Happy St. Patrick's Day

Today is St. Patrick's day and I will be celebrating by playing at a seniors home this afternoon. There will be some young people dancing but they are not able to dance for the hour so we will play before they dance and then finish out the hour.
We are going out for dinner this evening. Hope that the place is not Irish or we will have a problem. I am not going to make a point of mentioning it since it seems to be a treat and that is important.
Happy St. Paddy's day to all of you.

Watch what you post!

I am usually careful about the e-mails that I forward. It seems that I was not as careful recently. There is always a kernel of truth in most things but sometimes it is what it doesn't say that is just as important as what is said. I will be careful and not pass on items that are of a political nature. There are so many nuances that you can not get in a simple one page e-mail.
This is much like the news bits that are broadcast. The sound bite can not capture the essence of what has happened or been said.
I should have thought things through and will in the future.

Habits for success

It is interesting how some people believe that being spontaneous is the answer to how to do things. I believe that as much routine as possible is best. Now, I do believe that some spontaneity is good but not planning anything is bad. I realize that sometimes, life gets in the way and it is not possible to keep up habits. Sometimes, it is necessary to deal with the road blocks and problems that life puts in the way but as much routine as possible is good for success. I read an article about Michael Phelps and how routine was part of his habits from what he would eat to warm-ups and focus on the race in his case. The interesting part of the article points out that it was tiny moments of success that were important and that they built up a bigger picture of success.
Will be interesting to see if these routines hold up at the London Olympics this summer.
In the meantime, I will try to continue to build my routines and decide what successes I want in my life.

Joanne Fluke

I love to read and mystery novels are what I read the most. One of the reasons is that I like to support a local book store, Sleuth of Baker Street. I do not want independent bookstores to go under. Would be sad to see them disappear.
Just finished another book. My March break will be spent reading among other things. No practises at night so I will have some down time. The book that I finished was Cinnamon Roll Murder by Joanne Fluke. I have read all the books in the series, 15 of them. Enjoyed them all and one of these days I will be tempted to cook or bake some of the recipes included in the book. I will cook hers or the recipes included in Diane Mott Davidson's books. Must check if she has a book coming out.
Interesting, Joanne is not like Danielle Steele, she is a natural which is reflected in her characters. Looking forward to the next release.
Joanne Fluke (born around 1943 in Swanville, Minnesota) is a female author who writes the Hannah Swensen Mysteries for Kensington Mysteries. Her mystery series is widely popular, and she is a national bestselling author; so far there are fifteen books published in the series. Her series has been known for its recipes, its comedy, and endings. Her books contain romance as well.
She currently lives in southern California.
Happy reading.

Outdoors

As I progress in years, I begin to understand what is important. My last posting mentioned the birds that I had seen on my walk with a friend. At a performance that evening, I mentioned the birds to the audience of seniors. To my surprise at the end of the performance one of the audience members came up and mentioned how much she enjoyed my talk about the outdoors and birds. It seems that some of the seniors do not get out much and she made a point telling me this fact. The concierge seemed to think that they get out but not to the real outdoors and not all of them. It is something that they miss and are pleased when someone can come and tell them about it. Second hand is better than nothing. Something that I must remember in my presentations.
When visiting with someone who is not able to get out much, talk about the outdoors. Help them see the rest of the world.

Birds are coming back!

Yesterday, I went for a walk in Ajax along the lake with a friend. We do this a couple times a year and it was lovely. Cold but the walk was good and we walked for an hour which was good. If it was warmer we might have managed more but that was enough.
While on our walk, we saw hundreds of Canada Geese near the parking lot to the park. We have seen a few before but this was an amazing number and as we drove out more arrived. Who could believe the sight?
While walking, we came across a number of robins. I am used to seeing a few at a time but we counted at least 10. They seemed to be gathering. Also Juncos which are lovely little birds. Love to see them. Reminds me, maybe I should put some seed out for the birds. One lone dove, hope that the birds finds a mate soon or maybe the mate was nearby and I just did not notice.
Guess, this is a sign that spring is coming. Told the seniors where we played last night about the birds and one of the seniors commented that she enjoyed hearing about the birds. Nice to know that people listen to what I say and enjoy it.

Orange Cornmeal Cake

This is a recipe that I tried yesterday. Since I have posted it, it was a success. Enjoy.

Orange Cornmeal Cake

For an even crunchier topping, you can use sanding sugar in place of granulated sugar in Step 3 (I have no idea what sanding sugar and have never seen it.) Look for it in the baking section of your grocery store.

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
Yield: serves 8

Ingredients:
½ cup olive, plus more for pan
2 large eggs
1 cup sugar, plus 1/3 cup for topping
½ cup dry white wine (or orange juice) –used orange juice and it was excellent
1/ ¼ cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
½ cup yellow cornmeal
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
Finely grated zest of 1 orange
Orange segments, for serving (optional)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Brush bottom and sides of an 8-inch round cake pan with oil, line bottom with a round of wax or parchment paper, and brush with oil.
In a large bowl, whisk together oil, eggs, 1 cup sugar, and wine (orange juice) until smooth. Add flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt and orange zest, whisk gently to combine.
Pour batter into prepared pan; sprinkle top evenly with remaining 1/3 cup sugar (topping will be thick). Bake until cake begins to pull away from sides of pan and a tester inserted in center comes out clean. 35 to 40 minutes.
Cool in pan 20 minutes. Run a knife around edge of cake; invert cake gently onto a plate, and remove parchment paper. Reinvert cake onto a rack to cool completely. Serve with orange segments, if desired.

Made: March 3, 2012- excellent
(Martha Stewart recipe)