Fat Free? Snow,

New one on me, reduced fat tofu. I didn’t know there was such a thing. Tofu is a vegetable product, how can it have fat in it? I don’t basically believe in buying non-fat, reduced fat, low cal anything. If I am going to eat it, I will eat the real thing, in moderation and eat less of something else if necessary. Foods which are reduced frequently taste lousy and contain things I shouldn’t eat anyway. No thank you, I will stick to the real thing. It really isn’t necessary to stuff yourself with these tasteless foods, just moderation, moderation, moderation. If you can’t be moderate you might as well give up anyway. That’s not to say I won’t make things which are diet friendly, like the cookies the other day, I just don’t want to buy products labelled that way.

Well we certainly got some snow yesterday, first time we have had any which really counted this winter. I am told there were cars sliding all over the place, Canadians don’t remember how to drive from one winter to another, and that the roads were treacherous. We didn’t bother to go out anyway, so I can’t confirm although it certainly looks pretty white out there. I am not sure what they did about school buses, I didn’t hear anything.

There is a new movie coming out called Red Tails which is a fictional account of the Tuskegee Airmen who were the first African American fliers in the second world war. There was already a movie called Tuskegee Airmen which Matt watched last night. It turns out that Robyn Roberts’ dad was one of the first Tuskegee airmen or Red Tails and they honoured her the other day on GMA by presenting her with a red airmen’s jacket. The older guy in the picture was a Tuskegee airman in his younger days. There is a video at the link if you are interested.

Its New Year, OK Chinese New Year, which is a favourite time with me. I love dumplings and like to go and eat lots of them to celebrate, I wish you all gung ha fat choi which is the nearest we can get to their traditional NY greeting. 2012 is the year of the Dragon, my favourite critter.  I was born in the year of the Tiger – pity I would love to have been in the year of the dragon. Matt was born in the year of the pig or boar and we are not supposed to be compatible, now they tell me after almost 40 years, grin.

Afterwards there is “Rabbie” Burns Day. I would love to go to a Burns Day celebration but have never managed to do so. The ceremony of piping the haggis would be wonderful to see. They do hold a Burns Night in Fergus I believe which is not that far from here, but I wouldn’t want to go alone and I suspect Matt wouldn’t be interested.

Needless to say I have to give you a dumpling recipe. This looks fairly simple and is from Good Housekeeping. Not the greatest source for Chinese Food but helpful to Westerners. It includes using Wonton wrappers instead of having to make dumpling wrappers, not as good, but easier.

Chinese Dumplings

From Good Housekeeping

Serves: 12
Yields: 36 dumplings

Ingredients

2 cup(s) (packed) sliced Chinese cabbage (Napa)

1/2 pound(s) ground pork

2 tablespoon(s) soy sauce

1 tablespoon(s) dry sherry

2 teaspoon(s) cornstarch

1 1/2 teaspoon(s) minced, peeled gingerroot

1 green onion, minced

36 (3/4 12-ounce package) wonton-skin wrappers*, 3 1/2" by 3 1/4"

1 large egg white, beaten

Soy Dipping Sauce (below)

Green onions for garnish

---

Directions

1. Prepare filling: In 2-quart saucepan over high heat, in 1 inch boiling water, heat cabbage to boiling. Cook cabbage 1 minute; drain. Immediately run cold water over cabbage to cool. With hands, squeeze as much water out of cabbage as possible.
2. Finely chop cabbage. Squeeze liquid from chopped cabbage; place in medium bowl. Stir in pork, soy sauce, sherry, cornstarch, ginger, and green onion.
3. Arrange half of wonton-skin wrappers on large sheet of waxed paper. With pastry brush, brush each wrapper lightly with egg white. Spoon 1 rounded teaspoon filling onto center of each wonton wrapper. Bring opposite corners of wonton wrapper up over filling; pinch and pleat edges together to seal in filling. Repeat with remaining wonton wrappers, egg white, and filling
4. In deep 12-inch skillet over high heat, heat 1/2 inch water to boiling. Place all dumplings, pleated edges up, in one layer in skillet. Stir gently with spoon or heat-proof spatula to prevent dumplings from sticking to bottom of skillet. Heat dumplings to boiling. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 5 minutes or until dumplings are cooked through.
5. Meanwhile, prepare Soy Dipping Sauce: In small serving bowl, mix 1/4 cup soy sauce, 1/4 cup seasoned rice vinegar or white wine vinegar, 2 tablespoons angel-hair-thin strips peeled gingerroot. Makes about 1/2 cup sauce. Each teaspoon sauce: About 7 calories, 0 g protein, 2 g carbohydrate, 0 g total fat (0 g saturated), 0 mg cholesterol, 240 mg sodium.
6. With slotted spoon, remove dumplings to platter; garnish with green onions. Serve with dipping sauce.

   Nutritional information is based on one serving without sauce.

7. *Available in Asian food stores or some supermarkets in the refrigerator case in the produce section.

Have a great day

Chewing Gum, Movie, More Turrón, Wikipedia.

Unbelievably, I heard an article on the radio which referred me to the DJ’s (Randy White) blog which states that chewing gum can make you smarter. Particularly when doing tests, math or homework. It appears to have been fairly well researched. For years I have hated seeing people chomping gum with their mouths open which is what most people do, and I was “brung” up to believe it wasn’t the thing to chew gum anyway although of course I did as a kid. Now it looks as though people who never chewed might well take up the habit. God forbid. We get enough gum on sidewalks and under tables and desks as it is.

The other night we watched a movie called Angel Eyes starring Jennifer Lopez. Enjoyed it. A slight mystery with a romance. One of the characters played the trumpet and both of us were saying – what’s the name of that tune? - we recognised it, but couldn’t put a name to it, it sounded beautiful the way it was played. I went on to the website for the movie and had to go through all the music which had been used and finally found it, it was Nature Boy by Jon Hassell with which we are both very familiar. Duuuh. Hope you enjoy this version.

I am somewhat upset to learn that the US Government is considering legislation which will damage the free information we get from Wikipedia which to me is a great online resource. I have  been posting the information on Facebook. Wikipedia are practicing a 24 hour blackout of all their information. To learn more read their statement here and if you are an American, please do all you can to prevent your government from introducing their bill in its current form. Piracy is one thing, freedom of information another.

Yesterday I was thrilled to receive a packet of Turrón from a friend in Portugal, she picked it up when she went over the border into Spain. Oddly enough, it is without sugar, i.e. suitable for diabetics. I didn’t know there was such a thing. I also received a 32 Gig flash drive especially for backing up my laptop which I had ordered. It just backs up iTunes for me which is the most important thing, everything else is already backed up elsewhere.

I thought we’d go with a simple Kraft recipe for a chicken curry done in the slow cooker. My only argument with this – I recently read chicken should be partially cooked before being put in a slow cooker as it takes a while for the cooker to come up to a temperature which will prevent any bacteria from breeding. I found the tip about curry very useful, I had never heard that before.

Slow Cooker Chicken Curry

Kraft Kitchens

What You Need

10 chicken thighs (2-3/4 lb.), skins removed

1 jar (16 oz.) TACO BELL® HOME ORIGINALS® Thick 'N Chunky Salsa

1 onion, chopped

2 Tbsp. curry powder

1 cup BREAKSTONE'S FREE or KNUDSEN Fat Free Sour Cream

Make It

PLACE chicken in slow cooker. Combine next 3 ingredients; pour over chicken. Cover with lid.

COOK on LOW 8 to 10 hours (or on HIGH 5 hours).

TRANSFER chicken to platter; cover to keep warm. Add sour cream to slow cooker; stir until well blended. Serve over chicken.

TACO BELL® and HOME ORIGINALS® are trademarks owned and licensed by Taco Bell Corp.

Kraft Kitchens Tips

Serving Suggestion

Serve over hot steamed vegetables. Or, spoon over 2/3-cup servings of hot cooked brown rice.

Cooking Know-How

Heat releases the fragrant flavorful oils in curry. For optimum flavor, measure the curry powder into a small microwaveable bowl and microwave on HIGH for 30 sec. before adding to the slow cooker.

Have a great day

Fog, Deen & Diabetes, Purse Safety.

Tuesday morning, thick fog again. Its all very well having a light winter with no snow and lots of sunshine, but it has been producing a lot of fog and many school buses were cancelled. I must admit I’m not sure why, it wasn’t that thick – they should have grown up with the London pea soupers I lived with for a number of years. Not only were they very thick, visibility almost nil, but the smog was yellowy and extremely unhealthy. I used to drive with my head hanging out of the window to try and see where I was. Which reminds me of one time when I commuted to London by train daily and there was fog on the way home so the train was extremely late, I think I got to the station around 10 p.m. I then had to drive a fair distance along country lanes which were not really marked with white lines. Extremely difficult. But that was at night. During the day I never found fog that difficult.

I completely forgot, the other morning when I came into the living room Matt was watching GMA as usual and he immediately said “Paula Deen has diabetes”. I was sorry for her, but at the same time I can’t say I was unduly surprised. We went to her restaurant, Lady and Sons, in Savannah, Georgia many years ago and met her there at the time, her featured buffet was all very much Southern cooking which, let’s face it, has no connection to Weight Watchers or any other diet system. We, in fact ordered a la carte and had a fillet steak. That was a few years before she became so well known with her TV programmes and cookbooks, now I understand you will rarely see her at Lady and Sons as she is so busy. The sons now have their own restaurant too, they will have to be careful about diabetes as well if they cook like mama. If somebody like Matt can have borderline diabetes, when his diet is so healthy, I guess anyone can have it. All the diabetes web sites tell people to get it checked no matter what you think. It’s a simple blood test. You do NOT have to be carrying the pounds to get diabetes.

Heard a report on the radio about a woman losing her purse/wallet in Zehrs, a local supermarket and then her credit cards were used. This doesn’t surprise me one bit. Women are so stupid with their purses, they leave them in the cart and then walk away to look at items on the shelves. I have seen unattended bags and purses so often it makes me mad. Matt has even pointed it out to people and been told to mind his own business. Searching for a suitable picture, I actually came across a good tip, use the child safety straps and lock them through the handles of your purse. Personally I use an over the shoulder wallet which I find is pretty safe and I don’t have to walk away from it ever but then I don’t carry much these days unlike these women who practically carry their whole household with them. For the people who don’t live in this part of the world, I had problems when I first got here, but a purse is generally what a handbag is called.

Saw a recording of an interview with the Italian cruise ship captain, what an idiot and what a coward, he was scared and left the ship before all the passengers had been accounted for and in the end they found some of them in life vests waiting for rescue which came too late. He was ordered back on the ship by the coastguard and refused to go, he was needed to coordinate the evacuation. There is a recording of this on the internet which has been verified by the coastguard.

Watching what you eat? These cookies appeared in my inbox and are purported to be Weight Watcher cookies at one point or 100 calories a piece. Small but delicious I am told.

Lower Fat Double Chocolate Chip Cookies (Ww)

Photo and Recipe By Marg (CaymanDesigns) on May 14, 2008

Serves: 40, Yield: 40 cookies

About This Recipe

"I needed to make some cookies that wouldn't interfere with my trying to cut back on my fat intake. A friend passed on this recipe which she said was from Weight Watchers. If you make 40 cookies, it is 1 point each. And yes, they are small cookies, but very fudgy and delicious!"

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon table salt

1/4 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup unsweetened baking cocoa

2 large egg whites

1/3 cup miniature chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. (Do not pack flour when measuring).
3. Beat butter and brown sugar with a mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy; gradually add granulated sugar, beating well. Add cocoa and egg whites, beating well. Gradually beat in flour mixture until blended. Stir in chocolate mini chips.
4. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls (about 3/4-inch balls to get 40 cookies) onto baking sheets coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350°F for 10 minutes. Cool on pans 2 minutes or until firm. Remove cookies from pans; cool completely on wire racks.

Have a great day

Baby, Golden Globes, Bowling. Italian Cruiser.

I had to copy this from Facebook, it really tickled my sense of humour, hope it makes you smile as well. Some people are so very clever with their comments.

I was delighted to hear that my current favourite programme, Downton Abbey, won a Golden Globe award this weekend. I personally believe it was a very deserving winner. Last night, we watched the celebration of Betty White’s 90th birthday, you could say she was roasted. It was very amusing with lots of well known personalities including the President wishing her a happy birthday. Obama was pretty funny actually. If he doesn’t win again, he has a possible future on the stage. Betty White is pretty incredible and still a regular performer on TV not to mention lots of guest appearances and even a few advertising spots. She really is a brilliant comedienne. I would like to think I would be as good when I was 90. Mostly I feel 90 already.

Matt went bowling without me again yesterday, I still don’t think I can manage it although I might have a go next week if I am feeling as good as I have been. My shoulder pain comes and goes at the moment, but I am no longer having to eat Tylenol 3 like candies. By the time my tests come up I will be as fit as a fiddle again!!!!

We often watch Wheel of Fortune and last night one of the prizes was a trip on an Italian cruise ship in the Mediterranean. If it were me I would refuse, thank you very much. On the internet there are many pictures of the ship, taken at different stages. This one from a couple of days ago was the best in my opinion, there are much more recent pix I guess, they are watching as she sinks I assume.

Unlike the author of this article, I do like Brussels Sprouts, but I tend to get bored with same ol’, same ol’ with anything and so I was delighted to find this recipe.

Brussels Sprout Hash with Caramelized Shallots

ByDana Treat
WebMD Recipe from Foodily.com

Any article in a food magazine or post out in the blogosphere about Brussels sprouts will start with some kind of encouragement. “You may think you don’t like Brussels sprouts,” they will tell you, “But let me convince you to change your mind.”

I was totally one of those people. I like almost every single vegetable out there, but didn’t like those little cabbages. Because they aren’t really a “go to” vegetable for most people, I actually hadn’t really eaten them that many times. My mom never made them (probably because she knew we wouldn’t eat them), friends never made them, I certainly never made them. The one time I can recall eating them in recent memory was at a friend’s for Sunday dinner and I really hated the few bites I was able to choke down. They were whole and undercooked so chalky texture and foul flavor. I firmly put them in my dislike category.

Then, for some reason, last year I decided to make them for Thanksgiving. Maybe it was the article in Bon Appetit, maybe it was the addition of caramelized shallots, maybe it was the fact that the Brussels sprouts themselves are thinly sliced instead of whole. I don’t know – but I’m glad I branched out. These are, really truly, delicious. And yes, they will convert Brussels sprouts haters – they converted my husband and he really holds on to his food aversions. My brother Michael (one of those rare individuals who love Brussels sprouts) points out that anything with a bunch of butter in it tastes good, but I beg to differ. I made these yesterday to go with Vegetarian Shepherd’s Pie and dialed the amount of butter way down and they were still incredibly tasty.

I made some changes to the original recipe from Bon Appetit magazine. I cut the amount of butter in half and upped the shallots. I also changed the method a bit. Be sure to use a big enough pan so that the sprouts get browned sufficiently. You can use a food processor to slice the sprouts.

Ingredients

3 tbsp. butter, divided
3/4 lb. shallots, thinly sliced
Coarse kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
4 tsp. sugar
1 1/2 lb. Brussels sprouts, trimmed
Olive oil
1/4 – 1/2 cup water

Instructions

Halve Brussels sprouts lengthwise. Cut lengthwise into thin slices. Set aside.

Melt 2 tbsp. butter in large skillet over medium heat. Add shallots; sprinkle with coarse kosher salt and pepper. Sauté until golden, about 10 minutes. Add vinegar and sugar. Stir until brown and glazed, about 3 minutes. Scrape onto a plate and reserve. Wipe out skillet carefully with a paper towel.

Place skillet back over burner. Increase heat to medium-high. Add enough olive oil to lightly coat the bottom. Add sprouts; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Sauté until brown at the edges, about 6 minutes. Add 1/4 cup water and 1 tbsp. butter. Sauté until the water evaporates and sprouts are tender, adding more water if necessary. Add shallots. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Adapted from Bon Appetit Magazine

Total Servings: 8

Nutritional Information Per Serving

Calories: 115
Carbohydrates: 16.9g
Cholesterol: 11mg
Fat: 4.7g
Saturated Fat: 2.8g
Fiber: 3.2g
Sodium: 94mg
Protein: 4.0g

Have a great day

Snow, Bed Wear, Food and Wine.

Dunno what happened to all this snow they have been promising. We sure haven’t had much yet except a few flakes here and there.

I was reading a book with lots of sex and passion in it the other day, not really my scene, but… anyway, the heroine was in bed with sweats, a T shirt and underwear beneath her sweat pants. Why on earth would you wear all that clothing to go to bed? You might as well be dressed to go outside somewhere. To me it was weird. I personally would find sweats way to warm for wearing in bed.

Had chili for supper Friday, Steak Diane for Saturday and the rest of the chili for Sunday. Not bad eating if I do say so myself. I went a bit gung ho on the cream for the Steak Diane but it was still good. I haven’t been eating all that well recently, maybe all the Tylenol 3 I have been shoving down my throat lately, I don’t know. I also seem to have gone off wine a bit too, just doesn’t taste very good to me at the moment. Big tragedy, I usually enjoy my wine, especially a good Zinfandel. Matt opened a Cline Zinfandel on Saturday and I really wasn’t that enthusiastic about it. Mind you, Cline is not my favourite Zin anyway. I am hoping to get some Clos du Val Zinfandel next month and maybe some Rosenblum later in the year. Lets hope I’m back to enjoying it by then. We only discovered the Clos du Val vintage last year and both thoroughly enjoyed it. Then had trouble finding any more. We also like the Dancing Bull Zinfandel but can only get that at one liquor store round here and we only pass it on bowling days. We do like other wines of course, but my favourites are Zinfandels. Another wine we are very fond of is Magnotta Toro Nero which we discovered some years back during a taste testing at their local store. Christmas 2010 we bought ourselves a case as a Christmas present (cheaper by the dozen), we did think of doing the same last Christmas but didn’t in the end. We still have one bottle left so will have to stock up with a couple of bottles at least.

This Christmas, I missed out on mincemeat pies or tarts – we actually didn’t come across any good ones and I haven’t seen mincemeat for sale for a while although I expect some stores have it. Anyway, I decided I would make some myself, basically the real stuff I think because I copied the recipe from my 75 yr. old copy of Mrs. Beeton’s cookery book. The book was my mother’s of course and was really how she learned to cook and boy could she cook. By the way, a gill is about quarter of a pint. I haven’t made it yet but plan to do so within the next week or two when I can assemble all the ingredients. One thing I can buy locally is suet, when I lived in NC I couldn’t find it anywhere.

Mincemeat

1 lb suet
1 lb currants
1 lb raisins
1 lb chopped apples
1 lb sugar
1/2 lb sultanas
1/4 lb candied peel
2 lemons
1/2 gill brandy
1/4 tsp each of nutmeg, mace and cinnamon

Pare the lemons thinly, simmer the rinds in a little water until perfectly tender, then pound them or rub them through a fine sieve. Mix all the ingredients well together, press into a jar, cover closely and keep in a cool, dry place, for at least 1 month before using.

Yield: 4-5 lb mincemeat

Have a great day

Friggatriskaidekaphobia, Teeny Frog, Sledding Crow.

From the fact that didn’t even mention it yesterday, I guess you will have realised I don’t even think about Friday 13 or friggatriskaidekaphobia which is the fear of that date (frigga being the Norse goddess for whom Friday was named) Wikipedia have a lot more information about it if you are interested.Its odd really, because I am superstitious about a lot of things, I will NOT cut my nails on a Sunday (for Matt’s mom it was Friday) I will not accept salt from someone’s hand, it has to go on the table. I knock on wood and throw spilt salt over my shoulder, but Friday 13 has never meant much to me. Sia McKye’s guest author yesterday in Thoughts OVER COFFEE (see link this page), details a lot about her suspicions too, some of which I had heard of, some not.

Another blogger friend of mine, Glenda Larke, in her blog Tropic Temper, wrote about a frog who wandered into her house which reminded me I had intended to write about the smallest frog in the world. This article from the Guardian in the UK is all about this minute creature which was discovered in Papua, New Guinea. It is the smallest vertebrate or animal with a spine.  In fact they discovered two new frog species at the same time according to the article. As you will see in the picture, it is sitting on a dime which is a 10 cent piece if you are not familiar with our currency and a very small coin. For the British its about the same size as a sixpence used to be. The frog has been named Paedophryne amauensis. They say New Guinea is ripe with undiscovered species. I don’t know about you, I kind of wondered how they found this frog without stepping on it.

I decided to go with Matt to the bowling alley yesterday; I so wanted to bowl watching everyone do so, but I didn’t of course, I am nowhere near well enough yet. I have no doubt I will be as fit as a fiddle at the end of the month when I start having ultra sounds and CT scans!!! Before we went out I decided to chuck stuff together to make a chili. I haven’t made chili in a long time for some reason. No idea why. Been fancying one for a few days now so just made a really simple one for supper last night. It wasn’t bad.

This next is the most incredible piece of video, a crow purposely sledding down a roof. The article with it is here they say science cannot explain this.

I have just been reading how good tomato soup is for one’s arteries. However, they don’t mean the high salt varieties that come in a can. I make tomato soup all the time, usually in large batches to freeze – this is how.

Tomato Soup

1 sweet onion, chopped

1 tbs olive oil

2 cloves garlic (chopped or crushed, don’t use the pre-chopped or minced stuff)

1 large can of plum tomatoes

1 pack of liquid bouillon (or homemade stock if you have it, even better)

Seasoning to taste

12 fresh basil leaves, chopped.

Sauté the onion in the oil and then add the garlic. When they are translucent add the tomatoes (I usually break up the fruit before adding it to the pan), then the stock or bouillon and the basil. Simmer for about half an hour. Cool somewhat then blend. Test for seasoning and either serve or freeze. When serving you can add sour cream swirled on top or basil pesto which intensifies the basil flavour.

Have a great weekend

Quicken, Favourite Movies,

Yesterday morning I received an offer from Amazon.com for a new version – Quicken Deluxe 2012 – at a pretty reasonable price - to download. Apparently the new versions are separated into Canadian or US because, I am told, these days the programmes contain so many forms it would be impossible to carry all of them for both countries. I bought Quicken Cash but that didn’t contain all the stuff I have been using for years so I ended up with Quicken Home and Business which was quite a bit more expensive and more than I had intended to spend, however, my version was getting a tad ancient.

Not having much to do and very little on TV, we decided to watch The King and I with Yul Brynner and Deborah Kerr. This is one of my favourite movies although I howl all the way through it much to Matt’s amusement. I especially cry at the final scene when the king dies. I always loved Yul Brynner as an actor and another movie of his that I love is Anastasia with Ingrid Bergman. I have always loved the story of Anastasia and like to think that maybe she really did survive the assassination of her family. Even if she had, she would not be with us any more as it was so very long ago now.

The Canadian news, at the moment, is full of reports on the killings of three daughters and a former wife by Mohammad Shafia and his current wife. There seems to be more and more of these kinds of killings and, I don’t care how much honour they consider is involved, in Canada that’s murder, plain and simple, and they should get the most extreme penalty we can give them. If you want to live that way and do that kind of thing, please return to your own country.

I love Chinese and Chinese style food so when I saw this one, I couldn’t resist it either. Peanuts actually make me think Thai, but this is Sichuan style.

Sichuan Chicken with Peanuts

WebMD Recipe from EatingWell.com

The piquant Sichuan Sauce (which doubles easily) works well with almost any stir-fry but particularly enhances dishes with meat, fish and poultry. When stir-frying chicken, always spread the pieces in the wok and let them cook undisturbed for 1 minute before stirring. This allows the chicken to sear and prevents sticking. To smash the ginger, use the side of a cleaver or chef’s knife.

Servings: 4

Make ahead Tip:Prepare Sichuan Sauce (Step 1); cover and refrigerate for up to 1 week.

Recipe Ingredients:

Sichuan Sauce

1. 3 tablespoons reduced-sodium chicken broth
2. 1 tablespoon tomato paste
3. 2 teaspoons black rice vinegar, or balsamic vinegar
4. 1 teaspoon sugar
5. 1 teaspoon reduced-sodium soy sauce
6. 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
7. 1/4 teaspoon cornstarch
8. 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper, plus more to taste

Chicken

1. 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast, or thighs, trimmed and cut into 1-inch cubes
2. 1 teaspoon Shao Hsing rice wine or dry sherry
3. 1 teaspoon reduced-sodium soy sauce
4. 1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
5. 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
6. 1 tablespoon canola oil
7. 2 1/2-inch-thick slices ginger, smashed
8. 2 cups sugar snap peas, (8 ounces)
9. 1/4 cup dry-roasted peanuts
10. 1 scallion, minced

Recipe Steps:

1. To prepare Sichuan sauce: Whisk broth, tomato paste, vinegar, sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil, cornstarch and crushed red pepper to taste in a small bowl.
2. To prepare chicken: Combine chicken, rice wine (or sherry), soy sauce, cornstarch and garlic in a medium bowl; mix thoroughly.
3. Heat a 14-inch flat-bottomed wok or large skillet over high heat until a bead of water vaporizes within 1 to 2 seconds of contact. Swirl oil into the pan, add ginger and stir-fry for 10 seconds. Carefully add the chicken mixture, spreading it out. Cook until the chicken begins to brown, about 1 minute. Using a spatula, stir-fry for 30 seconds. Spread the chicken out again and cook for 30 seconds. Continue stir-frying until the chicken is lightly browned on all sides, 1 to 2 minutes. Add snap peas and stir-fry for 1 minute. Stir the Sichuan Sauce, swirl it into the pan and stir-fry until the chicken is just cooked through and the sauce is slightly thickened and glossy, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Transfer to a platter (discard the ginger) and sprinkle with peanuts and scallions. Serve immediately.

Recipe Nutrition:

Per serving: 273 calories; 12 g fat ( 2 g sat , 6 g mono ); 66 mg cholesterol; 11 g carbohydrates; 28 g protein; 3 g fiber; 177 mg sodium; 427 mg potassium.

Have a great day

Rhubarb, More Reminiscing, Military thefts.

I heard an interesting snippet on the radio and checked it out that the firs time rhubarb came to this side of the world was in 1770 and it was shipped by Benjamin Franklin to a friend, John Bartram. Having read that you might well say, so….? It goes back to an internet cookery group to which I belong and which was once very active. When we first started getting together we found most of us like rhubarb which we thought was something of a coincidence, we had many other things in common too of course, not least of which was cooking and preparing food. The leaves, as shown here, are not edible and in fact are poisonous. The part which is so good to eat are the red stems with which you can do so many things – all kinds of desserts, jams, jellies, marmalades, drinks to name a few and all thanks to Benjamin Franklin.

In our home we have the local radio on all the time, unless we have the TV or CDs playing. The other morning I heard Andy Williams singing Happy Heart and Barry White with a song I didn’t know, this started making me think. When Matt and I were ‘courting’, for want of a better word, we used to dance to Andy Williams music a lot. Then after we were married we used to visit my parents in Alicante, Spain where they were living at the time; They often took us to a bar called the Don Quixote which was run by a couple of gays. It was a great place to hang out. They played Love’s Theme by Barry White and Matt was nuts about it, consequently we ended up with several LPs by his Love Unlimited Orchestra. One of my favourites was Baby Blues. I liked his music intros, but I didn’t enjoy it when he sang all the way through. He had a very sexy voice. CDs hadn’t been invented at that time of course. Sadly the Don Quixote fizzled out due to aids – people were scared to death to go there any more, it was when we first knew about it and no-one understood how it was transmitted or really anything about the illness. Pity, we spent many happy hours there, they served good food as well.

Another snippet on the news, the Canadian Military have lost a serious amount of equipment from that which was being shipped home from Afghanistan. They have opened 10 containers which were full of rocks and sand to emulate the weight of the missing equipment. Security has fallen down badly here. We are assured there were no munitions, only things like tires, tools and tents.

I have always loved Goulash (gulyás) and often used to make it with venison when we were lucky enough to get some. However, I haven’t made it in a while and when I saw this healthier version it appealed to me. We used to call caraway seeds bird toenails.

Hungarian Beef Goulash

From EatingWell: January/February 2008

This streamlined goulash skips the step of browning the beef, and instead coats it in a spice crust to give it a rich mahogany hue. This saucy dish is a natural served over whole-wheat egg noodles. Or, for something different, try prepared potato gnocchi or spaetzle.

8 servings, about 1 cup each

Ingredients

2 pounds beef stew meat, (such as chuck), trimmed and cubed

2 teaspoons caraway seeds

1 1/2-2 tablespoons sweet or hot paprika, (or a mixture of the two), preferably Hungarian (see Ingredient Note)

1/4 teaspoon salt

Freshly ground pepper, to taste

1 large or 2 medium onions, chopped

1 small red bell pepper, chopped

1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes

1 14-ounce can reduced-sodium beef broth

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 bay leaves

1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 2 tablespoons water

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Preparation

1. Place beef in a 4-quart or larger slow cooker. Crush caraway seeds with the bottom of a saucepan. Transfer to a small bowl and stir in paprika, salt and pepper. Sprinkle the beef with the spice mixture and toss to coat well. Top with onion and bell pepper.
2. Combine tomatoes, broth, Worcestershire sauce and garlic in a medium saucepan; bring to a simmer. Pour over the beef and vegetables. Place bay leaves on top. Cover and cook until the beef is very tender, 4 to 4 1/2 hours on high or 7 to 7 1/2 hours on low.
3. Discard the bay leaves; skim or blot any visible fat from the surface of the stew. Add the cornstarch mixture to the stew and cook on high, stirring 2 or 3 times, until slightly thickened, 10 to 15 minutes. Serve sprinkled with parsley.

Nutrition

Per serving :180 Calories; 5 g Fat; 2 g Sat; 2 g Mono; 48 mg Cholesterol; 6 g Carbohydrates; 25 g Protein; 1 g Fiber; 250 mg Sodium; 298 mg Potassium

Make Ahead Tip: Cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days or freeze for up to 4 months. | Prep ahead: Trim beef and coat with spice mixture. Prepare vegetables. Combine tomatoes, broth, Worcestershire sauce and garlic. Refrigerate in separate covered containers for up to 1 day.

Ingredient Note: Paprika specifically labeled as “Hungarian” is worth seeking out for this dish because it delivers a fuller, richer flavor than regular or Spanish paprika. Find it at specialty-foods store or online at HungarianDeli.com and penzeys.com.

Have a great day

Secretarial Training, Reminiscing, Tips

Having posted about financial programmes such as Quicken yesterday, I was lying in bed thinking about bookkeeping and remembering that when I was 17 I actually had some classes in bookkeeping although I don’t remember much about them. Don’t think I would ever have been any good at it. These classes actually took place at the secretarial college I went to. The college was run by a Miss Edyvean who, to us, was absolutely ancient, I really don’t know how old she was, probably late 40s or 50s, but we youngsters certainly thought she was a lot older. She was actually very good at teaching shorthand and typing, I learned Pitman’s shorthand and typing on a manual machine where all the keys were covered up so we had to learn to touch type. I left there with 120 wpm in shorthand and 70 typing which considering how often I would take the afternoon off and go to the movies, there was a theatre quite close, is pretty good. In those days, you learned to be an efficient secretary no matter what the industry, there was no specialising, you were expected to learn that on the job whether it be in the medical field or the oil refinery field. In fact I went for a job at the local oil refinery and fluffed it. I couldn’t manage the speeds even though I had a certificate saying I was qualified to do so. The picture, by the way, says Long Live Pitman’s Shorthand.

Someone told me, in those far off days, that shorthand wouldn’t be needed in the future and that secretaries would be virtually obsolete. I didn’t believe them, but in fact they were right. People need assistants but not secretaries any more. I don’t think shorthand is taught to anyone today, pity in a way, it’s a good way of taking notes although I guess even that is done electronically these days; there were two systems, Pitman’s and Gregg, in fact Miss Edyvean could teach both, clever woman. I still use shorthand occasionally, but I doubt any other person could read it as I am not as accurate with it as I once was. I can figure out what I have written, but I defy anyone else to do so.

I used to take the bus from home into Rochester (think Dickens) to start classes at 10 a.m. They ended around 4 p.m. as I recall. I usually went to a restaurant, the Castle Tearooms, for coffee and fresh scones before class, they were delicious scones, warm out of the oven. Yum. I think we took lunch with us. In fact I that’s when I first started smoking – we used to have a cigarette in the lunch room.  At that time I smoked at least 8 cigarettes a week LOL. In those days we had no idea how dangerous smoking could be, we just felt very grown up puffing away. I’m not even sure if I inhaled at that time. Pity I ever learned to do so. Took me a very long time to have the sense to finally quit, which I did about 16 years ago now. Now we know how dangerous it is, I cannot fathom why people start smoking.

I picked up a tip the other day from a list of such things, to label one’s computer cords with the tags of bread and such. I thought it was an excellent idea. Especially with all the different cords I tend to carry when we travel. Camera, Kindle, Palm, etc. etc. In fact there were lots of excellent tips another one being to use egg cartons to sort and separate Christmas decorations, unfortunately that came after we had packed up everything.

Having talked of scones, I have to give you the scone recipe which is pretty simple and I have always used. Of course people add many things to scones, cheese, fruits, jams, etc. but I personally like mine perfectly plain with butter. Well Devonshire cream and jam if you insist. You can make these scones richer by adding an egg and an extra ounce of butter. Now I’ve got to go and make some, this is making me hungry. I often used to make them late at night when we had had friends over for the evening. They are that simple.

Scones

Cookery in Colour

8 oz. self raising flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

sprinkle of salt

1/2 – 1 oz. castor sugar (sugar here is like castor sugar)

approx. 1/4 UK pint of milk (5 fl. oz.)

1 oz. butter

For these scones, unsalted butter gives a very creamy taste. Sift flour, baking powder and salt. Rub in butter. Add sugar. Mix to a soft dough with the milk. Turn on to a lightly floured board and knead quickly. Roll to 1/2 to 3/4 inch thickness. Cut with knife or floured cutter. Place on hot baking tray and brush with milk. Bake in hot oven 450°F for 12-15 minutes. Delicious with jam, fruit or cheese.

Have a great day

Debt, Money, Computers, Qbids, Fats.

I constantly see ads, especially on Facebook, about how to wipe out your debt, GMA have money managers telling you how to do this that or the other to erase your debt. I have some pretty good advice to offer too, don’t spend it. OK I realise there are some people in serious money problems through no fault of their own, job loss etc., but some of these people with massing credit card debts are just spend crazy. Its not real money, it’s a plastic card, etc. etc. Its been said before, we live in the days of instant gratification, no-one wants to save for something, get now, pay later, only paying later basically doesn’t work. I too used to think it did, I wised up. Actually, d’you know why I wised up, I started using a money programme on my computer, the first one I had was Manage Your Money which I liked very much, but then along came Quicken which seemed to knock most of the other programmes off the radar. With MYM I discovered what our budget looked like, what happened with forecasting, etc. and yes, I learned how to Manage My Money. Admittedly before that we had account books, but it wasn’t nearly as efficient as accounting software which really brought home to me what I was spending and where and how much of it was unnecessary. Mind you if anything happens to me, Matt will be back to using an account book again. Another thing I appreciate is being able to bank online, I can check on the status of our accounts as often as I want which I think is absolutely great.

Thinking about the early days of account programmes, made me start thinking about the early days of personal computers. Although I was using early versions of PCs at work, my first home computer was by Mattel and worked with cassette tapes, I can’t even find pictures of a similar computer. My second, a Commodore 64, operated with DOS and had no hard drive, everything worked from 5” floppy disks, I had to have a hard drive installed, it was minute compared with what we have today. I was then thrilled when I got a floppy drive for 3” disks which stored so much more data. I’ve mentioned this before but when I start thinking about it, it always astounds me the leaps and bounds taken by computers in the last 25-30 years. I was once told I would never use computers because I hadn’t got a mathematical brain, true, I haven’t, but thankfully they invented Personal Computers which were comprehensible by mathematical dummies and I have never looked back. Thanks Bill and to a lesser degree Steve, never been into Apple. All the Apple users I have ever met, swear by their Macs and think they are wonderful. It is true they are not targeted by hackers and spammers as much, or if at all, I don’t really know. But I suppose they will be one day. I cannot imagine how a hacker could resist.

Talking of money and purchases, I have seen a lot of advertising for Qbids lately so I checked it out. It appears that before you can bid on anything, you have to buy your bids, and the minimum is 100 bids for $69. Then you have to hope its worth it and you can buy something fantastic for next to nothing, ain’t too sure, thought it sounded too good to be true in the first place. Think if I want to bid on something I will stick to eBay.

Last weekend I cooked a rib roast which we had bought on special just before Christmas. Originally I was going to cook it on Boxing Day (Dec. 26) but then I ended up cooking the turkey on Christmas Day so we froze the beef. The roast was, of course, delicious and we have been enjoying it cold for supper as well. However, by the very nature of the beast, it is quite fatty which made me think of the times my parents tried to make me eat beef fat when I was a child and then when I finally learned to eat it, the health gurus told us all it was bad for us. I certainly hated it when I was young, never minded pork fat, especially if there was a bit of crackling attached (pork skin roasted). Didn’t like lamb fat or warm ham fat although I never minded that cold. Funny isn’t it how one’s preferences are formed? Although I still make it a practice to try something I don’t like every couple of years or so with the result there is very little I don’t like. One thing I am having a problem with is vegetables cooked in softened water, I hate the taste, I am wondering if steaming would make a difference here, never tried it, challenge for you Jo. Later - OK I found that broccoli tasted much better steamed.

A somewhat different version of Eggs Benedict. But I thought they looked pretty good and that I would try them.

Eggs Italiano

WebMD Recipe from EatingWell.com

This sophisticated take on Eggs Benedict swaps a full-flavored, chunky vegetable medley for Canadian bacon and hollandaise sauce. Add whole-wheat English muffins and poached eggs and this combo makes a lovely brunch or an elegant light supper when served with a salad.

Servings: 4

Recipe Ingredients:

1/4 cup distilled white vinegar

2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 shallot, minced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 pound zucchini (about 2 medium), diced

12 ounces plum tomatoes (3-4), diced

3 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh basil, divided

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1/2 teaspoon salt

Freshly ground pepper to taste

8 large eggs

4 whole-wheat English muffins, split and toasted

2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Recipe Steps:

1. Fill a large, straight-sided skillet or Dutch oven with 2 inches of water; bring to a boil. Add white vinegar.
2. Meanwhile, heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add shallot and garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in zucchini and tomatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, until the zucchini is tender, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat; stir in 1 tablespoon basil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper.
3. Meanwhile, reduce the boiling water to a gentle simmer; the water should be steaming and small bubbles should come up from the bottom of the pan. Crack each egg into a small bowl and slip them one at a time into the simmering water, taking care not to break the yolks. Cook for 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.
4. To serve, top each muffin half with some of the vegetable mixture, an egg, a sprinkling of cheese and the remaining basil.

Recipe Nutrition:

Per serving: 329 calories; 14 g fat (4 g saturated fat, 6 g mono unsaturated fat); 425 mg cholesterol; 31 g carbohydrates; 22 g protein; 5 g fiber; 675 mg sodium; 570 mg potassium

Have a great day