New Money, New Student, Pig Tails, Twilight, Dancing and Pain.

Would you believe, the government have issued a new polymer $20 bill and Ticket machines in three major cities will not accept it. I must admit I haven’t tried using them in any machines myself but I had heard rumours of this problem. I actually saw my first $100 bill this week. They really do feel different after using the old bills for so long. That white bit in the photograph has pictures inside it, looks odd doesn’t it?

A 105 yr old woman living in a nursing home in Tierp, Sweden, was informed that a spot had been reserved for her in a class of kids turning 6 next year. This letter was sent to all children born in ‘07. Anna Eriksson was indeed born in ‘07, but 1907 and someone failed to notice the actual year of her birth. Quite funny really, the school would love her to come and have a visit with them.

Sunday I had an email from a good friend in the States suggesting I google her 5 yr old grandson’s name – Billy Wagenseller. Obviously I did so and lo and behold here is this youngster with his picture all over the internet because he is the youngest Vampire in the Twilight Saga, Breaking Dawn part 2. What a handsome boy he is and how proud grandma and parents must be. I wasn’t going to bother with the Twilight Saga movies, having read the books, but now I think I have to see it. He doesn’t look too undead to me though!!  Maybe I should go to the theatre and yell out, I know his grandmother, when he comes on screen. No? He started his career modelling at 18 months apparently. He has a Facebook Page too. I friended him of course.

Saturday night we went to eat pigtails, well I did anyway. I had my allocation of three and some sauerkraut. Two of the pigtails were in barbecue sauce, not sure what the other was, but had apple sauce with it. Delicious. Had to virtually take a bath afterwards of course. I have decided I should get some pigtails and roast them crispy in the oven which is the way Matt likes them. There is always a Newfie band for the pigtail dinner; unfortunately Matt can’t stand it apart from which they are very loud, I love the music, its lively and makes you want to move. Two of our women friends had to dance together as their husbands were not available, one was sick, one was working in the kitchens. They both love to dance. So do I, but my dancing days are done. What tees me off is a couple of friends always join us and they are in their 80s and dance up a storm – they leave way after we do. I should be that fit. We went back to one friend’s house to visit her sick husband. He is suffering from terrible back pain and living on Percoset at the moment. This happens to him a couple of times a year and the docs have said they could operate but he might end up in a wheel chair. Something wrong here somewhere. I think doctors have a tendency to think “well they’re old” or something or have not experienced major pain themselves so have no idea what their patients are going through. It was just the same with my shoulder a year ago. Grrrr.

By the way, I ate a couple of my lobster tails last night, delicious.

I have always loved ‘things’ in rice paper, the look of them always appeals to me, so when I saw this recipe it caught my attention straight away.

Rice Paper-Wrapped Salad Rolls

WebMD Recipe

Similar to a salad that has been rolled up, this dish is usually eaten as a snack, although it also makes a lovely lunch. The key is to make the rolls tight, and that requires practice. You can substitute chicken, beef, or tofu and mushrooms for the filling. Grilled fish such as salmon also works well. You can serve whole or cut into smaller pieces to make them easier to serve and share. The recipe calls for untrimmed pork because the dish benefits from a little fat.

Ingredients

• 1/3 pound pork shoulder, untrimmed, cut into two pieces
• 12 medium-size raw shrimp, unpeeled
• 8 12-inch round rice papers, (plus some extras)
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 small head red leaf lettuce, leaves separated and washed
• 4 ounces rice vermicelli or rice sticks, boiled 5 minutes, rinsed, and drained (find these in the Asian section of your supermarket)
• 1 cup bean sprouts
• 1/2 cup mint leaves

Instructions

1. Cook the pork in boiling salted water until done but still firm enough for slicing, about 30 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, bring another small pot of water to a boil. Add shrimp and cook until they turn pink, about 3 minutes. Rinse under running water and set aside to drain. When they're cool enough to handle, shell, de-vein, and cut in half lengthwise. Refresh in cold water and set aside.
3. Remove pork from heat and drain. When cool enough to handle, slice into thin slices, about 1 by 2 1/2 inches. Place on a small plate and set aside.
4. Set up a salad roll "station": Line a cutting board with a damp kitchen towel. Fill a large mixing bowl with hot water and place nearby. (Keep some boiling water handy to add to the bowl) Arrange the ingredients in the order they will be used: pork, shrimp, rice vermicelli, bean sprouts, mint, and lettuce.
5. Working with 2 rice paper sheets at a time, dip 1 sheet, edge first, in the hot water and turn to wet completely, about 10 seconds. Lay it on the towel. Repeat with the second sheet and place it alongside the first. This allows you to work with one while the second is setting.
6. Line the bottom third of the rice sheet with 3 shrimp halves, cut side up, then top with two slices of pork. Add 1 tablespoon rice vermicelli, 1 tablespoon bean sprouts, and 4 to 5 mint leaves. (Arrange the ingredients so the rolls end up being about 5 inches long and 1 inch wide.) Halve a lettuce leaf lengthwise along its center rib. Roll up in one piece and place on the filling. (Trim if too long.) While pressing down on the ingredients, fold over the filling, then fold in the two sides and roll into a cylinder. If paper feels thick, stop at three-quarters of the way and trim the end piece. (Too much rice paper can make the rolls chewy.) Repeat with the remaining rice papers and filling.
7. To serve, cut rolls into 2 or 4 pieces and place them upright on a plate.

Have a great day

Lawrence and Peter, Medical Prices, Rig Explosion.

Last night I started watching Lawrence of Arabia, after 3 hours or so I gave up and wrote my blog. I have seen it several times before and I even have it on VHS. I still think it’s a marvellous movie and Peter O’Toole was one of the best actors Britain ever produced. However, I was tired and knowing I had to blog, turned off the movie. One of the best things I saw him do was King Henry in Becket. He was brilliant in that too. Even better, IMHOP, than as Lawrence. From recent press releases though, he is tired of acting and has quit. This surprises me because as a general rule, actors go on as long as they can find employment. He is 80 but even so. He started his acting life at the Bristol Old Vic (as opposed to the Old Vic in London) as a Shakespearean actor. I recently picked up his memoirs but couldn’t get on with them. However, his acting is unsurpassed.

Having had an unremarkable session of bowling, one good game, one very mediocre and one lousy, we went to the mall to pick up some drugs and to buy some lobster tails. Our local grocery store are doing a special this weekend of small tails for $1.99 a piece. Of course, when I got there, they didn’t have any left. I couldn’t even get a rain check. Meanwhile Matt had been to the pharmacy and picked up some meds and his Pico Salax which he has to take before his colonoscopy. It was $22 something, I was horrified. Two little packets and neither the government nor our insurance assist with its purchase. Horrors. I’m glad this doesn’t happen very often. We left the mall with me grousing about the lobster tails, Matt suggested we went to the library and then returned to see if they had received the lobsters they had sent for. Nice of him as he won’t be eating any. When we got back they had received a smallish supply so I got 6 tails for myself. They are frozen and the sales person assured me they would keep for 6 months, Matt said they wouldn’t keep for 6 minutes once I got them thawed, LOL. They are not, of course, very big, but certainly worth eating. Did I ever mention “show me a lobster and I will follow you anywhere”.

Talking of expensive meds, I finally got to talk to a head honcho at the hearing aid place and she said she was authorised to reduce the price of the batteries. She took a hefty chunk off the price so now we are somewhat happier although Matt is not happy about the whole thing and has only agreed to the 90 day trial so as not to upset me. I just hope he will realise how much he has been missing by having bad hearing.

I have no doubt you have heard about the oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico, luckily it was not a drill platform so no underwater rig involved but nevertheless two people are missing and four are badly injured. Seems that area is fated as far as rig accidents are concerned. They have just about recovered from the BP spill and now there is another accident. Hopefully this one will not cause any major pollution. I still wouldn’t be that keen to eat the local seafood.

You can think of me this evening, chomping down on pigtails at the Legion in Hespeler. Yum.

It seems to me that anyone living on the North American continent is a sucker for potato salad. This one arrived in my inbox and I thought sounded interesting. The addition of caraway would give a good flavour, we used to call those bird’s toenails when we were kids.

Horseradish Spiked Red Potato Salad

By The Gluten Free Goddess
WebMD Recipe from Foodily.com
Ingredients

• 2 pounds red potato
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 6 tablespoons apple cider or rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons horseradish
• 2 tablespoons parsley
• 2 teaspoons dill
• 1 teaspoon caraway seeds (optional)
• 1 red onion - diced
• sea salt and ground black pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Wash and cut up the red potatoes, toss them into a pot of salted fresh water. Bring the water to a boil and simmer the potatoes until they are fork tender. Drain well.
2. Pour the cooked potatoes into a large bowl. While the potatoes are still warm, sprinkle with sea salt and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and vinegar. Toss to coat and to soften the edges of the potatoes pieces a bit. Add the diced onion, horseradish and toss to distribute. Taste and season with more sea salt and plenty of fresh ground pepper. Add the chopped parsley, dill and caraway; mix.
3. Taste test. Add more olive oil or vinegar, sea salt or herbs.
4. Serve warm or cover and chill. Remember that chilling the potato salad will subdue its flavor considerably. I always season my potato salad more vigorously if I am going to serve it chilled. Taste test after chilling it and add more seasoning if it needs it.

Have a great weekend

Flyers, Catherine de Médici, Desktop.

Matt went down for the mail yesterday, came back and announced nothing but junk. This frequently happens. I was thinking what a waste of time, paper, money, trees.  The people who send out all this garbage are certainly not concerned with their carbon footprint. There is a garbage can by the mail boxes and it is frequently overflowing with all this stuff. OK I think it gets recycled, we have all kinds of recycling bins here, but even so... its a waste. Not much one can do to stop it either. A lot of what we get is for pizzas, then there is the political stuff apart from all the other rubbish. One guy cracked “no pizza flyers today, what am I going to eat tonight?”. Talking of pizza flyers, did you see they are now doing wieners inside the outer crust of a pizza. Think its Pizza Hut. Can you believe it? What a combination!

Sadly, on the North American continent, most people seem to believe the Italians eat nothing but pizza and pasta. They are missing out on such wonderful food. The story goes that around 1547 when Catherine de Médici married Henry II of France she found the food so uninteresting that she eventually imported Italian cooks to the French court. Many of the dishes for which France is well known actually were imported from Italy. Funny I have known about Catherine for many a long year, but until I was checking dates, I didn’t remember much of her history. I knew she was largely ignored by her husband in favour of his mistress, Diane de Poitiers, but it would appear she really got her own back after the King’s death and was regent for two of her sons ruling France with something of an iron hand. Pity the king never knew. I remember reading a book about her a loooooong time ago, I’m not sure how many years it covered, obviously I don’t remember a heck of a lot about it anyway.

Woohoo, I have a desktop computer once again. I am still writing this blog on my laptop as I had already started, might as well finish it here. I now have to get the money from the flooring people, they have agreed to pay for the repair and I am just waiting for the invoice to take/send to them. They are actually close by so maybe we will drop it off. I suspect they might warn customers of the prospective dust in future.

I love Debbie Reynolds (or I used to) but we watched the first part of The Unsinkable Molly Brown, what a dreadful movie. I loved here in Susan Slept Here and as Tammy (forget the name of the movie) oh and a whole raft of other movies, but we turned this one off.

I just got a few recipes for appetizers, specifically for Thanksgiving (US) but seems to me they would be suitable at any time. This one particularly appealed to me.

Caramelized Onion and Gruyère Tart

Food and Wine

Serves 6-8

1. 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2. 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
3. 2 large onions, halved and thinly sliced
4. 1/4 cup dry Marsala
5. Salt and freshly ground white pepper
6. Buttery Cornmeal Pastry
7. 6 ounces Gruyère cheese, coarsely shredded (1 1/2 cups)

1. In a large skillet, melt the butter in the vegetable oil. Add the sliced onions, cover and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until softened, about 12 minutes. Uncover the skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are very soft and well browned, about 45 minutes longer; add a little water as necessary to prevent the onions from sticking. Add the Marsala and cook until nearly evaporated. Season the onions with salt and white pepper and transfer them to a medium bowl.
2. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375°. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the Buttery Cornmeal Pastry to a 13-inch round, 1/8-inch thick. Wrap the dough around the rolling pin and fit it into a 10-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom. Run the rolling pin over the rim to trim off the overhang. Prick the bottom with a fork and refrigerate until chilled, at least 10 minutes.
3. Line the tart shell with foil and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake in the center of the oven for about 25 minutes, or until the edge is golden and the center is nearly set. Remove the foil and weights, cover the edge with foil and bake for 5 minutes longer, until the shell is cooked through and golden.
4. Sprinkle the Gruyère into the tart shell and spread the onions on top. Bake for 10 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the onions are sizzling. Let cool for 15 minutes. Unmold the tart, cut it into wedges and serve warm.

Make Ahead The tart can be refrigerated overnight. Rewarm before serving.

Have a great day

Reading, Hearing, Wandering Planet.

I finished the little book, The Emperor’s Soul, by Brandon Sanderson. At first I didn’t think I was going to enjoy it, but in the end it was very good. Once again a different type of magic. He certainly has some original ideas. Obviously being a small book it didn’t take me long to read it. I can highly recommend it. I now have the David Weber book I mentioned as well as a book on my Kindle which I have already started Killer Cuvée which has a winemaking setting. I wonder if Brandon Sanderson is planning to write more in the setting of Emperor’s Soul, it would be most enjoyable. He does seem to jump around in his worlds though. He has finished the Wheel of Time books and the last book is supposed to be published in January. I have no doubt I am not the only one waiting with bated breath for the end of this series.

So we went for our audiology tests and the upshot is that they think we should both have trial hearing aids for 90 days. Matt is fighting this as hard as he can. What I don’t really understand, although it was explained to us, is why we should have a hearing aid in each ear when most people one sees have only the one. However we are told it balances the hearing properly. Later talked to our friends who were telling us about the horrendous cost of batteries. These are not covered by our insurance apparently and cost $80 for 60 batteries and the batteries do not last long they tell us. Batteries were never mentioned at our audiology appointment, so I think we will have to make some further enquiries. I don’t think we need to be shelling out large sums on batteries.

Apparently a rogue planet has been found wandering in space. It is a pretty unusual occurrence they say. Normally these wandering planets are difficult to see because of an excess of light. This has been spotted with a Canada-France-Hawaii telescope. This is an artist’s impression of the loose planet. I didn’t know planets could wander around loose, I thought they were always attached to a star. One lives and learns.

In England we used to make and/or buy curries of all kinds. In fact take away Indian food has surpassed fish and chips I understand. This is a recipe from BBC Food.

Home-style Chicken Curry

A rustic and authentic quick Indian one-pot packed with tons of hot Asian spices and fragrant coriander.

Ingredients

• 1 large onion
• 6 garlic cloves , roughly chopped
• 50g ginger , roughly chopped
• 4 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp fennel seeds
• 5cm cinnamon stick
• 1 tsp chilli flakes
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• 400g can chopped tomatoes
• 8 chicken thighs , skinned, boneless (about 800g)
• 250ml hot chicken stock
• 2 tbsp chopped coriander

1. Roughly chop the onion, transfer to a small food processor, and add 3 tablespoons of water - process to a slack paste. You could use a stick blender for this or coarsely grate the onion into a bowl - there's no need to add any water if you are grating the onion. Tip into a small bowl and leave on one side.
2. Put the chopped garlic and ginger into the same food processor and add 4 tbsp water - process until smooth and spoon into another small bowl. Alternatively, crush the garlic to a paste with a knife or garlic press and finely grate the ginger.
3. Heat the oil in a wok or sturdy pan set over a medium heat. Combine the cumin and fennel seeds with the cinnamon and chilli flakes and add to the pan in one go. Swirl everything around for about 30 secs until the spices release a fragrant aroma.
4. Add the onion paste - it will splutter in the beginning. Fry until the water evaporates and the onions turn a lovely dark golden - this should take about 7-8 mins. Add the garlic and ginger paste and cook for another 2 mins - stirring all the time.
5. Stir in the garam masala, turmeric, and sugar and continue cooking for 20 secs before tipping in the tomatoes. Continue cooking on a medium heat for about 10 mins without a lid until the tomatoes reduce and darken.
6. Cut the chicken thighs into 3cm chunks and add to the pan once the tomatoes have thickened to a paste. Cook for 5 mins to coat the chicken in the masala and seal in the juices, and then pour over the hot chicken stock. Simmer for 8-10 mins without a lid until the chicken is tender and the masala lightly thickened - you might need to add an extra ladleful of stock or water if the curry needs it. Sprinkle with chopped coriander and serve with Indian flatbreads or fluffy basmati rice and a pot of yogurt on the side.

SAVE TIME

Adding a dash of water while blitzing the onion, garlic and ginger saves on chopping time and helps thicken the masala as it cooks.

Have a great day

Monday, New Research, Septuagenarian,

What lousy weather on Monday, blowing, rain, chilly. Thoroughly yukky. Then my game was lousy as well, so was Matt’s. I guess it was just that kind of day. Snow was a probability but it doesn’t seem we got any. Snow is on the horizon for us any time there are lots of areas which have had the white stuff already.

Story on CBC news, they are now finding it possible to track some awareness of people in a vegetative state and to obtain simple answers whilst they are in a functional MRI type of environment. It is a pretty horrible thing to find out that some, if not all, such patients have some awareness of their existence. I did wonder, reading the article, whether they are imputing answers that they want to find, like, is the patient in pain, the answer being no which is obviously what they want to hear. The research is being conducted by Dr. Adrian Owen of the Centre for Brain and Mind at Western University in London, Ont., who moved from Cambridge, UK.

Today we go for hearing tests and probably trial hearing aids. Sadly at our ages, one’s hearing degenerates even if deafness doesn’t actually set in. Matt swears I mumble which is the classic response by people who’s hearing is somewhat impaired. I know my own hearing isn’t as good as I would like it to be. Told you, we are a couple of old fogeys. Trouble is, as my mother used to tell me years ago, one doesn’t feel old, OK things don’t work as well as they did, but I don’t feel any older now than I did 30 or 40 years ago. A good thing in a way I suppose. Just realised Harrison Ford is a septuagenarian too. doesn’t look bad does he? Matt and I both tend to look at people around here and think ‘look at that old person’ when they are likely the same age as we are.

Love mushrooms

Garlic-Rosemary Mushrooms

Source: © EatingWell Magazine

4 servings, about 3/4 cup each

These simple sautéed mushrooms work as a quick, weeknight side dish. To turn them into a main course, toss with cooked pasta and a generous handful of Parmesan cheese or fold into an omelet with Gruyère, fontina or Swiss cheese.

INGREDIENTS

1 ounce bacon (about 1 1/2 slices), chopped

1 1/2 pounds mixed mushrooms such as cremini, shiitake (stemmed) and portobello, cut into 1/4-inch slices

2 medium cloves garlic garlic,

1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary or 1/2 teaspoon dried

1/4 teaspoon salt

Freshly ground pepper to taste

1/4 cup dry white wine

DIRECTIONS

Cook bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until just beginning to brown, about 4 minutes. Add mushrooms, garlic, rosemary, salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until almost dry, 8 to 10 minutes. Pour in wine and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated, 30 seconds to 1 minute.

Have a great day

Camera, Earring, No Desktop.

Matt, who does not believe in digital cameras, has had a Minolta 49 mm for a number of years and on vacation it wouldn’t work properly. He finally got round to taking it to the camera shop last week and we have just found out that it is the circuitry board which needs replacing at a cost of $125. I guess it was an expensive camera in the first place, but that’s still a hefty repair bill. Then you have to pay for developing too whenever you use a roll of film, which of course, you have to buy. He just will not believe that a really good digital camera works as well as his camera. Oops, I have just seen one of these cameras on eBay which went for $16. Second hand of course. His previous camera had lenses up the kazoo including one which was almost a foot long. Being a point and shoot girl, I could never understand bothering with all that stuff. For many years, he would only take slides too. I have been meaning to get a lot of slides put on a CD, it would cost about $20 to get 200 done. Trouble is, sorting out the ones we want, there are so many and he has some good pictures. 

Whoopee my earring has been found. Phoned the superintendent’s wife and someone had handed it in to her. They were off this weekend and although I asked the assistant super, he obviously didn’t check the office as he said he would. I am so pleased because it’s a pair a wear a lot and I would have been sorry to not do so any more.

Well I have lost my desktop for a few days. Basically the dust from the flooring the other day has cause problems with my modem or possibly my motherboard. I hope its just the modem. I gather most people don’t use telephone modems any more, but as I am not loaded down with cell phones of one kind or another, I like to be able to make calls from my computer. Saves me dialling so many flaming numbers especially as in our part of Ontario we have to dial the area code even for local calls. I don’t know why they did that, when they ran out of space on the exchange in North Carolina when we lived there, they added a new area code, here they just made us dial the area code as well.

Caramel and nuts, what could be wrong with that?

Caramel Nut Tart

Farberware Cooking Classes

This delicious Caramel Nut Tart has a heartwarming, melt in your mouth finish. The traditional fall flavor makes this the perfect way to end your Thanksgiving Day feast.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups mixed toasted almonds, pecans and walnuts
• ¾ cup unsifted all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup confectioners’ sugar
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ cup unsalted cold butter, cut in large pieces
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 egg, slightly beaten
• ¾ cup butterscotch caramel topping
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Vanilla ice cream
• Mint leaves

Directions:

In large bowl of Black & Decker Food Processor, coarsely chop nuts. Remove 1 cup and set aside. Add confectioners’ sugar, salt and butter to remaining chopped nuts in processor bowl. Using pulse, process until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add egg yolks and process to blend. Press against sides and bottom of ungreased 9-inch tart pan with removable bottom. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Bake in preheated oven at 350º F for 20 minutes, until edges begin to lightly brown.

Meanwhile, combine remaining 1 cup nuts, whole egg, topping, heavy cream and vanilla. Stir to blend. Pour into prepared shell.

Bake 25 minutes or until filling is set. Remove to wire rack to cool.

Serve topped with ice cream or whipped cream and mint leaves.

Have a great day

Re Memorial Day, Earring, Latest Book. Bangers.

The radio were playing a bunch of war songs and I was astounded to hear Gracie Fields singing Ave Maria. She was so popular during the second world war and now only old fogies like Matt and I even know who she was. Although untrained, she had an absolutely marvellous voice. This is a recording of her singing Now is the Hour – its followed by some version o; Lollipop, Lollipop. I found Ave Maria and this is worth a listen. You have to remember she was untrained as I said. She was referred to as Our Gracie, presumably because she was a Lancashire lass; Gracie travelled to the front lines many times to entertain the troops during the second world war. She made a lot of money in her career and was extremely generous with it setting up charities and funding travel for troops in her home town of Rochdale during the war years. She eventually moved to Capri, Italy to live and finally died there in 1979.

Getting ready for bed the other night, I discovered I had lost an earring. The only place I had been was the bowling alley but so far, it hasn’t turned up. It was a gold hoop and I was very fond of wearing them. I hope I can claim it on insurance. Its been a weekend for problems, my computer guy has been in twice to fix problems with my computer caused by all the dust when the floor was laid. I phoned the flooring company and they said the computer guy should call them and they would see what they could do. He still has to come back so its not over yet.

I ordered a book from the library, don’t know who told me about it;  by the time it arrived it didn’t strike me as very appealing. I’m glad I didn’t just take it back, its turned out to be an excellent story. Its Thieftaker by D.B. Jackson and is set in Boston prior to the American Revolution. There is a long blurb on Goodreads if you would like to read about it (maybe that’s where I heard of it, but I don’t think so). I don’t know this author but on the cover I read he has been writing epic fantasy for 15 years and is now combining that with his love of American history. I will have to look out for other books by this author. I have another book to read after this one, its by Brandon Sanderson who usually writes huge books. This is a slim little book called The Emperor’s Soul. I was very surprised. I have yet another book waiting for me Storm from the Shadows by David Weber who wrote the Honor Harrington books, this is set in the same world I understand. I have all the Harrington books as ebooks.

I have, for some reason, had a craving lately for English bangers (sausages) something I won’t be able to satisfy. I like Jimmy Dean sausages too, but can’t get them here, only in the States although, in fact, I don’t remember seeing any when we were in NC during the summer. We get some reasonably good sausages locally, but not like the English ones I used to buy at my local butcher’s. Oh well, hope the craving passes off soon. I used to like it when some of the sausage meat crept out of the ends and became crispy on the outside, yum.

This is a recipe intended for Thanksgiving in the States. Obviously it would make an excellent hors d’oeuvres for any occasion.

Wild Mushroom Crostini

Contributed to Food and Wine by Ford Fry

SERVINGS:8

Southern cooking is often very meat-focused, but chef Ford Fry likes to emphasize vegetables. For these crostini, he tops creamy ricotta with a mix of garlicky mushrooms and a handful of herbs.

1. 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2. Extra-virgin olive oil
3. 1/2 pound shiitake mushrooms, stems discarded and caps sliced 1/4 inch thick
4. 1/2 pound oyster mushrooms, sliced 1/2 inch thick
5. 1 shallot, thinly sliced
6. 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
7. 1/4 cup dry white wine
8. 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
9. 1 teaspoon finely chopped thyme
10. 1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley, plus more for garnish
11. Kosher salt
12. Freshly ground pepper
13. Four 1/2-inch-thick slices of rustic sourdough bread
14. 1/2 pound fresh ricotta cheese (1 cup)
15. 1/4 cup tarragon leaves
16. 1/4 cup snipped chives

1. In a large skillet, melt the butter in 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add the shiitake and cook over moderately high heat, stirring, until browned, 4 minutes. Add the oyster mushrooms and cook until softened and lightly browned, 4 minutes. Add the shallot and garlic and cook until fragrant, 2 minutes. Stir in the wine, lemon juice, thyme and the 1 tablespoon of parsley. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Light a grill or preheat a grill pan. Brush the bread with olive oil and grill until toasted and charred in spots, about 1 minute per side.
3. Spread each toast slice with 1/4 cup of the ricotta. Spoon the mushrooms on top and and sprinkle with the tarragon, chives and additional parsley. Cut the crostini in half, drizzle with olive oil and serve.

Have a great day

Bullying, Dirty Hotels. Bowling. November 11.

Isn’t it odd that as kids we used to say “Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me” and today it appears to be words, very often, which do hurt people enough to drive them to suicide, A complete about face from what we used to say, or think. I don’t really know if bullying has become much more prevalent today or just that we learn more about it. I don’t remember hearing of anyone being bullied so badly they had to end it all, when I was a youngster, did it just not happen? Did we just not hear? If its much worse today, why? I know cyber bullying didn’t exist in those days, but is that the only difference? It seems to me much of this behaviour is learned from parents in the first place. The picture was on Facebook yesterday. 

CBC Marketplace conducted a test of 54 hotel rooms in chains across Canada and have uncovered superbugs which are resistant to antibiotics. I don’t suppose, for one moment, these conditions are exclusive to Canadian hotels and similar tests in other countries would reveal similar results, but it is a pretty horrifying thought and I am quite glad I am not planning to stay in any hotel at the moment. I do sympathise a bit with the hotels themselves, they have to clean so much in such a short time and if some of the bugs are resistant to antibiotics they are certainly resistant to regular cleaning products. Its pretty scary though. There was a CBC TV programme, The Dirt on Hotels covering this topic.

How about that, I was in two minds whether to bowl or not yesterday. Decided to bowl a few frames, started getting good marks, legs felt reasonably OK and ended up having two of the best games I have had in a long while. A team member said neither of us had bowled the second game when someone asked our scores. They were something to hide. Bowling is definitely the craziest of games.

As I don’t blog on Sundays, I thought I would acknowledge Remembrance Day today. I only just learned that the poem, In Flanders Fields, was written by a Canadian. John McCrae from Guelph, Ontario (same town where I am having my surgery). It is a wonderful tribute to the dead of the first world war.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

This is a twist on a classic dish from France – the recipe below is by Jacques Pépin who is, as you may know, one of my favourite chefs.

Brandade de Morue au Gratin (Whipped Salt Cod Gratin)

Contributed by Jacques Pépin

• TOTAL TIME: 1 HR 1 MIN 24 hr soaking
• SERVINGS:8 to 10

The Provençal dish known as brandade de morue is a great example of how to elevate modest ingredients like salt cod and potatoes—in this case, by whipping them with milk, olive oil and garlic until luxuriously silky. Jacques Pépin's extra step of serving the dish au gratin (browned, with cheese on top) makes it that much more delicious.

1. 1 pound skinless salt cod fillet
2. 1 pound large red-skinned potatoes
3. 1 1/2 cups whole milk
4. 8 large garlic cloves, peeled
5. 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
6. 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
7. 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
8. 3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for the baking dish
9. Freshly ground black pepper
10. 2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
11. 2 baguettes, cut into rounds and toasted, for serving

1. Put the salt cod in a bowl and cover with 1 inch of cold water. Refrigerate for 24 hours, changing the water 4 times.
2. Put the potatoes in a large saucepan, cover with water and boil over moderately high heat until tender, about 30 minutes. Drain and let the potatoes cool to warm.
3. Meanwhile, drain the cod and transfer to a saucepan. Add 2 quarts of water; bring just to a boil. Drain the cod and rinse out the pan. Return the cod to the pan, add 4 cups of water and bring to a boil. Simmer over low heat for 5 minutes. Drain the cod and return it to the pan, add the milk and garlic and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
4. Peel the potatoes and break into chunks; transfer to a food processor. Add the cod, milk, garlic cloves, lemon zest, lemon juice and cayenne and process until smooth. With the machine on, slowly pour in the 3/4 cup of oil until incorporated. Season with black pepper.
5. Preheat the oven to 400°. Lightly oil a 9-by-13-inch baking dish and spread the brandade in the dish. Sprinkle the cheese on top. Bake on the top shelf of the oven for 20 minutes, until golden brown. Serve with toasts.

Make Ahead The assembled brandade can be refrigerated for up to 3 days. Bring to room temperature before baking.

Have a great weekend

Vascular Surgery. Nursery Rhyme. Christmas.

I mentioned my vascular surgery yesterday, I was quite staggered, I emailed the surgeon’s office, I phoned and left a message and never heard a dicky bird, then, right out of the blue, I got an email with dates, times, pre op forms, you name it. My only complaint, couldn’t fill the forms out on the PC had to do it by hand and my handwriting is for the birds. So, with any luck, I should be able to walk again in December although I was reading what I wrote last year, June 16 I discovered, and it sounds as though I had a sore leg after. You’ll be getting as fed up with our medical histories the same as everyone was getting fed up with the election advertising. I also now know when I will be going in for the pre-op. I have been trying to work out the parking. The hospital parking lot is apparently $8 however long you spend. Seems a bit expensive. It is possible for Matt to drop me off and pick me up in a special spot by another door, but it’s a 15 minutes only parking place. I guess its going to cost $8 for the pre-op. Called the hospital, they said for short term used the parking meters next to the hospital.

I heard an ad, have heard it before, on the radio where a little girl is reciting a nursery rhyme. What she says is “itsy bitsy spider”, its not itsy bitsy its incy wincy. Grrr. It really irritates me, silly I know, but….. Most nursery rhymes started as lampoons of political happenings at the time they were written. There doesn’t seem to be any actually recorded history and on the North American continent the spider seems to have been give a bunch of different names. Ah well, it will, no doubt, continue to irritate the hell out of me.

It appears that all that dust from the new bathroom floor did cause me computer problems after all, I have had my computer guy here twice over the last 24 hours working on dust problems. What a pain. It seems to be fixed now. I have also spent a large portion of today making Christmas cards and printing address labels for them. Christmas is a cumin.

I thought this looked quite delicious although it does contain a few things I personally would change, not being a vegan, nor do I personally have a problem with gluten, but I think it would be a good recipe. I have friends who are not gluten tolerant or who are vegans, in both cases this is ideal.

Vegan Pasta Pie and Basic Vegan White Sauce

By The Gluten Free Goddess
WebMD Recipe from Foodily.com

Ingredients

• 2 cups cooked gluten-free spaghetti noodles
• 2 cups vegetables for roasting: leek, mushrooms, grape tomatoes
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/2 cup gluten-free cornbread crumbs
• 6 spears fresh asparagus, trimmed
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups non-dairy milk (I used plain hemp milk)
• 1 tablespoon rice or sorghum flour
• 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• 3 tablespoons white wine
• 1/2 teaspoon prepared mustard
• 2 portions egg replacer
• pinch nutmeg
• minced onion and garlic, to taste
• dried Italian herbs: basil, thyme, oregano, parsley, to taste
• sea salt and ground pepper, to taste
• fresh chopped rosemary, to taste
• vegan white sauce, recipe follows

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly oil a deep 9-inch pie plate and set aside.
2. Slice up a leek, and mushrooms and toss them into a roasting pan. Add enough grape tomatoes to bring the amount to two heaping cups or so. Drizzle with a little olive oil. Season with sea salt and ground pepper, herbs; toss to coat. Roast in the preheated oven till tender- about 30 minutes.
3. Make the white sauce: In a sauce pan add the olive oil, non-dairy milk and flour; whisk and cook over medium heat. The flour will thicken the milk. Add in the nutritional yeast and whisk. Add the wine, mustard, nutmeg, minced onion and garlic, and stir till thickened. This is your basic vegan white sauce. Now we're going to make it a little eggy for the pie. Mix egg replacer for two eggs using warm non-dairy milk. Stir it into the white sauce.
4. When the veggies are roasted, layer the cooked pasta in the prepared pie plate. Pour in the vegan white sauce mixture and shimmy the noodles a bit to allow the sauce to seep in. Top with the roasted veggies.
5. Toss the cornbread crumbs in a drizzle of olive oil and sprinkle over the pie. Press down a bit to compact the layers. Sprinkle with chopped fresh rosemary. Arrange the uncooked asparagus spears on the top.
6. Bake in the center of the oven for 25 minutes or so, till piping hot.
7. Allow the pie to rest for 5 minutes before slicing and serving. Use a sharp knife to slice and a pie shaped spatula/server.

Have a great day

Obama Wins, More Medical Stuff, CPU Cleaning. Baby Boom.

So Obama made it. I know I and most of my Canadian friends are delighted, even the doctor's receptionist who is from Georgia, as are a number of my American friends although there are some, especially from further south, who are not too happy at all. One person I know wrote what, to me, is the most arrant nonsense. Anyway, if there are a number of Americans who didn’t want Obama again, there seem to be a large amount of people from other countries who are delighted he is still at the helm. This is one of the pictures which really appealed to me. Another was one of Big Bird celebrating. As I frequently state, I am not political, but some of the rubbish being spouted by the Romney party scared the bejasus out of me, particularly that ‘legitimate rape’ business a few months ago.

As I said yesterday, I think all we do these days is visit one doctor or another. Matt went to see his urologist who said ‘keep up the good work’ and when I complained I couldn’t get to see him for 5 months, he promised me he would see me before Christmas. He also emphasized that I should get my doctor to send a sample for a culture to see what the bacteria was resistant to because many bacteria are now resistant to antibiotics. Like why didn’t my doc. think of that before, she didn’t know this stuff? I have also arranged to get one of those walkers on which you can sit when you need to. I have no idea when I will get my vascular surgery, so I figured this type of walker would be very helpful until such time. It turns out that our insurance pays for the rental which is great. Not sure what I’ll get but this is what I mean. For instance when Matt has his op in December, I cannot walk from the parking lot into the day surgery area; he has to have someone to drive him home. Having written this paragraph I have now discovered I am going for vascular surgery on November 30th. Much sooner than I expected after everything anyone had said. I am so pleased. I guess I won't need the walker after all. I hope.

I mentioned all the dust from the floor when we had new linoleum laid a week or so ago, I ordered some compressed gas for dusting but decided to get my computer guy to come and do it for me. Apart from the pain of having to take off the tower’s case etc. etc. I might blow dust into the CPU instead of away from it. Particularly as the fan is right by the CPU. I also ordered some laptop screen cleaning stuff, don’t what’s happened to that, should chase it up later. My laptop looks like I have regularly splattered it with all kinds of stuff and I promised you I haven’t LOL. No idea how it gets so dirty, dusty I understand, dirty, no way. I had forgotten, but when I saw my computer guy crawling on the floor to check on some of the connections etc. I am very glad I asked him to come in. By the way, his wife knows me because of my recipes, not sure if she reads my blog. She must I think.

How about this, the book, Fifty Shades of Grey has been blamed for a baby boom in Windsor, Ontario. Not quite sure why just there. The local hospital delivered 80 babies in 6 days and the book came out last January. I wasn’t going to bother to read it, but maybe I should. I have heard people say they didn’t think much of it. It certainly wasn’t something that interested me. There are lots of erotic books out there anyway and I usually avoid most of them. I prefer a good story to an erotic adventure from end to end. I don’t need to read about it.

This recipe is from the South Beach Diet site – I am not sure what combination makes Pumpkin Spice, but it sounded pretty good anyway.

Pumpkin Spice Ricotta Crème

Recipe by Bippie.
I just love dessert made with ricotta cheese. I had no idea this was a South Beach Diet thing to do. Here is my favorite way to eat ricotta cheese.

Serves 2.

• 1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 (1 g) packets Splenda sugar substitute
• 1 tablespoon crushed walnuts or 1 tablespoon pecans

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients in a bowl.
   
2. Chill for about 30 minutes and serve.

Have a great day

ATM Thefts, More Medical.

News report about two guys who are systematically robbing stand alone ATM machines using an acetylene torch. They are hitting businesses all across Quebec and Southern Ontario and the police are now requesting information from the public. There is a video on this site which includes a film of the two men breaking into one of the ATM machines. They are being referred to as the torch gang. From the comments posted beneath the article it seems a lot of people are pro the robbers referring to their exploits as being similar to Robin Hood and calling the banks robbers. Whatever you think of banks, it is our money which is being stolen. I heard recently that the use of names such as the Torch Gang helps the public identify thieves and assists in their apprehension.
Sorry guys, I ate too much and tonight I am not in the mood for writing blogs, shame, shame. The friends we just visited find my blog very uninteresting anyway and can’t be bothered to read it, that hurts. Oh the pain LOL. We went to the doctor for Matt and he now has a colonoscopy scheduled for early December to which I am sure he is looking forward!! We sat in the office for an hour and a half before seeing the doctor. Thought it was a tad long. Wednesday we have more doc visits, sometimes that seems like all we do.
I think all true Englishmen (women) love Cornish Pasties, it’s a dead cert Matt and I do anyway and I just came across this variation on a theme. Sound delicious.

Chicken Cornish Pasties

Jennifer Innis' chicken Cornish pasties are a wonderfully flaky snack.
Courtesy of Food Network Canada
Yield: 12

Ingredients

Pastry

• 1 cup (250 ml) shortening
• 1/2 cup (125 ml) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups (500 ml) all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups (375 ml) whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon (5 ml) salt
• 1/2 cup (125 ml) cold water

Filling

• 2 tablespoons (25 ml) olive oil
• 1 1/2 pounds (750 g) ground chicken
• 1 cup (250 ml) diced onion
• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) minced garlic
• 1 cup (250 ml) diced celery
• 1 cup (250 ml) diced sweet red pepper
• 2 cups (500 ml) grated carrot
• 2 cups (500 ml) grated parsnip
• 2 cups (500 ml) grated peeled sweet potato
• 1 can (10 oz/284 ml) condensed cream of chicken soup
• 1 cup (250 ml) chicken stock
• 3 tablespoons (45 ml) balsamic vinegar
• 1/3 cup (75 ml) packed brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons (22 ml) chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 teaspoon (5 ml) dry mustard
• 1 teaspoon (5 ml) dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon (2 ml) salt
• 1/2 teaspoon (2 ml) freshly ground black pepper
• 1 egg, beaten

Directions

Pastry

1. In a large mixing bowl, beat together lard and butter until creamy. Add salt and mix well. In a separate bowl, combine your all-purpose and whole wheat flours together. Add the flour to the creamed fats, 1 cup at a time, scraping sides of the bowl with each addition.
2. Add the water all at once and mix evenly. Quickly form dough into a ball. Use plenty of flour when rolling out, as the dough will be quite sticky.
3. Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface. This pastry should roll out very smoothly and not fall to pieces. Knead a few times then cover with plastic wrap and chill until needed.

Filling

1. In large non-stick frying pan, heat oil over medium-high heat. Cook ground chicken, stirring to break up meat, for 8 to 10 minutes or until browned. Drain off excess fat. Stir in onion, garlic, celery and red pepper; cook for 5 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Transfer chicken mixture to a large saucepan.
2. Stir in carrot, parsnip, sweet potato, soup, chicken stock, vinegar, brown sugar, rosemary, mustard, thyme, salt and pepper. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, for 30 minutes or until liquid has absorbed and vegetables are tender. Set aside to cool before using. Makes about 6 cups (1.5 L).
3. Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Remove pastry dough from refrigerator. Divide into 12 equal portions. Form each portion into a ball. On generously floured work surface, roll one ball of dough into a 6-inch (15 cm) circle. Place 6-inch (15 cm) salad or dessert plate upside down on top of pastry circle; using small paring knife, trim excess dough away to form a perfect circle. Dust pastry circle with flour; set aside. Roll out remaining dough balls in same manner.
4. Place pastry circles on a lightly floured surface. Add ¼ cup (50 ml) chicken mixture to bottom half of one circle, leaving at least ½-inch (1 cm) bare around edge. Brush outer edge of pastry with beaten egg. Fold dough over and press edges together to seal. Crimp the straight edge of pasty with tines of a fork. Place on prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining pastry circles. Freeze remaining filling for the next time you make pasties.
5. Brush tops of pasties with remaining beaten egg. With sharp knife, pierce a vent in top of each pasty. One baking sheet at a time, bake in centre of oven for 30 minutes.

Have a great day