Tuesday 12 January 2010

A Wintery Morning




A Winter Morning

It is a wonderful thing to think of the roots and bulbs waiting their hour under all this whiteness. Underneath the snow, the earth is already pregnant with potential life. Beneath the winding sheet of the snow lies all the glory of summer: the blue steeples of delphinium, the crimson peonies, the lupins of May and the roses of June. It is no shroud of death that wraps the silent garden, but a warm and feathery eiderdown, devised by Nature for her own secret purposes.
~from "The Glory of the Garden"

I thought it would be fun to make a slide show this morning so you could all see how very beautiful it has been here this past week. It is beginning to melt now and will soon disappear, but for a short time we have been treated to a beautiful winter wonderland. It may not happen again for another 50 years, but for now it has been captured to live on eternally in my camera's eye.

I hope you'll forgive me for being short but sweet this morning. I overslept and have to go to the Nurse to have my second ear unplugged before work. I hope it is not a repeat of what I experienced last week as I don't relish feeling so ill again. Nevermind, what must be done, must be done!

Here's a quick and easy entree that I pinched from my Rachael Ray 30 minute meals book! It is quick, easy and very delicious. We both really enjoyed this, but then Rachael Ray's dishes are always very tasty!! The recipe calls for a red pepper. I only had a yellow one, which worked very well and tasted fantastic. It would have been prettier with the red, but a rose by any other name and all. This was very, very good. I will make it again, and often I think!



*Cashew Chicken*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

Quick, easy and scrumdiddlyumptious! What more could you want!

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast meat,
diced into bite sized pieces
1 TBS sesame oil
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
2 TBS rice wine, rice vinegar or dry sherry
a healthy pinch of crushed dried red chili pepper
black pepper to taste

To finish:
1 TBS sesame oil
1 large carrot, peeled and diced into small cubes
1 red pepper, seeded and diced
7 ounces water chestnuts, drained and sliced
3 heaping TBS of hoisin sauce
a couple of handfuls of roasted cashew nuts
3 green spring onions, sliced diagonally



Mix the chicken together with the sesame oil, garlic, rice wine, crushed red chili pepper and black pepper. Allow to sit while you prepare the vegetables.

Once you have everything ready to go, heat the second amount of sesame oil in a large nonstick skillet, over high heat. Once it is hot add the carrot. Stir fry for 2 to 3 minutes, then add the chicken along with it's marinade and cook, stirring, for another 3 to 4 minutes. Add the bell pepper and chestnuts. Cook and stir for anoher 2 minutes. Add the hoisin sauce and heat through, mixing everything together well. Empty the chicken mixture out onto a large heated plate. Scatter with the cashews and spring onions. Serve immediately. We like to have fried rice with this.

To make an easy egg fried rice, take a couple of eggs and beat them together. Heat a knob of butter in a skillet. Once it begins to foam, stir in the eggs and scramble them quickly. Dump in a couple of envelopes of ready cooked wok rice (Uncle Ben's makes a nice oriental flavoured one), a small tin of bean sprouts (well drained) and a handful of thawed frozen peas. Cook and stir, until all are heated through. I always add a TBS of soy sauce as well and sometimes some chopped spring onion. Quick, easy and delicious!



There's a delicious Cherry and Sultana Loaf with Fresh Lime and Ginger lurking about over on The English Kitchen this morning! It's a very tasty day!



17 comments:

  1. Morning Marie, Praying that things go better with the ear syringing this morning...Pity you have to go back into work, so hope up there you don;t have too much to do.
    Our snow is going quite quickly now and although they say more overnight tomight I am thinking it will maybe be rain that drops on us....fingers crossed...then the bible study here can start as we missed last week.
    Love Sybil xx

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  2. Morning Marie,

    I certainly hope that this week is far less stressful than last time. Hugs and prayers.

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  3. Ah! no problems this morning Marie getting into your posting.OH! I loved the film show of the little boy and Jess how I love to watch children enjoying themseves he-he,Jess looks to be loving having a playmate LOL!!and oh! your cottage is to die for it looks wonderful.A dream as you are often saying.I pray your ear feels much better on return from the docs,with no pain or ill feeling whatsoever.Safe Journeys.The food looks good too Marie yummmy.Take Care God Bless Kath xx

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  4. Good Morning, dear Marie! Hope very much all goes well with your ear procedure this morning--fingers crossed! Love the look of your cottage dusted with snow--very dreamy. :o) SO much enjoyed your start of the week post from yesterday--sorry so slow to visit... we're still getting back on track here post holidays--LOL! Oh, LOVE your new doll! Yummy recipe today...hubby would love. ;o) Happy Day, dear friend... hope we get to catch up soon! LOVE YOU HEAPS ((BIG HUGS))

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  5. Our snow is a mucky mess now, what's left of it. The rain set in and our winter wonderland is fast becoming a distant memory. So thanks for the lovely slideshow - keeps everything fresh in mind and that's impportant when, as you say, it could be many years before it happens again. Dare we anticipated an equally unusual hot summer?

    love, Angie, xx

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  6. Morning Marie! Loved the slide show, so pretty! We got up in the 30s here yesterday, still have the snow, but at least the roads are finally clear - mostly. Sent you a useful package today - measuring cups and some bits and bobs! Hope it helps! If someone else has sent you some already, please pass mine on to someone you know would use them. Much love - Raquel XO

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  7. Good morning, Marie! Hope your ear treatment worked well--sure your done by now! Hope you're feeling right as rain and not uncomfortable like last week...

    Your slide show was so beautiful--loved all the photos of your winter wonderland!

    Such a yummy cashew chicken recipe, too--love that Rachel Ray!

    Thanks for all your sweet words to me--you always warm my heart with your kindness! Hope your day is cozy! Much love to you today, my friend!

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  8. The world is always beautiful in winter white!

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  9. I love the frozen rose in your slide show. How great for your Jess to have a boy to play with in the snow. Boys and dogs seem to go together. All that energy they have. Hope your day goes well. Stay warm!

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  10. I love you for your prayers dear one.

    xoxo

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  11. I hope your appointment went OK this morning. Blessings to you. The slide show is fab. Love the look of the snow from my nice arm and cozy office. Burr! We got out of Germany's flughaffen just the day before the plane ran off the runway on the ice. Whew! Different A/P but, no matter. I am glad to be home and on our non-icy terra firma!

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  12. I LOVE THE RECIPES AND I REALLY LOVED THE SLIDE SHOW..WHAT A DARLING HOME YOU HAVE MY DEAR..JUST CUTE AS IT CAN BE! COME SAY HI :D

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  13. Beautiful pictures Marie! We don't get much snow here so I'll just enjoy yours. I hope everything went well with your ear. I know that's miserable. blessings, marlene

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  14. So glad I this found you! can't wait to try this recipe!

    www.anniebakes.blogspot.com

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  15. Oh I get so hungry everytime I visit your blog :)

    Hope you feel better!

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  16. beautiful pictures, i almost felt like i was there! :)

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