It's a humbling experience

Conditions at 5:30 - 5* and very high wind but NO RAIN!
Expected later - 6*, overcast and more rain this evening

The rain is getting a little tiresome but at least it's not snowing. As someone pointed out to me earlier in the week, if all the rain we received on the weekend had been snow, we'd still be digging out.  I think I'd better speak to the boys in service about my winter tires cause one of these mornings it's going to be snowing.
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We had our fish class last night and it was a great success once again. We cooked fish three different ways. We pan fried it in butter, we cooked it with a bit of vegetables and oil and seasoning in parchment, and we also dipped it in milk, then flour, then beaten egg then crushed potato chips,  drizzled with a bit of butter and baked in the oven. It was delicious. This recipe is one of Brenda's families favorites and it sure was a hit last night. We oven roasted some potato wedges but they could have cooked a little longer. They were cooked but they weren't brown like we would have liked but we didn't have time to leave them in too long. However they still tasted good. We finished off our fish feast with the world's most dangerous chocolate cake. It was a surprise to everyone but it was also well received by the entire group.

The World's Most Dangerous Chocolate Cake 
(I may have posted this one before but I don't have time to go back through and look and some readers may not have seen it)


4 tbsp flour
4 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp cocoa
1 egg
3 tbsp milk
3 tbsp oil
3 tbsp chocolate chips (optional)
A small dash of vanilla extract
1 large coffee mug


Add dry ingredients to mug and mix well
Add the egg and mix thoroughly
Pour in the milk and oil and mix well
Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla extract and mix again
Put your mug in the microwave and cook for about 3 minutes at 1000 watts. The cake will rise over teh top of the mug but don't be alarmed. Allow to cool a little and tip out onto a plate if desired.


Eat! (this can be serve two if you want to feel slightly more virtuous)


And why is this the world's most dangerous chocolate cake? Because we are all now only 5 minutes away from chocolate cake at any time of the day or night!

I'm really impressed with the girls in our class, and last night I was really flattered when some of the girls suggested they would love to come to my house and pay me to teach them cooking classes. I'm really happy to see so much enthusiasm. If we wanted to accomplish anything, it was to ignite that interest. I think we've done it.

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On the podium again!

I'd be a really bad grandma if I didn't say congratulations to James, aka Speedy James, for his third place finish in the speed skating match last weekend. Now he has a bronze medal to add  to the gold one he also has. The picture isn't really great but he's the boy on the right. He was quite happy with his results.
Well done James!

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Recently Lloyd sent me an interesting email with a bit of history trivia that is especially pertinent with tomorrow being Rememberance Day.

If you look at the back right-hand side of a Canadian $10 bill, you will see an old veteran standing at attention near the Ottawa war memorial. His name is Robert Metcalfe and he died last month at the age of 90.

 

 

That he managed to live to that age is rather remarkable, given what happened in the Second World War. Born in England , he was one of the 400,000 members of the British Expeditionary Force sent to the mainland where they found themselves facing the new German warfare technique - the Blitzkrieg.

He was treating a wounded comrade when he was hit in the legs by shrapnel.  

En route to hospital, his ambulance came under fire from a German tank, which then miraculously ceased fire. Evacuated fromDunkirk on HMS Grenade, two of the sister ships with them were sunk.

Recovered, he was sent to allied campaigns in North Africa and Italy . En route his ship was chased by the German battleship Bismarck .

In North Africa he served under General Montgomery against the Desert Fox, Rommel.

Sent into the Italian campaign, he met his future wife, a lieutenant and physiotherapist in a Canadian hospital. They were married in the morning by the mayor of the Italian town, and again in the afternoon by a British padre.

After the war they settled in Chatham where he went into politics and became the warden (chairman) of the county and on his retirement he and his wife moved to Ottawa . At the age of 80 he wrote a book about his experiences.

One day out of the blue he received a call from a government official asking him to go downtown for a photo op. He wasn't told what the photo was for or why they chose him. 'He had no idea he would be on the bill,' his daughter said.

And now you know the story of the old veteran on the $10 bill.