Happy Holidays, everyone.
Sending you and yours wishes for a happy year filled
with health, prosperity, love and loads of fun!
Thank you for visiting ~
Hope to see you throughout 2018!
~ Margaret
~ Margaret
I'm Turning 60... plus 15!
I’ve been a senior for a few years.
I’ve had a few good times, and a few bad times. We all have.
But I’m sure we’ll all have more new adventures!
Sunday, December 31, 2017
Wednesday, December 27, 2017
Anna Sultana’s Fettuccine Alfredo and January’s Two Full Moons
The Twelve Days of Christmas season has just begun. The broadcasting of dozens of mass-produced, made-for-TV Christmas-themed movies has finally ended.
Most of them were interchangeable - a woman has a problem, gets stranded at a quaint motel in a really cute town, saves the hotel and / or the town, and finds the love of her life.
Just a bit of visual prozac to get us through the holiday baking and chores.
Then there were a few movies that I enjoy seeing during December.
One of my favourites is The Holiday, a 2006 American romantic comedy filmed in California and England, starring Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jude Law and Jack Black.
If you missed it, the two women have romantic problems, swap homes (one is in California, one in England) for two weeks during the holiday season, and find the loves of their lives.
Yeah, I know, the plot is pretty similar to the interchangeable ones, but, trust me, it’s way better.
And the houses… pure house porn!
Toward the end of the movie three of the stars sit down with a plate of fettuccine to help them cope with life’s problems.
I know I’ve often said cheesecake can solve many of life’s problems.
But sometimes, especially on a cold winter night, it helps if the cheese is served warm and with carbs.
And what could be warmer or carbier than a nice plate of Fettuccine Alfredo?
About five years ago I posted a fettuccine recipe.
Fettuccine is another type of pasta, similar to linguine, a wider cousin of spaghetti.
Yes, the Italians have invented a lot of pasta types.
Different strokes for different folks.
Try something new or not - suit yourself.
Fettuccine was a regular part of the menu in our house when I was a kid.
But Ma just tossed the cooked fettuccine with butter and Parmesan cheese.
Nothing complicated, nothing to write down.
I mean, who writes down the recipe for buttered bread?
Then the aunts told Ma about Fettuccine Alfredo, the fancy version, with heavy cream and other stuff.
Of course each aunt had her own version, thickening with eggs, flour or sour cream.
After a while, Ma did, too.
Back to that movie, The Holiday.
I don’t know what exactly Cameron Diaz or Kate Winslet and Jack Black were eating.
It could’ve been the basic pasta with butter and cheese, or it could’ve been pasta with a cream-based sauce.
Whichever, they felt better after eating it.
And, whichever version you choose, you’ll feel better, too.
Hints:
If you prefer to use margarine or a parmesan cheese blend, no problem.
These recipes also work with 2% or skim milk.
If you want a stronger Parmesan taste, add 1/4 to 1/2 Cup more.
The sauce will thicken as it cools.
If you find the sauce is too thick, stir in a small amount of milk or pasta cooking water to thin it.
if you want to make this more of a meal add one to two cups of hot cooked shrimp or cooked, sliced chicken.
Oh, that fettuccine recipe I posted five years ago was
Carmela Soprano's Fettuccine Primavera - Fettuccine and Vegetables in a Cream Sauce
It can be made any time of the year. Really.
Fettuccine Alfredo
Serves 6
In a large pot place
4 quarts water
salt to taste
Bring to a boil.
Add
1 pound fettuccine
Cook, stirring frequently, until the pasta is al dente.
Drain and return to the pot.
Alfredo Sauce
Place in a heavy bottomed medium sized saucepan
3 Tablespoons butter
Melt over medium heat.
Add
2 garlic cloves, minced
Stirring, fry for 1 minute.
Stir in
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 Tablespoons flour
Stir until smooth.
Add, 1/2 Cup at a time, stirring well after each addition
2 Cups milk
Increase heat to medium high. Cook and stir until it is bubbling and thickened, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to low.
Stir in
1/2 Cup grated Parmesan cheese
3/4 teaspoon dried basil (optional)
Cook for 1 -2 minutes, until cheese is melted.
Stir in
1⁄2 cup sour cream (low-fat is fine)
Dip a spoon into the sauce to taste. Adjust the seasoning if needed.
If you want a stronger Parmesan taste add more to and continue to stir.
Cook until heated through.
Pour sauce over fettuccine and toss to coat.
Fettuccine Alfredo - light
Serves 6
In a large pot place
4 quarts water
salt to taste
Bring to a boil.
Add
1 pound fettuccine
Cook, stirring frequently, until the pasta is al dente.
Drain (reserving some of the water), rinse and place in a large deep platter or bowl.
Alfredo Sauce
Place in a heavy bottomed medium sized saucepan
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter
Melt over medium heat.
Stir in
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
3 Tablespoons flour
Stir until smooth and the mixture turns a pale brown.
Add, 1/2 Cup at a time, stirring well after each addition
2 Cups milk
Add
1/2 Cup grated Parmesan cheese
Stir until the cheese melts in and the mixture is smooth.
Dip a spoon into the sauce to taste. Adjust the seasoning if needed.
If you want a stronger Parmesan taste add more to and continue to stir.
Cook over medium heat, stirring until the sauce becomes thick. Once thickened remove from the heat.
Pour the sauce over pasta and mix well.
Serve immediately.
About the sky, thanks to the folks at The Farmers' Almanac…
January 1 - The January Full Wolf Moon will be this year’s largest Supermoon.
January 31 - January’s second full moon, the Blood Moon, is also called a Full Blue Moon. There will also be a total Lunar Eclipse.
February will not have a full moon this year. Just the way it worked out.
March 1 - March’s first full moon is the Full Worm Moon.
March 31 - March’s second moon is called a Full Blue Moon.
April will have a full moon. Yes, we'll be back to normal.
Saturday, December 23, 2017
Merry Christmas!!
Happy Holidays, everyone.
Wishing you all the blessings of the season.
Wishing you and yours
a Christmas filled with all you hold dear
and a New Year filled with all the best!
Thank you for visiting ~
hope to see you again in the new year!
~ Margaret
Saturday, December 9, 2017
Anna Sultana’s Jan Hagel Cookies, The Ursid Meteor Showers and the Winter Solstice
December is just zipping along.
I mean, in just two weeks Christmas will be here!
Oh, my… Two weeks before Christmas!
Say that to a kid and he’ll envision a chunk of time about as long as a century.
Say it to his Mom and she’ll swear it’ll go by faster than a sneeze.
Especially if she belongs to a club or two and just found out there’s going to be a potluck, or if Sonny Boy brought home a note saying he needs a few dozen cookies for a ‘Holiday Party’ at school.
Christmas or Holiday, it means the same thing, work-wise.
Good old Mom has to add something else to her ‘To Do’ List.
Okay, this is not the time to get all fancy, unless of course you're the type who loves doing things at the last minute.
For most of us a good, simple, easy to do, cheap recipe is what is called for.
It’s time to make some Jan Hagel cookies.
Jan Hagel cookies were a regular Christmas treat in New York when I was growing up.
It was a traditional Dutch recipe that everybody knew, so, if you brought some to school or to a gathering, nobody gave your cookies the fisheye.
Everybody just grabbed a couple and said “Merry Christmas!!”
None of that politically correct ‘Holiday Party’ crap in the 1950s.
Ma might have gotten the recipe from a co-worker or a neighbour.
Of course, she made her own variations.
Hints:
About the pan: use a 15 1/2″ by 10 1/2″ by 1″ or whatever you have.
If you prefer thin cookies you might need a second pan. Some people made very thin cookies (about an 1/8th of an inch) which bake up crispy, some preferred thicker, softer ones. Suit yourself.
The thicker cookies need a bit more cooking time, about 5 to 10 more minutes.
Back in the 1950s nobody seemed to have nut allergies.
But this is now, and if you want to play it safe, leave out the nuts.
You could also sprinkle rolled oats on top of the cookies instead of using nuts.
If you’re not worried, some finely chopped walnuts or pecans would also work, especially if that’s what you have on your shelf.
Dutch kandij is the traditional sugar to use to decorate Jan Hagel cookies.
Yeah, well, if your local store doesn’t carry them (most likely it won’t), don’t panic.
If you want to go to the trouble, you can make your own:
Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper.
Place in a saucepan
1/2 Cup sugar
Melt over a high heat. Do not stir. When the sugar is a liquid, pour it as thinly as possible onto the foil or parchment. The sugar will harden. Once cooled, chop it.
As the cookies bake the larger pieces will remain, while the smaller ones will melt.
Ma just sprinkled regular sugar on her cookies.
Some of her friends used brown sugar.
In the 60s some used coarse sugar in the raw.
Again, suit yourself.
Here are a few other easy Christmas cookie recipes:
Jan Hagel Cookies
Grease a baking pan or use parchment paper
preheat oven to 350º
Place in a large bowl
1 Cup butter or margarine, softened
1 Cup sugar
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract (optional)
Beat untill creamy.
Gradually stir in
1/2 to 1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 Cups flour
Mix well.
Place the dough in the greased pan.
Place plastic wrap or wax paper that a bit larger than the pan over the dough.
Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough evenly in the pan. Or you can use your fingers.
Lightly score the dough with a fork into square or strip shapes (optional).
In a small bowl place
1 egg white
1 Tablespoon water
Beat until frothy.
Brush the egg mixture over the dough.
Sprinkle with
1/2 Cup sliced almonds
Dutch kandij (see hints), or crystallized or regular sugar
Bake 20 to 25 minutes, until very lightly browned.
Remove from oven and, using a sharp knife, cut immediately into squares or strips.
Leave them on the pan(s) to cool thoroughly so they don't lose their shape.
These cookies taste better when they are thoroughly cooled.
About the sky for the rest of December, thanks to the folks at The Farmers' Almanac…
December 18 - New Moon at 1:30 a.m. The Moon is completely invisible to the naked eye. Incidentally, this new moon ushers in the longest lunar month of the 21st century (2001 to 2100). A lunar month is the period of time between new Moons. The New Moon is at apogee, its farthest point from Earth in its orbit. Need an easy way to remember? (A)pogee = (A)way.
December 20-23 - Nature’s annual holiday light show, the Ursid meteor showers, are at their peak. Visible from the north all night, these meteor showers generally produce anywhere from 5 to 15 meteors per hour at their peak (usually on the first full night of winter, Dec. 22). They are the dusty debris left behind in the orbit of Comet Tuttle. There have been a few occasions when the Ursids have surprised observers with a sudden outburst many times their normal hourly rate (over 100 per hour in 1945), but such cases are very few and far between.
December 21 - Winter officially begins at 11:28 a.m. with the Winter Solstice. The Sun reaches its farthest point south of the celestial equator so it’s the shortest day of the year in terms of sunrise to sunset. The good news is that the days will start getting longer from here!
December 29 - Before sunrise, look to the southeast sky to see Mercury (hugging the horizon), Jupiter, higher in the sky, and Mars directly above Jupiter.
December 30 - The Moon occults Aldebaran, the brightest star in the constellation Taurus.
Friday, December 1, 2017
Anna Sultana’s Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake, December's Full Cold Moon and the Geminid Meteor Showers
Christmas will be here in three weeks!!
That’s right…
We’ve got about three weeks to get EVERYTHING done.
The main thing is, don’t panic.
You’ve done it before, and you’ll do it again. I believe in you.
Take a deep breath, make a list, and do your magic.
While you’re writing that list, take a minute and enjoy a slice or two of cheesecake.
Ah, Cheesecake!
Is there any problem that can happen to any woman, at any age, that can’t be helped by a slice of cheesecake.
Hint:
If you have a pumpkin sitting in the kitchen, why not make some pumpkin purée?
It’s easy. Really.
Cut up the pumpkin and remove the seeds. Don’t forget to save them for roasting.
Preheat oven to 375° F
Place the pumpkin pieces on a large baking pan, and cover them with foil or a lid.
Bake for one hour or until very tender.
Remove the pan from the oven, and set aside to cool.
Scrape the cooked pumpkin’s interior off of the rind and into a food processor and purée until smooth. Just compost or toss the rind.
For a bit of variety you could make a pecan crumb crust:
1 1/4 Cups crushed gingersnap cookies or graham wafer crumbs
1/4 Cup finely chopped pecans
1/4 Cup margarine or butter, melted
Check cheesecake doneness by gently shaking the pan.
If the cheesecake is done, it will be set except in the centre that will be soft.
Do not insert a knife into the centre - that could make the cheesecake crack during cooling. Still edible but not as pretty.
Want to make the cheesecake in a 9x13-inch pan to serve as small dainties?
No problem.
Line the pan with foil, with ends of foil extending over sides.
Prepare the cheesecake batters, then spoon into the prepared pan and swirl.
Bake in a 350° F oven 35 minutes or until centre is almost set.
Cool completely. Refrigerate 4 hours.
Use foil handles to lift cheesecake from pan before cutting to serve.
Have a bit of pumpkin purée left over?
Consider yourself lucky.
Pumpkin is a popular ingredient in Maltese cooking, especially in vegetable soups.
Pumpkin bread and pumpkin pie are also great any time.
As are other cheesecake recipes.
Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake
Place the oven rack in the middle of the oven.
Butter a 9 inch springform pan.
Wrap the exterior of the pan in a double thickness of aluminum foil.
The Crust
Preheat the oven to 325º F
Combine in a small bowl
1 1/4 Cups graham wafer crumbs
1/4 Cup sugar
1/4 Cup margarine, melted
Press the mixture over the bottom of the prepared pan.
Bake 10 minutes.
Remove and place on a wire rack to cool.
The Filling
Combine in a large mixer bowl
2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 Cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
Beat at medium speed until smooth.
Add, one at a time
3 large eggs
Mix well at low speed after each egg is added.
Combine in a small bowl
1/4 Cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
Set aside.
Bring to a boil
about 3 Cups water
Place in a small bowl
1 Cup pumpkin (canned or cooked and puréed)
Stir in the sugar / spice mixture.
Remove 3/4 Cup of the mixture and set aside.
Pour the remaining pumpkin mixture into the crumb crust in the pan.
Top with the cream cheese mixture.
Drop by spoonfuls the reserved pumpkin filling over the top of the filling.
Cut through the filling with a knife to swirl the filling.
Preheat the oven to 350º F
Place pan in a large baking pan, and add 1 inch of hot water to the larger pan.
Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until the centre is just set. The top should appear dull.
Remove the springform pan from the water bath.
Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes.
Carefully run a knife around the edge of pan to loosen.
Cool 1 hour longer, then refrigerate overnight.
Remove sides of pan.
Serve with
whipped cream
Sprinkle with nutmeg (optional)
About the sky this week and next, thanks to the folks at The Farmers' Almanac…
December 3 - The December Cold Moon will be astronomically full at 10:47 a.m. E.S.T. This Moon will also be considered a supermoon because it coincides the closest with perigee (December 4).
Of the year’s 12 full moons, only December’s full Moon comes close enough to Earth (222,443 miles or 357,987 km) to be considered a true supermoon.
Learn more how this month’s full Moon got its names in this short Farmers’ Almanac video: December's Full Cold Moon
December 4 - The nearly-full waning gibbous Moon is at perigee, its closest point to Earth in its orbit.
December 7 - Earliest sunset of 2017 at 40º N. latitude. This comes come some 2 weeks before the winter solstice, not on the solstice as you might think!
December 8 - Look eastward after midnight to see the waning gibbous Moon paired up with the star Regulus. Regulus will be sitting above the Moon.
December 11-13 - Bundle up for the annual Geminid Meteor Showers! These showers will peak on December 13th. Normally one could expect up to see up to 120 meteors hourly with this display, but the Moon’s brilliant light will likely obliterate all but the very brightest meteors. Regardless, they’re considered the best meteor showers of the year and it’s worth taking a look.
The radiant - that spot in the sky where the meteors will appear to emanate - lies just below and to the right of the bright star Castor in the constellation Gemini (hence the name, “Geminids”). Best viewing after midnight when the radiant point is high in the sky, until dawn, no matter where you are.
Wednesday, November 15, 2017
Anna Sultana’s Meatloaf and Red Cabbage and A Christmas Story
It seems to me that the flood of Christmas-themed movies begin earlier every year.
This year they began right after our Thanksgiving, and, to be honest, I don’t know where they find these movies.
Sometimes I wonder if it’s the same movie and they just changed the intro and end credits.
Oh, well, they’re a bit of mindless fluff to have playing in the background while we plow through our holiday baking.
One Christmas favourite I’m actually looking forward to seeing is the 1983 movie A Christmas Story, which was based on Jean Shepherd's stories about his childhood.
If you haven’t seen it, it takes place in the 1940s, and is about a boy who is desperate to convince his parents, his teacher, and Santa that a Red Ryder BB gun really is the perfect Christmas gift.
I know, a kid wants a gun for Christmas… well, trust me, it’s a nice movie, filled with scenes that bring back a lot of memories of how kids really are, especially as Christmas is getting closer.
The film also has quite a bit of food in it.
Ralphie tries to bribe his teacher with a huge fruit basket.
The family’s Christmas turkey is devoured by the neighbour’s dogs, and the family has to go to a Chinese restaurant for dinner.
And then there’s Randy, Ralphie’s kid brother, who is refusing to eat dinner.
Apparently he hasn’t eaten voluntarily in over three years.
There he sits, pushing his food around, muttering:
Meatloaf, smeatloaf, double beetloaf. I hate meatloaf.
Don’t worry, his Mom has a way to make him eat his meatloaf.
No crying, no bloodshed. She’s THAT good.
In honour of this paragon of motherhood, I usually make a meatloaf dinner around this time of year. Since Ralphie’s family doesn’t look Italian, let alone Maltese, I use the German recipes Ma made when her American sister-in-law came by.
Aunt Liz never quite knew what to make of a hard boiled egg in a meatloaf.
Ma served the meatloaf with red cabbage and mashed potatoes.
And, when you’re eating like the family in A Christmas Story, the German recipes are more proper than either Mediterranean twinkie meatloaf.
Another Christmas favourite of ours is the 1989 classic, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. Who can argue with Ellen Griswold:
I don't know what to say, except it's Christmas and we're all in misery.
Hints:
These recipes make enough for 8 - 10 people.
If you’re family is smaller, no problem. Meatloaf is great the second, or third, time around. The leftovers are also good in a sandwich.
Sometimes Ma made this meatloaf using half ground beef and half pork - more or less in those proportions - depending on what she had in the fridge.
If you don’t have fine dry bread crumbs you can use 2 Cups soft bread crumbs.
If you want to be fancy, turn out the meatloaf onto a warmed platter. If you want to serve it family-style, like Mrs. Parker, serve it from the loaf pan.
Mrs. Parker served the meatloaf and cabbage with mashed potatoes. I don’t know if she made them from scratch or from a box of instant. Ma always made homemade. Suit yourself.
Red Cabbage
Place in a large pot
4 Tablespoons butter
10 Cups finely chopped red cabbage
2 Cups sliced green apples
2 Cups sliced green apples
1/2 Cup sugar
Season with
4 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
Add
2/3 Cup apple cider vinegar
3 ounces water
3 ounces water
Bring to the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat.
Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until the cabbage is tender, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
Meatloaf
Grease well a 9x5x3-inch loaf pan
Finely chop
1 medium onion
Place in a large bowl
2 pounds lean ground beef
3/4 Cup fine dry bread crumbs
the chopped onion
1 Cup milk
2 large eggs, beaten
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons Worcestershire Sauce
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
Mix lightly.
Preheat oven to 350º F
Place the mixture in the prepared pan.
Bake uncovered for 1 1/4 hours.
Remove from oven and let cool 10 minutes before serving.
If you’re curious, here are the other meatloaf recipes:
About the sky this week and next, thanks to the folks at The Farmers' Almanac…
November 18 - New Moon at 6:42 a.m. The Moon is completely invisible.
November 20 - Look for Saturn in the southwest after dusk, about 40 minutes after sunset. Catch it early; the ringed planet sets more than an hour after dark at the beginning of the month, but before the end of evening twilight by November 30th. This evening, look about 10° above the west-southwest horizon to sight a slender sliver of a crescent Moon. Mercury will also be hovering near the west-southwest horizon, directly below the Moon and Saturn.
November 23 - Look to the west after sunset to see Mercury right below Saturn. Mercury is usually difficult to spot but now it’s at its greatest elongation from the Sun so it’s a good time to see this “elusive” planet.
Thursday, November 9, 2017
Anna Sultana’s Scrapple and North Taurids and Leonids Meteor Showers
It was cooked in the 17th century by German colonists who settled in Pennsylvania.
Well, Pennsylvania is New York’s neighbour, and, like all good neighbours, the folks there shared the recipe with the folks in New York.
College Point, a town in the borough of Queens, New York, was home to Irish and German families in the 1950s.
I don’t know if Ma learned the recipe for scrapple from a German neighbour or a co-worker at Lily Tulip, but learn it she did.
And of course she gave it her own touches.
The original Scrapple recipe was a way to use up pork scraps (including head, brains, heart, liver and skin) which were boiled with the bones.
After discarding the bones, the bits of meat were then simmered with cornmeal, wheat or buckwheat flour, onions, and spices like sage and thyme.
Okay… that was the original recipe.
Ma found that the holidays usually left her with turkey, rather than pork, carcasses.
Being Ma, she wasn’t about to let those bits and bones go to waste.
So she made turkey scrapple.
The holidays are coming up.
Why not file this recipe in your holiday survival file?
Hints:
If your large pot and its lid are oven proof, place it, covered, in a 350º F oven for 2 hours to simmer the carcass.
Don’t have a food processor? A blender - or sharp knives - will do.
If, while it’s baking, some of the crust sticks to the side of the pot, scrape and stir the bits back into the scrapple.
You can coat the slices with flour before frying to make it crustier.
Scrapple
Scrape the bits of meat off the bones
Place in a large pot
Turkey bones, wings, scraped bits and skin
5 cups water
Simmer for 2 hours.
Drain the broth into a measuring cup.
You want to have 4 Cups of liquid (you can top it off with water).
Discard the skin and bones.
Place the turkey in a food processor and grind - you want to have 4 Cups of meat.
Grease well a small roaster or Dutch oven
Preheat oven 350º F
In a large bowl combine
1 Cup cornmeal
1/4 Cup flour
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon sage or thyme (or a mixture)
the ground turkey meat
the broth / water mixture
Stir well.
Pour the mixture into the greased roaster or pot.
Bake for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
Put the mixture into 2 loaf pans.
Cover with plastic wrap and place them in the refrigerator.
To serve:
Slice into half inch thick slices and pan fry in butter or oil over medium heat until golden brown.
Serve with eggs and toast at breakfast with apple butter, ketchup, mustard, honey, jelly or maple syrup.
It’s also good served hot, as is.
About the sky next week, thanks to the folks at The Farmers' Almanac…
November 12-14 - About 45 minutes before sunrise, look to the east-southeast horizon to see an incredible planetary pairing: Jupiter and Venus will appear spectacularly close together, rising side by side on the morning of November 13th.
Make sure that your view is free of any tall obstructions such as buildings or trees. Both planets will appear quite low to the horizon, so you’ll need a nice “wide-open” view.
North Taurids Meteor Shower are expected to peak at this time, with the best viewing is from 12 - 2 a.m. local time; and good news— the sky will be nice and dark due to the tiny waning crescent Moon.
The Taurids are actually two annual meteor showers created by the comet Encke. They are named for constellation Taurus, where they are seen to come from in the sky (near the Pleiades). But they can be spotted anywhere (simply look up!).
November 14 – 15 - Look to the east, one hour before sunrise, to see the tiny sliver of a waning crescent Moon paired up with the planet Mars. On the 14th, the Moon is above Mars; on the 15th, it is below it. Closer to the horizon you will find Jupiter and Venus.
November 17 -18 - The Leonids Meteor Showers peak. Best viewing time is between midnight and 5:30 a.m. local time. This meteor shower, named for the constellation Leo, is typically one of the more exciting showers of the year, producing an average of 20-30 meteors per hour. And it should be nice and dark this year as the Moon is in the new (dark) phase.
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