Months ago (BC) before COVID-19, I was in Target and found packaged freshly picked, flash frozen, cubes of garlic, cilantro, ginger, and basil. It is very clever packaging (think miniature ice trays) where you pop out a small frozen portion of herbs. There is no washing, peeling, sorting, or chopping. Is it as good as fresh? Well, I still use fresh when I have it, but it is pretty darn nice to have in the middle of cold weather when your garden is empty or if you run out of bottled. I use so much in soups. According to the website, they also have parsley, dill, onions, and chili, and carry them at Kroger and Walmart in addition to Target. Dorotgardens.com. This is called a kitchen hack. Why do they call it a hack?
So, what is a cooking or kitchen hack? “To hack is to modify or change something in an extraordinary way.” In the cooking world, we are all looking for shortcuts or cooking tips. Of course, hacks are not just about cooking. It can be any little tip or trick to make life easier.” “Often a way of cutting through an apparently complex system with a really simple, non-obvious fix.” I still do not understand why it’s called a hack. Sounds like a bad cough.
In March (BC), at the World Championship Cheese Contest in Wisconsin, a gruyere from Switzerland was named the world’s best cheese, chosen from a record number of entrants from 26 nations. I still have a hard time saying the name, gruyere, but I sure love it sprinkled on soups.
“I’m giving up drinking for a month”. Sorry, bad punctuation. “I’m giving up. Drinking for a month.” Another perfect example of how punctuation out of place can change the meaning of a sentence. You know, the old, “Let’s eat grandma” vs. “Let’s eat, grandma.”
Flowers are an important part of my life. Not just for me, but the butterflies, the birds, and the bees. I have collected amaryllis bulbs from far-away places like Belgium, along with mark-downs after Christmas from Lowes’s, Home Depot, and specialty garden shops. I drag them from house to house. Years ago, my mother-in-law brought me solid white bulbs back from Kentucky, and they are beautiful, with as many as 6 blooms on one stalk. If your bulbs are happy, as a gift to you, they multiply. At the point that the baby bulbs are as big as the momma bulb, you can separate, re-plant or share the bulbs. Always plant with their heads above ground, fertilize, mulch, and prepare for many more flowers next year. If you let the seed pods dry, they can be planted, but it will take a few years to get them to flower.
Americans hold the title of ‘biggest trash producers in the world’ at 6.5 pounds per person, per day. Russia now has over 300,000 cases of COVID-19. Pier 1 has asked for permission to liquidate their remaining stores after they reopen from lockdown. My uncle was the manager of Pier 1 in Albuquerque and we helped him inventory. My first ‘real’ grownup job or so I thought. J. Crew, Neiman Marcus and JCPenney have filed for bankruptcy during the COVID19 crisis but have all pledged to downsize in order to stay open. Johnson & Johnson is discontinuing North American sales of its talc-based baby powder (not the one made with cornstarch) but will continue selling the talc-based in other parts of the world. Retailers are allowed to sell their remaining stock. This comes because of trace amounts of asbestos is found when talc is mined, and contamination can and has happened. Asbestos was first linked to ovarian cancer in 1958. Heavy rains in Michigan caused two dams to fail, forcing 10,000 to evacuate.
Even Stephen King probably thinks we are living in a Stephen King novel. There are still an estimated 100,000 cruise ship workers around the world, stranded at sea on cruise ships that are hoping to be home by the end of this month, but there have been 4 workers die in the past two weeks of non-coronavirus causes, including suicide and jumping overboard (which sounds like suicide to me.)
RECENT BIRTHDAYS: Author Barbara Taylor Bradford is 87. R&B singer Henry Fambrough is 82. The Spinners. Actor David Clennon is 77. thirtysomething. Model Linda Evangelista is 55.
Ken Osmond, who played Eddie Haskell on Leave it to Beaver, died at 76. The actor went on to become an LAPD cop, grew a mustache to be less recognizable on the job, and was shot in the line of duty. Today, if someone is described as an “Eddie Haskell” type, we all know exactly what they mean. Jerry Mathers said, “He was the best actor on our show because in real life his personality was so opposite of the character that he so brilliantly portrayed.” For the record, Mrs. Cleaver never trusted Eddie. Fred Willard, one of the busiest comedic actors ever, and absolutely an improv genius, died at 86. His acting credits were enormous, too many to list. I had forgotten about Fernwood 2-Night, but YouTube helped me remember. Phyllis George, the 50th winner of the Miss America pageant, sportscaster, and former First Lady of Kentucky, died at 70, of a blood disorder. She founded The Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft, renovated the crumbling Governor’s Mansion using only Kentucky craftsmen for the work, and it’s now considered a KY landmark. She founded Chicken by George, created Phyllis George Beauty, authored five books and was one of the first women to have a prominent role reporting sports.
“They say” that it is a sign of getting older when you read the obits, whether you know the person or not. I must be getting on ‘up there’ because I read them in the daily paper and the Chronicle (when they remember to throw it). On Sunday I noticed that Mrs. Lloyd “B.A.” Bentsen died at 98. The B.A. stood for Beryl Ann, but her husband referred to her initials as an abbreviation for Lloyd’s BEST ASSET. Their 50th anniversary was hosted by President and Mrs. Clinton at the Blair House, when Mr. Bentsen retired as Secretary of the Treasury in 1993. She was a determined woman that walked away from a private plane crash, then proceeded to earn her pilot’s license and solo. Mrs. Bentsen was also reading the Wall Street Journal and New York Times without glasses just a couple of weeks before her death. What an interesting journey.
“The best you can really hope for is a family where everyone’s problems, big and small, work together. Kind of like an orchestra where every instrument is out of tune in exactly the same way, so you don’t really notice.”
Neal Shusterman
Glass is 100% recyclable. It has an unlimited life and can be melted and recycled endlessly to make new glass products with no loss in quality. Some European countries recycle more than 90% of their waste glass. Since Target was the only location to drop off glass until the virus hit, we have a massive amount building up in our garage, because Target is no longer accepting glass. Americans throw away 11.4 million tons of glass each year. Only 3-4 million tons currently get recycled. Why is this so? Stand up and call your city and ask them why we do not recycle glass.
Marie Curie said: “Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.”
Wonderful Word with No English Equivalent: Pana Po’o (Hawaiian. “Hmm, now where did I leave those keys?” he said, pana po’oing.” It means to scratch your head in order to help you remember something you have forgotten. If this is true, then I am pana po’oing all day long.
I made a Red Lobster garlic cheese biscuit recipe this weekend. They turned out a little different, ok, a lot different. My son is gluten-free and gluten-free baked goods are seldom the same, but they were still good. Just not ‘Red Lobster, good.’ I must be hungry.
The Native American woman who has been featured on the packaging of Land O’Lakes butter, cheese, and other products since the 1920’s, has disappeared. Mia was shown sitting in a serene landscape of a lake and woods. The landscape remains on the packaging, but Mia has gone away, and the company says… “they are looking towards their 100th anniversary and needed packaging that reflects the foundation and heart of the company’s culture.”
This column is a lot of fun to write, but also loads of work to find fresh and interesting information to share with you. On occasion, a reader will send in something. Thank you, for this bit of fun. The internet and email told us that May 2020, has 5 Fridays, 5 Saturdays and 5 Sundays all stuffed into this month (fact) and that if you receive an email with this bit of information and don’t share it, then you are going to have some really bad luck. “The one who does not forward will be without money.” They tell you that it is a Feng Shui thing. My thoughts are that Feng Shui has been around for a long time…before the 30-year-old world wide web. This does not work for me, but I am also the one that eats massive amounts of cabbage (for money) and black-eyed peas (for luck) on New Year’s Day…without fail…every single year. The internet also tells us that this “May Event” only happens every 823 years. Myth. A calendar month that contains 5 Fridays, 5 Saturdays, and 5 Sundays actually occurs nearly every year -coming up, October ‘21, July ‘22, and December ‘23 all have the same weekday pattern. What is interesting is the Chinese call the five full weekends, “silver pockets full” or “money bags” because It is supposed to bring you bundles of cash, which would be right if you’re paid every Friday because you’d have an additional payday stuck in there. But, if you are paid on the first and third of the month, then those are just regular months. Thank you for trying to make us wealthy.
The Houston Zoo welcomed a new giant anteater. 11-year-old mom, Olive, gave birth to the 3.4 lb. pup on March 31st. Giant anteaters spend the first few weeks of life clinging to their mother and typically hitch a ride on her back for 12 months. I hate to say this, but he/she is just not very pretty. Hairless with a long snout that only a mother could love. On May 15, Shanti, a 29-year-old Asian elephant, delivered her baby, Nelson, but quickly the zoo staff realized that he had torn a vessel in his umbilical cord during birth and was rushed to surgery. The zoo team worked quickly to collect blood from the rest of the herd in case Nelson needed to have a transfusion. Nelson is being watched closely and is expected to make a full recovery. Shanti is now a mother of six, including 326-pound Nelson, who is nursing like crazy. We are so fortunate to have this zoo. Remember, they have a lot of mouths to feed during this crazy time, so donations of any kind are always appreciated.
Thank you to my sweet friend Debra, for the very stylish facemask that she made from such beautiful fabric. I am so lucky to have such clever friends. To Mr. Oelfke for the kind words about this column. To Barbara Coleman for supporting me in my negative thoughts.😊 To Castleberry Insurance for calling Card My Yard to put “Congratulations 2020 Graduates” in the front of their office, then letting me know so I could send my son on a drive-by to see it. To Sean, at Square3 (PCCare) for fixing our email problems so quickly. To Homero for our yearly water filter replacement in our kitchen. To Hayman for the carrots and green onions. We roasted them with olive oil and lemon pepper, so delicious. We have a new respect for carrots. Happy 40th anniversary to a sweet couple, Bert & Debbie Smith.
The people and places that we have surrounded ourselves with during this crazy time is called our “Circle of Trust.” Our office is now back to normal hours, but we are going to continue working by phone or drop-off in front of our office, for a little longer. Stay safe and thank you for reading us each week. Remember to please find something to sell in this paper. We need you.
Lisa
