Arsenal 3 Tottenham Hotspurs 1

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Arsenal’s revival gathered pace as Tottenham’s recent decline continued in an entertaining north London derby at Emirates Stadium. The Gunners propped up the table after three games while Spurs were top under new manager Nuno Espirito Santo – how things have changed as a rampant Arsenal ripped their shambolic rivals to shreds in a brilliant first half. Emile Smith Rowe started the celebrations for the Arsenal fans when he arrived unmarked to sweep home Bukayo Saka’s cross after 12 minutes before the scorer turned provider as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang got the second midway through the half.

Spurs were producing a horror show and nothing summed it up better than Arsenal’s third after 34 minutes. Harry Kane fell over the ball in a Spurs attack then missed two tackles on Saka as he raced back into his own penalty area to try to rescue the situation. Saka compounded the agony with a calm finish. Inevitably, Spurs improved after the break, Kane bringing a good save from Aaron Ramsdale and wasting a good chance, before Son Heung-min pulled one back. Ramsdale spared Arsenal any late anxiety with another superb stop, touching Lucas Moura’s shot on to the bar as Mikel Arteta’s side closed out a richly deserved win.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has staked his Arsenal future on a long-term plan but admits he will not get quick results and has called for patience. But there was evidence for optimism here despite those three opening league defeats. The Gunners’ latest win was based on the brilliance and exuberance of Saka, Smith Rowe and Martin Odegaard, aged 20, 21 and 22 respectively. Aubameyang, whose own form and commitment have been questioned as he struggled, set the tone and lit the fuse on an explosive atmosphere inside the Emirates by chasing down Spurs’ defenders in the opening moments.

Beach Times With The Cousins

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I am not a good swimmer even if I have taken classes for while when I was 18. That was in a pool at the rooftop of the Abad Plaza hotel. I had booked a 2 month excercise, steaming, swimming and sauna for 3-4 months at the insistence of my parents and since there was a great deal of teens, I took it up. I enjoyed the steam room (it was a small room so you went in alone) and the sauna but I loved the swimming a lot.

Before that all my swimming was done in the Periyar River and the Fort Kochi beach. Well not so much swimming at the beach, more like walking in and getting wet and enjoying splashing water around. Also a few times we have been to the beach in Trivandrum as well. But in the Periyar river we would go swimming as lot. It has been ages ofcourse but I still remember the fun we had. Ofcourse it was us boys swimming but the girls would get knee deep and have their own fun as well.

I remember a couple of incidents we had at the Trivandrum beach. During one summer vacation (or was it Christmas) we were all at Trivandrum and staying at my mum’s eldest brother’s rented home. My cousins and I went to the beach almost every day and we also played frisbee at the beach. This one afternoon one of my cousins swung the frisbee hard and straight at the head of some man who was out with his family. We went over to apologize and he took it well. That was probably in 1991.

Second time was at Periyar river and I had borrowed my older cousin’s sports shorts which were too big for me, so I had to use a belt. A bunch of us went to the river to play and throw a beach ball. There were a bunch of young college girls from some other state in town for a trip. They were standing at the edge of the banks and us boys (I was 15 at the time) went closer to the banks to *ahem* pose for them. While we were standing around, I suddenly saw something floating near us and it looked familiar.

Yes! To my embarrassment it was my shorts! The girls didn’t notice but I did. I made my cousins stand in front of me so no one would see me put on the shorts and tighten the belt again. Travesty averted, we played some more and then went home.

CREAMY CHICKEN SALAD WITH APPLES

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This chicken salad is packed with sweet and crunchy apples, tart dried cranberries, and a light and creamy homemade dressing. You’ll need about 3 cups chopped cooked chicken for this recipe, so if you’re not using rotisserie chicken, you’ll want to cook some chicken first. I used two chicken breasts (about 1.3 lbs. total).  Cook them in a skillet with a little oil over medium heat until they were golden brown on each side and cooked to an internal temperature of 165ºF. Let them cool and chop them into small pieces. Chop one apple into small pieces (about 1.5 cups) & inely dice about ¼ cup red onion. Add the chopped chicken, diced apple, diced red onion, and ¼ cup dried cranberries to a bowl.

INGREDIENTS

  • 3 cups chopped cooked chicken ($7.97)
  • 1 apple (1.5 cups chopped) ($0.76)
  • 1/4 cup diced red onion ($0.20)
  • 1/4 cup dried cranberries ($0.22)
  • 1/3 cup mayonnaise ($0.53)
  • 1/3 cup plain yogurt ($0.35)
  • 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard ($0.18)
  • 1 Tbsp red wine vinegar ($0.10)
  • 1/4 tsp salt ($0.02)
  • 1/4 tsp freshly cracked black pepper ($0.02)

INSTRUCTIONS

  • Chop the cooked chicken and the apple into small pieces. Finely dice the red onion.
  • Place the chicken, apple, onion, and dried cranberries in a large bowl.
  • Combine the mayonnaise, yogurt, Dijon, red wine vinegar, salt, and pepper in a bowl. Stir until smooth.
  • Pour the dressing over the salad ingredients in the bowl and stir until everything is coated. Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to eat.