Sexual Abuse, Virus, Crêpes.

There’s an article running on CBC at the moment talking about sexual abuse and the Scouts, the Scouts are apologising and saying cover ups did exist, etc. etc. So now we have all these Catholic ministers accused as well as Scout masters, and I am tending to wonder, did it all really happen? I find it difficult to believe that so much of it went on without anyone knowing about it. Makes me wonder how many people have jumped on the bandwagon once one or two scandals were revealed. Its like the sex scandal with Tiger Woods, suddenly all these women come out of the woodwork saying “I had sex with Tiger too” like saying I’m an easy mark. It happens to politicians as well, suddenly when one scandal breaks, dozens of women rush forward to assure the world that they too were abused in one way or another. Their little moment of fame. Maybe I’m wrong and there all these perverts and abusers running around, but I find it hard to credit that its all true. You’re telling me that all of these children had such lousy relationships with their parents that they couldn’t say anything at the time?

After working on my computers for a while, I can now rest assured that my laptop is virus free. I have a technician from At Your Door Computers who comes here and does a great job on fixing stuff. However, my evening has got a bit short so I can’t do much of a blog.

I love Crêpes Suzettes, I think they are one of the best desserts ever invented. My father always said we should bottle the juice and sell it. Absolutely gorgeous. I think I have told the story where once Matt and I were making them in the UK and we ran out of a lot of the ingredients and our own crêpe sauce was virtually pure alcohol, they tasted pretty good too, hic. Shrove Tuesday is known as Pancake Day in the UK and by pancakes we mean what are always called crêpes over here, pancake being more like flapjacks or Welsh pancakes. We always used to have our pancakes with lemon juice, butter and sugar, yummy. I haven’t done that in years, I really should do so as I enjoyed them so much. You can, by the way, make a stack of pancakes, or crêpes if you prefer, layer them with grease proof paper and freeze them. They keep quite a while and are excellent. We used to do that all the time when we had our catering business in the States.

Crêpes suzette

James Martin: Sunday Kitchen

A classic French dessert that always impresses. You can make the crêpes in advance and finish the sauce just before serving.

 

Ingredients

For the crêpes

• 125g/4½oz plain flour

• 1 free-range egg

• 1 tsp melted butter

• 300ml/10½fl oz milk

• butter, for frying

For the sauce

• 50g/1¾oz unsalted butter

• 1 orange, zest and juice

• 2 oranges, juice only

• 1 lemon, zest and juice

• 3 tbsp caster sugar (North American sugar is fine enough)

• 2 tbsp orange liqueur

• 2 tbsp brandy

Preparation method

1. For the crêpes, place the flour into a bowl. Add the egg, melted butter and milk and whisk to a smooth batter. Set aside for at least one hour, preferably overnight.

2. Heat a frying pan until medium hot, melt a little butter in the pan, then add a ladle of batter and swirl to coat the bottom of the pan. Cook for 1-2 minutes, then flip and cook for a further minute.

3. Slide the crêpe from the pan and place on greaseproof paper. Repeat with the remaining batter, layering the crêpes with greaseproof paper as you go. The crêpes can be chilled or frozen at this point and used later.

4. For the sauce, heat a frying pan until hot, add the butter, orange zest and juice, lemon zest and juice and the caster sugar.

5. Cook for a few minutes until just thickened and bubbling, then remove the pan from the heat.

6. Fold the crêpes into quarters and carefully lay into the hot sauce. Return the pan to the heat then add the orange liqueur and brandy and flame to burn off the alcohol. (CAUTION: Keep your face and hair away from the flames. Do not leave the pan unattended.)

7. Cook for a couple of minutes until the crêpes are heated through.

8. To serve, spoon the crêpes onto serving plates and spoon the sauce over the top.

Have a great weekend, its Family Day on Monday here, President’s Day in the States.

Furniture, Wine, Cardiology, Dogs

As I mentioned, yesterday, we bought some furniture. This meant we had to dispose of our old furniture. It turned out that for some unknown reason, the city garbage collectors won’t pick up such things from an apartment block although they will from a house? So with the assistance of our superintendent we had to make all kinds of arrangements. In the end the super took our old stuff and put it in his truck, then he brought the sofa and lounger down from the 9th floor for us. We hadn’t expected him to do the lot, but he did so that was great.  The sofa is a bit bigger than I realised, Matt reckons you can seat four, I figure they would have to be quite friendly. It came with its own cushions, but I am not sure I don’t prefer a couple I already had, trying it out.You will gather, from the laptop next to it, that the chair is mine. I tried taking pictures of the sofa, but it looks awful in the pix.

Matt had his echocardiogram done and then we had to rush back to deal with all this furniture moving. Later he went and picked up our bottles of Clos du Val Zinfandel which had been put aside for us. It has gone up a bit from last time we bought it. Basically what hasn’t lately?  Matt has a stress test scheduled for the end of the month, another test next month and then the following month he gets to see the cardiologist. This is one of the failings of our free health system, everything takes so long.

Sad little story out of Alberta about a husky who mauled a new born baby to death. No details of what happened yet. Another story of two Akitas in Calgary who attacked a couple. From what I can pick up, the Akitas had puppies, a couple went in to the garage to feed them accompanied by their own dog. It appears the man was attending to the dogs and the woman entered with her dog whereupon  the female attacked, the male followed. Bringing another dog where there are new puppies is asking for trouble. It appears the male Akita, Diesel, has been put down already and the female is to be put down when her puppies are weaned. Sorry, I don’t blame the dogs and as so often, blame the humans. I love Akitas, they are Japanese and a gorgeous looking animal, I wanted one some years ago, but basically couldn’t afford one. Both these stories are so sad.

Here’s an interesting looking soup and one which I think I will add to my personal collection. It sounds fairly easy and very tasty.

Cheddar-Ale Soup

Source: © EatingWell Magazine
6 servings

Take the chill off a cold winter's night with this creamy cheese and beer-lover's soup. Make it a meal: Serve with hearty whole-grain farm bread and a salad dressed with a tangy vinaigrette.

INGREDIENTS

1 tablespoon canola oil

1 large onion, chopped

1 12-ounce bottle beer, preferably ale

2 18-ounce bags precooked diced peeled potatoes (see Tip)

1 14-ounce can vegetable broth or reduced-sodium chicken broth

1 cup water

2 1/2 cups nonfat or low-fat milk

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese, divided

1 small red bell pepper, thinly sliced or finely chopped

Tip: Look for precooked diced potatoes in the refrigerated section of most supermarket produce departments—near other fresh, prepared vegetables.
Substitution tip: Peel 2 1/4 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch pieces and boil until tender (about 15 minutes).

DIRECTIONS

Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring, until softened, about 3 minutes. Add beer; bring to a boil and boil for 5 minutes. Add potatoes, broth and water; cover and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to maintain a simmer, and cook until the potatoes are tender, about 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and mash the potatoes with a potato masher to the desired consistency.

Whisk milk and flour and add to the soup. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat and cook, whisking occasionally, until thickened, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat; stir in 1 1/4 cups cheese and stir until melted. Ladle the soup into bowls and garnish with the remaining 1/4 cup cheese and bell pepper.

Have a great day

Doctors, Viruses, Smoking, Furnishings.

The other day we went to the doctors to discuss changing a medication he is on. She said he would have to see the cardiologist. Got a call from the cardiologist booking him in for an electrocardiogram, a stress test and a complicated BP test which costs us $50 (and is not reimbursed) then in April he will see the cardiologist himself. All to change medication!!! Matt wasn’t very happy about it. I guess we shouldn’t complain about the cost, in the US the whole thing would be expensive, but it’s a bit irritating anyway. His first test is today so that’s our day shot.

If you are on my email list, you will know that my laptop has been sending out spam or malware with gay abandon. I keep running virus scans which find some malware, but then it happens again, so have called my tech guy in. He was coming at 8 yesterday morning but I was reluctant to part with my laptop, however, I got up early and got dressed then opened my email to see that he wouldn’t be coming til Friday because I didn’t want to part with my machine. Damn. He’ll have to take it anyway, no point in him sitting here to run scans. They take a long time.

Can’t remember if I have mentioned how I quit smoking some 16 or so years ago. I used a little gadget called Lifesign. Basically you tell it when you smoke for a week and then it tells you when to smoke for the next month and you press a button to confirm that you did have a cigarette. If you do cheat, you tell the gadget and it will make necessary adjustments. These days they call it QuitKey and there is a key ring version. I keep telling people about it but would like to have some of their business cards to hand out so people could have contact info. available. I contacted them and they, in fact, sent me some leaflets, not just for smoking but for dieting and sleep problems too. I must say its quite a different looking gadget to the one I used. But for me this system was wonderful and I haven’t had a cigarette since I used it. They are not cheap but if you think what it costs to smoke in the first place. I just found a sign “If you want to know more about lung cancer,  keep smoking” very pertinent. I must admit I am interested in their Diet Mate, that gadget looks more like the original Lifesign that I used. I have read a lot of reviews and they seem to be generally favourable for the Diet Mate.

I finally found how to alter the date on my camera. Couldn’t find the book, ended up searching on the internet and there it was. Easy when you know how.

A sale was being held in the building, disposing of furniture, etc. from a person who died recently. We popped up and ended up buying a couch and a lounger. Our couch was getting quite worn and the chair I sit in was getting old too. Matt already has a nice lounger. Mind you, I am not sure when this is all going to happen as we are waiting for the superintendent to help.

I’m always on the lookout for different things to do with vegetables. This one, from Cooking.com is a different recipe for potatoes which certainly appealed to me. They describe them as cocktail food, but I am certain they would be equally as good if you made them part of a meal.

Sinful Spuds

Source: Cocktail Food
Makes 24 Filled Potatoes

The combination of feta, olives, and pine nuts nestled in a potato is divine. For a creative presentation, cut a lemon in half and use it as an oasis for a fresh herb bouquet (cut a thin slice off the bottom so it will lie flat). Rosemary and thyme work well because they don't wilt.

INGREDIENTS
For the Potatoes:
12 small new potatoes, uniform in size and shape
6 cups water
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
For the Feta:
1/2 cup feta cheese
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
2 tablespoons chopped green olives
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon dried currants
1/2 teaspoon chopped lemon zest
1/4 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon pepper
24 parsley leaves for garnishing

DIRECTIONS

FOR THE POTATOES:
Cut a thin slice off the top and bottom of each potato. Cut the potatoes in half crosswise. Place in a large saucepan and cover with the water. Add the kosher salt. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat and let simmer. Cook until the potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork, 10 to 16 minutes. Be careful not to overcook. Strain and let cool.

FOR THE FETA:
Crumble the feta with a fork in a small bowl. Add the pine nuts, green olives, olive oil, currants, lemon zest, oregano, and pepper. Mix well.

TO ASSEMBLE:
Scoop out the center of each potato with a spoon or melon baller. Fill the centers with a heaping teaspoon of the feta mixture. Garnish with parsley leaf.

DO-AHEAD TIPS:
The feta mixture can be prepared up to 2 days in advance and refrigerated. (Do not add the pine nuts until ready to assemble, and let the mixture sit at room temperature 1 hour before assembly.) The potatoes can be assembled up to 4 hours in advance.
Have a wonderful day

Dinner For Valentine’s, Finding Zinfandel.

For Valentine’s Day I decided to use a recipe from Dragon’s Kitchen for Poached Salmon with Mousseline Sauce. However, upon re-reading it, I decided to use a simpler version of Mousseline sauce. Basically the same thing, but avoiding the necessity of using double boilers, which I no longer have. OK I know I can make one, but this one seemed easier. We used her court bouillon recipe, there isn’t a lot of difference in various court bouillons a leaf here, a herb there, perhaps. For dessert we decided to be lazy and Matt bought a cheesecake for himself and a Lavalicious chocolate cake for me from M & M Meats.

 

 

 

 

 

Matt had to go to the store for some of the dinner ingredients and when he returned he brought me some flowers, unexpected, we had exchanged cards and mostly that’s all we do these days. I just noticed on these pics that my camera is showing the wrong date, so I am going to have to figure out how to alter it, ‘cos I’m damned if I know. Anyway, back to the dinner, I have to say that we were both somewhat disappointed in the Mousseline sauce, didn’t have a lot of flavour at all. Maybe it needed more lemon juice, we couldn’t decide. The salmon was absolutely perfect though and we both enjoyed it. Much to my surprise Matt enjoyed the cheesecake, he is usually so emphatic about only eating plain cheesecake so that was a surprise. As for the Lavalicious, it was good, but not as good as the ones Matt makes. I actually found the cake part a tad dry and if I had not had some whipped cream to eat with it, not sure I would have finished it.

Forgot to say, yes, my legs were aching a bit last night, they are protesting the bowling. Will have to use my treadmill to loosen them up a bit. Another thing I forgot to tell you. Had a call from the LCBO (liquor store) where they had promised to get me some Clos du Val Zinfandel. The girl who was away last week told me she had three cases. I said I would take 3 bottles. Its not cheap, I wish I could afford a case, but…… I don’t now what year, I didn’t bother to ask, we’ll take it anyway. Hopefully with three cases it won’t go too quickly and we can get some more down the line. I asked her about the Rosenblum and she said she would check into it again.

On one of my diabetic emails I came across the following recipe which is right up our street and we will certainly be trying them soon. I also came across a  whole bunch of recipes for Spanish tapas which I will be looking at more carefully, but for now here is the diabetic recipe.

Stuffed Endive Spears

1 whole heads of garlic
4 oz goat cheese, softened
1/4 tsp black pepper (freshly ground)
2 fresh endive, heads , separated into 12 spears
1 pinch fresh thyme (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Wrap garlic cloves in aluminum foil and bake 30 minutes or until tender.

2. Squeeze the pulp from the cloves, discard peels.

3. In medium bowl, combine garlic, goat cheese, and pepper; mix well with fork. (Mixture can be covered and refrigerated up to 48 hours before serving. Let stand at room temperature until softened.)

4. Spoon 2 teaspoons cheese mixture into center of each endive spear; arrange on a colorful serving platter.

5. Garnish with thyme, if desired.

Servings: 12

Have a great day

Murder Rate, Bowling, RIP Clara, Valentine’s Day.

Just came across an interesting statistic. People always assume crime is worse in big cities, or at least murder happens more often although property crimes are more prevalent in urban areas. According to this CBC article, it isn’t so any more and more murders take place outside the cities; which makes me glad I live in a city even if it doesn’t really seem like it because we look onto a park. It is actually a per capita statistic, but it does mean you are more safe in urban areas.

Well I bowled, I actually bowled. First time in about 9 or 10 weeks. I did well in the first game, badly in the second and quit in the third because my legs were killing me. They are definitely not used to so much exercise lately. They were aching pretty well by the time I sat down to rest. I haven’t even used my treadmill in a while so it was straight off the sick bed as it were. Sad news at the bowling alley though, I have mentioned, several times, about one of our number, Clara Wagner, who was 97 years old and going strong, unfortunately she had a massive heart attack at the weekend and is no longer with us. Why, I wonder? She seemed so fit when everyone her saw her last week. She bowled both Monday and Tuesday apparently and had just passed her driving test once again. Mind you she was so tiny we could never figure how she could see over the wheel. We had a one minute silence at the alley in remembrance. The picture is of her birthday party at the bowling alley last year, I missed the one they held for her this year.

Of course, today is Valentine’s Day which, as I have said before, has changed drastically from when I was a youngster. Valentines were sent to those you loved and unsigned so it was a secret. Today anyone and everyone can receive a Valentine. To me its nonsense, but that’s just me. We are not going out or anything although we are planning a nice dinner at home. The one and only time I think I ever went out for dinner on Valentine’s Day the restaurant was crowded, the meal was a set one and it wasn’t terribly good anyway even though it was normally an excellent restaurant. We actually prefer not to go out on holidays, Fridays or Saturdays. However, for those of you who do go out, I hope you do have a lovely evening and wish you all Happy Valentine’s Day.

This recipe came from the South Beach Diet email I get every day. I have talked about London Broil, the US version, several times, and this uses the same cut of beef. In Canada we buy top round – I am not certain this is the same cut, but it certainly works as well. Of course it’s a bit early for the good asparagus which will be around about mid May.

Beef With Asparagus and Mushrooms

Serves: 4

Details:

Wood-scented rosemary, nutty garlic, and zesty lemon give an otherwise ordinary steak and vegetable dish a touch of sophistication. 

 

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 pounds London broil, 1" thick
• 4 garlic cloves, minced, divided
• 4 teaspoons crushed dried rosemary, divided
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 1 small onion, sliced lengthwise
• 1 pound asparagus, cut into 2" pieces
• 1 pound white mushrooms, sliced
• 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Nutritional Information:

370 calories
17 g fat (4.5 g sat)
12 g carbohydrate
42 g protein
3 g dietary fiber
180 mg sodium

Directions:

1. Score both sides of steak in a diamond pattern by carefully making 1/8-inch-deep diagonal cuts with a sharp knife at 1" intervals. Rub half of the garlic and 2 teaspoons of the rosemary into both sides of meat and season with salt and pepper.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add steak and cook, turning once, about 4 minutes per side for medium-rare. Transfer to a plate and loosely cover with foil to keep warm.
3. Heat remaining oil in the same skillet. Add onion and cook, stirring often, for 2 minutes. Add remaining garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add asparagus and mushrooms and cook, stirring often, until asparagus is crisp-tender and almost all the liquid has evaporated, about 5 minutes. Stir in lemon zest and remaining rosemary; season to taste with salt and pepper.
4. Cut steak into thin slices and serve with the vegetables

Have a great Valentine’s day

Whitney Houston, Weekend Eating, Panda Loan.

So Whitney Houston died over the weekend, there was great outpourings of grief and distress on the airwaves, music will never be the same, but then as a young friend on Facebook pointed out, she hadn’t  made a record in years and her last concert was shambolic. I understand she does have a film coming out some time soon. I am extremely sorry that she died so young, and whatever age you are, 48 is young to die, but neither Matt nor I ever liked her singing. Not our cup of tea at all. As for her song I Will Always Love You, it was written by Dolly Parton and I like her singing it much  better. I think the song first appeared in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. No, I’m wrong, it was apparently released a lot earlier by Dolly, in 1974 to be exact. The year before we came to Canada; but the first time I remember hearing it was in the movie when she apparently re-recorded it. I gather Whitney was attending the Grammys and died in the Hilton Hotel in LA. By the way, Matt doesn’t like Dolly either, I do though.

We have had quite a bit of snow over the weekend, but not really as much as we normally have accumulated at this time of the year. We will no doubt see if we get more, it has been pretty chilly with the “feels like” temps running around –1­5°C which is quite cool.
I understand, from the news, that Canada is going to get a couple of Pandas for a 10 year loan. The panda names are Er Shun and Ji Li – Mr. Harper, our Prime Minister, negotiated the deal after talking to China about new investments.The Pandas are expected to arrive next year and will go to Toronto and Calgary zoos for 5 years each. I wonder what the Pandas think of all this moving around? The picture is of Mr. & Mrs. Harper with a baby Panda. Lucky them. Teddy Bear anyone? The thing that bugs me, when the Pandas are returned to China, we have to return any babies they may have had too.  At least that happened elsewhere. It is apparently 20 years since Canada last had any Pandas on loan.

Today I am sharing two recipes for the price of one. Peppered Steak otherwise known as Steak au Poivre and Braised Pork Chops.

Saturday night we decided to have Steak au Poivre and I used a recipe of Gordon Ramsey’s, you know, he of the language!!! It was very good. I did have crushed pepper in my mouth for a while though, couldn’t seem to get rid of the bits LOL We opened a Dancing Bull Zinfandel to go with the steak.

Peppered Steak with Shallot Sauce

25 g  butter
4 shallots, finely sliced
4 Tbs Cognac
200 ml  red wine
200 ml  beef stock from 1/2 stock cube, hot
Oil, for frying
2 Tbs crushed black peppercorns
4 rump or sirloin steaks
1. Melt the butter in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Add the shallots and cook for 2-3 minutes, to soften. Pour in the Cognac, boil for 1 minute, then add the wine. Increase the heat and boil for a few minutes to reduce by half.
2. Meanwhile, make up the stock and pour in. Boil until reduced by half again. Stir in the butter, season to taste, and leave over a low heat.
3. Meanwhile, brush a griddle or frying pan with a little oil and place over a high heat. Press the peppercorns all over the steaks. Place in the hot pan and cook for 2-5 minutes each side, depending how you like them cooked. Remove from the pan and set aside for 2 minutes to rest.
4. Divide between plates. Pour over the sauce and serve with thin-cut oven chips and grilled vine tomatoes. We actually had carrots and a baked potato.

Servings: 4

Source: Gordon Ramsey
Author Notes
A good steak doesn't want too much messing about with, so follow this easy recipe and enjoys yours with a rich shallot sauce.

As usual we couldn’t think what to have for supper on Sunday night, in the end Matt suggested pork chops, but I have found grilled pork chops to be a bit tough lately, so I decided to use a few ideas I have picked up and do my own recipe. I made a salad to go with it and had Brie and crackers to follow. Started the Brie on Saturday too.

Jo's Braised Pork Chops

1 Tbs olive oil
2 pork chops
1/3 onion sliced
4 to 5 mushrooms, sliced
1 glass of red wine
salt and pepper

Sauté pork chops until browned on both sides. Remove from pan. Sauté onions in pan and when softening add mushrooms. Finally add glass of wine then pork chops and seasoning. Cover. Simmer for about half an hour or a bit longer until chops are tender.

Servings: 2

Have a great day

Angry Dad, Fish Pie, Books, Snow.

On Facebook yesterday there was a video from a pissed off dad who had accessed his daughter’s Facebook page where she had been carrying on about all the chores she had to do and what a terrible life she had. The video was his response, at the end of it all, he shot her laptop! Bit extreme I thought, and then I wondered if in fact it was a current laptop or an obsolete one. The dad is in IT so he would possibly have access to such things. If you haven’t seen the video you can do so here.

I recently read a recipe which was based on a Fish Pie as frequently made in the UK. I suddenly realised I hadn’t made one since we left North Carolina. Probably because of the lack of fresh fish, however, I figured I could make one with frozen haddock and some of the shrimp we brought back from NC. I guess that will be on the books for one day next week, quite looking forward to it as I haven’t had one in so long. I will share my recipe with you on Monday perhaps, once I have reminded myself how I go about making one. I still haven’t got round to making the lamb hot pot I planned ages ago, but I really haven’t been up to doing too much lately. I had planned to go bowling yesterday, but changed my mind in the end.

After my little rant yesterday about sexy books, I have actually come across one or two excellent stories which included explicit sexual descriptions but nevertheless I enjoyed them very much. Yesterday I had just put down a book which I really considered somewhat obscene and this is what prompted my outburst. Right now I am reading a book by one of my favourite authors, Dave Duncan, and its called Against the Light. Not sure if it’s a series, will find out at the end I guess, I downloaded it from Amazon.com for my Kindle and as all of his books, I am enjoying it very much. If you like fantasy his are excellent.

It looks a lot like Canada again now, we have had a heavy snowfall. Everyone was hoping our mild winter would last,  but…. I wonder what happens to all the rising sap and budding trees. Well, if there are buds, they will no doubt be damaged. So will any spring flowers which raised their heads. Ah well, that’s Mother Nature for you.

I haven’t made stuffed peppers in a while, not sure why, I enjoy them. I did lose one recipe I liked so maybe that has something to do with it. Anyway, WebMD came up with a healthy version which I thought looked and sounded pretty good.

Smoky Stuffed Peppers

WebMD Recipe from EatingWell.com

Turkey sausage and smoked cheese give a flavorful boost to this versatile, somewhat retro dinner. We've speeded it up by microwave-blanching the peppers and using instant brown rice. If possible, choose peppers that will stand upright.

Servings: 6

To Make Ahead: Cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days.

Recipe Ingredients:

1. 6 large bell peppers, tops cut off, seeded
2. 12 ounces hot Italian turkey sausage links, removed from casings
3. 1 1/2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
4. 4 plum tomatoes, chopped
5. 2 cups instant brown rice
6. 1 cup chopped fresh basil
7. 1 cup finely shredded smoked cheese, such as mozzarella, Cheddar or Gouda, divided

Recipe Steps:

1. Position rack in upper third of oven; preheat broiler.
2. Place peppers cut-side down in a large microwave-safe dish. Fill the dish with 1/2 inch of water, cover and microwave on High until the peppers are just softened, 7 to 10 minutes. Drain the water and transfer the peppers to a roasting pan.
3. Meanwhile, cook sausage in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, breaking it up into small pieces with a wooden spoon, until cooked through, about 5 minutes. Stir in broth, tomatoes and rice; increase heat to high and bring to a simmer. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until the rice is softened but still moist, 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and let stand, covered, until the rice absorbs the remaining liquid, about 5 minutes.
4. Stir basil and half the cheese into the rice mixture. Divide the filling among the peppers, then top with the remaining cheese. Broil until the cheese is melted, 2 to 3 minutes.

Recipe Nutrition:

Per serving: 294 calories; 11 g fat (5 g saturated fat, 0 g mono unsaturated fat); 45 mg cholesterol; 32 g carbohydrates; 19 g protein; 5 g fiber; 533 mg sodium; 418 mg potassium

I hope you have a wonderful weekend

Daily Deals, Blogging, Books, Movie Animation.

I must confess that although I carry Amazon.com ads, I don’t often read them, however, there was a Daily Deal on Wednesday, a 32 gig flash drive for $22 and change. What a deal. I wish I hadn’t just bought one for $32. I was tempted to get another just because it was such a good price, but I resisted. The Daily Deals appear just above the header on this post. I am going to keep a better eye on the banner in future. Amazon.com sell such a lot of things, not just books and music. I wish Amazon.ca carried such a variety but maybe they are not allowed to by law or something.

Been sorting out a few things in my computer room come office come library and was looking at the folders in which I keep the printed versions of my blogs. The amount of stuff I have written over the years absolutely staggers me. Who knew I would have so much to say. Admittedly my print outs are single sided because I cannot guarantee that the printer won’t pull more than one sheet of paper through at a time which would make a right mess of double sided printing, but even so, that’s one hell of a lot of verbiage. One of the folders isn’t labelled yet as it isn’t completely full, but the others carry between 7-800 pages each. Thanks to those of you who have been reading my yap ever since I started, and thanks to those who have joined me through the years. I always knew I wanted to write, I just thought I wanted to write a book, but I am not sure I had the discipline to do the research and I sure never came up with a brilliant idea for a story.

Somewhere I saw a request (I think from Amazon.com) asking for photos of books in the bedroom. I never, but never read in bed. I hate it. When I am reading I am either sitting at the table eating lunch, or sitting in my armchair with a coffee at my side. Lately I have been doing a lot of Kindle reading. Before that I was reading some loaners which carried a lot of sex. I get tired of reading sex, its all the same, rarely anything different although having said that, I recently read one that was different and I was rather surprised, to say the least, to read what was written. I enjoy romance, but I really don’t want to read all this hot and steamy stuff. It doesn’t titillate me – does it you? I just think “Oh Gawd, not again”. I read one story recently where a couple were on a stakeout and had to hide, they are in a small closet and start making out, really!! For me, a good story doesn’t need all the intimate details, the best writers I know don’t add all this explicit stuff, they just tell a good story and if the characters fall in love, their sex life isn’t detailed right down to the last nubbin. I’ve had two good marriages and once upon a time lots of boyfriends, I don’t need this stuff. As for what I am now reading, I have been downloading lots of freebies from Amazon.com for my Kindle and enjoying them. A couple turned out to have detailed sex, guess what, I deleted them.

Matt tells me we are supposed to get 2 inches of snow this afternoon. Considering the whole of Europe is plastered with the stuff, I guess its about time we got some.

Last night I watched The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, and wondered once again how they achieved the character of Aslan the lion. To me, he looks just like a real lion, but obviously you can’t have young humans hugging real lions. I finally got round to Googling about it and it turns out it was all done with computer animation. I am very impressed. I didn’t know they could do that much these days. It never occurred to me, I thought somehow they had taken film of a lion and interwoven it with the characters, but I guess that wouldn’t be possible anyway. The mouse, Reepicheep, was done the same way, as were all the talking animals. I don’t usually want to know how these things are done, but I was particularly interested in how they did Aslan. The Guardian had a video showing some detail about how it was all done.

I am still not totally decided if I am going to try and bowl today, will let you know tomorrow how it goes.

It would be hard to say which I would choose if offered a chocolate cake or a carrot cake, ideally I would like a piece of each, even though obviously it wouldn’t be good for me. Today I got a carrot cake recipe in my mail and as it claims to be simple, I thought I would share it.

Simple Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Source: America's Test Kitchen
Cooking.com

Makes one 13 by 9-inch cake

If you like nuts in your cake, stir 1 1/2 cups toasted chopped pecans or walnuts into the batter along with the carrots. Raisins are also a good addition; 1 cup can be added along with the carrots. If you add both nuts and raisins, the cake will need an additional 10 to 12 minutes in the oven.

INGREDIENTS
For the Carrot Cake:
2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (12 1/2 ounces)
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1 pound medium carrots (6 to 7 carrots), peeled
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar (10 1/2 ounces)
1/2 cup light brown sugar packed
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil or safflower, or canola oil

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:
8 ounces cream cheese softerend but still cool
5 tablespoons unsalted butter softened, but still cool
1 tablespoon sour cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar (4 1/2 ounces)

DIRECTIONS
FOR THE CAKE:
Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 13 by 9-inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Line bottom of pan with parchment and spray parchment.
Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt in large bowl; set aside.

In food processor fitted with large shredding disk, shred carrots (you should have about 3 cups); transfer carrots to bowl and set aside. Wipe out food processor workbowl and fit with metal blade. Process granulated and brown sugars and eggs until frothy and thoroughly combined, about 20 seconds. With machine running, add oil through feed tube in steady stream. Process until mixture is light in color and well emulsified, about 20 seconds longer. Scrape mixture into medium bowl. Stir in carrots and dry ingredients until incorporated and no streaks of flour remain. Pour into prepared pan and bake until toothpick or skewer inserted into center of cake comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking time. Cool cake to room temperature in pan on wire rack, about 2 hours.

FOR THE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING:
When cake is cool, process cream cheese, butter, sour cream, and vanilla in clean food processor workbowl until combined, about 5 seconds, scraping down bowl with rubber spatula as needed. Add confectioners' sugar and process until smooth, about 10 seconds.
Run paring knife around edge of cake to loosen from pan. Invert cake onto wire rack, peel off parchment, then invert again onto serving platter. Using icing spatula, spread frosting evenly over surface of cake. Cut into squares and serve. (Cover leftovers and refrigerate for up to 3 days.)

Have a great day

Tissue Tigers, QR Codes and Clouds, Doctors and Medicine.

An email from the World Wildlife Fund yesterday emphasises the dangers to tigers and elephants because Asia Pulp and Paper is pulping the rain forests where they live. WWF is asking people to sign a pledge and to avoid certain paper products in particular Paseo and Livi – don’t know of them round here, but…. I am copying a paragraph from the email I received:

Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) is pulping rain forests and replacing them with pulp plantations to provide paper fiber for products like the fastest-growing brand of toilet paper in the United States today, Paseo. Since 1984, APP's forestry practices have cleared 5 million acres of Sumatra's forests--an area the size of Massachusetts. With only about 400 Sumatran tigers and fewer than 2,800 Sumatran elephants left in the wild, the remaining habitat is critical to these species' survival.

Its easy not to realise the dangers because we don’t see all this deforestation in our own back yards. 5 million acres is one hell of a lot of trees which have ended up as paper to flush down the toilet. Lets get together and try and do something about this. We should all sign the pledge for a start. In fact there are a number of pledge links on the page. The Sumatran Tigers are severely threatened at the moment which is why they are being featured.

Do you know what QR codes are? I am afraid I didn’t. It cropped up as a question on Jeopardy. Of course, I don’t have a Smart Phone either so I can’t take advantage of them, but I was just reading about them and they sound very useful. If, like me, you had no idea what they are, read this article from 50Plus which explains what they do. They apparently act a bit like bar codes, you can scan them with your Smart Phone and they will then refer you to a site where the information you are looking for can be obtained. I am afraid the cell phone technology is leaving me behind these days. Desktops and laptops are no longer enough. Matt would probably argue that it didn’t matter to us any more and while logically that is correct, I am one of those who would like to have all the latest tech to hand. Having been an avid sci fi reader all my life, it fascinates me to see how some of the ideas propounded by my favourite authors are being realised by today’s technology. I used to have friends who figured authors thought up the ideas for their books and then scientists came along and actually invented the systems. I think in many cases they could well be right.

Another thing I didn’t know much about was Cloud computing as it didn’t seem to be applicable to me. It isn’t. It appears to be much more business oriented from what I read. As I am no longer involved in any kind of business, I guess I won’t bother to pursue it.

For supper the last two nights we have had Chicken in Tarragon Sauce (July 17, 2010 blog) which is a very simple but delicious meal. We were very glad we had enough for Wednesday night as they changed Matt’s doctor’s appointment to 5:40 p.m. with the result we didn’t get home until about 6:45 p.m. All we had to do was heat it and we were ready. Chatting to the doctor about the difficulties of young people getting into medical college (you need marks of 97% apparently) she was saying how foolish the whole system was. Because of the money to be made as a doctor, kids are encouraged to enter the field because the places where they should use their talents, such as research, didn’t pay any money. Therefore we are losing brilliant minds who are confined to being GPs etc. and actually hating their jobs, which was why we are getting so many surly doctors. A friend of mine also mentioned that the government had closed down medical schools which made places even harder to get. Her niece is having to study in the US which, of course, is where she will end up practicing. How extremely short sighted the whole business is. We are desperately short of doctors anyway and the government isn’t doing anything much to remedy the situation. Our own doctor has now turned her centre into a group practice so that one could see any doctor in the place although it is advised if one doctor starts treating you for something, you should stick to that person. However, if you want to see a particular doctor, you could wait weeks. Can’t say I like that, but as the doctor said, we will get used to this way of doing things. By the way, I finally have an appointment to see a specialist for my shoulder, in May!!!!!!! Now that’s screwy if you like. Its such a pity, our medical system has so many good things going for it, but through government short sightedness, things are going sadly wrong.

I was interested that our doctor, who is very young, says she actually made house calls when she lived and worked in England. I thought that went out a long time ago, but we left in ‘75 so maybe it was still happening for a while after that.

As usual, I am inundated with recipe emails several of which I found rather boring. However, this one following sounded pretty good to me. I must admit I am not generally in favour of using canned soups in recipes, but we do so once in a while.

Pineapple Plum Chicken Meatballs

Yield : 4

Courtesy of CookWithCampbells.ca™ Food Network
Substitute the chicken with extra lean ground turkey in this mouth-watering recipe.

Ingredients

Pineapple Plum Chicken Meatballs

• 1 pound (454 g) extra lean ground chicken
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup (75 mL) bread crumbs
• 284 Mililitre Can CAMPBELL’S® Condensed Low Fat Cream of Chicken Soup
• 398 Mililitre Can pineapple tidbits, drained
• 3 tablespoons (45 mL) plum sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon (1 mL) ground ginger
• 1/8 teaspoon (0.5 mL) ground black pepper
• 2 cups (500 mL) hot cooked brown rice, cooked without salt

Directions

1. Combine chicken, egg and bread crumbs in medium bowl. Form into 1¼” (3 cm) balls – about 18 to 20.
2. Brown chicken meatballs in large non-stick skillet at medium-high heat, turning often.
3. Combine soup, pineapple, plum sauce, ginger and pepper. Add to skillet and heat to a boil. Reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes or until meatballs are cooked through. Serve over hot cooked brown rice.

Tip

1. Cayenne pepper gives an extra flavour kick to the sauce – replace the ground black pepper with the same amount of cayenne.
2. Pineapple Plum Turkey Meatballs: Choose extra lean ground turkey to replace the chicken in this mouth-watering recipe.

Have a great day

Cats, Wines, Charles Dickens

A friend posted a link on Facebook to an article on The 25 Most Awkward Cat Sleeping Positions. The article and pictures are on Buzz Feed and I thought this was one of the cutest.  I haven’t been owned by a cat in years but I always liked them – Matt on the other hand is not a cat person so cats love him. I have a number of friends who really love cats and some of them appear to have dozens of animals. I remember one friend in NC, their place was literally littered with cats both inside and out. I like cats but I thought this was a bit ridiculous. I think most of them were eventually put down.

Yesterday afternoon we decided to go buy a few wines in particular because Vineyards Estates have a Cabernet on sale as it is the end of the vintage. Matt’s new wine cooler now has 10 reds and three whites so that should do us for a while. That reminds me, one of our guests on Saturday looked at the wines in the cooler and figured it would be enough to last us the night. I am somewhat disappointed though, we were looking for a Clos du Val Zinfandel which I mentioned in a blog last year and none of the stores in Ontario has any, and when there is any available in Ontario it will probably be reserved for restaurants. No fair. The girl I spoke to originally about it (Sherry), some time last year, was away for the week on a training course, so hopefully I will be able to find out more next week. We did manage to replace our Rosemount Shiraz which we drank the other night. It’s a wine we very much enjoy. My personal favourite wines are Zinfandels though. We bought a Dancing Bull which is not a bad one and fairly inexpensive. I liked their old label best. Today it’s a plain old browny/red one. I have talked about this before. I do wish they wouldn’t change labels as it makes it so much easier to recognize the one’s you are looking for.

Yesterday there was a lot about Charles Dickens – Google had a picture celebrating the 200th anniversary of his birth. On Facebook there was a little animated movie about his life, it mentioned a house he bought called Gads Hill in Higham outside Rochester in Kent, England. The house was later turned into a school and I went there when I was 8 yrs. old. It appears to have become co-ed since I was there. The animation about him mentioned alcoholism, I had never heard of that before, but I do know there was an underground passage from the house to the pub, The Falstaff, across the road. I have just been reading up on Gads Hill and apparently the tunnel was built by Dickens who had a Swiss chalet on the grounds opposite the house. I have no idea when the pub was built.  Rochester itself is full of places which were featured in various books like Satis House in Great Expectations. I went to a Dickens festival there one year where we feasted on salmon and champagne and had excerpts of Great Expectations read to us by Dame Sybil Thorndike a well known British actress. I have mentioned before that the church where I got married was reputedly the site where Pip met the convict: again in Great Expections. It was very likely as the church was close to the river Medway where a lot of convict hulks were moored; old ships which had been converted to prisons. Absolutely dreadful places I believe.

Valentine’s Day is next week so I am being inundated with Valentine recipes, a lot of chocolatey desserts of course, needless to say these appeal to me and I thought the following one looked particularly good. In fact don’t you think it looks absolutely scrumptious?

Bailey's Chocolate Mousse

By Vseward (Chef~V) on February 22, 2007

Photo by Calee

About This Recipe

"Another favorite recipe using Bailey's Irish Cream. Chocolate Mousse is great, but adding a little Bailey's makes it decadent! I've had this recipe for years and can't remember where my friend got it, but I'm glad she shared."

Ingredients

• 16 ounces semisweet chocolate
• 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
• ½ cup Baileys Irish Cream
• ½ cup heavy cream
• 4 tablespoons brewed espresso or 4 tablespoons coffee

Sugar syrup

• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 4 tablespoons water
• ½ cup egg whites ( about 4 eggs)
• 1 quart heavy cream
• ¾ cup sugar

Directions

1. Melt chocolate, Irish cream and espresso over low heat.
2. In separate pan, simmer sugar and water until temperature on a candy thermometer reaches 224 to 230°F., soft ball stage. (Remove from heat at 224°F; mixture will begin to caramelize at 232°F.).
3. Whip egg whites until stiff and glossy. Add sugar syrup to whites and continue to whip about 8 minutes until eggs have increased in volume and mixture has cooled; fold into chocolate mixture.
4. Whip heavy cream and sugar until stiff peaks form. Mix with chocolate mixture/eggs/sugar syrup mixture.
5. Pour mousse into molds or serving dish. Allow to set in fridge. Garnish with chocolate shavings and fresh seasonal berries.

Have a great day