Camera, Earring, No Desktop.

Matt, who does not believe in digital cameras, has had a Minolta 49 mm for a number of years and on vacation it wouldn’t work properly. He finally got round to taking it to the camera shop last week and we have just found out that it is the circuitry board which needs replacing at a cost of $125. I guess it was an expensive camera in the first place, but that’s still a hefty repair bill. Then you have to pay for developing too whenever you use a roll of film, which of course, you have to buy. He just will not believe that a really good digital camera works as well as his camera. Oops, I have just seen one of these cameras on eBay which went for $16. Second hand of course. His previous camera had lenses up the kazoo including one which was almost a foot long. Being a point and shoot girl, I could never understand bothering with all that stuff. For many years, he would only take slides too. I have been meaning to get a lot of slides put on a CD, it would cost about $20 to get 200 done. Trouble is, sorting out the ones we want, there are so many and he has some good pictures. 

Whoopee my earring has been found. Phoned the superintendent’s wife and someone had handed it in to her. They were off this weekend and although I asked the assistant super, he obviously didn’t check the office as he said he would. I am so pleased because it’s a pair a wear a lot and I would have been sorry to not do so any more.

Well I have lost my desktop for a few days. Basically the dust from the flooring the other day has cause problems with my modem or possibly my motherboard. I hope its just the modem. I gather most people don’t use telephone modems any more, but as I am not loaded down with cell phones of one kind or another, I like to be able to make calls from my computer. Saves me dialling so many flaming numbers especially as in our part of Ontario we have to dial the area code even for local calls. I don’t know why they did that, when they ran out of space on the exchange in North Carolina when we lived there, they added a new area code, here they just made us dial the area code as well.

Caramel and nuts, what could be wrong with that?

Caramel Nut Tart

Farberware Cooking Classes

This delicious Caramel Nut Tart has a heartwarming, melt in your mouth finish. The traditional fall flavor makes this the perfect way to end your Thanksgiving Day feast.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups mixed toasted almonds, pecans and walnuts
• ¾ cup unsifted all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup confectioners’ sugar
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ cup unsalted cold butter, cut in large pieces
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 egg, slightly beaten
• ¾ cup butterscotch caramel topping
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Vanilla ice cream
• Mint leaves

Directions:

In large bowl of Black & Decker Food Processor, coarsely chop nuts. Remove 1 cup and set aside. Add confectioners’ sugar, salt and butter to remaining chopped nuts in processor bowl. Using pulse, process until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add egg yolks and process to blend. Press against sides and bottom of ungreased 9-inch tart pan with removable bottom. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Bake in preheated oven at 350º F for 20 minutes, until edges begin to lightly brown.

Meanwhile, combine remaining 1 cup nuts, whole egg, topping, heavy cream and vanilla. Stir to blend. Pour into prepared shell.

Bake 25 minutes or until filling is set. Remove to wire rack to cool.

Serve topped with ice cream or whipped cream and mint leaves.

Have a great day

Re Memorial Day, Earring, Latest Book. Bangers.

The radio were playing a bunch of war songs and I was astounded to hear Gracie Fields singing Ave Maria. She was so popular during the second world war and now only old fogies like Matt and I even know who she was. Although untrained, she had an absolutely marvellous voice. This is a recording of her singing Now is the Hour – its followed by some version o; Lollipop, Lollipop. I found Ave Maria and this is worth a listen. You have to remember she was untrained as I said. She was referred to as Our Gracie, presumably because she was a Lancashire lass; Gracie travelled to the front lines many times to entertain the troops during the second world war. She made a lot of money in her career and was extremely generous with it setting up charities and funding travel for troops in her home town of Rochdale during the war years. She eventually moved to Capri, Italy to live and finally died there in 1979.

Getting ready for bed the other night, I discovered I had lost an earring. The only place I had been was the bowling alley but so far, it hasn’t turned up. It was a gold hoop and I was very fond of wearing them. I hope I can claim it on insurance. Its been a weekend for problems, my computer guy has been in twice to fix problems with my computer caused by all the dust when the floor was laid. I phoned the flooring company and they said the computer guy should call them and they would see what they could do. He still has to come back so its not over yet.

I ordered a book from the library, don’t know who told me about it;  by the time it arrived it didn’t strike me as very appealing. I’m glad I didn’t just take it back, its turned out to be an excellent story. Its Thieftaker by D.B. Jackson and is set in Boston prior to the American Revolution. There is a long blurb on Goodreads if you would like to read about it (maybe that’s where I heard of it, but I don’t think so). I don’t know this author but on the cover I read he has been writing epic fantasy for 15 years and is now combining that with his love of American history. I will have to look out for other books by this author. I have another book to read after this one, its by Brandon Sanderson who usually writes huge books. This is a slim little book called The Emperor’s Soul. I was very surprised. I have yet another book waiting for me Storm from the Shadows by David Weber who wrote the Honor Harrington books, this is set in the same world I understand. I have all the Harrington books as ebooks.

I have, for some reason, had a craving lately for English bangers (sausages) something I won’t be able to satisfy. I like Jimmy Dean sausages too, but can’t get them here, only in the States although, in fact, I don’t remember seeing any when we were in NC during the summer. We get some reasonably good sausages locally, but not like the English ones I used to buy at my local butcher’s. Oh well, hope the craving passes off soon. I used to like it when some of the sausage meat crept out of the ends and became crispy on the outside, yum.

This is a recipe intended for Thanksgiving in the States. Obviously it would make an excellent hors d’oeuvres for any occasion.

Wild Mushroom Crostini

Contributed to Food and Wine by Ford Fry

SERVINGS:8

Southern cooking is often very meat-focused, but chef Ford Fry likes to emphasize vegetables. For these crostini, he tops creamy ricotta with a mix of garlicky mushrooms and a handful of herbs.

1. 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2. Extra-virgin olive oil
3. 1/2 pound shiitake mushrooms, stems discarded and caps sliced 1/4 inch thick
4. 1/2 pound oyster mushrooms, sliced 1/2 inch thick
5. 1 shallot, thinly sliced
6. 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
7. 1/4 cup dry white wine
8. 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
9. 1 teaspoon finely chopped thyme
10. 1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley, plus more for garnish
11. Kosher salt
12. Freshly ground pepper
13. Four 1/2-inch-thick slices of rustic sourdough bread
14. 1/2 pound fresh ricotta cheese (1 cup)
15. 1/4 cup tarragon leaves
16. 1/4 cup snipped chives

1. In a large skillet, melt the butter in 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add the shiitake and cook over moderately high heat, stirring, until browned, 4 minutes. Add the oyster mushrooms and cook until softened and lightly browned, 4 minutes. Add the shallot and garlic and cook until fragrant, 2 minutes. Stir in the wine, lemon juice, thyme and the 1 tablespoon of parsley. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Light a grill or preheat a grill pan. Brush the bread with olive oil and grill until toasted and charred in spots, about 1 minute per side.
3. Spread each toast slice with 1/4 cup of the ricotta. Spoon the mushrooms on top and and sprinkle with the tarragon, chives and additional parsley. Cut the crostini in half, drizzle with olive oil and serve.

Have a great day

Bullying, Dirty Hotels. Bowling. November 11.

Isn’t it odd that as kids we used to say “Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me” and today it appears to be words, very often, which do hurt people enough to drive them to suicide, A complete about face from what we used to say, or think. I don’t really know if bullying has become much more prevalent today or just that we learn more about it. I don’t remember hearing of anyone being bullied so badly they had to end it all, when I was a youngster, did it just not happen? Did we just not hear? If its much worse today, why? I know cyber bullying didn’t exist in those days, but is that the only difference? It seems to me much of this behaviour is learned from parents in the first place. The picture was on Facebook yesterday. 

CBC Marketplace conducted a test of 54 hotel rooms in chains across Canada and have uncovered superbugs which are resistant to antibiotics. I don’t suppose, for one moment, these conditions are exclusive to Canadian hotels and similar tests in other countries would reveal similar results, but it is a pretty horrifying thought and I am quite glad I am not planning to stay in any hotel at the moment. I do sympathise a bit with the hotels themselves, they have to clean so much in such a short time and if some of the bugs are resistant to antibiotics they are certainly resistant to regular cleaning products. Its pretty scary though. There was a CBC TV programme, The Dirt on Hotels covering this topic.

How about that, I was in two minds whether to bowl or not yesterday. Decided to bowl a few frames, started getting good marks, legs felt reasonably OK and ended up having two of the best games I have had in a long while. A team member said neither of us had bowled the second game when someone asked our scores. They were something to hide. Bowling is definitely the craziest of games.

As I don’t blog on Sundays, I thought I would acknowledge Remembrance Day today. I only just learned that the poem, In Flanders Fields, was written by a Canadian. John McCrae from Guelph, Ontario (same town where I am having my surgery). It is a wonderful tribute to the dead of the first world war.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

This is a twist on a classic dish from France – the recipe below is by Jacques Pépin who is, as you may know, one of my favourite chefs.

Brandade de Morue au Gratin (Whipped Salt Cod Gratin)

Contributed by Jacques Pépin

• TOTAL TIME: 1 HR 1 MIN 24 hr soaking
• SERVINGS:8 to 10

The Provençal dish known as brandade de morue is a great example of how to elevate modest ingredients like salt cod and potatoes—in this case, by whipping them with milk, olive oil and garlic until luxuriously silky. Jacques Pépin's extra step of serving the dish au gratin (browned, with cheese on top) makes it that much more delicious.

1. 1 pound skinless salt cod fillet
2. 1 pound large red-skinned potatoes
3. 1 1/2 cups whole milk
4. 8 large garlic cloves, peeled
5. 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
6. 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
7. 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
8. 3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for the baking dish
9. Freshly ground black pepper
10. 2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
11. 2 baguettes, cut into rounds and toasted, for serving

1. Put the salt cod in a bowl and cover with 1 inch of cold water. Refrigerate for 24 hours, changing the water 4 times.
2. Put the potatoes in a large saucepan, cover with water and boil over moderately high heat until tender, about 30 minutes. Drain and let the potatoes cool to warm.
3. Meanwhile, drain the cod and transfer to a saucepan. Add 2 quarts of water; bring just to a boil. Drain the cod and rinse out the pan. Return the cod to the pan, add 4 cups of water and bring to a boil. Simmer over low heat for 5 minutes. Drain the cod and return it to the pan, add the milk and garlic and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
4. Peel the potatoes and break into chunks; transfer to a food processor. Add the cod, milk, garlic cloves, lemon zest, lemon juice and cayenne and process until smooth. With the machine on, slowly pour in the 3/4 cup of oil until incorporated. Season with black pepper.
5. Preheat the oven to 400°. Lightly oil a 9-by-13-inch baking dish and spread the brandade in the dish. Sprinkle the cheese on top. Bake on the top shelf of the oven for 20 minutes, until golden brown. Serve with toasts.

Make Ahead The assembled brandade can be refrigerated for up to 3 days. Bring to room temperature before baking.

Have a great weekend

Vascular Surgery. Nursery Rhyme. Christmas.

I mentioned my vascular surgery yesterday, I was quite staggered, I emailed the surgeon’s office, I phoned and left a message and never heard a dicky bird, then, right out of the blue, I got an email with dates, times, pre op forms, you name it. My only complaint, couldn’t fill the forms out on the PC had to do it by hand and my handwriting is for the birds. So, with any luck, I should be able to walk again in December although I was reading what I wrote last year, June 16 I discovered, and it sounds as though I had a sore leg after. You’ll be getting as fed up with our medical histories the same as everyone was getting fed up with the election advertising. I also now know when I will be going in for the pre-op. I have been trying to work out the parking. The hospital parking lot is apparently $8 however long you spend. Seems a bit expensive. It is possible for Matt to drop me off and pick me up in a special spot by another door, but it’s a 15 minutes only parking place. I guess its going to cost $8 for the pre-op. Called the hospital, they said for short term used the parking meters next to the hospital.

I heard an ad, have heard it before, on the radio where a little girl is reciting a nursery rhyme. What she says is “itsy bitsy spider”, its not itsy bitsy its incy wincy. Grrr. It really irritates me, silly I know, but….. Most nursery rhymes started as lampoons of political happenings at the time they were written. There doesn’t seem to be any actually recorded history and on the North American continent the spider seems to have been give a bunch of different names. Ah well, it will, no doubt, continue to irritate the hell out of me.

It appears that all that dust from the new bathroom floor did cause me computer problems after all, I have had my computer guy here twice over the last 24 hours working on dust problems. What a pain. It seems to be fixed now. I have also spent a large portion of today making Christmas cards and printing address labels for them. Christmas is a cumin.

I thought this looked quite delicious although it does contain a few things I personally would change, not being a vegan, nor do I personally have a problem with gluten, but I think it would be a good recipe. I have friends who are not gluten tolerant or who are vegans, in both cases this is ideal.

Vegan Pasta Pie and Basic Vegan White Sauce

By The Gluten Free Goddess
WebMD Recipe from Foodily.com

Ingredients

• 2 cups cooked gluten-free spaghetti noodles
• 2 cups vegetables for roasting: leek, mushrooms, grape tomatoes
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/2 cup gluten-free cornbread crumbs
• 6 spears fresh asparagus, trimmed
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups non-dairy milk (I used plain hemp milk)
• 1 tablespoon rice or sorghum flour
• 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• 3 tablespoons white wine
• 1/2 teaspoon prepared mustard
• 2 portions egg replacer
• pinch nutmeg
• minced onion and garlic, to taste
• dried Italian herbs: basil, thyme, oregano, parsley, to taste
• sea salt and ground pepper, to taste
• fresh chopped rosemary, to taste
• vegan white sauce, recipe follows

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly oil a deep 9-inch pie plate and set aside.
2. Slice up a leek, and mushrooms and toss them into a roasting pan. Add enough grape tomatoes to bring the amount to two heaping cups or so. Drizzle with a little olive oil. Season with sea salt and ground pepper, herbs; toss to coat. Roast in the preheated oven till tender- about 30 minutes.
3. Make the white sauce: In a sauce pan add the olive oil, non-dairy milk and flour; whisk and cook over medium heat. The flour will thicken the milk. Add in the nutritional yeast and whisk. Add the wine, mustard, nutmeg, minced onion and garlic, and stir till thickened. This is your basic vegan white sauce. Now we're going to make it a little eggy for the pie. Mix egg replacer for two eggs using warm non-dairy milk. Stir it into the white sauce.
4. When the veggies are roasted, layer the cooked pasta in the prepared pie plate. Pour in the vegan white sauce mixture and shimmy the noodles a bit to allow the sauce to seep in. Top with the roasted veggies.
5. Toss the cornbread crumbs in a drizzle of olive oil and sprinkle over the pie. Press down a bit to compact the layers. Sprinkle with chopped fresh rosemary. Arrange the uncooked asparagus spears on the top.
6. Bake in the center of the oven for 25 minutes or so, till piping hot.
7. Allow the pie to rest for 5 minutes before slicing and serving. Use a sharp knife to slice and a pie shaped spatula/server.

Have a great day

Obama Wins, More Medical Stuff, CPU Cleaning. Baby Boom.

So Obama made it. I know I and most of my Canadian friends are delighted, even the doctor's receptionist who is from Georgia, as are a number of my American friends although there are some, especially from further south, who are not too happy at all. One person I know wrote what, to me, is the most arrant nonsense. Anyway, if there are a number of Americans who didn’t want Obama again, there seem to be a large amount of people from other countries who are delighted he is still at the helm. This is one of the pictures which really appealed to me. Another was one of Big Bird celebrating. As I frequently state, I am not political, but some of the rubbish being spouted by the Romney party scared the bejasus out of me, particularly that ‘legitimate rape’ business a few months ago.

As I said yesterday, I think all we do these days is visit one doctor or another. Matt went to see his urologist who said ‘keep up the good work’ and when I complained I couldn’t get to see him for 5 months, he promised me he would see me before Christmas. He also emphasized that I should get my doctor to send a sample for a culture to see what the bacteria was resistant to because many bacteria are now resistant to antibiotics. Like why didn’t my doc. think of that before, she didn’t know this stuff? I have also arranged to get one of those walkers on which you can sit when you need to. I have no idea when I will get my vascular surgery, so I figured this type of walker would be very helpful until such time. It turns out that our insurance pays for the rental which is great. Not sure what I’ll get but this is what I mean. For instance when Matt has his op in December, I cannot walk from the parking lot into the day surgery area; he has to have someone to drive him home. Having written this paragraph I have now discovered I am going for vascular surgery on November 30th. Much sooner than I expected after everything anyone had said. I am so pleased. I guess I won't need the walker after all. I hope.

I mentioned all the dust from the floor when we had new linoleum laid a week or so ago, I ordered some compressed gas for dusting but decided to get my computer guy to come and do it for me. Apart from the pain of having to take off the tower’s case etc. etc. I might blow dust into the CPU instead of away from it. Particularly as the fan is right by the CPU. I also ordered some laptop screen cleaning stuff, don’t what’s happened to that, should chase it up later. My laptop looks like I have regularly splattered it with all kinds of stuff and I promised you I haven’t LOL. No idea how it gets so dirty, dusty I understand, dirty, no way. I had forgotten, but when I saw my computer guy crawling on the floor to check on some of the connections etc. I am very glad I asked him to come in. By the way, his wife knows me because of my recipes, not sure if she reads my blog. She must I think.

How about this, the book, Fifty Shades of Grey has been blamed for a baby boom in Windsor, Ontario. Not quite sure why just there. The local hospital delivered 80 babies in 6 days and the book came out last January. I wasn’t going to bother to read it, but maybe I should. I have heard people say they didn’t think much of it. It certainly wasn’t something that interested me. There are lots of erotic books out there anyway and I usually avoid most of them. I prefer a good story to an erotic adventure from end to end. I don’t need to read about it.

This recipe is from the South Beach Diet site – I am not sure what combination makes Pumpkin Spice, but it sounded pretty good anyway.

Pumpkin Spice Ricotta Crème

Recipe by Bippie.
I just love dessert made with ricotta cheese. I had no idea this was a South Beach Diet thing to do. Here is my favorite way to eat ricotta cheese.

Serves 2.

• 1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 (1 g) packets Splenda sugar substitute
• 1 tablespoon crushed walnuts or 1 tablespoon pecans

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients in a bowl.
   
2. Chill for about 30 minutes and serve.

Have a great day

ATM Thefts, More Medical.

News report about two guys who are systematically robbing stand alone ATM machines using an acetylene torch. They are hitting businesses all across Quebec and Southern Ontario and the police are now requesting information from the public. There is a video on this site which includes a film of the two men breaking into one of the ATM machines. They are being referred to as the torch gang. From the comments posted beneath the article it seems a lot of people are pro the robbers referring to their exploits as being similar to Robin Hood and calling the banks robbers. Whatever you think of banks, it is our money which is being stolen. I heard recently that the use of names such as the Torch Gang helps the public identify thieves and assists in their apprehension.
Sorry guys, I ate too much and tonight I am not in the mood for writing blogs, shame, shame. The friends we just visited find my blog very uninteresting anyway and can’t be bothered to read it, that hurts. Oh the pain LOL. We went to the doctor for Matt and he now has a colonoscopy scheduled for early December to which I am sure he is looking forward!! We sat in the office for an hour and a half before seeing the doctor. Thought it was a tad long. Wednesday we have more doc visits, sometimes that seems like all we do.
I think all true Englishmen (women) love Cornish Pasties, it’s a dead cert Matt and I do anyway and I just came across this variation on a theme. Sound delicious.

Chicken Cornish Pasties

Jennifer Innis' chicken Cornish pasties are a wonderfully flaky snack.
Courtesy of Food Network Canada
Yield: 12

Ingredients

Pastry

• 1 cup (250 ml) shortening
• 1/2 cup (125 ml) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups (500 ml) all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups (375 ml) whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon (5 ml) salt
• 1/2 cup (125 ml) cold water

Filling

• 2 tablespoons (25 ml) olive oil
• 1 1/2 pounds (750 g) ground chicken
• 1 cup (250 ml) diced onion
• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) minced garlic
• 1 cup (250 ml) diced celery
• 1 cup (250 ml) diced sweet red pepper
• 2 cups (500 ml) grated carrot
• 2 cups (500 ml) grated parsnip
• 2 cups (500 ml) grated peeled sweet potato
• 1 can (10 oz/284 ml) condensed cream of chicken soup
• 1 cup (250 ml) chicken stock
• 3 tablespoons (45 ml) balsamic vinegar
• 1/3 cup (75 ml) packed brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons (22 ml) chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 teaspoon (5 ml) dry mustard
• 1 teaspoon (5 ml) dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon (2 ml) salt
• 1/2 teaspoon (2 ml) freshly ground black pepper
• 1 egg, beaten

Directions

Pastry

1. In a large mixing bowl, beat together lard and butter until creamy. Add salt and mix well. In a separate bowl, combine your all-purpose and whole wheat flours together. Add the flour to the creamed fats, 1 cup at a time, scraping sides of the bowl with each addition.
2. Add the water all at once and mix evenly. Quickly form dough into a ball. Use plenty of flour when rolling out, as the dough will be quite sticky.
3. Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface. This pastry should roll out very smoothly and not fall to pieces. Knead a few times then cover with plastic wrap and chill until needed.

Filling

1. In large non-stick frying pan, heat oil over medium-high heat. Cook ground chicken, stirring to break up meat, for 8 to 10 minutes or until browned. Drain off excess fat. Stir in onion, garlic, celery and red pepper; cook for 5 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Transfer chicken mixture to a large saucepan.
2. Stir in carrot, parsnip, sweet potato, soup, chicken stock, vinegar, brown sugar, rosemary, mustard, thyme, salt and pepper. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, for 30 minutes or until liquid has absorbed and vegetables are tender. Set aside to cool before using. Makes about 6 cups (1.5 L).
3. Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Remove pastry dough from refrigerator. Divide into 12 equal portions. Form each portion into a ball. On generously floured work surface, roll one ball of dough into a 6-inch (15 cm) circle. Place 6-inch (15 cm) salad or dessert plate upside down on top of pastry circle; using small paring knife, trim excess dough away to form a perfect circle. Dust pastry circle with flour; set aside. Roll out remaining dough balls in same manner.
4. Place pastry circles on a lightly floured surface. Add ¼ cup (50 ml) chicken mixture to bottom half of one circle, leaving at least ½-inch (1 cm) bare around edge. Brush outer edge of pastry with beaten egg. Fold dough over and press edges together to seal. Crimp the straight edge of pasty with tines of a fork. Place on prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining pastry circles. Freeze remaining filling for the next time you make pasties.
5. Brush tops of pasties with remaining beaten egg. With sharp knife, pierce a vent in top of each pasty. One baking sheet at a time, bake in centre of oven for 30 minutes.

Have a great day

Bowling, Supper Invitations. Public Shame,

Monday is a bowling day of course and Matt flush from his very successful day on Friday was hoping to repeat the performance. I wasn’t with him on Friday so friends suggested he should leave me at home to improve his bowling. I don’t think so thank you. A couple of people said there were light snowflakes when we walked into the alley. I guess I had my eyes shut, I didn’t see any! When we got there the computers were down again – I do hope when they find a new alley they will install new computers, these really are the pits. Luckily shortly after we started bowling they came up again. As I had just thrown a strike I wasn’t very happy, but everyone on my team allowed me to put it into the system. I don’t throw that many strikes these days after all. I bowled an average game, Matt didn’t. However, he didn’t seem so upset this time after his Friday performance.

Today and tomorrow Matt has medical appointments, we never have time to do anything else but go to the doctor’s these days. The one today is in Cambridge, next town, so we are calling in at a friend’s house to deliver some Avon and she has invited us to stay for supper. Nice of her. Funnily enough we are also going out to supper on Saturday and then again the following Saturday we are going to the annual pigtail banquet at the Canadian Legion in Hespeler. Not something Matt is enthusiastic about as he isn’t keen on pigtails. They also serve schnitzel so that’s what he has. They always have dancing afterwards, but being a couple of old dodderers, we can’t join in. Pity, I used to love to dance. Best I can do these days is Gangnam Style and then not for long. LOL. I wish the pigtails we were going to eat were roasted rather than stewed, Matt would like those and I would prefer them. It’s a fun evening with a bunch of our friends all of who we met through bowling over the years.

It appears that India are trying to stop people from urinating or defecating in public and are recruiting people to shout, blow whistles, bang drums, anything to shame people who do this. Officials are arming people with such whistles and drums. It is incredible in this day and age that people still do that kind of thing, even in India. Although the River Ganges is one of the dirtiest in the world and certainly contains all kinds of urine and faeces. Not just human either. If you think about it, the areas where cows are considered sacred and not touched, must be covered in dung unless they remove it for fires or something like that. I am told India is a very exciting place to visit, but I am not sure, personally, I could live with the filth which is prevalent in many areas. I may be overstating the case, never having been there. Having lived in Canada so long, I would find a lot of things I remember from Europe to be a problem, let alone more exotic places like India. Maybe I’m just getting too ancient!!

I was never a big enthusiast of corn bread although I did get one recipe from a friend which I liked. Went nuts with it for a while and kind of got tired of it. However, this basically looks very similar with the addition of the pepper. Maybe I will try making some again.

Peppered Corn Bread

Source: Cooking.com
Makes one 10-inch bread
John Currence ingeniously uses both naturally low-fat buttermilk and fat-free sour cream to make his tender corn bread.

INGREDIENTS
Canola oil for brushing
2 cups stone–ground cornmeal
1/2 cup all–purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 large eggs lightly beaten
2 cups buttermilk
1/2 cup fat–free sour cream
3 tablespoons unsalted butter melted

DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 375°. Rub a 10-inch cast-iron skillet with oil; heat it in the oven.

In a bowl, whisk the cornmeal with the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and pepper. In another bowl, whisk the eggs, buttermilk, sour cream and butter, then whisk into the dry ingredients until combined.

Pour the batter into the skillet.

Bake the corn bread for about 35 minutes, until risen and golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs. Let cool for 20 minutes. Cut into wedges and serve.

Have a great day

Guy Fawkes, Laundry Savings, Saturday Dinner, Kindle Charger

I actually forgot that today is Guy Fawkes Day. Not until I read, on Facebook, of people attending bonfires and fireworks displays in the UK did I remember. In fact the first mention of fireworks I wondered why they were having them, duuuh. For those of you who don’t remember, Guy Fawkes is famous for a conspiracy to blow up the British House of Parliament (which doesn’t have a basement so not sure how they were going to do it). The British, to quote a friend, being a peaceful and forgiving nation, have been burning him in effigy ever since. I rather like this drawing I found showing Guy Fawkes thinking (plotting?). I do somewhat miss the celebrations that take place on, or around, the 5th. As kids we used to poke baking potatoes into the fire which would come out burned on one side and raw on the other, we didn’t care, we ate them anyway. Sausages were also cooked that way. You couldn’t get near enough to most of the bonfires for very long. At the yacht club, run by my parents, we used to have fish and chips for everyone too. Several times if was my job to go and collect them.

Remember, remember the 5th of November
Gunpowder, treason and plot,
I see no reason why gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot.

On Saturday Matt discovered that the dryers on our floor (we have two washers and two dryers on every floor in the building) had free showing in the money slot, nothing loath, he did some washing to make sure, then, when he was sure, he ended up doing three loads of wash. Saved us $6. I know, woman’s work, but I have trouble walking that far. He was busy that day because he also cooked dinner, we had a London Broil and a Potato and Spinach Galette. Delicious. The links are to previous blogs where I gave these recipes. We love both these recipes. I especially love the crispy potato slices on the top of the galette. Yummy. The hardest part of making it is taking the stems off the spinach leaves which I don’t think is really necessary any more, but Matt insisted so I did it. Jacques Pèpin, who’s recipe it is, says remove the stalks. However, I have been noticing a lot of recipes don’t do so, the Chinese sautéed spinach at the Mandarin doesn’t have the stems removed either. Sunday night we had cold beef and the Roasted Parsnips with Horseradish Sauce from a blog last week. We both enjoyed them even though its not Matt’s favourite vegetable. There are enough for a meal tonight with some more beef.

I just bought a charger for my Kindle. It does come with one, but that has to be plugged into a computer, this one I just ordered, can be plugged into any power outlet. Its called a Home Wall Travel Charger and is actually suitable for several ereaders. I bought mine from Amazon.ca but I am sure Amazon.com have them as well. I paid $2.75 flat. Pretty good deal I thought.

This is a somewhat different recipe. Don’t be put off by some of the ingredients, they taste very good. I like seaweed properly prepared, very tasty. Used a lot in sushi rice for instance. I thought the recipe looked quite refreshing.

Cucumber and Daikon Radish Salad with Hijiki

By The Nourished Kitchen
WebMD Recipe from Foodily.com

Ingredients

• 1 large cucumber
• 1/4 cup dried hijiki (seaweed)
• 4 small daikon radishes (or 1 large radish)
• 2 red scallions
• 2 tablespoons gomasio (Japanese Sesame Salt)
• Asian-style ginger vinaigrette to dress the salad or plain tamari

Instructions

1. Soak the dried hijiki in water for ten minutes, then boil it for fifteen minutes. Drain the seaweed and reserve it.
2. Now, slice the cucumber. Peel and slice the daikon radishes. I like to use a spiral slicer for this dish, but it’s far from necessary. Mince the scallion. Mix all the vegetables together with the sesame salt and dress the salad very lightly with either an Asian-style ginger vinaigrette or with a touch of plain tamari. Basically soy sauce.

Have a great day

NaNoWriMo, DST, Yoghurt.

Its NaNoWriMo this month as many of you are aware. Talking to a friend about it on Facebook and saying I had never really tried writing a book, she said didn’t I have dreams or ever think ‘What if’? I guess I do but had never considered them in the light of writing a story. I actually have very vivid dreams at night sometimes they seem like great adventure stories, but have never had the discipline to write them down in the morning and of course, they mostly slip away fast except for the horrid ones. I am sure its all her fault that I had one of those last night. It would have made a good story except I have no thoughts on where it would have gone to if I hadn’t woken up. As for day dreams, winning a lottery and being in good health would be prominent. I can’t really imagine anything in those dreams out of which to make a story. I just don’t have the right kind of imagination it seems. As for “What ifs”, I leave those to my favourite sci fi readers who seem to cover most of my ideas in that direction. So, no, I don’t think I will be writing a novel.

If I did win a lottery I could afford to go to the States and get instant treatment with a few of my problems. The waiting is one of the drawbacks of our free health system.

This weekend we put our clocks back. In England they have already done it. This whole system was introduced during the war years (WWII) as daylight savings time, I am not perfectly sure why we still do it. Its always a pain to have to go round and set all the clocks, it’s the one time I realise we have so many time pieces, some are easier than others. It has been bugging me that our VCR Timer is an hour out compared to the Digital Box on the TV (no idea what the proper name is) so that will be corrected this weekend. I was too lazy to do the VCR, we don’t use it much any more even though we have lots of VHS movies. This picture has been all over Facebook this week so I thought I would use it too. I’m not sure how many of us will be getting up at 2 a.m. to change our clocks though, I certainly won’t. Will have done most of them before we go to bed with the exception of the car which will be done next time we use it.  Luckily, being retired, it doesn’t have a lot of meaning to us. Not that I remember being much affected by it when we were working. I have heard all kinds of advice this week on how to cope with the change, sorry, to me that’s nonsense, I have been involved in DST for maybe 70 years and we never made any fuss about it, as with so many things, we just got on and did it.

Because I have been on so many antibiotics lately the pharmacist suggested I should take a probiotic yoghurt. so I  tried out a few different ones, some I found way too sweet, some of the others way too sour. I ended up with Danone’s Activia. That’s the one Jamie Lee Curtis advertises. She’s right, its good. I buy the plain unsweetened one and find it delicious. Thanks Jamie Lee, I agree.

Here is a good way of eating a green vegetable if you have anyone in your home who is reluctant to do so.

Kale and Potato Hash

Source: Eating Well

4 servings, 1/2 cup each

Serve as a side with a steak or pork chops or set a poached egg on top for a hearty breakfast or brunch.

RECIPE INGREDIENTS

8 cups torn kale leaves (about 1/2 large bunch; see Tip)

2 tablespoons horseradish

1 medium shallot, minced

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups cooked shredded potatoes (see Ingredient note)

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

A 1- to 1 1/2-pound bunch of kale yields 16 to 24 cups of chopped leaves.When preparing kale for these recipes, remove the tough ribs, chop or tear the kale as directed, then wash it--allowing some water to cling to the leaves. The moisture helps steam the kale during the first stages of cooking.

Ingredient Note: Fresh, partially cooked, shredded potatoes for hash browns can be found in the refrigerated produce section and sometimes in the dairy section of most supermarkets. Alternatively, boil potatoes until they can just be pierced with a fork but are not completely tender. Let cool slightly, then shred.

DIRECTIONS

Place kale in a large microwave-safe bowl, cover and microwave until wilted, about 3 minutes. Drain, cool slightly, and finely chop.

Meanwhile, mix horseradish, shallot, pepper and salt in a large bowl. Add the chopped kale and potatoes; stir to combine.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the kale mixture, spread into an even layer and cook, stirring every 3 to 4 minutes and returning the mixture to an even layer, until the potatoes begin to turn golden brown and crisp, 12 to 15 minutes total.

Have a great weekend

Hallowe’en Comments, Authors and Cons.

People have been commenting on Hallowe’en and what the kids were like the other night, which made me think about when we first came to Canada, 37 years ago last month, just before Hallowe’en. We knew little or nothing about it but did pick up the fact that kids would come to the door for treats. We bought a bunch of candies and having no idea how many kids would turn up, ran out very quickly, we had a few apples on hand and gave those out (were told that was a no no later) and then Matt would go to the door and say sorry to the callers but we had just arrived in Canada and didn’t know much about it. We were both much impressed when a tiny tot turned round and said something like “that’s alright and welcome to Canada, I hope you enjoy it”. Out of the mouths of babes….. As for the apples, apparently some charming people had been known to insert razor blades into apples before giving them out with the result that apples were always suspect. Its unbelievable what some people will do.

Oh woe is me, Brandon Sanderson, one of my very favourite authors, is going to be at book signing in Markham, Ontario this weekend. Sadly there is no way I could drive all the way there just for a book signing. He is also going to be at the World Fantasy Convention too. I had never even heard that that was taking place, I would have given my eye teeth to go to that but it is somewhat expensive and is also sold out. Oh well, unless my fairy godmother pops down the chimney (not that we have one) I guess I am out of luck. Excuse me while I cry in my beer; coffee actually. He looks so young to have written as much as he has. He has completed the Wheel of Time series, the last book comes out in January although I have just discovered a prologue on Amazon.com By Grace and Banners Fallen which I purchased for my Kindle. I have another book of his waiting for me at the library, The Emperor’s Soul. I have suddenly got a lot of stuff to read all at once.

Here is a somewhat unusual recipe from Mushrooms Canada, we occasionally have vegetable stuffed mushrooms, but this is a new one on me.

Cranberry Stuffed Mushrooms

by Louisa Clements of Living Lou

Ingredients

12 white button mushrooms

60 g (1/4 cup) fresh cranberries, chopped

15 g (1 tbsp) butter

olive oil for pan

1 medium sausage link

1 clove garlic, chopped

15 g (1 tbsp) white wine

60 g (1/4 cup) goats cheese

60 g (1/4 tsp) dried sage

11 mL (3/4 tsp) maple syrup

salt and pepper to taste

15 g (1 tbsp) parmesan

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Dice 6 of the mushroom stems, discarding the remaining 6.3. In a pan, melt butter over med-low heat. Add cranberries and cook for 3-4 minutes. Add the mushroom stems and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Remove from pan and allow to cool in bowl.
4. In the same pan, turn up the heat to med-high and add a little olive oil to coat the pan. Next, add the garlic and sausage meat. Cook and crumble until sausage is fully cooked.
5. Leaving the sausage meat in the pan, add the white wine, scraping up all the brown bits on the bottom.6. Turn off heat and add the cranberry and mushroom mixture back into the pan. Add in the goats cheese, sage and maple syrup. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Allow goats cheese to melt then stir together to combine all of the ingredients.
7. Spoon the mixture into the mushrooms and bake in the oven for 15 minutes.8. After the 15 minutes, remove from oven and sprinkle with Parmesan. Return to oven and bake for another 5-7 minutes.

Have a great day

Logic, Canned Pie, Reading.

This is a bit ridiculous, because we had a new toilet installed, we needed new flooring. The flooring guy came yesterday and had to remove the toilet to place the linoleum. However, after quite a long while, it was finally done. The floor looks really good, like stone tiles, and the toilet is back in place. Mind you the place was covered in dust because he had put something on the floor and then later ground it. Place was filthy.  Not quite the same as the picture, but very similar.

Had a memory brought back yesterday, a friend on Facebook mentioned he was having Fray Bentos steak and kidney pie for his evening meal. My first husband loved those although I was never keen. Preferred to make my own. But it took me back more than 40 years when I used to prepare them for him. Don’t know if this picture is the same, he talked about a complete meal, the ones I remember you still had to make a vegetable.  Should get myself some beef kidney – haven’t bought any in a long while.

I just finished the last book in Trudi Canavan’s Traitor Spy trilogy, Traitor Queen. I enjoyed it but I found it rather hard going because the point of view changed so frequently in each chapter. The usual thing, you just got interested in character a when you had to change to character b and so on. In this case there were so many POVs it was almost dizzying. You notice the person in a cloak once more. I am not sure who is designing these covers, but they are getting somewhat boring, there have been so many guys in cloaks, either blowing in the wind or just disguising the face as in this cover. I have now started re-reading Elizabeth Moon’s The Legacy of Gird which is part of her Pak’s World books. I’ve really been enjoying these again and as I keep saying, wish I could get them as ebooks.

Roasted Parsnips

Simply Recipes

Posted by Elise on Dec 8, 2009

Recently I had the pleasure of attending a fabulous class, taught by and in the home of local cooking maestra Evie Lieb. In the class we covered many dishes, but my favorite was the Roasted Parsnips with Horseradish-Herb Butter. I love these parsnips! Note to those who run from horseradish - try it anyway. I can't distinguish the horseradish from the flavors of the parsnips and butter, and neither could my parents until I told them what was in it. The flavors of the ingredients are a perfect complement to each other.

 

Note that parsnips at the end of the season (February vs. November) can have a woodier center, which no amount of cooking can soften. If this is the case with your parsnips, you might want to cut some of the center part out and discard before cooking.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds of parsnips, peeled and cut into 2 1/2 inch batons
• 4 teaspoons of extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1/3 cup of stock - turkey stock, low-sodium chicken stock or vegetable broth (for vegetarian option)*
• 3 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
• 4 teaspoons drained, bottled horseradish (how to make homemade horseradish)
• 1/2 Tbsp finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 1/2 Tbsp minced chives
• 1/2 small garlic clove, minced.

*If cooking gluten-free, use homemade stock or gluten-free packaged broth.

Method

1 Pre-heat oven to 400°F. In a large roasting pan, toss the parsnips with the olive oil, salt and pepper. (Use a roasting pan with sides no more than 2 inches high.) Add the broth, cover with aluminum foil and roast, stirring once or twice, until the parsnips are tender and the stock has evaporated or been absorbed, 20-45 minutes (depending on how tender the parsnips are to begin with). Check often to avoid their getting mushy - especially if they are to be reheated later.

2 Combine the softened butter with the horseradish, parsley, chives and garlic and season with salt and pepper. Toss the warm roasted parsnips with the horseradish-herb butter and serve.

3 The parsnips (with the oil, salt, pepper, and broth) can be pre-cooked in a covered container in the microwave for 5 minutes. Transfer to oven to finish cooking in a much shorter time. You may want to uncover them to help evaporate the liquid when in the oven.

Yield: Serves 4.

Have a great day