Costco, Royal Baby, Summer Fruit.

We finally got to Costco yesterday and would you believe it, we got out of there under $200. I think we deserve a pat on the back. I’m not quite sure how it happened mind you.

Still no news on the baby front at the time of writing, Prince William is away for the weekend so I guess they aren’t expecting anything to happen.

Yesterday I was tucking into a golden mango which, oddly enough I only discovered how much I liked a couple or so years ago. Matt was sent a basket of fruit when he was sick and I tried the mango. Matt tried one later and wasn’t impressed, me I love them. I can remember my father talking about mangoes when he came back from his three years stationed in what was Rhodesia during WWII. I don’t ever remember seeing them in England, come to that, I don’t remember seeing the golden ones here prior to a few years ago, but then I wasn’t looking. Anyway, I was sitting savouring my mango and I suddenly thought about the durian. Its a fruit from Thailand, as I understand, and smells so bad that one is not allowed to carry it on a bus. They say when you eat it, it is absolutely delicious. So, I have added the durian to my bucket list.

I love summer fruits. The local fruits should soon be available in our supermarket. Some of them are already available at Barrie’s Farm, but we don’t go over there when we can get all these goodies locally. We got some gorgeous peaches last week, freestone, juicy and sweet. Hopefully we can get some more this week. Mangoes of course whilst they are around; blueberries are available in the market but not seen them in the grocery store yet. We never remember to get ourselves in gear in order to get to the market on a Saturday morning. I don’t make pies or tarts with any of these fruits, we basically prefer to eat them fresh and I am not that big on most pies anyway. Apart from the fact that pastry goes straight to the hips.

However, for those of you who do like pies and tarts, here is a Kraft recipe which I thought looked pretty good.

Triple-Berry Cobbler

What You Need

4 cups  assorted fresh berries (blueberries, raspberries, sliced strawberries)
1/4 cup  sugar, divided
1 pkg.   (3.4 oz.) JELL-O Vanilla Flavour Instant Pudding
1/2 cup  water, divided
1 cup  baking mix
1/4 cup  BREAKSTONE'S or KNUDSEN Sour Cream
1/2 tsp.  ground cinnamon
3/4 cup  thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping

Make It

HEAT oven to 350ºF.
COMBINE berries in 2-qt. round microwaveable casserole. Microwave on HIGH 1 min. Reserve 1 tsp. sugar. Stir remaining sugar, dry pudding mix and 1/4 cup water into berry mixture.
MIX baking mix, sour cream and remaining water. Drop in 6 mounds (mounds should not touch) over fruit mixture. Mix reserved sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle over dough.
BAKE 35 min. or until fruit mixture is hot and bubbly and biscuits are lightly browned. Serve warm topped with COOL WHIP.

Kraft Kitchens Tips

How to Store Leftovers
Have leftovers? Store in refrigerator up to 5 days. When ready to serve, microwave each serving on HIGH 20 sec. or just until warmed.

Have a great day

Dieting, Summer, Book, Dunkable Hardware.

I started off Monday with a total reluctance to anything whatsoever, i had no oomph at all, didn’t even want to go shower and stuff, just wanted to do nothing. Luckily I finally put a rocket behind myself and got moving. I think I may be a bit depressed with my efforts at weight loss. I lost 19 lbs. and now I seem to be going backward. I am walking on my treadmill for 30 minutes a day, not very fast, my legs are still not up to too much exercise, and I am faithfully recording everything I eat but nothing much has happened for weeks and, as I said, my weight appears to be going backwards.

Summer seems to have come with a vengeance lately, none of these half measures, from cool and very wet, it changed to blazing hot over the last few days although the forecast says we are supposed to get more rain. The comparison to last year when we didn’t see rain for weeks and now we see lots of it is quite astounding. At least, as I said before, everywhere is gloriously green.

I have just started a new book which was recommended by someone and I can’t remember who, one of my blogging buddies I know. Was it Father Dragon or Sir Jeff, or somebody else? I really don’t remember. Their names spring to mind because it is a dragon book A Natural History of Dragons, A Memoir by Lady Trent. I haven’t progressed very far yet, but I love it. Anyway, whoever it was who talked about it in their blog, thanks so much, it is a book right up my street and from the pages I have read, I know I am going to love it. It’s a wonderful approach to a dragon story by Marie Brennan and I am delighted with her concept. I am one of those people who wholeheartedly believe in Dragons, well I know one don’t I?

Got an ad in the email yesterday – I don’t really know what it is but it’s the Sony Xperia^® Z, I gather its a touch screen oriented HD phone and everything else combined. What staggers me is the ad I got, you can dunk it, splash it, use it in the rain. Now that is something worth having. I always remember a friend in the UK, being a little inebriated at the time, decided to wash her cell phone. She definitely needed one of these.

This recipe combines three of my favourites, Thai based, shrimp and cellophane noodles,. for me you can’t go wrong. I found it at Food and Wine. Only thing, I might leave out the squid, it is one of the few foods I really don’t enjoy. I have always made it a rule to try things every couple of years ago, I am still trying squid, I have never acquired a liking for it.

Thai Seafood Noodle Salad

Contributed by Anya von Bremzen

• SERVINGS: 6

by Diane Gallagher

Writer and cookbook author Anya von Bremzen has traveled the world for F&W, finding stories for the magazine from Istanbul to Seoul. Her unforgettable Thai seafood salad is an example of how a perfect dressing can transform poached fish and springy (but bland) rice noodles into a revelatory dish that’s light, fresh and full of flavour.

1. 6 ounces rice vermicelli
2. 2 red Thai chiles, thinly sliced
3. 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
4. 1/4 cup sugar
5. 1/2 cup fresh lime juice
6. 1/3 cup Asian fish sauce
7. 2 tablespoons boiling water
8. 1/2 pound medium shrimp, shelled and deveined
9. 1/2 pound bay scallops
10. 1/2 pound small squid, bodies cut into 1/2-inch rings and tentacles halved
11. 3 plum tomatoes, seeded and diced
12. 1 cup bean sprouts
13. 1 cup mint leaves
14. 1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
15. 1/2 cup salted roasted peanuts
16. 6 butter lettuce leaves, for serving
17. Cilantro leaves, for garnish

1. In a medium bowl, cover the vermicelli in cold water and soak for 30 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, in a mortar, pound the Thai chiles and garlic to a paste with 1 tablespoon of the sugar. Add the lime juice, fish sauce, boiling water and the remaining 3 tablespoons of sugar and pound until the sugar dissolves. Let the dressing stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.
3. Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil. Fill a bowl with ice water. Add the shrimp to the boiling water and cook until white throughout and curled, 2 to 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the shrimp to the ice water. Add the scallops to the boiling water and cook until white and firm, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer the scallops to the ice water. Add the squid to the boiling water and cook just until firm, about 45 seconds. Transfer the squid to the ice water. Drain all of the seafood and pat dry.
4. Bring a fresh saucepan of water to a boil and refill the bowl with ice water. Drain the vermicelli, add to the boiling water and cook just until al dente, 1 minute. Drain and transfer to the ice water. Drain again and pat dry. Cut the vermicelli into 3-inch lengths.
5. In a large bowl, toss the seafood with the vermicelli, tomatoes, bean sprouts, mint, red onion, peanuts and chile dressing. Arrange the lettuce leaves on a platter and fill with the seafood salad. Garnish with cilantro leaves and serve.

Make Ahead All of the components can be prepared up to 1 day ahead and refrigerated separately. Toss the salad just before serving.

Have a great day

July 14, Rhinos, Baby Watch.

Yesterday was Bastille Day or Le Quatorze Juillet in France when the French celebrate the storming of the Bastille prison and the beginning of the French Revolution. It is a date which has stuck in my head ever since I was a schoolgirl learning about this in my history classes. For the French, July 14 is a national celebration, with parades and fireworks, for me, it happens to be the birthdate of a couple of good friends one in the UK and one in South Africa.

This picture horrified and disgusted me. I feel it is one which should be shown worldwide. I am sorry if you don’t like it, I don’t either. Matt thought I shouldn’t post it, but if you are shocked, I’m glad, people need to be shocked and appalled by what is happening.
This is a pic of our latest poached rhino. Believe it or not, he was actually still alive when this photo was taken. His nose had been opened, you can see his tongue and both his eyes had also been hacked off. I will be posting a video soon that I am hoping to make the rounds internationally. I know it's not nice to look at, but this is what will fuel your fire to make a difference to our rhinos and conservation. It did that to me.

I find it difficult to believe people can perpetrate such a horror although I am aware that they do. The animal in this picture was left STILL ALIVE and must have been suffering terribly. Bad enough to remove the horn in the first place, but to do that too makes me want to retaliate. I think we should swamp Asian countries with Viagara and maybe that would help. If any of you would share this on your blogs it would be wonderful. As I said, Matt didn’t think I should post this, but I hope it will disturb you enough to help do something about it if only by raising awareness.

Pretty casual for a prospective new dad, Prince William played polo against his brother Harry in a charity match on Sunday. According to the same article, the British bookies are betting on Sunday, Monday or Tuesday. By the time you read this, we will know if it was Sunday or not. This polo match was held at some distance from the hospital but I guess they would have a chopper standing by. He apparently intends to be there for the birth.

I’ve always loved Crème Caramel but had never thought of it, or eaten it, partly frozen. Seems like a good idea. This came from Food and Wine.

Frozen Crème Caramel

Contributed by Amanda Hallowell

• SERVINGS: 6

To make her crème caramel more refreshing, chef Amanda Hallowell serves it partially frozen, like a semifreddo.

custard

1. 1 2/3 cups heavy cream
2. 3/4 cup milk
3. 1/2 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped
4. 3 large yolks
5. 1 large egg
6. 1/2 cup sugar
7. Pinch of salt

caramel

1. 2/3 cup sugar
2. 1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons water
3. Whipped cream, for serving (optional)

1. MAKE THE CUSTARD In a small saucepan, combine the cream, milk and vanilla bean and seeds. Bring to a simmer over moderate heat, then cover and remove from the heat. Let stand for 10 minutes. Remove the bean.
2. Preheat the oven to 300°. Fill a large bowl with ice water. In a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the egg, sugar and salt. Slowly whisk in the cream mixture. Set the bowl in the ice bath and let stand, stirring the custard occasionally, until chilled, about 20 minutes.
3. MEANWHILE, MAKE THE CARAMEL Arrange six 4-ounce ramekins in a large baking dish. In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar and the 1/4 cup of water and bring to a simmer. Cook over moderate heat, washing down the side of the pan with a wet pastry brush, until a light amber caramel forms, 15 minutes. Carefully stir in the remaining 3 tablespoons of water and simmer until the caramel is dissolved. Pour the caramel into the ramekins, swirling to coat the bottoms evenly. Let the caramel cool for 15 minutes.
4. Fill the ramekins with the chilled custard. Carefully pour enough hot water into the baking dish to reach halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Cover the baking dish with foil and bake for 45 minutes, until the custards are almost set but still slightly jiggly in the center. Remove the foil and let the custards cool to room temperature in the water in the pan, 30 minutes. Wrap the ramekins in plastic and refrigerate until the custards are thoroughly chilled, at least 6 hours or overnight.
5. Freeze the chilled crème caramels for at least 4 hours or overnight.
6. Thirty minutes before serving, take the crème caramels out and let stand at room temperature until just slightly frozen in the center. Run a thin knife around the crème caramels and invert them onto plates. Serve with whipped cream.

Make Ahead The crème caramels can be frozen for up to 1 week.

Have a great day.

I forgot

I am sorry, I totally forgot about my blog today because I was getting frustrated with my Android. I cannot get one of the programmes to do what it says it will do and it is now bedtime and I still haven’t got it working.

It’s too late for me to do a blog now so I have decided I will take the whole weekend off. Sorry about that folks. See you on Monday.

Have a great weekend.

Super Blogger Award, Secret.

I was flattered and delighted to be given the Super Blogger Award by Sir Jeff of Strands of Pattern who said some really nice things about me – what he didn’t mention was that I thoroughly enjoyed reading his book even though I did it twice and was delighted to be able to help a bit. It’s a damned good book and I am hoping it will get published in the near future.


This award is the brainchild of another Super Blogger.  Mark Means from Left and Write created this award and discussed its (very few) rules here. The Cliffs Notes guide is--and I quote:

Take the award for yourself, then pass it along to someone who inspires you or you just think is 'super' in one way or another. Tell us why you think that person is super and deserving. Now, all the recipient has to do is reveal a (as in one) small secret about themselves (super people always tend to have a secret or two, right?) and pass the reward on to someone they think is deserving.

I hemmed and hawed about passing this on, there are so many good bloggers out there and it is great to be part of such a wonderful group, but I finally decided on Tina at Life is Good. I have enjoyed her blog for a while, particularly her new immigrant stories during the A to Z Blogfest, but I am currently full of admiration for her because of her medical problems and the way she is showing the world a brave face, in her writing and trying to keep her spirits up. She is fighting the good fight and I hope this Award helps her keep on the winning side of the battle. She is a very solid presence in the blogging world and helps to run the A to Z every year. You have my respect as well as my admiration Tina. I wish I had a photograph to use, but Tina doesn’t show one and I wouldn’t use one she recently posted of herself wearing a CPAP mask. We who have to wear them are not pretty sights.

Now, I suppose you want a secret. I don’t really have one, my life is very much an open book. Unlike Jeff, I was good at English, about the only thing I was good at, nor do I swear in traffic; much. I guess one thing which will horrify my North American friends, I don’t really like burgers, in fact I haven’t eaten one in a very, very long time. I don’t mind the meat patty part, but the pictures you see on TV of all the buns stuffed with everything but the kitchen sink turn me right off. If I have to eat in McDonald’s for some reason, I usually choose chicken. Now if you took the meat and served it with a delectable sauce, that’s a totally different ball game.

I found this recipe on Cooking.com and couldn’t resist it. I love Gravlax so I really will have to have a go at this. Maybe later in the year.

New World Gravlax

Source: © EatingWell Magazine
20 servings
 
This gravlax is a play on the traditional Scandinavian recipe. Thinly slice the finished salmon for canapés or layer it on warm grilled flatbread with a scattering of sliced sweet red onions, fresh salmon caviar and a dollop of good sour cream or crème fraîche. This salmon is also delicious used to make those wonderful old-fashioned tea sandwiches with fresh herb butter and thinly sliced cucumbers.

Make Ahead Tip: Cure for up to 3 days (Step 2). After curing and removing from the marinade, refrigerate the gravlax, wrapped in plastic, for up to 1 week. | Equipment: Cheesecloth

INGREDIENTS
1 3-pound wild salmon fillet, bones removed, skin on
1/4 cup kosher or sea salt
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon freshly grated lemon zest
2 teaspoons freshly ground pepper
2/3 cup chopped fresh herbs, including tarragon, parsley, chives, mint and cilantro
1/3 cup good-quality tequila

DIRECTIONS
Use cheesecloth to line a pan just large enough to hold salmon, making sure there is a 2-inch overhang. Lay salmon on the cheesecloth, skin-side down.
Combine salt, sugar, lemon zest and pepper in a small bowl. Sprinkle the salt mixture evenly over the salmon. Scatter herbs on top. Wrap the salmon tightly with the cheesecloth. Brush the top of the cheesecloth with tequila, making sure the cloth is evenly moist. Place another baking pan or large plate on top of the salmon (it should be big enough to cover the salmon but small enough to fit inside the larger pan). Place 2 heavy cans inside the smaller pan (or on the plate) to weight it down. Refrigerate for 2 to 3 days to cure.
To serve, gently wipe the salt mixture off the salmon. Slice the salmon very thinly at an angle, leaving the skin behind.

Have a great day

No Bowling, Sandwich Toaster, Apps,

We didn’t go bowling. The alley called me to say that there was a hydro (electricity) pole fallen and only being held up by the wires; it was behind the alley and so the cops had closed everything off and there was no power in the alley anyway. So, a no go, we are going to extend the season another week.

I was staggered to get an advertisement in my email for a thing called a Toas-Tite which is a gadget which has been in my family since 1956 and the Britain Can Make it Exhibition. Although I haven’t used it in quite a long time, I still have it together with another type I bought but which wasn’t nearly as good. It really is a marvellous little gadget and you can make the most wonderful toasted sandwiches with it.  We used to cook them over an open fire in campgrounds. I have also made them on stoves although they work best with gas fired stoves, I have made them on electric stoves too, although I once nearly started a fire. What you do is butter two pieces of bread and place them butter side out on the two halves of the gadget, then you put in a filling, a raw egg works wonderfully sprinkled with salt and pepper. You then close and lock the gadget which cuts off the crusts as you do that. You then cook it, turning regularly, and if you open it slightly and the sandwich is loose, it’s done. Deelicious. The ad was from Cooking.com and they were $30 each.

As you may remember, I bought (sorry Matt bought me) an android tablet for my birthday in September. I have been obtaining various apps for it, but I am staggered at the amount of games there are, do people do nothing but play games? I do play solitaire now and again, but Google Play has hundreds (well a lot anyway) of games which one can install. I have a solitaire game, a hurricane and a couple of financial apps along with a Contacts app. I cannot imagine wanting any of these hundreds of games. Hm, looking for the picture I saw a Facebook App so got that. I just bought myself a portable router which I hope is going to help me get wifi on my android when I travel.

I love meringues and cream, add a few berries and such and you end up with something quite mouthwatering. This is a recipe from BBC Food so when they say double cream, they mean the really good stuff, here we would have to use whipping cream. I can’t say I have ever seen rose water in Canada, but I am sure one can buy it somewhere.

Berry, rose water, almond and meringue tart

By Sarah Cook

Serves 12

A showstopper pud with a secret layer of chewy marzipan baked into the shortcrust base- impressive but so simple

Ingredients

• 500g pack marzipan
• 1 x 23cm round tart case- ready-made or bake your own with bought shortcrust pastry
• 600ml pot double cream
• 2 tbsp icing sugar
• 2 tsp rose water
• 5 small meringues nests, crushed
• 600g mixed berries (we used raspberries, blackberries, blueberries and cherries)
• 50g toasted flaked almonds

Method

1. Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Roll out the marzipan to a circle roughly 21cm in diameter – use a plate as a template to cut around. Lay the marzipan circle in the centre of the tart case, then put in the oven and bake for 5 mins. Remove from the oven and leave to cool completely.
2. Tip the double cream, icing sugar and rose water into a bowl. Whisk until the cream just holds its shape, then stir through the crushed meringue. Drop some of the berries into the bottom of the tart case. Pile over the cream mixture, then top with the remaining berries and flaked almonds. Serve straight away.

Have a great day

Barrie’s, Bowling,

Didn’t make it to Costco after all yesterday, will have to be next week now. What did happen though, Tim Barrie said, on Facebook, that Mother Nature had been kind and he had asparagus to sell so off we trotted to get some. This time I got a lot and I am going to try freezing it. A friend did so last year and she was very pleased with it. Won’t have time today, bowling, but not doing anything tomorrow. I said to Tim had he ever sold asparagus as late in the season before and he assured me that he never had. I was hoping they would have some blueberries, they didn’t, but they had raspberries which I bought for our supper.

Today is virtually our last of our summer bowling league, we have a wrap up and maybe some pizza next week and that’s it although we will probably continue to bowl on Wednesdays and some of the others may very well join us. The winter league starts early in September but of course, as usual, we will be in the Carolinas, 10-pin bowling too. In fact we are meeting up with Jeff Hargett from Strands of Pattern and his wife Myra for a bowling session one day.  We’re not very good at 10-pin so I hope Jeff and Myra are not too practised. We’re not very good at 5-pin come to that.

I thought the picture of this pasta looked delicious and then discovered it has potatoes in it. Not sure why you would want potatoes in a pasta dish, but it is apparently a traditional recipe. In case you don’t have any prepared pesto, I have provided a link. I keep some ready in my freezer.

 

Spaghetti Genovese

WebMD Recipe from EatingWell.com

Traditionally, this Italian pasta recipe combines pasta and pesto with potatoes and green beans. In our recipe for Spaghetti Genovese we give pesto a nutritional boost by adding spinach and toss it all together with fiber-rich whole-wheat pasta for a warm, comforting weeknight meal. Serve with escarole and radicchio salad.

Ingredients

2 cups packed baby spinach

8 ounces whole-wheat spaghetti

1 cup thinly sliced new or baby potatoes, (about 4 ounces)

1 pound green beans, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces

1/2 cup prepared pesto

1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

Instructions

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil over medium-high heat. Add spinach and cook just until wilted, about 45 seconds. Use a slotted spoon or fine sieve to transfer the spinach to a blender. Return the water to a boil and add spaghetti and potatoes. Cook, stirring once or twice, until almost tender, 6 to 7 minutes. Add green beans and cook until tender, 3 to 4 minutes more.
2. When the spaghetti and vegetables are almost done, carefully scoop out 1 cup of the cooking liquid from the pot. Pour 1/2 cup of the liquid into the blender and add pesto, pepper and salt. Blend until smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides as necessary.
3. Drain the spaghetti and vegetables and return to the pot; stir in the pesto mixture. Cook over medium heat, stirring gently, until the sauce is thickened and the pasta is hot, 1 to 2 minutes. Add more of the cooking liquid, as desired, for a thinner sauce.

Have a great day

Shopping, Blog Book, Glenda Larke

Today we plan to go to Costco’s which, round here, is also known as the $300 store as it is difficult to get away from there under that amount. We buy a lot of our meat there and find the quality to be excellent. We seem to have run very low on everything right now so we may find our bill to be up in that mark. One must eat though, right? I always enjoy grocery shopping although I confess clothes shopping leaves me cold. The thought of going to a store and trying on all kinds of garments brings shudders, and picking something out to try on in the first place is worse. I always preferred one dress shop I used to go to in the UK where the owner knew me and would bring me things she figured I would like. I still had to try them on but I was usually the only one in the shop.

I finally got round to making my latest blog book. I use SharedBook or Blog2Print. They collect up my blogs for 6 months (or as specified although 6 months of my blogging is the most they can do), I then pay them $7.95 and download the book. I have a number of them printed, but the last few I haven’t bothered. I do have them well backed up plus SharedBook keep them on their site too. However, I am so verbose, the printed versions take up a lot of room. Who knew I would ever write so much, I certainly didn’t.

I was delighted to see, on her blog, that Glenda Larke now has her very first book, Havenstar, reprinted and it is available in a hardcover version as well as electronically. This is a very popular book and Glenda herself says she wishes she knew why this book is so popular, much more so than here 9 subsequent novels all of which were fabulous stories, but I too am a devoted reader of Havenstar and have read it several times. If you have never read any books by Glenda and are into spec fic, you will really enjoy her stories. She has three trilogies out as well as Havenstar and another trilogy in the works with a working title of The Lascar’s Dagger. Glenda is a fantastic world builder and makes her characters so sympathetic and believable. Even some of her villains attract one’s sympathies. Many of her readers want her to write more novels set in the Havenstar world. If you check out her blog, you will find Glenda doesn’t stop at writing and leads a very interesting life.

This recipe has me drooling, but I will never cook it because Matt doesn’t like spareribs in the first place, and it is somewhat loaded with sugars in the second place making a serving 829 calories. However, it looks too good not to share.

Pork Spareribs with Maple Barbecue Sauce

Source: Cooking.com

Serves 6


These luscious ribs are well worth the time it takes to make them. Perfect for a Sunday supper. Try with the Maple Baked Beans as well as coleslaw and biscuits or cornbread.

INGREDIENTS
6 pounds pork spareribs (about 3 whole racks)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 medium onions, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups tomato purée
3/4 cup pure maple syrup
1/4 cup soy sauce
Crushed dried red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

DIRECTIONS
Position rack in center of oven; preheat to 400 degrees F. Sprinkle ribs with salt and pepper. Wrap each rib rack tightly in heavy-duty foil; set on rimmed baking sheet. Bake ribs 45 minutes. Cool slightly. Unwrap; drain juices. Cut into individual ribs.
Meanwhile, heat oil in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until tender, about 10 minutes. Add garlic and sauté 1 minute. Add tomato purée and next 3 ingredients. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer until sauce thickens slightly, about 20 minutes. Stir in vinegar. Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper.

DO-AHEAD TIP: Ribs may be made 1 day ahead. Sauce may be made 1 week ahead. Cool ribs and sauce. Cover separately and refrigerate.
Line same baking sheet with foil. Dip ribs into sauce. Place ribs, meaty side up, on sheet. Roast 15 minutes. Dip into sauce again. Roast until meat is very tender, about 20 minutes.

Have a great day

Wimbledon, Dessert, Soccer Violence

I’m not a big sports fan, but when I lived in England I was a devoted follower of Wimbledon. I don’t watch it a lot these days, but we both watched Andy Murray win the crown yesterday beating his opponent, top seeded Novak Djokovic, in three straight sets ending over 70 years of frustration because no Brit has won Wimbledon in all that time. It looked like it was pretty warm in England too, the players were certainly feeling the heat. Reading the article again, I see the last win was in 1936, before I was born.

Saturday night we went to a friend’s house for dinner and had a most enjoyable evening. I was rather impressed when we were served dessert and just had to take a picture of it. It was a kind of trifle and absolutely delicious especially with the local blueberries in it. First ones we’ve had this year. We really enjoy blueberries from round here, they are so sweet. She got them at the local farmers’ market in Kitchener. They are lucky and live close by, I wish we did. I enjoy going there now and again. There is an even bigger market not far away, but once you get parked up it involves a lot of walking which is something I cannot cope with although I am getting better.

This is a frightening story about a Brazilian referee shown in the picture, who stabbed a soccer player to death and then was stoned to death and decapitated by angry spectators. I know people can get violent at soccer games, but this is going too far. Brazil are hosting the World Cup next year, maybe the powers that be will change their minds. It’s a pretty violent country.

Being diabetic and also currently trying to lose weight, my breakfasts can be pretty boring. This email was sent to me and I thought, yes please, but maybe not til next Sunday.

Eggs Florentine with Smoky Mornay Sauce

Food and Wine - Contributed by Justin Chapple

• SERVINGS: 2

This version of eggs Florentine is based on eggs Benedict: The perfectly poached eggs rest on toasted English muffins on a bed of garlicky spinach and are then topped with a light cheese sauce spiked with smoked Spanish paprika.

1. 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2. 1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3. 3/4 cup milk
4. 2 ounces Gruyère cheese, shredded (about 3/4 cup)
5. 1/4 teaspoon sweet pimentón de la Vera (smoked Spanish paprika)
6. Kosher salt
7. Freshly ground pepper
8. 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
9. 1 medium shallot, minced
10. 1 garlic clove, minced
11. 10 ounces baby spinach
12. 4 large eggs
13. 2 English muffins, split and toasted
14. Snipped chives, for garnish

In a small saucepan, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter. Stir in the flour to make a paste. Gradually whisk in the milk until smooth and simmer, whisking, until the sauce thickens. Reduce the heat to low and cook, whisking, until no floury taste remains, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and whisk in the Gruyère and pimentón. Season the Mornay sauce with salt and pepper. Cover and keep warm.

In a large skillet, melt the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter in the olive oil. Add the shallot and garlic and cook over moderately high until softened, about 3 minutes. Add the spinach and cook over moderately high heat, tossing occasionally, until wilted, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Bring a large, deep skillet of water to a simmer. Crack the eggs into the skillet and simmer over moderately low heat until the whites are set and the yolks are runny, about 4 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the poached eggs to a plate; blot dry with paper towels.

Arrange 2 English muffin halves on each plate. Mound the spinach on the English muffins and top with the poached eggs. Spoon the Mornay sauce over the eggs and garnish with the chives. Serve right away.

Have a great day

Tailorbird, Firefighters, Elephant Piggy Back, Rain.

Another interesting fact I just learnt. While researching Avian Flu in 2009, scientists photographed a small bird at a construction site on the outskirts of Phnom Penh (Cambodia) that, upon recent study, was identified as an entirely new species, the Cambodian Tailorbird. To me that is fantastic that scientists are still discovering new species today when with all the research which takes place, I wouldn’t have thought there was much left to discover.

It’s bad enough that the poor families of the 19 firefighters killed recently are having to suffer the loss of their loved ones, but then you get idiots like this: A rep from the Westview Baptist church is saying that it is a sovereign God that caused the fires to turn and kill the firefighters. What a terrible thing to say. I have no idea which Baptist Church this was, but a friend in Arizona told me it was on her local news. My heart goes out to these families who’s worst fears must now have been realised.

A South African friend of mine posted the following scientific picture on Facebook. I am absolutely staggered.
There is a place we pass now and again where they have models of some dinosaurs and of an elephant, the difference is remarkable, but I have never seen this comparison before, gobsmacking. I hope they never clone this perisher, there wouldn’t be room for any of us.

I have to say, I am sick of rain although, as friends pointed out today, everywhere is gloriously green. Change from this time last year when we were virtually under drought conditions. I guess that’s something to do with all the clover I mentioned the other day. But, boy, would it be nice to see some sunshine for a change. I shouldn’t complain I suppose, at least we have no floods round here, but it does get depressing.

I love Chinese food, first fell in love with it as a youngster being taken to a restaurant in London, England, by friends of my parents. Matt used to cook up a mean Chinese meal but for some reason stopped doing so, pity. It seems I am not alone with the dieting bit lately, so I have decided to leave the nutrition information in, where available. This is part of Meatless Monday that people are starting to follow.

Moo Shu Vegetables

From EatingWell:  September/October 2008

This vegetarian version of the classic Chinese stir-fry, Moo Shu, uses already-shredded vegetables to cut down on the prep time. Serve with warm whole-wheat tortillas, Asian hot sauce and extra hoisin if desired.

4 servings, about 1 1/4 cups each

Ingredients

• 3 teaspoons toasted sesame oil, divided
• 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 12-ounce bag shredded mixed vegetables, such as “rainbow salad” or “broccoli slaw”
• 2 cups mung bean sprouts
• 1 bunch scallions, sliced, divided
• 1 tablespoon reduced-sodium soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons hoisin sauce, (see Shopping Tip)

Preparation

1. Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add eggs; cook, stirring gently, until set, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove to a plate.
2. Wipe out the pan and heat the remaining 2 teaspoons oil over medium heat. Add ginger and garlic and cook, stirring, until softened and fragrant, 1 minute. Add shredded vegetables, bean sprouts, half the sliced scallions, soy sauce and vinegar. Stir to combine. Cover and cook, stirring once or twice, until the vegetables are just tender, about 3 minutes. Add the reserved eggs and hoisin; cook, uncovered, stirring and breaking up the scrambled eggs, until heated through, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the remaining scallions and remove from the heat.

Nutrition

Per serving : 171 Calories; 9 g Fat; 2 g Sat; 4 g Mono; 212 mg Cholesterol; 14 g Carbohydrates; 11 g Protein; 4 g Fiber; 328 mg Sodium; 226 mg Potassium
1 Carbohydrate Serving
Exchanges: 2 vegetable, 1 medium-fat meat, 1 fat

Tips & Notes

• Shopping tip: Hoisin sauce is a dark brown, thick, spicy-sweet sauce made from soybeans and a complex mix of spices. Look for it in the Asian section of your supermarket and in Asian markets.

Have a great weekend

Trivia, Yolanda Renèe

Bit of trivia I picked up - Astronauts aboard the International Space Station witness 15 - 16 sunrises and sunsets each day as they orbit the Earth.  I thought that was quite interesting.

I agreed to do a reveal for Yolanda Renèe of DEFENDING THE PEN today and here are her upcoming books. I do wish her every success with the launching of these two books.


Murder, Madness and Love

August 5, 2013

Tagline:
After a gritty detective becomes involved with a beautiful widow suspected of murder, slander and obsession obstruct his quest for justice.

Synopsis:
A killer plays cat and mouse with a young widow against the snowy backdrop of an Alaskan winter. Branded a black widow after the suspicious death of her millionaire husband, Sarah Palmer flees Seattle for Anchorage. But the peace and quiet she hoped to enjoy in her hometown is soon shattered. The killer is murdering Sarah lookalikes on the 14th of each month, taunting Sarah with a valentine of evidence. After her experiences in Seattle, Sarah is slow to go to the police. When she finally does, she finds Detective Steven Quaid, who is called on to protect the beautiful widow from a stalker intent on her destruction. Steven is not entirely sure she is not behind the scheme herself, and before long Sarah has him wound up tighter than barbed wire. Is Sarah a victim or a very skilled manipulator? With a killer on the loose and a climbing body count, Steven can't afford to hedge his bets-or his life.


Memories of Murder

September 5, 2013

Tagline:
A man of pure evil, a dedicated detective, and a talented artist meet in a fight that defines good and evil, love and obsession, betrayal and forgiveness.

Synopsis:
After transferring to Seattle to repair his professional reputation, Detective Steven Quaid is unexpectedly demoted to the cold case squad. While helping a fellow officer he stumbles upon an unusual case–and an even more extraordinary foe. Unraveling the mystery gives him the case he is sure will right his stalled career, and brings him face to face with Luke Williams, aka Lucifer. An insidious man who delivers Quaid the ultimate choice: save his fiancée from an assassin’s bullet or stop the sacrifice of a young girl. Suddenly the effort to salvage his reputation pales in comparison to the loss of a future with the girl of his dreams.
I have been seeing a lot of recipes for flank steak lately, so yesterday we bought one and I hunted for some of these recipes. I used to cook flank steak years ago and had a tried and true recipe of my mother’s, unfortunately I lost it. It is a very tasty and relatively inexpensive cut of beef. This recipe, which I found on Epicurious, particularly appealed to me. Not this weekend as we are going to friend’s for dinner, but maybe next. However, I will keep looking.

Asian Style Flank Steak
Bon Appétit | November 2006


Yield: Makes 4 to 6 servings

ingredients

• 1/2 cup dry Sherry
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons ketchup
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 1/2 tablespoons minced peeled fresh ginger
• 1 tablespoon Asian sesame oil
• 1 (1 1/2- to 1 3/4-pound) flank steak

preparation

Whisk first 6 ingredients in 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish. Add steak; turn to coat. Let marinate at room temperature 2 hours, turning occasionally.
Preheat broiler. Transfer steak to broiler pan. Drain marinade from dish into medium saucepan; boil 3 minutes. Broil steak until cooked to desired doneness, about 4 minutes per side for medium-rare. Using tongs, transfer steaks to platter; let stand 5 minutes. Cut crosswise into thin slices and serve, passing cooked marinade as sauce.

Have a great day

The 4th, CPAP, Bowling, Dwarf Tossing, Naked Intruder.

To all my American friends, wherever you live, have a wonderful 4th of July. I miss being part of the celebrations, we used to have such fun when we lived in North Carolina.

I have been endeavouring to encourage Tina at Life is Good, she now has a CPAP machine but isn’t doing very well with it. Her mask is a nose only version, but it appears she is suffering from claustrophobia so I suggested she tries out what they call a nasal pillow. When I went for my last sleep over, there was a woman there with a nasal pillow which appeared to be made of foam, I didn’t get a proper look at it but she assured us that it was so very comfortable and she had never had any problems using it.  Poor Tina is subjected to dreams of drowning and other such problems and is sure not sleeping well. Mind you I guess if she is dreaming it means she is asleep. Myself I migrated to a nose and mouth mask which I have little or no trouble with at all and I can open my mouth or not with no problems. I also sleep well and am becoming less tired during the day.

Hey, I actually bowled pretty well yesterday, at long last I got some reasonable scores, I actually threw a few strikes so I was patting myself on the back. However, I have found that it isn’t any good as practice for dwarf tossing. If you follow Al Diaz’s blog Father Dragon Writes you will know what I am talking about. The champion dwarf tosser is apparently Jeff Hargett, known as Sir Jeff,  but I am challenging him during Father Dragon’s birthday celebrations in August. These are two I am borrowing from Narnia. You don’t have to be nuts, but it helps.

Weird, a man in Vancouver discovered a naked man in his kitchen frying up eggs. Seems he had already had a shower and was making himself a bite to eat!! The home owner apparently frightened the intruder and he ran off. The police apprehended him shortly after and say they think drugs were involved. Bit of a shock, surprises me the home owner didn’t hear him having a shower.

Usually I find it difficult to get pork tenderloin recipes, suddenly they are everywhere and we have none. We have to go to Costco any day now and do some re-stocking. Apart from anything else, they do great pork tenderloins.

Pork Tenderloin With Grilled Peach-Ginger Chutney

WebMD Recipe from EatingWell.com

Fruit on the grill is a wonderful pleasure - the natural sugars caramelize as the juices are seared inside. Combined in a ginger sauce, grilled peaches are a fantastic condiment for pork.


Ingredients
2 medium peaches
4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1-1 1/4 pounds pork tenderloin, trimmed of fat
1/4 teaspoon plus 1/8 teaspoon salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh ginger
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
2 tablespoons rice vinegar

Instructions

1. Preheat grill to high.
2. Peel peaches (see Tip). Cut in half and remove the pits. Brush the cut sides with 2 teaspoons oil.
3. Brush pork with the remaining 2 teaspoons oil; sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper. Grill the pork, turning occasionally, until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center registers 160°F, 14 to 18 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, place the peaches, cut-side down, on the grill rack. Grill, turning occasionally, until tender, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer the pork and peaches to a cutting board. Let the peaches cool slightly while the pork rests.
5. Whisk ginger, brown sugar, vinegar and the remaining 1/8 teaspoon salt in a medium bowl. Chop the peaches and add them to the ginger sauce; stir to combine. Slice the pork on the diagonal into 8 pieces. Serve topped with the peach chutney.

Tip: To peel peaches: Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil. Immerse peaches in boiling water for 1 minute. Remove with a slotted spoon and plunge into a bowl of ice water to cool slightly. Transfer to a cutting board. Remove the skins with a paring knife.

Have a great day