More Gourmet du Village Recipes

This week I decided it was time to try some more recipes from my Gourmet Village Comfort Food cookbook. I prepared three different dishes on three different days, and enjoyed them all. Arthur liked the Texas Beef Chili, which is both meaty and bean-less. I forgot to pick up a jalapeno pepper when grocery shopping, which would have given it a bit more kick. I used St. Pauli lager for the beer, and two tablespoons of my homemade chili pepper blend in place of the spices they listed. I was desperate to try something new for fish on Friday, so I made the Coquille Saint-Jacques. I am always a bit afraid of fish, but the sauce was rich and tasty. I paid $3/lb extra for frozen scallops at the store so that I could get a USA product, instead of scallops out of Japan. It was a small fortune, but I was able to get exactly the weight I needed at Coborn's meat counter. Had to leave out the mushrooms, and used all scallops instead of adding the two ounces of mixed frozen seafood, which I probably would not have like anyway. Next time I will cut the scallops into smaller pieces so that they will heat better, and probably put a slice of bread on top before adding the cheese. Finally, I made the Clafoutis with Fresh Fruit, substituting gluten free flour for the all-purpose for our dinner guest. I chose apples for the fruit, but will make it again sometime when we have fresh raspberries in the house. The small quantities of these recipes have me scrambling for just the right size baking dishes. I must have given my smallest Corelle casserole dish to Anne, since I cannot find it anywhere. Either that, or it is still buried under something else in the cupboard.

On Saturday I was able to attend the Cornerstone Health Team Summit, curtesy of  Dave and Heidi Carlstedt. I purchased Dr. Brouse' book, Build a Better You for the fantastic bargain price of $15. Dr. Brouse stated that colon cancer, breast cancer and lung cancer can all be treated with Vitamin D3. Two other uses which stood out for me were reducing cholesterol. and for autoimmune diseases. He suggested that we have our levels checked four times a year to determine our personal seasonal dips, and to try to maintain levels between 75 and 100. What an inexpensive, practical cure.

I finished Jan Karon's A New Song, so I am taking a break from the Mittford series until I can go thrift store shopping again. I am sure to find the next one somewhere. I did do an internet search for Esther Bollick's Orange Marmalade Cake. Yes, I found it. I think I will look for a copy of the Mittford Cookbook before I try it.

I finished all of my testing with ENT. Doc Hanson says I am unbalanced -- ummm,  I mean that I have balance issues --, so I am back to physical therapy again. Still having dizziness whenever I move to certain positions, or when I rub around my eyes. PT says yes, I should probably keep my neurology appointment since it takes so long to get in, just to make sure there is nothing else going on. At the very least, I should give my GP a call before canceling that appointment.