>  ML> to visit here again. I am fully expecting to prove her
>  ML> wrong, but seven years is a long time.
> Besides, I need another Cubs baseball cap.  There's a guy here from
Chicago and
> he watched them when he was a kid, so I gave him one of mine.  Now I
only have
> one for here, gonna need another for Lake Havasu.  Which means, of
course, we
> need to go to another one of their spring training games next year.  I
guess
> I'll have to drink more of that hoppy Tecate or Modelo stuff that they
foist
> off on us gringos, instead of my beloved swill.  Maybe you can find
something
> new that's blue to eat.

Well, we should do that anyway. I'm not so sure
that Alaska Airlines would charge you extra to
carry your Cubs hat between the two places, though.
What's your going south schedule going to be?

Speaking of blue, my pulse went down to 37, low
even for me, and the thing didn't even think of
pacing. Back in the good old days, I was normally 
in the 50s, and the word was down to 40 was no 
cause for concern, but that was when I was hiking 
etc. and in shape. But 37 for an old guy with
heart failure - I asked the doc, and apparently
if it doesn't last too long it's no gigantic big
deal - the machine is programmed to accept wide 
variations in heart rate from me, just so the 
EKG looks credible. Interesting that there's a  
Biotronik rep dedicated to the facility (a cute
girl, of course), and she wanders around with a
briefcase attached to this tricorder thing, and
she puts the tricorder up to me and can download
up to 2 months' worth of vitals at one go. I
think the briefcase is just for show (as is the
girl). The instant interpretation of the data
indicated that the machine was working according
to spec, and apparently so was my heart, so 
whatever. Today I'm back up to 62, well within my 
comfort zone - life felt pretty odd at 37.

> Food thoughts...
> Cooking some ham n' beans.  Did mushroom chicken the other day. 
Nothing to eat
> around here so I made a quesadilla for breakfast yesterday.  I guess it's
> almost burrito time.

You should come over for a change - our diet has
been tri-tip, steak, tri-tip, steak, rinse, repeat.
I did make chili, but I have it for lunch and snacks
- she won't eat it.

> I went into Costco the other day (what with Sam's closed), all (and I
mean all)
> they had for burger meat was 87-13.  Maybe I could buy that and mix it
with the
> 73-27 that WallyWorld sells.

87 is not fit for burgers. Problem with the 73 these
days is that instead of being chuck, it tends to be 
90 shin cut with floor sweeping fat. I eat it rare
anyway, figuring that if my own pound of flesh
hasn't killed me off, a few butchershop pathogens
won't either.

> I have sort of a quandry.  The Sam's here are all gone, leaving only
Costco, if
> I were to join, for the 7 months I'm here.  In Lake Havasu, for 5
months there,
> the Sam's is 65 miles up the road, the nearest Costco is a 200+ mile,
3+ hours,
> drive. Both being one way naturally.

So factor in the gas at $3 a gallon and the cost
of your time, and it may make sense to shop at
the local overpriced joints. Save the big purchases
for when you go to Phoenix for spring training.

Dragon and phoenix longevity noodles
categories: Aussie, Chinese, pasta, main
servings: 6

500 g fresh Hokkien noodles
6 prawns, peeled and deveined
2 boneless chicken thighs, sliced
1 Tb cornflour
1/4 c vegetable oil
2 sl ginger, bruised
3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1/2 sm carrot, in very thin matchsticks
6 thin spring onions, 5 cm lengths 
- (including dark green parts)
1 c beansprouts
1/2 ts cornflour mixed with 
2 Tb cold water
1/4 c coriander leaves, to serve
2 Tb fried shallots, to serve
h - Sauce
1 c chicken stock
2 Tb dark soy sauce
1/4 c oyster sauce
1/4 ts ground white pepper

Pour warm water over the noodles and loosen 
them with your fingers. Drain and set aside. 

Cut through the back of the prawns almost 
all the way through and press down on the 
cut to butterfly. Toss the prawns and 
chicken thighs in the cornflour.

Combine the ingredients for the sauce in a 
separate bowl.

Heat the oil in a wok over high heat and 
add the ginger and garlic, frying until 
fragrant. Add the chicken and prawns and 
fry for 2 min. Add the carrot and spring 
onion and toss for 1 min. Add the sauce 
ingredients and bring to the boil. Add 
the noodles and toss to coat in the sauce. 
Allow to cook 3 mins until the noodles are 
tender. Stir through the beansprouts and 
the cornflour mixture until the sauce 
thickens. Remove from the heat and serve 
scattered with the coriander and shallots.

Adam Liaw, goodfood.com.au