How Odd, Gold Medal

Suddenly my YouTube requests have come through, about a week or so since I asked them to post to my blog. Weird. We were delighted to hear this morning that Carol Hunyh of Canada had won a gold medal in wrestling - at long last. Canadian athletes have been doing well for themselves, but not well enough for the Olympics. Several Canadian records have been broken, but unfortunately it doesn't count. Matt keeps reminding me that although we are a vast country, we actually don't have that many people in it. Another young lady got a bronze in wrestling today too, so everyone at home is very excited. I discovered this morning that all the medals in Beijing have a piece of jade on them, each piece being different of course. Canada also got a silver in the two men rowing competition. Picture from CBC.ca Needless to say, I watched Michael Phelps win his seventh medal last night in the Butterfly. He won it by a fingernail, literally. 1/100th of a second. This morning I am glued to the TV as I want to see the 100 metre dash which is getting quite exciting. I watched several of the heats last night so would like to watch the final. Looks like the Jamaicans are going to win toppling records left right and centre. When Matt was shopping, he couldn't find any ripe tomatoes, they were all quite green. Fine for cooking but not for salads. So yesterday morning he went to the farm and got some, theirs still aren't great as they lost so many in a hail storm. However, he also bought me some corn. I had a couple of cobs last night, were they sweet, absolutely delicious. Yum, yum, yum. I have two more cobs, but the day after they won't be quite as delicious. If only I could still get locally grown asparagus I would be in total heaven. I am also in the middle of boiling oranges for my Turkish Orange Cake which I will be making later on today. It has the advantage of being gluten free and my friend's kid, who will be here for dinner tomorrow, is not allowed gluten at the moment. He doesn't have celiac disease luckily. I posted the recipe once before, November 24, 2007. I have two, one without chocolate and another from Nigella Lawson which does have chocolate. I haven't, surprisingly, tried that one. Nigella's Chocolate Orange Cake Serves: 8 or more (its quite heavy) picture from My Recipes.com Source: Nigella Lawson 1 large or 2 small, thin-skinned oranges 6 eggs 1 heaped tsp baking powder 50 g cocoa 200 g ground almonds 250 g caster sugar Half tsp bicarbonate of soda Put the whole orange in a pan with cold water, bring to the boil and cook for 2 hours, or until soft. Drain. When cool, halve the orange and remove big pips. Pulp everything in a food processor. Preheat oven to gas mark 4 (180c). Add the eggs, baking powder, sugar, bicarbonate, almonds and cocoa to the orange in the processor. Run until you have a cohesive cake mixture. Alternatively, chop the fruit finely by hand and add the eggs one by one, alternating with spoons of almonds and cocoa, then the oranges. (Tip: Have another bowl prepared to put the mixture into, unless you have a professional size food processor) Pour and scrape into a buttered, 20 cm springform cake tin and bake for 1 hour. Have a great weekend.

WWF - Noah Wyle for WWF

Randy Pausch Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams

This is the last lecture if you haven't seen it.

Phelps, Theatre

I have obviously got to take up serious swimming. not just putzing around in the pool, but laps. Michael Phelps eats 12,000 calories a day. GMA showed what his food for the day consists of, including a pound of pasta twice a day. The pictures really brought it home to you just how much food he consumes. Obviously he has to, but to someone constantly watching their weight, it is staggering. I wish I could find the pictures to show you. Now where did I put that lettuce leaf? I watched Phelps romp home in the Medley last night capturing another world record. That man is incredible. That's 6 gold medals in Beijing so far and he is anticipating two more. Did you know his armsspan from fingertip to fingertip is more than his height which is 6 ft. something? Ru, you were so right, I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change was not a farce. It was a series of vignettes about relationships all set to music and was extremely funny. There were just four characters, two men, two women, who did a lot of pretty quick costume changes for each scene. There were scenes on dating, marriage, having a baby in the house, empty nests and finally a couple of oldsters meeting up in a funeral home. It was brilliant and we both thoroughly enjoyed it. That said, the performance was staged in the Huron Playouse II which was not a great venue. There were ordinary chairs, not uncomfortable, but they were all on the same level and the stage wasn't very high either. I was then unfortunate enough to sit behind a woman who was very tall and I spent my whole afternoon dodging to one side or the other in order to see what was happening on one part of the stage. It must have driven the people behind me bats. Nevertheless, we really enjoyed the performance and we were really lucky with the weather and so also enjoyed our picnic lunch outside the theatre. Whilst I was out, Matt did the shopping and could only find the greenest of green tomatoes, so this morning we have to go to the farm and see if they have some. Due to a hail storm a week or two back, a lot of their tomatoes got ruined. I will probably pick up some fresh corn if they have any. But I can't live without my daily tomato. At this time of year, when tomatoes are so plentiful, we like to broil our tomatoes along with our chops or whatever else we are having. We cut them in half, drizzle them with olive oil, seasoning and some chopped Basil. They are delicious as a side dish. Matt also likes to do something similar with plum tomatoes which he roasts in a cool oven for a long time. He cuts the tomatoes in half and does the same thing, oil, seasoning, Basil and roasts them for about 45 minutes or a bit longer, in a 275 F oven. They come out beautifully and make a wonderful hors d'oeuvres served on toast, or with crusty bread to dip in the juices. Have a great day.

Theatre, Books, Nova Science Now

Today I am off to Grand Bend again to the Huron County Playhouse. We (friend and I) are going to see 'I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change', which is, presumably a farce. We are hoping to have a picnic lunch outside the theatre, but at the moment it is threatening storms, so we may end up eating in the car. This is the same theatre I went to a few weeks ago to see My Fair Lady. I have one more theatre visit, next week, and that's it for the summer for me. We have booked for the Pantomime in December. They are endeavouring to emulate a British pantomime with some success, but I guess if you have seen London pantos with top comedians, etc. it is difficult to compete. I have been reading the Katherine Kerr Deverry series - have finished the first four and now awaiting two more from the library. The writing appears to be getting better as I read further along. The story is good, but some of the written speech at the beginning was terrible. Drove me bananas. I am presently reading an eBook which is one of the Witch World books by André Norton. I enjoy that series very much although I only discovered them in the last year or so. In fact lots of different authors have written episodes which took place in the Witch World. It's interesting to see the different aspects from another writer's point of view. I watched my favourite Nova Science NOW programme. They had an interesting segment on extinction which is worth watching at Nova Science NOW where they explained about mass extinctions which have happened on earth over the millenia and they have some new theories as to how it happened. If they are right, then it could happen again any time now. Another segment, a scientist has re-created the flu virus of 1918, which killed millions of people world wide, in order to study the possible changes to avian flu which might occur and allow it to pass from human to human which, at present, it cannot do. I see the point, but I worry about such viruses being in existence when they had been disposed of. The third section was to do with reading ancient papyrus remnants which had been stained or damaged. They showed a load of papyrii which came from a city dump in ancient Greece. One section turned out to have been from the New Testament and is therefore one of the earliest known copies. If you want to watch interesting video, you really should check these out. Once again, in keeping with the Olympics in Beijing, I am giving you a Chinese recipe. This one comes from The Joy of Wokking by Martin Yan. Matt has made this recipe many times as it is a prime favourite of ours. Moo Goo Gai Pan 3/4 lb skinless, boneless chicken breast 1 Cup button mushrooms 4-6 dry black mushrooms soaked til soft (optional) 1/4 Cup canned button mushrooms (optional) 1/3 Cup fresh snow peas (optional) 1 1/2 tsp dry sherry 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tbs dark soy sauce 1 tbs oyster sauce 1/4 Cup broth (bouillon) 3 slices ginger, slivered 2/3 tbs cornstach in 3 tbs broth 3 tbs cooking oil. Slice chicken breast to thin bite-sized strips Preheat wok or skelet for 30 seconds, add oil and heat further 30 seconds. Stir-fry chicken with ginger over high heat for 2 mins. remove and set aside. Add softened black mushrooms into wok and cook for 3 minutes with chicken broth over medium high heat, add snow peas, fresh and canned mushrooms and cook for a further 1 1/2 minutes. Return cooked chicken to wok. Put in all the seasonings and thicken to serve hot. Other than the canned mushrooms I would certainly use any optional items. For extra mushrooms use some fresh wild mushrooms, whatever you can obtain. picture from http://www.asiangardengrassvalley.com/AGOurCuisine-OurMenu.html Have a great day.

Lunch, Olympics, Chocolate Bacon, More about Dolmas

Our Greek lunch was a tad disappointing. In the end we had take out and when we got it, there really wasn't very much food at all. We had one piece of Spanakopita (phyllo and spinach) one of Tyropita (phyllo & feta) one dolmadas and some pita bread with tzatziki (basically a yoghurt dip). For $8 I didn't think it was very good value. Nothing wrong with the food, but it was somewhat skimpy. I think we might have been better to actually go to the restaurant, but I could be wrong. I don't remember that their prices were so high, but maybe things have changed. The picture is of tzatzkiki dips from DairyGoodness.ca I watched some more of the Olympics yesterday, Michael Phelps, the American swimmer, is creating Olympic history with his incredible swims. He now has 5 gold medals in this games plus 5 world records. He really is the most incredibly powerful swimmer. It staggers me the size of the shoulders of these swimmers, I had never really noticed before, the females in particular. I wonder if they lose it later in life or if it turns to fat which is a terrible thought. The photo on the right is from VOA News.com. If you wanted to read the complete article click here there are links to other Olympic news stories if you are interested. Matt is particularly interested in gymnastics as he was a gymnast at one time. He always says it is impossible to do what the Chinese do on the rings. That is one of their strongest events. Today, on Good Morning America, they were talking about chocolate covered bacon!!! The food segment was actually about foods available at State Fairs, fried snow balls filled with chocolate was one of the items. If you don't believe me the article is here with a video called GMA's Blue Ribbon Summer: Fried Food - its quite a funny video as there are two comedians trying out the food as well. In answer to the comments about the Dolmadas being very meaty, as I mentioned yesterday, they can be made without meat. Dolmadakia Source: Cooking the Greek Way 1 15 oz. can of vine leaves 1 lb onions 1/2 pt olive oil (the best quality you can afford) 8 oz. rice, soaked 1/2 pt boiling water (UK pint so that's 10 fl. oz) salt and pepper 1 tbs chopped parsley juice 1 large lemon 1 tbs chopped dill or 1 tbs chopped mint lemon wedges 1 tbs currants (optional) 1 tbs pine nuts (optional) Rinse the vine leaves and drain. Chop the onions very fine, or grate. Heat half the olive oil in a fairly deep pan and fry the onions without letting them colour. Add the rice, previously soaked in salted water and drained, mix well and cook gently for about 20 mins. Gradually add the boiling water, salt, pepper, parsley, dill or mint and the lemon juice. Cover tightly and simmer until all the water is absorbed, about 20 minutes. Let the mixture cool a little. Take one vine leaf, cut off the stalk and with the rough side towards you put one good teaspoon of the mixture on the widest part. Fold over and tuck in the ends to make a neat little parcel roughly 1 x 2 inches wide. Continue until all the mixture is used up. Put a layer of vine leaves in a skillet and place the dolmadakia close together in rows. Pour over the rest of the olive oil and enough hot water to cover them completely. Add some more salt and pepper to taste. Put a plate on top to keep them from moving about. Cover with a lid and cook over low heat for 1 hour. Serve cold, garnished with wedges of lemon. If you do find them bland, squeeze on more lemon juice. A very popular taste in Greece. Have a great day.

Canadian Diabetes, The Three Kretans,

This morning I am going to the CDA seminar called "What's Next" so that I can see what happens and what they tell people. It is designed for those who have just been diagnosed with diabetes and it is recommended that volunteers participate as part of orientation. As far as doing any volunteer work however, until they have me set up on their main programme, there isn't a lot I can do. This should take another couple of days apparently. After the seminar, the Administrative Assistant and I are going to lunch at the local Greek restaurant, The Three Kretans. I haven't been there for a long while and she has never been and no-one would go with her before. I am hoping they will have dolmadas available as they are one of my favourites. They make very good ones there. I expect our lunch will consist of mezes which are the Greek way of saying appetizers (to all intents and purposes), when you are in Greece, you can frequently make a full meal out of mezes, or you can have one or two and then you are invited into the kitchen to see what the chef or cook has prepared for the day. Each dish will be lovingly described telling you its ingredients and how it was assembled. You can then choose what you would like to eat and it will then be brought to you. In Canada they just have menus like everyone else although one Greek restaurant which used to exist in Brantford called Zorba's, served you mezzes and then you were invited up to a counter where the chef had all his meals for the night on display and took off the lids to show you what he had prepared. The chef there was once the chef on Aristotle Onassis' brother-in-law's yacht. So you know he was pretty good. We had a wonderful meal. Unfortunately they are no longer there. Matt has made dolmadas several times and they were very good. Below is a recipe from Recipezaar which you might like to try. They are actually not that difficult. You can find all kinds of recipes for them, with and without meat, with rice or with bulgur wheat. When Matt worked in the Borstal system in England, he was with young people. One young man was a Cypriot and one day on a visit, his mother brought him some dolmadas. They discovered Matt liked them and gave him some. The next time the mother came in, she brought a casserole full of them for him. He brought them home, they were excellent. We guzzled the lot. (grapeleaf courtesy of About.com, first dolmadas picture from Geocities Traditional Greek Food, second dolmadas picture from MyRecipes.com)

Dolmadakia (dolmadas)

Submitted by katanga | June 17, 2008

1 16 oz. jar grape leaves 1 large onion, minced 3/4 lb. ground veal 2/3 C. rice, soaked for 5 minutes in boiling water and drained 3 T. fresh mint, chopped a little fresh dill 1 t. salt 2 T. olive oil Chicken broth juice of one lemon pinch of cinnamon

Carefully unfold grape leaves and rinse under cold water. Pat dry. In a bowl, combine onions, veal, rice, herbs, cinnamon, salt, pepper, and oil. Fold in sides then roll up from leaf tip end. Arrange a layer of leaves in bottom of large frying pan. Place stuffed leaves very close together on top of leaves in pan. Pour enough broth over to barely cover stuffed leaves and sprinkle with lemon juice. Weight leaves with a plate. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer one hour. Let leaves cool in broth. Drain and serve. Have a great day.

Beijing

Saturday night we watched some of the swimming and the volley ball. I must admit I was a bit sleepy and didn't see a lot. However, Sunday, I was up early and we watched some rowing and synchronised diving. I was very proud to see the Canadian rowing teams doing so well. Three groups have qualified for the finals which is great. Unfortunately Canada didn't make it into the synchronised diving. The Chinese team took the gold medal. They really are good. The picture on the left is from the National Post and is of the Canadian four man rowing team which came in second in their heat, as did the two other Canadian rowing teams. The picture on the right is the CBC news picture of the Chinese synchronised swimming team, Guo Jingjing and Wu Minxia on the podium. Sunday night we watched more swimming but had to go to bed before the end. I find that I can no longer stay up til all hours of the night like I once did. One can catch up on the Olympics the next day, but its not as much fun as watching it actually happen, but my bed calls me so that's that. I see that Michael Phelps has got two of his expected eight medals. This morning on GMA there was a segment on moonlighting and a woman on the Outer Banks in North Carolina (how well I know that area) is taking care of people's dogs when they are on vacation. It made me think of EZ a dog I used to take care of regularly when her mistress was off being a flight attendant. Unfortunately Zee, as she was known, is no longer with us, but she was almost pure hound and would spend hours hunting if left to her own devices. She was a very well behaved dog and just turned up out of the blue. They tried to find an owner for her, but couldn't do so, so she took up residence with my friend where she lived many years. In those days I used to walk about 4 miles a day so walking with Zee was very easy except for one time when I walked past a home where their dog was not fenced or leashed and came dashing out onto the road, Zee thought it was attacking me and went for the dog, I am hanging on to her leash like grim death and ended up on my knees, on the road, hurting like hell and yelling obscenities at the owner of the other dog. My knees were quite badly scraped and I was not a happy camper. I can't find a picture of Easy at the moment, but she would have fit into the picture here. I hope you can enlarge the picture, it is quite funny. In honour of the Olympics being in Beijing, I figured I should post some Chinese recipes. This is the first one for the ever popular Peking Duck. It is a lot of effort and I can't really see anyone having a go at it, but for interest, if nothing else, here is the recipe. I don't know how authentic this is, I only ever ate it once and we had a kind of crèpe with it. However, I have a Chinese Cookbook as part of one of my computer cookbooks and this was the recipe.

Peking Duck (picture from National Food Industry)

Serves: 4

Source: Madame Wu's Garden

1 (4-1/2 to 5 lb.) duck 1 tsp. salt 8 green onions 2 (1/4 in.) sliced gingeroot 3 tbs. honey 2 tbs. cornstarch 1 can oven-ready biscuits 1 small can plum sauce

A day in advance, clean duck inside & out, dry thoroughly. Season inside w/ salt. Tie together stem ends of 2 green onions, place inside duck cavity w/ gingeroot. Bring edges of tail opening together, stitch w/ a length of fine wire. Attach another wire to neck as a handle. Mix 1 qt. water w/ honey in large wok or small turkey roasting pan, bring to boil. When boiling, stir in cornstarch dissolved in 1/4 cup cold water. Continue to stir to consistency of a thin stream. Lower heat. Holding duck by neck wire, dip into honey mixture 3-4 times to coat on all sides. Remove duck, suspend over container in cool place. Set an electric fan towards duck to help dry the skin. Let duck drip-dry over- night. Next day: preheat oven to 450. Place duck breast side up on flat rack in roasting pan. Roast 30 min.

Reduce heat to 300, turn duck over. Roast 30 more min. Turn duck breast side up again, roast for final 30 min. Remove biscuits from can, divide each biscuit in 1/2. Bring 2 in. water to boil in bottom of steamer. Place biscuits in container above water, cover, & steam 5 min. Thinly slice stems of remaining 6 onions into 2-in. diagonal strips. Divide sliced onion between 4 butter plates, place 1 tsp. plum sauce on each plate. Prepare duck for serving by cutting off drumsticks & wings & placing on platter in position whole duck should be. Carefully slice off all skin pieces of about 1 and 2 inches, lay them aside. Slice same size pieces of meat from bone. Place all carved meat on platter, cover w/ skin pieces on outside to make presentation look like a whole duck. Eat by making sandwich of onion, plum sauce, duck, and skin.

Have a great day.

Olympics, China, Volunteering

At 7:00 a.m. on Friday, in Ontario, we will be able to see the Opening Ceremonies in Beijing. We are told they are going to be splendiferous. I plan to be watching them. I imagine most of the actual games will be recorded by the time we get to see it although I remember sitting up til 3 a.m. when I lived in the UK to see events being broadcast from Japan. I hope their beefed up security is going to be sufficient. The happenings just the other day are enough to make one nervous. I see also, China has told Bush to keep his nose out of other country's affairs. Interesting. I wonder how much notice he will take of that. On record he doesn't seem to think it applies to him. Sorry, my American readers, I am not in any way politically minded, but I do NOT like Bush. I can't wait until November to see who next you are going to inflict on the world. The French believe Obama is going to win the election, I am told the French are never wrong. Later in the day on Friday I am doing my first stint at the Canadian Diabetes Foundation. Not sure what I will be doing, probably mostly orientation. So I am writing this blog on Thursday evening as I won't have a lot of time tomorrow. I had an email from Eating Well today and they are giving lots of tomato recipes. As tomatoes are one of my favourites, along with asparagus of course, I thought I would share some of them with you. Tomato, Tuna and Tarragon Salad

From EatingWell MagazineAugust/September 2005

Tomatoes and tuna were meant for each other, and fresh tarragon seals the deal. Soaking the onion in cold water tames the heat and sweetens its taste. Makes 4 servings 1/2 cup diced red onion 1/3 cup reduced-fat mayonnaise 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt Freshly ground pepper to taste 2 6-ounce cans chunk light tuna in olive oil, drained 2 stalks celery, thinly sliced (about 1 cup) 1/4 cup packed coarsely chopped fresh tarragon leaves 8 cups torn lettuce or mixed greens 1 pound small ripe tomatoes, cut into wedges 1 lemon, cut into 8 wedges 1. Place onion in a small bowl and cover with cold water. Refrigerate for 20 minutes. Drain. 2. Whisk mayonnaise, salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Add tuna, celery, tarragon and onion; stir to combine. Serve on top of the lettuce (or mixed greens) with tomato and lemon wedges.

MAKE AHEAD TIP: Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 day. Have a great day.

Baby Elephant, Nova

African Lion Safari have done it again. They have a new baby elephant, three weeks old, called Chuck after the elephant handler in a New York zoo. The baby is an Asian elephant and they are on the endangered list apparently. The mother elephant, Mali, is from the New York zoo but I gather she was bred by the Safari people. She has been lent to Canada for the birth making Chuck a third generation elephant born in Canada.There is a video of the original Chuck Doyle on this page which you might like to see. On local TV and in the newspapers there are all kinds of pictures of the baby elephant. On the African Lion Safari website there are a whole bunch of videos including one of Chuck which you can download to play on your PC. click here. Matt used to work at the African Lion Safari as a security officer - a few years ago now - and he still misses the sound of the lions at night. They had a baby elephant there then too which I got to see. They have an incredible successful elephant programme. On the African Lion Safari site there is a video of cheetahs at play, we got to meet some cheetahs there a few years ago. They were being socialised and we went right in the pens with them. Read my blog from December 22, 2007 if you are interested in seeing the pictures. We watched Nova Science Now last night. There was another segment on aging. Scientists now seem to believe that really old healthy people have a "longevity" gene. It has been discovered that high HDL (good cholesterol) and a section of DNA known as Sir2 helps preserve test specimens and mice in a healthy condition click here for a lot longer than normal. Back to the "how long do you want to live" question which we discussed a few months ago. They were also talking about Resveratrol again, which, if you recall, comes from red wine. It too helps prevent aging but not by drinking the wine, you would need 10,000 glasses a day. But there will be a pill. In fact there are already pills on the market but I am not sure how good genuine they are. There were all kinds of seniors from lat 80's through to one man who was 101. A lot of them are participating in tests to discover what keeps them alive so long. Its not diet or lack of smoking, several of them eat the wrong foods and some of them still smoke. The other two main segments dealt with Space. Trying to build an elevator into space which would be some 22,000 miles high and spotting Mayan ruins from space. The first is something they think can and will be done one day, there are lots of people working on the project, amateurs for the most part. There is a $150,000 prize at stake. The second, satellites can pinpoint changes in appearance in the greenery which turns out to be obscuring Mayan ruins, so they are now able to find them relatively easily in the tropical jungles. Relatively is the operative word here, it is still quite difficult to get to the ruins even now they know where to find them. Both segments can be seen at the same link as shown above. Today we not only have to do our weekly shop, but we are both going to "get our ears lowered" - haircuts. We have been waiting a while as they were extra busy at the beauty shop with people off sick, etc. My hair feels as though I could braid it. We used to like to eat in the Outback restaurants in the States (the one here is not so good IMHOP) and would frequently order coconut shrimp. Following is a similar recipe which I thought you might enjoy. I got the recipe of the internet, but I am afraid I don't remember where from now. It is actually a very easy recipe. Coconut Shrimp with Dipping Sauce Serves: 6 Coconut shrimp: 12 colossal shrimp (10 shrimp to the pound), peeled and butterflied 2 C. sweetened long-grain coconut 1/4 C. Japanese bread crumbs (panko) 1 C. flour Asian Dipping Sauce: 1/2 C. teriyaki sauce 1/2 C. soy sauce 1/2 C. rice vinegar 1 bunch scallions, sliced fine 1 t. grated fresh ginger 1 T. toasted sesame seeds Coconut shrimp: Combine coconut and bread crumbs in a shallow dish. Put flour and eggs in separate, shallow dishes. Dip shrimp first in flour, then egg mixture, then bread crumb-coconut mix, coating well with each element. Place shrimp, no more than three at a time, into deep fat that has been brought to 350 degrees in a deep-fat fryer. When shrimp begin to turn a golden color, about 4 minutes, remove from fryer and drain. Servings: 6 (two shrimp per person as an appetizer). Asian Dipping Sauce: Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl. Refrigerate until ready to use. Have a great day.

Modern Art, Harness Racing,

Well I have just discovered I have absolutely no taste. We went to the gallery as I told you and had to wait a while for the owner as we were early. We therefore spent our time wandering around looking at all the paintings for sale, anything from $2,000 to $11,000. To us, we could have given a 5 year old some paints and achieved similar results. One picture which was of a room with chairs and tables etc. which were all vaguely represented, lopsided, with no proportion, was apparently a minimalist painting. Two or three others were of bright daubs of colour in paintings called Silence and then numbered. Silence, if that was silence I want ear plugs. The colours were, I admit, bright and appealing in a way, but the paintings were basically scribbles on the wall except they were on canvas. There were one or two I might have given $10 or $15 to own, might I say. Gyni would probably have appreciated them, but what she draws is recognisable (see her blog link this page) most of these were not. On the left there is a painting called Four and Five by Bruce Gray which I at least see some point to, on the right the painting is called Snap #2 by the same artist. It looks like coloured barbed wire to me, which is something, I suppose. I am sure you all know what I am talking about anyway. I just emailed our son-in-law and suggested he should change his style. I mean you can recognise what he is painting, that is obviously not right. Mike's stuff doesn't go for thousands of dollars, so he's obviously gotta change. Anyway, the upshot of the whole trip, my painting, it was, as I guess I knew deep down, a print, albeit at least 65 yrs. old, but a print nevertheless. We had a nice trip down to London and did NOT call at the cheese shop as some idiot forgot to take the address with her. Grrr. We stopped at Mandarin's which is a Chinese buffet where the food isn't bad and as always I had a bowl of hot and sour soup. Theirs is particularly good, I have never really duplicated the taste. I was wondering if it would freeze so I could bring some home, but with tofu in it, I am guessing not. Near Woodstock which we drove past (and where the cheese shop is!!!) we saw someone practicing with a trotting horse, known as harness racing over here. I had forgotten there is a track near Woodstock. We used to go to the one at Flamboro Downs which is closer to us. They have a restaurant there and you can sit and watch the racing whilst you dine. I know they have a similar set up at Woodstock where we went once quite a few years ago. However, since those days, I gather they have all installed dozens of slot machines. I would hope they are away from the dining area otherwise the noise would drive you insane. We went to the old casino at Niagara Falls a few years ago and the whole place was full of slot machines with the odd baize table thrown around which you couldn't get near anyway, and if you did probably couldn't afford the table limits. It was awful, plus the fact that you could smoke in the building at the time made the atmosphere almost unbreathable. I have never been back and I am supposed to be a gambler. It wasn't even remotely fun to me. Often thought I would like to go to Las Vegas, glad we never spent the money. I have been to several casinos in England and Europe, even the one in Monte Carlo, but I have a nasty suspicion that they, too, are probably full of slots these days. It makes money after all, and that's what its all about, depriving us suckers of our hard earned cash. I used to like slot machines when there used to be the odd one or two in the local pub or something, but not with hundreds of machines all clanging away at a rate of knots. I guess if I owned them, I would be laughing and absolutely love the sound. The pic on the left is the Monte Carlo Casino. Last night we watched a programme put out by Nova which I have mentioned several times. This was one of the scariest programmes I have seen for a while and it really makes me glad I will not be here by the middle of the century. The show, which can be obtained on video, is called Dimming the Sun and can be checked out by clicking here I do hope you will look at this web page, particularly if you will be here by mid century, you should know what you are likely to be facing. They have a lot more information these days and greenhouse gases are not the only problem facing the earth in the near future. There are slide shows you can look at, but I wish you could see the actual programme. This morning I saw an amusing ad put out by Paris Hilton in response to the ad by McCain. If you get a chance to see it, do, it was fun. Apparently McCain used her in one of his campaign ads. I am assuming even non-North Americans have heard of Paris Hilton. Read all about it she certainly had a viable energy plan. Although I have never made these, I have certainly eaten something similar. If you don't want to buy a big buttermilk, you could use cream for this recipe I would think. I cannot imagine why they don't sell buttermilk in small sizes. Buttermilk Eggs in Tomato Shells Serves: 4 Source: About Home Cooking 4 medium large ripe tomatoes (5 to 6 ounces each) 1/2 cup buttermilk 4 extra large eggs Seasoning Instructions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cut a very thin slice from bottom of each tomato so that it won't wobble. Do not cut into the liquid part of the tomato. Cut a 1/2 inch slice off tops of tomatoes and scoop out seeds and pulp from cavity, leaving the shell of the tomato intact and being careful not to penetrate the bottom. Sprinkle insides of tomatoes with salt and freshly ground pepper. Put 1/2 tablespoon buttermilk in bottom of each shell. Fill each shell with a raw egg, which will come almost to the top of tomato. Carefully spoon 1 tablespoon buttermilk on top of each. Sprinkle with salt. Place in shallow baking dish and bake 25 minutes, or until eggs are set but not overcooked. Have a great day.

Film Music, Painting and Cheese

I have just received an important Polar Bear video from the World Wildlife Fund appealing for help in rescuing the bears. For some reason I haven't been able to post it to my blog, however, the link is here if you would like to watch it. For some time we have been trying to find the name of a piece of music which is regularly played on Public Television or PBS. The local station is WNED out of Buffalo, NY. Being incredibly bright, and having written to PBS with no luck, I suddenly thought of writing to WNED themselves. Guess what, I got the answer. Its John Dunbar's Theme from Dances With Wolves by John Barry - we knew we knew it but just could NOT place it. It really is a haunting piece of music. The first time I saw the movie I thought the beginning was very slow. Funnily enough, when I saw it again on TV I didn't find it slow at all, possibly because I was expecting it to be. I think its a wonderful film. Isn't it funny how things have changed. Once upon a time it was always good cowboys/soldiers against bad Indians. Finally people have wised up and realised the Indians were not the baddies at all. Of course today, the Indians are causing a lot of problems in Canada at least, which is not making them very popular. As you can imagine, I would love to be in a position to make friends with a wolf. In case you are wondering and just can't remember, it was Kevin Kostner. I have now downloaded the music from iTunes. Cost me a whole 99 cents. By the time you read this, I should be in London. No Ontario, not England. We are going to see an appraiser about a picture which, to my knowledge, has been in the family 65 years or so. It probably is nothing, but on the other hand.... It is by a well known European artist called R. Wintz and some of his paintings have sold for a lot fair amount of money. Not yer Rembrandt's of course. It's called Departure of the Tunny Boat. I don't know if its an original or not, and I don't want to try and remove the frame etc. and check it out. It is behind glass which our son-in-law thinks means it is probably a print, but then he puts his paintings behind glass. I know, I have three of his originals. On the way home I am thinking we should call in at The Springbank Cheese Co. in Woodstock and see what they have to offer. You can buy cheese from them on line, but it would be nice to visit them. They are here Springbank Cheese if you would like to read their website. I have just realised they are also in Alberta and British Columbia. However, we will not be travelling that far. Woodstock is on the way to London, ON. I see they have now started doing wine pairings on their web site. I bet we buy some Caerphilly which is a cheese from Wales which we both love. Not easy to find. I remember once in a deli in North Carolina, they ordered us some and the assistant thought it was pronounced "carefully" but its more like "cayrfilly". As its summer and time for barbecues, I thought I would pass on this recipe for barbecued vegetables. Barbecued Marinated Vegetables Serves: 6 Source: U Cook Comments: Served cold with a vinaigrette or hot straight from the grill, these vegetables make a delicious light dish, full of color and flavor 1 eggplant 2 zucchini 2 carrots 3 red sweet bell peppers 9 button mushrooms, washed 2 sprigs of fresh thyme, finely chopped 2 sprigs of fresh parsley, finely chopped 2/3 cup olive oil 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar Instructions: 1 Cut the eggplant, zucchini and carrots lengthwise into long slices, about 1/2 inch thick. Halve the peppers, remove the seeds and halve into quarters. Remove the mushroom stems. 2 Spread the vegetables on a tray, sprinkle with salt and pepper, the thyme and parsley. Reserve 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and combine the rest with the lemon juice. Pour over the vegetables and sprinkle with the basil. Marinate for 2 hours. 3 Heat a barbecue or broiler and brush the rack or broiler tray with the reserved oil. Slowly cook the vegetables on both sides until tender. (If you prefer less crunchy carrots, cook them for a few minutes before adding the other vegetables.) 4 Arrange the vegetables on a dish and drizzle with the balsamic vinegar. Have a great day.

Automatic Phrases, Produce and Magic

I mentioned on Saturday that this is a holiday weekend, Civic Holiday. However, it could be any holiday or no holiday at all, it makes absolutely no difference to us other than that stores and banks which are normally open might be closed . Therefore I get a little irritated (comes with old age you know) when people ask me if I have plans for the holiday, or did I have a nice holiday. They don't think; I am always on holiday these days. I might get very bored with being retired, but I am still "on holiday" to all intents and purposes. Even my doc asked me if I had plans for the weekend and I know she knows we are retired. Not that we ever did things for the long weekends anyway, too many other people are out and about and we are not good with crowds. We always took our vacations in the spring or fall (autumn to you Europeans). Admittedly we might leave home on Labour Day weekend to take advantage of the extra day for our two week trip, or something similar but we generally avoided destinations to which everyone else went. From 1980 on it was usually North Carolina we headed to anyway as we had a mobile home in which to spend our vacations. Sunday we went to a farm especially for tomatoes, they didn't have any due to the bad storm a week ago, all damaged by hail apparently. I did buy myself some corn though and then ate it for lunch, it was gorgeous. Two cobs, 3 minutes in the microwave wrapped in grease proof or waxed paper. Roll each cob in the butter and.... heaven. There is nothing to beat corn fresh out of the field, cooked and eaten within hours. Marilyn mentioned it being ripened on the roof when she lived in South Africa, I have never eaten it that way, but you sure would have to go a long way to beat my lunch. I finished my Rules of Deception and have now started a new series of books by Katherine Kerr, the first being Dagger Spell. You may recall I got a book from the library the other day and discovered it was actually the last book in a long series. I took it back and got the first two books which begin the series. I have been reading a conversation with Glenda Larke (Tropic Temper, this page) about the different types of magic used. I admit it is something I hadn't really thought about, but authors come up with the most incredibly diverse ways of giving their characters power. This book talks of dweomer which Wikipedia tells me is and old English word for witchcraft which derived from an old Norse word meaning dwarf talk. I recently read a book where they called it geas, but that is really not the same thing - well from the original definition of being a compulsion or prohibition. Glenda has used two different forms of magic in her trilogies The Isles of Glory and The Mirage Makers and is apparently using another form of magic for her upcoming trilogy The Time of Random Rain. We had something different, to us, for supper last night. Fried ravioli. Matt came across the recipe on Rachael Ray's TV programme. In fact when researching on the net I discovered quite a few recipes for it, but we had never tried it before. I don't have a proper recipe, but it is good and can be served as an appetizer or as a main course. Fried Ravioli 1 jar roasted red peppers Tomatoes, chopped, we used a small can Chili flakes Garlic Salt and Pepper 1 packet fresh ravioli (we had cheese & spinach) 1 egg breadcrumbs Parmesan Cheese First make a sauce - basically a Marinara. Matt whizzed the first 5 ingredients in the blender and then put the results in a saucepan to heat. He then dipped the ravioli in beaten egg and then the breadcrumbs into which the cheese had already been mixed. He fried them in a little olive oil until they were golden and served them with the sauce on top. For an appetizer, you can serve the sauce as a dipping medium. If you want, you can make your own ravioli which would have a more noticeable filling, but we just bought the fresh from the grocery store. You could serve these with a side salad. Have a great day.

Chili in the Bedroom and Other Bits of News

How many people do you know who keep cans of Campbell's Chili in the bedroom? I do. They are my weights. I was doing some exercises this morning and it suddenly struck me as rather funny. I personally don't eat it, Matt has it now and again for a quick lunch, but the cans are just the right weight for me particularly bearing in mind how my thumb joint has been hurting. Matt wanted to upgrade me to large cans of tomatoes, but the can hurt my thumb. Watched "That's Entertainment" last night, haven't seen it in a long time. It is nice to see all the old stars, most of whom are no longer with us, although Liz Taylor is still kicking around I believe. The movie is about MGM and its musicals and of course featured Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly who were so brilliant in their time. They showed one of my favourite segments of Gene Kelly dancing with a mouse. Also the brilliant routine of Donald O'Connor in Singing in the Rain. Make 'em Laugh. There were so many wonderful stars in the old days, there doesn't seem to be as much talent around today. Of course they were all under contract and had to do what the studios told them. Singing, dancing, whatever. Saw a news report this morning about skateboarding. I don't know the names and I can't check, but there were pictures of one of the competitors having a bad crash, he lay on the ground for 5 minutes. He broke his foot and then went back again. When interviewed, this man, with a wife and three kids, said he wanted to be with his skateboarding buddies so that's why he carried on despite the advice of his doctors. He has since had a CT scan, but won't go through the rest of the tests til Monday so he can be with his buddies. They described him as having courage, we described him as having no brains. Matt said if he were the wife, he would leave. Last year one of the competitors broke several bones and ended up in hospital. Mothers, don't let your sons grow up to be skateboarders. Another segment was about the production of Tabasco. The recipe is, of course, secret, but it was interesting that the McIlhenny family have been producing it for almost 150 years on Avery Island in Louisina. It is aged in bourbon barrels apparently which is what must give it that good flavour. If you want to read Tabasco history it is interesting. These days they sell all kinds of different hot and mild sauces, but I personally only keep the original hot one. That reminds me, I haven't mentioned that they have finally decided where the salmonella poisoning was coming from, it is jalapeño peppers from Mexico; not only do the peppers have Salmonella, but so does the water with which they are spraying them. I must admit I had previously thought salmonella only came from eggs, meat or fish, not water and/or vegetables. Just shows you how dumb uninformed I am. I guess I now need a recipe using Tabasco, right? I haven't tried this, but it does sound good. This recipe calls for Lima beans, in the UK you could probably substitute broad beans - you will see from the picture that they are very similar although I have to say I love broad beans. Devilled Bean Toss Serves: 6 Source: Chatelaine 1/2 c olive oil 2 tbs red wine vinegar 1 tbs sugar 2 crushed garlic cloves 1/4 tsp each Tabasco and Worcester sauce (I'd probably use more Tabasco, but I like it spicy) 1 tsp dried oregano 1/4 tsp dry mustard (if you can use Coleman's, there really isn't any other dry mustard) salt & pepper lettuce 19 oz lima beans, frozen 19 oz chick peas, drained 19 oz red kidney beans, drained Combine dressing ingredients in a large bowl. Whisk together until blended. Turn frozen lima beans into boiling water. Boil for 1 min or until thawed. Plunge into cold water to stop cooking. Drain and add to dressing along with rest of beans. Toss until coated. Taste and add more Tabasco, salt and pepper if needed. Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hrs, overnight if possible. Stir occasionally. Will keep at least 2 days. Serve on a bed of shredded lettuce. Have a great weekend.

Volunteering, Gas, Rock Slide

I went for my interview at Canadian Diabetes and thought I was being interviewed for a regular job. They really want to know who you are and what you can do. It was a little unexpected, but thinking about it I guess they need to know who their volunteers are and what they can do to help. Looks like I will be a regular on Tuesdays and maybe do occasional work at other times on special occasions. We will see how it goes on both sides. They said they hoped I would be with them for the next 20 years, I said 'I hope I will be alive that long'. Thursday is our regular shopping day I thought I wouldn't spend much having bought tomatoes the day before, some hopes. Didn't seem much cheaper at all. Prices are definitely higher although gas prices are not as bad as they have been. Day before Matt paid $1.23 a litre. There has been quite a big rock slide on the road to Whistler in British Columbia - we saw it on the news last night - it will take them a day or two to clear, they have to blast any loose rock first before they can actually clear the road. It is the main road leading from Vancouver to Whistler and so supplies are going to be short. Worse than this though, it is a road which will be much in use during the 2010 Olympics so this is not good. If you would like to read the article click here where they have more pictures of the blasting and the slide itself. Glad I wasn't driving along that road when the fall occurred. I am always nervous of roads with rock slide warnings, some of these roads have netting, but I am betting that it wouldn't have held this slide in BC. Another item on TV yesterday, they have developed a pill which has only been tested on mice, which acts on the system the same as if you had been exercising. Well it works that way on the mice at least. That would really turn people into sedentary lumps. Again, if you want to read an article about it its here and there is a video to watch as well. I confess I am not great on exercise, but I am not sure I would want to take a pill to simulate it. For Marilyn of French Marilyn's Blog (see link on this page) there is an interview with France's First Lady which you might enjoy, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy is talking to America's Barbara Walters. I have written about Barbara before, she is one of the top interviewers and manages to get to see people that no-one else has talked to. She is quite an incredible TV personality. The interview is on 20/20 tonight, I will have to try and remember to watch it. I was reading about the Great American Seafood Cook Off which takes place in New Orleans this weekend, I was hoping to write a Pay Per Post article about it, but I joined too late. However, a requirement in the article was a recipe for a seafood dish. I decided on a shrimp dish which I got from my boss' wife many years ago. I have made it a few times, it is great for a party and really quite simple to do. She called it Shrimp Bowl so I continue to do so although that doesn't sound a very ambitious name. Of course you could make it with the home made tomato soup recipe I posted here before. Shrimp Bowl 1 can tomato soup 1/2 c water 1 12 oz pkg cream cheese 2 pkg knox gelatin, dissolved in 1/4 c water 2 c shrimp, crumbled 1 c chopped celery 1 c mayonnaise Heat soup and water to boiling. Stir cheese into hot soup. Add dissolved gelatin and mix. Then add shrimp, celery and mayonnaise. Pour into a mold and chill. Serve with crackers or Pita chips. Have a great day.