Summer Salads

On Sunday for our Bookclub luncheon I made four summer salads.  Two were new recipes to me, one I had tried before (but Dan made it) and one that I had made several times before.

Quinoa, Edamame and Apple salad
http://www.food.com/recipe/quinoa-salad-with-apple-and-edamame-299847
Notes: This is one of the new recipes. I made the Quinoa in my rice cooker the day before and then refridgerated it. I didn't make any changes to the recipe but I thoght it was a little bland.

Chicken salad
http://www.food.com/recipe/chicken-grape-and-curry-salad-323653
Notes: I've made this recipe several times and it makes a lot of chicken salad. I'd recommend preparing it for a crowd or cutting the recipe in half.  This time I ommitted the soy sauce (because one of our Bookclub members is gluten-free) and the coconut (personal preference).

Antipasto Pasta Salad
http://www.food.com/recipe/antipasto-pasta-salad-155605
Notes: This is one of the new recipes. I used pepperoni instead of salami and served it on the side (one of our members is vegetarian).

Caprese salad
1/4 c. olive oil
1/4 c. balsamic vinegar
1-2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp dried basil or several leaves of fresh basil, sliced
5 Roma tomatoes, sliced
1 lb. fresh mozzarella, sliced into bite size pieces

Combine oil, vinegar, basil and garlic.  Pour over tomatoes and mozzarella. Refridgerate at least 3 hours before serving.

The lay of the land

London has been continuously inhabited since approximately 46A.D. The Romans settled on the north bank of the River Thames (near today's London bridge) after they invaded England. It became a thriving trading post for the Roman expansion into Roman Britain (Britannia). About 200 A.D. a defensive wall was built around the city. For well over a millennium the shape and size of London was defined by this Roman wall. The area within the wall is now "the City", London's famous financial district. Newspapers and TV reporters refer to "The City" much like we say "Wall Street" in the US. Traces of the wall can still be seen in a few places in London. The City of London is approximately one square mile while Greater London is 600 square miles (and it includes 32 other boroughs, like the City of Westminster).

One of the unique things about walking through a city as old as London is the mix of architectural styles (and the age of the buildings) - it can change from building to building and block to block. In chronological order, you might find: Anglo-Saxon (pre-Norman), Gothic, Tudor, Elizabethan, Jacobean, Baroque, Queen Anne, Georgian, Victorian, Jacobethan, Edwardian (up to 1915), and then all of the 20th century additions.

Two significant events, almost 300 years apart, further shaped the layout of the city. In 1666, there was a fire in London that wiped out most of the city and its wooden structures. As a result there aren't many Tudor or earlier buildings remaining. However, the Tower of London was one important survivor of the fire (the oldest part of the Tower of the London, the White Tower, was built in 1078. The White Tower now houses the Crown Jewels). Central London in 1666, with the burnt area shown in pink.

During World War II, the Blitz bombings by the Nazis (Sep 1940-May 1941), damaged or destroyed more than one million London houses. The city was bombed for 76 consecutive nights and many Londoners spent the night (for months on end) sleeping in local Underground or Tube stations set up as shelters. Most of the bombing was concentrated around St. Paul's Cathedral (rebuilt after the 1666 fire) and despite it's massive size, it was relatively undamaged by the Germans.