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Wordless Wednesday Wordless Be There 2day

April 2025 - Lisbon Portugal

Found in the various sardine shops around Portugal.

The Fantastic World of the Portuguese Sardine.

In addition to tasting great, and feeding the Portuguese people through the decades, sardines provide a variety of health benefits. Unlike many other fish we eat, sardine feed on plankton, which means they contain lower levels of mercury than other popular seafood.

History

Fall of the Berlin Wall

Internet Officially Born

Jurassic Park

IBM Launches Personal Computer

Friends Premieres

Walkman Invented

         Alfred Sauvy Coins Third World                                       Nuremberg Trials

My Recipe Box - Fish Chowder (Updated)

St. Lawrence Market Toronto

October 2018

I originally found the recipe at Damn Delicious. 

October 2021 - I noticed I had three chowder recipes in my recipe box and my clam chowder had evolved into a fish chowder. This clam chowder, a smoky bacon clam chowder and then a Jamie Oliver smoky haddock corn chowder from my 30 Minutes cookbook. In reality, I now do my own combination of these recipes so I updated this version with my changes.

Sometimes I use bacon and sometimes I don't.

FISH CHOWDER


yield: 6 SERVINGS
prep time: 15 MINUTES
cook time: 30 MINUTES
total time: 45 MINUTES

INGREDIENTS:

4 slices bacon, diced 
2 tablespoons unsalted butter/bacon fat
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, diced
2 stalks of celery, chopped

2 russet potatoes, peeled and diced

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1/2 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning see below to make your own

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour gluten free or corn starch
1 cup milk
1 cup chicken stock or fish stock
2 (6.5-ounce) cans chopped clams, juices reserved
1 bay leaf

1 cup cream

Haddock or whatever fish you have

Shrimp
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves

Optional 

Corn

DIRECTIONS:

Heat a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium high heat with a splash of water. By adding water to the raw bacon you’re less likely to burn it as it gradually releases its fat and browns evenly.
Add bacon and cook until brown and crispy, about 6-8 minutes.
Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate, reserving 1 tablespoon excess fat; set aside.

Add another splash of water to loosen the flavourful bits on the bottom. Melt butter/bacon fat in the stockpot. Add garlic, celery and onion, potatoes and cook, stirring frequently, until onions have become translucent, about 2-3 minutes. Stir in thyme, until fragrant, about 1 minute.

Whisk in flour until lightly browned, about 1 minute. Gradually whisk in milk, chicken/fish stock, clam juice, Old Bay and bay leaf, and cook, whisking constantly, until slightly thickened, about 1-2 minutes. 
Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 12-15 minutes.

Add haddock and shrimp or whatever fish you are using.
Stir in cream and clams until heated through, about 1-2 minutes; season with salt and pepper, to taste. If the soup is too thick, add more stock or cream as needed until desired consistency is reached.
Serve immediately, garnished with bacon and parsley, if desired.

OLD BAY SEASONING - or make your own!!

My Recipe Box - Crispy Baked Haddock

 We both like haddock or halibut. This has become a tried and true recipe for haddock, I started making it this way in 2020.

Recipe adapted from Table for Two

Serves 4

1 pound fresh haddock or cod or halibut

FOR THE TOPPING:
2 tablespoons mayo
4 tablespoons salted butter, room temperature
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 cup panko breadcrumbs gluten free
1 teaspoon dried basil optional
Lemon zest of half a lemon
Juice of half a lemon

INSTRUCTIONS
Directions are for the oven, however, you could use the air fryer.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit and prepare a rimmed baking sheet by spraying lightly with cooking spray. Set aside.

Gently pat dry both sides of the haddock then season with salt. Place on the baking sheet.

In a bowl, mix together all the ingredients for the topping then using your hands, gently and evenly spread it across all the haddock. It doesn't have to be perfect.

Bake for 7 minutes or until the haddock is cooked through and the topping is slightly brown.

#SpikySquare

BeckyB's March Spiky Squares Challenge

March 2019 - Mazatlan Mexico


John snapped this on Sunday as he walked the beach at Torres Mazatlan.

The porcupinefish (Diodon hystrix) is a large, white pufferfish covered with long spines. Divers needn't fear a porcupinefish's quills—porcupinefish are slow-moving, docile giants with huge, doll-like eyes and wide mouths. Like other pufferfish, the porcupinefish can puff up by filling with water when threatened. The quick change in size not only startles predators, but it also makes the porcupinefish a difficult size and shape to eat. As a further defense, inflation causes a porcupinefish's spines to protrude out perpendicular to its body.

March 1 - Stone Island Mazatlan Mexico
March 2 - Madrid Spain
March 3 - Toledo Spain

March 4 - Quito Spain

March 5 - Mazatlan Mexico

Skywatch Friday

Skywatch Friday

February 2019 - Mazatlan Mexico

Tuesday Treasures

Tom the backroads traveller hosts this weekly meme.

#TravelTuesday
Our World Tuesday

Mazatlan Mexico

I'm not a huge fan of oysters, but am always willing to try. And that I did in 2014.

Oyster Divers in Mazatlán/Los Ostioneros

But since then I've been curious how they are fished. I've culled the following information from various online sources.

There are at least ten locations or oyster reefs around town that are good for diving. They start work about 8 or 8:30 each day, diving till 10:30 or 11.

The divers, some of whom wear wet suits, take floating inner tubes fitted with nets out into the sea and armed with sharp tools, dive down to the oyster reefs to harvest the shellfish, while holding their breath.

If the water is about three meters deep, they stay down about 40 seconds, hammering on the rock to get the oysters loose. If it’s deeper water, they may stay down as few as 20 seconds at a time. 

Each diver makes what he makes; they are not a cooperative. A normal haul — one fill of the net in one of their inner tubes — is about 50 kg of scratchy shells on their backs and pack the oysters into green mesh bags that weigh about 23 kg each that will be sold wholesale to restaurants. 

They throw the shucked oyster shells back into the ocean in order to increase the harvest as the shells have larvae on them, and they will replant and grow. 

They have a forced holiday every summer, when the veda is in place — when it’s illegal to dive for oysters. That’s why September is so often called “Septi-hambre,” the hungry month, because it comes after they’ve had three months of no oyster income.

Most are sold to local restaurants but there are also informal spots along the Malecon where they are sold as fresh as they can be!

A Fishy Tale

January 2019 - Mazatlan Mexico

We've never gone to the Aquarium here, but thought we should. It only costs $7 each. As we entered the girl said "it's small but built with love".

There were some ugly buggers!

John dubbed this guy "a face only a mother could love".

There is an exhibit of various marine skeletons as well as shells.

A grey whale.

Outside there are other animal exhibits.

The sidewalks are decorated.

Stingray tank, for a price you can snorkel with them

This is definitely the shot of the day, taken by John.

Definitely a fun visit.