Scenic Sunday ~ October 31, 2010

Autumn.. the year's last, loveliest smile.

William C. Bryant

I'm nostalgic for these beautiful, sunny days of fall/autumn in Vancouver, Canada.

Click here for more beautiful scenery from around the world.

Today's Sky over Vancouver ~ Skywatch Friday, October 29, 2010

Going around under an umbrella interferes with one's looking up at the sky.

Jerzy Kosinski

It was a rainy day today though not as wet as it could have been :-)

Join in for more beautiful sky photos from around the world by clicking here.

Treating the Knees

The greatest wealth is health.  ~Virgil

Since the summer I've had regular pain in one or both of my knees. It got to the point where I thought I had better see my doctor and get a referral to a physiotherapist because the problem has been interfering with my ability to do things and to take regular exercise.

Last week, I started on my physiotherapy which includes a four-pronged approach to treatment:

1. Manual stimulation
2. Physical exercise, including stretching and strengthening
3. Ultrasound, and
4. Interferential Treatment.

In manual stimulation the therapist is using his hands and fingers to manipulate the muscles around my knees. Among other things, I understand this helps to break up scar tissue, relieve pain and stimulate lymphatic flow.

Then the therapist usually gives me ultrasound treatment. This is basically sound energy which is directed at my knee muscles and the sound energy causes vibration at the molecular level which then turns into heat energy. It doesn't hurt at all and in fact, I don't feel much of anything except for the cooling gel that is applied before the ultrasound wand is placed around my knee area.

Positive benefits of ultrasound can include:

* Increased circulation and metabolism
* Breaking up and softening scar tissue
* Reduced inflammation or swelling
* Diminished muscle spasm
* Relief of acute and chronic pain
* Enhanced natural healing processes

Once the ultrasound treatment is complete, the therapist then puts me on a stationary bike. He told me "motion is lotion" and that I need to get on one as often as possible. Since it can be expensive to go to the gym so often, I purchased one second hand. I'm very happy I have it as I am finding it makes my other aching body parts feel better. I have had it now for only a couple of days and I am noticing a benefit. When I go to the physiotherapist's office, I get on their stationary bike for up to 15 minutes as part of my therapy before he teaches me 3 new stretching and strengthening exercises.

I was fortunate to find this on Craigslist without waiting too long. I think I got a good deal and it was one of the nicest ones on offer. The young man I bought it from even delivered as he lived in my neighbourhood. I suspect his wife was happy to get rid of it and he doesn't need it anymore so we are all happy.

It even has a fan (see the top) as well as the usual time, distance and work out programs.

After I'm done with the exercises, the physiotherapist administers Interferential Current (IFC) treatment.  The interferential current machine transmits electrical currents at a high frequency (4000 Hz) waveform. This technique enables the electrical current to penetrate deep into the tissues.

The electrical current is applied to the affected area using four electrodes. In some situations, the Therapist may choose to include a massaging suction effect to the electrodes. The four electrodes deliver two currents into the tissues. Where the two currents meet, they actually 'interfere' with each other hence the name 'interferential.' These interfering currents allow the delivery of a relatively high stimulus to the underlying tissues in a comfortable manner.

During treatment the patient will feel a tingling or 'pins and needles' sensation and often also muscular contractions. This sensation may continue for a brief period following treatment as well.

The electrical stimulation of the patient’s tissues results in a number of physiological effects that have therapeutic value such as reducing pain by blocking the transmission of the pain signals (pain gate mechanism) or by stimulating the release of pain reducing endorphins, reducing swelling, improving circulation, and muscle relaxation. (http://www.mkburnabyphysio.com)

I've had 3 complete sessions with the physiotherapist.  My knees though still weak and sore, are much better than they were a week ago. I have another two appointments booked.  Hopefully after that I can improve and maintain myself with the stretching and strengthening exercises and the stationary bike regime.  It has been rather busy of late with the various medical and dental appointments amongst all the other necessary things one has to do in life.

I'm leaving town soon and I really need to be in the best of shape for my travels. In other long awaited news, my mom's application for her preferred critical car home was accepted today. Now we are waiting for the actual bed and my hope is she will be happily and safely settled early in the new year if all goes well.

Friendship

The glory of friendship is not the outstretched hand, nor the kindly smile, nor the joy of companionship; it is the spiritual inspiration that comes to one when he discovers that someone else believes in him and is willing to trust him with his friendship.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

I stumbled upon this wonderful quote over at Hope Filled Magazine

Sunset over English Bay, Vancouver, Canada, Summer 2009

 

Apple Pie

Welcome to my new follower, Diane from Food, Fun and Life in the Charente. 

So glad to have you as my 50th follower ;-)

Don't get fancy. Have you cooked an apple pie? You don't know what you did wrong? Do this: Take two or three apples. Put them on a table. Study them.

Paul Prudhomme

Is there anything as good and comforting and joyful as a simple, home made apple pie?  

I still don't have a pie pan so I made do with a spring form cake pan. I used this one because it is much smaller than the enamel dish I used last time I made pie. I think I'm going to have to invest in a pie plate if I'm going to continue to practise making pies. Overall though this pie crust was much flakier than the last one I made since I didn't have to roll the dough out so thin.

I took the pie dough recipe from the internet.


Pie Filling

1 double pie crust recipe 

5 to 6 cups apples, peeled and thinly sliced
1/2 to 3/4 cup sugar (to your taste and depends on the sweetness of the apples)
3 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
dash salt
2 tablespoons cold butter

Preheat the oven to 425ºF.

Lay 1/2 the pastry, rolled out to about 1/8" thickness, in the bottom of the pie pan and press it in gently to lay flat in the pan. Leave the excess crust hanging over the edges for now.

Place peeled, sliced apples in a bowl. Mix together the sugar, flour, salt and cinnamon. Pour over sliced apples and mix. Fill the pie pan with the apples and pat down with a spoon. Dot the filling with pieces of butter.

Moisten the lip of the pie pan with water. Place the top layer of rolled out crust over the filling, making sure crust reaches outer edges of the pie pan all around. Seal the edge and flute all around (see notes below for how to flute a pie edge).

Take a fork and prick the pie top in several places to create vents for steam to escape. I cut out some vent holes instead of pricking the dough. Bake for 50 minutes, until pastry is golden and the filling is bubbling through the vents. 

Let cool a bit before cutting to allow the filling to settle.

Makes 1 - 9" pie.

It was delicious.

In order to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe.

Carl Sagan

Blue Buttons ~ Blue Monday, October 25, 2010

 "Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things."

Robert Brault

One day I was sorting all my buttons by colour. I found this set of blues and near blues. Now I wonder what I'll use them for as I have buttons in several colours! I could make some crafts with them I guess as I don't make enough garments that will require so many buttons.  Whatever I decide to do with them, I know the buttons in various colours including these blue ones, are ready to be used.

At first blush you may wonder what my selected quotation has to do with buttons.  It just strikes me that life is made up of so many little things and that we need to enjoy the journey that we call life. This journey that is made up of many little steps and little events and some big ones now and then. Some people have trouble enjoying what they feel are the mundane things of life. Things like sorting buttons or organizing the desk, the household, the car, etc. I feel fortunate to find JOY 
not just in the doing of these things but in the contentedness that comes from having accomplished these small goals.

How do you feel about these mundane tasks like sorting buttons? Do you have a lot of buttons too? How do you organize them?  What do you do with them?

Join Smiling Sally and friends here for more Blue Monday.

What's for Dinner? Matoke!

As you worship plantain, remember to worship banana as well.

Ghanaian Proverb

I sampled a dish made with plantains when I was in Kenya. I liked it very much but had a hard time locating a recipe that would replicate the particular dish I sampled.

Today I came across this recipe that reminded me very much of the dish even though it is called "Ugandan Matoke" so I decided to try it out.  I found the recipe at www.food.com, although I've also seen it on a website featuring recipes from the Congo. See here if interested.  It stands to reason that this dish would be cooked in several different countries since these countries are not terribly far from one another and they all grow and eat plantains.

This is what the cook who provided the recipe on www.food.com had to say about Matoke:

Matoke (or Matooke) refer to the plantain or plantain banana in Uganda, where plantains are a staple crop. In Uganda, plantain bananas are often wrapped in plantain leaves and steamed until tender. This dish can be made with or without the meat.

So without further ado, here is a recipe that will easily feed 4-6 people even with the recipe modifications I've noted at the bottom of this post.

 * 8 -10 plantains
* 1 lemon, juice of (optional)
* oil (for frying)
* 1 onion, chopped
* 2 -3 tomatoes, chopped (or canned whole tomatoes, drained)
* 1 green bell pepper, chopped
* 3 -4 garlic cloves, crushed
* 1 chili pepper, chopped (optional)
* salt or coriander or cayenne pepper (to taste) or red pepper (to taste)
* 1 lb ground beef (optional) or 1 lb beef stew meat, cut in bite-sized pieces (optional)
* 1 cup beef broth (optional) or 1 cup beef stock (optional)


Directions:

Prep Time: 20 mins

Total Time: 1 1/2 hrs

1. Peel the plantains, cut into cubes, sprinkle with lemon juice, and set aside.
2. Heat oil in a large pan. Fry the onion, tomatoes, green pepper, hot pepper, and garlic together. Add spices to taste. Add meat or broth. Continue frying and stirring until the meat is nearly done or until the broth is starting to boil.
3. Reduce heat. Add plantains. Cover and simmer over low heat until plantains are tender and meat is done. Serve matoke (matooke, if you prefer) hot.

Recipe from http://www.food.com/


My modifications:

I used 6 large plantains rather than 8-10. I cut up part of a roast for stew meat (and froze the other part for roasting another time). I used a large can of whole tomatoes which I forgot to drain first.  I also added beef broth to the mix. Altogether this was more liquid than called for in the recipe but it  worked out okay.  My cast iron pan is very large and there is no lid large enough to cover it so enough liquid evaporated during the cooking process.

I could have cooked the plantains longer but I was afraid they might turn to mush as they were a bit too ripened when I bought them. They were yellow in colour rather than green.  This means they were also a little softer and a little sweeter.  The sweetness didn't pose a problem.  I added some hot chili and coriander to the mix so that tempered the sweetness.  Next time I will use my heavy dutch oven to cook this dish.  That way everything will be thoroughly cooked, heated and tenderized.  Overall though the dish was very tasty!  See the finished dish in the photos below.

I enjoyed  making and eating this dish and will definitely make it again. I was so hungry when I made it for dinner last night (Saturday) that I couldn't wait until everything was cooked to perfection so I intend to cook it longer in the dutch oven next time.

If you decide to make this dish please let me (us) know how it works out!