The Week in Review - 7/21 -7/29

Laura was here for the week, except for the few days she went to see her Dad in East Aurora.  I watched Sydney while she was gone and she didn't even bite me!

She was home for her 25th High School reunion on the first Saturday she was here.  We went to the gym a lot and her last day here we went shopping.
We also went for a hike in Whiting  Road Nature Preserve

The only picture I took  was this one at the Eastside Y (of course).

On Sunday Larry and I played golf and I was able to take a picture of the fancy new design on the bird house on the 9th hole.

Water Explodes in Microwave

I was boiling some water in the microwave to add to some instant oatmeal. 
I put about 3/4 of a cup of water into a 1 cup glass measuring cup for 3 minutes and left the room.

When I came back I thought I would give it a quick reheat and wait until I saw the boiling bubbles to make sure it was at boiling.
I put it on for one minute and watched for the bubbles.
All of a sudden "POW"  the water exploded right out of the cup all over the microwave.  When I opened the door the cup was intact but there was only 1/4 cup of water in it.

Immediately I googled "water explodes in microwave."

Here are some of the sites with the explanation.  I guess I'm lucky that it didn't blow up in my face.  Guess I better get some wooden stir sticks since I always boil water in the microwave. 
In case you don't read the articles, putting some non-metallic object in the water to help diffuse the built up energy that causes the explosion.

There were two things I did differently this time than usual.
1.  It was the first time I used a one cup measuring cup
2. and the first time I boiled so little water and then tried to reboil it

http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/experiment/exploding-water-in-the-microwave

http://www.snopes.com/science/microwave.asp

Myles plays Clocks

BRAVO!

Mango Salsa

I bought a couple of mangos the other day and didn't know what I was going to do with them but had a Mango Salsa in the back of my mind.  Yesterday Patsy and Ann came over for dinner with Laura, Larry and I and I looked up a bunch of recipes and based on what I had on hand the following is my recipe.

I had frozen chopped up cilantro and that worked great.  I usually buy a bunch of cilantro for a recipe and there is so much left over but it is so usable after freezing.  I also had some chopped up frozen jalapeno too and that worked well also.  Having those things on hand in the freezer also made it less time consuming for making the salsa and I'm all about the easier way of doing things.  The main inspiration for this recipe came from http://whatscookingamerica.net/CynthiaPineda/MangoSalsa.htm

Mango Salsa

Ingredients:

1 large fresh mango (click here for a link on how to cut a mango)

1 tbls chopped jalepeno or as much as you like for hotness you want

1 small clove of garlic, crushed fine with 1 teaspoon of sea salt.

1/2 large red bell pepper, seeded and diced

2 green onions, diced or 1/4 cup diced red onion
diced fresh or canned pineapple
cilantro to taste, since I used frozen I added about 1 tblsp which expanded after being added
juice of half lime

Peel and dice the mango.
Add all the other ingredients and mix well.
Squeeze the lime over all and stir.

Refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.

Oriental Mushrooms

I didn't think I remembered where I got this recipe from but I did.
It's from page 428 of my Betty Crocker's Cookbook
27th Printing, 1976

It's always been a favorite of mine and since I have a pound of mushrooms sitting in my refrigerator I think they will make a great side for dinner tonight.



Oriental Mushrooms

Serves: 4-6                            
Preparation Time: 15 Min.

1 lb. fresh mushrooms.*
1/4 C. butter or margarine             
1/2 C. water  
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
1/4 C. chopped onion
Toasted slivered almonds (optional)
2 tsp. flour
1 beef bouillon cube or
1 tsp. instant beef bouillon

If using fresh mushrooms slice parallel with stem.  Can leave whole if small. 

In large skillet, cook and stir onion in butter until tender. 

Stir in mushrooms.  Sprinkle flour over mixture; stir until mushrooms are coated.

Add water, bouillon cube and soy sauce, stirring until bouillon cube is dissolved.

 Cook over medium heat about 3 minutes.

Sprinkle with slivered almonds. (optional)

* or 2 jars (4 1/2 oz. each) sliced mushrooms, drained 

Hot and Cold

It's been really hot here lately, like most of the country and during this time I got a really bad cold.
After we took that wonderful hike in Whiting Park, we came home and Karen invited us to join her and John for dinner at the Pultneyville Grille.  Great, I thought, another night I don't have to cook.  And ten minutes later I started to feel like I was coming down with a cold.  Most of the time it goes away after some Advil so I thought it would this day too.  No such luck but it wasn't too bad although my throat felt a little scratchy.  We drove out to Pultneyville and met Karen and John who came by boat from Sodus and had a nice dinner.  I even splurged and had real meat, a filet.  I asked for it rare and it wasn't even very pink when I got it, but I thought maybe that's as rare as they're allowed to do.  It was tender though.
After dinner we said our goodbyes as we watched the boat pull away,

and on our way home we hit a deer on Lake Rd.

The next morning I woke up with a horrible cold and Larry had been up since 1:30.  It was a lost day.  I slept most of the next two days and then had some energy again on Tuesday.

Monday a tow truck came and got Larry's car.  Over $6000 worth of damage.  New radiator, fan and all the visible stuff needed to be replaced.  In my sluggish state I managed to drag myself outside to get some pictures of the only 4 month old car.

It was really hot on July 17th, a record high for that day here of 97°.  My car showed 98°

and the thermometer on the deck looked like 100° (in the shade).

A Walk in the Park

I can't believe we've never done this before.  There are so many hiking trails in Webster and we always do the same walk around the neighborhood.  Saturday, when it was another hot day I suggested doing a walk in Whiting Road Nature Preserve.  It turned out to be a good choice because a good part of it was shaded.  There were a lot of different trails to take and we completed 2.8 miles of them.  When Laura comes we'll have to go again.

There's a bunch of real nice Boardwalks over creeks (currently dry) that various Eagle Scouts did.

The trails are well marked

A  set of benches and tables were recently added

Flowers, Butterflies and lots of potential blackberies

A view of Queen Ann's Lace from underneath.  Queen Ann's Lace always reminds me of my childhood.

Bike Ride

Today we took a 12.25 mile bike ride.  We went along the new Hojack Trail.  New because they took out a whole new section of track and it is the nicest part of the ride.  Nice and wide and pretty to ride on, if they would pave it then it would be perfect.  We rode down to Rt. 250 and then took the bike path along 104 to Five Mile Line Rd and then back to Klem and home.

This is the section right before the turn for North Ponds Park

New Jewelry

I decided that I needed to organize my beads so that I could have my table available for my sewing machine since I have a purse I want to make.

In the process of organizing, I made some new necklaces and earrings.

Deviled Eggs

I finally found a tray for deviled eggs and it comes with a cover too.  It was on super sale - 70% off at Joann's so I grabbed it.

When we had our golf dinner June 25th at the clubhouse I volunteered to bring an appetizer.  When I was trying to decide what to make I remembered my tray, so devilled eggs was the appetizer of choice.

Deviled Eggs
Hard boiled eggs
Mayonnaise
Mustard
Salt and Pepper

Here's a really good discussion on how to make hard boiled eggs.
http://www.wikihow.com/Hard-Boil-an-Egg

Cut the peeled eggs in half.
Mix the egg yolk with the rest of the ingredients.

I like to put them in a plastic decorating bag with a decorating tip to make swirly looking.
Sprinkle paprika on top.

Big Eyes

A few months ago I read about a movie called Big Eyes that is coming out next year.  It stars Reese Witherspoon as artist Margaret Keane and Ryan Reynolds as her husband Walter.  The movie is named for the pictures of children that were painted by supposedly Walter but they were really done by Margaret . . . and so the story goes.

I went looking through my things and found these postcards that I bought back in the 1960s of two of the waifs.  I loved these big eye pictures.  Maybe the pictures were just signed Keane for a reason.

Christina Georgina Rosetti

This poem was referenced on page 273 in the book A Secret Kept by Tatiana de Rosnay.

The main character Antoine, met a British woman on a train who was going to read this poem at her friend's funeral in France.  The train was stopped for a few hours because a woman had just committed suicide by kneeling on the track.  Doesn't that all sound delightful.

I had never heard of the poet or the poem so of course I had to research it.  I'm not even sure why I posted it here.

As far as the book, I had read Sarah's Key by the same author and loved it and couldn't wait to read this one but I was so disappointed.  It just dragged on and on.  It was about as interesting as my memoir is going to be.

YUMMY

How good does this look? 
Angel Food Cake topped with fresh fruit and Fat Free Reddi Whip

Beer Bread

I saw this on GMA this morning and thought it looked good and I had all the ingredients on hand.
Then Audrey suggested we have a 4th of July dinner together so I brought it over.  It was really good and I will definitely make it again.

Beer Bread

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/recipe/sara-moultons-beer-bread-16698267

Ingredients

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon table salt
One 12-ounce bottle good-quality beer

Directions

Place an oven rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat the
oven to 350℉. Place the butter in a 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking dish
or pan and set it in the oven while the oven is preheating.

Stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a
medium bowl. Stir in the beer until it is just incorporated' (The
dough will be sticky and heavy.) Pour 6 tablespoons melted
butter out of the pan into a cup; tilt the pan to coat the bottom
and sides with the remaining butter. Spoon the bread dough into
the pan and spread evenly; drizzle the
6 tablespoons melted butter over the top. Bake for 20 to 25
minutes, or until the bumpy top is golden brown.

Remove the bread from the oven to a cooling rack; cut the bread
into rectangles and serve warm.

Onion bread: Prepare the dough as above. Thinly slice a small
onion and separate it into rings. Toss it with the
6 tablespoons melted butter and arrange it over the top of the
dough.

Corn bread: Prepare the dough as above, substituting l cup
cornmeal for 1 cup of the flour

Whole wheat bread: Prepare the dough as aboYe, substituting 1 cup
whole wheat four for 1 cup of the all-purpose flour.

From the kitchen of Sara Moulton

Ramen Noodle Salads

I have two different versions of this salad. One uses romaine and the other cabbage.
Both are delicious. Here they are.

Romaine Ramen Noodle Salad

1 head romaine lettuce
1 bunch scallions
1 pint cherry tomatoes
1/4 cup vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup Light Vegetable Oil
1 envelope Ramen noodles, broken
1 cup whole almonds
3 tablespoons sesame seeds
Break lettuce, chop scallions & halve Tomatoes. Mix liquids and sugar together in jar, shake. Brown broken noodles, sesame seeds and almonds in olive oil until golden brown (save or throw out bouillion packet that comes with soup pack). Toss all ingredients; may add Shrimp. Broiled Chicken, Tuna or cold Flank Steak to serve as a main dish.

Cabbage Ramen Noodle Salad

1 large head Napa Cabbage (1 ¾ - 2 lbs)
2 packages Ramen Oriental noodles crushed in bag (don’t use seasoning pouch)
1 small package slivered almonds
¼ to ½ tsp sesame seeds (Jacqui didn’t use this)
5 to 6 diced green onions

Chop Napa cabbage fine – add diced green onions
Brown crushed noodles, almonds, and sesame seeds in ½ cup margarine – drain on paper towels
Dressing
½ cup veg oil
2 Tbs soy sauce
½ cup rice wine vinegar
½ cup sugar

Directions:
Combine 1, 2 and 3 before serving. Make all 3 parts ahead and store separately. Salad won’t store, noodles become mushy.
Serves up to 10 people.