Brussell Sprouts

   I'm snacking on crackers and cream cheese with Judy's homemade red pepper jelly. Quite a delicious combination, with a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon to wash it down. But my big feat tonight will be preparing Alison's recipe for brussell sprouts with bacon. I watched her prepare it for the Christmas dinner and, as I needed a vegetable to go with a lamb casserole tonight, I thought I'd give it a try. I know it involved, among other things, lots of garlic so what's not to like?

   I will par boil the brussell sprouts then cook some bacon pieces until just about done. Then I will toss in the drained brussell sprouts and cook them with some garlic in the bacon fat until they caramelize a bit. Should be delicious. I cooked the lamb casserole on the weekend so it just needs to be heated up.

   I had a busy weekend with dancing on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Friday night Wendy taught us a couple of new dances for the weekend dance, so we were well prepared. There was quite a good turnout despite the cold weather and those of us who did venture out had a great time. On Sunday afternoon we had a practice of the Burns' dances, Keith's last turn as our teacher, but the demo scheduled for Thursday has been cancelled due to illness at the retirement home. The next one is this Saturday at a church Burns' supper. 

   I had another cancellation today - the RWTO executive meeting which also was to be held at a retirement home, now under quarantine - but because of that I was able to attend Bridge lessons at the Senior's Centre.

   It has been very cold today - wind chill of -30C - but the sun  was shining and no wind made it quite bearable.

This was the reading when I got up this morning!

Gingercake

    Another cold day (-13C in the morning, but now up to -6C), sunny but with a north wind strong enough to blow your socks off! So it was indoor activities again. First fitness class at the Senior's Centre, then home to make a pot of soup. I had some fennel bulb left over so roasted it with a carrot until quite tender. Then I chopped them and popped them in a pot of chicken broth with a healthy dash of turmeric, cooked them until tender and blitzed the mixture with my hand blender. A half cup of apple juice to thin it to the required consistency added a pleasant touch to the flavour. That and a cheese sandwich was my lunch and delicious it was.

    This afternoon I got down to making a gingercake to take to class this evening. This is a one pot recipe so no great amount of cleaning required after. But you do need a measuring scale in pounds and ounces. Here's the recipe:

4 oz. preserved ginger                      1/2 tsp. baking soda
4 oz. butter                                        4 tbsp. milk
3 oz. syrup                                        8 oz. flour
1 oz. molasses                                 1 tsp. ground ginger
4 oz. brown sugar                            1 egg and a pinch of salt

Put a pan on the scales and add the butter, sugar, syrup and molasses, weighing each ingredient as you add it to the pot.
 





Melt the contents of the pan on a low heat, being careful not to let it burn.

 



Meanwhile chop the ginger and add to the pot. When it is cool, add 3 tbsps. of milk and the egg. Mix well.



Sieve the flour,salt and ground ginger into the pot and mix well, then add the baking soda dissolved in 1 tbspn. milk.

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Turn into a small, buttered loaf pan and bake in a 350 degree oven until the centre is done. Use a skewer to test for doneness. I usually have to give it a further 15 minutes or so.

This is the recipe as I got it from my mother but I made a few changes today. I used more molasses as I was short of syrup, just made sure the total weight was the same. I added 1/2 tsp. of baking powder to the flour because the last time I made it, the cake was rather dense. Also I only had small eggs today so I used two. This is more like a rich bread than a cake so I cut it in slices. Because of its spicyness it is nice buttered and it's also nice with a slice of nippy cheddar cheese.



Still Chilly

   It was -13C when I got up this morning and warmed up to -8C by the afternoon - positively balmy! However, according to the radio, the wind chill made it feel like -24C and there was still a bitterly cold wind. Everyone I saw outdoors today had their hoods up to protect their faces and I don't blame them, I did too!

   I went to the golf clinic this morning and hit about 90 balls, which is the equivalent of a whole round of golf. Of course I wasn't walking between hits so didn't get the exercise you would get on a golf course. After that I popped in to the yoga class for which I am wait listed but I don't think I have a chance of getting in to it  as it was pretty full.

   Bridge this afternoon and Dianne was able to get a fourth for our table (her sister who is an experienced player and gave us some tips on bidding and "play of the hand"). Dianne and I went down badly, mostly due to the terrible hands we were dealt, but hope for better luck next time.

   Leftover chicken pot pie for dinner tonight but I had a bowl of guacamole and salsa with tostitos and several glasses of sherry. I read on Facebook that moderate drinkers live longer than non-drinkers but I guess the operative word is "moderate". Hope I qualify for that designation. The glasses were small!

   Here's the guacamole recipe:

1/2 avocado, peeled and mashed
squirt of lemon juice and Worcestershire sauce
Mix lightly.
2 tbsps. salsa placed in centre of avocado mixture
1/4 cup grated cheddar cheese to garnish

A New Activity

   If yesterday was a tad chilly, today was positively frigid!  Temperature was -18C when I first checked this morning. It did rise a few degrees during the day as the sun was shining but the wind chill made it feel like -28C (so they said on the radio).It was certainly a day to stay indoors. The only advantage was that it was too cold to snow.

   This afternoon I tried out a clogging class. I loved the music, country and western, but the steps were complicated and I didn't have the right kind of shoes. I will go back next week and try it again as it's free and at my local Rec. Centre. I had a very pleasing phone call this evening - a spot has opened up in the Gentle Fit class at the Senior's Centre on Fridays and I was next on the waiting list. Hooray!!

   I have to bake for Dance group on Friday and managed to make a batch of shortbread  after I got home from clogging but will need something else as well, maybe a gingercake. I used the chicken from the freezer in a chicken pot pie for dinner tonight. I only ate 1/4 of it so it will do me another 3 days by which time I will be well and truly tired of chicken. Plus I didn't use all the chicken so will be having it as chicken salad for lunches until it is finally all gone. Then I will indulge myself with something I haven't eaten recently - maybe pork or lamb!