Google Search on iPad

I am using the new Google search app to post this directly from my iPad. Writing within the Blogger app that is available through the app page. This is pretty cool. I hope that Apple doesn't mess with it. It is great for writing up the post. It is not so great for pictures and links, but if you want to quickly write something down and finish it up later

Poach Chicken, Quinoa and Spinach

Today for supper made poach chicken breasts with quinoa and spinach, ended up really tasty.  Take two boneless, skinless chicken breast and cut them up into pieces about the size of chicken nuggets.  Put into bowl and sprinkle with a little salt.   Take some plain yogurt and mix in some Red Thai Curry paste.  Add that mixture to the chicken, stir and let marinade for several hours.  Melt a stick of butter (no this is not low fat) in a pan or electric fryer at low temperature.  If you use the electric fryer set the temperature to simmer.  Once the butter is melted and the chicken a piece at a time, let the extra marinade sauce drip off and discard.  Cover and let cook until done about 30-40 minutes check occasionally.  Once the chicken is done remove to a bowl.  Then in the same pan add the spinach and let cook until done.  Remove the spinach from the pan and let it drain in a sieve.  Once the spinach is drained of the excess liquid add to the chicken. Then add the cooked quinoa and mix everything together.  Add a little red pepper and salt and pepper to taste and serve.  

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breast
• 1/2 cup plain yogurt
• 1-2 Tb of Thai red curry paste
• 1 whole stick of butter
• Quinoa (cooked according to the package)
• salt, pepper and red pepper to taste 

The measurements are approximations, I don't actually measure things when I cooked, so you may have to experiment a bit.   

Choices

The series The Walking Dead has gotten me to think about choices. In the series the characters are forced almost daily to make life and death choices . Most of the choices we make are much simpler what restaurant we are going to go to for diner. Are we going to go with the iPhone or Android. None of these choices are earthshaking. If we make the other choice in most cases it will make little difference. What happens though when the choices you make do make a difference. In 2002 Joe Paterno, head football coach at Penn State was told of sexual misconduct involving a former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky and a young boy. Joe Paterno at that point had three choices do nothing, reported to the incident to Athletic Director Tim Curley or report it to the police. He chose to report it to the Athletic Director , who then reported it to President Spanier. No one along the line chose to report the incident to the police.

They were not the only ones, reports of incidents go back to 1994. In 1998 an incident was reported to the police but was never prosecuted. Janitors working at Penn State were witness to another incident at the gym of Sandusky possible sexually assaulting a young boy in 2000. Again it was not reported to the police. All along the way men both in power and not made choices to either ignore what they saw or heard altogether or relabeled them as something acceptable such as horsing around. Had one of these men made a different choice at any time, they might have saved another boy from being a victim.  How many choices have we avoided making because they make us feel uncomfortable or it seems easier to ignore them.  The right choice isn't always the easiest one, but making it is the difference between being able to look one self in the mirror and not.

Honey that Isn't Honey

Lifehacker published an article that said that most honey sold in the U.S. shouldn't be defined as real honey. That it has been filtered so much that all the pollen has been removed. Pollen that may have health benifits and makes the honey traceable back to the sources. Which is extremely helpful in case of a contamination outbreak.   This makes me so frustrated.  Pure honey is such a great product. Why is there this need to improve on something that doesn't need improving.  Of course part of the problem is the consumer, who has been trained not to like something unless it looks perfect.  We need to try to remember that good looking food isn't always good tasting food in fact the opposite maybe true.  

The Fighter Dies

Late last evening Joe Frazier died.  For those of you who barely know who Joe Frazier is, he was a fighter, who his biggest skill was his determination.  He wouldn't stop moving forward.  His battles against Muhammed Ali were epic.  They were 15 rounds of war in a ring.  Frazier was the opposite of Ali in every way.  Ali was flash and speed, hit and get out.  Frazier was move forward and slug it out.  Outside the ring Ali was the consummate communicator, while Frazier was awkward and I suspect found talking in front of the media the thing he liked the least.  There is a song from that era by Simon and Garfunkel called The Boxer and the last verse describes Joe Frazier perfectly

In the clearing stands a boxer 
And a fighter by his trade 
And he carries the reminders 
Of ev'ry glove that layed him down 
Or cut him till he cried out 
In his anger and his shame 
"I am leaving, I am leaving" 
But the fighter still remains 

Baking and the Wandering Mind

I made oat bran muffins on Saturday.  The muffins aren't a disaster, but they aren't ready for a muffin bake-off either.  The biggest problem is they didn't rise, because I used two eggs beaten, when the recipe called for two egg whites beaten.  Which I didn't realize until the first egg was already in the bowl.  I have to admit despite their look they taste really good, although next time I make them I am going to add some raisins and maybe I'll actually follow the recipe.

I have to admit I am a good cook, but I don't have the right mind set for baking.  I tend not to measure things, which is ok when you are cooking, not so much when you are baking.  With cooking it is ok to change ingredients and to experiment, with baking unless you know what you are doing, experimenting can lead to a disaster. My husband who is an engineer is a good baker.  He is very precise with his measurements and he follows recipes exactly, That is how he thinks, he concentrates on one task at a time and the more precise directions you give him the better he likes it.  On the other hand I am the type of person who likes to do three things at the same time. I want general directions and then let me take over from there.  The more precise the directions the more I feel boxed in and the more I am likely to rebel