Eggs, Lady Parts Diagram,

I am surprised that nobody commented on the egg separating video which I posted a couple of days ago. I was so impressed with it and so were my cooking friends. Maybe you had all heard of it before. Even if you are not a cook yourself, you should pass the tip on to the cook in your family, I am sure they would appreciate it. I know I would have done. I also know a friend tried it and assures me that it does work. Haven’t had the opportunity to try it for myself, but you can be sure I will do so soon.

A friend posted this on Facebook, I really think Todd Aikin should see it. He says he has had a big cash haul in the wake of his legitimate rape remarks. I figure it must all be from perverts.

For supper last night we had the Tropical Cucumber Salad I posted on Wednesday. It was very good and will certainly stay in my repertoire. I can highly recommend it.

I thought this looked like a good recipe too. We would have to do it on our indoor/outdoor but nevertheless, I think it would work very well.

Cheese-Stuffed Grilled Peppers

Contributed by John Lancaster and Robert Perkins

SERVINGS:4

Robert Perkins and John Lancaster, the wine directors at San Francisco's Boulevard restaurant, love making this snack at backyard barbecues using all types of medium-sized peppers: As the peppers blister, the cheese mixture tucked inside turns warm and gooey.

1 cup ricotta cheese (8 ounces)

1 cup cream cheese, at room temperature

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Salt and freshly ground pepper

4 Anaheim or Cubanelle peppers

4 baby bell peppers

4 small poblano chiles

Extra-virgin olive oil, for rubbing

1. In a medium bowl, blend the ricotta with the cream cheese and Parmigiano-Reggiano. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Light a grill or heat a grill pan. Using a small, sharp knife, remove the stems from the peppers and reserve. Cut around inside the peppers to detach the membranes and remove the seeds. Using a butter knife, fill the peppers with the cheese mixture and reattach the tops. Rub the peppers with olive oil.
3. Grill the peppers over moderately high heat, turning occasionally, until blistered all over and the cheese filling is piping hot, about 7 minutes. Transfer the peppers to plates and serve.

Make Ahead The cheese-filled peppers can be refrigerated overnight. Bring to room temperature before grilling.

Have a great day

Prince Harry, Legitimate Rape,

Prince Harry has been snapped partying naked in Las Vegas after, apparently, playing strip poker. He’s 28, single and having fun, why not? Somehow the pictures have leaked out into the media, somebody trying to make a buck or two. The English have shrugged it off, I’m not really surprised, the thing that annoys me is someone spreading the pictures. Trouble is today, you can’t do anything or write anything without it getting into the media, particularly if you are a celebrity of some kind. You are not allowed to live a private life. In all probability Prince Harry will eventually meet a girl with whom he wants to settle down, but not all princes marry and many of them have fun. At the end of one article someone commented maybe he was missing his mother, or its because she died when he was young, really, after all these years, I don’t think so.

I see the politician Todd Aken who made those asinine remarks about legitimate rapes and women’s bodies having ways of shutting down (unwanted pregnancies) that sort of thing, is still going to run for office in Missouri. I would be very surprised if any women voted for him after such stupidity. He has said he misspoke!!!!!! How could you spout all that rubbish and then claim misspeaking? He is also saying he is pro life, sure, but there was a superb rebuttal by Eve Ensler which I would really like to think Todd Akin had read. If not, he certainly should do so. He has caused a furor amongst women world wide. If he gets his seat in Missouri I will be very surprised, or horrified at the men of that State perhaps. There have been calls for him to step down, but he won’t do so.

Well, that was fun, I just spent two hours in St. Mary’s, the local cardiac hospital, been having chest pains off and on for a while, doc said everything looked good but has written to my internist. They still put an IV junction in my arm (less painful than my hand) just in case it was needed, now I have a sore arm. What we need is someone to invent a way of doing this without an IV needle. Like Bones in Star Trek – he had a kind of gun which he place on your upper arm and it did everything. What really upset me, 2 hours = $10 parking, that’s a lot of money.

Now here’s a nice easy, delicious looking dessert I found on Food.com

Frozen Cappuccino Bars

By flower7 on February 24, 2005

Photo by * Pamela *

Servings: 12-15

About This Recipe

"A co-worker brought this in for my birthday and I had to get the recipe from him because it was delicious! I'm not a coffee drinker so the amount of coffee flavor was perfect for me, but you may want to add more...so feel free to do so!”

Ingredients

• 1 (13 ounce) boxes whole graham crackers ( may not use all)
• 16 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 3 1/2 cups cold milk
• 3 (3 1/2 ounce) packages instant chocolate pudding mix
• 1 tablespoon instant coffee
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 8 ounces whipped topping, thawed
• chocolate sprinkles or grated semisweet chocolate bars

Directions

1. Arrange graham crackers in the bottom of a 13 x 9 pan, breaking crackers to fit if necessary.
2. Beat cream cheese in a large bowl with an electric mixer on low speed until smooth.
3. Beat in 1 cup of the milk.
4. Add remaining milk, pudding mixes, instant coffee and cinnamon.
5. Beat 1 to 2 minutes or until well blended (mixture will be thick).
6. Gently stir in 2 cups of whipped topping.
7. Spread 1/2 of the pudding mixture over the crackers in pan.
8. Arrange more crackers over the pudding or cover the pudding with crushed graham crackers.
9. Top with remaining pudding mixture.
10. Cover with remaining whipped topping.
11. Sprinkle with grated chocolate or sprinkles.
12. Freeze 3 hours or overnight. Let sit out of freezer for 20-30 minutes before serving

Have a great day

Channel Swimmer, Brigg. Separating Eggs.

Thanks to a blogging friend in Whitstable, England, I have found out who the lonely Channel swimmer was, Ted May. She sent me a link to a web page about him. He was from Kent which is the county I called home for many years, but he was working in Lincolnshire where we lived for a few years, and where he practiced swimming in the canal where we lived. Having been doing some googling the canal was part of the River Ancholme which seems to have been split into the new and old rivers, I am not quite sure on which we lived, but I do know the town of Brigg was where our barge was actually moored, or just outside. If you look at the map, Ted May would have swum from Brigg to the South Ferriby Lock and back again when he was practicing.

These are two pictures of our Thames Barge, Iota, when she was at Brigg. The second barge belonged to a friend of ours. In fact both he and my father had moved to Brigg in order to be civilian instructors for RAF pilots and they used to travel to the aerodrome at Kirton Lindsay (we used to call it Kuala Lumpur, no idea why other than the initials) every day. My father used to ride a motorised bike or what we called a put put. We were pretty broke at the time as he had lost money (not sure if he went bankrupt) on his factory in Kent. I cannot, for the life of me, remember the name of the other barge although I can remember the name of the guy who owned her.  To get to Brigg we sailed from the river Medway up the East Coast of England to the Humber and then down the Ancholme to Brigg. Gosh that’s a long time ago. I guess the photo which was obviously taken from the air, was taken by my father or his friend. I remember I used to cycle to school from there. It was the first time I had ever been to a Grammar School (i.e. a government school) and I remember being horrified that we all got inspected for head lice.

Did a couple of things which made our vacation come closer, bought some US dollars and stocked up on drugs. The latter is no joke either, we have to take so damned many between us that we carry a special bag just for them. Like carrying a pharmacy on our backs. The exchange rate is pretty favourable for us at the moment so we figured we’d buy our currency whilst the going was good.

A friend sent a link to the following video, absolutely brilliant way of separating an egg. Its in another language, but you can see what she is doing. Only trouble is, I don’t have plastic bottles. She tried it later on and says it works.

This salad seemed to me to be somewhat different and sounded rather refreshing.

Tropical Cucumber Salad

Source: © EatingWell Magazine
4 servings, about 1 cup each

Combine cucumber, avocado and mango with a salty-sweet dressing for a taste of the tropics.
Make Ahead Tip: Cover and refrigerate for up to 1 hour.
INGREDIENTS
3-5 teaspoons fish sauce (see Shopping Tip)
1 teaspoon freshly grated lime zest, plus more for garnish
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 tablespoon canola oil
2 teaspoons light brown sugar
1 teaspoon rice vinegar
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 medium English cucumber, cut into 3/4-inch dice
1 avocado, cut into 3/4-inch dice
1 mango, cut into 3/4-inch dice (see Kitchen Tip)
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Tip: Fish sauce is a pungent Southeast Asian condiment; find it in large supermarkets and Asian markets.
To peel and cut a mango:
1. Slice both ends off the mango, revealing the long, slender seed inside. Set the fruit upright on a work surface and remove the skin with a sharp knife.
2. With the seed perpendicular to you, slice the fruit from both sides of the seed, yielding two large pieces.
3. Turn the seed parallel to you and slice the two smaller pieces of fruit from each side.
4. Cut the fruit into the desired shape.

DIRECTIONS
Whisk fish sauce to taste, lime zest, lime juice, oil, brown sugar, vinegar and crushed red pepper in a large bowl until combined. Add cucumber, avocado, mango and cilantro; gently toss to coat. Serve garnished with lime zest, if desired.

Have a great day

RIP Phyllis Diller. Tipped Crane, Body Parts, Teen Swimmer.

RIP Phyllis Diller. I was sad to hear she died today and astounded that she was 95, I hadn’t realised she had lived that long. Wonderful comedienne and a pioneer in the field.

I have always been nervous passing under cranes and this is the reason why. It is not, by any means, the first time this has happened. In this case the crane operator was trapped as well as a bus full of passengers. They say no injuries have been reported. I hope none will be. The crane brought down power lines which were on the bus apparently, but people left the bus safely without getting electrocuted I am pleased to say.

We seem to be breeding murderers who like dismembering their victims, Toronto police have been fishing all kinds of body parts out of the Credit River and a nearby creek. It has been established all the parts are from the same victim but as yet I guess they haven’t established who that victim may be and are still looking for the rest of the body. This is the second case recently, the first one, a suspect has been apprehended, in fact this current case might be recent enough to have been the same perpetrator, my thoughts not theirs.

The youngster, Annaleise Carr who swam Lake Ontario on Sunday has set a record, she was only 14 yrs. old. When she got close to Toronto she had to swim around for a while in order to avoid very strong currents out of Toronto Harbour so altogether it took her 27 hours. Her reason for doing the swim was to raise money for Camp Trillium which is a camp for children with cancer; she has raised $70,000 to date. I still haven’t heard anything about people swimming the English Channel unsupported.

From the cooking group I belong to on Yahoo Groups, quite a few of us enjoy rhubarb in one form or another, so, for my Recitopian friends here is a recipe from Cooking.com which I hope you enjoy.

Rhubarb-Ginger Fool

Source: Fine Cooking - Issue No. 14

Yields 7 cups; serves six

This dessert is called a fool because, well, almost anyone can make it. Just combine the stewed fruit with freshly whipped cream.
INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 to 2 pounds rhubarb

1 to 1 1/4 cups sugar

2 tablespoons chopped candied ginger

2 tablespoons freshly grated ginger

2 cups heavy cream

DIRECTIONS

Trim the ends of the rhubarb and, if the stalks are more than 1 inch thick, cut them in half lengthwise. Cut the stalks into 1-inch-long pieces.

In a stainless-steel pan with a tight-fitting lid, combine the rhubarb, sugar, candied ginger, and fresh ginger. (There’s no need to add water; though it will look dry at first, the rhubarb will release enough water to cook without scorching.) Cook over low heat until the rhubarb is tender and falling apart, about 30 minutes. Refrigerate until well chilled.

Whip the cream until it holds soft peaks. Gently fold in the chilled rhubarb mixture until well combined. Spoon into serving glasses or bowls and chill until ready to serve.

Have a great day

New Bowling Season, Books, Swimming the Channel,

One week today we start the winter bowling season again, we miss three weeks though because we never bowl on Labour Day, the one day of the year when the woman who runs the place is always off, and then we will be on vacation for two weeks. No doubt we will be doing some 10-pin bowling whilst in North Carolina. I follow MacDaddy’s on Facebook which is where we go when we bowl down there. They have been having all kinds of lunch or dinner specials on with specials on shrimp appearing once or twice. We occasionally have lunch there with our friends before we bowl. Their food isn’t bad.

Over the weekend I finished my second Alcatraz book, Alcatraz versus the Scrivener’s Bones. The funniest thing, to me, was an extra two pages after the end of the book for those who cheat, detailing how someone died who didn’t actually do so in the story. If you did cheat you would have been upset to read about the death of the character which is intended to be a punishment for cheating. I think Brandon Sanderson is totally zany with these books. They are intended for a much younger audience but I am thoroughly enjoying them I am impressed with his totally different humour.. The next book is Alcatraz Versus the Knights of Crystallia.

At the time of writing there is a teenager attempting to swim Lake Ontario. It set up a train of memories in my mind. When I was about 14 we were living on a canal in Lincolnshire, England, and one morning, before I went to school, a man went into the water and swam to the beginning and back (don’t remember how far) but basically he was swimming all day and didn’t get back til late evening. I vividly remember my mother saying that, all day long, whatever she had been doing, she kept thinking about him still swimming. I don’t know much else about him other than he was practicing to swim the English Channel which he subsequently attempted towing his own supplies and completely unsupported. Unfortunately he went missing. I started wondering who he was and whether in the intervening years anyone else had attempted the same thing and had success or otherwise. I tried Googling without result. I have emailed a Channel Swimming group who may have records. Whilst trying some research I came across videos of people actually doing the swim, dunno why they do it, they are nuts. Here’s one of the ones I found. I had never thought about the problem of crossing the shipping lanes.

I don’t often snack between meals or when travelling, but this recipe sounded good and as we will be driving to NC very soon, I just thought it might be useful. One thing I am not quite sure about, do you shell the edamame or not?

Spicy Lemon Edamame

South Beach Diet

Frozen edamame in the pod are easy to find in most supermarkets these days. This recipe will make them your new snack favorite on any Phase of the diet. While the edamame are best served warm, they can also be chilled for a take-along snack.

Ingredients

3 clove(s) garlic large, smashed and peeled

1 medium lemon juiced (use 2 teaspoons), and 2 large strips of zest, cut into thin slivers

1/2 teaspoon pepper, red flakes

16 ounce(s) edamame, frozen in pods (1 bag)

1/2 teaspoon salt, sea coarse

Instructions

• In a medium saucepan, combine 6 cups of water, the garlic, the lemon zest, and red pepper flakes. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Cook, partially covered, for 3 minutes to blend the flavors.

• Add the frozen edamame. Return the water to a boil and cook, uncovered, for 3 minutes.

• Drain well and transfer the edamame to a serving bowl. Discard the garlic. Toss the edamame with the lemon juice and sea salt. Serve warm.

  Each serving is 1 cup.

Have a great day

Sand Dollars, Titanoboa, Blueberries, Movies.

For years I have known about Sand Dollar shells which appear in every tourist shop in North Carolina, painted or unpainted. There is a religious legend associated with them which you can read here, versions of this appear on many postcards available in sea side towns, but, it never occurred to me, until today, to find out what a sand dollar really is. Google to the rescue of course and I found a Wikipedia page all about them. I realised they must have been alive at one time, but that’s all I knew. Some of it is interesting reading telling how they move around, how they clone themselves when under attack, and how they normally mate. They are not exclusive to the east coasts of the States either. Apparently the one with which I am most familiar is the Keyhole Sand Dollar. By the time I usually see them they are totally white and frequently painted. People do find them on the beaches but few and far between, maybe the professionals have grabbed them all early.

I seem to be plagued by snakes lately. I understand a 42 ft. long fossilized snake was found in 2009 and now a sculptor, Kevin Hockley, has built a replica of the thing. It was so big, it snacked on crocodiles. It was christened Titanoboa. and is something in the region of 58 million years old. The critter was found in Colombia and stunned paleontologists. There is a documentary about it on TV which is what brought it to my notice today. In fact, I seem to remember I blogged about it three years ago. I mean, look at that damned thing, the thickest part is as high as a man’s waist. The second picture is a representation of what it would have been like in its swampland home. The article talks about how it was found. The mine where it was found has, apparently, been quite a source for fossils. And I was worried about the Pythons in the Everglades, mind you, they are still living.

Thursday night I watched a delightful movie called Just Like Heaven with Reese Witherspoon (Elizabeth) in the lead. Mark Ruffalo played the male lead (David). She gets into a major car crash and her spirit haunts her apartment which is being leased by David. He eventually agrees to help her remember who and what she was/is and discover she is in a coma in the local hospital. Some of its funny, some of it’s tear jerking. Thoroughly enjoyed it. I guess it was more of a chic flic because Matt went and played a computer game. Of course Matt doesn’t like movies with things that aren’t true like ghosts. I, of course, do. Then last night Turner Classic Movies showed “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” which Matt swears he had never seen. I am sure I did see it many years ago but had basically forgotten a lot of the movie. What a great one it was, you couldn’t do better with Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn and then adding Sydney Poitier to the mix, I wasn’t going to watch it again, but I am so glad I did. I hadn’t realised that the actress who was the daughter was played by Hepburn’s  young sister. They said Spencer Tracy died 17 days after the completion of the film.

Having just read an article expounding the efficacy of blueberries (in other words, how good they are for you) I thought I would share the following recipe. The article basically said a cup of wild blueberries a day will keep the doctor away. Matt has blueberries with his breakfast, I never do, maybe I should start.  Blueberries are good for high blood pressure and diabetes and are good for both heart and brain health. The emphasis here though, is on wild blueberries which I certainly don’t see round here. I loved baked camembert or brie dishes too, so I will certainly be trying this one out.

Baked Camembert with Wild Blueberry Chutney and Salad

Ingredients:

Wild Blueberry Chutney
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium red onion, diced
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons light balsamic vinegar
3 cups (720ml) frozen wild blueberries, strained and 2 tablespoons of juice reserved
Salt and pepper to taste

Balsamic Vinaigrette and Salad
1 small clove of garlic, finely chopped
½ teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
¼ cup (60 ml) light balsamic vinegar
3 teaspoons olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup baby (approximately 90g) arugula
½ head red lettuce, washed, dried and torn into bite size pieces
2 carrots, julienned

Baked Camembert
Approximately 2 cups (475ml) vegetable oil for frying
4 tablespoons flour
2 eggs, whisked
6–8 tablespoons breadcrumbs
Salt
4 small wheels of Camembert cheese (each approximately ¼ lb. or 125 g)


Preparation:
Wild Blueberry Chutney

Heat oil in a pot over medium heat. Add onions, sweat until tender and translucent, approximately 10 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons of honey, mix to incorporate until onions are caramelized and golden, approximately 2 minutes.

Deglaze with balsamic vinegar and blueberry juice.

Stir in blueberries, simmer until mixture has reduced to a sauce consistency, approximately 8 minutes.

Season Wild Blueberry Chutney with salt and pepper, remove from heat. Set aside to cool until serving.

  Balsamic Vinaigrette and Salad

In a small bowl, mix garlic, honey, mustard and balsamic vinegar together. Season with salt and pepper.

Whisk in olive oil and set aside until assembly.

Place arugula, lettuce and carrots in a bowl and place in fridge until assembly.

  Baked Camembert

Place the flour, eggs and breadcrumbs in individual, high sided dishes.

Season flour with salt.

Heat oil in a non-stick sauté pan over medium-high heat. Line a tray with paper towel.

Dredge each wheel of Camembert, one at a time, in flour, shake off excess. Coat Camembert in egg wash, followed by breadcrumbs.

Gently place breaded Camembert in heated sauté pan. Once cheese is golden, approximately 2 minutes, flip and continue frying on other side until golden.

Remove Baked Camembert from pan and place on paper towel lined tray.

Repeat process with remaining Camembert

 

Assembly

Place each Baked Camembert on a plate.

Dress Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette and arrange on each plate.

Spoon Wild Blueberry Chutney over Baked Camembert and serve immediately

   Have a great weekend

Carpet Cleaners, Alcatraz, Staples, Hungry Rats.

Today we have the carpet cleaners coming. I basically only do the main room which includes our dining room and hall, as its too expensive to have all the rooms done. It really needs cleaning too, I don’t know why it has got particularly dirty this time, but it certainly has.

I picked up the next book in the Alcatraz series, Alcatraz vs. the Scriveners Bones. I have read half of it and I have decided Brandon Sanderson is a nut, albeit a prolific one. Presumably he takes time off from writing his serious books to write these nonsense books. I really like them – they are a lot of fun. The picture on the cover is of the head of a glass dragon (not living) which is used as a means of aerial transport. Can you imagine flying and being able to see the ground, or clouds I guess, beneath you? Would take a bit of getting used to. The dragon’s eyes are where the cockpit is, but of course its not flown in the regular sense but by a kind of telepathy. But then in Book one there were cars that drove themselves. Talking of Brandon Sanderson, I understand the last volume in The Wheel of Time series is now finished. Must be very hard to take up the mantle of another author, but so far he has done it beautifully. I read, on his page, that he has been doing WOT for 5 years now and is both sad and glad that its finished. Luckily Robert Jordan left a lot of notes and scads of written text to help Sanderson get the job done.

We went to the Mandarin with our friends yesterday. As usual a very good meal although my Hot and Sour soup wasn’t quite as warm as it should have been, but everything else I ate was fine, and I certainly ate a lot. We ended up a party of 8 but sitting on a long table, that doesn’t really work very well as one end can’t hear what the other end of the table is saying. Needed a round table like King Arthur, LOL.  However, it was great to meet up with everyone again and I never have a problem with their food. Afterwards, I wanted a couple of things from Staples so went to the one close by, surprise, surprise, its closed down. How very odd. I am puzzled, although it did occur to me that maybe they get more orders on line than in store these days.

One of our friends mentioned an interesting story he had seen on the TV recently, every 48 years rats overrun rice crops leaving none for humans. It turns out that a particular type of bamboo, Melocanna baccifera, blossoms and fruits every 48 years, the fruit is extremely nutritious and the rats gorge on the it, then cease cannibalising their babies and also have an increased birth surge so the large amount of offspring need more food, hence they attack the rice fields. This lasts for about three years until it all goes back to normal. According to the article, it primarily takes place in North East India and you can read all about it at the link. Its interesting reading.

I have always enjoyed Yakitori, but never thought about making it myself, not sure why. Anyway, here is a fairly simple version I found yesterday in Recipe du Jour.

Yakitori
1/4 cup sake (rice wine)
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
3 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons grated peeled fresh ginger
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into 24 bite-sized pieces
5 green onions, each cut into 4 (2-inch) pieces
Cooking spray

Combine first 6 ingredients in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil; cook until reduced to 1/4 cup (about 2 1/2 minutes). Remove from heat; cool.
Combine soy sauce mixture and the chicken. Cover and marinate in refrigerator for 1 hour.
Heat a large grill pan over medium-high heat.
Thread 6 chicken cubes and 5 green onion pieces alternately onto each of 4 (10-inch) skewers. Brush kebabs with the soy mixture. Coat pan with cooking spray. Place kebabs in pan, and cook 4 minutes on each side or until the chicken is done. Makes 4 servings.

Have a great day

More Medical and the South, Seafood and Sun,

Tuesday I went to see the surgeon about my hip and he said he doesn’t really think its bad enough that, even though hip replacements are his favourite operation, doing one for me would give me much relief. Yes, but……. We discussed it all and the consensus was that all my other problems with spine and veins might be aggravating my hips. I really am cracking up. No, I don’t think I can dance any more, let alone do the can can. I had to pop into my family doc’s as well and reminded one of the receptionists, who comes from Georgia, that we would be going south soon and she wants boiled peanuts and grits. She said she would phone me to let me know exactly what she wants. You really have to be a southern girl to long for those items. Boiled peanuts are OK but I wouldn’t buy them, and grits are very bland, have to have butter or something added to them. I do like the recipe they have in the south of Shrimp and Grits. That is very good. Not that I have ever made it.

I was only saying to Matt the other day that we should visit T & W Oyster Bar more often this time (not sure we went at all last year) they specialise in fish of all kinds and it’s a good place to eat. Once in a while I treat myself to crab legs but not often because people, Matt included, don’t want to sit at the table forever whilst I devour every little piece of meat. I learned to eat lobster properly in a Belgian restaurant many years ago, and friends have hated waiting for me ever since whenever I am eating shellfish. They do crab legs on special at weekends at our favourite Chinese restaurant, but we rarely go to any restaurant at weekends; I don’t think I would want to take the time or even choose them in The Mandarin because the rest of the food is so good. I had a craving this week for their Hot and Sour Soup, deeelicious. I have just arranged with friends to go there for lunch on Thursday.

It amused me the other day to hear advice on the radio about sun burn and sun stroke. Considering the weather has now changed from the devastatingly hot, sunny weather we had for weeks and weeks and we now have rain and clouds, I thought they were a tad late in their advice. So many people don’t seem to know how to expose themselves to the sun. Small increments is the key. Don’t stay in the sun for more than 15-20 minutes (fair) or 30 minutes if you are darker. When you begin to get a bit of a tan you can increase the amounts of time you spend out there. A small amount of sun is good for you, Vitamin D, but the way some people go from winter skin and stay outside in boiling hot sun for hours and then complain all they do is go red, or burn; no really, I wonder why? I personally don’t advocate a lot of sunbathing either, we all know about skin cancer. As for sun stroke, that can be really un-funny. I remember my mother falling asleep on her stomach lying in the sun which was not very strong that day either, and ending up in hospital for a week with sunstroke. She was a very sick puppy.

I thought these looked absolutely delicious. I have had Vietnamese rice paper rolls and loved them. The picture looked particularly delightful I thought.

Shrimp-and-Vegetable Summer Rolls

Source: Food and Wine at Cooking.com

Vietnamese rolls stuffed with shrimp get crunch and color from yellow peppers, lettuce and carrots—which, like most orange fruits and vegetables, are high in cancer-fighting alpha carotene.
INGREDIENTS

2 cups shredded carrots

1 small red onion thinly sliced

3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar

1/2 cup sugar

2 garlic cloves smashed

1 tablespoon Asian fish sauce

16 8-inch round rice papers

16 cilantro sprigs

1 head Boston lettuce separated

1 pound cooked large shrimp halved lengthwise

2 yellow bell peppers cut into 1/4-inch strips

3 1/2 ounces bean thread vermicelli soaked in hot water until pliable and drained well

DIRECTIONS

In a bowl, toss the carrots, onion, 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons of the vinegar and 2 tablespoons of the sugar. Let stand until the vegetables soften, 30 minutes. Drain.

In a glass bowl, mix the remaining vinegar, sugar and garlic. Microwave at high power for about 30 seconds, until the sugar is dissolved. Add the fish sauce and set aside for 30 minutes; discard the garlic.

Meanwhile, soak 1 rice paper at a time in hot water until pliable, about 10 seconds; transfer to a work surface. Set a cilantro sprig and lettuce leaf on the lower third of the rice paper and top with 3 shrimp halves. Top with some of the yellow pepper, vermicelli and the pickled vegetables; roll up tightly, folding in the sides. Place the roll on a platter and repeat with the remaining ingredients. Halve the rolls and serve with the sauce for dipping.

Have a great day

Bedbugs, Kotor, The Queen, Burmese Pythons,

The other day someone on Facebook told me about The Bedbug Registry where you can check on your intended hotel to see if they have been reported as having bed bugs at any time. What a marvellous site. There has been so much discussion about this unpleasant subject lately that I was beginning to feel quite nervous about staying in a hotel. Of course we are staying in a regularly rented cottage so I guess they could get bed bugs too.

One of my blogging friends is cruising in Alaska at the moment and a comment on her blog queried the use of fjord, being a Scandinavian word. However, they use fjord in Montenegro too. My family and I sailed the Kotor Fjord in 1969 when it was still known as Yugoslavia.  If you follow the link, there are lots of gorgeous pictures, it is a very beautiful area. We stopped at one point during our trip up and down the fjord and went for a swim. I guess the water comes right off the mountains, or we hit a spring or something, because it was the coldest swim I have ever had, none of us stayed in more than a few seconds and yet we had swum in other parts of Kotor without any problems. My parents spent quite a long time in Yugoslavia, but being a working stiff, I had to fly home after two weeks. The day I left was the day they were broadcasting the moon landing which I couldn’t hear very well because although it was in English, they were, of course, translating it as they went along.

This is an extremely clever portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II which I stole from Sue at Pencilpix. It is a You Tube video.

Looks like Florida has a problem. As reported by CBC news,they recently caught a giant Burmese Python which was 17 1/2 ft. long and was pregnant with 87 eggs. It is said that these pythons have become well established in the Everglades and will be very difficult to eradicate. Some got there by being released by owners, and some escaped from pet shops after hurricane damage. As stated in the article, a snake of that size could eat anything it wanted. They believe tens of thousands of these pythons live in the Everglades and as they also say, the local wildlife is in trouble. I always wanted to go to the Everglades, I have changed my mind.

Here is a dessert from Kraft  Kitchens which looks appealing. I like the combination of blueberries and raspberries.

Blueberry Refrigerator Pie

What You Need

7 Tbsp. butter, divided

50 VANILLA Wafers, finely crushed (about 1-1/2 cups)

4 cups fresh blueberries, divided

1/2 cup plus 1 Tbsp. sugar, divided

3/4 cup cold water, divided

2 Tbsp. cornstarch

Zest and juice of 1 lemon, divided

3/4 cup boiling water

1 pkg. (3 oz.) JELL-O Lemon Flavor Gelatin

Ice cubes

1 tub (8 oz.) COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed, divided

Make It

HEAT oven to 350°F.

RESERVE 1 Tbsp. butter. Melt remaining butter; mix with wafer crumbs. Press onto bottom and up side of 9-inch tart pan with removable bottom. Bake 10 min. or until golden brown.

BRING 1-1/2 cups blueberries, 1/2 cup sugar and 1 Tbsp. cold water to boil in saucepan, stirring constantly. Dissolve cornstarch in 3 Tbsp. of the remaining cold water; whisk into blueberry mixture. Simmer on low heat 2 min. or until thickened, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add reserved butter; stir until melted. Reserve 1/2 tsp. lemon zest and 1 tsp. juice. Stir remaining zest and juice into blueberry mixture; pour into crust.

ADD boiling water to gelatin mix in medium bowl; stir 2 min. until completely dissolved. Add enough ice to remaining cold water to measure 1 cup. Add to gelatin; stir until slightly thickened. Remove any unmelted ice. Whisk 1 cup COOL WHIP into gelatin. Refrigerate 15 min. or until gelatin mixture is thick enough to mound. Stir in 1-1/2 cups of the remaining blueberries; spoon over blueberry layer in crust.

REFRIGERATE 4 hours or until firm. Top pie with remaining COOL WHIP. Toss remaining blueberries with reserved lemon zest, juice and remaining sugar; spoon over pie.

Kraft Kitchens Tips

Size-Wise

You'll know it's a special occasion when you get to enjoy a serving of this refreshing pie.

Variation

Prepare using orange zest and juice.

Note

If you don't have a tart pan, you can use a plastic wrap-lined 9-inch round pan instead. Prepare tart as directed. Use plastic wrap handles to lift tart from pan before cutting to serve.

Serves 10

Have a great day

Boo, Croquembouche and Gus.

About a year ago I wrote about the world’s cutest dog, Boo, the Pomeranian. He was featured on Good Morning America again today, he is still really cute, but really, he has a second book out, has his own Facebook page and I don’t know what all else, not to mention product endorsement. His owner keeps to the background, but there were pictures of Boo paw signing his books, poor little bugger doesn’t know what’s going on, although I must admit none of it seems to faze him. I really think the owner is taking all this a bit too far. This morning he was featured in all kinds of different get ups, glasses, you name it. I would say its getting a bit much.

Because our 40th anniversary is coming up next month, I have been thinking about it all a fair bit, and this weekend in particular I was thinking about Matt’s parents when it was their 40th and we had them over for dinner. We made a crown roast of lamb, with the paper frills on the bones with cherries in them to signify rubies. Then we made a Croquembouche (means crunch in the mouth which took us a while as we were both working at the time. We would make something and freeze it then later something else and so on until it was ready to assemble. This is a picture although for the top I did a huge red rose being their 40th. There’s actually a little too much yellow in this paper, but I am not the world’s best at scanning. I don’t know if you can tell, but the base is a Génoise Base for Petits Fours cake, which is covered in Fondant Icing and then coated in pistachio nuts Then the profiteroles are added, some with chocolate icing and some with royal icing glued together with caramel. Once assembled you add crystallised fruits in between which are held in place by thick whipped cream. We made everything. Not frantically difficult but time consuming. So, the other day, I looked up Croquembouche on the internet and found the simplest of recipes, nothing much more than assembled profiteroles. No cake, no special icings, no crystallised fruits. Not the real thing at all. I am not going to try and share the original recipe with you because it comes from an Italian book of ours which tells you to take 1 recipe from 2017, 1 1/2 recipes from 1555, etc. etc. and drives me nuts to use it. We have another favourite recipe which I went to the trouble of working out exactly all the quantities of what and putting it into one recipe. Took a while, but at least one is not forever turning pages. I had vaguely thought of making another for our own anniversary, but I don’t think so. Don’t think I could do all the standing involved any more.

Barrie’s Asparagus Farm, where I spend a lot of my time during asparagus season, has introduced a new mascot today which will apparently be seen on all their labelling from now on. Tim Barrie asked people to guess the name to win a dozen corn on the cob. The name is Gus and the prize was won. Not by me I hasten to add. A dozen corn would be no use to me anyway as Matt doesn’t eat it. I also qualified to win two ears, but the farm is quite a distance, so I will not be collecting.

Off to see the orthopaedic surgeon today, changed appointment, I am expecting a hip replacement. I am also vaguely expecting them to do something about the lumbar region in my back – have a feeling I won’t be doing much bowling this winter.

Just to show you the kind of recipes in our Italian book, here is the one I sorted out. The picture is not the recipe, just one I found of the ingredients. Looks quite good though, should check if there is a recipe for this picture. The recipe below is one Matt prepared for me for my birthday some years ago, he then followed it with lobster. He surely knows the way to my heart. By the way, if you are watching your fat intake, do NOT try this dish. I would also add this recipe is quite short compared to the one for Croquembouche.

Artichokes Ricca

Great Italian Cooking

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 gruyère

1/4 cup melted butter

1 recipe mornay

1 recipe duxelles

1 can artichoke hearts

Instructions: 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.

Have a great day

Weekend, Floating Dog, Olympic Closing.

Quiet weekend with lots of rain on Saturday for which we are truly grateful. Although some people complained they would have preferred it to fall during the week. I guess if you are working all week, it makes a difference, we tend not to think about it. We are both in countdown mode for our trip to NC next month, Matt keeps telling me how many weeks now. Right now its four.

There is a picture which I have seen frequently on Facebook and which appeared on Good Morning America on Sunday of a man who takes his dog down to the lake and stands holding him as he floats in the water. This way, it gives the dog pain relief and is the only way he can sleep.

The dog is apparently 18 years of age and is very arthritic. It appears that, the picture having gone viral, people have contacted the veterinarian and offered to help pay the dog’s medical bills. People are so kind sometimes.

Oops, I missed it. The closing ceremonies which everyone appears to be raving about. I meant to watch earlier in the day but got overtaken by other things, when I did turn the TV on later in the evening, the musical part was just about over and I honestly didn’t want to see the parade of athletes. I have read lots of people’s comments that it was a great show, the bit I saw was not really my kind of music although certainly had a good beat. I saw some elderly guy arrive in a London taxi cab who was, apparently very popular, His voice and that of the lead singers of the groups I did see, were definitely not my thing. Maybe I missed the best bits, I don’t know, it all looked pretty spectacular though. The British must be tickled pink to have won so many medals, including 29 gold. It seems to pay being the host nation, as far as medals are concerned that is. I hope they didn’t make a loss on the games themselves.

Today I have to have my X-ray to see what the problem is with the extra bone in my lumbar region. Hope it will lead to some resolution of the problem.

This is another Eating Well recipe which I found on Cooking.com and I thought it sounded pretty good. I don’t usually bother much with dips except for the one with artichokes and cheese which I tend to pig out on. In case you don’t know, crudités is the French way of saying raw vegetables.

Feta and Herb Dip with Crudités

Source: © EatingWell Magazine

Yield: 8 servings, 1/4 cup each

Lots of freshly chopped herbs add zing to our white bean dip. Serve with assorted vegetables, such as baby carrots, bell pepper strips, radishes, snow peas, broccoli and cauliflower florets.
Make Ahead Tip: Cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days.

RECIPE INGREDIENTS

1 15-ounce can white beans, rinsed

3/4 cup nonfat plain yogurt

1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon garlic salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

1/4 cup chopped fresh dill

1/4 cup chopped fresh mint

1/4 cup chopped fresh chives

 

Place beans, yogurt, feta, lemon juice, garlic salt and pepper in a food processor and puree until smooth. Add herbs; puree until incorporated. Chill until ready to serve.