Mexican Naan Pizza

 
I like it when I find easy recipes that are a bit different.  So when I found one for making pizza on naan bread, I decided to try it.  Indian and Mexican in one meal!  This can be made on a grill, but we don't have one, so I used the oven.  Some people like to cook outside when it is hot, but in my opinion, when it is hot, crank up the A/C and stay in where it is cool!  Lee doesn't like to use the grill, so I used an oven, but if you like to grill, use that!

 

Mexican Naan Pizza

2 pieces naan (found in the bakery/deli section of most grocery stores)
1/3 cup prepared salsa
1/2 cup shredded, roasted chicken  also from the deli, cooked whole, or a hunk of chicken breast
1/2 cup Mexican blend shredded cheese
1 ear of cooked corn, with the kernels cut off  This can also be grilled.  See above, no grill.
 thinly sliced onion

1/3 cup black beans, if you have them  I didn't.

diced avocado
chopped fresh cilantro

 

Heat the oven to 400°.  Warm the naan for about 3 minutes.  While it is warming, drain the salsa.

 

Remove the naan and spread the salsa on each piece.  Distribute the chicken, cheese, onions, corn and black beans, if you were smart enough to have them.

Return the naan to the oven.  Cook for about 7 minutes, or until the cheese is all melted. 

 

Remove and garnish with the avocado and cilantro.

  

Putting On The Ritz

When you speak of putting on the Ritz, it is meant for doing things up right, unless you are Mel Brooks.  In Young Frankenstein, it doesn't quite work out that way.  So let's go with the Fred Astaire version.

 

Because that is the version we experienced when Lee took Trista and me to the Ritz in London for tea.  He got reservations even before we left for England.  Then we discovered there was a dress code, so I had time to pack the right clothes.  Imagine how horrible it would be to be denied entrance!

After they seat you at your reserved table, you are presented with a tea menu, so each guest can choose their choice of a pot of tea.  While you wait, you get a glass of champagne.  I guess that is because if you are dressed up, someone better get you an alcoholic beverage.  Works for me!

After you get your pot of tea, with cream and lumps of sugar, they present you with a tiered serving dish with many perfectly cut tea sandwiches. 

Afternoon Tea Menus

We are proud to present the menu for our world famous afternoon tea.

SANDWICH SELECTION

Ham with Grain Mustard Mayonnaise on Brioche Bread

Cheddar Cheese with Chutney on Tomato Bread

Cucumber with Cream Cheese, Dill and Chives on Granary Bread

Chicken Breast with Parsley Cream on Malt Bread

Scottish Smoked Salmon with Lemon Butter on Sourdough Bread

Egg Mayonnaise with Chopped Shallots and Watercress on White Bread

SCONES AND PASTRIES

Freshly Baked Raisin and Plain Scones with Cornish Clotted Cream and Strawberry Preserve.

Assortment of British Tea, Pastries and Cakes.

TEA SELECTION

Ritz Royal English	Darjeeling First Flush	Assam Tippy Orthodox	Ceylon Orange Pekoe
Oolong Formosa	Earl Grey Imperial	Rose Congou	Lapsang Souchong
Russian Caravan	Dragon Pearls	Chun Mee	Moroccan Mint
Rooibos Red Tea	Passion Fruit and Orange	Camomile Flowers	Lemon Verbena
The Ritz Chai	Chocolate Mint Rooibos

 

 

 Mind you, each diner gets one of each sandwich, along with a selection of pastries and chocolates.  Delightful.  We shared the pastries to enjoy each one, not realizing we could have asked for more.  No matter.  They were rich and delicious and we would have been stuffed and unable to KEEP GOING.  We had the pride of America to uphold.

 

They even had custom made chocolates on the desserts.

 

Does the queen have it better than this?

Once we devoured the entirety of the selection, they came back and brought more sandwiches.  But then they told us there was more to come, so we slowed our ravenous eating.  Well, we ate slowly and with a raised pinky, so polite, but slow and steady can consume a lot of food!

Then they brought warm scones with clotted cream and jam.  We ate all of those.  Then they brought more.  Pastries and cakes. 

 

By this time we realized, that as long as we kept eating, they would keep bringing.  But we were stuffed.  Now that hunger has been satiated, we were able to look around.  We had a pianist playing music.  A gorgeous room and many other diners likewise enjoying themselves.

These pictures were taken with my iPhone in an attempt to be discrete.  Not sure I accomplished that, but they aren't up to my camera.  But who wants to look like a gawking tourist???

There was a young lady treating her grandmother to afternoon tea at the Ritz behind us.  Very sweet.  And there were many other guests, none of whom appeared to be famous in any way.  Sadly, they were looking at us and realizing the same thing.

Notwithstanding the lack of famous people, if was a delightful meal in the company of family and nothing is better than that.



 

Orphan X

If you love Lee Child's Jack Reacher, and I do, then you will love Orphan X.  Orphan X is sort of like the scary child of Jack Reacher and Jason Bourne.  And it is "The most exciting thriller since the Bourne Identity." says Robert Crais, another fabulous writer.

The premise is that some deep, dark U.S. agency has been scooping up orphans that were growing up under awful circumstances and training them to be killers.  They are given lessons in multiple forms of combat and spy craft.   The story of how they train them to ignore pain is hard to read.  Each Orphan is given a letter for a code name. They are raised and trained by a handler and then given tasks, generally assassinations, to handle when they are deemed ready.

At one point Orphan X, known as Evan Smoak, balks at an assignment and then HE is targeted for assassination.  Thanks to the training he has received, he is able to avoid being killed and sets out to use the skills he has learned to protect those unable to protect themselves. Unlike Jack Reacher, who finds trouble by accident when traveling the country, Evan actively seeks it out.   After rescuing total strangers, Evan gives them a number to call and they are asked to give it out to ONE other person that may need his services.  That is how they repay Orphan X.

He may go months between his self-appointed tasks and he uses this time to keep up his skills.  He has many safe houses, cars and weapons, one of which is using computers to verify that he is truly needed and that it is a job that he feels is worth doing.

But the agency (whatever that is) has still targeted him and they are closing in on his assassination.

This is a fast paced story and really good.  It has already been optioned for a movie and Hurwitz has written the screenplay.  This is one movie I want to watch.

Unless they cast Tom Cruise, like they did for the Jack Reacher character.  Then I will pass.

But I WILL read the next book.  Because there  is another one called The Nowhere Man, but it won't be released until next year.

I can't wait!

Buxton, Bakewell and Haddon Hall

We recently visited our daughter in Nottingham.  We love the town of Nottingham, but when we visit we like to take the opportunity to see other places in England as well.  This time we went to Buxton.  Buxton has festivals all summer long and we were able to see several musical venues. 

 

Buxton is similar to Bath, in that it is a spa town where people used to go to "take the waters".  It has mineral waters that were thought to be a cure for many medical problems.  This fountain was chock-o-block full of Buxton mineral water.  I can't speak about any health benefits as I didn't drink any.  Opportunity missed.

 

They even have a crescent, a row of ornate houses build in a semi-circle, similar to the one in Bath, but much smaller and less famous.  The one in Buxton is currently under construction, but I can tell it is going to be fabulous. 

 

Lee and I love to walk around in small English towns and eat at local establishments and pubs.  Buxton is great for this, it even has pubs that allow dogs.  Too bad RJ had to stay home.  He is afraid to try air travel.  I assume.

Buxton was great, but we had to take a side trip to Bakewell.  Bakewell's main claim to fame is the Bakewell tarts that were invented there, by accident according to legend.  We went to several places that claimed to be the first to make the tarts or puddings based on the tart.  We enjoyed trying every manifestation of Bakewell items, especially because Trista has a nut butter business in the UK. 

 

You can find her on Facebook.  Her first flavor is Bakewell Butter and is becoming quite popular in England.  She has sold them at outdoor markets, and they are in some gourmet food shops.  She has also made small ones for wedding favors and has just started up an online store.  Sadly, it is currently available only in the UK, but I hope she can expand worldwide!  Look out Jif and Skippy!

 

While visiting Buxton, we took a side trip to Haddon Hall.  It is an historic Fortified Medieval Manor House.  It looks like a castle, but it never functioned as a castle.  It has been left in the original form for centuries.  It has also  been in the same family since it was built.  Because it hasn't been lived in as a home, much of the castle is still original. 

This is some of the detail of the chapel.

 

We didn't know this when we decided to take the trip, but we discovered that Haddon Hall was used in the filming of Princess Bride.  Now it seems like this was a theme vacation, as the Cliffs Of Moher that we visited in Ireland were also used for the movie.  They were the Cliffs of Insanity. 

Isn't this where Humperdink stood to introduce Buttercup?

 

 

Remember when Inigo Montoya fought Count Rugen in the castle while attempting to rescue Buttercup? (You killed my father.  Prepare to die.)  They used the room in Haddon Hall (below) for that also.  When filming in a castle, use all the rooms you can. 

 

I love to check out the architectural detail in old buildings.

 

Check out the gutters on Haddon Hall. 

 

I love them.

 

Check out these windows.  There are three different types of leaded windows in just this one section.  I make stained glass, so I was very interested.

 

Can you see that the panels in these windows aren't flat?  They are raised in a wavy pattern.  I imagine they were made over a wooden form, built for this purpose.

 

 

In addition to being a Manor House that has survived as original for the last few centuries, the grounds are spectacular.

 

 

 
 
 There are fabulous terraced gardens, views of the river and stupendous places for holding a wedding.

 

 

 

.  In fact, they do allow weddings at Haddon Hall and it is probably good that we weren't aware of this when either of our daughter's were married. 

 

They grew up on Princess Bride and can quote many lines from the movie. 

 

I imagine this would be a pricey location to have a wedding, but worth it if money is no object.  Sadly for them, money is an object.

 

 

Cliffs Of Moher

We recently returned from a trip to the UK.  We spent most of our time in England, but took a few days to visit Ireland.  Neither of us had ever been there and it seemed a worthwhile side trip.

We did the usual things a tourist does in Dublin, pub visits, and a tour of the Guinness Storehouse.  That was a fun self-guided tour.  I'm not a huge Guinness fan, but the tour was fun!

 

We also took a day- long bus tour across Ireland, making several stops. The main stop was the Cliffs of Moher.  They are steep imposing cliffs on the western shore of Ireland.  Perhaps you remember them from the Princess Bride?   They were used for the Cliffs Of Insanity  This was where Fezzik climbed the rope pulling Buttercup and her captors with him.  No one would be able to follow them.  It was INCONCEIVABLE!

 

The day was overcast and rainy, but the rain stopped for us each time we stepped out of the bus to see something new.  Is this the luck of the Irish?  Not sure.

 

We stopped a bit farther on.  There were acres and miles of nothing but stone with small outcroppings of grass.  The guide told us that the British had cut down all the trees.  All of them.  The winds eroded the soil and this is what is left.  They are trying to reforest areas that were clear cut, but without much soil that will be a daunting task.

 

I saw this stone formation and wonder what caused it.  It looks like the teeth of a front loader on a tractor, but it is stone.

 

We enjoyed our brief overview of Ireland and vacationing with Trista.  Lee especially enjoyed the weather.    Imagine, cool and overcast in JULY!  He may be planning to move.

Avocado Cream Cheese Sandwiches.

My daughter in law recently told me that my son used to bring her avocado and cream cheese sandwiches.  I had never heard of such a thing and was instantly intrigued.

Because avocado and cream cheese are both delicious, but rather bland, I decided to use some spices to add some flavor.  I used King's Hawaiian Sweet Rolls to make sliders, but any bread would do.

Avocado Cream Cheese Sandwiches

2-4 oz. cream cheese
1 large ripe avocado
1 teaspoon lime juice, to  add flavor and prevent browning
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon curry
1/2 teaspoon cumin
6 King's Hawaiian Sweet Rolls, or bread of choice.  Toast if desired.  I desired.


 

Stir the cream cheese until softened and smooth.  Add the avocado and lime juice and mash them together.

 

Add the spices you like.  Don't overwhelm the flavor.  I used cumin and curry.  You could also use the flavored cream cheese in the deli case.  In this case, you shouldn't add any additional spices or flavoring

 

Spread a generous portion on the bread of choice.  Serve with fruit and iced tea for a light summer meal.

Peach Tea

In the summer I drink a lot of iced tea.  I also like Snapple iced tea, particularly the Peach Tea.  In order to keep my sugar consumption lower, I tend to drink the diet version.

My aunts like to make iced tea by boiling water and adding a bunch of tea bags.  After they steep, they pour the concentrated tea over a pitcher filled with ice.  It is probably better to let the hot tea cool a bit before you add it to the icy pitcher.  I do, because I don't want the rapid change in temperature to crack the glass pitcher.

Snapple is delicious, but can get expensive.  It is currently peach season, so I bought a bunch and sacrificed a few to the iced tea I wanted to make.

The first batch of iced tea, I used one peach.  The tea was insufficiently peachy.  The second batch I made was with two peaches and was peachier.  Because I was trying to keep this low calorie, in order to eat high calorie other stuff, I used Splenda to sweeten the tea.

Peach Tea

3 cups water
2 peaches, roughly chopped.
6 bags Red Rose Tea, or tea of your choice
1/2 cup Splenda
ice



Chop the peaches up in medium chunks.  Don't bother to peel them, but remove the pit. 

 

Place the peaches in a large sauce pan and add the water.  Bring it to a boil.  Boil for about 15 minutes or until very soft.

 

Remove the pan from the heat and add the tea bags.  Let them steep for about 4 minutes.  You don't want to do this too long.  Tea can become bitter, so remove and toss the tea bags.

Add the Splenda or regular sugar to taste.  I used a heaping 1/2 cup of Splenda.  I like sweet tea, but not syrup tea as is frequently served in the south.  Stir to combine.  Add a few ice cubes to cool the tea a bit more.

 

Pour the peach tea mixture through a strainer into a pitcher filled with ice.  Use the back of a spoon to mash the softened peaches and get as much flavor into the tea as you can.  Discard the remainder of peach and peel.

 


Stir to chill and serve over ice.  Or place in the refrigerator for a treat all day long.