the book is totally fictional despite an assertion at the end, by Wilbur Smith, to the contrary. I can certainly recommend the book as a good novel.

Yesterday was a bowling day, the summer league. It turns out to be much more fun than the winter league as there is a little team competition which there is absolutely none of during the winter. Apparently people want to be on the same team in the winter league so won't be split up by their averages. A pity, it makes it much more interesting. Because we have to get out of the house on time, I usually have a Lean Cuisine meal for my lunch. One I have had a couple of times now is the Oriental Ginger Beef Stir Fry. The sauce on this is absolutely delicious. The meals themselves are not much to write home about, but I wish I could duplicate this sauce.

How about something chocolatey for my recipe today. Here is another chocolate mousse which I got from the Yahoo groups cookery club I belong to. I absolutely adore chocolate mousse.

Amedei Chocolate Mousse

Servings: 4

275g dark chocolate (70-75 per cent), cut into small pieces,
plus about 40g of grated chocolate to finish
150g unsalted butter
8 medium egg yolks, at room temperature
1tbsp caster sugar (optional)
8 medium egg whites

Melt the pieces of chocolate and butter either in a microwave or in a bowl over a pan of simmering water. Don't let any water get into the chocolate. Leave to cool a little, then whisk the egg yolks and sugar, if using, and stir into the chocolate mixture. Whisk the egg whites
until soft peaks have formed (you may want to do this with a mixing machine) and then very carefully fold into the chocolate mixture with the grated chocolate, ensuring you don't lose any volume - what you want is a mousse that stays nice and light. Transfer into a serving bowl and chill for a couple of hours.

Have a great day.

Barrie's, Everyday Italian

I published the picture of Barrie's Asparagus Farm yesterday. I was fascinated to read, in the article, that they have 35 acres of asparagus and one acre of rhubarb. That's a lot of asparagus. I don't think even I could put much of a dent in that amount. Yesterday's picture also showed the machine they use to pick the asparagus, I had naively assumed they did it by hand. The man in the centre of the picture is their lead hand, Lam Tram. The crate of fresh asparagus shown at the front of the picture makes me drool. I want to reach out and grab some. Apparently the current owner, Tim Barrie, is a third generation asparagus farmer and the farm used to have a contract with Campbell's Soup. I wonder why they don't now, probably not cheap enough any more. The beauty of the asparagus from Barrie's is there is no waste. Most asparagus you buy has to have the ends snapped off, never from the farm. Do you know what's really sad, I don't have any at the moment *g*.

I have been having some problems with one of my cook book programmes which wouldn't open for me after I had wiped my hard drive and re-loaded everything. I had to prove that I had bought the programme in 2005 in order to get help opening it again. However, I have finally done that and now can use it once again. Very frustrating as I had a lot of recipes from Giada de Laurentiis of Everyday Italian which I would have hated to lose. We frequently watch her programmes and I get the recipes from the Internet if it is something I want to keep. She did a super looking cake from Venice the other day, but I refrained because I shouldn't really eat the stuff. A small slice probably wouldn't hurt, but keeping to one small slice, is very difficult to do. Years ago in England I used to make cakes and Matt would come home from work "for tea" and then go back again. We would have some cake, but by the time he came home for supper, there wasn't too much of that cake left. I never did figure what happened to it, but every time I went into the kitchen it seemed to be smaller. Must have been the dogs.

However, you might like to make the cake so here is the recipe:

Almond, Pine Nut, Apricot Crumb Cake Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis Show: Everyday Italian Episode: Venetian Holiday

1/2 cup whole almonds, toasted, plus 1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted 1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted, plus 1/4 cup 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 4 large eggs 1 1/4 cups sugar 1 1/2 sticks butter, melted 1/3 cup milk 1/4 teaspoon almond extract 1/2 cup chopped dried apricots Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 9-inch cake pan. Combine the whole almonds and 1/4 cup pine nuts in a food processor. Pulse the machine until the nuts are finely ground. Transfer the nuts to a medium bowl. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir to combine and set aside. In a medium bowl, using an electric mixer beat the eggs and the sugar until the mixture becomes thick and pale yellow. Add the butter, and milk. Stir in the almond extract and apricots. Gently stir in the dry ingredients. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan. Sprinkle the top of the cake with sliced almonds and remaining 1/4 cup pine nuts. Bake until the cake is cooked and a toothpick comes out clean, about 50 to 55 minutes. Let the cake cool on a wire rack. Use a knife to loosen the edges. Turn the cake out, slice, and serve. Have a great day.

Books I Have Enjoyed Lately

I just finished reading four stories of The Lost Continent by Catherine Asaro. They were eBooks so I was reading them on my Palm Zire. Fire Opal was the last of the four. I really enjoyed them, so I went hunting on the net to see if she had written any more, she has, so I will have to do something about getting hold of them. I have been reading Catherine Asaro books for a while now, her Skolian Empire series is great, I know I have mentioned them before - I don't own any of the books in the series, but I think I should change that. Catherine Asaro herself is a scientist which always helps with science fiction I think. Isaac Asimov who, in my opinion, was one of the greatest sci fi writers of all time, was a scientist. At one time I owned everything he had written, but having carted a couple of thousand books from England to Canada, then from Canada to the States, I finally decided to thin down my library considerably before we moved back to Canada. It was a very hard decision for me but I figure if I want to re-read a lot of the books I got rid of, I have a very good library service available to me here.

Talking of the library, they have a book ready for me right now which we will pick up later today, it is The River God by Wilbur Smith. Not a new book by any manner of means. It is about ancient Egypt and I have a sneaking suspicion I might have read it years ago, but when a friend mentioned she had just read it I thought I would get hold of it. I have always been fascinated by Ancient Egypt and have certainly read a lot of stories, both fact and fiction, about the area. It might be long enough ago that even if this book has crossed my path in the past, it still may seem pretty fresh to me today.

The creation of this blog was severely interrupted by a Skype call from daughter #2 and family. Do you use Skype? Its a great programme which allows us to make calls to England (and anywhere else) with our vid cam on at both ends so we can see everyone whilst talking to them, also totally free. I occasionally talk to my cousin in Portugal on Skype as well. Our son-in-law (Mike of the wildlife art - see the link on this page) reads my blog so they were all teasing me about my love of asparagus and were horrified to hear I had only one serving left. We got progress reports on all the grandkids who are apparently doing extremely well in all their endeavours. Two are intending to teach and our 12 year old granddaughter seems to be headed for a theatrical career although she says she wants to be a veterinarian. We shall see.

OK, not asparagus or lobster or rhubarb today. I love omelettes too.

Apple & Brie Omelette Eggsite.com

2 tsp butter, divided 10 mL 1/4 Granny smith apple, peeled and thinly sliced 1/4" Ground nutmeg, to taste 1 tsp sugar 5 mL 2 eggs 2 1 Tbs water 15 mL 1 Tbs chopped pecans 15 mL 1 oz Brie cheese (cut into 6 small cubes) 25 g 1 Heat nonstick 8-inch (20 cm) ovenproof skillet* over medium heat. Melt 1 tsp (5 mL) butter in skillet. Sauté apple slices in butter until slightly transparent but not too soft, about 2 minutes. Sprinkle with nutmeg and sugar. Remove from pan and keep warm. 2 Beat together eggs and water. Heat same skillet over medium-high heat. Melt remaining 1 tsp (5 mL) butter in skillet. Pour in egg mixture. As mixture sets at edges, with spatula, gently push cooked portions towards the centre. Tilt and rotate the pan to allow uncooked egg to flow into the empty spaces. When egg is almost set on surface but still looks moist, cover half of the omelette with warm apple mixture and pecans. Slip spatula under the unfilled side and fold the omelette in half. Garnish with Brie cheese. Broil 1 to 2 minutes to melt cheese. Slide onto warm plate and serve immediately. Servings: 1

Have a great day.

Food, Glorious Food - but No Hot Sausages

Yesterday I made myself some stewed rhubarb as described in my blog but didn't use yoghurt to turn it into a Fool. I found 2 tbs of Splenda to 1 lb rhubarb wasn't quite enough for my taste. I also added a little grated ginger to the mix, we used to do that years ago when stewing rhubarb. It was very good and I enjoyed it, probably the first time I have eaten it in 20 years or so. Nor did it make my teeth fuzzy which is why Matt won't eat it. I must admit that I cooked it a little too long and my chunks of rhubarb were more like a purée. We used to have rhubarb growing in our backyard years ago, in the end Matt dug it up as we weren't using it. I couldn't be bothered to cook it just for me. By the way, I discovered three hours later that it is also an excellent laxative, so be careful.

Actually I am doing well on my feasting at the moment with asparagus fresh out of the fields, fresh rhubarb and Matt picked up a couple more artichokes for me at the store. He said it was my step-mother's day present LOL. Actually I missed out, apparently our grocery store had a special on lobsters but they had sold out when Matt got there and he said they had lobster tails, not much bigger than the shrimp I already have in the freezer, at a horrendous price. I don't know why lobster has become so expensive. It was never cheap but when I was a young woman it certainly wasn't "mortgage your home" expensive like it is today. It was also quite plentiful - in England that was - and of a decent size. The ones you mostly see today are so small they are hardly worth eating. Maybe that is just in my part of Ontario where the source of salt water critters is so very far away (at least 1,000 miles). I do remember decent sized lobsters when we went to Plymouth, Mass one year. In fact they had one granddaddy of a lobster there for sale in the fishmongers - I understand it was bought for a party, it would certainly have made quite a few canapés. We ate dinner (lobster and swordfish) in the Mayflower Restaurant at the harbour in Plymouth right opposite the ship, Mayflower, which is a replica of the one in which the pilgrims first arrived. Very small considering how many people travelled on it. What horrified me is they apparently had an open fire to cook on. I am surprised they ever arrived.

Talking of Plymouth, I was very disappointed in "the rock" I expected some kind of a headland, it is just a big lump of rock. I suppose it has been moved because I can't see how anyone would have stepped on it where it is now. Whilst searching for this picture I came across a cartoon which might amuse you. Click on it so you can read the caption. It is so very appropriate for the illegal immigrant problems which exist today.

However, I did like the availability of fresh lobster in Plymouth and the fishmonger had lots of shelled meat available, we bought some to make ourselves a picnic lunch one day. That was on one of our first visits to the States. We moved further south the next day, I didn't want to leave the lobster behind. Matt promised me more, but what we hadn't realised, further south is no longer lobster country. Shrimps, oysters, clams, backfin crabs, but not lobsters. Not good enough, I wanted lobster. Because I don't get lobster very often, I never eat it any other way than cold with either drawn butter or mayonnaise. I have never tasted Lobster Newburg, I am sure its delicious, but I want my lobster just as it is. I have occasionally eaten it added to things or dressed differently in a restaurant, but my preference is plain. The picture on the left is ideal, lobster, drawn butter and a glass of white wine. Just show me the way.

However, if you would like to try a Lobster Newburg, here is a recipe for it I must admit, it sounds pretty good.

Lobster Newburg

4 servings

"Use fresh lobster if available, but 2 (6 ounce) cans of lobster may be used instead. This recipe is rich and delicious. If you do not like spicy food, use paprika in place of cayenne pepper. Serve hot, over buttered toast slices."

INGREDIENTS:

2 egg yolks, beaten 1/2 cup heavy cream 1/4 cup butter or margarine 2 tablespoons dry sherry or madeira

1/2 teaspoon salt 1 pinch cayenne pepper 1 pinch ground nutmeg 3/4 pound cooked lobster meat, broken into chunks

DIRECTIONS:

1.	In a small bowl, whisk together egg yolks and heavy cream until well blended. Set aside. Melt butter in a saucepan over low heat. Stir in the egg yolk mixture and sherry. Cook, stirring constantly until the mixture thickens. Do not boil.
2.	Remove from heat, and season with salt, cayenne, and nutmeg. Add lobster. Return pan to low heat, and cook gently until heated through. Serve hot over slices of buttered toast.

Have a great day.

More American Wonders, Polar Bears, Rhubarb

Viewers of Good Morning America were invited to vote for places they considered to be Wonders of America and the final choice on TV this morning was Yosemite National Park which is famous for its geyser, Old Faithful, which gushes to a regular timetable and for its proliferation of wildlife. It was one of the first areas of preservation in the US and is a place I would love to visit. I gather quite spectacular. I have seen Old Faithful featured in a number of movies, seems to be a favourite site of producers especially when the bad guys are chasing the good guys.

If you go to Good Morning America's website which is here they have 17 great pictures of viewers' suggestions for Eighth Wonders - one lovely picture being the Snoqualmie Falls in Washington State shown on the left. I am not sure I am so impressed with the chewing gum wall, only in America!!!!

There are so many places tucked away in parts of countries that we never see, my friend, Glenda Larke who's blog site is Tropic Temper, see this page, has been posting some fantastic photos of parts of Western Australia which rival any of the pictures of tropical islands with gorgeous beaches and pristine waters. Not to mention the lack of people. Then if you look at the 17 posted pictures on GMA, who knew of these corners of their worlds that were so wonderful?

Unfortunately, if you go to the GMA website, you will find some more terrible pictures from China which are so horrifying, we see them on TV from both China and Myanmar. The junta is still claiming they don't need help, but there have been pictures smuggled out which prove that they do. That is the biggest disaster, the lack of help for these victims.

One piece of very good news yesterday, the US has declared the Polar Bear to be on the endangered species list. It is a pity that Canada (where the largest population of these bears live) hasn't done the same thing. I am not sure what can be done to protect them, not drilling oil in arctic areas is a big measure, but due to global warming, the ice cap is shrinking badly which will have a disasterous effect on polar bear feeding and habitat.

Yesterday I went and bought some more asparagus, well, I had eaten all I bought on Friday. Matt did have some but he is 'asparagussed' out for a while. A friend asked me to pick up some fresh rhubarb whilst there, so I decided to pick up a pound for myself. Matt does NOT like rhubarb because it makes his teeth fuzzy. I have been reluctant to buy myself some for both that reason and the fact that it takes so much sugar to cook just plain stewed rhubarb. However, a very good friend in Texas, discovered a recipe from Delia Smith where the rhubarb is cooked with Splenda giving a quantity of 2 tbs to 1 lb of fruit. So next I needed Splenda. I happened to mention it to another friend, in the building where I live, to whom I was talking on the phone and she offered to give me some which had been bought when her husband was alive but was no longer needed. I went to get it, expecting a small packet and ended up with a box with two 275 gram bags inside, enough Splenda to last me for years. She also very kindly gave me a Splenda cookbook which has some interesting recipes I might try.

For now, I will give you the Rhubarb Fool recipe from Delia Smith.

Rhubarb & Yoghurt Fool

500 g rhubarb 1/2 cup orange juice 1 tsp grated orange zest 2 Tbs artificial sweetener A rhubarb and yoghurt dessert is easy to make. Simply trim and thinly slice rhubarb. Place in a medium saucepan with ½ cup fresh orange juice, 1 tsp finely grated orange zest and 2 tbs artificial sweetener. Cover and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to low, uncover and simmer, stirring occasionally until thick and the liquid has mostly evaporated. Set aside to cool. Spoon cold rhubarb mixture into the base of 4 serving glasses and top each serve with 125g low-fat vanilla yoghurt. Cover and refrigerate until chilled and set. Serves 4 with a POINTS value of 2 per serve. Have a great day.

The Seventh Wonder of America, China, Myanmar

Today it was the Wonders of New York. I overslept a bit this morning so didn't really see the programme, but Matt was telling me about it. Apparently they are building 200 new buildings a day in New York which is quite something. I guess once one is finished another is started immediately. That is quite a lot of building work, you wouldn't think they would have room. They are also building a tunnel hundreds of feet below the city to carry water. It has been under construction for 40 years and should be finished next year. Dianne Sawyer went down to have a look at it, she also went to the top of the Empire State building which is still the definitive building of New York City. As usual you can read the story and see the pictures here; the diversity of the city is covered, with mention of Little Italy and Chinatown although most big cities in North America seem to have developed ethnic segments within the main metropolis. Ground Zero (9/11) is being developed with a permanent memorial to the people who died there as well as hotels and shops with an open concourse for visitors.

Tomorrow people have been asked to vote for their choice for the 8th wonder of America.

Actually I was thinking about various sci fi books I have read in which major cities were housed in huge buildings which reached up into space. After 9/11 I can't imagine that ever happening unless they can figure out a way of shielding the buildings.

The number of dead is steadily rising in China, what a disaster it is and they are still having trouble reaching some of the areas. There are 50,000 soldiers working there but they have been unable to get to some towns and villages yet. One report where they did get to a small town of 10,000 people , 7,000 have been found dead. Almost makes you wonder if survival is worth the price when all you love has been taken from you. As for Myanmar or Burma, there was a report that another hurricane or cyclone is forming which could hit the area. I have lived through a few hurricanes in NC where we ran to more solid buildings to "ride it out" but as I understand it the people in Burma generally live in very flimsy shacks which do not stand up to a hurricane. Our mobile homes are built to better standards than their dwellings. I know the one we had was built to stand a Category 4 storm. The picture is Hurricane Bertha making landfall in North Carolina. That was 11 years ago, seems a lot more recent than that.

We were lucky because although we lost power for a week, our home was still standing with very little damage other than trees falling on our fences. Quite unlike what Burma is going through at the moment. Also shelters were provided in the local schools and churches if you didn't live in a very safe building. At least with a hurricane/cyclone you have some warning it is heading your way, although I wonder if the citizens of Myanmar had any warning - it kind of seems like they didn't. The cyclone, named Nargis, apparently hit the Irawaddy River which is a densely populated part of Burma. The disaster was not as big as the quake in China, but it is being magnified by the behaviour of the ruling junta not allowing relief workers into the country apart from them seizing the food supplies.

On a happier note, here is another asparagus recipe which I am fairly sure came from Food TV but I don't seem to have a record. By piping tube they mean a piece of white plastic piping which many chefs use to build up their creations. You can buy it in any hardware store. I must confess I have never eaten white asparagus which is always very expensive. You could substitute green for this dish if you wanted.

Asparagus Hors d'Oeuvres

1 lb White asparagus 1 egg, hardboiled tomato concassé chervil olive oil lemon juice blanched chives 1 Peel ends of asparagus, tie and boil til tender. Cut off tops, chop up bottoms having removed woody bits. Mix bottoms with tomato concassé, chervil, sieved egg white, olive oil, lemon juice and season with salt and pepper. 2 Sprinkle spears with lemon juice and olive oil, season. In a piping tube stand up spears all round, fill with salad, tie up with blanched chive then gently remove piping. Sprinkle with sieved egg yolk. Decorate with chervil leaves. Servings: 4

Tomato concassé is very easy to make, peel tomatoes by dipping them in boiling water for a few seconds, the skins will slip off. Then de-seed them and rough chop the rest of the tomato flesh. Chop some shallots and gently sauté the tomatoes and shallots together in some butter. Set aside until ready to use.

Have a great day.