Listen very carefully…

the weather is nice outside…

there’s no rain…

just sunshine!

Cookie wisdom #30

Low on Everything

Tomato-Cucumber Gazpacho

Makes 6 servings

A fresh and mild gazpacho that takes advantage of all that summer has to offer. Super easy too. Garnish with a sprig of fresh dill and serve chilled.

Shopping List:

• 6 medium ripe tomatoes, finely chopped
• 2 cucumbers, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, finely chopped
• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
• 1 large lemon, juiced
• 15 ml or 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 10 ml or 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 5 gram or 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 gram or 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 8 gram or 1/4 cup chopped fresh dill

TO MAKE:

1. In a large bowl, stir together tomatoes, cucumber, onion, bell pepper, and jalapeno pepper. Season with lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper.
2. In a blender or food processor, puree half of the mixture until smooth. Return to bowl, stir in dill and mix well. Cover and chill for at least one hour before serving.

ENJOY !

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 62
Total Fat: 2.2g
Cholesterol: 0mg
Sodium: 329mg
Total Carbs: 11.7g
Dietary Fiber: 3.1g
Protein: 2g

Starting on a wrong foot…

The day started yesterday with my transport not showing up, when I called Public Transport for the Handicapped [AOV] they said I was already on my way to hospital while I was still sitting outside waiting for their arrival. When I told them that her reaction was “Oops!, the next car will be at your address in 1 hour…” at the same time my hospital appointment was. So I told her to stuff it and went back upstairs.

Here I called my Dad and 15 minutes later I was on my way, sans scooter, but way on time to see my specialists. First my podotherapist said my right foot was flushed and feeling warmer then the left, next steps in the rehabilitation specialist who’s feeling me up [my feet, perverts!] she comes to the same conclusion. My antibiotic prescription ran out the week before, but now I’m back on them for another month. The wound is healing slowly but not fast enough in their opinion. 

I also had a 3 side foot X-ray taken, maybe, just maybe the Charcot is playing up again, but I hope not.

At the pharmacy they told me not to take my calcium pills when I use the antibiotics, something they forgot to tell me last month. Thanks girlz! A whole month wasted on those horrible pills without effect.

So how was your day?

P.S. Both X-rays are not me.

Hurray!!!

I’m 402 today!!!

Breakfast anyone?

Do you wanna have breakfast on my birthday tomorrow?

Tomorrow morning between 7 and 9 a free breakfast will be served in honour of Rembrandt’s 402th birthday. People in Amsterdam received with their daily newspaper two placemats just for this occassion.

I would like to go if I hadn’t an appointment at the hospital, for a change. So later in the day I’ll have a look at a slice of bread and a herring. I said look because I’m  not a big fan of herring.

The Birthday Breakfast will be held in the gardens of the Rijksmuseum. Between 7 and 9 the Philips Wing is open for free too.

Amsterdam Hidden Treasures #7

Amsterdam’s well known ‘Arts Temple’ aka The Rijksmuseum closed in 2003 for refurbishments to be opened again at the end of 2009. Alas something went wrong with the funding of the project, just a miss-calculation of the budget of 88 million euros.

The new opening date will be now… 2013!

Over the coming weekends, starting July 19 till August 31, you can visit the building site and see for yourself what has been done to restore it the way Cuypers, the original architect, intended it.

BTW, Masterpieces like Rembrandt’s “Night Watch” can still be seen in the Philips Wing.

[Source: article in Parool newspaper]

My Most Expensive…

Tomato Ever!

I bought some organic Inca tomatoes on the Farmers Market yesterday, priced at EUR 13.99 a kilo or US$ 22.00 for 2.2 pound. Of course I didn’t buy the whole kilo but just two tomatoes, which were still € 3.00 / $4.72.

I just sliced and ate one pure, mmmmmmmmm… The taste was great, the other one will be used in a salad. All in all well worth the amount I paid. And the day after tomorrow I’m back to pommodori’s.

If you’re wondering which variaty I bought, it looks the most like that big one next to the ‘Inca’ label. (Click picture for a broader view)

Cartoon

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A liter of gas, wow!!

What a great gift!!

BBQ

BBQ Chicken Salad

Makes 4 servings

Shopping List:

• 2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 4 stalks celery, chopped
• 1 large red bell pepper, diced
• ½ red onion, diced
• 250 gram or 1 (8.75 ounce) can sweet corn, drained
• 60 ml or ¼ cup barbeque sauce
• 30 gram or 2 tablespoons fat-free mayonnaise

TO MAKE:

1. Preheat grill for high heat.
2. Lightly oil grate. Grill chicken 10 minutes on each side, or until juices run clear.
3. Remove from heat, cool, and cube.

In a large bowl, toss together the chicken, celery, red bell pepper, onion, and corn.

In a small bowl, mix together the barbeque sauce and mayonnaise. Pour over the chicken and veggies. Stir, and chill until ready to serve.

NOTE: Make it one day in advance, so you can refrigerate it overnight. You can also add Baked Tortilla chips to it. [see recipe below]

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 154
Total Fat: 2.5g
Cholesterol: 34mg
Sodium: 376mg
Total Carbs: 20.2g
Dietary Fiber: 3.2g
Protein: 15g

Baked Tortilla Chips

Tasty baked tortilla chips you make at home that are much better than store bought chips. Serve with your choice of salsas and garnishes

Makes 6 servings

Shopping List:

• 350 gram or 1 (12 ounce) package corn tortillas
• 15 ml or 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 45 ml or 3 tablespoons lime juice
• 2 gram or 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 3 gram or 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 6 gram or 1 teaspoon salt

TO MAKE:

1. Preheat oven to 175ºC or 350ºF
2. Cut each tortilla into 8 chip sized wedges and arrange the wedges in a single layer on a cookie sheet.
3. In a mister, combine the oil and lime juice. Mix well and spray each tortilla wedge until slightly moist.
4. Combine the cumin, chili powder and salt in a small bowl and sprinkle on the chips.
5. Bake for about 7 minutes. Rotate the pan and bake for another 8 minutes or until the chips are crisp, but not too brown.
6. Serve with salsas, garnishes, guacamole or with BBQ Chicken Salad

ENJOY !

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 150
Total Fat: 3.9g
Cholesterol: 0mg
Sodium: 483mg
Total Carbs: 27.2g
Dietary Fiber: 3.1g
Protein: 3.3g

Cookie wisdom #29

Fractal

While surfing the Internet I saw some remarkable Fractal Flames.

Isn’t mathematics great!!!

More can be found here and if you’re handy go here to make your own [Windows only]

In Memoriam

In remembrance of Jack Thomas Dawson, husband of my best friend Josh who died July 3, far to young.

I never met him, but the stories Josh told about him and that twinkle in his eyes when he talked about him, made him feel like family. And in a way the GLBT community is family.

“On the sands of life sorrow treads heavily, and leaves a print time cannot wash away.”
- Henry Neele

To my American friends…

Sweet Temptation…

Red Fruit Soup

Makes 4 servings

Shopping List:

• 950 ml or 1 quart water
• 8 gram or 2 (3 inch) cinnamon sticks
• 1 large apple, peeled, cored, and diced
• 1 tablespoon corn starch
• 340 gram or 6 ounce fresh pitted sweet cherries
• 170 gram or 6 ounce unsweetened raspberries
• 170 gram or 6 ounce strawberries
• 170 gram or 6 ounce blueberries
• Sour cream

TO MAKE:

1. Simmer water with cinnamon sticks for 20 minutes. Discard the cinnamon.
2. Return the water to the stove, and add the apple; simmer for 5 to 10 minutes.
3. Add the cherries, raspberries, strawberries and blueberries then bring to a boil before removing from the heat.
4. Add a spoon of corn starch and mix
5. Allow to stand for at least 30 minutes before refrigerating.
6. Serve cold, garnished with a dollop of sour cream.

ENJOY !

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 255
Total Fat: 3.8g
Cholesterol: 6mg
Sodium: 33mg
Total Carbs: 53g
Dietary Fiber: 6.6g
Protein: 4.4g

—–

Cherry Lemonade

Makes 4 servings

Freshly squeezed lemon juice is sweetened with cherry juice for a refreshing variation on a classic summer cooler.

Shopping List:

• 175 ml or 6 fluid ounces lemon juice, fresh squeezed
• 10 gram or 4 teaspoons sweetener
• 695 ml or 24 fluid ounces water
• 115 ml or 4 fluid ounces cherry juice concentrate

TO MAKE:

1. Combine the lemon juice and the sweetener. Add the water and cherry juice concentrate and stir.
2. Serve over ice.

ENJOY !

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 106
Total Fat: 0g
Cholesterol: 0mg
Sodium: 22mg
Total Carbs: 2.8g
Dietary Fiber: 0.2g
Protein: 0.2g

—–

Tangy-Cherry-Tea-Sorbet

Makes 3 servings

Shopping List:

• 4 teaspoons artificially sweetened dry ice tea mix
• 295 ml or 1¼ cups water
• 30 ml or 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 700 ml or 3 cups frozen tart cherries

TO MAKE:

1. Combine dry tea mix with water and lemon juice, stirring until completely dissolved.
2. Place half of tea mixture in blender container or food processor. Add half of frozen cherries. Process until almost smooth.
3. Repeat with remaining tea and cherries.
4. Serve immediately.
5. Freeze any remaining sorbet. When ready to serve frozen sorbet, place pieces of sorbet in blender or food processor; process to soften.

ENJOY !

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 76
Total Fat: 0.7g
Cholesterol: 0mg
Sodium: 5mg
Total Carbs: 18.4g
Dietary Fiber: 2.5g
Protein: 1.5g

 

Check up…

 

IF YOU THINK THERE IS

SOMETHING WRONG WITH

YOUR COMPUTER, THEN

YOU ARE WRONG

IT IS CHECK-UP TIME

AT MY EYE SPECIALIST

gotcha !

To my Canadian friends…

Another fine mess…

Today is officially my last day of work for the Guild as an administrative secretary, my last performence is on September 27. Having said that, I’m looking forward to my time off but before all that could happen I have to go to two meetings today.

Meeting 1 is cancelled as of late last night, but most of the people who will attend have not heard about that because we were all at the same party, and I was the only one who opened his mail after getting home. [The others stayed over in a hotel]. So at ten this morning we can make arrangements for meeting 2, and work out some other points in which the whole group can join when that meeting really start at one.

Oh well, it’s just another fine mess…

UPDATE: Okay, meeting 1 we did anyway, just because half of the people where absent didn’t mean we couldn’t talk about the subject. After a short, but tasty lunch, we started with meeting 2. Luckely we had two breaks because we ended a 6.45, two hours later than usual. One item we couldn’t do, but since we talked about it that same morning, they just have to read the notes.

88 Years Young Today…

 

 

 

 

 

 

So at last you have a post of your own. Btw we your kids and family will help you to eat some of the cake.

Love, Peter XXX

 

Cookie Wisdom #28

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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