Foot nurse, Sniffing,

I have got to keep a better eye on my calendar. Yesterday, (Monday) being Thanksgiving I figured nothing much was happening and then shortly after I got up I was booting up my desktop and noticed there were more notes on the calendar for the day. Turns out our foot nurse was scheduled. Glad I saw it although she wasn't coming til 10:30 but it meant a quick lunch afterwards. Today, Tuesday, the tech guy is coming from my ISP. I do hope he can sort out what's the matter. Whilst writing this the wifi has disconnected twice. I have switched to my desktop which is hard wired.

We did not watch THE debate the other night, but I understand HE sniffed all the way through it again. If for no other reason I wouldn't vote because of that. I cannot stand people sniffing. Drives me totally gaga. Has he got a cold or is it a bad habit? Aren't you allowed to blow your nose during a debate? I hear this has been lampooned already.

A friend at the bowling alley asked me if I liked parsley. I said yes and she said she would bring me a bunch next week. However, I remember the bunch she brought last time and it is a lot of parsley so I wondered about parsley soup. There are lots which describe themselves as parsley soup but contain every vegetable under the sun. A lot have potato, but this one from an English blog called The Garden of Eaden, sounded about right. Although this is a gardening blog, I think I will keep an eye on it for more recipes.For those of you interested, it is a British gardening blog.

Parsley Soup

25 g (1 oz) unsalted butter

1 large onion
1 clove of garlic - not absolutely necessary but it does make a difference, plus it’s good for the heart!
3 celery sticks
150 g (6 oz) fresh parsley (don't be fooled by the weight - this is a lot of parsley)
4 tsp plain flour (for thickening)
900 ml (1 1/2 pints) vegetable or chicken stock
Salt and pepper
A heaped tablespoon of double cream

1. Finely chop the onion and garlic and then slice the celery. Chop the parsley roughly, discarding any long or thick stalks.

2. Gently melt the butter in a large saucepan and as soon as it starts to simmer add the onion, garlic, celery and parsley. Cook until the ingredients have softened, then stir in the flour.

3. Cook for a further minute or two - stirring the mix at all times - before adding the stock.

4. Simmer for 25 minutes, then allow to cool slightly before you purée the mixture with a blender.

5. Reheat, add salt and pepper as required, then add the cream before serving in a heated bowl with a sprig of parsley.

6. Taste test first, then decide whether you should tell anyone else you made it. I hope that you enjoy this recipe for Parsley soup as much as I do.

Servings: 6 or Just Me

Source: The Garden of Eaden

Have a great day
 

Happy Thanksgiving, Duck, Guest Posts. Wifi.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian readers. I almost want to go out and get a turkey now LOL.

We decided to buy a second duck as they are so very cheap at the moment. That one can sit in the freezer until, maybe, Christmas Eve. Or, I might even cook if for American Thanksgiving. I made a kind of invented sauce as I really didn't have all the ingredients of all the sauces I found on the net. I put Orange Juice, Orange marmalade, orange zest, giblet stock and port together, thickening it up with a little cornstarch. That worked very well and was delicious. Next day: it all turned out OK. I was a tad disappointed that the skin didn't crisp up properly but just as well as I would have eaten lots of it and duck skin is definitely NOT on my diet. This is not a picture of my efforts by the way. I followed the instructions on the bag in which the duck came, won't do that again, The meat was tender though and we enjoyed it. Another thing I won't do again, quarter the duck. That too was  recommended on the bag. Difficult to do and very messy. I have another recipe I was going to use but didn't. Of course we still had half a duck to eat for Sunday night.

I am very flattered, I have been asked to do some more guest posts for The Really Real Housewives of America.

By the way, I have been b**ching about my wifi connectivity. I was talking to somone the other day who said he had the same problem. They said it was his modem, his computer, his wiring, etc. etc. it finally turned out that some kids had thrown shoes over some wiring and by so doing broken the amplifier. They finally fixed it and he has no more problems. I passed this on to my ISP and they are sending a tech out to check.

Although today, Monday, is officially Thanksgiving, Matt and I will be bowling as usual. Not sure how many league members will turn up tomorrow. I checked that last week's birthday girl will be there as I have a photo for her. Don't think all our team will be there, but we will!!

Bon Appétit came up with this cocktail as an aid for Americans to get through the forthcoming election. The way it has all been going I think you probably needed it before. Actually I can think of a much stronger cocktail which Matt used to make with champagne. A couple of them and you won't give a hoot about the election.

The Swing State Cocktail

This is one of the strongest, yet tastiest, cocktails we’ve ever created using ingredients inspired by swing states—just in time to help get you through the election.

4 oz overproof bourbon, such as Old Grand Dad 114 Proof Bourbon, divided
2 oz sweet vermouth, such as Atsby Armadillo Cake, divided
1 oz fresh orange juice, divided
½ oz fresh lemon juice, divided
½ oz simple syrup, divided
6 dashes Peychaud’s bitters, divided
8 oz lager, such as Yuengling
Small orange wedges (for garnish)
American flags and patriotic straws (for serving; optional)

1. Fill a gallon-sized, resealable plastic bag with about 4 cups ice cubes. Using a rolling pin, crack (don’t crush) ice. You can also do this by wrapping a clean kitchen towel around the cubes and smacking them, but be prepared for ice shards to escape out the sides.

2. Fill 2 pint glasses with cracked ice. Combine 2 oz. bourbon, 1 oz. vermouth, ½ oz. orange juice, ¼ oz. lemon juice, ¼ oz. simple syrup, and 3 dashes bitters in a cocktail shaker. Fill shaker with cracked ice, cover, and shake vigorously until outside of shaker is very cold, about 20 seconds. Pour into prepared glass. Repeat with remaining 2 oz. bourbon, 1 oz. vermouth, ½ oz. orange juice, ¼ oz. lemon juice, ¼ oz. simple syrup, and 3 dashes bitters. Top with lager and more ice. Garnish with orange wedges; serve with American flags and patriotic straws, if desired.

Servings: 2

Source: Bon Appétit

Have a great day
 

Saturday Recipe

I do enjoy salmon and this recipe really appealed to me.

Broiled Salmon with Peppercorn-Lime Rub

Spice up fish night by giving salmon a delectable 4-ingredient rub before cooking. A quick quinoa-

vegetable salad rounds out the meal.

• 4 servings (serving size: 1 fillet)

Ingredients

• 4 (6-ounce) salmon fillets (about 3/4 inch thick)
• Cooking spray
• 2 teaspoons grated lime rind
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

• 1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• Lime wedges (optional)

Preparation

1. Preheat broiler.
2. Place fish, skin sides down, on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray. Combine remaining ingredients except lime wedges; sprinkle over fish. Broil 7 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork or until desired degree of doneness. Serve with lime wedges, if desired.
Quinoa-vegetable salad: Combine 1 1/4 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth and 3/4 cup uncooked quinoa in a medium saucepan; bring mixture to a boil. Cover and simmer 12 minutes or until liquid is almost absorbed. Stir in 1 1/2 cups chopped zucchini and 1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper. Cover and cook 5 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat. Stir in 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives, 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper.

Have a great weekend
 

Wifi, Squash Pie Anyone, Roast Taties,

Wednesday morning  the tech guy comes to change my modem. When he leaves I have wifi. In the afternoon I don't have wifi. Call my ISP and they make me do some password changes so I end up with wifi. Hour or two later I pick up my laptop and I don't have wifi. Get in touch, online, with my ISP and they take over my laptop which I have now hard wired into the modem. I have to use the hard wire from my desktop so I had no internet access at all last night. The tech who was working on my laptop left a note saying I seemed to have a problem with my modem and should change it!!!!!! Er????

Well here's a shocker, coming up to Thanksgiving (here in Canada this weekend) celebrations and here is an article in Food and Wine saying that canned pumpkin is NOT pumpkin. It is, in fact, a blend of winter squashes because real pumpkin tends to be too stringy. It is, according to the article, perfectly legal to call this mixture pumpkin?? I used, always, to use a pumpkin for my soups, but then I was in a hurry one time and bought a can of pumpkin, as I thought, and decided it worked very well so as we found pumpkins so very hard to cut into these days, I carried on with the canned variety. So I guess I have been making squash soup and many of you have been making squash pies. Staggers me that these people are allowed to put 100% pumpkin on the cans when it isn't pumpkin at all.

It seems odd to me that with the influx of English into North America, I have never come across

anywhere or anyone who can make English style roast potatoes which are crispy on the outside and soft in the middle. I have a friend who, when we make them for her, will not stop eating them she loves them so much. We use yellow potatoes which we peel, cut into smaller pieces and parboil in salted water until they are just beginning to soften on the outside. Drain them and allow them to cool. We then use a fork and score the potatoes to make them extra crispy then they are put into hot oil (vegetable oil for preference) and roasted in a hot oven (arouud 400°F)  for at least an hour, turning once to ensure the whole potato is crisped. Serve as soon as possible once removed from the oven. Great with any roast meats. I bought a duck this week, they were on special at $14 odd, and will be roasting it on Saturday with all the trimmings. Actually we won't be making roast potatoes because I don't eat potato much and Matt enjoys a baked potato with lashings of butter. I asked him what he wanted and that was his choice. Guess who normally makes the roast potatoes? Just as well really, as I would have eaten some. I can't resist them totally.

Don't often think of buying tilapia, but it is a good fish and I believe not as expensive as some fish. This recipe sounded good and I keep Tapenade anyway. Oh, and by the way, tapenade is nowhere near the jarred olives in my store, it is in the deli department.

Tilapia With Tomato-Olive Sauce

Top tilapia fillets with a savory tomato-olive sauce that comes together in just 5 minutes. Look for

tapenade near jarred olives in the supermarket. Serve with sautéed broccolini and farro tossed with toasted almonds.

1 1/4 lbs tilapia
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
2 Tbs extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 pint grape or cherry tomatoes, halved if large
1/4 cup dry white wine
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 Tbs olive tapenade

1. Sprinkle tilapia with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the fish and cook (in two batches if necessary), turning once halfway through, until golden brown and just opaque in the center, 4 to 6 minutes total. Transfer the fish to a serving platter; tent with foil to keep warm.

2. Off the heat, add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil, tomatoes, wine and garlic to the pan. Return to medium heat, cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until most of tomatoes are broken down, 4 to 5 minutes. Stir in olive tapenade and cook for 1 minute more. Serve the fish with the sauce.

Servings: 4

Author: EatingWell.com
Source: WebMD

Have a great day
 

This 'n That,

Life is not being kind to me lately. Today I have a raging sore throat. I hope that doesn't presage a cold, I haven't had a cold in many a long year, nor has Matt.

Talking of Matt, I do hope he (Matthew) doesn't visit the east coast. Nasty things and I have seen reports of evacuations which is a good idea if you live on the coast.

Today I dragged myself out of bed early, once again, and went shopping with my hubby. I found ducks on sale for about $14. Couldn't believe it, they are normally horrendously expensive here. I snapped one up and plan to cook it on Saturday for our Thanksgiving celebration.

Tech guy called this morning to change my modem because I have been having problems with my wifi. Guess what, nothing's changed. Damned thing keeps dropping and coming back and dropping again. Doesn't stay long enough to use my laptop for blogging or much of anything else at the moment. Once I have written this, I plan to phone them once again.

I spent part of this morning making tomato soup. Not the kind I posted the other day, to me that is a vegetable soup. Mine has onions, garlic and tomatoes in it and that's it. It's good stuff too.

This recipe looked very easy to do and if it ends up anything like paella, it should be good. It came from the New York Times.

Chicken With Rice, The Easy Way

You can easily vary this dish by using any stock instead of water; by substituting another grain, like pearled barley, for the rice; by sautéing or roasting the chicken separately and combining it with the rice at the last minute; by adding sausage or shellfish, like shrimp, along with the chicken, or, most excitingly, by adding strips of red pepper, pitted olives, capers, chopped tomatoes or shelled peas to

the initial onion mix.

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 medium onions, about 8 ounces, peeled and sliced
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 chicken, cut up into serving pieces
• 1 ½ cups white rice
• Pinch saffron, optional
• Freshly minced parsley or cilantro for garnish
• Lemon or lime wedges

Preparation

1. Set 3 cups of water to boil. Place olive oil in a large skillet that can be covered, and turn heat to medium-high. Add onions and a sprinkling of salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions soften and become translucent, 5 to 10 minutes. Remove skin from chicken.
2. Add rice to onions; stir until each grain glistens; sprinkle with saffron, and stir. Nestle chicken in rice, add a little more salt and pepper and pour in the boiling water. Turn heat to medium-low, and cover.
3. Cook 20 minutes, until all water is absorbed and chicken is cooked through. (You can keep this warm over a very low flame for another 15 minutes; it will retain its heat for 15 minutes beyond that.) Garnish and serve with lemon or lime.

Have a great day
 

Hurricane Matthew, Cooking, Thanksgiving and Oktoberfest, Wifi

Seems like Matthew is wreaking havoc in the Caribbean - heading for Cuba at the moment. The trouble with the islands, they don't really have anywhere to run to which makes them even more frightening. At least on the mainland you can head inland and hopefully avoid it altogether - OK your home might get damaged, but so long as everyone is alive, homes can be rebuilt. We were so lucky when we lived in North Carolina, a lot of hurricanes came our way and even though we weren't there, when we returned we still had a home to return to. A friend who had a house right on the Sound got flooded several times over the year not to mention the ruin of her carefully tended garden. She told me to come clean up my mess one time after Hurricane Josephine, now doubt she would want my husband to do the same LOL The picture shows the storm as of the morning, Tuesday.

Tuesday morning I decided to make the recipe I posted on Monday for Spiced Beef in Red Wine only problem was, it turned out to be a warm afternoon and really rather too hot for a beef stew. However, we ate it anyway and it was delicious. I also have 3 more meals in the freezer for when it is a bit cooler. It really is sweatsville this afternoon/evening. Talking to our new neighbours and they asked what the delicious smell was. Asked a friend if she would like to come over for Thanksgiving this weekend but her son should be returning from his Greek trip so she declined. Being Thanksgiving round here, also means Oktoberfest which will start on Friday with the tapping of the keg. We have never been involved in this although it is supposed to be one of the biggest outside Germany. OK for younger people, guess we are a tad past it these days. I'll stay home and drink my bubbly LOL.

I am expecting a call from our ISP technician this morning. I am having terrific trouble with my wifi. The PC works fine on cable, but the laptop is wifi and the connection drops and comes back all day long. It drives me bonkers. It may require swapping out my modem I gather.

This looks like a delicious soup and should appeal to my vegan friends too.

Cream of Cashew Pea Soup

Cashews lend body, creaminess, and richness to this pea soup and also make it vegan; sub almonds if

you prefer.

¼ cup olive oil
2 large onions, finely chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper
2 cups raw cashews
2 Tbs raw or light brown sugar
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
2 lbs frozen sugar snap or green peas, thawed
1 Tbs malt vinegar
Thinly sliced scallions and crushed potato chips (for serving

1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-low. Add onions, celery, and garlic and cook, stirring often and adding a splash or so of water if the bottom of pan gets too brown, until golden brown, 30–40 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add cashews, sugar, red pepper flakes, and 3 cups water and bring mixture to a simmer. Cook until vegetables are very soft and losing their structure, 10–15 minutes.

2. Blend one-third of sugar snap peas with one-third of vegetable mixture in a blender, adding some cooking liquid from vegetable mixture as needed to thin, until very smooth, about 2 minutes. Press purée through a fine-mesh sieve into a medium saucepan; discard solids. Working in 2 batches, repeat with remaining peas and vegetable mixture, adding water as needed if you run out of cooking liquid. If soup is still very thick, thin with water until you get a velvety, pourable consistency. (You should have about 7 cups soup.)

3. Stir vinegar into soup; season with more salt and pepper and warm over medium-low until heated through.

4. Serve soup topped with scallions and potato chips.

5. Do Ahead: Soup can be made 2 days ahead. Let cool; cover and chill. Reheat over medium-low, thinning with water as needed until pourable.

Servings: 6

Author: Brooks Headley
Source: Bon Appétit


Have a great day
 

90th Birthday, Bowling, Cramp.

We got to the bowling alley early on Monday so I could get the card signed before the birthday girl arrived. I even managed to catch all her team. Then the cake was supposed to arrive between 1:30 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. No sign of the caterer. Around 2:15 ish she called and said she would be another 15 minutes. By this  time I am tearing my hair out. Not only that, some teams, short of players today, had already finished their games and were waiting to go home. She finally arrived at 2:50. I wasn't too happy nor was the woman who was paying for the cake. (Turns out that, unbeknownst to us, she is a palliative caregiver and this morning she lost a patient). Anyway, although one or two people left, the majority of us were still there and our birthday surprise worked well if a bit late. The cake was delicious as usual and most everyone got some although there were a few who had gone home. I was given a chunk to go home with too so that is in the freezer now. It was a carrot cake, my favourite.

By our third game I was so agitated about the non arrival of the cake that I was bowling appallingly, however, we still managed to win all the points from the opposing team. We need them, we are 7th of 8. Maybe we will get up to 6th.

Oh, you remember the story of my cholesterol pills? Well I have now been taking them for a week and guess what, my legs have been cramping all over the place. I don't know if it's worth putting up with this. So painful. So miserable too. Not just at night, but during the day as well. Been lousy this evening, I guess bowling and/or exercise classes don't help.

With Hallowe'en on the horizon, I thought some of you might be interested in this recipe. It really is rather cute. In case you would like to see the original pictures and steps the recipe was shared by GoodtoKnow.

Frankenstein Cupcakes

Frankenstein cupcakes are easy to make but make fun Halloween cupcakes with their grumpy face and ghoulishly green skin. You don't need any fancy equipment to make them, but with our simple
step-by-step recipe from cupcake queen Victoria Threader, they'll look impressive enough for your

Halloween party!
Ingredients

1 x batch basic cupcakes (in black cases)
½ a batch buttercream
180g green fondant
50g black fondant
20g white fondant
10g modelling paste
Cornflour, to dust
Silver food colour paint pen

1. Bake your cupcakes and leave to cool. Using the palette knife, spread the butter cream onto the tops of the cupcakes. Be sure not to spread it too close to the paper or it will make a mess when you put the fondant on the top
2. Roll your green fondant out to 4mm thick and cut 12 x 68 mm circles.
3. Lay the green circles of fondant over the top of the butter cream and smooth the edges with the tips of your fingers
4. Using the same circle cutter, roll the remainder of the green fondant out and cut a shape for the chins.
5. Place these at the bottom of the cupcakes to make the chin. You can add a dimple if you like.
6. To cut the teeth, roll the white fondant out to 2mm thick and cut tiny squares with your sharp knife.
7. Using the water brush, add a dot of water where you would like the teeth to go.
8. For the hair, roll the black fondant out to 2 mm thick and cut a long strip, cutting triangle shapes from one side to make the fringe.
9. Stick this to the top of the head using the water brush.
10. For the eyes, use the 13mm and 5mm cutters, cutting the large circle in white first and then a small black circle for the centre. Stick the black dots to the white and then trim the tops off the eyes to make way for the eyelids. If anything seems to be sticking, give everything a light dust with cornstarch.
11. To make the eyelids, cut 13 mm green circles and cut them in half sticking them to the tops of the eyes, when you add them to the cupcakes.
12. To make the bolts, add a tiny dot of black fondant to the modelling paste and knead together to make grey modelling paste. Using the alphabet cutter, cut the capital letter ‘t’ out for the bolts and leave them to dry for a few minutes. Once dry to touch, give them a little brush with the silver food colour pen and leave them to dry again. Once dry, they will be strong enough to push into the sides of the head. Placing them on a sponge will speed up the drying process.
13. Push the bolts into the sides, add a touch of petal dust to the cheeks with a soft brush if liked - and your cupcakes are now ready to serve!

Source: GoodtoKnow

Have a great day
 

Stromatolites. 90th Birthday, Kir Royale,

I first heard about stromatolites from Glenda Larke who is an author and friend now back living in her native country, Australia. I have always had trouble remembering the name and figured if I blogged about them I might remember. They are something like 3 billion years old and are the origin of oxygen, without which we humans would never have developed. They are still forming in places like Shark Bay in Western Australia. Their formation is quite complicated to explain so if you want to know about it, click on the link. There are other places in the world where stromatolites have formed and still exist today, but nowadays they are few and far between. It is incredible to think that if these stromatolites hadn't been pushing CO2 into the air for all that time, we wouldn't be around. What brought them to my current attention was watching Coast Australia which is a British programme shown regularly on TVO (Canadian TV). Tonight they were visiting Western Australia the home of Shark Bay and it's stromatolites. I have remembered what they are for years, but their name would not stick in my head, maybe this time it will.

Today we celebrate the 90th birthday of one of our bowling friends. She is an incredible woman and extremely active. She is always off somewhere for a visit and she bowls twice a week during the winter season. She has kids in Michigan so often goes there visiting plus going on all kinds of bus trips and to theatrical performances. We have ordered a cake and hope it can be slipped into the alley without her noticing it's arrival. Turns out we had a bit of a screw up on the time of bowling. Partly my fault, never thought to tell the caterer what time our bowling was and she didn't think to ask me. It is being made by the same woman who catered Matt's 80th a couple of years ago. I sent her the only photo I had of our friend but it wasn't good enough, sadly.

As many of you know, I usually drink a couple of glasses of bubbly on Sunday morning before lunch. However, yesterday I suddenly thought of Kir Royale and decided to make a champagne cocktail. All you do is add Cassis liqueur to the sparkling wine. Cassis is made from blackcurrents. It is one of those liqueurs made by monks in France (or it was). The label says it is produced by L'Abbé Françoise but whether that is still a true abbey any more, I don't know. Just googled. It would appear that that is just a label. The original Cassis was/is produced in Burgundy, France and these days is marketed as Crème de Cassis de Bourgogne. Nobody else is allowed to use that derivation. Same as champagne. It is not allowed to be marketed as champagne unless it is produced in Champagne, France. Well, wherever it is produced, and my label says it is definitely produced in France, it makes a damned good cocktail.

This should be an absolutely delicious dish by the look of the ingredients in particular. Nigella Lawson, a British chef, really knows her stuff. This is very similar to a recipe I have made for years. I will certainly be trying this version.

Spiced Beef in Red Wine

There is nothing to stop you from serving spiced beef in red wine at a dinner party, but proper cooking should not be undertaken only for company. I make a batch of the beef and, when it is cool, bag it up in single portions and put it in the freezer. It makes a great warming supper for nights when

you are lazing on a sofa watching television. Just because it's Wednesday, you need not have to resort to a bagel or grilled cheese for dinner.

2 slices bacon, roughly chopped
2 large onions, roughly chopped
2 large leeks, white and light-green parts only, roughly chopped
3 medium carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
½ cup fresh parsley
1/3 cup flour
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 ½ lbs chuck steak in 2-inch cubes
2 Tbs vegetable oil, or more as needed
pinch ground cloves
1 ½ cups red wine
2 cups beef stock or canned beef broth
2 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
3 star anise
1 Tbs light brown sugar

1. Working in batches in a food processor, process bacon, onions, leeks, carrots and parsley until finely chopped. Transfer mixture to a large bowl, and set aside. Place flour in a freezer bag or other plastic bag. Season with salt and pepper. Add steak cubes, seal bag, and shake until cubes are well coated.

2. Place a flameproof casserole dish over medium heat, and add 2 tablespoons oil. When hot, add beef in batches, turning until well seared on all sides. As beef is browned, transfer to a plate, and set aside.

3. If casserole dish is dry, add 1 tablespoon oil. Place over medium heat, and add bacon and vegetable mixture and ground cloves. Sauté until softened, about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, combine wine, beef stock, Worcestershire sauce, star anise and brown sugar. Place over medium-high heat, and bring to a boil. When vegetables have softened, pour liquid over vegetables.

4. Return beef to pan, and stir well. Bring to a boil, partly cover, and reduce heat to low. Simmer gently until beef is tender, about 2 hours. Serve hot. If desired, stew may be cooked and then covered and refrigerated for up to 2 days or frozen for a month.

Servings: 6

Author: Nigella Lawson
Source: The New York Times





Have a great day
 

Saturday Recipe

So today is the beginning of October. Hardly seems possible that the year has sped by so fast. I have recently discovered a blog Jo Cooks, not me another Jo, and this is one of her recipes. Any combination of lemon and chicken certainly works well.This is actually very similar to a recipe we cook all the time.

Creamy Lemon Chicken Piccata Fettuccine

Creamy Lemon Chicken Piccata Fettuccine - this is for the lemon lovers out there. Crispy chicken with fettuccine in a creamy lemony sauce with capers and garlic.

8 oz uncooked fettuccine
1 ½ lb chicken breasts, skinless and boneless (about 3 or 4)
salt and pepper to taste
½ cup all-purpose flour
4 Tbs unsalted butter
1 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs all-purpose flour
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup chicken broth, low sodium
1 Tbs fresh thyme, chopped
1 Tbs brined capers
juice from 1 lemon, about 3 tbsp
1 cup heavy cream
1 Tbs fresh parsley, chopped

1. Cook the fettuccine according to package instructions until it's al dente.

2. Preheat oven to 350° F

3. Add the ½ cup of flour to a shallow plate. Season chicken with salt and pepper, then dredge through the flour.

4. In an oven safe skillet melt the butter over medium heat. add the chicken and cook on both sides until golden brown, about 3 or 4 minutes per side. Do not worry if the chicken is not cooked through. Remove the chicken from the skillet and set aside.

5. Discard the leftover butter in the skillet and add the olive oil. Whisk in the flour until a paste forms. Stir in the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Whisk in the chicken broth, you will notice it start to thicken immediately.

6. Add the thyme, capers, lemon juice and stir. Stir in the heavy cream and season with salt and pepper if needed. Add the chicken back to the skillet and place in the oven and cook for about 30 minutes until chicken is cooked through.

7. Toss the pasta together with sauce, you can remove the chicken to make it easier to toss the pasta with the sauce, then garnish with parsley and if preferred some Parmesan cheese.

Servings: 4

Author: Joanna Cismaru
Source: Jo Cooks

Have a great weekend.

Travel League, Thanksgiving,

Tonight (Thursday) I'm too tired to write much at all. Bowling really took it out of me today. Went to lunch at the Red Lobster which was enjoyable. Saw friends we hadn't seen since the end of the Winter season last April. Then on to the bowling alley. The bowling seemed to go on and on and on and by the end of it I was totally whacked. We didn't get out of the alley until about 4. It was quite funny, I was using my cane to get up to the alley then propping it up while I hobbled around throwing balls then picking it up again. The women on my team started bringing me my cane when I had finished each time. Nice of them but it became a joke too and if the woman who followed me forgot I pretended to be teed off and complained about the poor service. That part was fun. My bowling was, of course, lousy. I am still not able to bowl properly of course. Things are better but I am not back to normal by any means.

Got home and it was almost time to fix supper. I had done a few preparations in the morning and also make a whole batch of tomato sauce for the freezer. After supper whilst waiting for Jeopardy I tried to have a zizz but was too keyed up to do so. Ah well.

Last day of September, unbelievable really, the year seems to have been shooting by. Another week and it is Thanksgiving in Canada.

Here's a quick soup with some interesting sounding dumplings. A more complicated tomato soup than the one I usually make, but it sounds good.

Tomato Soup with Parmesan Dumplings

 Looking for the perfect quick and easy tomato soup recipe? Here it is, a delicious tomato soup that

can be made in under 30 minutes, but, don't let the speed fool you. This quick bowl of comfort not only offers up depth of flavor, but also is elegantly topped with Parmesan dumplings to make it a perfect entertaining first course.

Ingredients

Tomato Soup

2 tbsp butter
1 large white onion, chopped
1 tbsp shallots, chopped
1 large garlic clove, minced
2 small carrots, peeled and chopped
2 small celery stalks, chopped
1 small red bell pepper, chopped
3 sun-dried tomatoes, not oil-packed, coarsely chopped
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp fresh lime juice
½ tsp sugar
½ tsp kosher salt
¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
Dash cayenne pepper
3 cups chicken broth
1 (28oz) can diced tomatoes, undrained

Parmesan Dumplings

1/3 cup flour
2 tbsp freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 tsp chopped fresh basil
¼ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp kosher salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 tsp vegetable oil

Thinly sliced fresh basil, for garnish

Directions

1) For the soup, in a large saucepan, heat butter over medium heat. Add onion, shallot and garlic, cooking 4-5 minutes until tender. Add carrots, celery, red pepper, sun-dried tomatoes, tomato paste, lime juice, sugar, salt, pepper and cayenne. Cook, stirring occasionally, 4-5 minutes to soften vegetables. Add chicken broth and diced tomatoes. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to low and simmer 20 minutes. Remove from heat and either puree directly in soup pot using a handheld blender or place half of the tomato soup mixture in a countertop blender. Cover and blend until smooth. Transfer to a large bowl and repeat with remaining tomato soup. Return all of the soup to the saucepan. Reheat when ready to serve.

2) For the Parmesan dumplings, combine flour, Parmesan, basil, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. In a small bowl, lightly whisk together the egg and vegetable oil. Stir egg mixture into flour mixture with a wooden spoon until combined. Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Using ½ tsp measuring spoon, drop slightly rounded dough into boiling water. Cook 4 minutes and remove with a slotted spoon. Rinse with cold water and drain well. Serve with soup. Garnish soup with sliced basil
Yield: 25 dumplings

Serves 6

Have a great day
 

Kitchen Tool, Travel League

Well, well, well, a couple of years ago I bought a mango splitter from Avon but for some reason I haven't bought any mangoes since. I really didn't believe it was going to work. However, Tuesday I bought a couple of golden mangoes and Wednesday afternoon I decided to try it. Damn me it works like a charm. Split the mango beautifully not leaving too much on the seed at all. Mind you there's not a heck of a lot of flesh on a golden mango anyway.

Today we have our Travel League bowling which, being the first of the season takes place at Towne Bowl where we bowl normally. We will be lunching with many of the bowlers at The Red Lobster. Hopefully I will be able to bowl but I don't want to hold anyone up so we will see. I did go to exercise class on Wednesday and remained sitting for the whole class. However, I managed to achieve a surprising amount.

This looked and sounded scrumptious. In the original recipe it calls for agave nectar as a sweetener however, as I wasn't familiar with the ingredient I looked it up and from what I read, it isn't a very healthy sweetener as it's preparation entails boiling it which removes all the potential health benefits. I therefore have substituted fresh natural honey instead. You can, of course, make your own decisions.

Sticky Toffee Whole-Wheat Date Cake

This cake is a showstopper that a baker with rudimentary skills could pull off. The topping is a toffee glaze made with brown sugar, agave, butter and sea salt; you pour half of it over the cake while still

hot so that it saturates the cake, giving it a puddinglike consistency, then wait before using the rest as a high-gloss frosting you sprinkle with sea salt. Seemingly complicated, but surprisingly simple.

FOR THE CAKE:
14 Tbs unsalted butter (1 3/4 sticks), at room temperature, more for the pan
8 ounces pitted dates, chopped
1 Tbs fresh lemon juice
½ cupdried currants
1 cup whole-wheat flour
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground cardamom
¼ tsp ground ginger
¾ tsp fine sea salt
¾ cups packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
½ tsp vanilla extract
FOR THE STICKY TOFFEE:
½ cup fresh honey
½ cup packed light brown sugar
¼ tsp fine sea salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Fleur de sel

1. In a small pot, combine dates, lemon juice and 3/4 cup water. Bring mixture to a boil, then simmer gently until dates soften and start to fall apart, about 6 minutes. Add currants to the pot and set aside to cool completely.

2. While date mixture cools, stir together whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger and salt.

3. Using an electric mixer, beat butter and brown sugar together on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Mix in vanilla and cooled date mixture, followed by flour mixture.

4. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, spreading evenly and smoothing the surface. Bake for 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean with just a few crumbs clinging to it.

5. Meanwhile, make the sticky toffee: In a small pot (you can use the same one you used for the dates), combine honey, brown sugar and salt. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, whisking to dissolve sugar. Once sugar dissolves and bubbles, remove from heat and swirl in butter.

6. When the cake comes out of the oven, spoon half the sticky toffee over it and let cool in the pan on a wire rack. (It will soak into the cake.)

7. When the cake has cooled completely and the remaining sticky toffee has thickened, spread it over the cake with an offset spatula. Sprinkle with fleur de sel and serve. Store, loosely wrapped, at room temperature for up to 2 days.

Servings: 9

Author: Jim Wilson
Source: The New York Times

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Balcony Construction, Debate, Colonising Mars.

Hurrah, we lost the beeping crane today. It has moved round the front of  the building so for a few months we will have some peace and quiet. There is still one crane, but it doesn't make that dreadful noise. (Just discovered they are not cranes, they are boom lifts) Of course, when they finally get round to doing our balconies, sometime next year? we will have to put up with it again. For the first time since we came here 16 years ago, I regret that we don't have blind instead of sheers. We will be having guys working on our balcony who will be able to see into our apartment. Oh well, we will just have to be careful, or I will I guess. Don't want to frighten them right off the balcony.

Talking of our apartment, we had a rent increase yesterday, effective January 1. I immediately

emailed the office about the really threadbare carpet in one of the bedrooms. I submitted a request to get it replaced about a month ago or a bit more, and had no response. Couldn't do much before as we had a treadmill in there as well as a bed so would have been difficult moving stuff out of the way. We keep speculating on just how much this construction work is going to cost the owner in the end. I'm glad I don't have to foot the bill although I guess we are helping, indirectly.

I see Donald Trump is complaining about his microphone after the debate and wondering if it was screwed up deliberately. Trusting guy Mr. Trump. Hilary looks relieved though.

I also heard today that Elon Musk is scheduling to begin the colonisation of Mars in 2024. Incredible man. He just might do it. Not only that, I might still be around to see it happen.

It is coming in to soup weather. In fact round here I found it pretty chilly the last couple of days. So here is a nice warming dish.

Black Bean Soup

This is a zippy Southwestern-flavored black bean soup. We make it with canned beans so it comes

together in minutes. If you have leftovers, pack them up in individual serving containers for lunch the next day.

1 Tbs canola oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 Tbs chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
2 15-ounce cans black beans, rinsed
3 cups water
1/2 cup prepared salsa
1/4 tsp salt
1 Tbs lime juice
4 Tbs reduced-fat sour cream, optional
2 Tbs chopped fresh cilantro, optional

1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring, until beginning to soften, 2 to 3 minutes. Add chili powder and cumin and cook, stirring, 1 minute more. Add beans, water, salsa and salt. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in lime juice.

2. Transfer half the soup to a blender and puree (use caution when pureeing hot liquids). Stir the puree back into the saucepan. Serve garnished with sour cream and cilantro, if desired.

Servings: 4

Source: WebMD Recipe from EatingWell.com

Have a great day

$9 million picture, Debate, RIP Arnie, Bursitis,

This is quite a picture, but the photographer is selling the negative for $9 million. Hunh? A Rainbow over Mount Vesuvius for that incredible price? I wonder if anyone will buy it?

I also wonder how many of you watched the debate last night. I certainly didn't. Not much into politics at the best of times and certainly not American politics. I hope she slaughtered him.

Sad to hear about Arnie Palmer on Monday too. A much beloved golfer. They credit him with bringing the average Joe to golf. Prior to that it was considered a somewhat elitist game.

Forgot to mention, still hobbling around although I did bowl all three games on Monday afternoon. Pretty painful though. However, not painful enough to stop me I guess. I now have my anti-inflammatory cream so will use it and see what happens. Fingers crossed please. I am so tired of this pain and not being able to just get up and cross the room without my stupid cane. Plus I keep forgetting when climbing/descending steps or stairs it is 'up with the good and down with the bad' and it hurts less if you do it that way.

Chicken stuffed with brie, what could be better?

Almond-Crusted Apricot-and-Brie-Stuffed Chicken

Brie creates a luxurious, creamy filling for these stuffed chicken breasts—and it keeps the chicken

moist and requires no sauce. Leaving the wing bone on makes the dish look restaurant-worthy but is not necessary.

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts with wing bone attached
2 oz (60 g) brie cheese, sliced with rind removed
4 dried apricots, finely chopped
½ cup (125 mL) sliced almonds, divided
1 tsp (5 mL) minced rosemary
1 tsp (5 mL) each coarse salt and freshly cracked pepper
½ cup (125 mL) fresh bread crumbs
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 Tbs (15 mL) butter
1 Tbs (15 mL) olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C).

2. With a knife held horizontally and starting at the thinner side, cut each chicken breast in half, but not all the way through, and open like a book.

3. Arrange brie over chicken, leaving a ½-inch (1 cm) border uncovered. Sprinkle with apricots, ¼ cup (60 mL) of almonds, rosemary, salt and pepper; close chicken, pressing around edges to seal.

4. Combine bread crumbs and remaining almonds in a shallow dish. Dip chicken in egg, then dredge in crumb mixture, pressing gently to coat completely.

5. Melt butter and oil in a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Cook chicken until golden, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer to oven; bake until cooked through, 15 to 20 minutes.

Servings: 4

Source: Food and Drink (LCBO)

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Recipe Try Out. Pelee Island. Books,

I posted a recipe on Friday for pork chops with couscous. I decided to try it out but without the couscous, I wasn't in the mood for it. However, I made it with the tomato, onion and caper sauce and because I ended up with too much liquid, I added some cornstarch to thicken it. It was delicious. We really enjoyed it. One of these days I will try it with couscous, but these days I don't eat a lot of starchy, high carb things so I have to plan when to eat them.I did cook up a few snow peas to go with it and Matt had a baked potato. It ended up looking somewhat like this picture. bright spark that I am I for got to take a photo of course. We drank a Pelee Island Baco Noir with it. Good. Pelee Island wines are made in Ontario although the winery itself is on Pelee Island. Went there a few years ago. Pelee Island is the southernmost tip of Ontario and was named because it is totally flat and looks like it's been peeled which is what Pelee means.We spent a weekend there and enjoyed ourselves although it only takes half an hour to get right round the island.

Also finished reading a book by Juliet Marillier, Dreamer's Pool. Excellent story and I have ordered the next one from the library. Juliet Marillier takes Irish legends and makes a different story of them. They always work and are always worth reading. This series is known as the Blackthorn and Grim series. Recommend them. Then, wondering what to read next, I received a very first draft of a story by Elizabeth Seckman. She wanted to know what I thought. What I thought was it would be a great book. I really enjoyed reading it. I do enjoy Liz's books and this is no exception. Her latest book Swept Away was a great story and this new one bodes fair to being another one.

I love Cornish Hens although I have rarely ever cooked them. I found this recipe which I didn't know I had in my cookbook programme and thought it sounded pretty good. Maybe I should pick some up this week.

Herb-Roasted Cornish Hens with Root Vegetables

2 1- to 1-1/2- pounds Cornish game hens

4 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 2-inch lengths
4 medium parsnips, peeled and cut into 2-inch lengths
2 small turnips, peeled and cut into wedges
1 medium onion, cut into wedges
3 Tbs olive oil or cooking oil
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tsp dried rosemary, crushed
2 tsp dried oregano, crushed
1/2 tsp salt

1. Skewer neck skin of hens to back; tie legs to tail. Twist wings under back. Place hens, breast up, on a rack in a large shallow roasting pan. Place carrots, parsnips, turnips, and onions around hens in pan. Combine oil, garlic, rosemary, oregano, and salt; brush onto hens and vegetables.

2. Roast, uncovered, in a 375°F oven for 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 hours or until hens are no longer pink and the drumsticks move easily in their sockets.(Internal temperature should be 180°F with an instant-read thermometer.) During roasting, turn vegetables occasionally. Transfer hens from roasting pan to serving platter. Cover and keep warm. Remove rack from roasting pan. Stir vegetables. Increase oven temperature to 450°F. Continue roasting vegetables for 15 to 20 minutes more or until tender and browned.

3. To serve, using a slotted spoon, spoon vegetables around hens on platter. Makes 4 servings.

Servings: 4

Source: Better Homes and Gardens®.

Have a great day
 

Hip, Saturday Recipe

Just to keep you up to date, I went for my shot on Friday morning. Dr. Martin tried moving my leg around to stress the joint, there was no pain, so it is definitely the bursa that is inflamed. He explained to me that the bursa was quite large (I had Googled about it but didn't realise the size). The pain channel goes right down the side of my thigh. No wonder I have been in such pain, far worse than last time. Still a tad early to see how it is working. He also gave me a scrip for a very strong anti-inflammatory cream which I can use 3 times a day if needed. Unfortunately this has to be made up by the pharmacist and they didn't have enough of the right ingredients. They said I could go to another pharmacy but as that was some distance away, I figured I would wait til Monday. Well lookee there, bursa all over the place.

I love chocolate and am pretty fond of avocados, but together- well I'll try most things once.

Chocolate-Avocado Pudding

Leave it to cool-kid mecca Gjusta in Venice, CA, to create a produce-based, low-sugar, vegan-friendly, “good”-fat-filled, crowd-pleasing chocolate pudding recipe. That would also be completely

acceptable to eat for breakfast.

2 large avocados, pits removed
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
½ cup pure maple syrup
¼ cup agave nectar
¼ cup (or more) fresh orange juice
½ tsp kosher salt
1 ½ cups heavy cream (optional)
¼ cup cocoa nibs and/or chopped hazelnuts

1. Scoop avocado flesh into a blender and scrape in vanilla bean seeds; reserve pod for another use. Add cocoa powder, maple syrup, agave nectar, orange juice, and salt and blend to a coarse purée. With motor running, gradually stream in ¾ cup hot (but not boiling) water; blend, adding more orange juice as needed, until smooth and creamy.

2. Divide pudding among eight 4–6 oz. ramekins or small bowls and chill (uncovered) at least 2 hours.

3. Just before serving, whip cream in a medium bowl to soft peaks and spoon over pudding, if desired; top with cocoa nibs and/or hazelnuts.

4. Do Ahead: Pudding can be made 3 days ahead. Cover and chill

Servings: 6

 Source: Bon Appétit


Have a great day
 

Hip, Bowling, Anniversary,

I didn't write a post yesterday as I really had nothing to write about other than whining about my hip. This morning, Friday, I am going to the orthopaedic surgeon at 8:45 a.m. (what a time!!!) for an injection which, hopefully will get rid of my problems. I did think of just posting a recipe like I do on Saturdays, but obviously didn't do so in the end.

Not much has changed. I tried bowling on Thursday afternoon. I played the first game, it hurt, and not only that I didn't bowl very well. Matt didn't bowl very well for all three games so he wasn't very happy.

The TV is full of the US elections which, of course, doesn't interest me very much of course. We Canadians are all waiting for the influx of Americans after the November election LOL.

I was thinking of cooking pork chops on Saturday and this recipe makes me decide to do so. It will be an anniversary meal although our anniversary is actually on Sunday.

Pork Chops and Couscous with Tomato-Caper Sauce

My Recipes

2 Tbs olive oil

1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1 3/4 cups unsalted chicken stock, divided
1 cup uncooked whole-wheat Israeli couscous
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper, divided
3/4 tsp kosher salt, divided
2 Tbs chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
5 tsp unsalted butter
4 (4-oz.) boneless, center-cut pork chops
1/4 cup sliced shallots
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 thyme sprigs
3/4 cup chopped ripe tomatoes
1/4 cup dry white wine
2 1/2 Tbs drained capers

1. Heat oil and turmeric in a medium saucepan over medium-high for 2 minutes or until turmeric begins to bubble. Add 1 1/2 cups stock, couscous, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and 1/4 teaspoon salt; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 10 minutes. Stir in parsley.

2. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high. Sprinkle pork with remaining 1/2 teaspoon pepper and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt. Add pork, shallots, garlic, and thyme to pan; cook 4 minutes. Turn pork; add tomatoes, wine, and capers. Cook 2 minutes.Place pork on a plate.

3. Add remaining 1/4 cup stock to pan; cook 1 minute. Discard thyme sprigs. Serve sauce with pork and couscous.

Servings: 4


Have a great day