Saturday, October 4, 2008

Dictionaries Anyone? Manitoulin Pix

A week or two ago, on Glenda Larke's blog, we were discussing dictionaries and whether people use books or the internet. Friday morning I heard a report that the Oxford English Dictionary in Canada had laid off all their employees because of the internet so, I guess the answer is more and more people are using the net instead of the written word. I personally do both depending on where I am when I want to get the information. I feel sorry for the people who lose their jobs, but these days, technology is where its at and where you should be headed. I used to have a set of Encyclopaedia Britannica then I got the same thing on a CD I could play on my computer, now I don't even use that any more - I just go on the net. However, I still prefer to read a book rather than to read the same thing electronically although I do that a lot too. I can put several books on my Palm at one time so I always have something with me if I need to kill time. As you may have gathered, I read a lot. Of the 6 books I told you about the other day, I have 2 1/2 left, but then an author friend has sent me two more of his books, so I have those left to read when I finish this series. I always have to pause a few hours between books to drag myself, sometimes kicking and screaming, from the world I have been reading about and get ready for a different world. Here are more Manitoulin pix for Gynie. These are two shots from the Bridal Veil Falls. This is the main falls with the secondary falls above. This one is Gore Bay which I only had on video and the next one is Gore Bay leading out - I was going to say to sea, but I guess I mean out to lake!! Then we have a still shot of Providence Bay where we spent our last few days. Matt took several more which are similar to the ones I already posted. One being the stone man. I don't know if I mentioned that you can actually see these all over the island, just little rough ones actually built by the Indians. Apparently they indicate where food is hidden. I think this one was built by a house owner nearby as an ornament. And just to finish off, nature's own paintbrush uses orange too Gynie. This sunset was taken from our balcony at home. Finally, I have a recipe from Food and Drink again, the picture of which is shown on the front cover. A recently deceased friend loved pears and Gorgonzola cheese, this recipe would, I think, have appealed to her taste as well. Poached Pears with Highland Blue Cheese on Bitter Greens Serves 4 2 C water 1 C dry white wine 1/2 C sugar 1/2 tsp whole black peppercorns 1/4 tsp ground cardamom 4 pears 4 Tbs extra virgin olive oil 4 slices bacon cut into 1/2 inch pieces 1 tsp Dijon mustard 2 Tbs white wine vinegar 1/4 C red onion, finely diced 12 dates, pitted and coarsely chopped 8 C bitter greens i.e. escarole, endive, radicchio or frisée lettuce Salt and freshly ground pepper 1/2 C Highland Blue cheese (or any good blue cheese available) 1/4 C pecans, toasted and coarsely chopped (walnuts if pecans not available) In a large saucepan bring water, wine, sugar, peppercorns and cardamom to the boil, reduce and simmer. Peel pears and halve lengthwise. With a melon baller or small spoon core the halves making a cavity for the cheese. Place halves flat side down in the poaching liquid. Cover and simmer until knife tender, more or less 25 minutes depending on ripeness of pears. Once cooked, remove from poaching liquid and let cool in fridge. In a small sauté pan, heat 1 Tbs olive oil over medium heat, add bacon and sauté until golden, about 5 minutes. Transfer to kitchen paper to drain. Pour drippings from pan into a large bowl, scraping up any browned bits from bottom of pan and adding them as well. To the bowl, add the rest of the olive oil, Dijon mustanrd and vinegar, whisk together. Add to the dressing the onions, dates, bacon pieces, pecans and greens. Toss well with vinaigrette and season generously with salt and pepper. Taste a leaf and adjust, adding more vinegar, oil, salt or pepper if necessary. Place 1 Tbs chees into each cavity of the pear halves. Divide greens between four plates, sprinkle with pecans, top with 2 pear halves and serve. Have a great weekend.

9 comments:

  1. The stone man is cute. :)

    I prefer having a book in my hands to read, being able to turn the pages and flick back and forth, it's just not the same reading from a screen (not even a handheld screen). It's an art object thang.

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  2. I do agree with you when it comes to novel reading, but for information, I don't have any preference, very often its quicker on the internet

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  3. The stone men are called Inukshuk. For more information check "The Inuit Inukshuk". Inuit are Eskimos from northern Canada.

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  4. Thanks, Anonymous, for that information, I looked them up and discovered they can be used to indicate many things depending on how they are built. The odd thing is, you and others say they are an Inuit item whereas in Manitoulin they are built by the Indians.

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  5. Would you believe when we were in that area ourselves, I built one near the water. If you travel along the Trans Canada highway in northern Ontario, they are quite abundant. People like them because they are cute & just build them for fun. I do not actually know if the Indians used them or not. We should look that up! Gay

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  6. Well the Indians are supposed to have done so in Manitoulin, maybe they copied it from the Inuit. I don't remember them up north, but maybe I didn't know about them then. I didn't even know you had one in your front yard, did you build that yourself?

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  7. Now I come to think of it, I do vaguely remember seeing the Inukshuk in your front yard. I just didn't know what it was.

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  8. Hello Jo !
    i'm using both, online dictionary when i need to hurry, and also at work. But paper dictionaries are inescapable : they are secure, and they are complete, for every day and for my work dealing with medicines.

    Thanks for the lovely pictures from manitoulin, it makes me want to travel ^^

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