The Nauti-loo and my frozen mailbox and spam

Have a great New Year's Eve if you are celebrating. We usually don't do much.

I have been getting so many spam comments this past month, thankful to have comment moderation turned on.

 Our community mailbox was frozen shut for 3 days.  There was a lot of rain then it snowed Dec 23rd.  I tried spraying some homemade lock de-icer then I realized the lock was fine. The key turned fine but the box wouldn't open.   Spraying all around the box did not seem to help.  Fortunately all was fine when we tried again Dec 26th.   

Homemade lock deicer if you care  involves mixing 2 parts Isopropyl alcohol and 1 part water.

 Scientists at the University of Waterloo have determined the optimal design for a splash-free urinal: a tall, slender porcelain structure with curves reminiscent of a nautilus shell, playfully dubbed the "Nauti-loo."

An article similar to this recently made the front pages of The Toronto Star.  Apparently 30 degrees is the optimal angle.

 Can you spot the urinal design with the optimal splash-reducing angle? It's the one second from right.

Friday Art - Great Niece

 Welcome to Friday Art.  Showing this ACEO (2 1/2" x 3 1/2") piece that I did of one of my great nieces.

Linking to Nicole's Friday Face Off and Gillena's Art For Fun Friday.

Rain's Thursday Art and Dinner Date - New Year's Eve Party and Stuffed Peppers

Welcome to Rain's Thursday Art and Dinner Date! 

Here is my New Year's Eve Party piece

For the dinner date I am showing my stuffed peppers. I used ricotta cheese, shredded cheddar cheese, fresh oregano leaves, onion powder, garlic powder, and breakfast sausages (cooked and chopped up) for the stuffing mix. Baked at 400F for 25 minutes. They were delicious.

 

Wednesday Memes

 

Robot Cleaner

 I snapped this photo in Walmart the other day, it was a robot cleaner sweeping the floors.  There goes some other jobs.

Bunny tracks?

 I woke up one morning to see these animal tracks by a window.  Do you think they are bunny tracks?

Hope you had a wonderful Christmas Day!

The Best Present

 The Best Present is time together because nobody knows how much of it remains.

Wishing you a wonderful Christmas Day!  We are planning to have a quiet one.

Linking to Gillena's 12 days of Christmas.

A trip of a lifetime

My brother, his wife and kids are on the trip of a lifetime. They were in Bali, Indonesia as part of their cruise and loved it. Sharing some of their photos here. Apparently the weather is very humid, not everyone's cup of tea but they love it there. My sister-in-law noted there is a one lane road throughout the island people just pull aside to let others by. 

 Have a wonderful Christmas Eve!

GWK Statue

Rice Terraces

 

Elephant Rides

One lane roads

Friday Art - Rose and Doggie

 Welcome to my Friday Art.  I did a rose for you today, an ACEO (2 1/2" x 3 1/2"). Linking to Gillena's Art For Fun Fridays.

 And here is a seasonal face for Nicole's Friday Face Off.  It is an older piece.

Rain's Thursday Art and Dinner Date - A Christmas Scene and a Kale Salad

Welcome to Rain's Thursday Art and Dinner Date.

 The art theme is 'A Christmas Scene'. Here is my ACEO (2 1/2" x 3 1/2").

 For the Dinner date, I am sharing my kale salad.

 Back in the summer my friend S had dropped off some fresh kale from her sister's farm along with some of S's garden tomatoes.  I chopped the kale leaves into small bits along with celery, carrots, red pepper and the cherry tomatoes.  I made a dressing of olive oil, onion powder, garlic powder, oregano leaves, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes and lemon juice.  It was so refreshing and good.

Wednesday Memes

 

Canned pumpkin soup

 I had half a 15 oz can of pumpkin leftover from a recipe I was making.  I decided to make a soup with the rest of the can.  

I sauteed a chopped onion, 2 cloves of minced garlic, added a chopped overripe tomato, a teaspoon of salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes, 1 tsp of sugar, a teaspoon of dried thyme.  Then I added a can of condensed chicken stock, 3 cups of water, the pumpkin.  I boiled for 40 minutes until the flavours melded together and created a delicious soup!

Chick Pea Pasta

 I found this chickpea pasta at Costco, they were doing a sample tasting and it tasted good.  So I tried it at home with some meat pasta to accompany it.  I prepared it as you would regular pasta.  The instructions said to boil for 8-9 minutes, but 20 minutes made it more tender to my taste.  It is good for diabetics.  Chick peas can be eaten in moderation, not freely like a lettuce salad.

White Amarillis

 My friend brought me this white amarillis as a gift last week.  I will look forward to the blooms!  

I gave her an art calendar with my art that I had printed up for her.  She noticed it had US holidays on it as I use Shutterfly, a US company.  I had never noticed after years of printing up my own.  It is easily edited, so I should be more observant next time!

The perfect baked salmon

 I discovered the perfect way to bake salmon and indeed other fish is not to overcook it.  Sort of like making the perfect steak.  This large fillet was done at 375F for 15 minutes until it is just cooked through.

I first marinate the fillet with olive oil, salt, pepper, dried tarragon, onion powder, garlic powder and vinegar.

Friday Art - Seasonal Pieces

This is a piece I did when Covid was just starting up.

Here is an unmasked face for the season.  It is also an older piece.

Linking to Nicole's Friday Face Off and Gillena's Art For Fun Friday.

 

Rain's Thursday Art and Dinner Date - Gift Wrap and Egg Drop Soup

Welcome to Rain's Thursday Art and Dinner Date!

Here is my piece for the 'Gift Wrap' theme.  It is an ACEO (2 1/2" x 3 1/2").

 For the dinner date, this is my egg drop soup, it is so easy and delicious. 

Ingredients:

 2 eggs

 1 tbs light soy sauce

2-3 green onions diced

 3 c low sodium chicken stock 

 In a medium saucepan bring the chicken stock to a boil, add the soy sauce. In a bowl, whisk the eggs and green onions with a fork. Drizzle this into the stock and stir until the egg is cooked. It will float on top.  Enjoy!

 

Wednesday Memes

 

Joys of Aging, Not

 I had a follow up doctor  last week.  So my bone density test revealed I am borderline for osteoporosis, he will retest me in a year.  It could be age related.  He told me to take 2000 iu vitamin D daily and to drink lots of milk.  He advises against drinking coke soft drinks, unsure how that relates to cholesterol but it can't hurt for me to stop I guess.   As far as blood test results it seems my cholesterol is a bit high.  I never had a problem with that before.  Maybe I can eat less shrimp and shellfish, I am thinking.  Red meat is another culprit.

DNA horrors

We are having unseasonable weather, mild and not a lot of snow this year.

 My sisters and I were having a discussion on DNA testing.  One sister mentioned a few horrors some of her friends have experienced.  One discovered a full sibling out there.  Her mom changes the subject and he is not answering her messages to connect.  Another friend discovered her dad is not her real dad.  She found out she had unknowingly met her real dad but he is now deceased.  Another sister said the father of  a friend of  had donated to a sperm bank, and discovered a number of half siblings out there.

There is good in DNA science in that they have managed to find rapist killers 30 years back sometimes.

My friend was telling me she saw on TV that they isolated a kind gene in dogs that was not present in wolves.  It explains their lovable trusting nature.  She said unfortunately that gene does not work well in humans.  They isolated the gene in a human boy.  It turns out he was overly trusting and kind to the point of it not being normal.  You simply can't trust everyone blindly.  I found this article that seems to relate to my friend's information.

Roasted Leg of Lamb

 I got this leg of lamb roast on sale.  I set about roasting it as follows:

3 1/2 -4 lb leg of lamb

5 cloves of garlic

2 tbs lemon juice

1-2 tsp dried rosemary

1 tbs Dijon Mustard

2 tbs olive oil

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

Preheat oven 375F

I opened up my roast and cut it into a slab a couple of inches thick.  Lay it flat on a baking dish lined with foil and then parchment paper.

Marinate roast with all the ingredients  Bake until the internal temperature is 135-140F.  It took me 55 minutes.  Rest and slice into 1/4" thick slices.

As a guide, I used this link.

I was happy with the results.

Irish Colcannon

 Jan posted about a cabbage and potato mash recently and I found this recipe for an Irish Colcannon to try.  It is delicious!  Here is what I did:

Ingredients

3 medium potatoes cut into chunks

3 cooked breakfast sausages or bacon slices chopped

2 tbs butter for the mashed potatoes

1/4 c milk

3-4 tbs olive oil for sauteing cabbage and onions

1/4 cabbage cut into small pieces

1 onion chopped

salt

pepper

Instructions

Boil potato chunks in lightly salted water for about 15 minutes until tender. Drain the potatoes when cooked, add butter, salt, pepper to taste and mash.

  Meanwhile cut the cooked sausage or bacon into chunks and the cabbage into small pieces.  Saute the onion in olive oil, add sausage or bacon pieces, then add the cabbage and continue sauteing until cooked, 10-15 minutes.  season the cabbage mix  with salt and pepper.  

Mix this into the potato mash.

Repeating myself, it is delicious!