Thursday, August 20, 2009

Cards, Storms, Queen and Presidents.

We went to a neighbour's apartment last night, to play cribbage and had a most enjoyable evening, especially as I won!!! She said she enjoyed our company and we certainly enjoyed hers. Maybe its going to become something of a regular evening, perhaps once a week if we are all in town. Crib is basically the only game Matt and I play any more, I used to play Bridge once upon a time and we have played Eucre with friends but I couldn't remember the rules without help. Through the years I have gone through Canasta and Rummy plus lots more which I have now forgotten. Our neighbour was talking about some game last night where you use several packs and end up with 30 cards in your hand, seems like too many to me. I would be dropping them all over the place. I have an idea Pinochle is like that. Looks like Hurricane Bill has ended up as a near miss in the States. Giving nasty conditions on all the beaches but not actually hitting land. No doubt some idiots will be out surfing on the storm surge. They always do. Matt is keeping a close eye on the weather as we will be heading to North Carolina soon and don't really want to be evacuated. Mind you, I don't think evacuation is always necessary when you think some of the properties have been there for years and years surviving all kinds of hurricanes. A friend sent me an email the other day pointing out that Queen Elizabeth II has lived through 11 presidents starting with Harry Truman. It showed pictures of her, through the ages, with all of them. Made it quite interesting - I have copied eight of the pictures below. The emphasis of the email was the permanence of the queen and the transience of Presidents. For those of you who are still working or have kids who need to take lunches, Eating Well has published a number of lunches. The following is one of them. Curried Chicken Pitas Makes 4 servings Ingredients 6 tablespoons nonfat plain yogurt ¼ cup low-fat mayonnaise 1 tablespoon curry powder 2 cups cooked, cubed chicken breast (see Tip) 1 ripe but firm pear, diced 1 stalk celery, finely diced ½ cup dried cranberries ¼ cup sliced or slivered almonds, toasted (see Tip) 4 4- to 5-inch whole-wheat pita breads, cut in half 2 cups sprouts 1. Combine yogurt, mayonnaise and curry powder in a large bowl. Add chicken, pear, celery, cranberries and almonds; toss to combine. 2. Fill each pita half with 1/2 cup chicken salad and 1/4 cup sprouts. Cover and refrigerate the salad (Step 1) for up to 2 days. Tip: If you don’t have cooked chicken, poach about 12 ounces chicken breast for this recipe. Place boneless, skinless chicken breast in a medium skillet or saucepan. Add lightly salted water (or chicken broth) to cover and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer gently until the chicken is cooked through and no longer pink in the middle, 10 to 15 minutes. To toast sliced or slivered almonds: Place in a small dry skillet and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until fragrant and lightly browned, 2 to 4 minutes. Have a great day.

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