Probus Club

   I had my second visit to the local Probus Club meeting this morning. Although I have to wait until next Fall to join, I can visit three times for free. This was my second visit, very enjoyable with a  speaker from the ROM. Also, I ran into an old Bridge friend there, Gloria, who I hadn't seen for at least a dozen years. Now that I am back to playing bridge I gave her my phone number in case she ever needs a fourth for one of her bridge nights. 

    After the talk I had to rush back to the Senior's Centre for 12:00 p.m. for my other bridge group and we played until almost 3:00 p.m., eating lunch in between hands. I only had one successful hand but felt I played it rather well. Other than that, the cards just did not fall my or my partner's way!

   Back to Agincourt Community Centre for a swim and I managed 18 laps for the second time. Next week I plan to go for 20. Then a short soak in the hot tub, a quick stop at No Frills for milk and sandwich meat for the grandkids lunch tomorrow, and finally home for a relaxing evening. It has been a busy day!

Clogging

   The brussell sprouts were delicious. I very rarely buy bacon but have bundled it into 4-rasher packages for easy access from the freezer, so I think it will be a regular on my menu this winter. I found some smoked mackerel at Metro today and decided to try the Cajun variety. It wasn't too spicy as I had suspected so I will definitely buy it again.

   Quite an active day today. An early start (9:00 a.m.) with the Stretch and Strength class at the Senior's Centre. I stayed for coffee and a chat after, then made a quick trip to Chapters to find a birthday gift for James. This afternoon I returned to the Rec. Centre for the clogging class. I am quite enjoying it and am beginning to learn some of the steps. "Walk the Dog" and "The Rocking Chair" are some examples of the strange names the steps are given. The music is very catchy but Wayne, the teacher, said next week we will be learning a harder number although all the numbers are hard for me!

   I have finally finished the Christmas cake but still have some mincemeat tarts to eat up. And, I believe, there's still a small plum pudding somewhere at the back of the fridge. Luckily I still have a can of Devon Custard which I can use to sweeten it. I may still be eating Christmas leftovers by Easter!

Brussell Sprouts and bacon. Yum!!

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.