The sun woke me this morning and, although the temperature was in the single digits, I decided the time had come to see if I still had it to survive on the tennis courts. I'd had a late night as Margaret had a little party at her house after last night's dance so was a bit slow getting going. I puttered around hoping the sun would warm things up then headed out on my bike.
No one else was at the tennis courts and I had forgotten the lock combination, so I continued down to Starbucks for a late breakfast. When I got back, six hardy souls were just getting going so I joined Stuart and Sue on Court 3. Since we didn't have a foursome, we just hit back and forth. By then clouds were blowing in and the wind was from the north. I never did get my gloves off but the activity kept me reasonably warm.
After 40 minutes I'd had enough but was satisfied with my ability to keep up with the others, so headed home. Better to stop while you're ahead! I still had time to fix a pot of soup (my usual carrot and lentil) and have a short nap before lunch. Then it was off to Broadlands for 2 hours of dancing with the demo team. Keith really worked us hard, step practice and some new dances. All in all, I feel I've had a good amount of exercise today. Tomorrow I will take it easy with James!
Slept in this morning but after that, just a regular Saturday. Did a load of washing and, after a relax with the Saturday paper, set off to do the weekly shopping. I didn't seem to have used up much this week so had a reasonably small list - mostly fruit and vegetables with a few staples.
I found a recipe on line yesterday (thanks Judy, it was a "Loony Spoons" recipe that you recommended) for Indian chicken thighs that I will try this week. It required Garam Masala which I didn't have, so went to the bulk food store where I was able to get it. Other than that, everything I needed was in the supermarket. A successful trip!
It's the April Monthly dance tonight so I won't eat any supper - they always have a nice spread. Marilyn and I are manning the "50-50 Draw" table so will get there a bit early to set up. We practiced some of the dances last night at Wendy's class so I feel quite confident that I have a reasonable chance of dancing them without mistakes. Will have a quick look through them before I leave.
Still miserable weather here with ice rain this morning necessitating de-icing the car before going out (Judy, you lucked out on taking today off - hope you managed a sleep-in). At least now the temperature has risen a few degrees and the snow and ice are disappearing.
Almost forgot to head out yesterday evening for the "Everything's Better with Bacon" workshop, so much so that I actually ate dinner, albeit a light one. Our host and chef was, incongruously, Jewish and spent some time extolling the virtues of bacon. I didn't actually see her eat any, although she did sample the food as she cooked. She started off by showing us a neat trick to prepare bacon for a salad which was the first course. She called it "Pig Candy" and it's basically bacon rashers dusted with brown sugar and spices, then baked on a rack in a 350F oven. It was such an unusual taste that I can't really describe it, but it was tasty on top of a spinach salad. The salad also had bacon in the vinaigrette, so that course was doubly bacon blessed.
Next up was Toffee Bacon Shortbread - a very light shortbread mix with toffee bits and crumbled bacon blended in. The combination of sweet and savoury was magical and this is one recipe that I will definitely tackle. It would make a super Christmas treat or hostess gift and was not at all difficult - requires very little prep. but needs some time in the freezer to firm up. By the time it was ready I was so full that I brought it home and will savour it sparingly!
The last course she prepared was Risotto with Pancetta, Peas and Seared Sea Scallops. I thought I knew how to cook risotto but I soon learned some very valuable tips for making it perfect. Preparing and cooking the scallops was a revelation (did you know that you should NEVER buy fresh scallops unless you are right at the boat as they come ashore?) Seemingly in the store they are kept in some sort of chemical bath to preserve them. Always buy frozen and cook straight from the freezer. The bacon flavour was provided by the pancetta which I rarely buy but will now keep on hand for additional flavour in many dishes. Peas I always have in the freezer!
The risotto was creamy but just a bit more "al dente" than I like it. However, the flavour imparted by the white wine, butter and parmesan cheese made up for the firmer texture. Along the way, as Elise stirred and stirred and stirred the risotto, we heard anecdotes from her career as a chef and cooking teacher, got all our questions answered and were entertained by her humourous stories. I managed to consume all my portion of risotto but it was a struggle. Something simple for dinner tonight, methinks!
By lunch time all the grass, front and back, was raked, except for a strip on the north side of the house where the ground is still somewhat frozen. We even had time for hide-and-seek and a quick tidy up of the deck. An extra pair of hands are always helpful!
You can see it is still "hat" weather but the gloves are off. Flowers are beginning to appear. This hyacinth is actually in the vegetable patch. Blame those pesky squirrels again! 
