Royal Wedding and Royal Birthday Dinner

Congratualtion William and Catherine!

Laura and I attented the Royal Wedding. OK, we were sitting in her living room and watching it on TV but we had the best seats in the house. We watched Diana and Charles wedding together 30 years ago too.

- Posted from my iPhone 

In the  afternoon we went to the bank where Laura learned something about deposit tickets.  

At night we went to her birthday dinner at Biagio in Waltham.

300 UNDER 300

This event ocurred on April 2 when I went to Barnes and Noble to get a signed book for Laura's birthday which was yesterday. Laura took it to her Weight Watchers meeting today for show and tell, along with me. I couldn't publish it until now for obvious reasons.
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Today I went to Barnes and Noble in Boca, only about 15 minutes from here for a book signing by Lisa Lillien, "Hungry Girl". It was by chance that I happened to find out about it. I saw on Facebook that she came out with a new book, 300 UNDER 300 and because of my curiosity I followed links until I got to her book tour. Turned out that in 3 days she was going to be here. As luck would have it, Larry went to play golf that day so I didn't have to feel bad about boring him to death, although he probably would have enjoyed hanging out in Barnes and Noble for 2 hours. I got there 50 minutes before the signing to get my book and find out what the process was. I thought I would drop into some of the other stores in the mall while I was waiting but as it turned out, there were only a couple of seats left in the area where she was going to be so I grabbed one and waited. She was going to arrive at 2:00, give a talk, which turned out to be a Q&A for about 40 minutes and then do the book signing. Practically the whole row in front of me was her family, her parents live in this area.
She was very sweet and after standing in line for 20 minutes I got my book signed and a picture taken so Laura would know that it was really her signature.

Happy Birthday Laura

I got to Laura's around 4:20 and she came home about 5:00.  It was a beautiful, hot day and we took a walk along the river.  There were some guys there who showed us the carp they just caught.  They were waiting for one of their brother's to come with a scale so they could they could see how much it weighed.  They were thinking 17 pounds.

Breakfast Casserole

This looks like a good recipe for a crowd.http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/recipe?id=13364622

Emeril's Broccoli, Cheese and Ham Healthy Breakfast Casserole

From the Kitchen of Emeril Lagasse
Servings: 6-8
Difficulty: Easy
Cook Time: 60-120 min

Are you tired of making eggs the same way all the time? Try 
Emeril's casserole. It's the perfect combination of meat, cheese 
and eggs without all the calories of a normal omelette.

Ingredients
4 cups coarsely chopped broccoli florets (about 1 head, 18 oz) 

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more for seasoning 

1 cup finely chopped onion 

1 cup small diced ham (5 oz) 

2 ½ ounces shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese 

4 cups 1-inch diced whole wheat English muffins 

4 large eggs 

6 egg whites 

1½ cups skim milk 

2 teaspoons salt 

1 teaspoon sweet paprika 

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper 

2 ounces finely grated Parmesan cheese

Directions
Blanch the broccoli florets in a pot of boiling salted water 
until bright green and slightly tender, about 1 minute. Transfer 
to an ice-bath and let cool. Drain well and set aside. 
Heat the olive oil in a small sauté pan over medium-high heat, 
add the onions and a couple of pinches of salt. Cook, stirring 
occasionally, until soft, about 4 minutes. Remove from the heat 
and set aside to cool. 
In a large mixing bowl, add the broccoli, cooled onions, ham, 
cheddar cheese and English muffins. Gently toss together to 
combine and pour into a 11.5 x 8-inch glass baking dish; spread 
the mixture out evenly.
Using the same bowl, add the eggs, egg whites, milk, salt, 
paprika and black pepper. Whisk to mix well and pour over the 
broccoli mixture. Cover with foil and store in the refrigerator 
overnight, up to 8 hours.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Place the casserole in the 
oven and bake for 45 minutes. Remove the foil and sprinkle the 
Parmesan cheese evenly over the top. Return to the oven and 
continue cooking until golden brown, puffed, and cooked through, 
about 30 minutes more. 
Place on a cooling rack and let rest for 10 to 15 minutes before 
serving. 

This recipe was styled by chef Karen Pickus for Good Morning 
America. 
 Recipe courtesy Emeril Lagasse, copyright MSLO, Inc., all rights 
reservedCopyright © 2011 ABC News Internet Ventures

Oatmeal Cookies

When did the recipe for oatmeal cookies change?
For the last 4 years I was using the recipe I got from  a box top of Quaker Oatmeal that I kept with my raisins.  When I made the cookies this time I decided to use the new box since it was easier to read than the one I had taped together.
That's when I noticed they had made it less fattening.  Not as less fattening as my last batch where I substituted pumpkin for all the butter and splenda for all the sugar.  They reduced the sugar and the butter, 2 Tbls less butter and 1/4 cup less brown sugar, but when did this happen?
  Why didn't they tell me???

Indian Cooking

QUICK JEERA CHICKEN - Recipes by Master Chef Sanjeev Kapoor

This was on Rachael Ray this morning

Ingredients

• 1 (1 ¾ pound/ 800- grams) chicken, cut into 12 pieces in a large mixing bowl
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons salt
  
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons cumin seeds
• 8 to 10 green chiles, stemmed and cut in half
• 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1/2 cup plain yogurt, whisked
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• 7 to 8 black peppercorns, crushed
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint 

Preparation

Put chicken in a large bowl. Add the lemon juice and 1 teaspoon of the salt, and 
stir well. Cover bowl with plastic and put into refrigerator to marinate for 30 minutes.
Place a medium nonstick saucepan over medium and add the oil. When the small bubbles appear at the bottom of the pan, add the cumin. When the cumin begins to change color, add the chilies and turmeric, and sauté for 10 seconds.
Add the chicken and sauté for 8-9 minutes until well browned. Add the yogurt, cilantro, peppercorns and remaining 1 teaspoon of the salt. Stir well and add the ½ cup water. Cover, lower the heat and cook for 20 minutes or until chicken is cook through.
Transfer to serving dish and sprinkle with the mint and serve hot.

The Dash

We went to Kathy's father's memorial service today and one of his friends read this poem.  I looked for it online and am posting it here to remember it.  While listening to it I thought that I need to work on "my dash."  Enjoy.

The Dash by Linda Ellis

I read of a man who stood to speak
At the funeral of a friend
He referred to the dates on her tombstone
From the beginning to the end

He noted that first came the date of her birth
And spoke the following date with tears,
But he said what mattered most of all
Was the dash between those years

For that dash represents all the time
That she spent alive on earth.
And now only those who loved her
Know what that little line is worth.

For it matters not how much we own;
The cars, the house, the cash,
What matters is how we live and love
And how we spend our dash.

So think about this long and hard.
Are there things you’d like to change?
For you never know how much time is left,
That can still be rearranged.

If we could just slow down enough
To consider what’s true and real
And always try to understand
The way other people feel.

And be less quick to anger,
And show appreciation more
And love the people in our lives
Like we’ve never loved before.

If we treat each other with respect,
And more often wear a smile
Remembering that this special dash
Might only last a little while.

So, when your eulogy is being read
With your life’s actions to rehash
Would you be proud of the things they say
About how you spent your dash?
 

Leaving Tomorrow

I can't believe we're leaving for home tomorrow.  I still haven't finished updating this blog with everything we've been doing.  Today we took a long walk.  We decided to go a different way so we walked over the Linton Bridge and walked up Federal Hwy (Rt 1) to Atlantic Ave then came back along A1A, 4 1/2 miles.  The last .2 were killers, we both thought at the same time, that a ride would be nice, but no such luck.  

We went back to Sonzi for lunch, the Sesame Encrusted Tuna, after a big wind and rain storm.  We had to eat inside because it was wet out, but at least they didn't have their air conditioning on when we got there because it gets freezing.  This was the same meal we had when Michael was here.  It came with a side of wasabi, fresh ginger and soy sauce.  The waiter also gave us some ginger soy sauce that they serve with the tuna appetizer.

Delray Beach Pictures

There were so many pictures that I took when we were in Delray Beach that I liked, it was hard to choose which to post so I'm probably listing too many but so what, it's for me anyway.

This is where we stayed at Doris and Michael's apartment.

The night before they went back to Boston we all went out to dinner

This bird caught his dinner

We drove up to Worth Ave in Palm Beach and walked around.  I loved this plant wall.

These little lizards with curly tails were all over the place in Delray Beach

This was a self portrait

These was a sunrise, we were up early every day 
and the following are just some other peaceful pics

This is where my mother lived in Boca Raton at Edgewater Pointe Estates.. The place looked the same but across the street they put in a shopping center.

Myles Piano Recital

Happy Birthday Michael

My cousin Michael came to visit yesterday.  Today is his birthday so it was perfect timing.  I was able to give him a "hard copy" birthday card, hand delivered.  We sat around and caught up and then drove into town and walked around so I could pick out the restaurant I wanted to eat at.  Everyone said the choice had to be mine because I'm the picky one.  
Before we left I thought I wanted to go to Sazio because they have Sesame Encrusted Tuna Salad on their menu.  But of course I had to check out all the menus on the Avenue before I could make my final decision.  And the final decision was Sazio.  We had to wait a bit for an outside table.  There was one with a couple of guys who had already paid their bill and were just chatting and finishing their drinks.  It was worth the short wait because it was in a perfect people watching spot.  Larry and I got the Tuna Salad and believe it or not, I forgot to take a picture of it.  It was beautiful and delicious with a side of fresh ginger, wasabi and soy sauce.  Michael got the portobello, chicken sandwich special with mozzarella cheese.  The portions were huge and we managed to eat every last drop.

We stopped at Publix on the way home and got the individual serving Jolly Time popcorn 10/$10, the same sale as when we were here last year a long with all the other things we needed.  I love Publix buy one get one free deals.  They actually have things I want.

After we were back, Michael and I took a short walk to check out the park that leads to the beach a few blocks down from here.  Before you knew it, it was cocktail time and then it was 8:00 PM.

After Michael left, we watched The Tourist that we had taken out on DVD from Blockbusters at Publix.