Tasty Tuesday

Whenever I get nervous I want to eat something warm and comforting. In fact whenever I get sad I want to eat something warm and comforting. Heck whenever I'm happy, excited, anxious, . . . I just like to eat. And, Sunday was no exception. I felt the first tinges of a cold coming on so what did I want...? Yep...something warm and comforting.

So I made a homemade lasagna and garlic toast. And, I finished it off with a mango brulee'. Here's how I made the mango brulee' - thanks to Martha Stewart for the idea - but my husband being so handy, I even had a torch to use. It might not have been a kitchen torch but no matter, it worked just fine. (I had to flip the video - my husband filmed it sideways)

Ingredients:


Six mangoes

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cube of butter

Directions:

Half the mangoes, taking out the seeds
put a pat of butter on each side of the mango
sprinkle with sugar
Bake at 425 for about 30 minutes

Then I took the mangoes out of the oven and used the torch to intensely heat up the brown sugar (in this clip I used a little white table sugar) and butter to caramelize the tops of the mangoes.

Then I served the warm and comforting mango brulees. Of course this wasn't your typical custard brulee or creme brulee but it was a fun twist to try for a change.

Movie Review Monday - Priest

Priest is a movie based on a Korean comic that my daughter thought I might like since I'm like graphic novels and am such a fanpire. So, my husband and I watched it. But what I realized is that one of the reasons I enjoy vampire movies is setting. I love seeing the castles, the moors and shadowy figures. It's all about romantic illusion.

Not so with Priest.

It was an apocalyptic show about the human/vampire wars that caused the end of the world -- almost.

So, this is one show I wouldn't recommend - even though I like (most) vampire movies.

Screening

My husband loves wood and it doesn't matter what shape or size it is. He'll take old leftover scraps and figure out some way to reuse, repurpose and reshape it into something useful.

And it's a good thing he's able to make some of the things for our house because it was built in 1890 and it doesn't have anything that is "standard" - like our basement windows - there are no screens for those windows and you can't just go out and buy some because they aren't any typical or "standard" size. But, that didn't stop my husband. He took some old strips of wood that he had left over from some other project and repurposed those pieces into frames for our new screen windows. Then he measured out some mesh and trimmed it down to size. He hammered the nails into place and added some hinges and...

WHA-LAH!!! Now we have new screen windows to keep the bugs out of the basement.

Thought for Thursday

Remember to put out water on hot days for the Birds, Squirrels and other animals

One Day

Sunday afternoon it was hot!!! So, we all decided to go to a movie. And, I love Anne Hathaway...but, then, who doesn't?

So, anyway, we went to see One Day.

And . . . just like Anne, I loved the movie.

But . . . , and I hate to say it, to be honest I wasn't so impressed with Jim Sturgess' performance.

Of course, he's a gorgeous guy - so that helps. And he was adorable (in glimpses) but it was definitely Anne who carried the show, at least for me. I did say I loved her - didn't I?

But, I do think it's worth seeing. And I hope, if you do go watch the movie, you'll pop back over here One Day and let me know what you thought of it. ;)

How to Make Freezer Jam

I love berries. Blue, Marion, Kotata, Rasp...but most of all Blackberry!

But berries have a very short season so I love to make Freezer Jam to make the season last a little longer . . .sort of.

And, it is so super simple to make freezer jam that anyone can do it. And I think it really tastes better than the cooked berry jam. I figure whenever you cook something, you're going to cook some of the flavor right out of it.

In case you don't know what freezer jam is, it's jam that you haven't had to cook. You usually still have to cook the pectin (which is what thickens the jam) but you don't have to cook the fruit and sugar. And, who wants to deal with hot lava sugar and fruit mixtures?

This is, like I said, super simple to make and it tastes better than the cooked jam. The only draw back is that the freezer jam won't last as long as the cooked variety (only about one year in the freezer) but it won't matter because the jam will taste so much better, it wouldn't last that long anyway.

Eastbank Esplanade Bikeride in Portland, Oregon

If you're ever in Portland and you want to see the city from a bike, here's the way to do it. You can start at the Fire Station at S.E. Madison and S.E. Water Avenues. It's the beginning of a great bike ride on the Eastbank Esplanade
The Eastbank Esplanade in Portland, Oregon, is a beautiful walking/bike riding route that runs around the city. (Turn down the sound if you don't want to hear the wind).

You can ride your bike past OMSI and hop onto the Springwater Corridor. It's a comfortable, flat terrain ride that allows you to see the city from your bike without any cars.

Well . . . there's one small spot where you have to travel on the roads/streets of Portland to make a connection from the Esplanade to the Springwater Corridor. But, it's not a very busy strip. Here's what that connection looks like:


You'll find plenty of parking on the east side. Just park on Madison and then ride your bike to the Fire station and this is what you'll see.



Then you'll ride past OMSI


Continue on the Springwater Corridor for about three miles, until you reach Oaks Bottom and you can ride right up to the entrance of Oaks Park.

This is that 3 mile ride:



So, if you visit Portland, Oregon, this is one way to see the city sights without spending any money.