Slavery, Trafficking, Epidemic, Books.

Viveka the Swedish blogger of My Guilty Pleasures wrote a shocking blog on Saturday, Stolen People, Stolen Dreams which was principally about trafficking in human lives for slavery, particularly sex exploitation. She quotes some pretty horrifying statistics and because its one of those things we know about but push to the backs of our minds, I thought I would pass the link on so other people can read what she has to say. As she said, all kinds of euphemisms are used, but it is still slavery. Nor, as Viveka says, is this restricted to third world or non-Western countries. An estimated 2.5 million people are in forced labour (including sexual exploitation) at any given time. Do read what Viveka writes.

I am usually advocating preventing exotic animal trafficking. When it comes down to it, it doesn’t matter who or what is being trafficked, its wrong and we should do all we can to stop it. Viveka names some movies which give a good take on what is happening.

Its been raining or drizzling all weekend which has just about got rid of all our snow. It has been warm all over the place these last few days, but winter is due back soon. Not only is the weather miserable at the moment but there is a flu epidemic in the States. They are urging people to get the flu shot saying its not too late. At $25 a head, I suspect a lot of people can’t afford it. At least $25 is what they charge in the area of Emerald Isle, NC where we go on vacation. The shots were available last September I noticed. Luckily flu shots are free for us in Canada. I realise the picture is really about swine flu, but I thought it was rather cute.

I have just finished Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance by Lois McMaster Bujold. A recent addition to her Miles Vorkosigan stories. I enjoyed it. Miles doesn’t actually appear very much'; this book is basically about his cousin Ivan Vaz Vorpatril.  As with every book I have red by this author, its great and in some parts very funny. Ivan gets himself into some scrapes which are funny after the event. If you enjoy her books, I can certainly recommend this one. I actually think I missed the book before this one so have ordered it from the library. I have also ordered the first book of her new series which I haven’t tried yet. The Curse of Chalion. Now I see on Amazon there is another series, guess I am a bit behind on her writing.

Some of my cooking friends and I are planning to do a Dinner Around the World night on February 2. Our theme is going to be Italian. Its fun, whatever country we happen to be in, we will prepare more or less the same dishes on the same date and sometimes have friends to dine with us. We then post pictures. We have done this several times, but not for the last couple of years. Thinking of Italian dishes, I remembered this classic one which might sound an odd combination of flavours, but is quite delicious. The first time I ever ate this was at the christening of my goddaughter who’s father was an Italian chef and restaurateur.

Vitello Tonnato

By Kyle Phillips, About.com

It takes a while to make but is well worth it. To serve 6-8 you will need:

Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 pounds(1 k) boned veal, cut from the rump.
• 3/4 pound (320 g) tuna packed in oil
• 3 eggs
• 6 salted anchovies (the canned variety, sold by delicatessens)
• A handful of pickled capers
• 1/2 cup (approx.) olive oil
• 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
• A bottle of dry white wine
• The juice of a lemon
• A rib of celery, thinly sliced crosswise
• A few leaves of sage
• 2 bay leaves
• 3 cloves (some people omit these)
• Salt
• A few more perfect capers, some lemon slices, and sprigs of parsley for garnishing

Preparation:

Put the meat in a bowl with the bay leaves, cloves, sage and celery, and pour the wine over it. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for 24 hours, turning the meat occasionally. The next day place the meat in a Dutch oven. Strain the wine and add it to the meat, then add enough water to cover. Lightly salt the pot and simmer the meat for an hour. In the meantime, wash, scale and bone the anchovies. When the hour is up add them to the pot and continue boiling for another half hour; the liquid should be reduced by half.
Hard boil the eggs, run them under cold water, peel them, and extract the yolks (you can discard or fill the whites as you prefer). Rinse, squeeze dry, and mince the capers.
When the meat is fork-tender remove it from the pot and strain the broth into a bowl. Transfer the fish filets to a clean strainer and press them through it, together with the tuna and the yolks, into another bowl. Stir in the minced capers, the vinegar, the lemon juice and the olive oil, and then dilute the sauce to your taste with some of the reserved broth.
When the veal has cooled slice it finely and lay the slices out on one or more platters (you want just one layer). Spread the sauce over the meat, garnish the platters with the lemon slices, capers and parsley. Cover them with plastic wrap and chill them in the refrigerator before serving.

Have a great day

Bowling, Movies.

How things change, Friday a week ago I bowled up a storm, Monday I did the same thing, yesterday I bowled like a man with no arms. Boy does that ever tee me off. It wasn’t just one bad game, it was 3 although the middle game I did get close to my average. Ah well, Monday is another day. Matt won’t be able to bowl Monday as he is having the skin around his eyes stitched up so I think he will be resting up for a while. No not cosmetic.

Had you asked me I would have sworn that I had seen The Shawshank Redemption, but Friday night we watched it on TV and I remembered nothing of the movie at all. Morgan Freeman was wonderful, but then what wasn’t he wonderful in? I have just discovered that the report of his death last year was a hoax, I really believed he had died. What weird things people do. According to the report, its not the first time this has happened to him. I guess the first time I really registered Morgan Freeman was in Driving Miss Daisy which was a wonderful movie and I suppose the one I just saw was probably just as old.

Well, its pretty late at night now, so this is only a short blog and then I’m off to bed.

The recipe following reminds me of one we often do, taking a nice summer tomato, cutting it in half and sprinkling it with olive oil, basil, salt and pepper and sometimes a little garlic. You then put it under the broiler until done. We usually are grilling something like pork chops when we do this. Delicious.

Baked Parmesan Tomatoes

WebMD Recipe from EatingWell.com

A sprinkle of Parmesan and a drizzle of olive oil transform tomatoes into the perfect side dish. Or try sandwiching them between slices of your favorite whole-wheat country bread.

Ingredients

• 4 tomatoes, halved horizontally
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
• 1 teaspoon fresh oregano, chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

• freshly ground pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 450° F.
2. Place tomatoes cut-side up on a baking sheet. Top with Parmesan, oregano, salt and pepper. Drizzle with oil. Bake until the tomatoes are tender, about 15 minutes.

Have a great weekend

Medical, Supper, Reading.

Isn’t this nice, I go to the doc on Thursday and am told I still have a serious infection even though I have had this problem since August. I am about to start my 9th antibiotic although I do have an appointment with a urologist next week. In the morning I had to go for a follow up ultrasound after my angioplasty last November. I was talking to the young woman who did the ultrasound, turns out she is from Syria, has been here 10 years and was a doctor in her homeland but cannot afford the time (she has young kids) to go back to school in Canada in order to certify as a doctor here. Mentioned it to my doctor and she said she was going to offer her a job because she could employ such qualified people as assistants. Wonder if she will take it?

Still on the medical scene, I was given two prescriptions both of which, it turned out, needed some code from my doctor before the government would pay for them. The doctor put one code on, but not the other. When I gave the prescription to the pharmacy they faxed the doctor’s office to get the code. I phoned the doctor’s office twice and was assured they would be faxing the info back. In the end, Matt had to go and get the one pill which we had to pay $31 for – they will refund most of it once they get the fax. I can’t believe this happened – especially after speaking to the doctor’s staff on two occasions.

I finished my book The Art Forger which I mentioned the other day, I really enjoyed it, I now know a lot about art forging too. I had quite decided it would end in such and such a way and it turned out I was wrong. I am now reading Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance by Lois McMaster Bujold. Set in the same world as the Miles Vorkosigan stories. Seems quite good so far. I have always enjoyed the Vorkosigan books although I am sorry Miles is not the hero of this one.

One thing, our doctor being in the same town as the Scottish Bakery, I dropped in there and got some more Cornish Pasties. We had two for supper and I threw together a Caesar salad with a dressing recipe I got from an office colleague years ago and which has since become my most favourite Caesar dressing. Didn’t have any croutons, mainly because I went off them years ago, always used to make my own and then freeze a bunch. So Matt had to go without I’m afraid. Making croutons is very easy if you have never done it, you just toast some bread, cut it into small pieces and then fry it in olive oil. If you want to sprinkle the croutons with seasoning such as garlic salt, you can do so although I never bothered.

Picky was the nickname of the colleague.

Picky's Caesar Salad Dressing

1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup Italian dressing
1 egg yolk
2 tsp lemon juice
6 dashes Tabasco
2 tsp wine vinegar
4 tsp Parmesan
dash pepper and salt
2 crushed garlic cloves
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp anchovy paste

1. Mix all ingredients in a bowl - store in fridge if required. Cut up Romaine, add dressing, croutons and bacon bits. Toss and serve.

Have a great day

Beginnings Blogfest, Internet, Dieting.

I’m a day late but I hope not a dollar short. I began my blogging journey in October 2007 with the fond hope that I could make a few bucks out of it. I had been to a seminar which had given me a few ideas so I thought I would put them into practice. Needless to say, it didn’t work. Although I had Adsense for a while, they eventually abandoned me, they obviously didn’t like what I did. I don’t know what happens because another friend who had been publishing an ezine for years with ads by Adsense was also suddenly dropped – he didn’t know why either. In his case his ezine was his only source of income, so he wasn’t too happy. I still carry ads, Amazon for instance, but I have never earned a penny from them.

It turned out, though, that I like writing a blog. I have written one almost every day since I started although I stopped posting on Sundays. I have astonished myself by how much I have written in the last few years and how many recipes I have found and tried in that time as well. Of course my first blog was about me. I thought about writing more about me, but I would imagine anyone who has been with my blog for a while knows as much about me as I do myself. Not only that if you were to follow the link on my profile, you would find out a lot of stuff.

Right now I am wasting my time writing anything as I cannot get on the internet, once again. At least we still have phone service. Now, though, when I call the ISP I get “we’re sorry all circuits are busy now” earlier, before Jeopardy! which I watch no matter what, I was waiting for half an hour. Once again they seem to be having phone problems at their end as well. Its enough to drive one gaga. I can’t do anything, let alone post a blog. Finally the internet came back on around 11:15. I was just about to pack it in and go to bed.
Having decided to try and lose a few pounds, although I need to lose more than a few, I signed up with FitDay where you can enter what you eat every day to keep track of the calories you consume. You can also add foods that they don’t have on their lists. I’ve been using it for a couple of days now. It is quite comprehensive, you can add your moods and your exercise amongst other things you can do on the site. Still got lots to explore. I got a bit fed up with all the ads on the free page so I upgraded for $4 something a month. I might say Weight Watchers used to charge $22 a month for their online membership. May well be more these days. WebMD offer a similar programme, but I entered a load of stuff, didn’t use it for a while and when I went back it was all gone so I was a bit teed off.

Talking of Weight Watchers this is a favourite recipe of theirs which we enjoy now and again. Another recipe with beans. No picture, but this is a nice one of a pork tenderloin.

Pork and Black Beans
Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook
If you like, use turkey breast instead of the pork
Makes 4 servings

2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp hot paprika
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp salt
5 oz. lean pork tenderloin
1 tsp EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
2 Tbs white vinegar
One 15 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 carrot, finely diced (we shred it)
2 tbs fresh lime juice
1/2 tomato, diced
1 red onion, chopped
2 tbs chopped cilantro

In a small bowl, combined the garlic, paprika, cumin and salt; rub into the pork.
In a medium nonstick skillet, heat the oil. Sauté the pork until browned, 2-3 minutes on each side. Reduce the heat and cook, covered, turning occasionally, until cooked through, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a plate. Halve the pork lengthwise, then cut crosswise into thin slices.

Add the vinegar to the pan drippings and simmer, stirring*, until the acidity cooks off, about 2 minutes. Add the beans, carrot and lime juice; cook, tossing, about 1 minute. Transfer to a medium bowl. Add the pork, tomato, onion and cilantro; toss to combine.

* If you aren’t careful and breathe in the fumes, it can knock your head off.

Have a great day

Jeopardy!, Travel Insurance, The Art Forger,

Last night I took the Jeopardy! Test. They don’t tell you how you did, they just call you or don’t call you. I have no doubt there are hundreds, if not thousands, of people doing these tests. I know I can answer a lot of the questions, but I don’t kid myself that I would ever be fast enough on the button to be a winner, but I would like to get through to the next round for my own personal satisfaction. I’d like to meet Alex Trebek too. However, I didn’t do all that well after all. Not as well as last time and I wasn’t called then. I was a bit teed off that the programme Jeopardy! which we watch faithfully every night, ends at 8 and the test started at 8, but in fact I managed to watch the whole programme and the test didn’t start til a couple of minutes later.

The book I was telling you about the other day, The Art Forger by Barbara Shapiro, is proving to be much better than I expected. In fact quite exciting. I had to persuade myself to stop in order to do my blog. I even recommended it to my sinlaw the painter, I thought he would enjoy it. I have no idea where the story is heading at the moment but it has become quite tense. I am also learning a lot about painting, I had no idea there was so much involved in oils. I did some oil painting myself once, many years ago, and obviously had no idea what I was doing, I just painted. I didn’t layer the paints or anything. I kind of want to try again, although I know I won’t. Gives me more of an appreciation for Michael’s work although he doesn’t stick to oil by any manner of means.

A B.C. couple were hit with huge medical bills recently. They had taken out travel health insurance, but once it came time to foot the bills, the insurance company insisted they hadn’t told the truth. The couple said the mistakes were honest ones and insisted they hadn’t been trying to falsify their information. From reading the original article, I think they hadn’t totally understood a couple of the questions which gave the insurance company an out. Now there is advice on how to avoid travel insurance pitfalls – I feel so sorry for this couple because I have no doubt they paid a high premium and believed they were fully covered. They both fell ill and in neither case was it something they had had before.

I love beets or beetroots as they are/were always called in the UK. Matt isn’t so keen on them. I thought this salad looked delicious.

Triple Beet Salad With Basil and Olive Oil

By The Nourished Kitchen
WebMD Recipe from Foodily.com

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds mixed beets (Chioggia, golden, white, red etc.), peeled and diced
• 2 cups chopped mixed basil (Violetta, Genovese, cinnamon etc.)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 tablespoons unrefined extra virgin olive oil
• 2 teaspoons raw apple cider vinegar

Instructions

1. Steam the beets over rapidly boiling water until they become tender, about five minutes or so. If using multiple varieties, note that the red beets will stain the other varieties so you may wish to steam them separately.
2. Once tender, immediately plunge the steamed beets into a bowl of ice water, allowing them to chill until completely cool.
3. Drain the beets, patting them or spinning them dry as necessary.
4. Combine the drained beets with chopped basil, minced garlic.
5. Dress with vinegar and olive oil. Serve cold.

Have a great day

Downton Abbey, Dieting, Bowling, Books.

I just love Downton Abbey. The first two hours on Sunday night were, to me, rivetting. I was totally wrong about Shirley MacLaine’s character coming to the rescue so we will see what happens as the season progresses. Lord Grantham lost his money on Canadian railroads, I even looked it up to see if I could tell whether they made a recover from near bankruptcy so that the money came back to the Crawley family. I couldn’t really tell though. I guess I will just have to wait and see what happens. A blogging friend in the UK has already seen the series. Part of me is envious, part of me is looking forward to seeing the rest. Bit like the Jordan book Memory of Light coming out today, I want it now, the anticipation is going to kill me.

I was just reading a blog about the Whole 30 diet which may, or may not work, for the blogger writing about it. My problem with many diets over on this side of the pond is that I basically eat like a European so that a lot of the things recommended for meals are not things I would even consider eating or want to make for myself. I did somewhat over indulge during the Christmas period so I need to do something, but I think that will basically be ‘eating sensibly’. I was even good at the bowling alley – somebody had a birthday and brought chocolates and I did not have one. It impressed the hell out of me, (grin).

Talking of the bowling alley, I had three good games again which also impressed me. Long may it last. I also spent a lot of time correcting the computer scores which were coming up with all kinds of weird things. “They” say these computers are working properly and will no doubt be transferring them to the new alley. Heaven forefend!!

I have just started a new book called The Art Forger by Barbara Shapiro. Its based on the fact of the major art heist in 1990 which took place in Boston when 13 top notch paintings by well known artists were stolen and nothing has ever been heard of them since. Despite all leads and suspicions, not a trace of them has turned up. I guess someone has them in a private room for personal viewing. Or they have been smuggled to somewhere nobody visits. The book has started off by the heroine being asked to forge paintings, at the moment I don’t know what and for whom. What I have read seems pretty good.

Funnily enough, when we came back from bowling I saw an ad about chili and my taste buds perked up so I started throwing stuff together to make one. Not very authentic as I didn’t have any red beans. Then I looked in my inbox and what did I find, a chili recipe. They talk about the Chili cookoff in Texas, there is quite a big one in North Carolina near where we used to live. One friend participates every year. Some of those chilis are VERY hot and spicy and their recipes are all secret.

Big Bend Texas-Style Chili

Source: Beef for All Seasons

Serves 6

The saying goes that there are as many chili recipes in Texas as there are Texans; why, even LBJ, the late president, had his own favorite recipe. There are many schools of thought when it comes to the subject of chili. Some purists favor chopped beef, others ground beef, as here; some swear by kidney beans, others dismiss them as an adulteration! Whatever their preferences, chili fans should know that every fall in Terlingua, a hamlet nestled in the mountainous Big Bend area of southwestern Texas, a national chili cookoff is held that arouses considerable passions. Grizzled old hands and aspiring cooks alike converge on the area from all quarters and enjoy one another's company as well as the world-class chili.
INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons olive oil

5 garlic cloves, minced

2 onions, diced

1 1/2 pounds lean high-quality ground beef

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons pure red chili powder

4 Roma tomatoes (about 8 ounces), blanched, peeled, and diced

1/2 cup tomato paste

1/2 cup beef stock

1 cup dark beer

2 tablespoons cider vinegar

3/4 teaspoon ground cumin

2 teaspoons minced oregano

1/4 cup minced parsley

1 can (15 ounces) red kidney beans, drained

4 ounces crumbled goat cheese, for garnish

DIRECTIONS

FOR THE CHILI:
Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan. Add the garlic and onions, and sauté over medium-high heat for 5 minutes. Add the beef and sauté for 7 to 8 minutes longer, while stirring frequently, or until the beef is well browned on all sides. Season with salt and pepper, stir in the chili powder, and cook for 2 minutes more. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, beef stock, beer, vinegar, cumin, oregano, and parsley, and stir well to combine.

Bring to a simmer, turn down the heat to low, and cook, covered, for 45 minutes. Add the beans and cook for 15 minutes longer, stirring occasionally. Ladle into serving bowls and sprinkle with the goat cheese.

WINE RECOMMENDATION:
Since this dish contains dark beer, consider using the same beer as a beverage. A lighter style of red wine such as a Beaujolais or Italian Bardolino will also work well with this flavors.

HELPFUL TIPS:
Most chili dishes actually taste better the next day, after the flavors have had time to marinate and marry. You can use black beans instead of kidney beans if you prefer, or a mixture of the two

Have a great day

Bowling, Snow, Downton, Taxes.

Today is our first day of Monday Senior’s League bowling after the holidays, I hope I do as well as on Friday.

Sunday it snowed on an off all day. Enough to cover the snow already in place, but not enough to cover the bare roads and driveways which will please the homeowners and drivers. People actually have the nerve to walk on the snow in the park and spoil its pristine beauty, how dare they!! Actually I would think it would be quite difficult to walk in the snow at the moment. Dogs don’t have a problem, but humans do as it is several inches deep.

Downton Abbey begins its third season on Sunday night. At the time of writing I haven’t watched it but some of the cast were interviewed on Good Morning America so I do know that his Lordship loses all his money which makes me assume that the reason her Ladyship’s mom, played by Shirley MacLaine, comes into the picture is that she has been asked to rescue the Crawley family financially. After all that’s why his Lordship took an American wife in the first place although they apparently fell in love at some point way before the series started; except in season 2 he was open to a bit of an affair with one of the maids. When I saw them being interviewed, I had no trouble recognising the men but the women looked so different from their parts I would never have realised if they hadn’t posted a picture of each character as they were interviewed.

Came across an article about Gérard Dépardieu, the French actor, who has now been granted Russian citizenship – he has left France because of the proposed tax on millionaires amounting to 75% of their income. I don’t blame him, I would have skedaddled too. I personally don’t believe in taxing the rich disproportionately just because they have more money. Where is the incentive to achieve if all you are going to end up with is huge taxes. The rich will always be in a position to “bugger off” if necessary. In Russia there is a flat rate tax of 13%. In the picture he is holding up his new passport and is dressed in local costume.

There used to be a café in Emerald Isle, NC, which served custard ice cream, which I loved, and a seven layer chocolate cake, which I also loved. Always had trouble deciding which one to choose. Sadly they closed down a few years ago. The following recipe makes me think of their cake.

Mile-High Chocolate Layer Cake

Source: Casual Cuisines of the World - Diner

Makes one 3-layer, 9-inch cake; serves 10

With a typically American love of exaggeration, any multilayered cake might be dubbed "mile-high." But watch the expressions when this towering cake is presented, and the name will seem perfectly fitting. Rich and crumbly on the inside and covered with dense frosting, it's a chocolate lover's delight.
INGREDIENTS

For Cake:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

4 oz unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped

3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 3/4 cups sugar

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup milk

For Frosting:

2 cups heavy cream

15 oz semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

1/3 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS

Preheat an oven to 350 degrees. Butter three 9-inch cake pans.

FOR CAKE: In a bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, salt and baking powder. Set aside. In the top pan of a double boiler or a heatproof bowl set over (not touching) simmering water in a pan, melt the chocolate, stirring until smooth. Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer set on medium speed, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 3-5 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Then add the cooled chocolate and the vanilla and mix until blended. Reduce the speed to low and beat in the flour mixture in three batches, alternating with the milk and beginning and ending with the flour.

Divide the batter evenly among the prepared pans. Tap them on a countertop to rid the batter of any air pockets. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of each cake comes out clean, 25-30 minutes. Transfer to racks and let cool in the pans for 15 minutes, then invert the cakes onto the racks to cool completely.

FOR FROSTING: In a heavy saucepan over high heat, bring the cream to a boil. Remove from the heat and add the chocolate, butter and vanilla, stirring constantly until both the chocolate and butter are melted and the mixture is smooth. Place the pan in the refrigerator and stir every 15 minutes. The frosting will begin to set after about 50 minutes and will be quite thick. Check every 5 minutes near this point for a spreadable consistency. (If the frosting becomes too thick, let stand at room temperature, stirring occasionally, until it softens to a spreadable consistency.)

TO ASSEMBLE: Place 1 cake layer, flat side up, on a 12-inch cake plate. Spread the top with one-fourth of the frosting. Place the second cake layer, flat side up, on top of the first, and flatten gently with your hand. Spread the top of the second layer with one-third of the remaining frosting. Place the third layer, flat side up, on top and again flatten gently. Frost the top and sides of the cake quickly, using all of the remaining frosting. Using a flat-edged knife or icing spatula, make quick movements to create swirls on the top and sides of the cake. Let stand for about 1 hour to set the frosting, then serve at room temperature.

Have a great day

Bowling, Weather, Nian.

Much to my surprise, having had so many days away, I bowled really well yesterday and was pleased with myself. Matt did too which was a good thing. Actually had a good afternoon, nothing really hurt for a change. It is always great when you play a sport well, I only wish it happened more often.

They keep forecasting snow, but so far we haven’t had any more. Not that I am complaining you understand. At least we are not having the dreadful weather that the UK has been having for months, a friend in northern England says the ground is so wet the rain just runs off it any more. In some areas they have had flooding and people have lost their livelihoods because of so much water. The weather is not helping on the east Coast of the States either, some friends took 4 days to travel to Florida because the roads were iced up so badly. God help those still feeling the effects of Hurricane Sandy.

Had an email yesterday telling me the Mandarin, our favourite Chinese restaurant, will be celebrating Chinese New Year from January 14 to February 24. This year, it is the year of the Snake. The restaurant will be having their dumpling festival and as I love dumplings I will certainly be there. They have different foods this year from last year, pity, they did an ice cream I loved. This year they have ginger ice cream. I just picked up this cute little story from their email.

Chinese New Year evolved from a mythical creature called "Nian" which means "year" in Chinese. This creature would go to the village every year to consume all of the villagers' food and livestock. If there was not enough supply, it would even consume people! Soon the villagers discovered that Nian was afraid of the colour red and of loud noises. Thus, every year, villagers would dress in red, use red decorations such as red scrolls, and light firecrackers to scare Nian away. Ever since then, Nian has disappeared and never returned. This representation of Nian is red anyway!!!

Tonight we have having the Spicy Pork Tenderloin for which I gave the recipe yesterday, we thought it looked good enough to eat. This recipe below looked really colourful and is something I often do with collards but I guess any greens would do, kale would certainly work well. I always use olive oil for health reasons.

Sautéed Greens with Garlic

By The Nourished Kitchen
WebMD Recipe from Foodily.com

Ingredients

• 2 bunches greens
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1  shallot
• 1  dried red pepper
• 1 teaspoon ghee or coconut oil 

Instructions

1. Start by chopping the garlic and the shallots. Some people prefer them minced, but I love big, sweet chunks of garlic.
2. Trim the stems from the leafy part of the green. In some cases, you can reserve the stems and use them like celery. Roll the greens tightly and cut them in thin strips.
3. Heat your desired fat in a pan, and fry your shallots and onion until they’re tender.
4. Add the greens and cook until they’re bright. Add a touch of dried red pepper.
5. Serve warm. Cheap, wholesome and tasty.

Have a great day

Looking Back, Final Book, Internet Speed.

Stephen Tremp listed a few scientific occurrences of 2012 in his post at Blogging from A to Z Challenge on Thursday. Amazing how one forgets some of these items although at the time they seemed such major things. Whenever someone produces a list (they often do it in the Oscars) of well known people who died during the previous year, I am usually totally surprised although I was aware of the event when it happened. One thing Stephen reminded us of was the Higgs Boson which caused so much excitement when they first figured they had discovered it. I blogged about it at the time. It staggers me how easily these things slip away from one’s memory, maybe because one doesn’t need to remember it for any length of time. That’s my excuse anyway.

I got an email on Thursday reminding me that A Memory of Light will be published next week – for those of you who haven’t been following the Wheel of Time series, I guess you could say I have been waiting for this book for 20 years. I phoned the library to try and get on the waiting list early, much to my disappointment I ended up as 12th on the list. However, the librarian assures me there will probably be quite a few copies, I do hope so. I just looked it up on Amazon and its only going to be $20, that seems very inexpensive, I am surprised. Didn’t check on a Kindle version. I must admit I am very tempted to buy the book at that price. I have one or two of them, a couple in Kindle, one in hardback, the Kindle copies I got on special deal, the hardback because when I decided to re-read them all the library didn’t have that particular book.

Just learnt something which surprised me, do you know which country has the fastest average internet connection speed? It’s South Korea.

We watched The Karate Kid last night, haven’t seen it in years. It’s still a good movie. Wax on wax off has stuck in my mind and that of many others since the film was first shown in 1984. They were also showing the second one last night, but it went on pretty late and we are bowling today, first time since before Christmas. I know there is a remake, but I haven’t seen it. To me Pat Morita was the perfect Mr. Miyagi – I cannot see Jackie Chan in the part. I really wanted the karate instructor to get his comeuppance, but other than his students being beaten, he didn’t

We are always looking for recipes using pork tenderloin, or should I say Matt is. He usually buys beautiful looking tenderloins at Costco and then doesn’t find that many recipes. Here is one I will pass on to him.  Only ingredient we don’t have is chipotle.

Sweet and Spicy Pork Tenderloin

WebMD Recipe

Ingredients

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/8 teaspoon ground chipotle chili pepper
• 1  pork tenderloin, 11⁄4 pounds; trimmed of visible fat
• 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 teaspoons hot-pepper sauce

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Lightly mist a small roasting pan or ovenproof skillet with olive oil spray. Set aside.
3. In a small bowl, combine the cumin, cinnamon, salt, black pepper, allspice, garlic powder, and chipotle pepper.
4. Rub the pork evenly with the olive oil. Then rub evenly with the spice mixture until coated. Cover loosely with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the honey, garlic, and hot-pepper sauce. Whisk to mix. Set aside.
6. Set a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until it is hot enough for a spritz of water to sizzle on it. With an oven mitt, briefly remove the pan from the heat to lightly mist with olive oil spray. Place the pork in the pan. Cook for 1 minute per side, or until browned on all sides.
7. Transfer to the prepared pan. With a basting brush, evenly coat the pork with the reserved honey mixture. Roast the tenderloin in the oven for 16 to 18 minutes, or until a thermometer inserted in the center reaches 160°F and the juices run clear.
8. Remove from the oven. Cover the pork loosely with aluminum foil. Let stand for 10 minutes. Transfer the pork to a cutting board. Holding a knife at a 45° angle, cut into thin slices. Serve immediately.

Have a great day

Twelfth Night, Christmas Trees, British Treats.

Well, its all over, the festivities, the overeating and the celebrations. In fact we don’t take down our decorations til 12th Night or Epiphany. It was a tradition we followed in the UK, not sure if anyone still does it, and I feel deep down it is unlucky if I take them down before then. Just thought, Shakespeare wrote a play called Twelfth Night or What You Will. I don’t remember any references to Christmas decorations though. Of course they didn’t have Christmas Trees in his day, that was started by the Germans somewhat later. Our tree is smothered in Candy Canes and we end up with more every year as they are handed out at the bowling alley. When we take the tree down they all go into a bag and then into the freezer for next year.

Matt had an appointment with the dermatologist yesterday. When we got there, I have never, but never, seen so many Christmas Trees. Everywhere you turned was another tree. What fascinated me, one of the ones in his treatment room was decorated with all kinds of elephant ornaments. Never seen that before. Another one in the waiting room where there were at least a couple of trees, was principally balls that looked like Wedgewood pieces, Wedgewood blue with white. Matt thought they were wrong for Christmas, I thought they looked great. They weren’t Wedgewood you understand, but they looked like they could have been. I wouldn’t mind a few of these myself. I was a bit surprised they still had the decorations up, I thought I was about the only one who hadn’t taken them down.

I have mentioned before, underneath the dermatologists office is a Scottish Bakery so I popped in and got us some Cornish Pasties for supper. Delicious. I have two in the freezer for a later date as well. I bought some Welsh pancakes for me too, Matt isn’t keen on them. Used to have a member of staff at the yacht club my parents ran who made them for me all the time as a kid, they were great. In the picture they look very much like the pancakes made in North America for breakfast, but they weren’t quite the same. Not sure what the difference is, but they don’t taste the same at all. I don’t have honey or syrup on them, just spread them with butter like a slice of bread, yum.

I used to do a recipe called Moroccan Chicken which had orange juice in it, this put me in mind of it although not really similar. This one sounds flavourful and was recommended by a friend in Ireland who has just cooked it.

Moroccan Chicken One-Pot

BBC Food

Serves 6

You don't need a clay pot to whip up a fragrant, North Africa tagine - throw it all in a casserole dish and top with feta, mint and lemon

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 2 onions, 1 roughly chopped, 1 sliced
• 100g tomatoes
• 100g ginger, roughly chopped
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tbsp each ground cumin, coriander and cinnamon
• 1 large butternut squash, deseeded and cut into big chunks
• 600 ml chicken stock
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 100 g dried cherries

TO SERVE

• 1 small red onion, finely chopped
• zest 1 lemon
• handful mint leaves
• 100g feta cheese, crumbled
• couscous and natural yogurt
  1. Season the chicken. Heat 2 tbsp of the oil in a flameproof dish, then brown the chicken on all sides. Remove the chicken to a plate. Whizz the chopped onion, tomatoes, ginger and garlic into a rough paste. Fry the sliced onion in the remaining oil in the dish until softened, then add the spices and fry for 1 min more until fragrant. Add the paste and fry for another few mins to soften.
  2. Return the chicken to the dish with the squash, stock, sugar and vinegar. Bring to a simmer, then cook for 30 mins until the chicken is cooked through. Lift the chicken out and stir in the cherries, then continue simmering the sauce to thicken while you shred the chicken into bite-sized chunks. Stir the chicken back into the sauce and season.
  3. Mix the red onion, lemon zest, mint and feta. Scatter over the dish, then serve with some couscous and yogurt.

Have a great day

Blog Books, Jan 1, Tardar Sauce.

Yesterday I made my blog book: all my posts from July 1 to Dec. 31, 2012. I do this every 6 months. I go to Blog2Print or Shared Books and it costs about $7.45 or so to download your book. You can spend more money and get soft cover or hard cover books, not worth it to me, but I usually print up a hard copy and keep them in binders. Not really sure why, but been doing that ever since I started. That was in October 2007 by the way. I never knew I could babble quite so much. I haven’t actually printed any of 2012 yet, need to get on with it. It’s a bit heavy on ink doing that of course, I have so many colour pix. Bit heavy on that shelf too by the look of it.

Our New Year’s Day didn’t contain much excitement, we just spent the day relaxing. I had cooked a rib roast for New Year’s Eve (delicious), so we ate it cold for supper with collards which we both enjoy cooked in oil, garlic and vinegar. Otherwise we really didn’t do much of anything. I did do a bit of sorting out in my computer room – it needed it. Didn’t do as much as needed but I made a start.

I have been fascinated, for some weeks, by a cat picture that keeps coming up with one caption or another on Facebook. I discover it is called Tardar Sauce the Grumpy Cat. She certainly looks grumpy. I can’t seem to find much about this cat but I did find this video which shows her in relatively normal cat positions. I assume she is actually a cute kitty with an unfortunate looking face. Some of the comments attributed to her have been hilarious. I haven’t owned a cat in years, not since I was a child, but this cat really appeals to me.

I used to love bacon wrapped items like this. Haven’t done them for a number of years, there are all kinds of recipes but this is the one that reminded me of them this last few days and the picture made my mouth water remembering how much I used to like them. There were Devils on Horseback (liver) and Angels on Horseback (oysters) to name a couple. Gotta get some bacon this week.

Bacon-Wrapped Water Chestnuts

Contributed By: Diana, Cooking.com

Make these simple appetizers and they'll be the first to run out at a gathering. Just 5 ingredients make these delicious treats!
INGREDIENTS

2 cans whole water chestnuts

12 oz bacon

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup chili sauce

1/4 cup mayonnaise

DIRECTIONS

Wrap drained chestnuts in 1/3 piece of bacon and fasten with a toothpick. Place in two foil lined pie plates or cake pans. Mix brown sugar, chili sauce and mayonnaise.Pour over chestnuts and bake at 350 degrees for one hour or until bacon is crisp.

Have a great day

Resolutions or Words, Crystal Ball, New Phone

I don’t bother with New Year’s resolutions any more, I have never kept any for very long. I liked the idea presented by Tina at Life is Good to choose a word for the year, this year her word is contentment. A lot of what she wrote reminded me of the Eastern philosophy of living in the moment. I have a book called The Wisdom of Thich Nhat Hanh which goes deeply into what is known as Mindfulness which helps to bring peace and contentment. I always like the example, when you are washing dishes, wash dishes. In other words don’t be mentally doing anything else but concentrate on what you are doing. As I have never enjoyed washing dishes, its an exercise I have problems with. Maybe I should work at it a bit more. Some tasks are easy to do wholeheartedly and to be totally mindful of. So, OK, my 2013 word is Mindfulness.

The crystals on the Waterford New Year’s Ball dropped in Times Square last night all had messages of peace this year. It was possible for people to send messages to Waterford through Facebook and Twitter yesterday in order to be involved in the celebration. For the first time, Dick Clark did not take part. Since his stroke he hasn’t been a well man and I always thought he should have retired some time ago. They released confetti too, glad I don’t have to clear up the mess.  That ball is worth a small fortune by the way with all its Waterford crystal panels.

Much to my surprise, my new phone for the computer room arrived. I didn’t expect it til Wednesday. It has its own answering machine so the one we use has been put away. Bit daft to have two of them though. At the moment the New Year is starting off well. No outstanding problems from last year.

I love oysters and thought this recipe sounded good for this time of year. I thought it was a misspelling of the traditional recipe until I read the intro. Not that I associate oysters and champagne with rap but it seems I am wrong.

Oysters Rocafella

Contributed byMario Carbone and Rich Torrisi

SERVINGS:4 first-course servings

"We created this dish as an homage to Jay-Z. He inspires us," says Mario Carbone about the rapper and cofounder of the Roc-A-Fella record label. "The original dish was named for John D. Rockefeller. He was money back then, and to us, Jay-Z is money in New York City now." Carbone tops the oysters with a tangy vinegar-shallot mignonette, plus a Champagne-infused foam and frozen Champagne grapes.

1. 2 teaspoons sugar
2. 2 teaspoons water
3. 1/2 cup Champagne or sparkling wine
4. 1/4 cup fresh grapefruit juice
5. 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
6. 1/4 cup Champagne vinegar
7. 1 small shallot, minced
8. Freshly ground pepper
9. 2 dozen bluepoint or other East Coast oysters, shucked on the half shell
10. Crushed ice and coarse salt, for serving
11. 1 tablespoon dried egg-white powder (see Note)
12. 1 to 2 bunches of Champagne grapes or small seedless red grapes, frozen until solid, halved if large

1. In a microwave-safe cup, combine the sugar and water. Cook at high power for 20 seconds. Stir until the sugar dissolves, then let cool.
2. In a small stainless steel bowl, combine the sugar syrup, Champagne and citrus juices. Set the bowl over a larger bowl of ice and keep cold. In another small bowl, combine the vinegar and shallot and season with pepper.
3. Arrange the shucked oysters on a bed of crushed ice and coarse salt. Add the egg-white powder to the Champagne-citrus juice mixture and beat with a handheld mixer or immersion blender until thick and frothy.
4. Spoon a little of the vinegar-shallot mixture over the oysters and a little of the Champagne froth on top. Garnish with the frozen Champagne grapes and serve right away.

Notes

Egg-white powder is available at health food stores and most supermarkets.

Suggested Pairing

Carbone and Torrisi pair Jay-Z's favorite Champagne, Armand de Brignac (a.k.a. Ace of Spades), with this dish. Domaine Chandon's NV Brut Classic is also terrific and much, much less expensive

Happy New Year everyone.