Reminiscing, Face Lifts.

I was reading a blog writer’s article the other day and he was reminiscing nostalgically about his childhood. I thought about it quite a bit since and I really don’t remember much about my childhood although lots of people used to think I had an exciting life because some time after the age of 8 I lived on a boat. Shortly after I was born in the Manchester, England area, a long time ago, the Second World War started and about the only thing I remember of the war was my father coming home from Rhodesia where he had been training air force pilots, and my mother making me to sleep under the stairs as it was supposed to be a safe place if bombs fell. I have never really found out if that truly was safe. I had a nanny before the war, but don’t remember her. She was drafted and my mother swore she stole her watch when she left; I do remember her name was Dorine. Meanwhile my mother was co-opted to drive a jeep at the local airfield, either ferrying VIPs or towing airplanes. By this time I guess I was old enough not to need constant minding. I do remember being with her at the airfield once or twice. Because she had a kid, me, she obviously couldn’t be drafted. A lot of women had to work in factories during the war which was something they had never done before. I guess my mother was lucky, her job was much more fun I think.

After the war I only remember snatches of things that happened. I can recall playing with other kids and rolling in the grass and cutting myself badly on a piece of glass. Had to be rushed to the hospital. Taking stew in a little brown pot for my lunch comes to mind, I guess the school would heat it for me. I actually went to eight different schools because my father moved around with his job so much and before he was demobbed he was posted to various airfields around the country and we went along too. I can remember hanging out of bedroom windows in farm buildings watching the cows being brought in for milking. I was allowed to try milking once, don’t think I was much good at it. Eventually my father was posted to Kent in the South East of England where he bought a lovely Georgian house in Rochester, of Dickensian fame. A year or two later he sold that to buy a converted Thames Barge and my life afloat began. I have written lots about that

One thing I have been wondering about lately, will face lifts and plastic surgery every become available to one and all, i.e. those who don’t have lots of money to pay for it?  I occasionally look at my face and think I need a little something. However, I know a friend had some work done on her eyes and it cost something like $15,000 – I thought she was nuts at the time, especially since I couldn’t see any difference although I expect she could when she looked in the mirror.

Matt took sausages out of the freezer for supper yesterday and the thought of plain fried sausages did not appeal, so I hunted on the net and found the following recipe which was delicious. It calls for spicy sausages so as mine were not spicy I added some pepper flakes to ginger it up a bit.

Spetzofai: Country Sausage with Peppers and Tomato

From Nancy Gaifyllia, former About.com Guide

Photo © Jim Stanfield

In Greek: σπετζοφάϊ, pronounced spehd-zo-FAee

The choice of peppers is yours, but unless the sausage is extremely mild, red bell peppers are always a good choice. For mild sausage, try Greek pepperoncini or other mildly hot pepper. In this recipe, I used our local handmade sausage (loukaniko) which has enough spice to make my eyes water, so I chose one red and one orange (sweeter) bell pepper. Note: This is delicious on the second day as well!

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds of spicy country sausage
• 2 medium onions
• 2 red bell peppers
• 1 large ripe tomato, finely chopped with juice
• 1 clove of garlic, sliced
• 1 tablespoon white or red wine
• 3 tablespoons of olive oil

Preparation:

Cut sausage into slices. Peel onions and cut into chunks. Trim peppers and remove seeds. Cut into chunks.

In a heavy-bottomed frying pan or skillet, sauté the onion in the olive oil over medium heat until translucent, about 5-8 minutes stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Add sausage, peppers, chopped tomato and juice, and garlic, and stir until all ingredients are well mixed. Stir in wine and cover. Cook for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Spoon onto serving plates and serve warm. A favorite with rice.

Yield: serves 4

Preparation note: If using pepperoncini peppers (mildly hot), they can be used whole as long as the sausage isn't extremely spicy. Otherwise, slit the pepper open and remove the seeds before adding to the dish.

Have a great day

Rape, Health, Il Volo, Caribbean Food,

You have all, no doubt, heard of the arrest of Dominique Strauss-Kahn the Chairman of the International Monetary Fund. He was arrested on his plane from NY to Paris, France and charged with attempted rape of a housekeeper at his hotel in NY. My friend, who lives in Paris, described him as a despicable character and said if he had become President of France, as was mentioned, she would have moved from France. What interested me personally, he was staying at the Sofitel Hotel in New York, presumably in a suite, which costs $3,000 a night a) who is paying for that and b) what do you get for that amount of money? Having Googled the hotel, it appears to be a world wide chain and looking at the pictures, there certainly doesn’t seem to be $2,935 difference in value from the hotels we use when travelling!!! Maybe he figured the maid was part of the price.

So this is interesting, Matt had another TIA on Saturday evening, right in the middle of dinner. The upshot was he was seen by a doctor who told us that in fact there is nothing the hospital can do for him any more because they have him on all the medicines possible. They cannot give him clot busters because he is on a major blood thinner anyway – warfarin – so if they did treat him with a clot buster it could cause major bleeding in the brain. Even if he actually ends up with a stroke, the same applies. The doctor said he should go in if he has major headaches with the TIA symptoms as that would indicate bleeding in the brain anyway. If he actually does get a stroke, the only thing they could help with would be rehab. Actually, we were rather pleased than otherwise because it always seemed such a waste of time spending hours in the hospital when the result was always the same, plus the TIAs had mostly been resolved before the ambulance arrived. The paramedic – who was a Welshman – told us that they do give clot busters with warfarin in the UK but not here. We actually discussed what was worse, risking death or being something of a vegetable for the rest of your life. I guess one would have to ask people like Kirk Douglas and Dick Clark.

Because I had been drinking wine with dinner I asked a friend to drive me to the hospital. The next morning, early, his wife phoned to say he was in hospital as well with a heart attack. What is it with these men? At least he didn’t drive himself to the hospital as another friend did. He was lucky to survive.

I might say, I prepared Steak Diane on Saturday for dinner, it was delicious, I was very pleased with the results, I basically used the recipe I posted on Friday although I didn’t use any of the herbs as I don’t remember those from when I used to make or eat the dish years ago. The Paramedics said the food smelled delicious when they arrived and the nurse wanted them to come back and get the rest of Matt’s dinner.

Over the weekend a friend sent me an email with a link to Il Volo, three teenage tenors (two at 16, one at 17) with fantastic voices. They have taken their native Italy by storm, their CD went platinum with little or no promotion, and are now heading for the rest of Europe, the US and Canada. I thought they were fabulous as did Matt, he was in tears he was so moved, so I ordered the CD from Amazon. If you would like to hear these amazing young men, here is the link http://tinyurl.com/3jr9xqm

When we have nothing particular to do or to watch on TV at 8 p.m., we watch The Cosby Show – these latest episodes (no idea when they were filmed) are pretty awful not like the originals which were very funny. There was one the other night where for an anniversary they wanted real Caribbean food and kept on about Callaloo which was obviously a soup. I decided to Google and found a recipe. Traditionally it should include Callaloo leaves which can vary according to the part of the Caribbean you are in, but an alternative is spinach. Another food mentioned was conch fritters. When I was in the Bahamas, I loved those as well as conch salad which I didn’t get up the nerve to try until the last day – silly me. In fact I had tried conch stew in the Carolinas and hated it. I believe the conchs in the islands are not the same as those found off the east coast of the States. I have never found out if this is true, but the conch in the islands appears to be a different proposition, being white, tender and delicious. I cannot imagine the conch in the Carolinas, which, to me, looks like a nasty black slug, being turned into a salad. (By the way, on this side of the pond its pronounced conk). So then I decided to do some Googling and it appears that there are different varieties of conch and guess what, the people of the Caribbean use conch in Callaloo and yet the recipes I have found only include crab meat as a seafood source although it changes from salt beef to salt pork. There also seems to be a variation in the spelling of Callaloo too.

Here is one Callaloo recipe:

Callaloo

1 bunch fresh spinach, chopped (or callaloo leaves)
2 ounces salt pork, chopped
8 ounces coconut milk
5 cups water
1 lg. onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
8 ounces chopped okra
8 ounces crab meat

Place first 6 ingredients in a large stew pot and simmer until the salt pork is tender. Then add the okra and crab meat. Simmer for 5 minutes and season with salt and pepper.

Now here is a Conch recipe which isn’t a heck of a lot different to a Clam Chowder recipe although no rum:

Conch Chowder

1 pound conch, trimmed, tenderized
3 tablespoons strained lime juice
5 tablespoons tomato paste
4 strips bacon, chopped
3 tablespoons oil
1 onion, finely chopped
3 ribs celery, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 green bell pepper, seeded, finely chopped
1 chile pepper, seeded, finely chopped
4 tomatoes, seeded, chopped
1/4 cup rum
1 pound potatoes, peeled, diced
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
Salt, pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Cut the conch into 1/2 inch pieces and place in a bowl. Add the lime juice and tomato sauce and mix well; set aside to marinate.

Meanwhile, in a large stew pot, cook the bacon until browned. Pour off the fat. Add the olive oil, onion, celery, garlic, green pepper, and chile pepper. cook over medium-low heat until very lightly browned. Add the tomatoes and cook for 1 minute. Add the rum, potatoes, conch mixture, bay leaf, and thyme. Bring to a boil, then simmer for about 1 hour. Potatoes should be tender.

Discard bay leaf. Stir in the Tabasco sauce, and season with salt and pepper to taste. To serve, sprinkle with fresh cilantro.

Have a great day.

LOLCats, The Weekend, Books.

This is especially for sinlaw Mike.

Well, the weekend has rolled round once again. Unfortunately, once you are retired, weekends don’t mean much any more. It does mean things like no mail, people don’t email as much and so on, but otherwise its very much the same as any other day of the week. The one thing Saturday means to us – we tend to have a special dinner with wine, having decided to cut down week day drinking, Saturday is the day we enjoy on of the special wines we keep in stock. As yet, I don’t know what we will be having for supper, and therefore I don’t know which wine either. We have a couple of fillet steaks in the freezer and I am toying with making a Steak Diane with them, haven’t had that in years, one of those dishes that kind of went out of fashion, don’t know why, used to be one of my favourites. Ve shall see.

I told you that I was doing a re-read of Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series and that unfortunately my library didn’t have book 8, The Path of Daggers, someone hadn’t returned it and it was a month overdue. Nor would they consider replacing for 6 months so I finally went to Amazon, both .com and .ca and found a copy for 7¢. All of this I wrote before, what I didn’t write was that when it arrived, it was in pristine condition and guess what, it was shipped from England. I had no idea. Having ordered it from Amazon.ca I naturally assumed it would be sent from somewhere in Canada. I can neither believe the price I got it for, with shipping, but that wasn’t very much, nor the fact that it came from the UK.

Steak Diane

From Chef John J. Vyhnanek

This classic restaurant show-stopping dish is usually prepared and flamed at the table but you can easily make it at home. Tender filet mignon steaks with a rich cream sauce are perfect for a romantic dinner with your loved one.

Ingredients:

• 4 (3 ounces each) center cut beef tenderloin medallions, trimmed of all fat and pounded to 1/2 inch thick, chilled
• 1-1/2 ounces clarified butter
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tablespoons shallots, chopped fine
• 1/8 teaspoon garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup mushroom caps, sliced 1/8 inch thick
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice, fresh squeezed
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard powder
• 1/2 teaspoon thyme leaves, fresh if possible
• 2 ounces heavy cream
• 1 ounce brandy
• 1 tablespoon parsley, chopped
• 1 tablespoon chives, chopped
• Salt, about 1/2 teaspoon or to taste
• Ground black pepper, fresh ground, 1/8 teaspoon or to taste

Preparation:

In a small 8- to 10-inch sauté pan, heat 1 tablespoon butter over medium heat for 1 minute. Add the tenderloin steaks, sprinkle with a little salt and pepper, increase heat to medium-high and sauté exactly 2 minutes on each side. Remove them to a plate and chill in a refrigerator for 5 minutes. Preheat a large (12-inch) sauté pan over medium heat for 1 minute. Add clarified butter, then add the Worcestershire sauce to the butter. Place the shallots, garlic, and mushrooms in the center of the pan with the tenderloin steaks around the edges. With a spoon, stir and toss the mushroom mixture. After 2 minutes add the lemon juice and season the ingredients with salt and fresh ground black pepper. Turn the filet mignon steaks and add the thyme, chopped parsley and dried mustard powder. Cook the steaks to the doneness you like. Leave them in the pan and add the heavy cream and chives. Tilt the pan slightly, and pour the brandy into the front edge of the pan, turn the heat to high and let the flame (or if electric, light with a match) catch the brandy's vapors and ignite it. Swirl slightly, turn off the heat and let the flame go out. Place filet mignon medallions on plates and top with the sauce from the pan. Note: You may want to slightly undercook the filet mignon steaks prior to adding the cream and brandy so that the reduction process of making the sauce doesn't overcook them. Yield: 2 servings

Have a great weekend

Spring Green, Roads, Cooking.

It appears Blogger has been down so I couldn’t post a blog at all. Sorry about that.

When we were out and about the other day, I tried to take a picture of the gorgeous spring green colour of the trees. Not much success, couldn’t get the right angles to get the right colours. So I searched on the web and found one picture, and one picture only, which actually showed the type of colours I am talking about. Even then its not quite right. I guess it must be difficult to capture the right shades if no-one seems to have done so. We are very lucky in our neighbourhood, we have lots and lots of trees, not just in the park, in fact most of the streets round here would classify as avenues because of the amount of trees. There are two particular roads we drive going to the store which show all the colours of the seasons and are so attractive.

OK I know I have been rabbiting on about spring but this year it seems to have been so long in arriving. Not only that, it usually doesn’t last 5 minutes and before you know it, we have summer. Mind you, in Ontario we say we have 7 months winter and 5 months road works and boy is that ever true. Of course the roads get so badly damaged during the snow season that lots of repairs have to be effected when the good weather arrives. This picture is pretty drastic, but not entirely unknown after a bad winter.

On a complete tangent, every time I make a white sauce, I pat myself on the back for my ability to make a proper one. So many people these days take a short cut with cornstarch or corn flour depending where you come from. It just doesn’t taste the same as making a roux (pronounced roo by the way) from butter and plain flour and allowing the flour to burst its flavour into the butter before taking the pan from the heat and gradually adding the milk, in tiny amounts at the beginning, to make sure the two blend together seamlessly, without lumps. It is painstaking and can be a bind, but the result of a beautifully smooth sauce is very rewarding. From there you can go so many ways, the simplest being to add grated cheese. This painstaking blending is the secret to making smooth gravies too. I am also proud of my omelettes which are nothing like the ones you get in restaurants round here, but delicate confections of eggs, seasoning and a little water folded together (NOT whipped) and sautéed in melted butter. If fillings are desired these should be added just before service and the omelette should not be over cooked, it should still be slightly runny in the middle, it will finish cooking on the plate. One of our favourite omelettes is, what I used to call, a Spanish Omelette but in fact I don’t think the Spaniards make anything like it – not traditionally anyway. I sauté onions, garlic, tomatoes and partly cooked potato in a pan – usually in olive oil – and then season and add to the omelette, again, just before service. The Spanish do make Omelettes Patatas, i.e. with potatoes and these are delicious.

I am not sure about the directions in this recipe, if you cooked asparagus and pasto together, the asparagus would be way overcooked before the pasta was ready. I think it would be better to cook them separately or to cook together but add the asparagus at the last minute. The asparagus I buy doesn’t take more than about 4-5 minutes at the outside.

Fettuccine with Prosciutto and Asparagus
3 cups (1-inch) diagonally cut asparagus
1 (9-ounce) package fresh fettuccine
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
2 teaspoons bottled minced garlic
1/2 cup chopped prosciutto (about 2 ounces)
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup (1 ounce) pre-shredded fresh Parmesan cheese

Cook asparagus and pasta in boiling water 3 minutes or until the pasta is done. Drain asparagus and pasta in a colander over a bowl, reserving 1/2 cup cooking liquid.
Wipe pan dry with a paper towel. Heat oil in pan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic; cook 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add prosciutto; cook 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in asparagus and pasta,
reserved cooking liquid, vinegar, salt, red pepper, and black pepper; toss well. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Makes 4 servings.

Have a great day.

Spring, Birds, Movies.

I’ve been meaning to write about spring, it is definitely here. Every year it is incredible to me how the trees seem to burst into leaf almost over night, you can almost see it happening. The spring colours are so fantastic and some of the prettiest of the year especially as they forecast warmer days to come. As they are considered one of the harbingers of spring, we are pleased to see the American Robins are now plentiful and we can hear, through our open windows, all kinds of baby birds calling for their food although we are not knowledgeable enough to identify the species by the sounds of nestlings. Yesterday we had a pair of Mourning Doves courting on our balcony wall, he was really making an all out effort. We can hear the adult robins (http://tinyurl.com/65x68fz) and Northern Cardinals (http://tinyurl.com/d7amqd) calling, along with many other birds which are nesting in the park below us. I wish I were able to paint these birds as our sinlaw Mike does. See link this page.

Matt, by the way, is fine, although tired and went to bed real early.

I’ve been having a bit of a movie fest the last few days, I watched Jumper, Marley and Me and Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs – as expected I enjoyed all of them. I read the Jumper books and I don’t think this sticks very closely to the story, (most films don’t) but it was still a good movie. Marley and Me was both funny and sad and Ice Age was typical of the series. Kind of heartwarming.

Here’s a different recipe from WebMD and this time without any strange ingredients.

Potato Salad with Sweet Potatoes and Red Onion

By The Gluten Free Goddess WebMD Recipe from Foodily.com

This is a colorful and lower-carbohydrate potato salad recipe, a welcome change from the ordinary white spud with mayo and boiled egg offerings so ubiquitous at backyard get-togethers. Why? Beyond the no-mayonnaise-and-eggs part, it features sweet potatoes. It's blissfully dairy, mayo, and egg-free.

Ingredients

2 large sweet potatoes, peeled, diced 2-3 large Yukon gold potatoes, peeled, diced Sea salt Cracked pepper, to taste Extra virgin olive oil, as needed Apple cider vinegar, to taste (use a clean, light vinegar, not too strong) 2-3 teaspoons dill Sliced or chopped red or purple onion, to taste

Instructions

Place the cut potatoes into a pot of fresh salted water and bring to a boil. Cook until the potatoes are fork tender, about 20 minutes. Drain well.

Season with sea salt and cracked pepper. Sprinkle with apple cider vinegar. Drizzle with olive oil. Add the dill and onion. Toss gently to combine.

Add vinegar, sea salt and olive oil a sprinkle at a time and toss until the salad achieves the flavor you prefer.

Note: I add a lot of vinegar because I love the combination of vinegar, sea salt, and potatoes. So I add more than I expect to usually, based on tasting. That's why it's so important to taste test while you're seasoning.

A recipe is only a blueprint. You have to engage your own senses.

One flavor tip I've learned from experience: It's better to season assertively when it comes to potato salad, especially if you're going to chill it before serving. Chilling dulls the flavors. You'll often need more than you think.

Serve this two potato salad warm -- I love it still warm. Or cover and chill it for serving later. It's also good cold.

Total Servings: 5

Have a great day

TIA, Oil, Asparagus and Rhubarb,

Matt had another couple of TIAs last night so spent most of the night in the hospital, he was discharged at 5 a.m. when they called me and I went to collect him. With the result neither of us had much sleep. Matt reckons he didn’t have any as there was a child screaming in Emergency from midnight on. One wonders what was wrong with the child, poor soul. I did get a couple of hours but went to bed at 1 a.m. almost fully dressed. As usual they couldn’t find anything wrong with him, however, they are having him in for an ultra sound. He also has to be seen by the Secondary Stroke Clinic and will be getting a batch more tests, trouble is, this is the same old same old. One thing new they have put him on another drug, not sure what it is yet until we have been to the pharmacy.

Gasoline prices this morning were up to $1.40 a litre which, by European standards may not be very high, but for us it is horrendous. Everyone is suffering except the oil companies who are posting profits in the billions and the governments who are raking in lots of taxes. Obviously everyone is pretty fed up with it. I mentioned to Matt that governments should look into it but he was the one who pointed out they are getting lots of taxes so why should they? A prediction has been made by the experts (whoever they are) that prices will peak in June and then start to fall again. Hmpf.

Having picked up my first batch of asparagus yesterday, I toyed with the idea of some fresh rhubarb as well. Barrie Bros. grow it as well. Unfortunately Matt doesn’t like rhubarb so when I get some, I usually just stew it for myself. My friends in the cyber cookery group all enjoy rhubarb and so I sent the email on to them from which I got the recipe below, it looks delicious to me. I did make a stack of asparagus soup though, some of which we ate for supper last night. The fresh asparagus itself was absolutely delicious and I ate that twice – lunch and dinner. Matt thought asparagus soup and asparagus was too much though so didn’t have any.

Rhubarb Sticky Buns

By pies & cakes & cookies ohmy! on April 25, 2006

Photo by Calee

Serves: 12, Yield: 12 sticky buns

About This Recipe

"My aunt used to grow TONS of rhubarb and I wish I had it now, finding it these days isn't always easy. This recipe is very old, and you can use fresh or frozen rhubarb."

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup cold butter (no subs)
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 cup chopped rhubarb (fresh or frozen, and thawed)

BATTER

• 1/3 cup softened butter or 1/3 cup margarine
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
• 1/2 cup cream

Directions

1. In a bowl, cut butter into brown sugar till crumbly. Stir in rhubarb. Spoon mixture evenly into 12 WELL GREASED muffin cups (I have tried using cupcake papers, and it doesn't work!). Set aside.
2. In a mixer bowl, cream butter or margarine, and sugar. Beat in egg.
3. Combine dry ingredients and add to creamed mixture alternately with cream.
4. Spoon batter over rhubarb filling cups about 3/4 full.
5. Bake at 350°F for 15-20 minutes. Cool 5 minutes and invert onto serving tray. Serve warm.

Have a great day

Back Pain, Asparagus, Banned Movie.

I forgot to update my report on ActiPatch yesterday. I spent a lot of time – or a lot more time – standing cooking on Saturday and found it helped me a great deal. I am very impressed with its performance. However, one problem I encountered, when I went bowling yesterday it had a tendency to ride up. As bowling is the only sports I do, I don’t know how it would be for anyone else in other sports, but I guess if you had too much pain you wouldn’t be playing those sports anyway, right?

A report out this morning about a movie which is NOT being shown in Britain but will be part of the Cannes Film Festival. It is about Princess Diana and shows pictures of her lying at death’s door at the end of her life. The movie is backed by Dodi al Fayed’s father who continues to believe that the Royal Family engineered her death. For God’s sake, why can’t they leave it alone. The investigation at the time showed that the driver of their car was drunk. Finish,  kaput, end it. Meanwhile Prince William and his bride have left on honeymoon, something nice for them to take with them!

After all that moaning and groaning, I won’t be getting asparagus at Barrie’s Farm, as soon as I wanted to, people have already been there and I couldn’t make it until this morning. However, better late than never, can’t wait. The first thing I want to do is stock up on homemade soup, we ate every bit of the batch I made last year. Plus I want to try out some of the recipes we enjoyed last year, asparagus wrapped in phyllo pastry was one of my favourites, can’t remember the name of the recipe right now, but I will be hunting for it very soon. As you can see, I found the recipe.

Asparagus Phyllo Bundles

Source: Paula Deen

For one roll:
Phyllo - 1/2 sheet for 2 asparagus
2 stalks asparagus
Parmesan, grated

1. Brush phyllo with butter, sprinkle with Parmesan, place 2 asparagus in middle and roll. Place in baking dish, sprinkle more Parmesan and put in oven 375 F for 15 mins.

Yield: one roll:

Have a great day

Mother’s Day, Migraine, Movies.

I am pleased all my ‘slaving over a hot tin’ on Saturday went very well in the evening and we all had a fun time. One of my guests even brought me flowers for Mother’s Day, his mom is in Rumania so I became a surrogate. Well I am a step mother and step grandmother after all!!! I hope all of you who are Mother’s had a good day yesterday. As for dinner, for those interested we had English Stuffed Peppers, Flemish Beef Stew, Goat Cheese Potato Purée and finally Cookies and Cream. Everyone had seconds of the main course except me, I was way too full. The Beef Stew was originally published by me on February 3, 2010 and I can highly recommend it. We have eaten it a couple of times and really enjoyed it. I make it in my new slow cooker which I have only used twice. The Goat Cheese Potato Puree was published April 21, 2008. It is one of our favourites, loaded with cream, butter and goat cheese. Very healthy!!!

Funny really, Matt decided to phone his daughters yesterday to wish them Happy Mother’s Day. Both of us had forgotten that Mothering Sunday takes place in March in Britain. Duuh.

I have just discovered I have scintillating scotoma which is a symptom of migraine (silent migraine) and usually without the migraine itself. It was mentioned to me over the weekend and immediately rang a bell, I have been suffering from this, periodically, for a number of years. Usually I have to rest with my eyes closed for at least half an hour, maybe longer, and it finally goes away. I remember the first time it happened and it was pretty scary. No-one ever diagnosed the problem though and I have just been putting up with it for a good 12-15 years, I did mention it to my doctor and told her I thought it was migraine related, but she didn’t seem to have a clue. Another doctor thought it was to do with high blood pressure.

Last night I watched Notting Hill which I really loved, I had seen it before, but couldn’t quite remember how it all went down. Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant who are two of my favourites. It’s a love story of course, but that’s right up my street. I think most women like a good love story, even if they don’t, I do. In case you are unfamiliar with the story, he is a, not very successful, book seller in Notting Hill with a somewhat odd room mate and a somewhat odd family too. She is a famous film star and whilst filming in London, happens to wander into his book store. From there the story develops.

By the way, our summer league at bowling starts today. Now we will be bowling once a week instead of twice.

The English Stuffed Peppers which we had for a starter on Saturday is a recipe we saw on a TV programme years ago, they were prepared by an English woman, hence the name I gave them. I don’t remember either her name, the programme or what she actually called the recipe. Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture. I don’t want to hear anyone saying “I don’t like anchovies” I promise you they will not be even remotely noticeable, they will blend in and just make the dish slightly salty.

English Stuffed Peppers

2 Red Peppers

3 Medium Tomatoes

4 Anchovy Fillets

12 Slices of Garlic

2 Tbs olive oil

French Bread

1. Cut peppers in half vertically and clean. Peel tomatoes and cut in to pieces. Stuff in to peppers. Snip one anchovy fillet per pepper half over tomatoes and add 4 slices of garlic to each pepper. Spoon olive oil over each pepper and roast for 1 hr in an oven preheated to 350°F. Serve with crusty bread.

Servings: 4

Have a great day

Movie, PC Repair.

Last night we watched The Insider a movie about blowing the gaff on cigarettes which starred Al Pacino, Russell Crowe and Christopher Plummer. I think we had seen it before but we both enjoyed it again. It was the story of Dr. Geoffrey Wigand and the “60 Minute” team. Dr. Wigand had been a top scientist working for a tobacco company and was well aware that the CEOs were all lying about the addiction factor on cigarettes. After much heart searching he agreed to talk to the media and because of it, lost his family to divorce, they were being threatened with death. His job he had already lost prior to talking to the news. A very brave man and one we should be more aware of.

Very short blog today, gotta go cook. Absolutely nothing in the whole menu could be prepared in advance, what bad planning on my part. Oh well.

I nearly forgot, I got my computer back last night, I was impressed with the speed. Not only did he fix my fax and get rid of the Malware but he fixed iTunes for me as well. A very simple adjustment apparently, I should have found out details, he said Apple should tell people, but unless you actually own an Apple product, they don’t care if iTunes works properly for you or not. Very short sighted as I have said before, if iTunes doesn’t work, you cannot buy or rent anything from them.

Still no asparagus.

Last night I tried out a quick recipe from my Best Ever Three and Four Ingredient Cookbook. It wasn’t bad, however, they don’t say anything about skinning the chicken (I used breasts not thighs) and I think next time I would definitely do so.

Honey Mustard Chicken

Serves 4

8 chicken thighs

4 tbs wholegrain mustard (I used Dijon)

4 Tbs clear honey

salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Put the chicken thighs in a single layer in a roasting pan.

Mix the mustard and honey, season with salt and ground black pepper to taste and brush the mixture over the chicken.

Cook for 25-30 minutes brushing the chicken with the pan juices occasionally until cooked through. (To check the chicken is cooked through, skewer it with a sharp knife, the juice should run clear)

Chicken thighs have a rich flavour but if you want to cut down on fat, use four chicken breast portions instead and cook for 20-25 minutes. Serve with a chunky tomato and red onion salad.

Have a great weekend

Pain, PC, Recipes

I have been trying a product called ActiPatch for my back pain – guess what, it seems to work. I have worn it for approximately 8 hours a day for the last three days and whilst wearing it don’t have any pain although it does come back a little after several hours of not wearing it. It is supposed to last 720 hours. You apparently cannot replace the battery so have to buy another one. For me the link is www.ActiPatch.ca but no doubt in the States it would be www.Actipatch.com I wonder if I can get a commission from them for recommending it. The price shown in the picture is Canadian dollars. After a full 3 days of use I am very pleased with it although tomorrow I will be doing a fair bit of cooking and therefore standing so will see how it copes with my back pain then.

I have lost my desktop PC for a couple of days (I hope). I picked up some Malware plus a couple of things aren’t working the way they should. Trouble is I am not very experienced typing on my laptop and the cursor tends to jump to a different point all the time. So please forgive me if I type some very odd things today. It was interesting that the young man who repairs my computers,, Konstantin, asked if I had cooked all the recipes I published, I told him no, but that I had certainly cooked a large proportion of them. Sometimes after I have published them here. Usually the recipes I choose for here are ones I think we would enjoy so if I haven’t already done so, either Matt or I prepare them. Actually we had a Weight Watcher’s recipe last night which we have prepared before and enjoy and maybe when I have my PC back I will share it with you.

I like the look of some of the recipes I have been getting from WebMD, but they do contain a lot of unusual ingredients and I am not sure if they are readily available. I will have to make some enquiries. I sure don’t keep sorghum flour or xanthum gum in my pantry which seems to be what some of these recipes call for. However, I came across a more usual recipe from South Beach Diet which I thought I would publish.

Mini Cocoa Swirl Cheesecake

Serves: 6

Details:

Ricotta cheese mixed with reduced-fat cream cheese and cocoa makes a rich and creamy chocolaty dessert. Muffin tins produce individual servings, perfect for family or a party. Prep and bake times are quick, but you'll want to prepare this dessert in advance, so you can allow it to chill in the refrigerator before serving. (Phase 3)

Ingredients:

• 6 ounces reduced-fat cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
• 2 tablespoons granular sugar substitute
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted

Nutritional Information:

130 calories
8 g fat (4.5 g sat)
7 g carbohydrate
7 g protein
0 g dietary fiber
125 mg sodium

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350° F. Line 6 muffin cups with paper or foil liners.
2. Blend cream cheese and ricotta in a food processor until creamy
3. Add sugar substitute, egg, egg yolk, and vanilla; process until smooth
4. Divide 1 cup of the batter among the muffin cups. Add cocoa powder to the remaining batter and combine. Drop a heaping tablespoon of the cocoa batter into each muffin cup and gently fold to form a swirl.
5. Place the muffin tin in a large roasting pan and fill the pan with hot water to reach halfway up the tin. Bake until the cakes are puffed and set, 18 to 20 minutes. Remove from the water and cool at room temperature. Refrigerate until chilled, about 2 hours.

Have a great day

X-Tink-Shun, Diabetes, Book, Asparagus

Happy Cinco de Mayo to everyone.

I forgot to mention that I went on line to order a book from my library – I am re-reading Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series, and wanted The Path of Daggers. It turned out that it has been late for a month and there is no way they will borrow the book for me. I then decided to go to Amazon. com and see what they had and bought the book for 7¢ – no that isn’t a mistype. Shipping costs about $5 so I ordered the book straight away and am expecting it any day now.

Today on GMA Sam Champion was in Philadelphia at the zoo where they are running an exhibit called X-Tink-Shun. They have films and performances with puppets as wildlife which is either extinct or in danger including Didi the Dodo. That made me think, how often one says “dead as a dodo” without thinking what that really means – the dodo has been extinct for 300 years. To read more about this go to http://www.xtinkshun.org/ – I wish I lived in Philly. On the web site there are a series of animal pictures which you can click on to read more about each endangered species.

I finally get to see my foot nurse today, she was as sick as a dog a couple of weeks ago and then when she was better, we couldn’t find a suitable time. One thing about having diabetes, one needs to take care of the feet. Extremities are important, the hands one can see easily, but feet are a long way away. I also discovered a new point of view from the medical community. They think gastric bypass surgery will lower sugar levels and reduce diabetes even immediately after by reducing the levels of certain amino acids. http://tinyurl.com/3nqga75 is the article and worth reading. I do know a friend who had a similar procedure, she was considered pre-diabetic and immediately after had no diabetes risk at all. I don’t think they would perform such surgery on me, I am too ancient I believe.

I am still crossing my fingers for the weather to improve so that the asparagus can grow and ripen. its been kind of sunny the last couple of days, but not exactly warm. I spoke to Tim Barrie at the asparagus farm and he said the plants were sprouting and that he had hoped to have some for Mother’s Day, but he isn’t sure right now. Please sun, do come out, I have waited fairly patiently for a whole year.

Bacon and Caramelized-Onion Asparagus

Kraft Recipes

6 servings

What You Need

3 slices OSCAR MAYER Center Cut Bacon

1-1/2 lb. fresh asparagus spears, trimmed

1 Tbsp. water

1/2 cup chopped onions

1/2 cup KRAFT Light Ranch Dressing

Make It

COOK bacon in large skillet until crisp. Remove bacon from skillet; drain on paper towels. Discard drippings from skillet. (Do not wash skillet.)

PLACE asparagus in microwaveable casserole or 10x4-inch dish. Add water. Microwave on HIGH 4 to 5 min. or until asparagus is crisp-tender. Meanwhile, add onions to skillet; cook and stir 5 min. or until tender. Stir in dressing.

DRAIN asparagus; top with sauce and crumbled bacon.

Kraft Kitchens Tips

Trimming Fresh Asparagus

Asparagus spears snap off naturally where they are tough. Simply bend the spear near the bottom end and it will break off at the right point. Or, remove an inch or so of the "woody" portion off the bottom of the stalks with a sharp knife.

Blogging, Wedding Dress and Uniforms, Political Parties.

An interesting point was made, yesterday, in Blogging without a Blog http://bloggingwithoutablog.com/blogging-sheeple/ about whether people tamed down their writing because of the possibility of adverse comments. Of course the most controversial topics would be politics and religion, but as I stated in my comment, I don’t get passionate about either, so its not something I would write about anyway. Yes, I wrote about the defeat of the Liberals yesterday, but I was only stating what had happened. Mainly, I just write what I think at the time of writing (I could change my opinion over the years of course it happens). The only things I am really passionate about (if you can call it that) are animal cruelty and food. Generally these topics don’t produce criticism. Maybe I should write about more controversial topics, perhaps I would get more comments. However, some of my blogging friends get the weirdest things written in their comment sections, I really don’t want to attract such nonsense.

On yesterday’s GMA they ran a segment about the copies of Kate Middleton’s wedding dress. There is a video if you wish to watch it, but they ‘knock off” dress, made by one of the top US wedding dress stores sells for a cook $3,700 just right for any bride!!! They did say that the average wedding dress is about $3,500. I’m sorry but to pay that kind of money for a dress you wear once and once only, is, in my opinion, absolutely stupid. You can find lovely dresses for much, much less money. In the video segment the model is totally dressed in the full regalia including a tiara. One interesting note, to get the lace the exact colour, they used a tea bag!!! Tea-dyed lace. As for the two princes, I finally found out what their uniforms were, Prince William is an honorary colonel of the Irish Guards so that’s what he wore to the great disappointment of the RAF of which he is a serving officer although his jacket would not have been so spectacular. As for Harry, he wore the dress of the Blues and Royals or the Royal Horse Guards 1st Batallion. His appearance impressed me more, I loved all the gold bullion on his jacket. If you are interested, there is an article here http://tinyurl.com/6bbrn2a

Something I forgot to mention about the elections, apparently in Canada we have a Radical Marijuana party. I only know that because Matt had stickers for all the parties in case their representatives came to scrutinise. I didn’t know we had such a thing in Canada, we also have the Pirate Party, they are something to do with banning all pirating of music and movies etc..

Cinco do Mayo is coming up (May 5th if your Spanish isn’t too good) which is a Mexican celebration. With the result that my inbox is being inundated by Mexican recipes. Here is one which didn’t sound bad, although these days I don’t eat very spicy (hot) stuff it tends to give me reflux problems.

Lime-Jalapeno Chicken

From EatingWell:  June/July 2005

Tangy, mildly spicy and tender, this chicken is delicious with black beans and salsa.

8 servings  Ingredients

1/4 cup lime juice, (about 2 limes)

2 tablespoons canola oil

1 tablespoon white vinegar

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 jalapeno, sliced

1-1 1/4 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed of fat, tenders removed

Preparation

1. Whisk lime juice, oil, vinegar, cumin and salt in a small bowl. Stir in jalapeno. Place chicken in a shallow baking dish and pour the marinade over it, turning to coat both sides. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, turning once, or overnight.
2. Preheat grill to high heat. Oil the grill rack (see Tip). Grill the chicken until cooked through and no longer pink in the middle, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Let cool slightly; thinly slice crosswise. Serve warm or chilled.

Nutrition

Per serving : 71 Calories; 2 g Fat; 0 g Sat; 1 g Mono; 31 mg Cholesterol; 1 g Carbohydrates; 11 g Protein; 0 g Fiber; 46 mg Sodium; 98 mg Potassium

Tips & Notes

Make Ahead Tip: Marinate chicken in the refrigerator for up to 1 day and/or refrigerate cooked chicken for up to 1 day. Slice just before serving.

To oil a grill: Oil a folded paper towel, hold it with tongs and rub it over the rack. (Do not use cooking spray on a hot grill.) When grilling delicate foods like tofu and fish, it is helpful to spray the food with cooking spray.

Have a great day

Superman, Dryer, Elections.

I read an article which says Superman is giving up his US citizenship because he wants to be a crime fighter for the world and not to be seen as being from the US. It was almost a serious article!!

Sunday morning I went to use my hair dryer and when I switched it on, nothing. I was somewhat teed off so later in the day, once my hair had dried itself, I had to go out and buy a new one. Actually its quite a nice little machine with a handle which folds flat, convenient for travelling. Bit like this one only blue. I tried it out, boy does it ever blast one’s hair. It is a Bella ionic dryer which is supposed to be good for the hair.

This morning I ache, my back aches and my neck/shoulders ache. Sitting almost continuously for around 14 hours at the polling station. I am not sure I will ever the job again, I am not fit enough. Pity because I enjoyed doing it once again. But oh the pain when I got home. Our station had an excellent turnout, we were busy all day with long lines first thing after the polls opened. People do get a bit upset if they don’t understand the rules though. They have been sent through the mail and broadcast on both radio and TV to explain how you have to prove your identity and yet people still come in with insufficient proof of who they are and whether they live in the district. Then they get mad and blame us. It was rather fun to see all the people from our building. Later that night, the results were through and we ended up with a Conservative majority government which is the first time we have had a majority for a while although the Conservatives have been the major party for a while, just not with a majority. The big surprise was that the NDP became the opposition and the Liberals were badly defeated, their leader didn’t even get re-elected although I noticed that Justin Trudeau did get elected. I feel sorry for him in a way, everyone is expecting him to be the man his father, Pierre Trudeau, was. A lot of pressure for him.

Of course the main headlines in the US are about the death of Osama bin Laden and the fact that the Americans are on high alert for retaliation from Al Qaeda, I think this will be put off for a while, and they will attack when no-one is thinking about it. The American government is also pondering on whether to publish a picture of bin Laden’s corpse to prove that he has been killed except the picture is somewhat gruesome apparently. Terrible when a country won’t believe its government, something wrong there somewhere!!!

Here’s an interesting recipe from Mushrooms Canada. A somewhat different take on pizza.

Shiitake Mushroom and Steak Flatbread on Shiitake Crust

This recipe was created by Elizabeth Nyland of Guilty Kitchen

2 oz dried shiitake mushrooms, stems removed
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup + 2 tbsp vegetable shortening
3/4-1 cup water
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp fresh rosemary, minced
1 large leek, sliced thinly into half moons
200 g fresh shiitake mushrooms, sliced and woody,
stems removed
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1/3 cup white wine
kosher salt to taste
fresh cracked black pepper to taste
1/4 cup heavy cream (or half and half)
1/2 lb. hanger steak (or any good quality steak such
as, filet, strip, ribeye, etc.)
1 tsp olive oil
200 g Gruyere cheese, grated fine
3 oz fresh baby spinach, roughly chopped
1 tbsp butter

1. Pulverize dried shiitake mushrooms in the bowl of a food processor until it takes on a bread crumb like
consistency.
2. In a large bowl mix flour, salt and pulverized mushrooms.
3. Cut in shortening until a fine crumb like texture forms.
4. Pour in 3/4 cup water and if more is needed at a bit at a time. Knead dough until stickiness is gone and
dough is slightly elastic. Let rest 30 minutes covered in bowl.
5. In a large sauté pan, melt 2 tbsp of butter on medium heat. Add in rosemary, garlic, leeks and fresh shiitake
mushrooms. Sauté until mushrooms are softened.
6. Add Dijon salt and pepper and white wine. Continue to sauté until wine reduces by half and all vegetables are
thoroughly cooked through.
7. Stir in cream, cook for 2 minutes and remove from heat. Set aside.
8. Rub steak with 1 tsp of oil and season with salt and pepper. Sear in a sauté pan on high heat (or on the grill)
for 2 minutes per side. Just long enough to brown the outside leaving the interior very rare.
9. Allow steak to cool for 10 minutes and slice as thin as possible against the grain. Set aside.
10. On a lightly floured surface roll out dough to desired shape and about 1/4" thick. Roll up edges to make a
crust and pinch down to seal.
11. Bake on a baking sheet in a 450°F oven until golden brown, about 15 minutes.
12. When down, spread 1 tbsp butter over the crust, top with chopped spinach, leek mixture, steak and grated
Gruyere.
13. Return to 450°F oven for another 10-15 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and golden.
14. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before slicing.heat and let cool.

Have a great day

Election, Watches, Telephones.

If you are a Canadian, don’t forget to vote today.

So - Osama bin Laden is dead!

Matt was watching golf on TV on Saturday and one of the commentators kept mentioning the watch worn by Bubba Watson one of the young golfers and commenting how much it was worth. I decided to look it up, apparently the watch cost $525,000 and was made especially for golf and for him. As commented in the article I read, you can look at how pretty it is and consider it is worth more than anything you will ever own. How very true. http://tinyurl.com/3aouwup I cannot imagine why anyone would want such an expensive watch, and it would have to do something really spectacular for me. Like maybe play golf for him LOL

This has been written in advance as today we will be at the polling station from 8:45 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. One thing I am not happy about, don’t remember it before, is the preponderance of phone calls from various political parties and candidates this year. We pay for a phone so our friends can contact us or we can use it for all kinds of reasons, we do NOT pay for it so that politicians or advertisers can reach us. Luckily, the advertising is more or less non existent any more, but not the campaigning. Apart from anything else, it a “secret” ballot.

If I am very lucky, one day soon, asparagus will be ready to pick. Matt is sick of me talking about it so now I daren’t say a word. Meanwhile here is an interesting asparagus recipe for those of you, like the English, who already have fresh asparagus.

Asparagus Salad Topped with Poached Eggs

From EatingWell: March/April 2011

This asparagus salad topped with poached eggs is satisfying yet light, making it a nice option for lunch, brunch or even dinner with some crusty bread. Roasting brings out a toasty flavor in the asparagus. We like this salad with medium-set poached eggs so the yolks are still a little runny, but poach your eggs for the full 8 minutes if you prefer hard-set yolks.

4 servings

Ingredients

2 bunches asparagus (about 1 pound each), trimmed

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, divided

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper, divided

Zest of 1 lemon

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 tablespoon minced shallot

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

4 large eggs

1/4 cup distilled white vinegar

1 7-ounce bag baby arugula (about 10 cups)

1/2 cup thinly shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (see Tip)

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 450°F.
2. Toss asparagus with 2 teaspoons oil and 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper in a large bowl. Transfer to a large rimmed baking sheet. Roast, stirring once, until very tender, 15 to 20 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, whisk the remaining 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon oil, the remaining 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper, lemon zest, lemon juice, shallot and dry mustard in the bowl. Set aside 4 teaspoons of the dressing in a small bowl. # When the asparagus is done, set aside to cool while you poach the eggs.
4. When the asparagus is done, set aside to cool while you poach the eggs.
5. Break each egg into its own small bowl. Fill a large, straight-sided skillet or Dutch oven with 2 inches of water; bring to a boil. Add vinegar. Reduce to a gentle simmer: the water should be steaming and small bubbles should come up from the bottom of the pan. Submerging the lip of each bowl into the simmering water, gently add the eggs, one at a time. Cook 4 minutes for soft set, 5 minutes for medium set and 8 minutes for hard set. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the eggs to a clean kitchen towel to drain for a minute.
6. Toss arugula with the dressing in the large bowl. Divide the salad among 4 plates. Top with asparagus and a poached egg and drizzle with 1 teaspoon of the reserved dressing. Garnish with cheese.

Nutrition

Per serving : 239 Calories; 18 g Fat; 4 g Sat; 11 g Mono; 217 mg Cholesterol; 9 g Carbohydrates; 13 g Protein; 3 g Fiber; 360 mg Sodium; 534 mg Potassium

1/2 Carbohydrate Serving

Exchanges: 1 1/2 vegetables, 1 1/2 medium fat meat, 2 fat

Tips & Notes

• Make Ahead Tip: Cover and refrigerate the dressing (Step 3) for up to 1 day.

• Tip: To make shaved cheese for topping salads or pasta, use a vegetable peeler to thinly shave slices off a block of hard cheese, such as Parmigiano-Reggiano, Asiago or Pecorino Romano.

Have a great day