A Life, Lived

Salisbury Steak with Mushroom Sauce

It was Paul's turn to cook dinner ont he weekend. When I was making the grocery list he happened to be flipping through the latest Cooking Light magazine.

He looked up and said 'I'm making this Salisbury Steak for dinner.'

My lord, all I needed was a pipe, lounger, and a black and white TV and I'd be in 1950.

Anyway . . . he was cooking and all I had to do was eat so I shut up and added the necessary ingredients to the list.

For those of you who aren't in the know as they say:

Salisbury steak is a dish made from a blend of minced beef and other ingredients, which is shaped to resemble a steak, and usually is served in brown sauce. Hamburger steak is a similar product, but differs in ingredients. Salisbury steak was invented by an American physician, Dr. J. H. Salisbury (1823–1905), and the term "Salisbury steak" was in use in the USA from 1897.It is popular in the United States, where it is traditionally served with gravy and mashed potatoes or noodles.

There you go. A wee culinary food lesson.

Two words describe this dish: comfort food. And it was fabulous. It turned out to be just what we needed after a hectic day! The fact that it has but 192 calories made it even better!

Salisbury Steak with Mushroom Sauce

1/3 cup grated onion, divided
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 pound ground sirloin
Cooking spray
1 tablespoon butter
8 ounces cremini mushrooms, quartered
1/3 cup dry red wine
1 1/4 cups fat-free, lower-sodium beef broth
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar

Combine 1/4 cup onion, pepper, salt, garlic, and beef. Shape into 4 (1/2-inch-thick) patties. Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Coat with cooking spray. Add patties; cook 3 minutes on each side or until browned.

Melt butter in pan. Add mushrooms; sauté 4 minutes. Stir in wine and remaining onion; cook 2 minutes. Combine broth and flour; add to pan, and bring to a boil. Cook 5 minutes or until thick. Add patties and vinegar to pan; cook 2 minutes.

Continuing 'the Reveal' . . . the Bathrooms

We have three bathrooms, far more than we need on most days but we can't do much about that. I could easily slide off here on a wee rant about houses being far too big for what people really need but that isn't the point of this post.

Three bathrooms. Back on track.

All that we had to do in the bathrooms was drywall repair, painting, changing the light fixtures, add some new towel racks in the larger bathrooms, and a few minor decor things.

The powder room was the most unusual colour we selected - it is a warm, muted brown. The light fixture here was crazy expensive. In fact, even though it was the smallest fixture we bought it was the most expensive. Proof positive that good things apparently do come in small packages.

 
We decided that the Japanese woodblock prints that mom brought back from her trip to Japan look really good in here.

 
Upstairs in the guest bathroom we went with a deep blue colour. Both light fixtures were replaced. We added a second towel rack. The old curtains didn't match and had to go. I also picked up a wonderful thick bathroom mat for $ 3 at a Black Friday sale last week.

 
 
On to the Master Bathroom. This room was painted a darker green than the family room/kitchen. We replaced the vanity light fixture. We moved some art around. We replaced the towel racks with the most. expensive. towel. racks. ever!

Paolo has expensive tastes apparently.

 
 
 
I'm on the road tomorrow and won't be back from the airport until late so the rest of the reveal will wait until Wednesday.

Reno Reveal . .. The Family Room

The electrician was here on Thursday and finished up much of the remaining work that was on our list. He has to come back once more to replace two lights but these require some pretty intensive work and he just ran out of time.

The last of our funiture purchases (for now) was delivered on Saturday. After they failed to show on Thursday I called . . . ranted . . . ranted some more . . and we were the FIRST delivery on Saturday. Apparently ranting pays off. I shall remember that.

It was a busy weekend putting everything together, hooking up the electronics, hanging art, and unpacking stuff that had been savely stored away for close to three months.

We couldn't have wrapped things up sooner . . . we are hosting close to 30 people next Sunday to help mom celebrate turning 70! Woo hoo

So, without further adieu . . . tthe family room . . .

This was the room in which we did the least. We had the drywall issues repaired and than had the room painted. Of course, once it was painted we dedcided the window coverings needed to be replaced (we loved the drapes we bought in Palm Desert . . . but of course we then needed new rods) . . . and we decided we needed a new TV . . . which required a new cabinet . . . and a DVR system that we still can't figure out. Then we had to rearrange the art.

 
 
 

Photo Hunt - Written

This week's Photo Hunt theme is 'written'. I knew right away that I wanted to post a pic of informal written work - graffiti. Anyone who has been to Italy will have seen the unusual and often jarring juxtaposition between incredibly historic building covered with modern graffiti.

The problem was that after three trips to Italy there were many shots to chose from. SIGH

This spring I accomplished one of the things that had been on my list for years but had never been crossed off - I climbed to the top of St Peter's Basilica. OK. I took the elevator part way and climbed the rest.

Regardless of the short cut, when I got to the top I was treated to this incredible view:

 
Now I know what you're thinking - 'what does this have to do with written?'

I'm getting there.

After close to an hour of wandering about on the roof of the largest church in the world it was time to head back down these narrow stairs . . .

 
I glanced up and look what I saw written there:

 
I don't understand the need to leave 'your mark' like this. I know that people have done it throughout history but to what end?

Stir-Fried Bok Choy with Garlic, Ginger, and Scallions

A few days ago I posted a recipe for Vietnamese Tilapia with Turmeric & Dill. The good folks at Fine Cooking suggested serving it with Stir-Fried Bok Choy with Garlic, Ginger, and Scallions. Never wanting to ignore the advice of these great cooks, I gave it a try.

I don't think I have ever cooked Bok Choy before but the recipe seemed easy to prepare. Sure enough it was: a simple, four-ingredient sauce makes a perfect finish for the intriguingly sweet and bitter flavor of this stir-fried Asian green. You can use mature or baby bok choy for this recipe (we used the baby bok choy).

Stir-Fried Bok Choy with Garlic, Ginger, and Scallions

1-1/4 lb. bok choy (about 1 large, 2 medium, or 5 to 6 baby)
2 Tbs. oyster sauce (preferably Lee Kum Kee brand)
2 Tbs. lower-salt chicken broth
1 tsp. cornstarch
1/4 tsp. Asian sesame oil
2 Tbs. peanut oil
Kosher salt
4 oz. scallions (8 to 10 medium), white and light-green parts only, cut into 3-inch lengths and halved lengthwise if thick
2 large cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
One 1/2-inch square of ginger, peeled and cut into thin matchsticks

To prep mature bok choy, separate the leaves from the stems by slicing the bok choy head crosswise at about the point where the leaves begin to spread out. Cut the leaves into lengthwise strips 1 to 1-1/2 inches wide. Quarter the stem end lengthwise and remove any inner leaves, putting them with the leafy tops. Slice the stem quarters crosswise into pieces about 3/4 inch thick. Rinse and dry the stems and leaves separately. (If using baby bok choy, simply cut the heads lengthwise into 3/4-inch-wide pieces or wedges.)

In a small bowl, combine the oyster sauce, chicken broth, cornstarch, and sesame oil. Whisk well to dissolve the cornstarch.

In a 12-inch nonstick stir-fry pan, heat the peanut oil over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the bok choy stems and season with 1/8 tsp. kosher salt. (If using baby bok choy, add all the pieces now and skip the step of adding the leaves later.) Cook, tossing frequently with tongs, until the stems are pliable and lightly browned, 5 to 6 minutes. Add the scallions, garlic, and ginger and cook, stirring constantly, until the aromatics are tender, fragrant, and starting to brown, about 2 minutes. Add the bok choy leaves and 1/8 tsp. salt. Using tongs, toss until the leaves are completely wilted and integrated with the stems, 1 to 2 more minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat, and using a heatproof spatula, stir the sauce and quickly mix it with the vegetables in the pan. As soon as the sauce thickens and has coated most of the vegetables (a few seconds), transfer to a platter and serve immediately.

Evidence that Bad Things Happen to Stupid Folk

On my. The is boggled. I saw the headline on-line. Intrigued, I clicked through to read this tale of woe.

Man loses life savings after leaving it on the roof of his car

When it comes to deciding where to keep your life savings, some options are better than others. The bank? Good idea. The roof of your car? Not such a good idea, as a pensioner in Britain has learned.

The 68-year-old man lost his life savings of £80,000 (about $127,000) last week after he left it on the roof of his car and mistakenly drove off.

The unidentified man, who was moving the cash between his home and his place of work, doesn’t trust the banks, the Daily Mail reports.

So rather than put the money in an account, he usually kept it hidden under his bed. But after deciding to keep the cash nearby at all times, he prepared to take it with him to work.

“My car is never more than 10 feet from me at work so I can keep on eye on it,” he told the Daily Mail. “That morning I left about 6:20 a.m. and didn’t realize I had lost it until noon.”

He raced home to see whether he had left it there, and then realized he must have put it on the roof of his car. A frantic search turned up the plastic bag the money had been stored in, but not the cash itself.

“I’m gutted,” the man, who works as a painter and a “panel beater” (a British term for someone who repairs vehicle bodies), told the Daily Mail. “I don’t hold out much hope of getting it back but if I do I will give a reward to whoever brings it back.”

Police in Essex, near where the man lives, have called for the return of the cash. And, as the Mail notes, they’ve also urged people to keep their money in banks.

Honestly. If you plan on throwing your cash away - call ME!

Vietnamese Tilapia with Turmeric & Dill

My pals south of the border are stuffing a turkey and layering wee marshmallows on yams. Here in Canada we gorged on turkey a month ago. I,of course, am still trying to lose the Thanksgiving calories so I am being good.

SIGH

I've been wanting to make this recipe from Fine Cooking for some time. It seemed like a fine anti-Thanksgiving treat for dinner tonight. Sure enough, it was quick to prepare, fresh tasting, and low-fat/low calorie.

I confess to being curious about the inclusion of dill. Dill doesn't seem Asian at all to me. I almost left it out but in the end thought 'if the Fine Cooking folks asked for it then it must be good'.

It was.

We paired it with another Fine Cooing recipe - Bok Choy with garlic, ginger, and scallions. MMMMM

Vietnamese Tilapia with Turmeric & Dill

2 Tbs. granulated sugar
2 Tbs. fresh lime juice
2 Tbs. Asian fish sauce
1/2 tsp. minced jalapeno
6 medium scallions
1 small bunch fresh dill (about 3/4 oz.)
2 tilapia fillets (about 12 oz. total)
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. ground turmeric
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 Tbs. canola oil

In a small bowl, combine the sugar and lime juice and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Add the fish sauce and jalapeno. Set aside.

Trim the scallions and cut them into 2-inch-long pieces. Quarter the white and light-green pieces lengthwise; leave the dark-green pieces whole. Cut the dill into 2-inch-long pieces (you should have about 1/2 cup).

Pat the fish dry with a paper towel. Sprinkle the ginger, turmeric, 1/4 tsp. salt, and a few grinds of black pepper all over the fillets.

Heat the oil in a 10-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the tilapia and cook, flipping once, until just firm and opaque in the center of the thickest part, about 4 minutes total. Transfer the tilapia to two serving plates.

Add the scallions to the pan and cook, stirring frequently, until they just start to wilt, about 45 seconds. Add the dill and continue to cook until it has wilted slightly, about 15 seconds more. Pile the scallions and dill over the tilapia and serve the sauce on the side for drizzling

The BBC 100 Book 'Meme'

This list was recently making the rounds on facebook. You'll note that the meme refers to 100 books yet the list actually only has 98.

No doubt the missing two were censored. *smile*

Here's how it goes:

Have you read more than 6 of these books? The BBC believes most people will have read only 6 of the 100 books listed here. Bold those books you've read in their entirety, italicize the ones you started but didn't finish or read an excerpt.

1. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2. The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4. Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6. The Bible
7.  Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8.  Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9.  His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10.  Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11.  Little Women - Louisa M Alcott 
12.  Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13. Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14. Complete Works of Shakespeare 
15. Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16. The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17. Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk
18. Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19. The Time Traveler’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20. Middlemarch - George Eliot
21. Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22. The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23. War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy 
24. The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
25. Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky 
26. Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck 
27. Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
28. The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame 
29. Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy 
30. David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
31. Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
32. Emma -Jane Austen
33. Persuasion - Jane Austen
34. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe - CS Lewis
35. The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
36. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
37. Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
38. Winnie the Pooh - A.A. Milne 
39. Animal Farm - George Orwell
40. The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown 
41. One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez 
42. A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
43. The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
44. Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery 
45. Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy 
46. The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
47. Lord of the Flies - William Golding
48. Atonement - Ian McEwan
49. Life of Pi - Yann Martel
50. Dune - Frank Herbert
51. Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
52. Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen 
53. A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth 
54. The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
55. A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
56. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley 
57. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon 
58. Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
59. Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
60. Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
61. The Secret History - Donna Tartt
62. The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebol
63. Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas 
64. On The Road - Jack Kerouac
65. Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
66. Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
67. Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie 
68. Moby Dick - Herman Melville
69. Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
70. Dracula - Bram Stoker
71. The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
72. Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
73. Ulysses - James Joyce
74. The Inferno - Dante
75. Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
76. Germinal - Emile Zola
77. Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
78. Possession - AS Byatt
79. A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
80. Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
81. The Color Purple - Alice Walker
82. The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
83. Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert 
84. A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
85. Charlotte’s Web - E.B. White
86. The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
87. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
88. The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
89. Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
90. The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery 
91. The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks 
92. Watership Down - Richard Adams
93. A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
94. A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
95. The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
96. Hamlet - William Shakespeare
97. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
98. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

How did you do?

Coconut-Curry Chicken Soup

A few years ago I was a part of a group that ladled out a soup recipe every week for what seemed like a lifetime. One of my favourite soups was this coconut curry soup. As much as we loved the results the ingredient list was long so I searched for a more simple version that would work on a busy weeknight.

I found a recipe on the Cooking Light (simple AND low-fat - go figure) and decided to give it a try.

In hindsight the ingredient list isn't that much shorter although the preparation does lend itself to a weeknight dinner menu. From start to finish you'll have this one on the table in less than 30 minutes. We follwed the recipe as written but added some fresh bean sprouts on the top just prior to serving.

Like many SE inspired dishes you'll savour the 'layers' of flavour - sweet, spicy, tangy, and salty in every bite!

To paraphrase an old Chunky Soup commercial - it is so loaded with vegetables and chicken that you'll be tempted to use a fork (or chopsticks ). . .  be sure to use a spoon because you'll not want to miss a drop.

Coconut-Curry Chicken Soup

4 cups water
3 cups fresh spinach leaves
1/2 pound snow peas, trimmed & cut in half crosswise
1 (5 3/4-ounce) package pad thai noodles (wide rice stick noodles)
1 tablespoon canola oil
1/4 cup thinly sliced shallots
2 teaspoons red curry paste
1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
2 garlic cloves, minced
6 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 (13.5-ounce) can light coconut milk
2 1/2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast (about 1 pound)
1/2 cup chopped green onions
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
4 small hot red chiles, seeded and chopped, or 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
7 lime wedges

Bring 4 cups water to a boil in a large saucepan. Add spinach & peas to pan; cook for 30 seconds. Remove vegetables from pan with a slotted spoon; place in a large bowl. Add noodles to pan; cook 3 minutes. Drain; add noodles to spinach mixture in bowl.

Heat canola oil in pan over medium-high heat. Add shallots & the next 5 ingredients (through garlic) to pan; sauté 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add chicken broth to pan, & bring to a boil. Add coconut milk to pan; reduce heat, & simmer 5 minutes. Add chicken, onions, sugar & fish sauce to pan; cook for 2 minutes. Pour chicken mixture over noodle mixture in bowl. Stir in cilantro & chiles. Serve with lime wedges.

A New Play Area for Dante . . .

The main level of our house is open concept - two rooms to be precise. Yet it includes the entrance, hallway, living room, dining room, kitchen, family room, and breakfast room. A lot of living is packed into these two large spaces!

The living room/dining room/hallway has a wooden pole smack int he middle. I asked about having it removed but apparently it is a load bearing support - if we removed it the upstairs might fall  . . . and we can't have THAT!

So the pole stays.

The problem with the pole is that the cats use it as a scratching post. Over the years they have clawed away at the wood - in fact, some of the claw marks were carved in almost an inch into the pole!  Needless to say it was an unsightly mess.

Tony did a brilliant job refinishing it for us at the start of our renos.

Once he was done we were afraid that the cats would go to town again. We wrapped a big sheet around the pole to dissuad the cats from clawing the heck out of it.

Eventually we got the idea that we would wrap carpet around the pole, holding the piece together with velcro. In our minds we figured that the velcro would hold it steady if the cats scratched and also allow us to slip the carpet protector off when we had company.

Today I trimmed the carpet and wrapped the pole. It worked!

Then Dante decided it was a new play area for him . . .

 
 
 
 
 
 
He has been all over that pole today! Happily the carpet has held (thank you velcro) and he has NOT scratched the pole.

All of this exercise must be good too . . .

So far so good.