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..

Last Corn

Corn was off to rough start this season. Spring was cold and wet and our first local corn was late to appear.

But it turned out to be a good season! I love and I swear I'll have an ear of corn almost every day through the last half of summer. Oh there might be a few ears around for the most part the seasoon is over for 2019.

Last ear. 20 October.
Edited to add: That corn came from Kelly's Farm Stand in Upton, MA.

Of course it's comfort food and soup season! As much as I hate the wintertime soups, stews, squash and roast chickens takes out some of the sting.

Dead trees...

I've noticed a lot of dead trees this year. Just this last May, after the leaves came out in the spring, I was shocked by the sheer number of dead trees.

Pretty much everywhere. I swear you can't walk two blocks without passing dead trees.

So. Interestingly enough. A local news station did a report on all the dead trees. A certified arborist explained the consecutive droughts of 2015 and 2016 weakened many trees and left them vulnerable to disease and catastrophic damage from gypsy moth caterpillars in 2017.

So there really is an unusual number of dead trees. Not just something I hadn't noticed before.

This time they mean it!

Jane and Paul's farm is a local institution.

Many of us have enjoyed their produce for more years than I can remember. And they pretty much always had the very best corn.

Six years ago they missed a step. I don't know the whole story but I know there were some promising negotiations going on to acquire the property with community funds. That didn't work out. But they came back the following year!

But ...now, this year...

1 September. They're done. Forever.

Much Sadness
They plan to continue farming. But they're closing the farm stand. The second year in a row it just hasn't been worth keeping open. Last year hundreds hundreds of bushels of apples remained unpicked.

And Paul told me this year they hadn't had a single busy day. Not a single one. And at least half the blueberry crop rotted on the ground.

31 August. My very last ear of Jane and Paul's corn.

Beef Tataki

It was maybe a year or so ago, maybe longer, I'd had Beef Tataki. Loved it! But. Like sashimi and beef carpaccio, I leave raw dishes to professionals. What with all the food safety warnings regarding raw animal proteins.

Truth is I don't get out all that often and almost nobody serves carpaccio anymore. So I did some research and finally decided to try making Beef Tataki!

Sauce: Mix maybe 1/2 cup soy sauce, juice from a half a lime, a teaspoon or two of honey, a chopped garlic clove, and a generous splash of sesame oil.

Procedure:

• 4 oz. strip steak
• Freeze it
• Thaw in the refrigerator for 90 minutes
• Bath it in vodka
• Sear each side one minute each in a screeching hot cast iron skillet
• Finish thawing in the refrigerator overnight
• Slice thinly (almost see through)
• Marinate two hours in sauce

The idea behind the short thaw in the refrigerator is to have the surfaces soft enough to take a good sear while the interior is frozen thereby reducing the risk of cooking it. The vodka bath is a home cook's carpaccio trick to minimize the impact of bacteria. I'm not an expert but it's my understanding bacteria is found on the surface of the beef and not within the muscle itself.

Serve sprinkled with sesame seeds and red pepper flakes.

Beef Tataki
Hands down the best thing I've had to eat this year. Best thing I've had to eat in a very long time. Will do it again!

Poor bunny!

I went over to cut some flowers in my garden yesterday. I have a condo and on the downside of that I don't have any place to plant a garden. But! The community farm in the town where I live leases garden plots! I don't know if that's common or not.

So I have a garden plot for the season that I can keep the lease for as long as I want. I've had all kinds of different lettuces, radishes, beets, turnips and my fennel is doing really well. And I planted all kinds of flowers. I've really enjoyed my garden. Mostly. For whatever reason my tomatoes aren't doing very well. I've never had much luck with tomatoes. I've learned some lessons for next year.

So. As I'm picking flowers yesterday a Red-tailed Hawk swooped down and snatched a bunny hardly 6 feet away!

Up close and personal!
Poor bunny. Of course I felt kind of bad about it but...well, Hawk has to eat!

Edited to add: At least it was quick. Very quick.

It's hot!

Not record hot, but hot! A hundred degrees. Feels like 107. Yesterday, 20 July, was the hottest day in 8 years.

And...my air conditioning is broken! Which is normally no big deal. I like the heat. I live over a river. It's typically 10 or 12 degrees cooler over the river than it is just a quarter mile away. And I figure if I have to close my windows it might as well be winter time. I've been here 29 years and I don't think I've used the air conditioning more than 5 times.

But that doesn't mean I want to sit and sweat like a pig either.

So. I have a most awesome industrial strength ceiling fan!

I actually got it for the winter time to keep the heat from rising and collecting under my 12 foot ceiling. But it's nice in the summer heat. So. I get out of the shower and find...my ceiling fan failed! Story of my life!

So. I get dressed and head for the dollar store. Luckily enough they still had some fans!

Not very decorative... But at the least my cat was happy with it!

I went over during the afternoon and hosed down L and stood her in front of a 4 foot fan for a half an hour. She didn't mind!

I like to prepare food seasonally. More than that I like to prepare food that suits the day. And what could be better than....

Of course! A Margarita!
Well. To be fair, a gin and tonic is the quintessential summer drink. Or a bourbon rickey. Or a daiquiri. Or sangria! Even a pińa colada. I'm not a big fan of fruity cocktails but ya, that works on a tropical day. And there's always the (Bermuda)rum swizzle. Edited to add: How could I have possibly forgotten to include the Mojito in my list?!

And the *best* thing for dinner on a day like this? The very *first* thing that comes to mind?

Gazpacho! Of course!
Oh, and Home Depot has references to local electricians that service Hunter ceiling fans. It's not like I'm going to replace a $650 fan because the power switch broke!