Journal Prompt 20 Sep 2019 ~ If He Can, I Can

Today's Writing Prompt: If He Can, I Can

Martin Luther King, Jr. is today known as a powerful orator, an incredibly brave man, and a civil rights icon - one of the greatest Americans in history. What's less well known is that he tried to commit suicide as a pre-teen, got a C in public speaking, and was arrested almost 30 times.

If none of the stumbles and failures in your life mattered, what could you go on to accomplish? What would you reach for? Be remembered for?

Mediterranean Stuffed Chicken

This chicken dish was a hit with everyone at our last family dinner.

I used much more stuffing than this photo and my chicken was really juicy as a result.  This photo was borrowed from Google since my chicken dish disappeared before I could take a photo . . . LOL.

2 chicken breasts, skinned and boned

2 tbsp Dijon mustard

4 cups spinach

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup cubed feta cheese

1 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Butterfly the chicken.  Coat the inside of the chicken breasts with mustard.

Chop the spinach and place it in a mixing bowl.  Combine spinach with half the olive oil, the vinegar, feta cheese, chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, sea salt, and pepper.  Mix well.  Place the spinach mixture on top of one breast and then place the other chicken breast on top.   Coat liberally with the remaining olive oil.

Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees F for 40 minutes, basting once.  Let sit for 5 minutes.  Cut in half to serve.

Serves 2.

From The $10 Gourmet by Ken Kostick

A Taste of Canada ~ Cherry Blossom

I can't remember the last time I saw a Cherry Blossom in a store but now that I've seen this I know I must find one.  They are so delicious.  I will let you know if I find them.

From Wikipedia:

Cherry Blossom is a type of chocolate confection in Canada produced by Hershey Canada Inc. Hershey used to produce it at its Canadian manufacturing facility in Smiths Falls, Ontario.

The candy had been manufactured since the 1890s by the Walter M. Lowney Company of Canada which was taken over by Hershey as a subsidiary brand.  The facility in Smiths Falls, north-east of Kingston, Ontario is now closed.

It consists of a maraschino cherry and cherry syrup surrounded by a mixture of chocolate, shredded coconut and roasted peanut pieces. The candy is sold in an individually wrapped 45-gram portion, packaged in a close-fitting cardboard box.

Contrary to common myth, filling is not injected inside the chocolate. The cherry candy is coated with an enzyme, invertase, that breaks down the solid into a liquid over the next 1 to 2 weeks.

Cauliflower Soup with Blue Cheese

I had to borrow this photo from Google.  I wish I'd taken a photo of the soup I made.

3 tbsp olive oil

1 small red onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

4 cups cauliflower florets

4 cups vegetable stock

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1/2 tsp dried basil

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1 cup light cream or whipping cream

1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese

1 apple, thinly sliced

Heat the oil in a medium-sized pot.  Saute the onion and garlic for 3-4 minutes, or until the onions are translucent.

Add all the other ingredients, except the cream, blue cheese and apple.  Bring to a boil then reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes

Using a hand blender, puree the soup until smooth.  Gently stir in the cream and blue cheese.  Garnish with apple slices.

Note:  Not everyone was excited by the idea of blue cheese in their soup so I left it out and put a bowl of crumbled blue cheese on the table with the apple slices.  This soup is really delicious on its own, but truly amazing when you add the apple and blue cheese.

From:  The $10 Gourmet by Ken Kostick

Journal Prompt 19 Sep 2019 ~ Alliteration

Today's Writing Prompt: Alliteration

This is an amusing little prompt.  Using the first letter of your middle name write as many words as possible in 1 minute that start with that letter and that describe you.

Able
Artistic
Affable
Angry
Abnormal
Absorbed
Addicted
Addlepated
Abrupt
Absurd
Agitated
Admiring
Adviser

Journal Prompt 18 Sep 2019 ~ Special

Today's Writing Prompt: Special

What makes you different and unique? How do you stand out from the crowd?

I don't know that I do stand out from the crowd. When I am with the crowd it is usually because we have so much in common. Now when I'm alone and doing the stuff that only I find entertaining, that's when I would stand out in the crowd . . . if there were one.

Day 13 of our East Coast Trip ~ Quebec City to Gananoque, ON

Except for one stop to pick up a letterbox and the occasional Tim Hortons stop, today was spent driving from Quebec City to Gananoque ON.  Translation . . . I dozed and Hal drove.

We had planned on supper at our hotel, Ramada by Wyndham Gananoque Provincial Inn (how's that for a confusing long name?), but the restaurant served only Indian and Pakistani cuisine.  There was not even a sandwich or burger on the menu . . . sigh . . . I would have been fine but you know Hal wasn't having it.

Supper was at a nearby Chinese Buffet (Hal even had a Chinese beer called Tsingtao) and then we settled into our room for the evening.  We have Sportsnet so we are watching the Raptors game.

Looking forward to being home tomorrow.