Corn - 2020

Oh my. I really haven't kept up with my blog have I? Over 4 months since my last post?

Of course, 2020 has been a complete and total disaster. Between the plague. The riots. And the circus that politics has become. Not to mention natural disasters - record hurricane season, late season snow (9 May!), early season snow (30 October!) and we even had an earthquake here off the coast of Massachusetts!

And...truth is, I've had not much of anything going on!

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But! I always try to keep track of...corn!

Corn was late this year. Spring was cold and wet. The first native (not local) corn was in the farm stands on 15 July.

This was from Northampton or Deerfield 15 July
It was very good corn actually. I never did try any corn from Connecticuit or New Jersey this year.

The first local corn in the farm stands on 25 July. Yes that's very late.

Local corn, 25 July (Arcadian Farms)
Arcadian Farms had the best of the local corn this year. It really wasn't a good year for corn and none of it was outstanding. The last of the corn was around 7 or 8 October. Yes very early. I was able to snag a few ears after but basically the locals just stopped picking because it wasn't worth the trouble.

Interestingly enough I did discover Charles River Farm near where I live. An honor system farm stand with a fairly wide selection of produce. They had corn regularly but it wasn't their own. They'd buy it every morning from the markets in the city and it usually came....from of all places...Quincy! The corn was always good and I'll be very happy to support them next season. I just love fresh summer produce!

I do rememeber however my very last ear of native corn this year was on 23 October from Calabrese Farms in Southwick, Massachusetts. I was driving by and I swear I thought I was seeing things but there, on a hill behind the farm stand, they still had corn!

Just *Amazing*!

So. Our President. The President of the United States of America. "Passed" a cognitive impairment test and it's just *amazing*. How on earth did you do that?!

Are we...like...supposed to ...um...not realize anyone that's not "cognitively impaired" can "pass" a "cognitive impairment" test?

This is not a "skills" test. It is not not an IQ test.

Ay yi yi. Our President. The President of the United States of America is bragging he "passed" passed an Alzheimer's test.

Seriously people. Anyone that doesn't have [pre] Alzheimer's can pass an Alzheimer's test.

It was a hard test. No. No. it's an easy test. Anyone not "cognitively impaired" should find it's easy.

Seriously. "What day of the week is this?" is not a hard question. I admit I'm having a hard time keeping track of what day of the week it is ...but..but ya...I really do know what day of the week it is without having to think very hard about it.

Stimulus!

Oh look! Donald Trump sent me a check!

I'm gonna vote for him!
Seriously! Out of touch much?

Weeks later I get a letter. Cue sinister music. From the IRS!

Nobody wants one of these!
Seriously? Nobody....nobody wants an "official business" letter from the IRS! Like. Oh crap! Maybe they didn't like that good faith estimate of 40 year old capital gains? Am I gonna lose my house? Am I going to end up in jail?!

Ha! No! It's a letter from the effin' White House! Telling me I got a stimulus check!

Seriously. W. T. F.
Ya. Go ahead and scare me half to death.

"Our great country". Ya. America is broken. It won't be fixed in my lifetime. It might never be fixed. The beginning of a failed nation? It's nobody's fault and it's everybody's fault. The Republicans broke America. But the Democrats let them do it.

I'm sorry. I don't usually share potentially controversial political opinion. But that letter really pissed me off.

Winter Says "Not So Fast"

Ya. That's snow.

9 May 2020
Ya. Second time in my lifetime we've had snow in May.

Just Stay Home

I think it's going on 6...maybe 7 weeks now we've been ordered to stay home/quarantine to minimize coronavirus transmission.

Anyone claiming their life hasn't been disrupted in some way is lying. Speaking for myself, I'm retired, I'm the quintessential introvert and I tend to be a homebody anyway. I hoard food by nature...I swear I won't miss any meals until the 4th of July.

I understand it's very challenging for many people. People have to work from where their jobs are such that they can do that. Not everyone likes that. I always hated working from home. Some people are seriously getting on each other's nerves. Others have lost their job and are threatened economically. But it's fair to say the impact on my life has been minimal. Mostly I've found my shopping habits have changed considerably. I don't stop at the supermarket "for a few things" anymore.

Certainly the biggest impact has been...the public library closing. It's looking like the public library network will be closed until July. Causing much anxiety. I think public libraries are jewels. I read 2 or 3, sometimes even 4 books a week. It's a comparatively trivial issue but it had me wringing my hands anyway.

The public library does loan ebooks! So. I sucked it up and got a Kindle!

Frankly I think it's a little expensive. But the technology is fairly mature and reliable. And it is a quality product. I'm halfway through my first book and I'm confident it was a good decision.

By the way...

He's still staring!

Snow Day?!

Woke up to this, Saturday morning, 18 April...

Seriously?
This is the second latest snowfall I can remember. The latest I've ever seen snow was 9 May 1977. That was pretty bad because the leaves were already out which made the snow covered branches very heavy. We had a foot of snow in some isolated spots.

I actually don't mind the snow so much. It's the cold I really hate. And this hasn't been much of a season. Can't really recall any below 0 weather. Certainly not for any length of time. Long underwear, quilted overalls, storm parka and sheepskin hat stayed in the closet for the entire season and that's usually the best indicator.

And I thought this was kind of pretty...

Happy Good Friday?

I don't know. I. Just. Don't. Know.

I'm a confirmed Methodist. Although I don't practice. I'm in my 60s and I don't ever remember anyone saying...Happy Good Friday?

Good Friday is not a happy day as far as I know.

Edited to add:

It's much to my parent's credit. After I was confirmed I was allowed to make up my own mind. And I did. I haven't been in a church in 50 years.

My mind was actually made up when I was 6 years old. Our church youth minister told me my cat wouldn't go to heaven because animals didn't go to heaven. It was that day. In that single moment. I remember it like I remember Kennedy's assassination. I decided they were all full of shit.

Be careful with what you say to little kids. They're not stupid.

Bagels?

All the anxiety over the virus is stressing even me out!

So of course my thoughts turn to comfort food and not necessarily new things but things I may not have done before. Distractions.

For example, I just happen to have a half pound of chicken livers and eggs. So I'll make some chopped liver this week. I've never had chopped liver!

I've had deviled ham but I'd never made deviled ham before. Couple of days I made deviled ham! Spun some cooked ham cubes in a food processor, added some mayonnaise, mustard, lemon juice, chopped garlic, onions and celery, hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce and sweet paprika. No recipe really, just a little this and a little that. I should have taken a picture! It was crazy good. I was going to fork it on to some crackers with a bowl of soup...but...it was so good I had to make a loaf of sandwich bread to make a real sandwich. I'll never have deviled ham from a can ever again.

And...bagels? I made bagels!

Poppy seed. Sesame seed.
I used this recipe. I used 100% white whole wheat flour. The recipe scaled easily I just divided everything by 4. They were very good bagels and I'll do that again. I don't know where I got the idea bagels were hard to make. These were so easy.

Well Holy Crap

This was the line of cars at the food bank when I went for my morning walk today.

4 April 2020
I counted 28 cars.

The normal route to the food bank was detoured due to the high volume of traffic.

Main St. 11:00 am on what would normally be a busy Saturday morning.

He went to Jared!

So. Jared Kushner is now in charge of the coronavirus task force.

Are you fucking kidding me?!

Sleep well America.

Olive Garden

I hate Olive Garden. I have issues with the way Darden Restaurants treats their hired help. But more than that I hate the whole big chain restaurant format. Chili's Grill & Bar. TGI Fridays Restaurant & Bar. Applebee's Neighborhood Grill + Bar. And of course Outback Steakhouse.

For the most part I think of their food as uncreative and unimaginative. Largely distributed by central corporate kitchens and often simply heated up for service. Too much fat (one TGI Fridays hamburger has more fat than I can eat in an entire day!). Matter of fact I have some dietary restrictions, not even severely limiting what I can eat and TGI Fridays has only one thing on their lunch menu that I can eat! Too much fat. Too much salt. Too much added sugars.

And don't even get me started on The Cheesecake Factory! And yes I do realize those foods aren't meant to be a daily part of one's diet. The recipes are extensively researched and designed to please one's palate rather than deliver nutritious meals.

Mind you...make no mistake.. healthy nutritious food can be very good.

With all that said. I am embarrassed to admit. I just love Olive Garden's salad mix!

Olive Garden Salad
Yes. That's the real deal. With closures and reduced service to reduce the spread of coronavirus many perishable food stocks are sitting around loading docks with no place to go. And I know somebody. In food service. That supplies Olive Garden. And that is Olive Garden's salad mix. With some things added sure.

And frankly? You know those Fresh Express bags of greens and salad kits? Olive Garden should do that with their salad mix!

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And let's hope the hysteria stops soon.

The supermarkets have been complete mad mob scenes for going on two weeks now. Shelves are stripped bare of pretty much everything. And it makes no sense at all.

We can be at our worst or we can be at our best. It's not going to go end anytime soon. But our food supply is not threatened people.

WTF?!

OK. With a public health crisis going on with the novel corona virus expanding...our president holds a press conference. He wants to reduce tax withholding from pay checks.

Yup! That will stop the spread of the virus!

Seriously. This is actually brilliant. I have a theory. For decades Republicans have wanted to shift the burden of governance to the states. They call it "state's rights"

And. What better way to do that than to demonstrate ineptitude and incompetence in the federal government? Seriously. Let's put politicians in charge of the corona virus task force! Ya. That inspires confidence yes?

My Cat

Is really creeping me out. He follows me around like a puppy and stares at me all the time! I go to the bathroom? He leads the way. I take a shower? He's sitting there waiting when I'm done. I go get dressed? In 30 seconds he's looking for me.

Yesterday I'm in the kitchen making pizza dough. I turn around...and..

There he is. Staring.

Climate Change Much?

This has been a very strange winter season. Here with the promise of spring I think we'd had one plowable winter snow. There's still time for a blizzard or two. Last year we barely had any snow until March when we got 15 inches in just a few hours. And last March was cold, and the spring was notably cold and wet.

It was a terrible year for tomatoes. And I don't think corn was coming up until June.

This year, last month, end of the first week of January, I saw a Great Blue Heron on the pond outside my home. He was more than likely sick. And then maybe climate change messed him up.

And then I could hardly not notice....buds of trees! On 15 January!

15 January. Very bad thing!
And then just several days ago, I see Daffodils coming up!

7 February. Daffodil sprouts!
As I understand it, everyone agrees the climate is changing. The issue is the likely cause. Most people believe carbon emissions are to blame.

Some believe it's just part of a natural cycle. I'm not a climate scientist. But there's a lot of evidence contradicting a natural cycle conclusion. But. It appears evidence doesn't mean much to some people..