Bowling, Lions.

Bowling again Wednesday afternoon. Guess I will bowl well again one of these days. Matt had one good game. But our whole team isn’t really doing very well. My excuse is that its new lanes, wearing a bit thin now though. We were hearing from a couple of people that the rebuilding of Waterloo Lanes, where we used to bowl, seems to have fallen through all round, so it looks as though we will be doing our winter bowling where we are. In one way that’s good for us as it is much closer to home, but in another, its a pity to lose old friends. Not sure how many of the previous bunch will join us at the new alley.

Saw an interesting programme on Public TV called The Truth About Lions. This was the first part, not sure how many in total. They have been studying lions for years, one of the things they were trying to establish was why were lions the only cats which were social and co-operative? Here is a You Tube video.


As a change from asparagus for a while, I thought we would have a refreshing dessert.

Lemon Tart

Source: Casual Cuisines of the World - Bistro
Serves 6
Bistro dessert carts regularly feature at least one type of citrus tart. This recipe produces a refreshing creamy and tart lemon custard for filling, and a tender, flaky pastry shell. For a simple variation, lime or orange juice can be used in place of all or some of the lemon juice.
 
INGREDIENTS
Sweet Pastry Dough (see recipe)
For Lemon Filling:
1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 tablespoon grated lemon peel
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
4 large eggs
1 1/4 cups sugar
For Lemon Garnish:
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
3 paper-thin slices of lemon
Other necessary recipes: Sweet Pastry Dough

DIRECTIONS
FOR THE SWEET PASTRY DOUGH: Preheat an oven to 400 degrees. Butter a 10-inch-diameter tart pan with a removable bottom. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the dough into a 12 inch-diameter round and 1/8-inch thick. Drape the dough over the rolling pin and transfer it to the prepared tart pan. Unwrap the dough from the pin and press it gently into the pan. Trim the pastry even with the pan rim.
Line the pastry-lined pan with parchment paper and add pie weights or dried beans. Bake until the pastry is half-cooked, about 15 minutes. Remove the pie weights and waxed paper.
FOR THE LEMON FILLING: Meanwhile, whisk the lemon juice, eggs, lemon zest and 1 1/4 cups of the sugar in a large bowl to blend. Stir in the melted butter. Pour the lemon mixture into the warm tart crust. Return it to the oven and bake until the filling is set and the crust is golden brown, about 20 minutes. Transfer the tart to a rack. Cool completely.
FOR THE LEMON GARNISH: In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, combine the sugar and water. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly to dissolve the sugar. Add the reserved lemon slices, reduce the heat to low, and simmer until tender, about 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside. Remove the lemon slices from the sugar-water mixture, shaking briefly to remove any excess liquid, and place on a plate.
TO SERVE THE TART: Remove pan sides from tart. Transfer the tart to a serving plate. Arrange lemon slices in an overlapping pattern atop the center of the tart and serve at room temperature.

Have a great day.

Blue Lobster, Arsonist Beaver.

A lobster fisherman has pulled up a bright blue lobster. His name is Sheldon Trenholm of South River, N.S. He took pictures, showed it to some friends and then returned the lobster to the waters as it wasn’t very big. Funnily enough I wrote about a fisherman in June of last year who did the self same thing and was offering it for sale to the highest bidder on the condition they would not cook it. This was Bobby Stoddard of Barrington, also in Nova Scotia. Both men say their fathers caught one about 40 years ago. The odds are 1 to 2 million on this happening and here it appears to have happened twice in a year. Seems very odd to me. I wonder what happen if they were cooked because the original shell of a regular lobster is NOT red. See the picture. In fact there is an ad for Massachusetts (I think) running on our TV at the moment which shows all kinds of things which are supposed to be great to see there including a red lobster waving his claws. Any red lobster doing this must be a Zombie I imagine.

Another report, a brush fire in British Columbia was caused by a beaver. Apparently a well gnawed tree fell across some power lines. Officials are not sure whether the beaver worked on the tree recently or whether a wind blew it down. In a way its kind of funny although not for the residents who lost power or the fire fighters.

Came across this recipe in a newsletter I get from Recipe du Jour and thought it sounded like a good way to eat cauliflower.

Lemon Baked Cauliflower

1/3 cup finely chopped shallots
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon grated lemon rind
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 large head cauliflower, cored

Stir together first 8 ingredients.

Place cauliflower on a large sheet of heavy-duty aluminum foil; spread butter mixture over cauliflower. Bring sides of foil to top; seal edges. Place on a baking sheet.

Bake at 375°F for 1 hour or until cauliflower is tender. Makes 6 servings.

Have a great day

Our New Windows, Hadfield Retires, Apps.

At long last the weather was warm enough to open the bedroom windows. I opened one and after a couple of inches or so it wouldn’t budge. On examination, it is impossible to open any of the new windows more than that. They are blocked. I am not a happy camper. I cannot imagine why this should be. I have since found out that, because we are on the 5th floor, it is for safety reasons??? I don’t understand, if we wanted to chuck ourselves out we have a balcony which would be much easier to jump from. I have never heard of such a thing before.

In the news yesterday, Chris Hadfield, who recently spent 5 months as the commander of the International Space Station announced his retirement from the Canadian Space Agency effective July 3. He says he has been an astronaut for 21 years and is the last of the team he trained with. One thing which staggers me, it is going to take him until Labour Day to fully recover from his 5 months weightlessness. I hadn’t realised it took so long. He also says he had promised his wife, some 30 years ago, that they would return to Canada, so now they can do so.

Been playing around with my new android and seeing what apps, if any, I wanted. I have used Quicken on my computers for years to manage my finances but was teed off to find out that although there is an app for the US version of Quicken there isn’t one for the Canadian version. Bummer. I was hoping not to have to travel with my laptop, but looks as though I will have to after all. I can keep in touch with the bank OK, but not run a Quicken financial app on my android. They need to pull their fingers out. I have a Kindle app on there although my Kindle itself is better because of the paperwhite technology. You can read in bright sunlight which is not possible on the tablet.

I thought this sounded great. I had never heard of carnaroli rice but I have linked it to Wikipedia. It is an Italian rice better than the usual arborio for risottos apparently.

Gorgonzola, asparagus and hazelnut risotto

Bocca by Jacob Kenedy (Bloomsbury) The Guardian.

This risotto is one that tastes best without the additional flavour of stock. These three ingredients are a wonderful trinity and need only the plainest of backdrops to sing.

Serves 2
 
½ medium onion, chopped
75g butter
160g carnaroli rice
120ml white wine
400ml water
350g fine asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-2cm strips
150g gorgonzola
60g hazelnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped
Salt

1 Fry the onion in 50g butter with a pinch of salt over a moderate heat for 10 minutes until tender.
2 Add the rice, fry for 2 minutes more, then pour in the wine and simmer until absorbed.
3 Add the water a little at a time, waiting for it to be mostly absorbed between additions. Taste for seasoning all the time. About 5 minutes before the end (about 10 minutes after you started adding water), add the asparagus.
4 When the rice is still a touch too al dente for you, crumble in three-quarters of the gorgonzola (you can use or lose the rind as you like) and the remaining 25g butter. Stir until you are satisfied. Serve with the hazelnuts and the remaining gorgonzola scattered on top.

Have a great day

Plane Concert, Dog Potty, Jelly Fish

I don’t know if you saw it over the weekend, but a plane was stuck on the tarmac for 3 hours in Beijing so a quartet from the Philadelphia orchestra decided to take matters into their own hands.
Reports said the plane was still stuck for another 4 hours. They played American Quartet by Dvorak, they were interrupted once by a cell phone ringing!!!


I thought I had seen everything until I saw this ad for a dog potty. I wondered how on earth you could persuade your dog to do its business on this piece of synthetic turf.
As you can see, there is a catch pan underneath and according to the ad, you can pour a gallon of water on the ‘grass’ and it goes right through, it is also odourless. So, all you dog lovers, rush out and buy one, do. I am sure Spot and Rover will be delighted. I suppose if you can get your pooch to use it, it will save a lot of accidents whilst you are out, but….. I also suppose if your canine friend wants to use it for more serious deposits, you can clean it up easily as well. One thing I don’t get, what about your male pooches? Shouldn’t it be provided with a small fire hydrant?

Rather a worrying story about the sickness of our oceans. The jelly fish blooms which have occurred over the last 10 years is a good indication that the oceans are out of balance. Overfishing, rising water temperatures and ocean acidification create ideal environments for these sea creatures to thrive and multiply, Lisa-ann Gershwin explains. Jelly fish are like the canaries in mines but whereas the canaries die, jelly fish increase. She also says Unfortunately, the rise in jellyfish numbers is far from benign. Gershwin said that jellyfish are able to “take this damaged ecosystem and actually drive it to a much worst state.” The article is certainly worth reading where she explains what jelly fish are capable of.

Another British recipe using asparagus. Once again, read shrimp for prawns,  this recipe uses the huge shrimp we see here which are sometimes called Tiger Shrimp.

Tempura Tiger Prawns with Soy and Sesame Asparagus
Marcus Bean - British Asparagus


"This is ideal for an easy starter for a dinner party, prawns in crispy batter with the soy and sesame asparagus is a lovely alternative way of serving asparagus that’s so easy and looks great."

Serves: 2

You'll need:
8-10 stems of asparagus
10 tiger prawns fresh (or defrosted)
100g self raising flour
50g of corn starch
50g or 50ml of cold sparkling water (more if batter is too thick)
Salt and pepper
1 tbsp of sesame seeds
50ml of good quality soy sauce (more for dipping)

What to do:

1
To cook the asparagus, trim the ends then place into boiling water for 1-2 minutes until cooked but still with a bit of bite (al dente). Then remove from the water and put into ice water to stop it cooking anymore and keep that nice green colour.
2
Now make the batter for the prawns by mixing the self raising flour and corn starch together, then add the sparkling water and whisk with a fork, the batter should be fairly light and not too thick. Add more water if it’s too thick, season with salt and pepper and set aside.
3
To cook the prawns heat some vegetable oil to 180c or use a small deep fat fryer.
4
Now pat the prawns down with a little kitchen towel to remove any moisture, then place in batter mix and drop into the oil, when golden in colour remove and place on paper towel until dry. For the asparagus, get your stems and slice each stem into 4 smaller pieces, then heat a pan, add a little oil and then the asparagus, sauté in the pan for a minute, add your soy sauce. Then your sesame seeds, cook for another minute, remove from the pan and serve straight away with your tempura prawns and extra soy sauce for dipping.

Have a great day

Pillow, Preventing Alzheimer’s.

I know some people are particularly interested in this pillow and these are a couple of pix of mine. The top of the pillow is closest and I have shown both sides one of which is soft and fluffy the other has memory foam and is designed to deal with sweating. The top shows a chord which is for attaching the hose preventing it dragging. If you wish to see a video there is one on CPAPmax’s website. I finally located a source for the pillow case. I have also booked another sleep over at the clinic for next week when they will measure how I am doing and whether the pressure is right or needs adjusting. I take my own mask and hose but the machine is built into their computer systems. I can take my own pillow too, of course. I also have an appointment at the end of September to see the doctor, the one who is up for incompetence, I felt like saying “are you sure he will be working at that time?” but refrained.

Dr. Oz had another doctor on his show who was talking about preventing the development of Alzheimer’s disease. Basically it appears he was touting a vegan diet. His premise being we are absorbing too many minerals from our diets. As he said, we need some minerals, but not as many as we are getting. To see the videos with Dr. Oz and Dr. Barnard click here. He appears to have a number of books out concerning Alzheimer’s, diabetes and other such serious illnesses. I am considering that Matt and I should change our diets a bit but definitely stop taking a Vitamin pill which includes minerals as Dr. Barnard reckons sufficient minerals can be obtained from eating the right foods. Also, Matt is taking an iron supplement which I think he should cut out, but he won’t do so without the Dr. telling him to.

Life has caught up with me a bit these last few days, so I have fallen behind in my blog reading. My apologies to everyone and I will try and catch up asap.

This is one of Dr. Barnard’s recipes


Stuffed Peppers with Squash, Black Beans, and Rice

These recipes are loaded with brain-protective foods to help protect mental clarity and reverse memory problems. Combine these brain-power foods with exercise, mental stimulation and at least 8 hours of sleep to begin Alzheimer’s prevention today!

Ingredients
Serves 2 as a main dish or 4 as a side
1/2 cup cooked brown rice
1 cup cooked black beans
2 Mexican gray squash or zucchini, diced
6 green onions, sliced
2 tsp pepitas (green pumpkin seeds)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp chopped fresh oregano
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
Juice of 1 lime
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 red bell peppers, cut in half, cored and seeded
Prepared salsa (optional)

Directions
Combine the rice, beans, squash, green onions, pepitas, garlic, oregano, vinegar, lime, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Fill the pepper halves with the squash, rice and bean mixture. Top with salsa, if using, and serve.
Per serving: 187 calories, 16 g protein, 54 g carbohydrate, 13 g sugar, 3 g total fat, 14% calories from fat, 16 g fiber, 317 mg sodium

Have a great weekend

Your Blogs

Sorry everyone, just haven't had time to read many posts in the last couple of days. I will catch up.

Have a great day
 

Pillow, Prince Philip, Duchess of Cambridge.

Woo hoo I’ve got my CPAP pillow. The insurance company say they will pay for it. The minute they confirmed it we rushed out to get me one. Not the same as the one I showed in a picture before, but the principle is the same. I also picked up a full mask (nose and mouth) whilst I was there. Good thing to have for a cold or any nasal problem. I think I might find it more comfortable anyway, they fitted me for it at the store and it felt good. At the time of writing I haven’t tried it but I will be doing so tonight. I then tried on of my pillowcases on it and it doesn’t work because it stretches across where the mask is supposed to go. Thought I would order a pillow case from the maker but they want to charge me $20 shipping for a $15 pillow case!!! Guess I will get one sent to friends in the States. The Pillow is not coloured like this by the way.

I see Prince Philip is going in to hospital for exploratory abdominal surgery. They say he will be there for a couple of weeks or so. At 91 that is pretty major stuff I would think. I hope he pulls through it all OK. Talking of hospitals, I haven’t seen it anywhere but I assume the Duchess of Cambridge will be going into hospital to have her baby. That is something which will take place very soon. She didn't look very pregnant in the recent pictures I saw of her though. But she is, of course, very slim. All Royal watchers are pretty hyped up at the moment I would imagine.

Got a good recipe in my email inbox today which I thought I would share with you.

Shrimp and Asparagus Skewers

Makes 6 skewers, easily doubled

Note: Keep the shells on shrimp for the barbecue, as they protect the meat from overcooking too quickly, and also hold in all of the tasty juices. I like to serve these skewers with a mint aïoli. With an easy hand blender method, it’s a cinch to make.


Ingredients
12 asparagus spears, the fatter the better
18 large uncooked shrimp, with the shells on
2 eggs, at room temperature
2 lemons
1 clove garlic
1 tsp Dijon mustard
scant 1 cup olive oil
1 small handful fresh mint
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions:

1. Bring a pan of salted water to a boil. Meanwhile, cut the bottom 2 inches (5 cm) from each asparagus spear, as the ends can often be a bit tough. Cut each spear into two finger-length pieces.
2. Boil the spears for just 2 minutes, then drain. Plunge into cold water to stop the cooking, then drain again.*
3. Thread 3 shrimp and 4 pieces of asparagus onto 6 metal skewers. Cover and chill in the fridge until needed.
4. To make the aïoli, separate the eggs (see page 61) and put the yolks into a tall pitcher. Squeeze 1 lemon and roughly chop the garlic. Add the garlic, mustard, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, and the oil to the yolks.* *
5. Put an immersion blender to the very bottom of the pitcher, then start it running. Pull the blender very slowly from the bottom of the pitcher. As you bring the blender nearer the top of the pitcher, the mayonnaise will thicken dramatically and you will feel a suction puling under the blades. Add more lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste. If the mayonnaise is a bit thick but tastes lemony enough, add a splash of water and blend again. This can be made a few days in advance and kept well chilled, if you like.
6. Before you begin cooking, check that your charcoal is glowing white hot, or your gas grill is preheated to 400ºF. Season the skewers with salt and pepper, then grill for 2-3 minutes on each side, or until the asparagus is slightly charred and the shrimp are pink all over. Quickly chop the mint and add to the mayonnaise. Cut the remaining lemon into wedges to garnish. Serve immediately with the mint aïoli.

*Why pre-cook? Without a little pre-cooking, the asparagus would take far longer then the shrimp to cook on the grill. It also makes it easier to poke the skewers through the asparagus.
* * Gently crack the shell against the side of the bowl. Slowly pull the shell apart as cleanly as possible along the crack, tipping the yolk into one half of the shell. Let the white drain away into a bowl below. Drop the yolk into another small bowl. Or use a plastic bottle as shown in the video on my previous blog.

Have a great day,

Daleks at Proms, Arthritis.

For those of you who are Dr. Who fans, apparently there was a section at the Proms (held in the Royal Albert Hall in London) which included the Dalek symphony together with a Dalek on stage. Fun I thought, sorry I didn’t see the actual programme.
Bowling again yesterday, I now have a new problem, some of you may remember I had an extremely bad left shoulder a year or so ago, now I am developing a painful right shoulder, so I can blame that on my lousy bowling, right? Saw a bit of a programme on TV about arthritis and natural cures, mostly pushing the books written by the doctor I think, but there was some interesting stuff including the importance of diet and exercise. The doctor said, if you can’t do much at all, go to therapy in a pool and progress from there. He suggests walking half an hour a day which is what I am beginning to do on my treadmill. He also said 2,000 calories of the right foods will get you to lose weight. I stick to about 1,200 at the moment so I should look into this more carefully. I wonder if our library have his books, Dr. Vijay Vad was the name of the doctor.
I persuaded another friend to get some asparagus from Barrie’s, well actually I got it for him. I will be interested in what he says. I couldn’t get him to try it raw, think he thought I was having him on.


Asparagus, Goat’s Cheese and Smoked Bacon Quiche
British Asparagus – Marcus Bean

"One of my favourite foods is warm quiche, the crumbliness of the pastry the soft texture of the eggy centre, combined with smoky bacon and fresh asparagus, serve simply with buttered potatoes & salad."
Serves: 8

You'll need:
Pastry; or buy readymade short crust pastry
250g plain flour
125g unsalted butter (room temp)
1 egg
2 tbsp water

For the filling:

2 rashers of thick smoked back bacon (finely chopped)
100g of goat’s cheese
300ml double cream
200ml of milk
4 medium eggs
Salt & pepper
6 sprigs of asparagus
30g butter
2 tbsp grated parmesan

What to do:

1

Start by making the pastry; sift your flour into a large bowl, then rub in the butter with your finger tips until it resembles breadcrumbs. Mix the egg, then add to the flour and bring together with your hands, add the water and knead on a cold floured surface until fully mixed. Then cling film and chill for 30 minutes in the fridge.

2

Next remove your pastry from the fridge and roll out on a floured work surface until it’s an even thickness of about ½ - 1cm. Get your loose bottomed tart case (20cm diameter by 3-4cm deep. Grease the tart case with butter then line it with your pastry making sure you press into the edges of the tart case all the way round (use a 2cm ball of pastry to do this to stop from piercing the pastry). Prick all over the pastry base with a fork, to release trapped air and stop the pastry from rising.

3

Now line the pastry case with parchment paper, fill it with baking beans or rice. Then place onto a baking tray and bake for 15-20 minutes at 190°c, then remove the beans and the paper from the case, brush the pastry with a little milk or egg wash, then pop back in the oven at 180°c for 10 more minutes until golden, remove from oven and set aside.

4

For the filling melt the butter in a pan and add the diced smoked bacon, fry until golden brown and cooked, then set aside. Now get your asparagus spears trim of the hard root, cut them length ways then add to a hot griddle pan with a little oil & cook until charred. Spoon the bacon mixture into the cooked pastry case, add the asparagus and crumble the goat’s cheese on top. Make your mix up by adding the cream & milk to a jug adding the eggs and whisking together, add a little salt and pepper to season.

5

Then pour the mix into the pastry case, don’t worry if you have some mix left over. Sprinkle the top with the grated Parmesan and bake the tart in the oven at 180°c for about 20-30 minutes until the filling is golden and the mix is set.

To serve:

Slice a good size piece of quiche and put onto your plate, serve with fresh watercress.
.
Have a great day

Lunch, Commemoration.

I accidentally posted yesterday’s blog on Monday night, however, it didn’t seem to matter. I have been having lots of problems with Live Writer which I use to create my blogs before posting.

Girlfriend popped in Tuesday morning to get her books which I’d borrowed and some Avon she had ordered. She asked if we had time to go for lunch, we took no time at all to say yes. We ended up going to the Mandarin which is my favourite Chinese restaurant at the moment. After a bit of trouble with road works we finally got there and my friend was amused that the Mandarin actually card you to see if you are 65 or older in order to qualify for the senior discount. I guess it is a bit funny. Never really thought about it before. As usual I had my hot and sour soup, they really do a good one. I also had some of my favourite fried spinach amongst many other things I ate. I didn’t have any dessert today though. Matt did, but he is as skinny as a rake, he can afford to eat it.

We had already planned to go to the Asparagus farm (much to my friend’s disgust, she does not like asparagus) so we were well on our way at the Mandarin. I had persuaded another friend to try fresh asparagus from the farm so I picked some up for him. Need to make sure he understands that one does not need to break off the ends on this asparagus.

Yesterday was the official anniversary of the 60th year celebration of the Queen’s coronation in 1953.
Lovely video shown with a segment from the coronation and pictures including the children and grandchildren of Her Majesty. I remember watching the coronation and seeing some of it now still brought a lump to my throat. Both the Queen and the Duke are wearing very well although he is beginning to very much look his age. The Queen seems to go on and on though.

This recipe is courtesy of British Asparagus who have a blog. They have quite a few super recipes for me to use.


Asparagus Wrapped in Smoked Salmon with Scrambled Egg
British Asparagus - Marcus Bean


"I love scrambled egg and smoked salmon at any time of the day, just make sure you don't overcook the egg! By wrapping the salmon around the asparagus it gives a great addition and makes it a perfect dish at any time of the day."

Serves: 2
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 5-10 minutes

You'll need:

10 stems of asparagus
4-6 slices of good quality smoked salmon
3 free range eggs
Salt & pepper

What to do:

1
To cook the asparagus place in a steamer or cook in a chargrill pan until cooked. Once cooked wrap five stems of asparagus with 2-3 slices of smoked salmon, repeat with the other five stems.
2
To make the scrambled egg, break three eggs into a small non-stick pan, add a little salt and pepper then whisk together with a fork until mixed. Then cook on a medium to high heat, making sure you continually stir with a rubber spatula, make sure you scrape all the edges to allow it to cook quicker. Once it’s about half way cooked remove from the heat and continue stirring, it will continue to cook from the heat of the pan. This helps to make sure you don’t overcook the egg.
3
As soon as the egg is cooked remove from the pan immediately and serve with your smoked salmon wrapped asparagus.
Great for breakfast or a mid-afternoon snack!

Have a great day

Elon Musk, The Future, The Past,

 Monday morning I watched a long interview with Elon Musk of whom I had never heard until Stephen Tremp wrote about him. I suppose I actually must have heard about him somewhere before; he started Paypal which I use; I wrote about SpaceX and their space station delivery ship Dragon, and yet I don’t recall ever hearing his name before. Not only is he a very clever young man, he is also a very good looking young man and doesn’t look a bit like one pictures a guy who is, I guess, a nerd. He is very amusing and doesn’t mind laughing at himself. He also has

one heck of a lot of irons in the fire. He starts things which people say won’t make money, he doesn’t think they will either, and guess what, they make money. Another thing I had never heard of was the Tesla Car Company with which he is very involved (he’s the CEO). I even had to Google to see what Tesla cars looked like, this is the Tesla S quite snazzy although they are currently not in the price reach of the average Joe being in the $70,000 range. Elon Musk thinks that they will be in the $30,000 range in about 3 years (still out of my price range, however). Stephen Tremp pointed out how the private sector, in particular Elon Musk, are leading the way.

Alex J. Cavenaugh  mentioned Mayan Temples on his blog yesterday and I started looking up information about them and discovered, to my horror that in Belize they have knocked down a 2,000 yr. old pyramid known as Nohmul. A fine of $5,000 is being levied which seems like a bit of a joke. Nobody is really saying who was responsible for the action although one person has accepted ultimate responsibility. From the article and subsequent picture research, I can’t figure out what the actual temple looked like before the bulldozing, There are lot of pix but I was unable to positively identify one as being Nomul. What remains sure doesn't look like any Mayan temple any more. What a tragedy.

Here is another recipe posted by The Guardian, an English newspaper. Transation may be needed, Spring onions are the same as green onions in North America. Prawns are not generally available here either so one would use shrimp, as for the Korean red chili pepper paste, if you can't find it, there are bound to be plenty of similar items you could substitute.

Spring onion-tied prawn and asparagus

Ganghwe is a general Korean term that refers to a dish of small rolls that have been made by tying Nakji (octopus) and ojingeo (squid) ganghwe are common variations. These saewu ganghwe use prawn and asparagus
ingredients with a thin spring onion. They are prepared in bite‑size pieces and served with a dipping sauce.

Serves 3-4

16 medium prawns, peeled, tail on, and deveined
8 thin asparagus spears
16 thin spring onions
For the sauce
1 tbsp lemon juice (or vinegar)
1 tbsp gochujang (Korean red chilli pepper paste)
½ tbsp sugar
¼ tsp minced garlic (optional)

1 Combine all the sauce ingredients in a bowl, mix well and set aside.
2 Bring a medium pan of water to the boil. Add the prawns and cook for about a minute. Quickly drain and leave in cold water to stop them cooking. Drain and cut small slits on the inner curve of the curled-up prawns to make it easier to wrap.
3 Remove the tough ends from the asparagus and cut into 5cm lengths. Blanch the pieces in salted boiling water until they have softened, which takes about a minute. Remove with a strainer, shock in cold water and drain.
4 Use tongs to dip the white parts of the spring onions in the same pot of boiling water and hold for about 30 seconds before completely submerging the whole bunch for another 20 seconds. Drain and shock in cold water. Pat the spring onions dry with kitchen paper, gently pressing to remove excess water.
5 To assemble, hold a prawn and an asparagus piece together along with the white end of a spring onion. Tie them by wrapping the other end of the spring onion around the prawn and asparagus several times.
6 Use a toothpick to tuck the end of the spring onion into the roll. Mix the sauce ingredients thoroughly and serve alongside the ganghwe.

Have a great day
 

Storm Chaser Killed, Changes, New Fridge?

It appears that a well known storm chaser, Tim Samaras, his son and a colleague were all killed in the Oklahoma tornados on Friday night. Tim Samaras had worked for the Discovery Channel and National Geographic and helped design equipment which was used for recording storms. What a tragedy that his son should have died but no doubt he was following in his father’s footsteps. I have seen lots of video from storm chasers and I wouldn’t do what they do if you paid me a fortune.

I was thinking, this morning, about how things have changed during my life. I had a couple of ads in my inbox for adult toys today; to me this is somewhat incredible – as a youngster such things were very much taboo. They were even emailed by a company from whom I have bought bracelets? Even into my twenties I knew girls who believed sex was something only males enjoyed and females had to put up with. Models who advertised underwear were kind of regarded as sluts and ads for all the things you see today would have had everyone up in arms. Nothing is sacred any more, from pads and tampons to erectile dysfunction and dildos. Books too, no longer can you get a pleasant romance, today they have to be filled with steamy bedroom scenes, not always in the bedroom of course. I get fed up with it, get on with the story for goodness sake. Movies are much the same, obviously some people like to read or watch sex scenes, I don’t want to, but I suppose authors have to go with the flow today although I have read excellent books recently which don’t include any sex in them at all. In my opinion, as a reader, if you have to rely on sex to sell your books, you’re not a very good author. Think of some of the top sellers of today, Robert Jordan, Brandon Sanderson, George R.R. Martin, J.K. Rowling and so on, they don’t generally include sex or profanity in their stories. I am not talking about the implication of sex but the detailed blow by blow stuff where one reads exactly what each person is doing to the other and how their partner is responding. To me that is pornography, the sort of thing that, as youngsters, we used to read to titillate our imaginations and giggle about in corners. Hmm, this turned into a bit of a rant, didn’t it? I have a friend, Suzie Hayman, who writes books on sex and how to improve your enjoyment of life with your partner. That’s a different scene altogether and if you need such books, she is providing a great service. She also writes and broadcasts helpful advice about relationships of all kinds.


I laughed when I came across this story, who on earth would want to buy a morgue fridge. Mind you I think a few funeral homes could do with one. They periodically get customers who are not to be embalmed and these characters could benefit from a fridge in which to rest until the time of their funeral. But, otherwise, what use could such a fridge be to anyone. I suppose another hospital might buy it. Maybe it could be converted into a suitable fridge for a restaurant, would be useful having slide out shelves.

I thought we’d have a drink to celebrate the beginning of June, this appealed to me.


Strawberry-Coconut Daiquiri
WebMD Recipe from EatingWell.com

You’ll feel like you’re on a tropical getaway with this refreshing strawberry-coconut cocktail. To keep it cool in warmer weather, freeze fresh berries for 30 minutes before blending. Variation: For a nonalcoholic version, omit the rum and add 1/2 cup additional strawberries.

Ingredients
2 1/ cups chopped fresh or frozen (not thawed) strawberries, (about 12 ounces)
3 tbs sugar
2 Tbs lime juice
¾ cup coconut-flavored rum, such as Malibu (see Variation, above)

Instructions
Combine strawberries, sugar and lime juice together in a blender. Blend until smooth. Add ice cubes and rum and blend until frothy. Transfer mixture to a pitcher and serve.

Have a great day

Asparagus, Wallpaper, Book, Vandals.

Thursday afternoon saw us off to the asparagus farm again. I had used up all I bought last time, can’t go a day without asparagus, the season is so short. I told one of the servers that I had run out, she said “good” I queried, she said “that means you’ve been eating it”, I’m sorry, what else would I be doing with it? Seemed a rather odd comment to make. I have been making the asparagus and endive salad quite a bit, lovely on a summer evening with a touch of orange in the flavour.

I have changed my wallpaper again on my laptop, I couldn’t resist this little critter, a Fénec or soul of the desert, actually a desert fox. Isn’t he cute?

So my owl has disappeared. The picture is courtesy of National Geographic again. I would love to have this little fox he’s adorable.

I am currently reading a Brandon Sanderson novel, he is one of my favourite authors, called The Rithmatist. Not only am I reading the novel, I am busy learning how to do what Rithmatists do. Every chapter has a drawing with explanations of what they mean. Rithmatists draw magic ‘things’ with chalk on the ground, well anywhere with a flat surface, but mostly on the ground, for defense or attack. Their bugaboos are chalklings, nasty two dimensional figures drawn in chalk and given commands to attack. Quite nasty, well actually some of them can be quite nice if there isn’t a duel or a war going on. One character likes to draw friendly unicorns. I gather though, that whatever you choose to draw can be either good or bad depending on the situation and what the artist wants.

Popped over to see some friends, partly to deliver Avon, they were not very happy campers as someone, kids on presumes, but…. had vandalised their front yard tipping things over and breaking them, throwing plant pots and feeders around, etc.etc. The husband likes to build stuff and being a Dutchman he has a home made windmill standing in the front, that was fairly well smashed although he has managed to repair it fairly well. This happened at 4 a.m. if you please. I’d throw them around if I got hold of the perpetrators, well I couldn’t but maybe I would set Father Dragon on to them..

This recipe was published by The Guardian, an English newspaper. I thought it looked good and sounded better. It will be on my table any time soon.

Ribboned asparagus salad with avocado dressing

This salad is a true celebration of spring. Fresh asparagus in season tastes even better raw than cooked. It's full of flavour, colour and juice. Shave the stalks as thin as you can and mix a few simple salad ingredients and a creamy dressing.

Serves 4
 
800g asparagus
1 cucumber
16 cherry tomatoes
100g flat-leaf parsley
20g parmesan, freshly grated
For the dressing
3 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp lemon juice, freshly squeezed
½ ripe avocado, stone removed
Salt and black pepper

1 Snap off the tough ends of the asparagus. Using a vegetable peeler and starting from the bottom end of the asparagus, shave upwards to create thin ribbons. Place all the ribbons in a large serving bowl.
2 Slice the cucumber lengthways and cut into bite-size pieces. Cut the tomatoes in half and coarsely chop the parsley. Add these to the bowl.
3 Place the dressing ingredients in a blender and blitz until creamy. Add a dash of oil or water if necessary. Dress and toss the salad so it's evenly coated.
4 Top with parmesan shavings, then serve.

After reading a post by Arlee Bird, I don’t like to say Have a Great Day. How about wishing you all the best? I’d forgotten it was the weekend, have a wonderful weekend.