I love this.
I did try to upload it as a post but that's something else different on this site now and it just flew off to my media. So I have just pasted it in.
I hope that, if anyone tries it, they also enjoy it.
(I don't do metric, by the way.)

STUFFED PEPPERS

4 MEDIUM PEPPERS. 2 green and 2 red is nice, 4 red is cheerful.
16 FLUID OUNCES BOILING WATER
8 FLUID OUNCES LONG GRAIN WHITE RICE
12 OUNCES LAMB OR BEEF in small (1/2 inch) cubes
2 MEDIUM ONIONS peeled and chopped
2 CLOVE GARLIC finely chopped
TIN OF CHOPPED TOMATOES
4 TEASPOONS TOMATO PUREE
2 TABLESPOONS CURRANTS
½ TEASPOON CINNAMON
½ TEASPOON MARJORAM
2 DESSERTSPOONS PINE NUTS (optional)
OLIVE OIL
SALT
MILLED BLACK PEPPER

Cut the bumpy top and stalk off the peppers taking as little as possible.
Remove seeds and white pith from inside – I find a cheap teaspoon works well on the pith.
Rinse the peppers inside and out and stand with the hole downwards to drain.
Rinse the currants well and leave to drain.

Heat a little of the oil and stir in the rice so it is coated.
Add the water and a little salt.
Simmer until the fluid has been absorbed then remove from heat and put aside.

Fry onions and garlic in a little oil for a couple of minutes until soft but not brown.
Add the meat, nuts and currants.
Season with a little salt and the pepper.
Add the herbs and half the tomatoes.
Simmer gently for a few minutes until combined.
Remove from the heat.
Add the rice and mix well, adding a LITTLE more of the tomatoes if necessary for it to be moist.

Stand the peppers upwards in a deep casserole dish – it should be a tight enough fit to keep them upright but not packed.
Divide mixture between peppers pushing it down well to get in as much as possible.
Put the remainder of the mixture and tomatoes, if any, around them.

Put a teaspoon of tomato puree on top of each pepper.
Cook for 45/50 minutes at 190c.

I also put a blob of mozzarella on top of the puree sometimes.

I just read something that reminded me of an event a long time ago. Odd how things stick in the mind quietly and then pop out years later.

I was at a friend's party and it had degenerated into one of those wordy dos. Being the era it was, inevitably the conversation eventually took a political turn.

One person (and I'd only just met her!) asked me how I voted. Surprised, I told her. And she said...

'You should be ashamed of yourself.'

Now isn't that stupendously arrogant? Not to mention impertinent, smug, offensive and a variety of other unpleasant things. Takes the breath away, doesn't it?

I didn't follow up at the time (which is maybe why it rankles.) I don't do argument: they always seem to become heated and I can't handle that. It brings back vivid memories of being bullied, like I am back 'in the zone.' Probably for good reason - the behaviour is very similar.

Of course, thinking I'll do it and carrying through are different things...

Because of my situation with the loss of my mother last November and the amount of time I now spend alone I find that my usual day-dreaming has taken a different turn. I wonder if this is nostalgia.

At some point I must have decided, sub-consciously, to look after mum. She was so ill after my dad was killed that the shock nearly carried her off within months. In fact, she survived by almost forty years and was quite well in the middle part of that. Somehow, though, she always seemed fragile and sometime along the way my decision made itself.

I could never quite commit myself to anyone else: there was always a little niggle in the back of mind and it's not fair to involve somebody else half heartedly. Anyway, the upshot is that I am now alone and I knew it would come to this eventually - probably. It was my choice.

I find that spans of years have become very interesting, if that's the word. It's true they get shorter as you age! For instance January 1988 seems so recent that I can almost recall in detail what work I was doing but the equivalent 20+ years leading up to that date seems to contain a lifetime of variety and be many times as long.

But I lie in bed comparing groups of years to other groups of years and marvelling, in some cases, how much time has passed since some events. Too much introspection I suppose.

And what do I feel? Sort of 'cut off' is the only way I can describe it. I am still in limbo and assume that it is a manifestation of grief. I have been quite grateful that I did not have a prolonged period of frantic grieving like some people seem to have. I must admit I am still occasionally mugged by bouts of tears but they are short and it is only six months. I am in a bubble.

Another reason for unnecessary thinking is that I am having to consider retirement: due later this year. If mum was around it would be an easy decision because she needed the company having become less able to get out and about. As things are, it is not so simple: I'd like to go in some ways but I'd miss the actual code-cutting (real) part of my job and I'm concerned about finances. I have paid quite a large percentage of salary into a pension plan for decades and, had I been retiring ten years ago, I'm sure I'd have been fine. However my pension fund has suffered like many peoples' in recent years and is now worth much less.

My company does not encourage part-time work or I'd consider that. My working week is 37.5 hours but we mostly do a little more so that we can break off at a convenient point: it is normal in programming. A basic six hour day (with commensurate salary reduction) would be very interesting and I might make up some of the lost money if I could use my pensioner's travel pass! We normally get twenty days annual holiday plus eight public holidays and I can see no way to vary that. Actually, when I say 'normally' I do get four more having earned an extra day for each of my first four years with the company. Four is the maximum. It means I have a lot of leave days: 24 plus 8 in total.

Oh well, time to close. Maybe not so philosophical as originally intended, more of a bumble around.

May you dream the dreams of an innocent.
Goodnight.

In the beginning God covered the earth with broccoli, cauliflower andspinach, with green, yellow and red vegetables of all kinds so Man and Woman would live long and healthy lives.
Then using God's bountiful gifts, Satan created dairy ice cream and Magnums.
And Satan said, 'You want hot fudge with that?
And Man said, 'Yes!'
And Woman said, 'I'll have one too with chocolate chips'.
And lo they gained 10 pounds.

And God created the healthy yoghurt that woman might keep the figure that man found so fair.
And Satan brought forth white flour from the wheat and sugar from the cane and combined them.
And Woman went from size 12 to size 14.

So God said, 'Try my fresh green salad'.
And Satan presented blue cheese dressing and garlic croutons on the side.
And Man and Woman unfastened their belts following the repast.

God then said 'I have sent you healthy vegetables and olive oil in which to cook them'.
And Satan brought forth deep fried coconut king prawns, butter-dipped lobster chunks and chicken fried steak, so big it needed its own platter, and Man's cholesterol went through the roof.

Then God brought forth the potato; naturally low in fat and brimming with potassium and good nutrition.
Then Satan peeled off the healthy skin and sliced the starchy centre into chips and deep-fried them in animal fats adding copious quantities of salt.
And Man put on more pounds.

God then brought forth running shoes so that His children might lose those extra pounds.
And Satan came forth with a cable TV with remote control so Man would not have to toil changing the channels.
And Man and Woman laughed and cried before the flickering light and started wearing stretch jogging suits.

Then God gave lean beef so that Man might consume fewer calories and still satisfy his appetite.
And Satan created McDonalds and the 99p double cheeseburger.
Then Satan said 'You want fries with that?' and Man replied, 'Yes, and super size 'em'.
And Satan said, 'It is good.'
And Man and Woman went into cardiac arrest.

God sighed......... And created quadruple by-pass surgery.
And then .......... Satan chuckled and created the National Health Service.

THE FINAL WORD ON NUTRITION

After an exhaustive review of the research literature, here's the final word on nutrition and health.:
1. Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than us.
2. Mexicans eat a lot of fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than us.
3. Chinese drink little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than us.
4. Italians drink huge amounts of red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than us.
5. Germans drink beer and eat lots of sausages and fats and suffer fewer heart attacks than us.
6. The French eat foie-Gras, full fat cheese and drink red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than us

CONCLUSION: Eat and drink what you like. Speaking English is apparently what kills you.

Who cares, it's funny...
Here endeth the Lesson.

I feel I have to make a proper post instead of simply leaving jokes. It's just rather an effort at the moment, largely because I'm not doing anything interesting.
It is as if I am in one of life's anterooms because I have not yet seized the challenge of moving on. I am waiting for 'something'.
With mum gone I have no good reason to retire: there is nobody to 'look after'. Just as well, really, since the poor dregs of my pension, what remained after the government picked its bones, have probably gone up in flames in the last week or so. Now I have to hope to stay healthy - as healthy as I am currently anyway - so I can keep myself.
I was going to call in at the Cathedral today but could not get in. The Good Friday service would have been underway and there was a goon inside the door stopping a group of people from entering. Tourists, I assume. Shame about us worshippers.
Today I bought a penguin, one of those steam spot-removing things. It doesn't work. I couldn't persuade a single puff of steam out of it even though I went through the procedure twice from scratch. So I'll take it back tomorrow and hope to recover my 19.99.
And the fish and chip shop was closed.
.
.
.
Gripping, isn't it?

I only know the names of two angels: Hark and Harold.--Gregory, 5

Everybody's got it all wrong. Angels don't wear halos anymore. I forget why, but scientists are working on it.--Olive, 9

It's not easy to become an angel! First, you die. Then you go to heaven, and then there's still the flight training to gothrough. And then you got to agree to wear those angel clothes.--Matthew, 9

Angels work for God and watch over kids when God has to go do something else.--Mitchell, 7

My guardian angel helps me with math, but he's not much good for science.--Henry, 8

Angels don't eat, but they drink milk from Holy Cows!!!--Jack, 6

Angels talk all the way while they're flying you up to heaven. The main subject is where you went wrong before you got dead.--Daniel, 9

When an angel gets mad, he takes a deep breath and counts to ten. And when he lets out his breath, somewhere there's a tornado.--Reagan, 10

Angels have a lot to do and they keep very busy. If you lose a tooth, an angel comes in through your window and leaves money under your pillow. Then when it gets cold, angels go north for the winter.--Sara, 6

Angels live in cloud houses made by God and his son, who's a very good carpenter.--Jared, 8

All angels are girls because they gotta wear dresses and boys didn't go for it.--Antonio, 9

My angel is my grandma who died last year. She got a big head start on helping me while she was still down here on earth.--Katelynn, 9

Some of the angels are in charge of helping heal sick animals and pets. And if they don't make the animals get better, they help the child getover it.--Vicki, 8

What I don't get about angels is why, when someone is in love, they shoot arrows at them.--Sarah,7

(ed's note: 'Hark' does it for me! And the flight training.)

As Ben Franklin said:
In wine there is wisdom, in beer there is freedom, in water there is bacteria.

In carefully controlled trials, scientists have demonstrated that if we drink 1 litre of water each day, at the end of the year we have absorbed more than 1 kilo of Escherichia coli (E. Coli) - bacteria found in faeces.

In other words, we are consuming 1 kilo of doodoos.

However, we do NOT run that risk when drinking wine and beer (or spirits) because alcohol has to go through a purification process of boiling, filtering and fermenting.

Remember:
Water = Doodoos,
Wine = Health

Therefore, it's better to drink wine and talk stupid, than to drink water and be full of shit.

There is no need to thank me for this valuable information: I'm doing it as a public service.

Time for a joke or two starting off with...

A blonde was on vacation and driving through Darwin.

She desperately wanted to take home a pair of genuine crocodile shoes but was very reluctant to pay the high prices the local vendors were asking.

After becoming very frustrated with the 'no haggle on prices' attitude of one of the shopkeepers, the blonde shouted at him, "Well then, maybe I'll just go out and catch my own crocodile, so I can get a pair of shoes free."

The shopkeeper said with a sly, knowing smile, "Little lady, just go and give it a try" so she headed out toward the river determined to catch a crocodile.

Later in the day, as the shopkeeper drove home, he pulled over to the side of the bank where he saw the same young woman standing waist deep in the murky water, shotgun in hand.

Just then, he spotted a huge 3 metre croc swimming rapidly toward her. With lightning speed, she took aim, killed the creature and hauled it onto the slimy banks of the river. Lying nearby were 7 more of the dead creatures, all lying on their backs.

The shopkeeper stood on the bank, watching in silent amazement.

The blonde struggled and flipped the Croc onto its back.

Rolling her eyes heavenward and screaming in great frustration, she bellowed .......

"SH!T, SH!T, SH!T, THIS ONE'S BAREFOOT, TOO"!

Had to log in quickly to pass on this link - it's great.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RgL2MKfWTo

I've been meaning to ask for ages and even considered emailing Metro (but they publish letters from regulars only) to get some opinions.

Several times recently, in various letters pages, I have spotted an 'environmental' debate (dozens of them, actually, but that's something else) about conservation. The ones that intrigue me are debating the virtues of turning off the tap whilst brushing one's teeth.

What puzzles me is why the tap would be on in the first place. Any ideas, anyone?