Healthy Eyes and Bones. Rain, Book.

Having been to the optometrist this week, I guess eye health is on my mind so when I spotted an article on what one should eat for eye health I checked it out. It started off by saying how good leafy greens are for ocular health, then it went on to various meats and then things like oatmeal. My conclusion: if you eat a healthy, well balanced diet, its good for your eyes along with the rest of your body.

Then yesterday I went to see the doc about my bone density test. It appears that in general my bones are strong and healthy, which I guessed anyway, but that around the lumbar region of my spine the bone is thicker than it should be and could be causing me pain, guess what, I have been in pain in that region for a while now. The upshot is I have to go have yet another X-ray – all very well for the X-ray technicians to hide when they take these scans, I am getting so many scans lately, I should be hiding too, LOL.

It was a very wet drive to the doctor’s office, but things are greening up I am pleased to see, not sure how long it will take for everything to become green. Sadly, I am told it is too late for the crops with the result prices will be high this winter.This winter? They are already going up. Our grocery bill has shot up recently.

I just finished a book by Brandon Sanderson, one of my favourite authors. I’m not sure whether its supposed to be a children’s book, a young adult, or what, but I loved it. Alcatraz versus the Evil Librarians. Talk about tongue in cheek with a strong flavour of whimsy. I have ordered the next book Alcatraz versus the Srivener’s Bones. The first book certainly tickled my sense of humour. Its full of weird magic, Alcatraz is a young man who breaks things, his granddad is always late, both of which Talents sound absolutely useless until you read the book. If you enjoy zany humour, you will probably enjoy this book. It does explain that Brandon Sanderson is the pen name of the young man called Alcatraz Smedry. It also says he does in fact know someone called Brandon Sanderson “and has it on good authority that he writes thick and overly long fantasy tomes which he dictates to his potted plant, Count Duku.” A direct quote from the blurb at the end of the book.

This is what we had for supper last night. It was good. I used water.

Quinoa Mushroom Pilaf

By The Gluten Free Goddess
WebMD Recipe from Foodily.com
4 servings
,
You can use either broth or water to cook the quinoa for this recipe. For a hearty, flavor-rich quinoa pilaf, use your favorite broth.
Ingredients

• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 small to medium yellow bell pepper, diced fine
• 1 small to medium green bell pepper, diced fine
• 2 cups sliced mushrooms
• 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
• 1 teaspoon Greek seasoning, mint, lemon, basil, oregano mix
• 2 scallions, spring onions, sliced- white and light green sections
• 1 squeeze fresh lemon juice
• extra virgin olive oil, to taste
• toasted pine nuts, option: for serving
• olive oil
• sea salt, to taste
• ground pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. You will need roughly 2 1/2 - 3 cups cooked quinoa. As the quinoa cooks, gather and cut up your vegetables. When the quinoa is almost done, heat a splash of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic, yellow and green pepper; and stir over medium heat until slightly softened. Add in the mushrooms. Season the mixture with sea salt, and ground pepper, to taste. Add the Greek seasoning. Stir and cook until the mushrooms are tender.
2. Scoop the cooked quinoa out of the rice cooker and add it into the mushroom- pepper mixture. Add in the sliced scallions. Stir to combine. Squeeze fresh lemon juice all over the quinoa and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil. Toss to coat the quinoa. Taste test and add more salt or seasoning if it needs it. Sprinkle with toasted pine nuts, if desired. Serve immediately; or allow it to cool, then cover and refrigerate it to eat as a salad. Note on chilling this quinoa: Before serving this quinoa cold, taste test again and adjust seasonings; chilling often dulls the flavors in these kinds of salads. I usually allow quinoa salad a few minutes out of the fridge before serving; letting it to come to room temperature helps the flavors. If making ahead as a salad, I'd use water instead of broth - personal preference.

Have a great weekend

Reading, Rain, and Road Works. Bolt.

I have just finished reading Snake Skin by C.J. Lyons, a Lucy Guardino FBI thriller, and absolutely loved it. I have no idea who recommended it to me, but I cannot recommend it highly enough to those of you who like thrillers. I am just bought the second one, Blood Stained, for my Kindle. I’m not sure why I haven’t been writing about what I have been reading lately, some of the stuff has been a bit mediocre, but some have been excellent. Two that come to mind are Cassa Star and Cassa Fire by Alex J. Cavanaugh both of which are sci fi and set in a space world of the future, right up my street. I am now waiting for the third in the series with anticipation.

Hey, how about that, its been raining. We are supposed to get about a foot of rain before its all over, cannot but hope. Had my annual visit to the optometrist yesterday morning and we discussed the drought and then the Olympics. He ended up saying that if you poured enough money into your athletes you could virtually buy yourself gold medals. Guess Canada hasn’t been spending enough, we only have one. He said the UK had poured a lot of money into their athletes in the last 9 years since they won the bid to host the Games. They have certainly accumulated a few golds. 24 last time I looked.

Driving to the optometrists we got lost, yes really, there are road works on the street leading directly to them and the detour signs are not very good at all, then we tried to go ways we knew although obviously we didn’t know them as well as we thought. We got there about 1 minute to the appointment. There is a joke in Canada that we have 7 months winter and 5 months road works, certainly seems to be true at the moment. Yesterday morning was a right fiasco for us; not only that, we knew about the roads and could have started off a different way, but neither of us remembered. Don’t go that way very often.

Finally managed to see film of Usain Bolt winning the 200 metre. The Jamaicans must be very proud that all three medals were won by Jamaicans. Bolt doesn’t seem to worry about records, when he knows he is winning, he slows down.

These crêpes appealed to me when I saw them, I am trying to eat a bit more healthily at the moment.

Summer Vegetable Crêpes

From EatingWell: July/August 2008

Crêpes aren't just for dessert—they make a quick and savory weeknight dinner. Here they're filled with ricotta cheese, green beans, zucchini and corn and topped with a chive-cream sauce. Don't skip the step of placing a piece of parchment or wax paper under each crêpe as you fill it—without it, the crêpes are tricky to roll. Serve with: A tossed salad.

4 servings Ingredients

• 1/3 cup reduced-fat sour cream
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh chives, divided, plus more for garnish
• 3 tablespoons low-fat milk
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 3/4 teaspoon salt, divided
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 cups chopped zucchini
• 1 1/4 cups chopped green beans
• 1 cup fresh corn kernels, (from 1 large ear; see Tip)
• 1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 4 9-inch “ready-to-use” crêpes, (see Tip)

Preparation

1. Stir sour cream, 1/4 cup chives, milk, lemon juice and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a small bowl until combined. Set aside.
2. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add zucchini, green beans and corn and cook, stirring, until beginning to brown, 6 to 8 minutes. Reduce heat to low; stir in ricotta, Monterey Jack, the remaining 1/4 cup chives, the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper. Cook, stirring gently, until the cheese is melted, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from the heat.
3. To roll crêpes, place one on a piece of parchment or wax paper (or leave it on the piece of plastic separating the crêpes in the package). Spoon one-fourth of the vegetable-cheese mixture (about 3/4 cup) down the center of the crêpe. Use the paper (or plastic) to help you gently roll the crêpe around the filling. Place the crêpe seam-side down on a dinner plate. Repeat with the remaining crêpes and filling. Serve each crêpe topped with 2 tablespoons of the reserved sauce and more chives, if desired.

Nutrition

Per serving :302 Calories; 17 g Fat; 8 g Sat; 6 g Mono; 46 mg Cholesterol; 25 g Carbohydrates; 15 g Protein; 3 g Fiber; 687 mg Sodium; 485 mg Potassium

1 Carbohydrate Serving

Exchanges: 1 starch, 1 vegetable, 1 1/2 medium-fat meat, 1 fat

Tips & Notes

• Tips: To remove kernels, stand a cob on its stem end in a bowl and slice them off with a sharp, thin-bladed knife.
• “Ready-to-use” crêpes are fast and convenient. Look for them in the produce section of the market or near refrigerated tortillas.

Have a great day

Horizontal Bar, Olympic Condoms for Olympics but none for Singapore.

Last night we were watching the Olympics and then Matt went to bed but I carried on and was lucky enough to see the young man, Epke Zonderland, from the Netherlands doing his gold medal horizontal  bar performance; and what a performance it was, three releases following each other – absolutely incredible. Sorry if you aren’t interested, but this is a video of him. Not only that, he sticks his landing perfectly. Good looking young man too, but he’s only 25 LOL.

There is a bit of a fuss going on at the moment about the supply of condoms to the Olympic village. I suppose I should be delighted that they are supplied with condoms, but really!! Its not even as if they are being sold to the athletes Durex is supposed to be the official supplier and sent 150,000 free condoms to the village, but officials are upset because condoms made by other manufacturers have turned up, according to athletes living there. They have even had photos of the errant condoms on Facebook. One posted by a BMX cyclist Caroline Buchanan showing a bucket of Australian condoms with a notice “Kangaroo Condoms for the Gland Down Under”. I must say its not something I had ever thought about, but if I did, I would assume such liaisons would include condoms provided by the participants themselves, not handed to them for free. Sounds as if a lot of sex takes place in those villages; not really surprising I suppose bearing in mind the pressures they are living under. Makes me think of a movie I saw once, The Year of the Sex Olympics which was actually more about governments controlling audiences through TV than anything else,  but it was the name which brought it to mind.

Now here’s a country that doesn’t want condoms, tomorrow is Singapore’s celebration of their independence and they are asking everyone to make love on that day in order to increase the birth rate. They even have a rap video being broadcast to encourage people. What a hoot when other places are so over populated.

I’m a sucker for anything meringue so obviously I couldn’t resist this recipe when I saw it. I have made Pavlova cakes of all kinds in the past although I doubt I will be making this one, meringue is so full of sugar after all and I know I couldn’t resist pigging out. Takes me back to the time we spent in Cornwall many years ago, where we found a restaurant which served meringues and clotted cream for dessert. By the end of our stay there I had progressed from one meringue to 3 or 4 with correspondingly more cream of course. They may well have had other desserts there, I have no remembrance of them!

Peach Melba Pavlova

BBC Good Food

Serves 6-8

Ingredients

• 4 egg whites
• 100.0g each caster sugar and icing sugar
• 1.0 tsp each cornflour , vanilla extract and vinegar

FOR THE TOPPING

• 250.0g raspberries
• 3.0 tbsp caster sugar
• 3 ripe peaches
• 300.0ml pot double cream
• icing sugar , for dusting

Heat oven to 120C/100C fan/gas ½. Line a large, flat baking sheet with baking parchment. Tip egg whites into a large bowl. Sift together the sugars. Blend the cornflour, vanilla and vinegar to a paste.

Whisk the egg whites until stiff, then whisk in the sugars, 2-3 tbsp at a time, alternating with the paste. Continue whisking until the meringue is thick and marshmallow-like.

Spoon the meringue onto the prepared baking sheet and spread to a 22cm round. Use the back of a metal spoon to make a shallow dip in the centre for the filling. Bake the meringue for 1½ hrs, then turn off the heat and leave it in the oven to cool. Transfer to a flat serving plate.

Put ½ the raspberries in a pan with the sugar and 2 tbsp water. Bring to the boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar, then cook for a few mins until the raspberries are soft and pulpy. Tip into a food processor with ½ the remaining raspberries and whizz to a purée. Press through a sieve into a bowl to remove the pips. Cool.

Halve and stone the peaches, then cut each half into 4-5 slices. Whip the cream until stiff. Drizzle over half the raspberry sauce and fold in gently with a large metal spoon to make a ripple effect. Carefully spoon the cream into the centre of the meringue. Pile the peaches on top and scatter with the remaining raspberries. Drizzle with the remaining sauce and dust lightly with icing sugar. Serve without delay.

Have a great day

Boxing, Hips, Women’s Soccer, Curiosity, Gold Mail Boxes.

I didn’t mention that watched part of a bout between a Canadian woman boxer and a Chinese. Maybe I am old fashioned, or too much of a feminist of something, but the sight of women punching each other out is not one that appeals to me. So much for us being the gentler sex. We once knew a woman who boxed with her husband (he was professional at the time, she wasn’t) and I thought she was something of a tough broad. However, in this day and age I guess I am outnumbered. Women want to be allowed to do everything, no matter what, so naturally that includes boxing.

I have mentioned that I might well have to have a hip replacement before year’s end so when I saw this cartoon on Facebook I just had to send a copy to my surgeon as well as share it with you. It really tickled me.

There is a lot of fuss going on about the Canadian/US women’s soccer match and the controversial calls made by the Norwegian referee. Not all the fuss is by Canadians I might add, but of course most of it is and FIFA are talking about disciplining the team and coach for the blistering comments they have been making. Such a shame. They now get to play the French for the bronze.

Not seen a heck of a lot of pictures from the Mars landing so far, but I gather everything is going well and Curiosity is sending back pictures. This is one of the first I gather.
There are more pictures on this page including a video of Curiosity’s descent onto the red planet. They are expecting much better pictures as various arms and antenna unfold over the next few days.

I loved this story, Britain have been painting the traditional red mail boxes in gold in the home towns of their gold medalists in the Olympics. They say the mail boxes will be turned back to red after the games are over. But what fun and what a compliment to the medalists. They also assure everyone that mail will be collected as usual with no disruption to service. In these days of electronic mail, I wonder how much they are used, although Matt keeps on reminding me that not everyone has computers or internet connections. If I predeceased Matt, he certainly wouldn’t. He would go back to using a regular account book for finances and as he never writes to anyone, no-one would ever hear from him again except by telephone – and that would probably only be to his kids LOL.

This recipe appeared in my inbox and I thought it was interesting, not Caesar Salad in the true sense of the word, but they sound very tasty. We always enjoy endive in various ways. I have a Dutch friend who bakes them but won’t part with the recipe, she contends that then when she serves it, it will always be different.

Caesar Salad Spears

Source: Cooking.com
Makes 5 dozen spears

Salads usually require forks, but Grace Parisi transforms a classic Caesar into a clever finger food. She tosses chopped endives with a lemony dressing, then spoons the mixture inside elegant endive spears, topping it with cheese and crunchy mini croutons.

INGREDIENTS
2 cups 1/4-inch-diced white bread
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
3 anchovy fillets mashed
1 small garlic clove smashed
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese plus more for garnish
7 Belgian endives

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a medium bowl, toss the bread with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Spread the bread on a baking sheet and toast for about 10 minutes, stirring once, until golden and crisp.

Meanwhile, in the same bowl, using a spoon, mash the anchovies to a paste with the garlic and a pinch of salt. Whisk in the mayonnaise, lemon zest and lemon juice, then whisk in the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Stir in the 1/4 cup of grated cheese.

Trim the endives and remove the 60 largest leaves from 6 of the heads. Stack the leaves and trim them to about 4 inches. Thinly slice the remaining endive, along with the trimmings of the 6 other heads (you should have about 3 cups), and toss with the dressing. Spoon the salad onto each spear and garnish with the croutons and grated cheese. Serve immediately.

Have a great day

Olympics, Medals and Nosegays.

Watching the 100 m sprint on Sunday I thought I heard a reporter say something about a bottle on the track, Monday they was a report that a man had been arrested for throwing a plastic bottle. A Dutch judo competitor says she thumped him because she was so annoyed. Nothing more of the story at the time of writing however. You can just see the bottle behind the middle runner. What a weird thing to do. Luckily it didn’t interrupt the race and of course it was wonderful to see Bolt streak to the winning post.

According to the news, lots of Canadians have reached semi finals or even finals in 1,100 metre kayaking for Adam van Koeverden so hopefully we might see some more medals for Canada soon. A friend is lucky because she will be going to see the semi finals of the Canada-US women’s soccer match in Manchester, she already went to Old Trafford for one game. As an ex pat English woman I am delighted to see the UK doing so well. Being the host nation certainly seems to give athletes a boost. I would also be delighted to see Canada get a few more golds.

Talking of medals, Hilary Melton-Butcher described them in her blog yesterday – she said that in the original games the winners would get wreaths and amphorae of olive oil. Today the medals weigh the same as a can of baked beans. I know which I would rather have. Admittedly the medals last longer, but the olive oil would be of more use to me. The golds are not, of course, solid gold and haven’t been since the 1900 games but, as I wrote a day or two ago, they have to be plated in a minimum of 9 grams of gold. Hilary describes them in more detail.

Sadly the Canadian team did not beat the US in the semi final soccer match yesterday. The match went into overtime and the final result was 4-3 a very good effort on the part of the Canadians.

I was going to talk about the Olympic Bouquet but Hilary Melton-Butcher got there before me. I had been thinking what an attractive posy of flowers, but it never occurred to me that there was significance in the construction of the whole bouquet, or, as Hilary points out, nosegay. Do read her blog about this delightful presentation which is being given to every winning athlete. From the herbs which are being used as well as the flowers themselves, it must smell absolutely delightful, hence the term nosegay being a delight to the nose. Of course nosegays were once used to disguise the smells which were prevalent in the streets of the city in those days. In Charles II time oranges were used for the same purpose frequently stuck with cloves. Pomanders were often carried by the well to do; they hung around their necks and could be sniffed any time there was an offensive odour. Aren’t the bouquets beautiful though? I wouldn’t mind having one of them.

I am not, I must confess, a big fan of Mexican food, but I do like Guacamole and this recipe sounded a good one, plus it can be used in several different ways.

Guacamole with Charred Jalapeño and Scallions

Contributed by Grace Parisi at Food and Wine

SERVINGS:2 cups

F&W's Grace Parisi invented this smoky guacamole, then presented three ingenious ways to use it: in a soup, an hors d'oeuvre and a salad dressing. 

1. 3 medium scallions, white and tender green parts only
2. 2 medium garlic cloves, unpeeled
3. 1 jalapeño, seeded and quartered lengthwise
4. 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
5. 3 Hass avocados, halved and pitted
6. 1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro leaves
7. 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
8. Salt and freshly ground pepper

1. Preheat a grill pan. In a small bowl, toss the scallions, garlic and jalapeño with the vegetable oil. Grill over moderately high heat, turning occasionally, until charred all over, 5 to 6 minutes. Transfer to a work surface and let cool.
2. Finely chop the scallions and jalapeño and transfer to a medium bowl. Peel the garlic cloves, mash them to a paste and add them to the bowl. Scoop the avocado flesh into the bowl and coarsely mash with a fork. Fold the cilantro and lime juice into the guacamole, season with salt and pepper and serve.

Make Ahead: Press a piece of plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the guacamole and refrigerate overnight.

Notes Variation: For a brighter, crunchier guacamole, finely chop the scallions, garlic and jalapeño and stir them in raw.

Have a great day

Civic Holiday, Olympics,Tree Genders, Malaria Breakthrough, Dinner. Shoulder.

Today is Civic Holiday in Canada, if you are Canadian I hope you have an enjoyable day off. We’ve had some rain in the last 48 hours, so, much as we need it, I hope it doesn’t spoil your day.
I was so thrilled to see Usain Bolt defend his Olympic title yesterday, with a new record time of 9.63. At first it looked as though he wasn’t going to do it, he didn’t start very well, but he picked up and surged forward. What a sprinter. He seems like a nice man too, they had a bit of a background about him and he has done a lot for the schools and hospitals in his area of Jamaica. The British were particularly thrilled that Andy Murray won the Olympics gold for tennis yesterday too, beating Federer who is Matt’s favourite. Don’t quite understand why he is wearing a Swiss Olympic Team jacket. Seems a little odd. Maybe he swapped it with someone. Saw the winner of one 400m heat, Kirani James of Grenada swap his number with the South African runner Oscar Pistorius known as Blade Runner.

According to this article more male trees have been planted in urban areas than female trees because Female Trees are Messy, dropping fruits and seeds all over the place. However, male trees tend to cause pollen allergies. It is not something I had ever thought about, one is aware of male and female plants, but I hadn’t thought about the same being true of trees. The picture shows sycamore trees, we have lots of sycamores at the front of our building which, as we get lots of seeds, I am now assuming must be female trees. I know these seeds do make one hell of a mess in season. It also says that if your neighbour has a male tree which is causing you allergies, plant a female of the same species in your own yard.

Scientists claim a breakthrough in malaria research in as much as they have identified the protein which allows some people immunity from the bit of the female anopheles mosquito which carries the malaria disease. This is of major importance to some countries, I know when my father was stationed in what was Rhodesia, during WWII, he got malaria and had problems with it for the rest of his life. For those who don’t have access to modern medical facilities it can, apparently, be life threatening. I didn’t know malaria could be a killer disease, but I do remember my father having very sick turns when I was young. I don’t remember anything in later life so I assume it dissipated over the years or something. I honestly have no idea what happened.

For dinner on Saturday I did the Easy Chicken and Balsamic Peppers recipe which I posted a few days ago. It was delicious, there were some peppers left over so I will be dreaming up a way to finish them. I can recommend this dish. I also did a Tomato Bruschetta for starters and suddenly woke up the fact that it is more or less a recipe I have been doing for many years. I make toast, rub it with garlic, add a teaspoon of olive oil and then slices of tomatoes, salt and pepper. Delicious. With a little more fancy (skinned tomatoes chopped plus basil) this was basically what the Bruschetta was. See, I didn’t know, I had been eating Bruschetta for years and just calling it tomato toast. Sometimes I would add a slice of Havarti and broil that until it melted. For dessert, because one of our guests was dieting, I made Vanilla Yoghurt Cheese which I decorated with raspberries and blueberries. I served some cream for those who wanted it.

If you have been with me for a long time, you will know I had a lot of pain and problems with my shoulder and arm last winter, seems to have started up again in the last 48 hours. What fun. Not much to be done, the specialist said there was basically nothing wrong, just have to pump pain pills into one’s system. Your tears will be appreciated, LOL
.
This is the latest recipe from Mushrooms Canada.

Mushrooms with Mediterranean Tuna Dip

Ingredients
1 cup ( 250 mL) packed Italian parsley leaves
1 cup (250 mL) light mayonnaise
1 can (170 g) flaked or chunk light tuna (packed in water), drained
3 tbsp (45 mL) lemon juice
3 tbsp (45 mL) drained capers
5 anchovies, chopped (or 2 tsp /10 mL anchovy paste)
1 clove garlic
1lb (500 g) fresh Mushrooms (thickly sliced, small whole or halved large )
Garnish: fresh parsley, minced
Method
In food processor combine parsley, mayonnaise, tuna, lemon juice, capers, anchovies and garlic; process until
smooth. Transfer to serving dish, garnish with parsley, cover and chill until serving. Place on tray or in a basket and
surround with mushrooms for dipping.
Makes 1 ¾ cups (425 mL) or 10-12 servings
Variations

• Add 1 tsp Dijon mustard and 2 hard cooked eggs.

Have a great day

Licenses, Dinner, Shrek, Norwegian Bløtkake.

So yesterday I went and paid for my driver’s license which apparently will take up to 6 weeks, why on earth, I wonder. I guess that means I will only have a temporary license when we go away along with my temporary health card. The mills of God and governments grind slowly. I was surprised this time for both cards that I had to take off my glasses, as Matt points out, one looks totally different without them and I wear mine all the time. In my two previous cards, I was wearing them, go figure? I have also recently discovered that we can use these to cross the border into the States and don’t need a passport. However, as Matt says, you never know when we might need one.

We have friends coming over for dinner tonight and then we got an invitation yesterday, to go visit some other friends at their trailer today. Why do these things happen all at once? Funnily enough, I only recently discovered these friends have their trailer where we used to have ours many years ago. Coincidence, or what? I’ve just remembered it’s a holiday on Monday too, Civic Holiday, usually forget about these things as, it could be said, we are on holiday all the time. Its OK, our invite has been changed to Sunday.

Last night I watched Shrek Forever After, quite funny in a way, especially the overweight Puss in Boots. I was amused by Donkey’s children by the dragon, they were flying donkeys. I rented it from iTunes.

I’ve lost a cookbook, I cannot for the life of me understand how this came to be, but I have definitely lost it. It is a little book I bought in Norway a looooooong time ago called What You Have Eaten in Norway. The one thing I was particularly looking for was Bløtkake which when I had it originally, in Norway, was one of the most delicious confections I had ever eaten. I have only ever made it once, with my weight, it isn’t something one should eat too often and, come to think of it, with North American cream it just wouldn’t taste the same. I found an article about Bløtkake here and they have several options for making the cake – these were also given in my missing book, but they don’t include the one where you soak the cake in thin cream and sherry, then load each layer with thick cream containing chunks of pineapple, then cover the whole cake with slightly sweetened cream and decorate with pineapple slices. Its to die for. However, most of the pictures on the internet are either of the cake covered in marzipan, which is an option, or decorated with strawberries. Luckily I did find a copy of the recipe because I blogged about it in 2007 so here is the actual recipe. If you live in Europe, no problem, like I said, not sure how it would work with cream on this side of the pond. Now I will go look for this cookbook, it cannot have disappeared.

Bløtkake

This is a special cake from Norway often used for celebrations.

4 eggs
1/2 lb sugar
4 1/2 oz cornstarch
4 1/2 oz plain flour
1 Tbs cold water
thin cream
sherry
whipped cream
chopped almonds or walnuts (optional)
Chopped pineapple
Pineapple slices

1. Whisk eggs together with sugar for half an hour or until the mixture is thick and creamy (or use a mixer). Fold in cornstarch and flour previously well mixed together and finally the cold water. Bake in a slow oven in a round cake tin for 40-50 mins.turn out and cool. Divide the cake in 3 layers, sprinkle each liberally with thin cream to which sherry (and nuts if desired) has been added, or with neat sherry. Between each layer spread a thick layer of whipped cream and either nuts or pineapple chunks. Cover the top and sides with a thick layer of lightly sweetened whipped cream  and decorate with pineapple slices.

Have a great weekend.

Local Thief, Vacuum, Jurassic?

An amazing story, a thief returned stolen items to a house together with $50 to repair a broken screen, his note was full of apologies and said he would also be doing community work to atone. Oddly enough, the family didn’t even realise they had been burgled, it apparently happened whilst they were out for a walk. The police point out that even though the thief returned everything, he/she might still be liable for prosecution, this may not be the first offence even if the note said it was. It sounds genuine to me, but what a dreadful situation when someone has become so poor they feel burglary is the only answer. There is no doubt things are getting harder for people, we notice things are tight these days, groceries having gone up a bundle, and the drought won’t help anything either. Maybe I should take up burglary too LOL. One grouse of mine is that there doesn’t seem to be a lot out there to help seniors in health and financial difficulties.

What with one thing and another, yesterday turned out to be ‘one of those days’. It started off with the woman who cleans for us thinking she had to turn up an hour later, no idea why she got that idea into her head. Then I was trying to prepare stuff for supper and kept being called away either by her or Matt for various reasons, finally she told us that the vacuum wasn’t working properly. On investigation it turned out that the belt was broken. Not bad for about 10 years or so. I then started phoning places for repairing vacuums, the first place didn’t repair Dirt Devils, the second place, I left a message, the third place their vacuum repair person had broken his leg in May and still wasn’t back, the fourth place didn’t do Dirt Devils either, however, they did recommend Duffy’s which was close by. Brilliant. We had the belt and Matt tried to do it himself, but found he just could not stretch it far enough, went to Duffy’s and the guy, Greg, fixed it in a few seconds flat, put a sticker with the shop’s name on it on the vacuum and didn’t charge us a cent. As the store is virtually round the corner, we were delighted. I also ordered some more belts from Royal who make this vacuum. It is a heavy beast, but very powerful.

A report in the news, an Australian billionaire, Clive Palmer, is planning to build a real life Jurassic Park and has been having deep discussions with the people who cloned Dolly the sheep about cloning a dinosaur. As the article says, didn’t he see the ending of the movie? The park is also supposed to have a Sky Needle, a casino and a giant Ferris wheel to rival the London Eye. The article describes him as an eccentric. If he is planning to have a real live dinosaur running around loose, I would say he definitely is eccentric.

This looked a really nice, refreshing salad for this continuous hot weather. I found it at Cooking.com. I was going to post the Mushrooms Canada recipe, but as it was so similar to the last recipe, I thought I would save it for a day.

Sicilian Fennel Salad

Source: Saveur Magazine

4 servings

In Sicily, this salad is traditionally prepared with wild chicory, a slightly peppery, tender leafed green. When unable to find it, you can substitute arugula.
INGREDIENTS

3 blood or navel oranges

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

2 bunches trimmed arugula

2 medium fennel bulbs, cored, halved and trimmed

1/4 cup oil cured black olives

DIRECTIONS

Trim off and discard peel and all of the white pith from oranges, then slice crosswise into thin rounds and set aside. Mix together extra virgin olive oil and red wine vinegar in a large salad bowl, then season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Tear arugula into large pieces and arrange in the salad bowl. Slice fennel bulbs into long strips. Toss salad just before serving, adjust seasonings, then arrange orange slices and black olives on top.

Have a great day

Olympic Medals, Licenses

Canada is so excited, we got a silver yesterday morning in rowing, they were beaten by a very good German team, but only just. Nevertheless, lots of Olympic excitement. Apparently at the last Olympics we didn’t win any medals in the first week, this year we have, so far, 4 bronzes and a silver so that makes us ahead of the game. Whenever I comment about how we aren’t doing so well Matt points out our population which is 34.5 million as opposed to the US at 311.5 million and even Great Britain at 60 million. Its hard to remember that, for such a vast country, our population is actually quite small. Then, talking to I had to look up the population of India 1,241,949,910 and then China 1,344,130,000 – unbelievable really. The Indians don’t produce many medal winners, but the Chinese certainly do. As of the time of writing India have one bronze.

Yesterday we had to go for the emissions test on our car, every two years this happens. Whilst waiting in the office, they had all kinds of funny notices up, the one I liked best was “Our credit manager is Helen Waite. If you need credit, got to Helen Waite”. They also offered credit to over 75 yr. olds so long as they were accompanied by both parents!!! I am pleased to say that our emissions test was fine so when I got back I went online and ordered the new 2 year sticker for the car. That’s $40 for the test and $148 for the license on the car. Then this year I have to get my driver’s license which is another $75. Expensive year. I don’t know how its done in England these days, used to be a license displayed on the windshield, here its that little green (or other colour) tag on the corner of the license plate. I have been told that English ones are still pretty much the same in fact a friend sent me a link to some pix of UK tax discs. Some of them are quite funny in fact.

I do NOT like canned tuna. Nor do I like overcooked fresh tuna, it tastes the same. However, some time ago Matt invented a way of preparing canned tuna which I will eat. We had it for lunch the other day which is what reminded me to share it. I have posted this recipe before, but not for a very long time. Funnily enough I received a Mushrooms Canada recipe which has a lot of similarities.

Tuna Matt’s Façon

1 6 oz can Tuna

3 Tbs capers

1 stick celery, finely chopped

1/2 bell pepper finely chopped

1/4 lge onion, finely chopped

1 Tbs balsamic vinegar

1 Tbs mayonnaise

salt and pepper

shredded lettuce

Mix everything thoroughly apart from the lettuce. Cut two pita breads in half, line them with shredded lettuce and then load up the tuna mix, serve with tossed salad greens.

Have a great day

Bees in the Attic, New Ontario Strawberries,

Incredible story on CBC news about a couple living in a house in Varney, Ontario who had honey dripping on them from the kitchen ceiling. Turned out they had 80,000 bees living in the first floor ceiling. They apparently contacted their insurance company who said they wouldn’t pay for an infestation of bees, then a pest control company couldn’t guarantee complete removal, they eventually called a bee keeper which is what I would have done in the first place. The honey comb was removed and a queen found together with 100 kilos of honey!! The article doesn’t actually say, but presumably the bees were moved as well. I guess they would follow the queen. I would have wanted some of that honey. I noticed in the comments someone talked about the bees stinging the baby. Bees don’t sting unless they are attacked, if they do, they lose their stingers and die. Wasps, which are often called bees here, or yellow jackets, sting more easily and do not lose their stingers.

Ontario Day Neutral Strawberries – I thought this video was very interesting to us Ontarians at least.

This is a direct quote from the Ontario Berries Association “The new and exciting strawberries being grown across Ontario that supply strawberry fans for five months. Growers explain how its possible to pick strawberries for a much longer season and the differences between June and Day neutral strawberries. The best part, they tastes great! Brought to you by the Ontario Berry Growers Association. www.ontarioberries.com”. So I bought some yesterday and we ate them for supper with some Devon Cream. Of course I hulled and washed them first, and tried one – it was surprisingly good, I wasn’t sure I totally believed the video above. Then we ate them and both enjoyed them very much.

Matt pointed out, yesterday morning, that its only 5 weeks before we head out for vacation. It’ll be great to get away.

I found this recipe on Facebook and finally traced it down to Betty Crocker but even then I am not sure who’s recipe it is. Looks like it belongs to Paula Kittelson.  I drooled when I saw the picture so just had to share it. At the bottom they mention keeping dulce de leche on hand and I know one can buy at my local grocery. Salting chocolates or candies seems to be all the rage these days. I tried them and after a few bites, I found it to be pretty good. You could also make this without salt if you absolutely must.

Salted Dulce de Leche Swirl Brownies

Blogger Paula Kittelson from Blogging Foods turns her favorite candy, dark chocolate-covered salted caramels, into a brownie.

Makes  9 brownies

Dulce de Leche

1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated)

1 teaspoon table salt

Brownies

1 box (l lb 1 oz) Betty Crocker® dark chocolate brownie mix

Water, vegetable oil and eggs called for on brownie mix box

Topping

6 oz dark baking chocolate, chopped

Coarse sea salt

1. Remove label from can of condensed milk; place can in large saucepan or Dutch oven. Fill saucepan with water until can is completely immersed. Cover; heat to boiling. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cook 3 hours. Important: Make sure can is covered with water during the entire cooking process. Cool can completely before opening. Open cooled can; pour dulce de leche into small bowl. Stir in table salt; set aside.
2. Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pan). Grease 9-inch square pan with shortening or cooking spray; line pan with cooking parchment paper.
3. Make brownie mix as directed on box, using water, oil and eggs. Spread half of the brownie batter in pan. Top with one-third of the salted dulce de leche. With butter knife, swirl dulce de leche into batter. Carefully spread remaining brownie batter on top. Top with remaining two-thirds salted dulce del leche; swirl into batter.
4. Bake 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out almost clean (with a few moist crumbs). Cool completely.
5. In small microwavable bowl, microwave dark chocolate uncovered on High 1 to 2 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds, until melted and smooth.
6. Cut brownies into 3 rows by 3 rows. Top with melted dark chocolate and generous sprinkle of sea salt. Refrigerate until chocolate is set, about 15 minutes.

Makes 9 brownies

Make the Most of This Recipe With Tips From The Betty Crocker^® Kitchens

To save time, you can substitute 1 can (13.4 oz) dulce de leche (caramelized sweetened condensed milk) and skip step 1.

Store brownies in the refrigerator up to 3 days. They taste even better the longer they sit!

Dulce de leche is nice to have on hand for making these brownies. Also try it drizzled on dessert pizza or ice cream, or use it to make frosting.

Have a great day