G&C at US Open

I not only got to watch the US Open on my computer I got to see Greta and Charles there too.

This one was August 28

and this one was from Aug 31

Cuban Chicken with Black Bean and Mango Salsa

Cuban Chicken with Black Bean and Mango Salsa

This recipe was in the Weight Watchers Weekly this week.
I saw it first on Tuesday, did the marinade on Wednesday and we cooked it tonight (Thursday).
Highly recommend it.   My only changes were that I made more of the salsa than the recipe called for since I used the whole can of black beans and more onion and mango because I didn't want the leftover amounts.

The original recipe is here:  http://www.weightwatchers.com/food/rcp/RecipePage.aspx?recipeid=142381

Ingredients
1/2 cup unsweetened orange juice  
1/4 cup cilantro, fresh, chopped  
3 Tbsp fresh lime juice  
2 tsp olive oil  
2 tsp minced garlic  
1 tsp ground cumin  
3/4 tsp table salt, or to taste  
1/2 tsp black pepper, freshly ground  
1 1/4 pounds uncooked boneless skinless chicken breasts, four 5-oz pieces  
1 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained  
1 cup mango, fresh, cubed  
2 Tbsp uncooked red onions, chopped  

Instructions
In a small bowl, combine orange juice, cilantro, lime juice, oil, garlic, cumin, salt and pepper; remove 1/2 cup and place in a large zip-close plastic bag. Add chicken to bag and turn to coat; seal bag and refrigerate up to 12 hours. 


Meanwhile, to make salsa, add beans, mango and onion to bowl with orange juice mixture; toss, cover and refrigerate up to 12 hours. 


When ready to cook, coat grill or grill pan with cooking spray; preheat over medium-high heat. Remove chicken from marinade; discard marinade.


Grill chicken, turning as needed, until cooked through, about 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer chicken to serving plates and spoon salsa over chicken; pour any liquid left in bottom of bowl over top. Yields 1 piece of chicken and about 1/2 cup of salsa per serving.


Note:
Marinate the chicken and bean mixture the night before you want to serve it. Then when it's time for dinner, just grill the chicken and your dinner's ready fast.

Feel free to use papaya or pineapple instead of the mango (could affect PointsPlus values).

A Happy Camper

For the first time in two weeks I felt great!!  No headache, no neck ache, no back ache. or any other ache I have recently had.  I went out to do a couple of errands and realized I felt really good.  Nothing hurt so I kept going.  One store, then another until all of a sudden four hours had passed.

I went home and suggested we take a hike since I felt so good and didn't want to sit down.  I just wanted to keep moving.

We went to Webster Park and walked for a few miles and it was peaceful, beautiful, and pain free.

Champion Hills

We played at a new course for me today out in Victor and it was just so pretty.

First hole

Nectarine and Blueberry Bread

I had some nectarines in the refrigerator that had been there too long for just eating in their present state but they were fine for cooking. Just needed to find a recipe and this is the one I found and we love it.

Nectarine and Blueberry Tea Bread recipe adapted from Shove It In Your Face which was adapted from Lynne's Country Kitchen

1 1/2 Cups Flour, divided

3/4 Cup Sugar

2 teaspoons Baking Powder

1/4 teaspoon Baking Soda

1/2 teaspoon Allspice

1/4 teaspoon Salt

1/3 Cup (75 grams) Butter, room temperature

1 teaspoon Orange Zest (I used grapefruit) (I skipped this)

1/4 Cup Orange Juice (I used grapefruit) (I used pineapple)

2 Eggs

2 Nectarines (I used 4 small)

1/2 Cup Blueberries, fresh or frozen

Topping:

2/3 cup Almonds, chopped well and divided

1 Tablespoon Sugar

1 teaspoon Cinnamon

Combine 1/4 cup almonds, sugar and cinnamon.  Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350F/175C

Combine 1 Cup of flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, allspice and salt in a bowl or stand mixer.   Add in butter, orange juice and orange zest.  Mix on low for about 30 seconds, then on high for 2 minutes.  Add in eggs and remaining 1/2 Cup of flour.  Mix to combine.   Fold in fruit and remaining almonds.

Pour batter into a loaf pan and add the topping.  Bake 50 - 60 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.  Cool in pan for ten minutes then finish cooling on a rack.  Enjoy!

Great Quote

At the end of Yoga this morning Lynn shared a quote with us that she particularly liked but couldn't remember the source.  I liked it too and remembered enough of it to Google it and find out all the details.

"We are not human beings on a spiritual journey. 

We are spiritual beings on a human journey."
- Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

The above is the paraphrased version.

The original is  

We are not human beings on a spiritual journey. We are spiritual beings on a human journey.

from The Phenomenon of Man (1955)

Le Phénomène Humain (1955)

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin SJ (May 1, 1881 – April 10, 1955) was a French philosopher and Jesuit priest who trained as a paleontologist and geologist.

OK - now back to doing something other than googling around the internet.

Lemon Blueberry Bread

I saw this recipe in the D&C 7/27/12 and finally tried it.
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20120727/LIVING/307270014/Recipe-Week-Lemon-blueberry-bread-provides-sweetness-zing?nclick_check=1
 
According to the article the blueberries will not sink to the bottom because they are coated in flour first and that this will work for other fruit as well.
" Coating berries or other fruit with flour absorbs moisture that is released during the baking. That moisture is what causes the fruit to fall precipitously to the bottom."

Out of Town

On Wednesday I drove to Greta's for a couple of days.  I didn't have my usual sitting in the car for 6 hours look.  For some reason I decided to dress nicely and even put on makeup.  I must have had time to kill but it was all worth it when I got a compliment from Charles when he came home.

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.